GB2048321A - Method and apparatus for laying lap into a can - Google Patents

Abstract

A method is provided for laying lap in loops of cycloid form into a can by means of a rotating turntable (53) which possesses a lap guide passage having a passage mouth (55) pointing to the can. The can (11) receives a driving movement in relation to the turntable (53) in such a way that the centre point (M) of the can (11) is guided in a horizontal plane along a continuous planimetric series of lines (12) having intersections (21, 22, 23). In this manner a round or square can may be filled to maximum capacity with the lap. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Method and apparatus for laying lap into a can The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for laying lap in cycloid-shaped loops into a can, by means of a rotating turntable which possesses a lap guide passage having a passage mouth pointing towards the can.

The turntable is also called hopper wheel or coiler. Such apparatuses are used for example on drawing mechanisms for the production of drawn lap or for the transference of drawn lap from large cans into small cans. The turntable rotates at constant angular speed while the can either rotates about its own axis or carries out a wobbling movement. It is also already known to rotate the can about its own axis and in doing so to permit it to carry out a swinging movement.

The known methods for laying lap into a can have the disadvantage that the lap is piled quite irreaularly in the can. Pockets of crossings, tresses of crossings and cavities form so that it is not possible to fill a can to the maximum with lap.

The invention is based upon the problem of filling a round or square can to the maximum with lap laid in cycloid form. According to the invention we provide a method for laying lap in loops of cycloid form into a can by means of a rotating turntable which possesses a lap guide passage having a passage mouth pointing to the can, characterised in that the can receives a compelled movement in relation to the turntable in such a way that the centre point of the can is guided in a horizontal plane along a continuous planimetric series of lines having intersections carrying on as in claim 1.

Because when the invention is utilised the can needs to carry out no further rotation at all itself, it can be connected directly with a lap-processing device or a lap-transfer device. In this case it is not necessary to exchange the can. If however exchangeable cans are used which each receive a specific quantity of lap, then the exchange operation can be carried out more simply and more rapidly than if the continuous inherent rotation of the can as usuai hitherto still had to be taken into account. The filled can does not need first to be braked and brought to a halt. The new can does not have to be set in operation before the laying of the lap commences.

If the continuous planimetric series of lines along which the centre point of the can is conducted in a horizontal plane possesses an uneven number of intersections, the movement of the can can take place smoothly and without abrupt change of direction.

In order to exploit to the optimum the available space of a round can it is advantageous if the planimetric series of lines consists of figures inscribed in an imaginary cricle. These can for example be circles or polygons with rounded angles which overlap in cycloid form.

In the case of a can with square cross-section on the other hand it is more advantageous if the planimetric series of lines consists of figures inscribed in an imaginary square. These figures can likewise be cycloidal curves. Even overlapping angular line series are advantageous, especially if they have rounded angles.

Normally however the cans are round and in this case it is especially advantageous if the planimetric line series has circular arcs which lie on the circumference of an imaginary circle, the arcs being connected with curves inscribed in star form into the circle. Three arcs of equal lengths which merge into curves which as a whole form a three-pointed star are very favourable. It can be ensured that the curves pertaining to the star have as a whole the same length as the curves pertaining to the arcs. On travelling through such a continuous planimetric series of lines, on account of the arcs lying on the imaginary circle a pattern of lap laying is obtained such as is known from the customary cycloid-shaped laying with rotating can.This laying pattern is connected on account of the figures inscribed into the circle, and intermixes with a laying layer containing the same quantity of lap, the lap crossings of which however are no longer piled in the manner of braids on an inner circle and an outer circle. The crossings rather are distributed over the remainder of the cross-section of the occupied space. Thus as a whole a more uniform filling of the available storage space and a denser packing of the lap result.

The mentioned curves can be closed upon themselves. In this case however laying in what are called "pattern coils" must be avoided. These are coil patterns which occur due to the fact that lap is constantly laid one part upon the other according to the same diagram. It must be ensured that a cyclic staggering of the laying occurs. This takes place quite of its own accord if the mentioned planimetric series of lines is not closed upon itself. Before the series of lines returns for example to its commencement a new series of lines is already begun, which accordingly is staggered in relation to the first series of lines.

Even if one of the three mentioned arcs is made somewhat longer, the desired stagger of the laying patterns results.

