IL36839A - Apparatus for winding a wire of synthetic material,particularly for further treatment and for mation into a slide falarly for further treatment and formation into a slide fastener - Google Patents

Description

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Apparatus for winding a wire of aynthetic material, particularly for further treatment and formation into a slide fastene , Λ : \ jNH ^oan mW?i gem mso1? ιπτηα .:»fiia»o nmn ¾w *?*n wi ipnn This invention concerns an apparatus for finding a wire of. synthetic material , into a spatial spiral, particularly for use in the manufacture of slide fasteners. The invention also concerns a method of producing a spatial spiral which can be formed into a row of slide fastener elements,- with the use of the new apparatus.

It is already known to produce such a sp&tial spiral thereby that a mandre is rotated about its axis,' simultaneously drawin of the wire f om a reely It is hardly possible to w>rk continuously with such an arrangement; According to other proposals the mandrel is at standstill and the reel turns around about the mandrel, pulling off wire from the reel and windin it onto the mandrel. In this latter case considerable masses have to be moved which neces- . 1 sitates cumbersome devices for a controlled braking of th reels and which puts quantitative limits to the output. !',' .' ·. . ' . ϊ· According to Ger an Patent No.' 1 124 227 a length of 1 \ wire is pulled off from a stationary reel by means of a wire guide member · This guide member travel's around a mandrel and winds the wiee onto the latter. To be sure, by this anangement a greater output can be reached than by the previously mentioned ones, but certain rather complicated arrangements of a mechanical nature have to be installed in order to keep the mandrel at standstill in relation to the travelling wire reel. There has been a further - unpublished -proposal which at a later stage has again been taken up, according to which the mandrel was kept in place magnetically, All these known constructions' suffer from the drawback that the required machinery is rather complicated, that the wear and tear to which theequipment is subjected « is rather great and finally that they are limited to a small moment <£ torsion. This latter factor is especially present in cases where thick wires are being worked up into strong slide fastener members. In the case o those rows of slide fastener members which include a filling cord, the known machinery requires complicated additional; equipment.

Also those machines which comprise a travelling reel and which have ■* as compared with machines with a stationary reel - a rather small output, the introduction of a filling cord is connected to the necessity o installing a complicated / German Paten ee 1 096 025 a sleeve shaped mandrel is required which delimits the thick- i · ... s ness of the cord in relation to the inner diameter of the spiral which is produced.

The said drawbacks should be eliminated bythe present invention. More particularly it is proposed to make the winding equipment simpler and more reliable. It is an object o the invention to attain a high output and to facilitate the introduction of the filling cord. 'Thus the invention starts from an apparatus for winding a synthetic wire to form a spatial spiral which can be formed ίή a subsequent step into a row of slide fastener members,! in which apparatus there is provided a stationary mandrel around which moves a wiree guiding member which reels off the wire from a reel and winds it onto the mandrel; the invention residing therein that the wire winding member which is held rotatingly within the-wire guide is of such a great mass that its inertia fully or partially prevents it from being taken along rotationally. Since the wire winding member is rotatable in relation to \ the guide member and the said guide member is positively driven, the rotation of the mandrel can be caused only by its being taken along by the guide member. By a large inertial mass of mandrel, relative to its axis of rotation, the acceleration imparted to the mandrel is kept low,, so that a residual rotative moment which acts on the mandrel, if present at all, can be eliminated easily* This can be attained by various means which may be applied singly or in combination.

Thus it is possible to position the geometrical axis — i.e. the axis of the wound spiral about which the guide member travels around, out of the vertical and to design the mandrel - which in turn is positioned within the wire guide member rotatably - as a pendulum possessing a sufficient return momentum. Thus the only feature to be considered is that the mass of the mandrel is positioned asymmetrically in relation to the winding axis and that this latter axis is oblique to the vertical. This arrangement is most effective in the case that the axis is in the horizontal,. Apart from that, the known laws of mechanics are applicable in connection with the orbit of the pendulum, the choice of the mass and its centre of gravity.

Further, it is possible to compensate for a possible 1 residual momentum of rotation thereby that at one point of the mandrel which receives the wound wire and more articularl at a point wBtich is out of the axis,, a holding device or tool is made to hold or grip which , holding tool exerts a force which eliminates whatever movement which might be acting on $he mandrel..

