Machine and method for laminating two faces of a part

A machine for laminating a flat part (3) moved along a horizontal path and having on a first and a second face a surface to be covered possessing a predetermined height (H) to be covered determined between a lower edge (3i) and an upper edge (3s) of the part and a predetermined length L to be covered determined between a front edge (3a) and a rear edge (3b) of the part and respectively delimited by a front border (3′a) and a rear border (3′b), the machine including:

• a system (4) for conveying a part to be laminated, in a vertical standing position along a horizontal path;
• several first film application units (Ua1, Ua2, . . . ) disposed in series on the horizontal path of a first face of the part and each being vertically moved by a driving member (16), each first application unit including at least one drum (T) for applying a film and having an application generatrix (G), the at least one drum (T) moved toward and away from the part by a motor-driven laminating member (13), a cutting module (9) being mounted to cut out the film positioned on the drum upstream of the application generatrix (G);
• several second film application units (Ub1, Ub2, . . . ) disposed in series on the horizontal path of the second face of the part, each positioned facing a first application unit located on the first face, each second application unit being vertically moved by a driving member (16) and including at least one drum (T) for applying a film and having an application generatrix (G), the at least one drum (T) moved toward and away from the part by a motor-driven laminating member (13), a cutting module (9) being mounted for cutting out the film positioned on the drum upstream of the application generatrix (G);
• a system (20) for detecting the positions of the front edge (3a), the rear edge (3b) and the upper edge (3s) of the part with respect to the application drums (T) and for detecting the height to be covered on each of the faces of the part (3);
• a computing and controlling unit (22) linked to the conveying system (4), the detecting system (20), the driving members (16) for moving the drums (T), and the cutting modules (9), this unit (22) determining as a function of the height (H) of the surface of the part to be covered and of the widths of the films, the vertical position of the drums (T) for applying the protective films, this unit (22) being designed for:
• controlling the driving members (16) of the drums to place the drums in vertical positions such that the combined application with overlapping of the protective films on each of the faces of the part corresponds to the height of the surface (H) to be covered;
• consecutively controlling, as a function of the position of the front edge (3a) of the part, the motor-driven laminating members (13), gradually as the part moves along the horizontal path, in such a way as to simultaneously apply the protective films to each face of the part, starting from the front border (3′a) of the surface to be covered;
• consecutively controlling, as a function of the position of the rear edge (3b) of the part, the cutting modules (9), gradually as the part moves along the horizontal path, in order to cut out the protective films at the level of the rear border (3′b) of the surface to be covered in such a way that after the cutting-out of the protective film, the protective film adheres up to the application generatrix (G) on each drum (T).