A new apparatus for carrying out the method is characterised in that the can is connected with a holding device which can be guided and moved in a horizontal plane along a continuous planimetric series of lines having intersections. Here thus the holding device or any one point of the holding device can be guided and moved in the horizontal plane along the mentioned series of lines. The movement of the holding device is in this case transmitted to the can. The can can be a replaceable or non-replaceable can. In further development of the invention the holding device is connected with a co-ordinate control device. A coordinate control device renders it possible in an especially simple manner to control every desired series of lines according to its co-ordinates. The holding device can for example comprise a plate on which the can is arrested during filling.The plate is then displaced in a horizontal plane in two mutually perpendicular directions by means of the co-ordinate control device.

It is also advantageous if apparatus components are provided for pattern coil disturbance. Therefore in further development of the invention it is proposed that the holding device is in communication with a pattern coil disturbing device. An advantageous development of this pattern coil disturbing device is described in Claim 9.

The pattern coil disturbance can take place cyclically or continuously without consideration of the state of filling of the can at the time. The pattern coil disturbance can also however be coupled to the state of filling of the can at the time. In this case one disturbing operation suffices for every two to four layers of lap. The can is rotated by a short distance about its own axis every time when a curve has been travelled.

According to a further feature of the invention it is proposed that the co-ordinate control device comprises at least one rotatable body comprising a control cam and serving as programme carrier.

In the normal case two such bodies are provided.

One body serves for controlling the movement in one direction, the other for the controlling movement in the direction perpendicular thereto.

In place of the mentioned rotatable bodies however it is also possible to use control chains as programme carriers. Such control chains have the advantage that the programmed continuous planimetric series of lines can be modified by simple replacement of the chains or of individual chain links.

The invention is to be explained and described in greater detail in the following text passages by reference to the examples of embodiment illustrated in the drawings.

FIGURE 1 shows an overall view of an apparatus according to the invention, FIGURE 2 shows a partial view of an alternative apparatus-with control chains as programme carriers, FIGURE 3 shows a rotatable body which serves in a co-ordinate control device as programme carrier for the X-axis, FIGURE 4 shows a rotatable body which serves in the same co-ordinate control device as programme carrier for the Y-axis, FIGURES 5 and 6 show continuous planimetric series of lines and associated laying patterns for the laying of the lap in cans with circular crosssection, FIGURE 7 shows a planimetric series of lines and the associated laying pattern for the laying of the lap in a square can with rounded corners.

In Figure 5 there is shown a cylindrical, upwardly open can 11 the centre point of which is designated by M. A continuous planimetric line series 12 is entered symmetrically of the central axis of the can. During the laying of the lap the centre point M will be conducted along the planimetric line series 12 in the manner to be described later. The planimetric line series 1 2 consists of Figures inscribed in an imaginary circle 13, namely three circular arcs 14, 1 5, 16 lying on the circumference of the circle 13, and an equilateral triangle having the sides 17, 18, 19.

The large arcs are connected by small arcs 20 with the sides of the triangle so that an endless series of lines results having the intersections 21, 22,23.

The diameter of the imaginary circle 13 is somewhat smaller than half the diameter of the can 11. If the can is situated beneath a turntable the diameter of which is somewhat iarger than half the diameter of the can, then the lap laying diagram or laying pattern indicated likewise in Figure 5 results. It is seen that the crossing braidings are not formed as hitherto solely on the external circumference and in the vicinity of the longitudinal axis of the can, but are formed also in the interior of the lap laying space, which results in the desired effect of better filling.

A still better distribution of the crossing braidings is achieved by the continuous planimetric series of lines 24 as illustrated in Figure 6. In Figure 6 again the can 11 with its centre point M is seen. The planimetric line series 24 here again consists of three circular arcs 26, 27, 28 lying on the circumference of an imaginary circle 25, and curves inscribed in star form into the circle. These curves are composed of six arcs 29 to 34 which are connected with one another and with the arcs 26 to 28 by small arcs 35. The connection of the arcs with one another is formed so that an endless line series results having the intersections 36, 37 and 38. The arcs 29 to 34 have the same radius as the arcs 26 to 28.The sections of the planimetric line series 24 lying on the circumference of the imaginary circle 25 have as a whole approximately the same length as the sections which are inscribed into the circle.

If the centre point M of the can 11 is conducted along the planimetric line series 24, the laying pattern of cycloidal lap loops indicated in Figure 6 of the drawing only for a few regions results. The sections of the planimetric line series 24 lying on the circumference of the circle 25 give rise to the circularly arranged crossing braidings placed on the external circumference and in the vicinity of the longitudinal axis of the can 11. On the other hand the Figure inscribed into the circle causes a distribution of short crossing braidings over the remainder of the storage space.

