GB2212826A

GB2212826A - Card clothing

Info

Publication number: GB2212826A
Application number: GB8825768A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Malcolm Clayton
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1987-11-27
Filing date: 1988-11-03
Publication date: 1989-08-02
Anticipated expiration: 2008-11-03
Also published as: GB8727789D0; GB2212826B; GB8825768D0

Abstract

A card clothing element 10 for use in conjuction with a textile carding machine has a plurality of teeth 12 formed thereon for carding textile material. The element 10 is preferably extruded from a plastics material and has an integral locking mechanism 14, 16 which locks one side of the element to an adjacent element by member 14 of one element 10 snap fitting into cavity 16 of the other. The elements of the invention may be fitted securely on to the rotating drums of a carding machine by unskilled operatives without the need for specialised equipment. The element 10 can be made from a composite plastics material in order that hardness of teeth 12 is greater than that of the main body. <IMAGE>

Description

TEXTILE CARDING MACHINES This invention relates to textile carding machines, and more particularly to card clothing strips which are used to produce a carded web of fibres.

Textile carding machines typically comprise a series of rotating cylindrical drums located adjacent one another, each having a strip of card clothing wound around its periphery. The card clothing strips are provided with a series of teeth on the outer side thereof which serve to card the textile fibres as they rotate on the drums and are passed from one drum to another. The textile material is fed onto the series of drums from a storage hopper and emerges as a carded web of fibres.

Conventionally a length of flexible card clothing is wrapped around a roller along its length and secured at either end by nails, screws or the like. The card clothing element itself comprises a foundation of fabric plys bonded together and a face of rubber or plastics material; into which wire staples are punched through to form teeth.

Alternatively metallic wire is rolled into the desired section and teeth are punched into the blade of the section. It is wrapped side by side and secured to flanges fitted to the edges of the rollers. The width and length of the card clothing element varies according to the diameter and width of the drum to be covered. The number of teeth per unit area on the card clothing element also varies according to the carding requirements.

One problem associated with carding machines of the type described hereabove is that it is very important that the card clothing strip or metallic wire is applied to the drum correctly and securely. In this regard specialised machines and skilled labour are required to apply the strip to the drum in the correct position and at the desired tension.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a card clothing element which overcomes or reduces the above disadvantages.

According to the present invention there is provided a card clothing element for use in conjunction with a textile carding machine which has a plurality of teeth formed therein for carding textile material, characterised in that the card clothing element has an integral locking mechanism which locks one side of said card clothing element to an adjacent element.

Preferably the card clothing element is extruded from plastics material, although teeth may be cut into the extrusion as a separate process.

The locking mechanism preferably comprises an extending member on one side of the extrusion which is able to lock into a cavity at the other side of the extrusion.

Preferably the teeth will have a 'V' section therebetween which will minimise the accumulation of debris between the teeth.

The invention will now be described further, by way of example only, with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a transverse cross-sectional view of a card clothing element in accordance with the invention.

Referring to the drawing, a card clothing element 10 is extruded from plastics material such as PVC or the like and has longitudinal serations 12 along its upper surface.

The serations 12 may be cut transverse to their length in to teeth as a separate process. The teeth are preferably 'V' shaped also. The card clothing element 10 is wrapped around a rotatable drum (not shown) to cover its surface and secured by a locking mechanism described hereinafter.

The width of the toothed section of the card clothing element 10 is approximately 10 mm, although other widths maybe chosen to suit circumstances,and since the width of the drum can be up to 4 metres or even more, the card clothing element must be wound helically around said drum several times. The extrusion has an L-shaped member 14 on one side thereof which extends along the length of the strip. On the other side of the extrusion there is a cavity 16 which is substantially the same size as, or slightly larger than, L-shaped member 14.

When attaching the card clothing element to a drum, one end of the card clothing element is secured adjacent one side of the drum with a nail, tack or screw. The card clothing element is wound around the drum manually and when it begins its second revolution the following locking action takes effect. The L-shaped member 14 is pressed downwards in the direction of arrow A and the inherent flexibility of the extrusion allows the L-shaped member 14 to "snap-fit" into the cavity 16, as can be seen in figure : thereby positively interlocking the extrusion across the whole width of the drum. This effectively forms a sleeve around the drum and enables the end of one length of card clothing and the beginning of a new length to be joined on the drum without any further type of fastening. The other end of the element may also be secured by a tack or the like.

If desired, the element can be made from a composite plastics material so that the hardness of the teeth 12 is greater than that of the main body to allow fibre carding to be achieved while leaving the element flexible enough to be easily fitted.

A distinct advantage of the invention is that it allows card clothing strips to be fitted securely on the rotating drums of carding machines by an unskilled operative without the need for specialised equipment.

Furthermore there are economic advantages in extruding the card clothing element from plastics materials.

Claims

1. A card clothing element for use with a textile carding machine, which has a plurality of teeth formed therein for carding textile material, characterised in that the card clothing element has a integral locking mechanism which locks one side of said card clothing element to an adjacent element.

2. An element as claimed in claim 1 extruded from plastics material.

3. An element as claimed in claim 2 in which the upper surface of the element has longtitudinal generally "v" shaped serations.

4. An element as claimed in claim 3 in which teeth are cut into the serations as a separate process.

5. An element as claimed in claim 4 in which the teeth are "v" section also.

6. An element as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5 in which the locking mechanism is an extending member on one side of the extrusion which locks into a corresponding cavity at the other side of the extrusion.

7. An element as claimed in claim 6 in which the extending member is a "snap-fit" in the cavity.

8. An element as claimed in any of claims 1 to 7 made from a composite plastics material such that the hardness of the teeth is greater than that of the main body of the extrusion.

9. A card clothing element substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.