Movement device, particularly for cutting torches of the plasma type and the like

Abstract

A movement device, particularly for cutting torches, comprising a working head that can move along three Cartesian axes which are mutually perpendicular and supports a cutting torch for cutting mechanical pieces, elements being further comprised for combined rotary and translational motion of the cutting torch with respect to the working head which comprises a first pinion which is adapted to transmit the motion to a disk-like element supporting an articulated parallelogram structure which in turn supports the cutting torch, and a second pinion which is arranged coaxial to the first pinion and is actuated by further drive elements, the second pinion actuating a conical pair formed by a third and a fourth pinion, the fourth pinion transmitting the motion to mechanical transmission elements which are integral with the articulated parallelogram structure.

Claims

1. A movement device, particularly for cutting torches, comprising: a working head that can move along three Cartesian axes which are mutuaIly perpendicular, said working head comprising a body which is associated slideably with a frame, wherein said body performs a translational movement vertically by way of first drive means and a combined rotary and translational movement by way of second drive means, each of which is accommodated in said body; an articulated parallelogram structure comprising a first arm and a second arm, wherein said first arm and said second arm are connected by linkages and each of which are actuated by mechanical transmission elements within them; a cutting torch supported by a lower end of said second arm; a disk like element connected to said cutting torch, said disk like element integrally connected to said first arm, wherein said second drive means are adapted to act on said disk like element; a supporting element which forms a part of said body and is arranged parallel to a working surface on which said cutting torch arts, wherein said supporting element supports said disk like elemant and further supports said second drive means and third drive means; a first pinion supported by said disk like structure, wherein said first pinion is actuated by said second drive means, causing said first arm to rotate; a second pinion arranged coaxial to and overlaid on said first pinion, which is actuated by said second drive means and said third drive means; a third pinion arranged coaxial to said first pinion and said second pinion, wherein said third pinion is directly actuated by said second pinion; and a fourth pinion which is arranged with its axis perpendicular to an axis of said third pinion, wherein said fourth pinion is supported by said first arm and is actuated by said second pinion.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein said first, second and third pinion are provided with a central hole which is adapted to allow the passage of a supply cable of said cutting torch.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein said mechanical transmission elements of said articulated parallelogram structure comprise, integral with said first arm, a driving pulley connected to said fourth pinion and a driven pulley, said driven pulley being connected, by one of said linkages, to a driven pulley which is integral with said second arm, a second of said linkages being connected between a transmission pulley of said first arm and a driven pulley of said second arm.

4. The movement device according to claim 1, wherein said cutting torch is of the plasma type.

Description

(1) Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become better apparent from the detailed description of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of a movement device, particularly for cutting torches of the plasma type, which is illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the movement device, particularly for cutting torches of the plasma type, according to the invention;

(3) FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view from below of the movement device shown in FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 is a partial side elevation view of the movement device shown in FIG. 1.

(5) With reference to the figures, the movement device, particularly for cutting torches of the plasma type, generally designated by the reference numeral 1, comprises a working head 2 that can move along three Cartesian axes which are mutually perpendicular and supports a cutting torch 7 for cutting mechanical pieces and the like.

(6) More precisely, as will be better described later, the working head 2 is associated with a frame 8 which supports a workstation that is known to the person skilled in the art and, thus, is not described in detail.

(7) Moreover, means 9 are comprised for the combined rotary and translational motion of the cutting torch 7 with respect to the working head 2 in order to vary the inclination of the cutting flow with respect to the piece being worked on.

(8) During every movement of the cutting torch 7, which in the example embodiment shown here is of the plasma type but which in other embodiments, not shown, can also be of the laser, gas, oxyhydrogen flame or other type, it is always trained on the same point without ever deviating from or interrupting the preset cutting path.

(9) More specifically, the working head 2 comprises a body 14 which is associated slideably with the frame 8.

(10) The body 14 can perform a translational movement vertically by way of first motor means 15 which are accommodated inside the body 14.

(11) The means 9 for combined rotary and translational motion of the working head 2 comprise second motor means 16 which are adapted to act on a disk-like element 17 to which the cutting torch 7 is connected, as will be described below.

