EP0322288A1 - Napping machine - Google Patents

Abstract

The scratching machine according to the invention comprises controlled scraping cylinders of the counterweight type as well as cylinders (11) of the thistle type, of small dimension compared to the width of the fabric to be scratched, mounted free to rotate about their axis (13 ) and covered with a card lining, the teeth (14) of which are directed parallel to the axis (13) of rotation. The thistles (11) are mounted side by side to form a line. The thistle lines are mounted alternately with counterweight workers on conventional woolen machines or with mini-T cylinders counterweight on woolen machines where each worker is a set of small so-called mini-T cylinders. The thistles and possibly the mini-T cylinders are fitted at their ends with a protective means covering the areas of beginning and end of the lining, for example a cap secured to the axis of rotation of the cylinder.

Description

The present invention relates to the scraping of fabrics, knits and nonwovens using machines, such as woolen machines, which include scraping or ruffling cylinders.

The woolen machines are equipped with worker cylinders of two kinds, alternated on the periphery of a rotating drum: workers called "hair" and workers called "counterweight". Each of these workers consists of a cylinder whose rotation is controlled by the machine, and which is covered with a lining, the teeth of which are directed in the direction of advance of the fabric (bristles) or in the opposite direction to the fabric advance (counterweight). In conventional wooleners there are as many fur workers as counterweight workers.

The role of fur workers is to parallelize on the surface the fibers exited by the counterweight workers; for this their speed of rotation is slightly lower than that of the counterweight workers, which leads to the desired combing but also a scraping tending to remove the fibers already taken out and to drive the fabric towards the rear of the machine, which causes numerous well known accidents of tearing and marking of fabrics at the exit of workers.

We have already by French patent N ° 76.01.083improved the operation of woolen machines by reducing the number of pile workers compared to counterweight workers.

Furthermore, there is, by French patent N ° 85 03 741 a scratching machine in which each pile or counterweight worker consists of a set of small cylinders (mini T) covered with linings respectively pile or counterweight.

However, in none of these machines is the problem linked to the harmful action of the hair cylinders perfectly resolved, in addition to their normal function of paralleling the fibers.

However, we have found, and this is what is the subject of the invention, a machine for scraping fabrics, knits or nonwovens, which eliminates the drawback observed. This machine comprises, in known manner, controlled scraping cylinders of the counterweight type. According to the invention, it also comprises, on the course of the fabric, cylinders called thistles, of small dimension relative to the width of scraping, mounted free to rotate and covered with a card lining, the teeth of which are directed parallel to their axis of rotation.

Thistles are not ordered, but free to rotate; thus their rotation being due to the sole contact of the teeth clinging to the tissue, there is no effect of scraping the tissue, as was the case with the hair cylinders.

The term angle of attack denotes the complementary angle to 90 ° which, in the same plane, the direction of the tip of the thistle makes with the direction of movement of said thistle. The thistles have an adjustable angle of attack according to the fabrics to be scratched. Preferably the angle of attack is between 0 and + 15 °. The angle of attack is zero when the axis of rotation of the thistle is perpendicular to the direction of movement of the thistle and therefore of the tissue. In the latter case, the thistle has no specific action in addition to that of the counterweight cylinders.

It is true that scraper cylinders of the thistle type and machines equipped with thistles are well known, in particular by patents FR-A-1,196,286 and GB-A-876,154. However, these machines are equipped exclusively with thistles, and not as is the case with the invention of scraping cylinders whose rotation is controlled of the counterweight type and of free-rotation scraping cylinders of the thistle type. It is the merit of the invention to have achieved this combination which provides better quality scraping.

Advantageously, to prevent the fibers exiting from the counterweight cylinders from winding around the axis of the thistles, the diameter of the thistles is greater than the length of the fibers exiting during scraping, for example of the order of 50 millimeters.

In a preferred configuration, thistles are assembled side by side over a whole width of scraping, constituting a line of thistles.

When the scratching machine is a conventional woolen machine, in which each counterweight cylinder is in itself a worker, supported by a drum, the lines of thistles are distributed over the entire periphery of the drum, alternately with one or more counterweight workers.

In fact, it is sufficient in a conventional woolen machine to replace all or part of the hair cylinders with thistle lines.