Advisably a longitudinal portion of the mandrel which is intended to receive the wound wire, is positioned asymmetrically in relation to the winding axis, being bent out of the axis, and the holding or gripping tool is positioned and arranged in such a way that it can grip this portion.

The mandrel may be so designed that it serves as a magazine for the wire, dispensing the stock of wire during the windin of the spatial spiral. This stock of wire is arranged advantageously on a rotatable reel. The axis of this reel may coincide with the axis of winding,, or may be parallel thereto or have any other position. The method of introducing a filling cord during the use of the last mentioned arrangement, is characterised thereby that as filling cord is used a crimped yarn which - as is well known - consists of a multitmde of thin threads which imparts to the cord the feature of being able to vary its cross sectioid. area in relation to its length within very wide limits in correspondence with the tensional forces acting on the cord. While such a cord, when not under tension, is rather short and thick, it can be stretched to a great length and small cross section when unde tensional stress. Such yarns are known e.g. as 'Helanaa' yarns. (Regd. T.M.) ■ Further features of the inventioja-iLill be gathered._£rom;the annexed drawings . In these drawings Pig. 1 is a schematical, simplified longitudinal, . vertical section of the new apparatus according to the invention, Pig. 2 is also a simplified, schematical elevational view of the apparatus shown : in Pig. 1, but drawn on a smaller scale, Pig. 3 shows, agai at a larger scale, a section on the line III-III of Pig. 2, illustrating the wire holding e uipment, Fig. 4 shows the frontal portion of the mandrel which is outside the guide member, this being a lateral view, on an enlarged scale and illustrating an executional form permitting the insertion of a filling cord, especially of crimped yarn. As shown in Fig. 1, tw substantially identical bearing rings 12 and 14 are fixedly connected with a supporting structure 10. Their common axis coincides with the winding axis 16. The rings 12 and 14 are the outer races of ballbearings 18 and 20, the inner races - to simplify the illustration - are shown as being intregral with the body of a wire guide 22. This gufcde 22 may be constituted by a body being rotation-symmetrical in relation to the axis 16, but it would be within the scope of the invention to connect its frontal sides - being discs or spiders - by means of individual rods instead of a. full cylindrical wall. Thus the guide 22 would have the shape of a cylindrical cage.

The frontal discs 24 and 26 include ball bearings 30 and 34 which are co-axial vith the axis 16, in which the mandrel 28 is rotatable. However,, it is not the mandrel which is expected to rotate but the guide 22 "only. The mandrel is asymmetrical in relation to the axis 16. Attention is directed to the drawing accordin to which the portion.36 ' extending between the bearings 30 and 34 constitutes a pendulum having its centre of gravity & a relatively great distance from the axis 16. Above the horizontal axis 16 there are no substantial masses of the mandrel 28, an empty space being created in which other equipment may be accommodated. ,,, In the vicinity of the axis 16 and below it, the mandrel has a recess 38 which serves the accommodation of a reel 40 which in the construction shown is rotatable about the axis 16 within the confines of the mandrel. Thus the pull removing wire from the said reel does not materially influence the distribution of masses in relation to axis 16. It should be remarked that this arrangement is optional, the dispensing reel 40 may be arranged in such a way that its axis is in the' vertical or horizontal, but intersecting the axis 16.

The hub of the guide member is hollo and is designed to receive in its interior the equally hollow driving shaft of a motor 44. Through the bore 46 of the shaft 42 the i ' synthetic wire 48 is pulled from a supply reel (not shown) b the rotation of the guide 22. The wire passes through a cross bore 50 in the hub 52 and is led around the mandrel 28, out of contact with it, by way of a b re 54 whi½h is parallel to axis 16 and which is provided in a : part connecting the frontal discs or s iders 24 2 assin out of h the side opposite to the motor 44. Prom here the wire is led at 56 to the operational portion 58 of the mandrel onto which it is wound. This portion is preferably ; given a special profile. A conical face 60 at the root of the operational portion 58 ensures that the .wire 48 is made to meet the portion 58 at point 56 and at no other+ point. Thus every new winding shifts the already created spiral forward and there is no need for any further equipment to ensure the movement of the spiral on tie aandrel and off it.

