Automatic punching machine for making brushes and method for automatically making brushes by punching

An automatic punching machine for making brushes, comprising:

• a slide connected to a first actuator and movable with reciprocating motion for receiving bundles of fibers and feeding them to a brush body;
• a needle connected to a second actuator and movable with reciprocating motion for inserting the bundles of fibers inside corresponding openings of the brush body;
• a control system connected to the first and second actuators for controlling them in a synchronized fashion,
• wherein the control system comprises:
• a first sensor designed for detecting a first signal representing the position of the slide during movement of the slide;
• a second sensor designed for detecting a second signal representing the position of the needle during movement of the needle;
• a memory containing data of a predetermined trend of at least one control parameter, representing the position of the slide, as a function of a synchronization parameter representative of a duty cycle of the punching machine;
• a processor designed to receive from the sensors the first and second signals and programmed for deriving in real time values of the synchronization parameter and for controlling at least the first actuator by feedback as a function of the first and second signals detected, of the values derived for the synchronization parameter and of the data contained in the memory.

An automatic punching machine for making brushes, comprising:

• a slide connected to a first actuator and movable with reciprocating motion for receiving bundles of fibers and feeding them to a brush body;
• a needle connected to a second actuator and movable with reciprocating motion for inserting the bundles of fibers inside corresponding openings of the brush body;
• a control system connected to the first and second actuators for controlling them in a synchronized fashion, the actuators comprising reversible electrical machines, wherein
• the actuators are electrical machines and have respective power supplies electrically interconnected;
• the control system is programmed for controlling each of the actuators to operate as a motor during acceleration and to operate as a generator during deceleration, as a function of an instantaneous operation of each of the actuators, such that the electricity supplied by one of the actuators operating as a generator can be used by the other of the actuators operating as a motor;
• wherein one of the actuators can operate as a motor and the other of the actuators can simultaneously operate as a generator, because the movements of the slide and the needle are synchronized in such a way as to allow the slide to accelerate while the needle is decelerating and vice versa.

An automatic punching machine for making brushes, comprising:

• a slide connected to a first actuator and movable with reciprocating motion for receiving bundles of fibers and feeding them to a brush body;
• a needle connected to a second actuator and movable with reciprocating motion for inserting the bundles of fibers inside corresponding openings of the brush body;
• a control system connected to the first and second actuators for controlling them in a synchronized fashion, the actuators comprising reversible electrical machines, wherein
• the actuators have respective power supplies electrically interconnected;
• the control system is programmed for controlling the actuators during operation as a motor or as a generator, as a function of an instantaneous operation of each electrical machine for acceleration or deceleration, respectively, such that the electricity supplied by an actuator operating as a generator can be used by another actuator operating as a motor,
• wherein the control system comprises:
• a first sensor designed for detecting a first signal representing the position of the slide during movement of the slide;
• a second sensor designed for detecting a second signal representing the position of the needle during movement of the needle;
• a memory containing data of a predetermined trend of at least one control parameter, representing the position of the slide, as a function of a synchronization parameter having a predetermined relationship with a parameter representing the position of the needle;
• a processor designed to receive from the sensors the first and second signals and programmed for deriving in real time values of the synchronization parameter and for controlling at least the first actuator by feedback as a function of the first and second signals, the values derived for the synchronization parameter and the data contained in the memory.