When the scratching machine is a woolen machine of the type according to which each counterweight cylinder is one of the elements, called Mini-T, mounted on the periphery of the same worker, according to the teaching of French patent NO 85.03.741, the lines thistles are distributed over the entire periphery of said worker, alternately with one or more lines of mini-T counterweight.

Advantageously, the thistle is equipped, at each of its ends, with protective means covering the starting and end zones of card lining. In the case where the scratching machine is equipped with lines of mini-T counterweights, the mini-T cylinders are themselves equipped, at each of their ends, with protective means covering the start and end areas of the lining. card.

The purpose of these protective means is to prevent the article from being torn off or marked along the end zones of the cylinders, in particular when the tension exerted causes the article to sink into the space between two adjacent cylinders, forming a hollow.

Thus, the protection means, even if they do not completely avoid the formation of the hollow caused by the spacing between the cylinders, protect the tissue from the aggressive action of the teeth equipping the extreme zones, starting and ending, of the card filling. As a result, there is no longer any tearing off or marking of the fabric during treatment.

According to a preferred embodiment of the protection means, these are integral with the scraper cylinder itself and consist, in a first variant, in two caps mounted at each of the ends on the axis of the cylinder. Each cap covers the part of the teeth, placed at the end corresponding cylinder, start or end of packing. The caps are rotated at the same time as the cylinders. The outer surface of the cap in contact with the fabric is smooth or preferably rough or spiked.

In a second alternative embodiment in which the protection means are integral with the scraper cylinder, said protection means consist of a ring or portion of foam ring, possibly preformed, conforming to the hollow shape left on the surface of the cylinder from the start and the end of the filling.

According to another embodiment, the protection means are not integral with the scraper cylinder, but consist, for a given cylinder, in two fixed covers mounted on the two supports of the cylinder. The supports in question allow the fixing on the drum of the machine of the bearings in which the axis of the cylinder is mounted free in rotation in the case of thistles and controlled in rotation in the case of mini-T bristles and counter-hairs.

• La figure 1 est une vue schématique en coupe d'une laineuse classique
• La figure 2 est une vue en coupe d'un chardon
• La figure 3 est une vue schématique montrant l'action du chardon sur le tissu
• La figure 4 est une vue schématique de côté de l'extrémité d'un chardon non équipé d'un capuchon de protection.

The invention will be better understood on reading the description which will now be made of an exemplary embodiment of a scratching machine equipped with thistles, illustrated by the appended drawing in which:

• Figure 1 is a schematic sectional view of a conventional woolen machine
• Figure 2 is a sectional view of a thistle
• Figure 3 is a schematic view showing the action of thistle on the tissue
• Figure 4 is a schematic side view of the end of a thistle not equipped with a protective cap.

The conventional woolen machine 1 consists of a drum 2, driven in a rotational movement in the direction of the arrow T. On the periphery of the drum 2 are mounted twenty-four workers, twelve bristles 3 and twelve counter-hairs 4. As shown in FIG. 1, the pile workers 3 are covered with a lining, the teeth 5 of which are directed in the direction of the rotation of the drum 2, which is also the direction of movement of the fabric 6; on the other hand, the counterweight workers 4 are covered with a lining, the teeth 7 of which are directed in the opposite direction to the arrow T. The rollers 8 and 9 are placed at the bottom of the periphery of the drum 2, respectively at the entrance and at the exit of the fabric 6.

The circumferential speed of the drum, at the level of the outside surface of the workers, is fixed, of the order of 350 meters per minute. The workers have an adjustable speed, they are controlled to rotate in the direction of the arrow D, opposite to that of the drum, for example the counterweight workers at a circumferential speed of 340 m / min and the pile workers at a circumferential speed of 360 m / min, the fabric 6 being driven by means not shown at a speed of 20 m / min. In the woolen machine 1, the fabric 6 enters at the level of the roller 8, it surrounds the workers 3 and 4 mounted on the periphery of the drum 2 and exits at the level of the roller 9.

The counterweight workers lift the fibers available on the surface of the fabric 6 which is opposite the woolen machine, while the pile workers have a parallelizing action on the fibers already raised. The action of the hair workers is accompanied by a scraping of the surface of the fabric, which can be the cause of tearing of fibers, of tearing of the fabric, and even of marking of the fabric at the outlet of the woolen machine.

According to the invention, the twelve pile workers are replaced in the conventional woolen machine by six lines composed of thistles 11 according to the model illustrated in FIG. 2 and by six counterweight workers.

