Bristle Goods Manufacturing Machine

This application claims priority from German Patent Application No. 10 2024 110 544.5, filed Apr. 15, 2024, which is incorporated in its entirety herein as if fully set forth.

The invention relates to bristle goods manufacturing machines. Bristle goods manufacturing machines are used for manufacturing bristle goods, for example for manufacturing brushes, brooms or paintbrushes.

in the manufacture of bristle goods, bristle filaments are attached to bristle carriers to form a bristle trim on the bristle goods.

The bristle filaments can be attached in different ways. For example, it is known to attach bristle filaments by means of anchors in receiving holes of a bristle carrier. The so-called anchorless fastening of bristle filaments is also used. Here, bristle filaments are joined to a bristle carrier, for example by means of a thermal joining process, to produce a bristle goods.

Irrespective of the type of fastening, bristle filaments must be processed and treated to produce bristle goods. In a highly automated manufacturing process, the bristle filaments are transported through a bristle goods manufacturing machine in order to be processed and finished at different stations of the bristle goods manufacturing machine.

The bristle filaments and the bristle goods themselves are transported through the bristle goods manufacturing machine using transport holders, which can be plate-shaped, for example, and are then also referred to as transport plates.

The cleanliness of the transport holders can have a considerable influence on the quality of the bristle goods produced.

For example, bristle filaments remaining in or on the transport holders can impair the production of bristle goods and increase the reject rate in the production of bristle goods.

DE 10 2022 105 091 B4 discloses a device for grinding bristle filaments, wherein the device comprises a motor-driven grinding surface carrier with a grinding surface and a dust extraction device associated with the grinding surface, wherein the dust extraction device () has a suction housing and a port for connection to a vacuum source and a suction gap is formed between the grinding surface and the suction housing, and wherein the device comprises at least one means for supporting a suction effect of the dust extraction device.

DE 10 2016 012 715 A1 discloses a device for cleaning a brush, which is set up to carry out a method for cleaning a brush. The method comprises the following steps: generating a laminar fluid flow between at least one pressure source and at least one pressure sink, deflecting free bristle ends of bristles of a bristle field of a brush arranged between the at least one pressure source and the at least one pressure sink against the flow direction of the fluid flow, releasing the deflected bristle ends, as a result of which these move back jerkily into their initial position due to an elasticity of the bristles and particles adhering to the bristles are detached, as well as discharging the detached particles in the direction of the at least one pressure sink by means of the fluid flow.

The object of the invention is to provide a bristle goods manufacturing machine which is distinguished by improved usage properties and high quality and economy in the manufacture of bristle goods.

To solve the problem, a bristle goods manufacturing machine is provided with one or more of the features disclosed herein directed to such a bristle goods manufacturing machine. In particular, a bristle goods manufacturing machine is thus provided for solving the problem, which has a suction device for suctioning off transport holders for bristle filaments, the suction device comprising a suction housing in which a dirt sink is formed.

The dirt sink in the suction housing of the suction device prevents dirt that has already been suctioned off from the transport holders from returning to the area of the transport holders. Contamination deposited in the dirt sink can therefore be trapped there, which improves the efficiency of the suction device and favours the production of bristle goods of a particularly high quality.

The dirt sink can be formed in the flow path between a suction opening and a suction connection opening of the suction housing. The suction opening can be the part of the suction housing where the transport holders are presented for suction.

The suction connection opening can be used to connect the suction housing to a vacuum source in order to create a fume cupboard suitable for suctioning off transport containers

The suction device can have a drawer that is arranged in its dirt trap position in the dirt sink and can be removed from the dirt trap position inside the suction housing. Suctioned dirt that has accumulated in the drawer can then be easily removed from the suction housing from time to time by removing the drawer.

It is advantageous if the suction housing has an inner contour that is inclined towards the dirt sink in the direction of the flow path through the suction housing. Contamination deposited on the inner contour can then be channelled towards the dirt sink by the inclination of the inner contour. The dirt sink can be located in a low point of the housing.

The inclination of the inner contour of the suction housing in the direction of the dirt sink can also prevent dirt particles from being sucked out of the dirt sink by gravity back towards the suction opening of the suction housing and thus out of the suction housing.

In one embodiment of the suction housing, the suction housing has a contour maximum on its inner contour between the suction opening and the dirt sink. The inner contour can be inclined from the contour maximum in one direction towards the suction opening and in another direction towards the dirt sink. This contour maximum also effectively prevents dirt in the dirt sink from getting back into a working area of the bristle goods manufacturing machine or even onto transport holders located in the area of the suction opening of the suction housing.

