Stripping device
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a stripping device for part of a machine tool mounted for reciprocation on a guide, the stripping device comprising an elastic stripping lip and a holder which accommodates the stripping lip and which is intended to be fixed to the moving machine part 
     In known stripping devices, the holder for the stripping lip generally consists of sheet steel bent for example into the form of a substantially U-shaped rail. Since stripping devices such as these generally have to engage around edges of the machine tool guide, the holders have to be assembled from several individual parts. In conventional constructions, these individual parts of the holders, which generally adjoin one another at an angle, are normally welded to one another at the joints. 
     The major disadvantage of conventional constructions lies in their high manufacturing costs which are attributable to the need to machine the steel plates forming the holder and to the need to weld the individual parts of the holder at the joints. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The objects of the present invention are to obviate the above mentioned disadvantages and to provide a stripping device of the type referred to above which is distinguished by its particularly simple and economic manufacture. 
     According to the invention, these objects are achieved in that the holder of the stripping lip consists of adjacent profile sections which are joined together by plug-type connecting elements which engage in recesses formed in the profile sections. The profile sections of the holder preferably are formed of aluminium. 
     The solution provided by the invention is distinguished by the particularly simple and economic production and machining of the holder and, above all, enables the stripping device to be produced simply in any required shape and size on the unit construction principle (adjacent sections of the holder being joined together by plug-and-socket connections). 
     The stripping lip preferably is divided up into several lip sections corresponding to the lengths of the individual sections of the holder, adjacent lip sections advantageously being joined together by a plug-type connecting element in order to ensure that a smooth, non-displaceable transition between adjacent lip sections is obtained at the joints as well. 
     According to the invention, the profile sections of the holder joined together by plug-type connecting elements are further secured by an additional connection established for example by deformation or spot welding. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and other features of the invention are described in detail in the following with reference to several embodiments of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view through a stripping device and taken on the line 1--1 of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 2 is a plan view of a part of the stripping device illustrated in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 1 of a second embodiment; 
     FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 are elevational views of examples of a plug-type connecting element; 
     FIG. 7 is an elevation of another variant of a plug-type connecting element; and 
     FIGS. 8 to 11 illustrate further embodiments of the holder sections and the stripping lip. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The stripping device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is intended to be fixed to a part (not shown) of a machine tool mounted for reciprocation on a guide. The stripping device rests on this moving part of a machine tool (for example, a guide cover) at the surface 1, for example, and is connected, for example, by means of screws to this moving machine part. 
     The stripping device consists essentially of an elastic stripping lip 2 and of a holder 3 which accommodates the stripping lip and which is intended to be fixed to the moving machine part. 
     The holder 3 is made up of individual hollow profile sections arranged adjacent one another. The partial view in FIG. 2 shows two holder sections 31 and 32 which adjoin one another at a right angle. 
     In the upper region of their cross section, the hollow profile sections (for example 31, 32) of the holder formed of extruded aluminium comprise a continuous, hollow recess or space 4 of substantially rectangular cross-section and closed on all sides except its ends. A plug-type connecting element 5 is accommodated in the profile hollow spaces 4 of adjoining holder sections (for example 31, 32), and is shaped in accordance with the required angle between the holder sections to be joined together (in the arrangement shown in FIG. 2, the plug-type connecting element 5 forms a right angle). 
     In order to increase the strength of the connection between the holder sections 31, 32 and the plug-type connecting element 5, the connecting element 5 is provided in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 with four openings 6 into which the constituent material of the holder sections 31, 32 is partly pressed by pressure deformation. 
     In the lower region of their cross section, the holder sections (for example 31, cf. FIG. 1) comprise a downwardly open groove 7 intended for releasable engagement of the stripping lip 2. 
     The stripping lip 2 is divided up into several lip sections (for example 21, 22) corresponding to the lengths of the individual holder sections (for example 31, 32). At the joint between adjacent lip sections (for example 21, 22) the adjacent sections are joined together by a plug-type connecting element 8. To this end, each lip section has a continuous recess 9 which opens outwards through a narrow slot 10 and which is used to receive the plug-type connecting element 8. This plug-type connecting element 8 may be formed, for example, by a flexible wire or by a suitably shaped plastics moulding. It provides for a smooth transition, protected against undesirable displacements, between the adjacent lip sections (for example 21, 22) in the vicinity of the joint. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, the groove 7 (intended to accommodate the stripping lip 2) is provided in the lower cross-sectional region of the holder 3 with an undercut 7a in which the stripping lip 2 engages in form-locking manner. In order to make it easier for the stripping lip 2 to be snapped into this undercut groove, the stripping lip 2 is provided with an opening 11 which increases its deformability. 
     In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the groove 17 of the holder 3&#39; does not have an undercut. The stripping lip 2&#39; may be held in this groove 17 either by elastic interlocking or by being cemented in the groove. As in the previously described embodiment, adjacent holder sections are joined together by a plug-type connecting element 5&#39; whilst adjacent lip sections are joined together by a plug-type connecting element 8&#39;. 
     FIGS. 4 to 6 show another embodiment of a plug-type connecting element 15 which may be substituted for the element 5. At both ends, it is provided on its broad sides with a notched or toothed profile 15a, 15b, 15c, 15d. After the adjacent holder sections 31, 32 are pushed onto the plug-type connecting element by which they are joined together, the holder sections are deformed inwardly by external pressure in the region of the notches 15a to 15d, so that a firm connection is established between the assembled holder sections. 
     In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, toothed or notched profiles (for example 15&#39;a) are provided on the narrow sides of the plug-type connecting element 15&#39;. In this case, too, a form-locking and friction-locking anchorage is established by subsequently subjecting the holder sections to pressure deformation inwards in the vicinity of these notched profiles. 
     It is obvious that the additional connection between the holder sections and the plug-type connecting element may also be established, for example, by spot welding, cementing, heat shrinking, or cold pressing. 
     That part of the profile spaces of the holder sections which is not used for accommodating the plug-type connecting elements is best filled with a known medium of low compressibility in order to prevent compression of the holder sections during fixing of the latter to the moving part of the machine tool. 
     FIG. 8 shows a holder section 41 fixed to a movable machine part 43. The holder section 41 has a recess 42 therein which is closed on three sides, its open side facing the movable machine part. The recess 42 is adapted to accommodate a plug-type connecting element 5 which preferably terminates flush with the fixing surface 44 of the holder section 41. The recess 45 accommodates the stripping lip (not shown). 
     FIGS. 9 and 10 show two further variants of holder sections 46 and 47 with outwardly open recesses for receiving the plug-type connecting elements. According to FIG. 9, the recess 48 has a dovetail cross-sectional profile for the accommodation of a complementally shaped connecting element. In the variant shown in FIG. 10, the recess 49 is open towards one narrow side of the holder section 47. 
     Finally, FIG. 11 shows a stripping lip 50 which is intended, for example, to engage in a holder of the type illustrated in FIG. 1. In this case, the opening 51 which increases the deformability of the snap-in region is outwardly open.