CA1111018A - Yarn twister ring lubricant - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract:

A twister ring lubricant is formulated using a major portion of paraffin wax and a minor portion of conven-tional oil or grease. In the manufacture of ply which is used in making cord, the individual filaments are fed through the eye of a nylon traveler which spins around a steel twister ring. Two or more plies are cabled to form a cord also using a traveler which spins around a twister ring. The twister ring lubricant reduces the sliding friction between the nylon traveler and the steel twister ring.

Description

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Yarn tw ster ring lubrlc_3~t - ThIs lnvention is directed to the compos~tion used to lubricate twister rings used in the manufacture of yarn.
In the manufacture of yarn~ an ingenious system was de-veloped long ago to impart a twist to the yarn. This ingenious system involved the use of a traveler spinni around the periphery of a ring. Indivldual filaments were ~ed through the space at the top o~ the tra~-eler, between the traveler and the twister ring onto a ~obbin.
The spinnin~ of the traveler around the ring imparted a twlst to the fllaments forming a yarn. As the travel r depends upon the movement of the yarn to impart momentu.
to it, the frictiorlal relationship between the traveler and the rlng becomes importallt. If the frictlon is tco great, the traveler will stick and the yarn will ^realc.

A nu3r.ber of proprietary formulations are presently on 20 -the-market for use as twister ring lubricants. ~s the start-up of the twister rings is at a low ter~eratur-, t3.3e the lubricants presently used are fluid at a low ten~pera-ture. They have the consistency of a li~ht ~rease. ~he twister rings are lubrlcated by a man who ~uts so~e o~
thls grease on his hands and runs his hands arour-ld the twister ring~s. When the rings heat up due to the tra~r-'er movlng around the twlster rin~, the grease falls of`f, ~3~
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making a mess on the floor causing a fire hazard. Care must also be taken so that grease does not get on the twisted cord product.
This reduces adhesion when the cord is used to reinforce a vehicle tire because the cord dip will not stick well to those areas of a tire cord which have been contaminated with twister ring grease.
; In addition, the twister ring grease does not stay on the ring very long and must be replaced every 6 to 8 hours. A
relatively large amount of electricity is consumed running the twister. The friction also generates heat which increases the electrical needs for the air conditioning equipment in the mill.
In order to eliminate the need for manual lubrication, porous twister rings were developed and lubricant under pressure was forced through the rings from the inside. These rings, since they were porous, tended to clog up due to particles in the grease, caused an oil mist to form creating a mess; a slippery floor, and a fire hazard. Porous rings have also been known to be destroyed by corrosion due to the high temperature generating acidic com-ponents in the grease.
An infringement and novelty search has been conducted and the most pertinent, the only prior art found was United States Patent 3,816,346 discussed later.
It has been unexpectedly discovered that the addition of a major proportion of paraffin wax to conventional solid twister ring lubricants alleviates, to a large degree, the problem generated by the prior art.
Thus, in a method for twisting yarn by passing the yarn througn the eye of a nylon traveler turning on a twister ring to

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twist the yarn and feed it onto a rotating bobbin, wherein the surface of the twister ring is lubricated with a lubricant com-prising a mixture of a lubricating oil and a paraffin wax, this invention provides for the improvement comprising lubricating the surface of the twister ring in contact with the traveler with a solid lubricant consisting essentially of a minor amount of the lubricating oil having an SUS viscosity at 20C, in the range of 30-600 selected from the group consisting of hydrorefined naphthenic petroleum oil, hydrorefined paraffinic petroleum oil, solvent refined paraffinic petroleum oil, hydrogenated polyolefin oil, and mixtures thereof and a major amount of the paraffin wax whereby the friction between the traveler and the twister ring is reduced.
Furthermore, in a method of lubricating a yarn twister ring, this invention also provides for the improvement comprising applying to the ring a solid lubricant consisting essentially of a minor amount of lubricating oil having an SUS viscosity at 20 ln the range of 30-600 selected from the group consisting of hydro-refined naphthenic petroleum oil, hydrorefined paraffinic petroleum oil, solvent refined paraffinic petroleum oil, hydrogenated poly-olefin oil, and mixtures thereof and a major amount of paraffinwax whereby the friction between a traveler riding on the ring and the ring is reduced.
When using a major amount of paraffin in the twister ring lubricant, a 13% reduction in the electrical energy needed to spin the yarn was reali~ed. This reduction in energy consumption will be multiplied because it will also be reflected in a similar savings in air conditioning costs. A 13~

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increase in production can also be achieved :in lieu o`
a 13~ reduction in electrical energ~.