The thistle 11 consists of a cylinder 12, mounted to rotate freely on an axis 13. The surface of the cylinder 12 is covered with a lining, the teeth 14 of which are directed parallel to the axis of rotation 13. The two ends 15 and 16 of the cylinder 12 are provided with two caps 17 and 18 respectively, fixed on the axis 13 and covering for a short distance the teeth 14 ′ situated in line with the ends 15 and 16.

The two ends of the axis of rotation 13 are mounted in supports, fixed to the drum 2 and comprising bearings in which the axis 13 is free to rotate. The positioning of the supports on the drum is adjustable so as to allow the possible variation of the thistle's attack angle. In FIG. 2, the angle of attack α is the complementary angle of the angle β which is between the general direction of movement of the thistle 11 during the rotation of the drum 2 (arrow A) and the general direction of the teeth thistle (arrow C). The options for adjusting the angle of attack α are between 0 and 20 °. A zero angle of attack α corresponds to the case where the thistles 11 of the same line are aligned transversely, and are parallel to the counterweight workers 4.

During the operation of the woolen machine 1, the counterweight workers 4 exert their usual action, gripping and pulling the fibers accessible on the surface of the fabric 6. With regard to the action of the thistles, it is found that their presence results in a reduction of fabric tension 6 between the counterweight workers. This reduction in tension improves the ease of penetration of the teeth 7 of the counterweight workers 4 into the tissue and therefore the productivity.

Thistle 11 has an outside diameter of 51 mm and a length of 200 mm.

In Figure 3, there is shown, in three distinct phases, the kinematics of the action of a tooth of a thistle on the tissue 6. At time t, the thistle 11 is in contact with the tissue 6 by the intermediate of the tooth 14. The end 19 of the tooth 14 is in contact with a fiber which is at the level of the tissue 6 and thanks to its non-zero angle of attack can lift it; this end 19 is vertical to the axis of rotation 13 of the thistle 11.

At time (t + 1), the thistle has moved so that its axis of rotation is located in 13 ′ and has turned on itself so that the end 19 of the tooth is in 19 ′ , above the tissue 6. The fiber, which was taken by the end 19 of the tooth, is raised.

At time (t + 2), the axis of rotation is in 13˝ and the end of the tooth in 19˝.The fiber is clearly out of the tissue 6.

The action which has just been described takes place without any particular tension on the tissue, and of course what has been said for a tooth can be generalized for all the teeth in contact with the tissue 6.

The scraping obtained thanks to the combination, on the conventional woolen machine, of counterweight workers 4 and thistle lines 11 is improved: this gives a well-covered and swelling bottom treatment, of very good quality.

The possibility of adjusting the angle of attack of the thistles makes it possible to vary the action of the thistles relative to that of the counterweight 4. Preferably the angle α is between 10 ° and 15 °. In the extreme case, where the angle of attack α is zero, the ends 19 of the teeth 14, during the rotation of the thistle 11, no longer raise the fibers of the tissue, and only the counterweights have an action on the tissue, this which corresponds to a felting. Thus the machine of the invention is a woolen machine which can be transformed, by simple adjustment of the thistles 11, into a felting machine for fleece knits and for felting already scraped articles.

In the example above, the woolen machine 1 had twenty-four workers, namely eighteen checks and six lines of thistles. As an indication, table 1 below gives the compositions recommended for woolen machines comprising different numbers of workers. Table 1 Total number of workers No. of checks Number of thistle lines 24 18 6 24 16 8 28 21 7 30 20 10 32 24 8 36 24 12 36 27 9 The above example, using a conventional woolen machine, is not limitative of the invention. In particular, the invention applies in the same way in a woolen machine based on the teaching of French patent NO 85.03.741 in which each worker is himself composed of a set of small cylinders (mini-T) covered card lining: all mini-T for a pile worker are covered with lining in the pile direction, similarly all mini-T for a pile worker are covered with lining in the pile direction. In this case, according to the invention, certain lines of Mini-T will be replaced by lines of thistles.

The caps 17 and 18 are intended to cover at the two ends of the thistle 11 the zones corresponding to the beginning and the end of the filling. What is said below concerning the means of production of the ends of the thistles is also valid for the mini-T cylinders.