The distribution of the crossing braidings is somewhat more favourable in the case of lap laying according to Figure 6 than in the case of lap laying according to Figure 5.

Figure 7 of the drawings shows a plan view of a can 39 having a square cross-section with rounded corners. The centre point of this can is indicated by Ml. The planimetric lines series 40 is here inscribed into an imaginary square 41 lying symmetrically of the walls of the can 39. The line series 40 presents itself as an angular double loop, consisting of the straight lines 42 to 45 lying on the periphery of the imaginary square 41 and the straight lines 46, 47, 48, 49 parallel thereto. The planimetric line series 40 has one intersection 50.

If the centre point M1 of the can 39 is conducted along the planimetric line series 40, then as proven by the laying pattern indicated in Figure 7, parallel crossing braidings occur which lie partly in the vicinity of the can wall, partly in the interior of the can. The crossing braidings lying in the can interior partially overlap so that this laying pattern as a whole does not appear as favourable as for example a laying pattern according to Figure 6. On the other hand however a can with square cross-section offers the advantage of better utilisation of space. Thus accordingly if the capacity of a row of cans lying side by side is compared, the capacity of the cans according to Figure 7 with equal standing area is greater than the capacity of can according to Figure 6.

In all three described cases the planimetric line series have an odd number of intersections. In the case of the line series 12 and 24 there are three intersections in each case, in the case of the line series 40 there is only one intersection. An odd number of intersections offers the advantage that the line series is closed endlessly upon itself.

It is seen from Figure 1 of the drawing that the can 11 is connected with a holding device designated as a whole by 51 which in turn has connection with a co-ordinate control device designated as a whole by 52. Above the can 11 there is seen a turntable 53 which is let into a plate covering the can 11, which plate however was omitted from Figure 1 of the drawing for the sake of clarity. The turntable 53 has a lap guide passage 54 with a passage mouth 55 pointing towards the can 11. The lap to be inserted in cycloidal loops is designated by 56. The turntable 53 rotates about the axis 57. A rotary drive 58 is operatively connected with the turntable 53.

The holding device 51 consists of the following parts A plate 59 carries a roller 60, 61,62 in each of three apertures. The can 11 rests on these three rollers. The can 11 is held in its position on the plate 59 by two movable can holders 63, 64.

The can holders 63, 64 are pivotably arranged.

Further details of their operation will be described hereinafter.

The plate 59 possesses three roller feet 65, 66, 67 on the under side which in turn rest on a larger under-plate 68. By means of the roller feet the plate 59 is easily movable in all directions on the under-plate 68. For its displacement the plate 59 possesses two mounting eyes 69, 70 and a hook 71. The mounting eyes 69 and 70 are situated on the one side of the rectangle and the hook 71 on an adjacent rectangle side of the plate 59, arranged perpendicularly thereto.

The displacement of the plate 59 is effected by the mentioned co-ordinate control device 52. The co-ordinate control device possesses the following individual parts;- A non-displaceable geared motor 72 sets a shaft 73 in a uniform rotating movement. The shaft 73 carries two rotatable bodies 74, 75 having control cams serving as programme carriers. The two rotatable bodies are separately represented in Figures 3 and 4. Figure 3 shows the rotatable body 75. Its edge 76 possesses the control cams 77, 78. These control cams control the movement of the plate 59 in the direction of the X-axis, the direction of which is indicated in Figure 1 by the double arrow X. Figure 4 shows the rotatable-body 74.Its edge 79 possesses the control cams 80, 81. These control cams serve as programme carriers for the movement of the plate 79 in the Y-axis, the direction of which is indicated in Figure 1 by the double arrow Y.

In Figure 1 there are also seen two mounting brackets 82, 83 on the under plate 68, serving for the axial guidance of two rods 84, 85. The rod 84 carries at one end a plate 86 with two follower rollers 87, 88. The rod 85 possesses a plate 86' carrying two follower rollers 89, 90. At the other end of the rod 84 a slideway 91 is secured and at the other end of the rod 85 a slideway 92 is secured.

The follower rollers 87, 88 grasp around the edge 79 of the rotatable body 74 and the follower rollers 89, 90 grasp around the edge 76 of the rotatable body 75.