In addition, the paraffin containing lubricallt does nof mlst, thus eliminatirlc~ air pollution in the plallt. rl`~le cord produced possibly has a superior qualivy because lt is not contaminated with ~rease l~?hich reduces its Gd-hesion to rubber. When used in clothing, the d~e-bilit~!
of clo-th woven from the corcl procluced b the ~racticG of the present invention :Is improved because there is rn~it`h less contaimination on t.he surface of the cord.

Due to the fact that the lubricant lasts for about 40 to 50 hours, only about 1~5th to l/lOth of the concu~.~tio of the paraffin base lubricant is required as co~pared ~^
the prlor art lubricant. In additiol~, t}le paraffln basc lubricant is solid and far less niessy to use tharl tne prior art grease.

It is only necessary to apply a small amount to a srlall arc of the ring and the nylon traveler pichs it up and spreads it. The paraffin ~ase lubricant also reduces significantly the friction between the nylon traveler an-`
the steel ring which allol.ls the use of li~hter traveler~.
~5 Unfortunately, the paraffin base lubricant is so ~ooc, ~hat on some machines, the travelers spin too fast at ~h.it down and causes the end of the yarn to kinl~ beca~ise too much t-.~ist is imparted.

The paraffin constitutes on a ~eight percent basis, .hc ma~or amount of the paraff~n based lubricant. The ~ nor constituent is a conventiorlal grease used t;o 1ubrlcate ttla t~Jister rin~s. PreferabLy, the level of th- ~?.r~ff~ :Ir the paralfin based lubrlcant ls from 75o to ~5~ by ~iei~
The conventlonal grease ~Ised as a twister rir.~ bric~nv contains a base oil ~;hich is fluid at room 'e;pe~at~l~e.
Preferci[)ly, the SU~ vlsco~it~ at room t;elnpe~t~ e is ~n 1~

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, ' , ~ ' .8 the ran~e of from 30-6Qo. For a disclosure of twiste~
ring lubricants3 see U.S. Patent 3,~16~346 of Co~pock e~
al (1974). It is contemplated that the lubricant o~` tle present invention can be formulated from oaraffin and base oil without the thiclieller. The par~f`fin wax u~c(-l has a melt~ng pOiIlt above room temperature, 70~ `7vC) and preferably from 110F (44C) to 150~;' (65C), IllOSt pre~erably from 1~0F (49C) to 140F (60QC).

Figure 1 is a highly sim},li~ied schematlc ~Ir~ ir~ of a yarn twisting apparatus ~iavln(~ the ]ubrlcflnt of the ~)r-~e invention on the twister rirlg.

Figure 2 is a dra~Jing in cross-section of the tr~-eler which spins around the periphery of the twlster ring tc impart a twist to the yarn.

Figures 3a throu~h 3f are graphs which sho~-s the de~veas.^~l electrical needs for operating twisters using the l~br-~-cant of the present inventlon as compared with the ~lriorart grease.

The first ingredient of thls formulation is 31.25~ by fr.~ r~ O r weight of B-80 Extra Special Grease ~ ha~ t~;e Non-Fluld Oil Corporation. The grease contailled 1~.2~;
so~ium salt of fatty acids (mainly ole~c acid), 32.
hydrocarbon ~Jax and 48.55' m,ineral oll. The grease is basic211y the same as the ~rease as supplied by o'her companies to the textile industry.