The mass 36 of the pendulum is of such magnitude that whatever fractional momentum tnnding to take the whole mandrel along is practically eliminated and the mandrel never per orms a full rotation.

The reel 40 rotating aboui the axis 16 receives a filling cord 64 which is led to the mandrel portion 58 via guide rollers 66 and 68 and through a bore 70. The bore 70 opens in the vicinity of (ithe root of .portion 58, as can be seen more clearly in Fig. 4. The cord emerging from the opening 72 of the bore 70 is taken up by the wire 48 and is held fast. Since the cord is constituted by crimped yarn, it may be compressed to a large extent.. Since wire 48 meets the cord at an angle, the cord is stuffed to c small extent into the interstices between vicinal windings of the spiral,; so that afiiber the removal of the spiral the whole space within the windings is fully filled by the cord, because the cord does expand.

Fig. 4 illustrates how in the case of a non-cylindrical portion 58 of the mandrel gripping members 74 and 76 act in Pig. 3) prevent a rotatinnal movement of portion 58 a ·. about the axis 16. If necessary the efficiency of these tools may be increased thereby that along a certain stretch where they apply themselves to the portion 58, this latter is bent out o the axis 16. This is shown in Fig. 2 where part of the portion 58, indicated by J6 is positioned beside the axis 16.

Preferabl the guide member can be heated. Since the guide performs a rotational movement the heat may be fed by electrical energy, through induction. Within the mandrel there may be provided a heatable guide sleeve intended to guide and heat the filling cord. If necessary a braking member may be provided for the wire between the supply reel and the wire guide which stretches the wire while it is being pulled off the reel.

All the shown and/or described parts constitute features of the invention, eithe singly or in combination.

Claims (13)

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. An apparatus for winding a length of synthetic wire into a spatial spiral - especially for being used in the manufacture of a row of slide fastener members, comprising a stationary mandrel around which travels a wire guide which pulls the wire from a supply reel and winds it on the mandrel, characterised thereby that the mandrel (28,58) journalled rotatably within the wire constitutes guide (22) ie-givea a mass of such magnitude that the inertia thereof prevents wholly or partially that the mandrel is rotationally taknn along by the movement of the guide.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterised thereby that the geometrical axis (16) being the axis of the windings and about which the guide (22) turns, is positioned out of the vertical and that the mandrel being arranged turnably within the guide is formed as a pendulum of sufficient return momentum.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claims 1 or 2, characterised thereby that a holding arrangement is provided on a part of the mandrel on which the wire is wound, engaging the mandrel at a point out of the axis, exerting a force which is sufficient to counteract or eliminate the rotational residual movement transferred to the mandrel from the guide.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, especially in combination with claim 3 or any other claim, characterised thereby that a portion of the mandrel (58) is asymmetrical to the winding axis being bent oflt of the axis, the gripping tool ei¾¾2tag the mandrel at that point. PiA* 36889/2

5. Apparatus as claimed in claims 1 to .4, characterised thereby tha the mandre is designed to hold in its Interior a stock of wire from which stock the wire is pulled, without crossing the path of ths guide, by the already wound and automatically moving par of t*ie already created sp^fcSal, ;( ^:vU^

6. * Apparatus as claimed in claim 5, characterised thereby that a supply reel for wire is provided rotatably within the mandrel*

7. Apparatus as claimed in Claims 1-6* characterized by the horizontal positbn of the windin axis.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claims 1-7, characterised thereby that the space near the winding axis (16) between the Journals of the mandrel is empty and that also the space opposite the mass of the pendulum (relative to axis 16) is empty*

9. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1-8, characterised thereby that e wire guide Is adapted to be heated*

10. Apparatus as claimed in claims l-9# characterized thereby that between supply reel and guide member a brake s provided adapted to tension the wire.

11. Apparatus as claimed in claims 1-10, characterised thereby tha within the mandrel there is provided a heatable guide sleeve for guiding and heating the filling cord* Apparatus as claimed ' . - ·. -■:· - .' ·

12. Apparatus as-claimed in claims 5 and 6 characterised thereby that the cord to be taken up by the mandrel is led to that point on the mandrel where the winding commences*

13. Apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference, to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.