Since the lines of the rods 84 and 85 extend above the line of the shaft 73 and the follower rollers are intended to grasp without play around the edges of the rotatable bodies at every position, the peculiar forms of the respective control cams visible from Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings are explained. This form of the control cams has been ascertained according to the laying pattern according to Figure 6 by an electronic computer.

On the under plate 68 there is further seen a pivot journal 93 on which a bell-crank lever 94 is mounted. The arm 95 of the bell-crank lever 94 carries a slideway block 96 which engages in the slideway 91. The arm 97 of the bell-crank lever 94 is articulated to a rod 98 which is mounted for displacement parallel with the X-axis in the mounting eyes 69, 70. The hook 71 engages in the manner of a slideway block in the slideway 92.

From Figure 1 it can be seen clearly that on displacement of the rod 85 a movement of the plate 59 takes place in the X-direction and on displacement of the rod 84 a movement of the plate 59 takes place in the Y-direction. Thus it can also be seen clearly that on continuing rotation of the shaft 73 the plate 59 and thus also the can 11 must move in accordance with the programme impressed upon the rotatable bodies 74, 75. In the present case, as already mentioned, this programme is selected in accordance with the continuous planimetric series of lines 24 respresented in Figure 6.

The switch 99 visible beside the under plate 68 serves to switch on and off the geared motor 72, the rotary drive 58, the lap feed (not illustrated further) and an electromagnetic drive 100. The electromagnetic drive 100, the attached gearing of which is designated by 101, is situated on the plate 59. It serves for the pivoting of the can holders 63, 64. For this purpose the drive-output shaft 102 of the gearing 101 possesses a lever 103 which is connected through a link 104 articulatedly with a lever 105 which is secured on a hollow shaft 106. The hollow shaft 106 is rotatably mounted on the plate 59. The hollow shaft 106 is connected through a clip piece 107 with a further hollow shaft 108 which also carries the can holder 63. The hollow shaft 108 is aligned with the hollow shaft 106 and is conducted up to above the can 11.On the upper end of the hollow shaft 108 there is a lever 108'. Behind the can 11 in Figure 1 there may be seen a further hollow shaft 109 which carries the can holder 64 and likewise is rotatably mounted on the plate 59. The hollow shaft 109 likewise carries a lever 110 at its upper end. The hollow shafts 108 and 109 and their levers 108' and 110 are connected with one another by a link 111 conducted above the can height in such a way that the movements of the holding arms 63 and 64 always take place in opposite directions.

In Figure 1 there may also be seen a pattern coil disturbing device designated as a whole by 112. It consists of a small geared motor 113 secured on the under side on the plate 59, which motor by means of a bevel gearing rotates a shaft 114 leading upwards within the hollow shaft 106.

At the upper end the shaft 114 carries a chain wheel 115. The geared motor 113 is also connected to the switch 99. The geared motor 113 is designed so that the shaft 114 carries out an extremely slow rotating movement. This rotating movement is transmitted to the can 11 in the following manner The can holder 63 possesses two belt rollers 116, 117 the axes of which stand vertically. An endless belt 11 8 is looped around the two belt rollers. Only the belt roller 11 6 is driven by means of a chain wheel 119. The drive takes place through a chain 120 which is looped around the chain wheels 11 5 and 119.

The can holder 64 also carries two belt rollers around which the endless belt 121 is looped. Its belt rollers however do not possess any drive of their own,.but they are set in rotation by the belt 121 as soon as the belt rests on the slowly rotating can 11.

In Figure 1 of the.drawing on the left side it is seen that two further cans 123, 124 stand in readiness on a platform 122. The end of the platform 122 extends somewhat over the plate 59 so that in can changing these cans can easily be pushed on to the plate 59. On the right side there is seen a further platform 125 on which the filled cans can be pushed further. The plate 59 likewise extends a short distance over the end of this second platform 125, which is not illustrated for the sake of clarity of the drawing, so that pushing further of the filled cans also causes no difficulty.

Figure 1 shows the entire apparatus during operation. The turntable 53 rotates, the plate 59 and thus also the can 11 are moved by the coordinate control device 52 in accordance with the continuous planimatric line series represented in Figure 6, while the lap 56 is laid into the can in cycloidal loops. The can itself is also equipped with a spring bottom, which however is not illustrated here either, for the sake of clarity. This is a bottom inserted into the can, which is pressed upwards by a weak compression spring and travels further and further downwards against the spring pressure as the filling of the can progresses.