There is shown in Figure 4 the end 16 of a thistle 11 not equipped with its cap 18. The card lining has the form of a ribbon 20 and its mounting on the body of the cylinder 12 is carried out by winding the ribbon 20 helically contiguously. The ribbon 20 is glued to the body 12, and each of the two ends of the ribbon is moreover fixed to the body 12 using, for example, a fixing screw 21. Given the helical winding of the ribbon 20, a portion 22 of the surface of the body 12 is not coated with the lining 20.

One can no doubt explain the damage caused to the tissue during a scraping treatment when the tissue takes a hollow shape between the small scraping cylinders, by the heterogeneous positioning of the teeth 14 on the periphery of the cylinders in their end portions. .

The cap 18 is mounted at the end of the body 12 on the element 13 forming the axis of rotation of the thistle. It has a part 23 of annular shape.

This ring 23, centered on the axis of rotation of the cylinder, has a diameter slightly greater than that of the body 12 equipped with its teeth 14; in addition, the ring 23 extends over the entire periphery of the end 16 of the body 12 over a sufficient distance to ensure the covering of the part 22 of the body 12 not coated with card lining 20, or even the first tooth 14 ′.

The ring 23 is fixed to the central element 13 by means of a connecting element 24, which can be a flat and circular washer of the same diameter as the ring 23.

The ring 23 is advantageously made of metal. Its external surface will be smooth or advantageously rough or spiked, in order to avoid the phenomena of marking on the fabric.

The cap 18 can be replaced by a portion of foam ring, possibly preformed, matching the hollow shape, that is to say the zone 22, left on the surface of the cylinder 12 by the beginning or the end of the filling.

The presence of the protective means is not limited to the fixing of the helical card lining, it also applies when the lining is a ribbon having the width of the cylinder to be trimmed which is stapled over the entire length of the generators. In this case in particular the foam, possibly preformed, will have the shape of a ring.

Claims (14)

1. Machine for scraping fabrics, of the type comprising in particular scraping rollers controlled of the counterweight type (4), characterized in that it also comprises cylinders of the thistle type (11) of small dimension compared to the width of the fabric ( 6), mounted free in rotation, covered with a card lining, the teeth (14) of which are directed parallel to their axis of rotation (13). 2. Machine according to claim 1 characterized in that the thistle type cylinders have an angle of attack (α) adjustable according to the fabrics to be scraped. 3. Machine according to claim 2 characterized in that the angle of attack (α) is between 0 and 15 °. 4. Machine according to one of claims 1 to 3 characterized in that the diameter of the thistle type cylinders (11) is greater than the length of the fibers removed by scraping, preferably of the order of 50 mm. 5. Machine according to one of claims 1 to 4 characterized in that each thistle (11) is equipped at each of its two ends (15,16) with a means (17,18) of protection covering the start zones and end of filling. 6. Machine according to one of claims 1 to 5 characterized in that thistle type cylinders (11) are positioned transversely over the entire width of scraping and form a line of thistles. 7. Machine according to claim 6 according to which the controlled scraping cylinders of the counterweight type constitute workers supported by a drum, characterized in that the lines of thistles are distributed over the entire periphery of the drum, alternately with one or more counterweight workers. 8. Machine according to claim 6 of the type according to which the controlled scraping cylinders of the counterweight type constitute so-called mini-T elements mounted on the periphery of the same worker, characterized in that the lines of thistles are distributed over the entire periphery of said worker , alternatively with one or more lines of mini-T counterweight. 9. Machine according to claim 8 characterized in that each mini-T counterweight cylinder is equipped at each of its two ends with a protective means covering the start and end areas of the lining. 10. Machine according to one of claims 5 and 9 characterized in that the means of protecting the thistle and / or the mini-T counterpoise cylinder consists of a cap (18) fixed on the axis (13) of the corresponding cylinder. 11. Machine according to claim 10 characterized in that the cap (18) has an outer surface, in contact with the article to be scratched, rough or provided with pins. 12. Machine according to one of claims 5 and 9 characterized in that the means of protecting the thistle and / or the mini-T counterpoise cylinder consists of a ring or portion of foam ring conforming to the hollow shape left on the surface of the cylinder by the beginning or the end of the lining. 13. Machine according to one of claims 5 and 9 characterized in that, for a given cylinder, the protection means consist of two fixed covers mounted on the two supports of the cylinder. 14. Machine according to one of claims 7 and 8 characterized in that the thistles (11) of each line are adjusted with a zero angle of attack (α) whereby the machine operates as a felter.

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