In one embodiment of the bristle goods manufacturing machine, the suction opening of the suction housing is oriented downwards in the direction of gravity. In this way, transport holders to be suctioned off can be moved from below to the suction opening and suctioned off there using the suction device.

The transport holders can be plate-shaped and/or have transport holders, in particular transport holders in the form of through-holes, for bristle filaments and/or for bristle bundles composed of bristle filaments. Furthermore, the transport holders can be part of the bristle goods manufacturing machine. The transport holders can be rail-guided carriages or trolleys that can be moved by the transport machine. The transport holders can be designed to hold and transport finished bristle goods, in particular finished brushes, brooms and/or paintbrushes.

In this context, it can be advantageous if the transport holders for suction are held as close as possible to the suction opening on the suction housing. This ensures that an air flow generated by the suction of the suction device passes through the transport holders, which are preferably designed as through-openings. This favours a residue-free suctioning-off of the transport holders with the aid of the suction device of the bristle goods manufacturing machine. In this context, it can be advantageous if the suction opening of the suction housing has an edge, preferably without interruption, against which a transport holder to be suctioned can be placed as closely as possible.

In one embodiment of the bristle goods manufacturing machine, a normal to the suction opening and a normal to the suction connection opening of the suction housing can be aligned transversely or at right angles to each other.

This orientation of the suction opening relative to the suction connection opening thus causes a deflection of an air flow guided through the suction housing, which can favour the deposition of dirt particles in the dirt sink inside the suction housing, unless the dirt particles are removed directly from the suction housing via the suction connection opening and fed to a separator.

The suction device can have a handling device which is set up to move transport holders for suction into a suction position in front of the suction opening of the suction housing. In this embodiment of the bristle goods manufacturing machine, the suction housing can thus be a stationary suction housing. In particular, if the transport holders are moved through the bristle goods manufacturing machine, for example on transport carriages or transport slides, in order to feed the transport holders to different stations of the bristle goods manufacturing machine, it is then possible to integrate the suction device in a suction station of the bristle goods manufacturing machine into a series of other stations of the bristle goods manufacturing machine.

It is also possible to move the suction housing of the suction device into a suction position in order to suction off the transport holders.

In one embodiment of the bristle goods manufacturing machine, the suction device has a, preferably mechanical, cleaning element, for example a cleaning slide. The cleaning element can be used to clean a side of a transport holder located in the suction position at the suction opening that faces away from the suction opening and can be moved from an initial position into a cleaning position for this purpose.

In conjunction with the suction device, the preferably mechanical cleaning element can then be used to loosen dirt adhering to a side of the transport holder facing away from the suction opening and feed it into the suction flow generated by the suction device.

The suction position can be arranged between the suction opening and the cleaning position of the cleaning element. In this way, the transport holders in the suction position are then arranged between the suction opening on the one hand and the cleaning element in the cleaning position on the other. In this way, two different sides of the transport holder can be reliably cleaned.

The suction device can comprise a vacuum source that is connected to the suction housing, in particular via the suction connection opening. The vacuum source can then be used to generate the suction and suction flow required to suction off the transport holders.

The bristle goods manufacturing machine can have a removal station for removing finished bristle goods from the transport holders.

The bristle goods manufacturing machine can have a sensor, in particular a reflector light barrier, which is set up and intended to check the transport holders for bristle goods remaining on the transport holders after the bristle goods have been removed. If the sensor can still detect bristle goods on a transport holder after the bristle goods have been removed, this indicates a malfunction of the bristle goods manufacturing machine and the bristle goods manufacturing machine can preferably be stopped automatically.

The bristle goods manufacturing machine can, in particular as part of the removal station, have a product deposit surface on which finished bristle goods can be placed. This product deposit surface can be located upstream of the aforementioned suction device in the direction of transport of the transport holders through the bristle goods manufacturing machine.

In this way, it is possible to remove the finished bristle goods from the transport holders and place them on the product deposit surface.

To solve the problem, a bristle goods manufacturing machine with a filament sensor for detecting bristle filaments remaining on transport holders is also provided. The filament sensor can be located upstream of the suction device and/or downstream of the aforementioned product deposit surface. For example, an optical sensor, preferably an optical line sensor and/or a throughbeam photoelectric sensor and/or a reflector photoelectric sensor can be used as the filament sensor. Preferably, the throughbeam photoelectric sensor used is a throughbeam laser photoelectric sensor.

A throughbeam laser photoelectric sensor is distinguished by a finely focused laser light spot, which enables precise switching behaviour of the throughbeam laser photoelectric sensor due to its sharp contour. A throughbeam laser light barrier can therefore also be used to reliably detect delicate structures such as bristle filaments.