The can holders 63 and 64 have applied the belts 118and 121 against the can 11.Thus the can 11 is fixed on the plate 59. The can is rotated quite slowely by the geared motor 113. This rotation takes place for the purpose of pattern coil disturbance.

As soon as the "Off" knob of the switch 99 is pressed all drive systems stop and the magnetic drive 100 swtiches off. Thus the lap feed ceases and the can holders 63, 64 pivot automatically back into the open position because the driveoutput shaft 102 rotates by spring pressure in the direction of the curved arrow 126. Now the can 11 can be pushed on to the platform 125 and the can 123 can be pushed into the place of the can 11. When this has taken place it is necessary only to press the "On" knob of the switch 99 to initiate a new filling operation.

In the example of embodiment according to Figure 2 in place of the rotatable bodies 74 and 75, control chains 127, 128 serving as programme carriers are used. The control chain 127 is looped around a chain wheel 1 29 seated on the shaft 73 and the control chain 128 around a chain wheel 130 seated on the shaft 73. Both endless control chains are looped around guide pulleys 131, 132 which are mounted on an axle 133.

To explore the control chains the plate 86 of the rod 84 carries a single follower roller 134 and the plate 86' of the rod 85 carries a follower roller 1 35. A strong tension spring 136 connects the plate 59 with the bracket 83 so that the follower roller 135 is always pressed firmly against the control chain 128. A similar tension spring 137 connects the arm 95 of the bell-crank lever 94 with the bracket 82 so that the follower roller 1 34 is also always pressed firmly against the control chain 1 27. The control chains are assembled from individual articulatedly inter-connected links the arrangement of which appears from Figure 2. The other parts of the apparatus, especially also of the co-ordinate control device 52, correspond to those of the example of embodiment according to Figure 1. The function of the entire apparatus is also otherwise the same.

The invention is not limited to the examples of embodiment as illustrated and described. The can 11 does not for example absolutely have to be controlled by a co-ordinate control device. The plate 59 can for example also be moved by a control device which directly follows the predetermined continuous planimetric series of lines.

The pattern coil disturbing device does not absolutely have to be connected with the holding device. Good lap laying is also obtained if the lap feed device, the turntable and the co-ordinate control device possess one common drive system, which can easily be achieved by known drive means, for example mechanical gearing parts.

Claims (12)

1. Method for laying lap in loops of cycloid form into a can by means of a rotating turntable which possesses a lap guide passage having a passage mouth pointing to the can, characterised in that the can (11,39) receives a compelled movement in relation to the turntable (53) in such a way that the centre point (M, M1) of the can (11, 39) is guided in a horizontal plane along a continuous planimetric series of lines (12,24,40) having intersections (21, 22, 23; 36, 37, 38; 50).

2. Method according to Claim 1, characterised in that the planimetric line series (12, 24, 40) has an odd number of intersections (21, 22, 23; 36, 37, 38; 50).

3. Method according to Claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the planimetric line series (1 2, 24) consists of figures inscribed in an imaginary circle (13, 25).

4. Method according to Claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the planimetric line series (40) consists of Figures inscribed in an imaginary square (41).

5. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the planimetric line series (12, 24) comprises circular arcs (14, 15, 16; 26, 27, 28) which lie on the circumference of the imaginary circle (13,25), and in that the arcs (14, 1 5, 16; 26, 27, 28) are connected with curves inscribed in star form into the circle (13,25).

6. Apparatus for carrying out the method according to one of Claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the can (11) is connected with a holding device (51) which can be guided and moved in a horizontal plane along a continuous planimetric series of lines (24) having intersections (36, 37, 38).

7. Apparatus according to Claim 6, characterised in that the holding device (51) is in connection with a co-ordinate control device (52).

8. Apparatus according to Claim 6 or 7, characterised in that the holding device (51) is in connection with a pattern coil disturbing device (112).

9. Apparatus according to one of Claims 6 to 8, characterised in that the pattern coil disturbing device (112) possesses a can-rotating device (116,117,118).

10. Apparatus according to one of Claims 6 to 9, characterised in that the co-ordinate control device (52) comprises at least one rotatable body (74, 75) serving as programme carrier and comprising a control cam (77, 78; 80, 81), or at least one control chain (127, 128) serving as programme carrier.

11. A method of laying lap in loops of cycloid form into a can substantially as described by way of example described herein.

12. An apparatus for laying lap in loops of cycloid form into a can substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.