Conveyor belt, suction cutter, and cutting machine.

Abstract

The invention relates to a cutting conveyor (2) for a cutting machine which automatically cuts sheet materials through a blade, comprising several cutting supports (6) mounted on a drive mechanism (8, 10) driven in straight and curved trajectories, these cutting supports comprising rigid fixed thin bars (14) assembled on a drive mechanism extending longitudinally in the direction perpendicular to the forward direction (F) of the conveyor, and flexible blocks (16) mounted on the fixed thin bars and fitted with rigid bristles on which the sheet material to be cut is intended to rest, each flexible block mounted on at least two adjacent fixed thin bars. The invention also relates to a cutting machine.

Description

Description Title of the invention: Flexible paving stone suction cutting conveyor for automatic cutting machine Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a suction cutting conveyor for an automatic cutting machine for sheet materials, in particular textile materials, using a vibrating blade penetrating the cutting support. Prior art

[0002] One field of application of the invention is that of the automatic cutting of stacks or mattresses of sheets of materials, in particular textile materials, using a vibrating blade penetrating into a suction cutting support.

[0003] Typically, a vibrating blade cutting machine includes a cutting conveyor that is used to drive the stack of sheets during the cutting operation. This cutting conveyor is housed in a box inside which a strong vacuum is established in order to keep the sheets of material to be cut stationary during the cutting operation.

[0004] In this type of machine, the cutting conveyor also serves as a penetrating cutting support for the vibrating blade. It is indeed well known to make the cutting support penetrable by the blade so that during the cutting operation, the blade can not only pass completely through the material to be cut, but also extend downwards beyond the support surface and into the bed of material providing such a surface.

[0005] To achieve this, a cutting conveyor generally comprises a plurality of cutting supports which are integral with a drive mechanism driven along rectilinear and curvilinear paths. Each cutting support comprises rigid fixing slats assembled on the drive mechanism and rigid blocks which are mounted on the fixing slats.

[0006] The blocks typically comprise a plurality of bristles mounted on a base plate in several parallel rows, each bristle having a head forming the support for the sheet material to be cut. Passages made through the base plate allow the suction air to pass through. These cutting supports thus allow the material to be cut under suction while being able to be penetrated by the cutting blade.

[0007] This type of cutting conveyor has a significant drawback at the ends of the cutting table. Indeed, when each slat of the cutting supports reaches the front shaft of the drive mechanism at the end of the table, it wraps around the pinion and moves away from the previous slat. During this separation, the parallelepiped shape of the block generates a change in the height of the cutting belt. This change in height does not currently allow the material loading / unloading areas to be positioned at the same level as the cutting belt.

[0008] However, at this height change, the material can deform by stretching and thus impact the pieces cut at this point or during loading of the mattress (side opposite to unloading). The material is stretched then compressed during the depression phase, thus creating constraints in the material which can degrade the quality of the cut pieces. In addition, this difference in height generates jams and jamming of material at the level of the deformations.

[0009] Furthermore, due to this change in height at the unloading area, the comb that collects the cut pieces must be positioned upstream of the opening to prevent the pieces from being sucked into the gap created by this opening. In addition, as the blocks of the cutting supports are parallelepipeds, the upper part tends to lift during winding. The comb must be positioned high up so that its lower face does not touch the edges of the blocks. In practice, the step between the surface of the conveyor and the upper face of the comb can be greater than 10 mm.

[0010] From publication FR 3,111,836, we know a suction cutting conveyor which partly solves this problem thanks to the fact that the sole of each cutting support is capable of being elastically deformed following the rectilinear and curvilinear trajectories of the drive mechanism. Statement of the invention

[0011] The object of the invention is to propose a flexible conveyor allowing the paving stones of the cutting supports to be rolled up without generating any variation in height and whilst retaining their current parallelepiped format.

[0012] This aim is achieved by means of a suction cutting conveyor for an automatic blade cutting machine for sheet materials, comprising a plurality of cutting supports secured to a drive mechanism driven along rectilinear and curvilinear paths, the cutting supports comprising: - rigid fixing slats assembled on the drive mechanism extending longitudinally in a direction perpendicular to a direction of advance of the conveyor, and - flexible paving stones mounted on the fixing slats and fitted with bristles on which a sheet material to be cut is intended to rest, - and in which, in accordance with the invention, each flexible paving stone is mounted on at least two adjacent fixing slats.