The second component of the rin~ lubricant of the presen~
in~ention is paraffin wa,c purchased from the ~u~f Cll Corporation. ~he trade~ of the paraffln is aulf`-l!'a:~
Mo. 40*. Any ~-ood quality paraffin could be sub~'.itute .
*See Footnote 2 for chemical analysis an~ ranufac~ures specs.

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Footnote 2 Gulft~ax 40 5 Gra~ity, ASTM D 237: A~ heoretical L
Meltin~ Polnt, ASTM D 87: F 140.
AS'rM D 127: F
Congealing Point, AsTrlrl D 938: F 138 Penetration, AST~ D 1321 ~ 77F 14 @ lon~ o 10 Viscosity, SUS ~ 150F
@ 180F 46.P
@ 210~ 41.6 Fla3h, OC: F L~ 5 5 Cloud Point, ASTM D 97: ~ -Color, Saybolt ~ 30 15 Color, ASTM D 1500 Odor, Solid State ~lighf -Llquld Sta~e v. sli~ht O11 Content, ASTM D 721: % 0.15 Tenslle Strength, ASTM D 1320: psi 352 20Modulus of Rupture, TAPPI-655: psi 422 Oxldati.on Stabili.ty Test~ 275F
Pro~osed ASTM Method (1955) Induction Period: Mlnutes 749 Ultraviolet Absorptivity @ 290 m~, ASTM D 2008 < 0.ûl 25 API Classification Type I
Blocklng Point, ASTM D 1465 PiCI~iIIg Point: F 9g Blocking Po1.nt: F 108 Iodine Number 0.-4 30 Molecular Weight ll42 Refractive Index 1~ll35 Distil.lation, Vacuunl Corrected to 760mm H~
5~ Point: ~' ~ 804 10~ 810 50% 81~4 70% ~65 90% 896 . . . : - , ,: ~ . .

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The Gulf-~1ax No. 40 has a n;cltln~ polnt ot` 1l~0l~ C'`C~.
The ~llf-~ax No. 40 is present at a level of ~.7~ b!J
weight of the total forml~lat:loll. Ti~e tc)~a~ palafrit;
content is about 78.9%.

The ts~ ingredients are brought to ~ molten state ~,y placin~ the~ in a container ~-hich -is lowered 'n'~o ~o~
water. Stlrrinci~ the m~ ttlre ca~tses it to brc~ue hor~o-geni~2d. The mixture is then poured into n~olds to ~ rii " 10 a shape which can easily be held in the hand for a~Fli-cation to twister rings. ~fter cooling occurs, the re-sulting product is a solid lubricant. The best r,ode cor-templated would be to mix the in~>redients in a heated ex-truder and extrude it into a holdable bar s'rlepe.
The solid lubricant prepared ~.as applled to twister L''.r,{`'_ used in the production o~ tire cord~ The :lubricant 7 was applied to ~n arc of abollt 60 on the inside of ri}-!g As the traveler 5 moves by the applied lubrlc,ant 7, i~
20 picks up a small amount O}l the front face o~ tl-le i,rc~e~
lubricat.es itsel~, and spreads the lubricant 7 arcu~d the ring.

Tne operation o~ the yarn t~ister is as follows.
From bobbin (1) a bundle of endless filcn!erts aIe ~ec througrh eye 2. The spindle ~ turns bobbin 4 at a cc~l-sl;ar;t speed. The bundle of endless ~ilamenti^. are de~ere~
a speed sufficlent to insert desired an-c,unt, Ol t~l~S' ai-~
30 bundle moves along. The traveler 5 glides freely around rlng 6. The tension caused by dra~ Or traveler causes yarn to wind on bobbin at same rate of speed as it is dellvered by roll6. The second step in the ~anufacvure of`
tire cord ls to take two or more plles of t~.~ sted filai-, er.~;
35 bundles and feed them t,o the t~ister of ~ig. 1. The re-sultant product is a mult,i-ply twisted cord.