(12) In substance, the second motor means 16 impart a complete and continuous rotation on the cutting torch 7, about an axis A.

(13) To this end the second motor means 16 are connected, by way of for example, a belt 18, to a first pinion 19 which is supported by the disk-like element 17.

(14) The disk-like element 17 in turn is integrally connected to a first arm 20 of an articulated parallelogram structure comprising a second arm 21 which is connected to the first arm 20 by way of a pair of linkages 22.

(15) The first and the second arm 20 and 21 are actuated by mechanical transmission elements associated with them.

(16) The second arm 21 supports, at its lower end, the cutting torch 7.

(17) The first arm 20 of the articulated parallelogram structure is thus made to rotate, according to an angle of 360 degrees, by the disk-like element 17 following the actuation imparted by the second motor means 16 to the first pinion 19.

(18) The disk-like element 17 is supported by a supporting element 23, which forms part of the body 14 and is arranged parallel to the working surface on which the cutting torch 7 acts.

(19) The supporting element 23 further supports the second drive means 16 and third drive means 24 which are adapted to actuate a second pinion 25, which is arranged coaxial to and overlaid on the first pinion 19 and is actuated by a belt 26.

(20) The second pinion 25 puts a conical pair in rotation which is constituted by a third pinion 27, which is arranged coaxial to the first and to the second pinion 19 and 25 and is directly actuated by the second pinion 25, and a fourth pinion 28, which is arranged with its axis perpendicular to the axis of the third pinion 27 and is meshed by it.

(21) The fourth pinion 28 is supported by the first arm 20 of the articulated parallelogram.

(22) On the fourth pinion 28 the mechanical transmission elements engage that transmit the motion from the first arm 20 to the second arm 21 of the articulated parallelogram.

(23) In the embodiment proposed, the articulated parallelogram structure comprises the two linkages 21 and 22 which are integral in rotation, at their ends, with first and second driven pulleys 30 and 31, which are respectively arranged on the arms 20 and 21, and are actuated by a driving pulley 33 which is actuated by the fourth pinion 28.

(24) The first driven pulley 30 of the first arm 20 is connected to the upper linkage 22, which in turn is connected to the driven pulley 31 of the second arm 21.

(25) A belt transmission 35 transmits the motion from the driving pulley 33 to the driven pulley 30, with the use of first, second and third tensioning and transmission pulleys 36, 37 and 43 which are arranged on the first arm 20.

(26) An additional belt transmission 39 connects, on the second arm 21, the second driven pulley 31 to a third driven pulley 39 (to which the lower linkage 22 is connected), by way of interposition of fourth and fifth tensioning and transmission pulleys 40 and 41.

(27) The first and the second pinion 19 and 25, as well as the third pinion 27, which are arranged mutually coaxially, are provided with a central hole through which a supply cable 42 passes which powers the torch 7.

(28) The movement device according to the invention thus makes it possible to achieve a complete and continuous rotation of the working head, thanks to the presence of the conical pair which makes it possible to free up the space in a position underlying the disk-like element 17.

(29) In this manner the cutting torch 7 can reach any point of the working surface without having to invert the direction of rotation of the working head.

(30) The cutting torch is thus capable of performing a complete rotation about the axis A and a rotation about the axis B, shown in FIG. 1.

(31) In the rotation movement about the axis B the torch remains contained in a plane that is always perpendicular to the cutting line that the torch has to follow.

(32) In other words, the angle of inclination of the torch has no influence on the orientation of the rotation axis A.

(33) This means that the torch, irrespective of the inclination that it can assume with respect to the vertical to the working surface, is always in a position such that its orientation with respect to the cutting line is perpendicular to a line that is tangential to the cutting line, at every point of the cutting line.

(34) In practice it has been found that the movement device, particularly for cutting torches of the plasma type, according to the invention, fully achieves the set aim and objects.

(35) The movement device, particularly for cutting torches, for example of the plasma type, thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims.

(36) Moreover, all the details may be substituted by other, technically equivalent elements.

(37) In practice the materials employed, provided they are compatible with the specific use, and the contingent dimensions and shapes, may be any according to requirements and to the state of the art.