[0013] The conveyor according to the invention is remarkable because the paving stones are positioned at 90° relative to their current configuration, that is to say they are positioned perpendicular to the slats on which they are mounted (unlike the conveyors of the prior art in which the paving stones are positioned in the direction of the slats). Thanks to such an arrangement of the paving stones, the latter are held on two slats (instead of just one in the prior art), which allows their deformation. As a result, at the end of the table, the paving stones of the cutting supports can be rolled up without generating any variation in height, and while retaining their parallelepiped format.

[0014] Preferably, the flexible blocks of the cutting supports extend longitudinally in a direction parallel to the direction of advance of the conveyor.

[0015] Also preferably, the flexible blocks of the cutting supports each have the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped.

[0016] Advantageously, the flexible paving stones of the cutting supports each comprise a sole provided with mounting clips on the fixing slats. The clips allow a seamless connection between the paving stones by spring action of the clips between them.

[0017] In this case, each flexible cutting support paving stone preferably comprises external fasteners positioned at each of its longitudinal ends and intended to cooperate with lateral edges of the fixing slats and at least one central fastener positioned between the external fasteners and intended to cooperate with two adjacent lateral edges of the two fixing slats on which the flexible paving stone is mounted. The external fasteners allow the paving stones to be held on the slats while maintaining functional clearance and a shape adapting to the winding of the slats. As for the central fasteners, they allow the paving stones to return flat when they come out of the winding.

[0018] The external fasteners of the flexible paving stones may each comprise a skirt extending towards the inside of the conveyor and which is provided with a tab capable of being housed under the lateral edges of the fixing slats. The skirt of the external fasteners makes it possible, by means of a spring pivot effect, to keep the faces of the paving stones parallel to each other, to obtain a perfectly rounded shape and therefore, to have no separation between the paving stones at the level of the bristles when the paving stones are rolled up.

[0019] Similarly, the central attachment of the flexible paving stones may comprise two tabs capable of being housed under two adjacent lateral edges of the two fixing slats on which the flexible paving stone is mounted.

[0020] The flexible paving stones may each comprise a plurality of flexible bristles arranged in parallel rows.

[0021] The invention also relates to an automatic blade cutting machine for sheet materials comprising a conveyor. Brief description of the drawings

[0022] [Fig. 1] Figure 1 shows one end of a suction cutting conveyor according to one embodiment of the invention.

[0023] [Fig. 2] Figure 2 schematically illustrates the positioning of the cutting support blocks of the cutting conveyor of Figure 1.

[0024] [Fig. 3] Figure 3 schematically illustrates an example of mounting fasteners for the cutting support blocks on the conveyor fixing slats.

[0025] [Fig. 4] Figure 4 illustrates how the external fasteners of Figure 3 act on the cutting support blocks when they are rolled up. Description of the embodiments

[0026] The present invention relates to a suction cutting conveyor of an automatic blade cutting machine for sheet materials, such as the conveyor 2 partially shown in Figure 1.

[0027] In a known manner, such a cutting conveyor 2 is used to drive the stack of sheets during the cutting operation. This cutting conveyor is typically housed in a box 4 inside which a strong depression is established in order to keep the sheets of material to be cut stationary during the cutting operation.

[0028] The cutting conveyor 2 also serves as a penetrating cutting support for the vibrating blade. It is indeed well known to make the cutting support penetrable by the blade so that during the cutting operation, the blade can not only pass completely through the material to be cut, but also extend downwardly beyond the support surface and into the bed of material providing such a surface.

[0029] The cutting conveyor 2 typically comprises a plurality of cutting supports 6 secured to a drive mechanism driven along rectilinear and curvilinear paths. For example, the cutting supports 6 may be mounted on a drive belt 8 driven at each end of the table by pinions 10 centered on horizontal axes 12. The drive belt 8 is thus driven along rectilinear trajectories (between the two ends of the cutting table) and curvilinear trajectories (at each end of the cutting table to turn around).

[0030] Of course, the drive belt could be replaced with a chain, a toothed belt or any other drive mechanism.

[0031] Each cutting support 6 comprises rigid fixing slats 14 which are assembled on the drive belt 8 by extending longitudinally (i.e. in the direction of their length) in a direction which is perpendicular to the rectilinear advance direction F of the conveyor.

[0032] Each cutting support 6 also comprises flexible blocks 16 which are mounted on the fixing slats 14 and which are each provided with a plurality of bristles on which a sheet material to be cut is intended to rest.

[0033] More specifically, the flexible blocks 16 each have the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped and comprise a plurality of flexible bristles, the bristles each having a foot mounted on a sole 16a forming several parallel rows of bristles, and a head opposite the foot and on which the sheet material to be cut is intended to rest.