To solve the problem, a bristle goods manufacturing machine is also provided, which combines more than one of the features disclosed herein.

The filament sensor, especially if it is designed as a line sensor, can be aligned with its longitudinal extent transverse to a transport direction in which the transport holders pass the filament sensor on their way to the suction device. Furthermore, a longitudinal extent of the sensor, which is preferably designed as a line sensor, can be greater than a dimension of the transport holders that can be measured transversely or at right angles to the transport direction of the transport holders. In this way, it is possible to check a transport holder, which is moved past the filament sensor in order to feed the transport holder to the suction device, for remaining bristle filaments on both the top and bottom sides.

The result of the filament sensor's detection of bristle filaments remaining on transport holders can be used to draw conclusions about the quality of the manufactured bristle goods that were previously arranged on the transport holder. The detection of bristle filaments on the transport holder can indicate missing bristle filaments on the finished bristle goods. This means that the bristle goods can be classified as faulty and rejected as rejects without direct inspection of the bristle goods, even if bristle filaments remaining on a transport holder are detected.

In this context, it can be advantageous if the bristle goods manufacturing machine has a reject area for defective bristle goods. Defective bristle goods can then be rejected from the manufacturing process as bad parts in this reject area.

The product deposit surface can be a conveyor belt that can be moved in two opposite directions. In this way, it is possible to transport bristle goods placed on the product deposit surface in both directions. In this context, it can be advantageous if the reject area is arranged on one side of the product deposit surface, which is designed as a movable conveyor belt. In this way, defective bristle goods can be separated out into the reject area as required by appropriate control and movement of the conveyor belt.

The bristle goods manufacturing machine can be set up, in particular by a control unit, to reject the faulty bristle good if a faulty bristle good is detected. This can be done by activating the conveyor belt accordingly. The defective bristle good can be ejected from the conveyor belt into the previously mentioned reject area.

In this context, it can be advantageous if the control unit is connected to the aforementioned filament sensor for detecting bristle filaments remaining on transport holders in such a way that a corresponding sensor signal, which indicates a remaining bristle filament on a transport holder, is used to separate out the bristle good then classified as faulty, in particular by correspondingly controlling the conveyor belt. In this way, the bristle goods previously removed from the transport holder checked by the sensor and deposited on the conveyor belt can then be classified as faulty and sorted out into the reject area of the bristle goods manufacturing machine.

Defective bristle goods can of course also be removed by a gripper, which then removes the bristle goods that have been tested as defective from the product deposit surface or directly from the transport holders, for example, and preferably removes them to the reject area.

The bristle goods manufacturing machine can also have a sensor, in particular a camera, which is set up for quality control, preferably optical, of finished bristle goods.

The use of a filament sensor, in particular a line sensor and/or a throughbeam photoelectric sensor, preferably a throughbeam laser photoelectric sensor, and/or a reflector photoelectric sensor, for the indirect inspection of finished bristle goods is also provided to solve the problem, wherein transport holders are checked for adhering bristle filaments with the filament sensor after the removal of bristle goods and the bristle goods removed from the transport holders are classified as faulty if bristle filaments are detected on the transport holders, in particular if at least one bristle filament is detected on a transport holder. The bristle goods classified as faulty can then be rejected as rejects.

A throughbeam laser photoelectric sensor is characterized by a finely focused laser light spot, which enables precise switching behaviour of the throughbeam laser photoelectric sensor due to its sharp contour. Even delicate structures, such as bristle filaments, can be reliably detected with a throughbeam laser light barrier.

The figures show at least parts of a bristle goods manufacturing machine designatedas a whole. The bristle goods manufacturing machinecomprises a suction devicefor suctioning off transport holdersfor bristle filaments. The suction devicehas a suction housingin which a dirt sinkis formed. The dirt sinkwithin the suction housingis clearly recognizable, particularly in the partially sectional representation of the suction housingas shown in.

The dirt sinkis arranged in the flow path between a suction openingand a suction connection openingof the suction housing. The suction openingis the part of the suction housingto which transport holderscan be held for suction. The suction housinghas an edgesurrounding the suction openingwithout interruption, against which a transport holderto be suctioned can be placed as closely as possible.

The suction devicecomprises a drawer, which is arranged in the dirt trap position in the dirt sink. The drawerin the dirt trap position can be seen in FIG., for example. To remove soiling that has accumulated inside the dirt sinkand in the drawer, the drawercan be pulled out of its dirt trap position shown ininto the position shown in, for example.