GB2141951A - Drilling machine - Google Patents

Abstract

A drilling machine 1 comprises a vertically moving support 9, a cylindrical member 11 capable of being rotated by a hydraulic actuator 12, 13 around its own axis through a predetermined angle, and a shaft 11' supported by support 9 and capable of rotating around its own axis, and of being locked in predetermined positions with respect to said cylinder 11. To one extremity of said shaft 11' is secured a head 17 carrying a number of tool pairs 18, 19, set on a plane orthogonal to the axis of said shaft 11' the tools of each pair being moved between an operative position and an inoperative position by means of the actuator 12, 13. By adjusting the angular relation between the member 11 and shaft 11' different pairs of tools can be brought into operation. One of the tools may comprise a workpiece positioning device. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Drilling machine This invention relates to a drilling machine and particularly a machine intended for the quick positioning and mounting of hinges on elements such as panels or the like.

The invention aims to provide a simple, practical and functional drilling machine, equipped with means suitable for allowing the application of hinges or the like in a short time, and a machine having limited dimensions, with consequent economizing on the production costs.

The invention also provides a drilling machine wherein it is possible to mount, on a single rotating support, several pairs of tools at the same time, so that the operator can choose, according to the kind of work, the most suitable tools to use.

According to the present invention there is provided a drilling machine comprising a vertically movable support provided with a second cylindrical support capable of being rotated about its own axis through a predetermined angle, there being provided in said second cylindrical support a shaft capable of rotating about its own axis and of being blocked in predetermined positions with respect to said cylinder, one extremity of said shaft being provided with a head carrying a number of tool pairs, set in a plane orthogonal to the axis of said shaft.

There exist drilling machines wherein tools are mounted on a support which is mounted in its turn at the extremity of a substantially horizontal shaft. In this kind of drilling machine the tool holding support can rotate on a plane parallel to the axis of said shaft, to bring either unit of tools in the proximity to the working area.

However, the presence of the horizontal shaft prevents the support from effecting complete rotations, so that the amount of the drilling heads that can be mounted on the support is necessarily limited. Generally two heads are used, less frequently three.

In order to obviate inconvenience, the present invention provides for a drilling machine wherein the support of the tool units can rotate on a plane which is orthogonal to the axis of the supporting shaft, and wherein said supporting shaft is mounted in turn inside a cylinder, in respect of which it can be set in a number of predetermindd positions. The choice of the pair of tools to be used is in accordance with the variations in the positioning of the shaft inside the cylinder, while the passage from one tool unit to the other of the same pair is carried out by rotating the cylinder by means devices of a known kind.

This particular arrangement allows therefore to mount several pairs of tools on the same support, and to carry out different kinds of workings without it being necessary to replace the tools.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of a non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic front view of a drilling machine according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a schematic side view thereof; and Figure 3 is a schematic side view thereof taken along the line A-A indicated in Fig. 2.

The drilling machine is generally indicated as a whole by the reference 1. The machine 1 comprises a base structure 2 on which is provided a fixed working surface 3 and a movable positioning bar 4, with adjustable blocking elements of known type. The positioning bar 4 can be moved to a limited extent by means of a crank 5 acting on a screw device 6 secured to the bar 4. From the structure 2 extend supporting rod 7, upon which there is fixed a flat element 8. On said rods 7 there is mounted a vertically movable support 9, having an inner compression spring 10 and a cylinder 11 through which a shaft 11' passes. Secured to the outer side of the support 9 there is a piston 12 which actuates a rod 13, which in turn controls the rotation of the cylinder 11.The rod 13 acts on the cylinder 11 by means of an arm 14, secured to one end to the cylinder 11, and hinged at the other end to the extremity of the rod 13.

On the opposite side with respect to the piston 12, always on the support 9, there is provided a support 16 within which the shaft 11' can rotate. On the head 17 of the shaft 11' there are mounted a number of tools, orthogonally located relative to each other, e.g. at least a drilling unit 18 and an additional support 19 for hinges.

Inside the head 17 there is also provided a motor 20, for actuating said tools. To the upper part 8, moreover, there is pivoted a lever 21, hinged to one end of a rod 22 whose other extremity is secured to the support 9. There is also provided a supplementary lever 23 for actuating the piston 12. On the support 9 there are mounted mechanical elements for making the cylinder 11 effect an exact rotation of 90 when the piston 12 is actuated.

On the shaft 11' there are conical holes, or grooves parallel to the axis, with a V-shaped section, wherein at least one screw 15 with conical point or the like is inserted, in order to clamp the cylinder 11 with respect to the shaft 11'.

The working operation is as follows: The hinges are manually applied to the support 19.

The support 9 is provided with templates which, by means of magnetic and/or mechan ical systems, hold the hinge to be inserted.

The bar 4 is properly positioned, and the crank 5 is actioned. By lowering the lever 21, rod 22 presses on the support 9 and lowers the support 9 against the face of the spring 10; thus the whole drilling unit 18 is set in an operative state and position. Once the drilling has been effected, by means of the spring 10, the support 9 and, accordingly, the unit or head 17 is brought back to the initial position.

At this stage, by actuating the lever 23, the pneumatic piston 12 is acted upon, allowing the cylinder 11 and the shaft 11' to rotate through 90 , so that the hinge-holding unit 19 is vertically placed above the panel being worked.

After positioning the unit 19, the lever 21 is actuated which, acting on support 9, lowers the wholo devices so as to cause the insertion of the hinge supported by element 19 into the hole previously effected by tool 18. Once the whole cycle is over, the tool 19 is brought back in the working position. The down stroke of the support 9 is stopped by a lock nut while the stroke of the support 19 can be adjusted to allow the proper insertion of the hinge in the hole made in the panel. In the machine shown in the drawings only one pair of tools is illustrated; obviously, however, two or more pairs of tools can be mounted on the head 17; morover, it is possible to choose the most suitable pair for each different kind of working simply by properly positioning the shaft 11' with respect to the cylinder 11.

Of course, analogous means can be used for an embodiment of the invention. For instance, the vertical shifting of the support 9 ca be effected by hydraulic means, and by stroke ends if any-Of known type.

From the foregoing description the advantages of the drilling machine according to the invention will be clear, namely: (a) possibility of mounting on a single support a number of tool pairs to be employed alternatively, with consequent saving of time; (b) quicker replacements of tool pairs; (c) quick and exact positioning of said tool pairs.

Of course, the sizes and the employed materials may vary according to the different requirements of use.

Claims (4)

1. A drilling machine comprising a vertically movable support provided with a second cylindrical support capable of being rotated about its own axis through a predetermined angle, there being provided in said second cylindrical support a shaft capable of rotating about its own axis and of being blocked in predetermined positions with respect to said cylinder, one extremity of said shaft being provided with a head carrying a number of tool pairs, set in a plane orthogonal to the axis of said shaft.

2. A drilling machine as claimed in claim 1, having a first support, capable of being rotated between two predetermined positions, and a second support rotatable with respect to the first one and lockable in predetermined positions, supporting a number of tool pairs.

3. A drilling machine as claimed in claim 1, having as means for securing the supporting shaft to the rotating cylinder means capable of causing the insertion of a conical ended rod into wedge-shaped seats provided on said shaft.

4. A drilling machine substantially as herein before described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.