[0034] Transverse channels 16b (see Figures 4 and 5) are provided through the soles 16a of the flexible blocks to allow suction air to pass through the soles. The flexible blocks can thus support the material to be cut under suction while still being able to be penetrated by the cutting blade.

[0035] Furthermore, at the longitudinal end of the cutting surface (relative to the direction of advance F of the conveyor), the cutting table comprises a plurality of discharge combs 18 which are generally raised relative to the cutting surface. These discharge combs 18 extend over the entire width of the cutting surface and thus assist in discharging the material from the cutting surface.

[0036] Similarly, at the opposite longitudinal end of the cutting surface, the cutting table also includes a plurality of loading combs (not shown in the figures) which are generally raised above the cutting surface and which help to load the material onto the cutting surface.

[0037] According to the invention, and as shown in Figure 2, each flexible block 16 is mounted on at least two adjacent fixing slats 14.

[0038] Since the fixing slats 14 extend longitudinally in a direction which is perpendicular to the direction of advance F of the conveyor, the flexible blocks 16 extend longitudinally (i.e. in the direction of their length L) in a direction parallel to the direction of advance F of the conveyor.

[0039] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 4, the sole 16a of the flexible paving stones 16 is provided with mounting fasteners on the fixing slats 14, namely: two external fasteners 20 which are positioned at each of the longitudinal ends of the paving stone, and a central fastener 22 which is positioned between the external fasteners 20.

[0040] The external fasteners 20 are each intended to cooperate with lateral edges 14a of the fixing slats 14. For this purpose, the external fasteners 20 of the flexible paving stones each advantageously comprise a skirt 20a which extends towards the inside of the conveyor and which is provided with a tongue 20b which is capable of being housed under the lateral edges 14a of the fixing slats.

[0041] More specifically, the skirts 20a of the external fasteners 20 have, before mounting the flexible paving stone, a slight angle towards the outside of the flexible paving stone so that this angle acts as a spring when mounting the paving stone with the other paving stones. This spring effect thus makes it possible to absorb the play between the adjacent paving stones and imposes a flat support of the adjacent faces of the paving stones in order to guarantee their non-separation when rolling the paving stones (see figure 4).

[0042] Likewise, the central attachment 22 is intended to cooperate with two adjacent lateral edges 14a of the two fixing slats 14 on which the flexible paving stone is mounted. For this purpose, the central attachment 22 advantageously comprises two tabs 22a which are capable of being housed under two adjacent lateral edges 14a of the two fixing slats on which the flexible paving stone is mounted.

Claims

Claims

1. Suction cutting conveyor (2) for an automatic blade cutting machine for sheet materials, comprising a plurality of cutting supports (6) integral with a drive mechanism (8, 10) driven along rectilinear and curvilinear paths, the cutting supports comprising: - rigid fixing slats (14) assembled on the drive mechanism extending longitudinally in a direction perpendicular to a direction of advance (F) of the conveyor, and - flexible blocks (16) mounted on the fixing slats (14) and provided with bristles on which a sheet material to be cut is intended to rest, - characterized in that each flexible paving stone (16) is mounted on at least two adjacent fixing slats (14).

2. Conveyor according to claim 1, in which the flexible blocks (16) of the cutting supports extend longitudinally in a direction (L) parallel to the direction of advance (F) of the conveyor.

3. Conveyor according to one of claims 1 and 2, in which the flexible blocks (16) of the cutting supports each have the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped.

4. Conveyor according to any one of claims 1 to 3, in which the flexible blocks (16) of the cutting supports each comprise a sole (16a) provided with mounting fasteners (20, 22) on the fixing slats (14).

5. Conveyor according to claim 4, in which each flexible cutting support block (16) comprises external fasteners (20) positioned at each of its longitudinal ends and intended to cooperate with lateral edges (14a) of the fixing slats (14) and at least one central fastener (22) positioned between the external fasteners and intended to cooperate with two adjacent lateral edges (14a) of the two fixing slats (14) on which the flexible block is mounted.

6. A conveyor according to claim 5, wherein the external attachments (20) of the flexible blocks each comprise a skirt (20a) extending towards the inside of the conveyor and which is provided with a tab (20b) capable of being housed under the lateral edges (14a) of the fixing slats.

7. Conveyor according to one of claims 5 and 6, in which the central attachment (22) of the flexible blocks comprises two tabs (22a) capable of being housed under two adjacent lateral edges (14a) of the two fixing slats on which the flexible block is mounted.

8. A conveyor according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the flexible blocks (16) each comprise a plurality of flexible bristles arranged in parallel rows.

9. An automatic blade cutting machine for sheet materials comprising a conveyor (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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