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It was ~ound tha~ t~le prodllction of yarn d~e to tlle im-proved lubricallt could be increa~ed b~,~ 13,`', t'lat no n~
of the lubrlcant occurred~ that l/5th of ~he ar.eullt o.
lubrican~ as compared ~o ~he prior art ~ s re~l,tlire~l, t}~;~t 5 the luhri.cant lasted for from 30 to as hih as sn ~IOlll`~, and tha~ it was far les~ m~ssy to us~. Tlle lubri~nt; ~.ra:~
u~ed on a number ~r i.ndiviclual twisters in order t.o ('Cl`.!-pare t.he electrical requirements as co~pare(~ to the I' art ~reas~. The results are set rort.h in Table I. "(lr~
10 i3 ~Ae lubricant o~ the pre~nt invention.

Table I

~r~ster Motor Spdl. Yarn No. Slze rpm Const.

8 20 3600 8l~0/2/2 18 2~ 3200 1300/3 ~5 3600 lOOQ/3

3~00 1000/3 Ll 3 20 3600 1300/3 l~g 20 3600 12S0/2 27 25 4250 130.0/3 :. 27 25 4250 1300/3 27 25 4600 1~00/3 J,~ld~

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Table ~ _~Cont.'d) ister Type Trav.
No. Lub. ~lzePe~ ol~ r - i r 8 Grease G-201-C~ 135.0 8 Grax G~201-C( 12~.9 8.1',s 18 Grease J-212-C( 111.3 18 ~rax J-212-C( 104.2 ~. P~ O
Grease J-154-C( 130.5 C-rax ~-154-C( 1~4-3 5.0,' 52 Grease J 154-C113.9 43 Grease J-212-Ct 114.6 l3 Grax J-212-C( 95.8 la.6~c ~9 Grease J-154-C( 230,~,~
; 26 Grease J-154-C( ~3~-0 49 Grax J 154-C( ~1~.4 8.i~' 27 Grease J-212-C123.2 (Cor.tro'~
27 ~rax J-212-C101.8 21.
27 Grax J-15lI-C94.2 Spd. +a.7~
K~IH - 30.8,' 27 Grax J-154-C-102.4 Spd. -~1&.1'~
KW~ 2Q.7~.
27 Grax J-154-C102.~ Spd.~ .]C'.
KWH -20.7 27 Grax J-119-C Spd. *27.~,~

~20 H.P. Motor, compared to Twister ~30, points out tha';
25 H.P. runnlng @ 3~00 is loaf~n~ and cos~ing money.
**Same as above except reversed. ~,26 being underloaded, costlng money.

No. 43 appears to be "odd", we have no explanation. C-~r~-rect savings by slmply changing to (;rax seems f,o be a~olIn 8%. Howe~er, by in~reasintr speed and changing travele.r size (and uslng Grax) lt seenIs we can galn 10~, speed t~hi' ; 35 loweri.n~ electrical consumption ~y 30~
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The lubrlcant of the present in~enti.oll }~s l~een irl t~e development sta~;e for al.most two years. In t;he be~in~ )g~
attempts were made to use pure paraffin as the ]ubri~nnt;.
This worked fine at operating temperatures but ~;etti~r 5 there was another problem. The frictional drag at S';?.~
up temperatures was too great so pure paraffin coul(~ r~t be used. Attempts were then made to formulate the par~ff -with other lubricants to solve the start-up problem.
of the e~perimental work was done on one uni.t of ri.ng 10 twisters and usable product which was produced on the Onf`
unlt was used ln the manufacture of tires wnich were solc'.
It is now felt that the experimental period is drawi.n~
.~ to a close and the lubricant of the present invention is beglnning to be used on the several hundred other yarn ' 15 twister units ln the plant.

Afier a majority of the yarll twisters in the plant ~:ele converted to the lubricant of the present :Lnvention~ the annual cost savings due to reduced energy used by tl-e 20 twisters was calculated based UpOIl actual re(lucecl elect '-cal ùsage by the twisters. The savir.gs exceeded ~88,ooc per year Figures 3a, b, c, d, e and r are the electrical usage of 25 different yarn twisters from start-up uslng the lubr~can';
of the present invention, (o) vs. the prior art ~,re~.se (;~?.
A twister ring~ generally speaking, usually operates at an estimated 100F to 120F (38C to 50C).
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30 The following Table II identifies the horsepower of t.~e drlve motor, the yarn twlsted, the type of ring and tl~
bobbin rprn.

