GB309958A - Improvements in and relating to methods of manufacturing non-metallic gear wheels and the like - Google Patents

Abstract

309,958. British Thomson-Houston Co., Ltd., (Assignees of Small, G. 0.). April 18, 1928, [Convention date]. Compound sheet materials; fabrics composed of fibrous materials agglutinated by adhesives. - A method of forming sheets of textile material such as cotton fibre in the form of loose unwoven sheets of of flimsy woven material for use in the manufacture of gear wheels comprises treating the material with oil and then compressing it under heat. Layers of fibres from a picker are treated with oil, placed one above the other, and compressed by passage between heated rollers. Blanks are cut from the compressed sheet, assembled and compressed between end plates to form the gear wheel. The apparatus includes a breaker and picker 6, Fig. 1, in which a bale of cotton or cotton waste is separated and spread out into a thin sheet of fibres 7. The sheet passes between rollers 8, 9, and is sprayed with oil, preferably light machine oil, by rotating brush mechanism 12, 13. The amount of oil used is such that little or no oil is pressed out, in the final consolidation. The layer is then wound on a spindle 16. A number of these rolls 11, Fig. 2, are placed in a framework, and the layers of fibres drawn off by means of an endless belt 19. The resulting sheet of superposed layers 21 is passed between heated pressure rollers 22. The pressure is of the order of 1,000 1bs, per square inch, and the temperature about 325‹ F. A sheet which is sufficiently stiff to be handled and to be cut into blanks is thus produced. It may be cut into suitable lengths by a tool 23. Discs 26, Fig. 5, of suitable size are cut from the sheet and stacked between metal end plates 27, the whole being consolidated in a hydraulic press and fastened in compressed state by means of rivets 28.