Method and device for automatic formation of bundles of metal laminations

A plant for producing armatures, comprising:

• a feeder for a series of lamination stacks, which moves said lamination stacks from a loading station of said lamination stacks to a sorting and separating station of lamination bundles;
• transferring members to transfer the lamination bundles from the sorting and separating station to an assembling station to assemble a plurality of lamination bundles in an armature of electrical machine, wherein a plurality of lamination bundles are arranged axially aligned and coincident with each other, one on top of the other, said assembling station comprising:
• a store for assembling the armature, the armature comprising one or more lamination bundles, the store being equipped with centering guides for laminations;
• an axial presser of the laminations of a lamination bundle or the plurality of lamination bundles unloaded in the store;
• a tool for stable connection of the laminations of the lamination bundles present in the store and in pressed condition one with respect to the other;
• said tool being supported so as to be displaceable along guides parallel to an axis of the lamination bundles and/or on guides radial with respect to said axis, alternatively to a working distance and a standby distance;
• and
• a grabber/conveyor for unloading said lamination bundles after a stable and mutual connection of the laminations with each other,
• wherein, at the sorting and separating station of the lamination bundles, a device for automatic formation of metal lamination bundles is provided, comprising:
• at least one vertical store for at least one lamination stack of laminations in overlapped condition;
• a sorting and separating station for a lamination bundle having a predetermined number of laminations;
• a translator of said lamination stack with at least one end in said sorting and separating station;
• said sorting and separating station comprising a gripper for radially clamping the lamination bundle adapted to be switched alternatively in a first state, in which at least part of the laminations of the lamination bundle are clamped, and a second state of not interfering with the laminations;
• translators of either said gripper relative to the lamination stack and/or the lamination stack relative to said gripper for positioning said gripper relative to the at least one end according to the predetermined number of laminations of the lamination bundle;
• and
• a nail or a detacher finger movable along a path, by which said detacher finger or said nail separates one or more laminations that incorrectly adhere to another lamination of the lamination bundle intended to be a last lamination of said lamination bundle, said one or more laminations being clamped by a part of their thickness or being glued to the last lamination while being instead intended to be a first lamination of the lamination stack facing the separated lamination bundle,
• wherein:
• said nail or said detacher finger cooperates with an axial band of a perimeter of the laminations of the lamination bundle coincident with only one point of the perimeter of said laminations,
• a separator knife is provided and supported to be movable in a radial direction with respect to an axis of the lamination bundle or the lamination stack and in a position coincident with or placed side by side with said axial band of the perimeter, and
• the separator knife is supported to be angularly movable around the axis of the lamination bundle or the lamination stack over a path along at least part of the perimeter of said laminations;
• further comprising a control unit, which operates said translators, said gripper, said nail or said detacher finger and said separator knife.