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i Table II

Fi~. HP Yarn ,~`~,T~
3a 25 1300 1" verticîl ,oro~ve ^r~r polyester (25.4 cm) ~b 20 1260/2 1" (~45) ~rertical 3500 - nylon groove (25.4 cm) 3c ` 20 840~2/2 ll3/~4" double hori7.0n- 3';~^
nylon tal groove ring (17 cm) 3d 25 1300/3 1" vert:ical (~45) 320') polyes-ter groove (25.4 cm) 3e 25 1000/1/3 1" vertical (~1l5) ~57(~
polyester groove 3f 20 1300/1/3 1" multigroove rin~ ~500 As can be seen from the D~raphs 3a-3f, electrical usa~re durin~ the initial period after start-up is hi~her f~
the lu~ricant of' the present inventlon thcn for the ~rie~ 1 art ~rease. Each graph r~presents a different twist;er.
Electrical usage characteristics vary from twlster to ¦
t~Yister. After the initlal period has elapsed, howe~;er, ; 20 the electrical requirements ~or operatin~ t~ith the lub~
cant of the present inventlon are far less than the pr-or art grease.

It is contemplated that the use of a lo~er melting paraf-; 25 fin would decrease the ener;y requirements at start-up-and that formulation will be tried.

The best paraffin wax contemplated for use in the ~reicer;t inven~ion has a melting point of about ]2nF.

All of' the above test results obtaine~ the 6~.75~ ulf`-Wax 40 co~position.
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Early work was done usin~-~ nousehold paraff:in wa~ nor::a'ly 35 use~ for nome cannin~o,. r~h~ S Wa~ n~;~lte~i son;e~ ere i:i t;he nei~h~o3-hood of 120F. rl`he .lraC~ W.-lr;; SC !~ t tha' ~tll r 20% of the travelers were pulled off of the rincrs. qael----a 50-50 mixture of N'on-~'luld Oil ~-~0 E.~tra S~)ecial Grease and household paraffin was for~lulated which ~.orkei but was sloppy to handle. A 60-110 mix of ~-~0 E:~tr.L
Speclal Grease - household paraffin Wc!s tried and worl~e~..
The cabled cord produced can be used f'or t~res, con~e~or belts, backin~ for vinyl upholstery and for c].othin~.

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Claims (3)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. In a method for twisting yarn by passing the yarn through the eye of a nylon traveler turning on a twister ring to twist the yarn and feed it onto a rotating bobbin, wherein the surface of the twister ring is lubricated with a lubricant comprising a mix-ture of a lubricating oil and a paraffin wax, the improvement comprising lubricating the surface of the twister ring in con-tact with the traveler with a solid lubricant consisting essen-tially of a minor amount of the lubricating oil having an SUS
viscosity at 20°C, in the range of 30-600 selected from the group consisting of hydrorefined naphthenic petroleum oil, hydro-refined paraffinic petroleum oil, solvent refined paraffinic petroleum oil, hydrogenated polyolefin oil, and mixtures thereof and a major amount of the paraffin wax whereby the friction be-tween the traveler and the twister ring is reduced.

2. In a method of lubricating a yarn twister ring wherein the improvement comprises applying to the ring a solid lubricant consisting essentially of a minor amount of lubricating oil having an SUS viscosity at 20° in the range of 30-600 selected from the group consisting of hydrorefined naphthenic petroleum oil, hydro-refined paraffinic petroleum oil, solvent refined paraffinic petroleum oil, hydrogenated polyolefin oil, and mixtures thereof and a major amount of paraffin wax whereby the friction between a traveler riding on the ring and the ring is reduced.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2 wherein the paraffin wax is present at a level of from 75% to 85%.