US1074788A - Combing-machine. - Google Patents

Description

wh/Lum: Q-Qmg A Patented 001). 7, 1913.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

i m s@ f o s 5ml/vbo@ IIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIH Mme :me: afa/ J. GOOD.

GOMBING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 1o. 1910.

Patented.' Oct. 7, 1913.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

COLUMBM PLANOQRAPH Co.. wASHlNuTON. D. c.

J. GOOD.

COMBING MACHINE.

APPLIQATION FILED JUNE 1o, 1910.

Patented 001111913.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

J. GOOD.

OOMBING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 10, 1910.

l 5 SHEETS-SHEET o loo 9| COLUMBIA PLANoaR/PH co.. WASHlNa'wN. DA c.

Patented Oct. 7, 1913.

J. GOOD.

GOMBING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 1o, 1910.

Patented Oct. 7, 1913.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5 iff* JOHN soon, OF New YoiK, N. Y.

corriamo-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent. I

Patented' oct. 7,1913.

Application filed June 1G, 1910. Serial No. 566,154.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, JOHN Goor), a citizen of the United States, residing in t-he borough of Brooklyn, city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combing-Machines, of which the following is a full, true, and concise specification.

rlhis invention provides improved apparatus for preparing hemp and ot-her fiber for spinning, and its more prominent object is the reduction of the number of operations required for reducing the fiber from the condition in which it is taken from the bale to the condition of uniformly attenuated, well combed sliver ready to be supplied to the spinning jenny.

Other objects include the saving of power incident to the fewer Operations, the saving of floor space, economy of labor in attendance, and various further advantages which will be appreciated by those skilled in this art from the following description and the illustrative drawings which form a part hereof.

Figure l of the said drawings is a side elevation of a combingmachine such as above referred to, showing one of the several forms in which the invention may be embodied; Fig. 2 is a cross-section thereof on line H-II of Fig. l; Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the delivery end of the sameJ machine; Fig. t is a side elevation of an alternate form, Fig. 5 being a crosssection thereof on line V-Jf thereof; Fig. 6 is a modification of the forms of Figs. 3 and 4i.

The combing machine of this invention is a multi-feed machine, having provisions for the supply of hemp or fiber to be combed at a sufficient number of points and in suiiicient quantity at each point to compensate in the body of the resulting combed sliver for the very considerable attenuation that is necessarily incidentl to a thorough disentangling and straightening of raw or uncombed fiber. The total `attenuation necessary for the conversion of raw or bale fiber into combed sliver approximating a spinnable character, if imparted thereto in the form of one continuous lap, as for instance by passing the same through any of the eX- isting machines geared over to the necessary high draft ratio, would exceed the length of the individual fibers to such extent as to interrupt the continuity of the lap as' such, and thereby eft'ectually obstruct the practical operation of the machine. The common draft ratio of such hemp combing machines, that is to say, the relative velocities of the high and low speed trains of gill-pins, rarely if ever exceeds the ratio of twenty to one. If increased above this maximum limit, the product sliver tends to become so thin as not to be capable of proper continuous removal from the higher speed chain, while a compensato-ry increase of the rate of supply to the lower speed chain quickly overloads the pins thereof, the size of which cannot be correspondingly increased because of the obvious mechanical limitations to which they are subject.

rlhe present invention produces a desired total combing effect upon the fiber by subdividing and distributing the combing operation among several simultaneously operating combing heads which may be appropriately termed combing units, since each resembles in principle one of the ordinary hackling-machines having high and low speed gill-pin trains. Each of these units operates upon one of the multiple supplies of fiber, with very high draft and consequently with specially eiective combing action, and their several products, each being a lap or sliver more or less thoroughly combed and very considerably attenuated, are collected by an appropriate mechanism and combined into a single sliver, which represents a composite of all, and thus possesses a uniformity of thickness corresponding to the average total of the various products. A considerable number of combino' units, three at the least, and preferably siX or more, all contributing to the uniformity of the ultimate product., is found to be necessary in orde-r to gain the .greatest advantage of the present invention, tho-ugh the number of units may be somewhat less, when part of the total attenuation is effected by the collecting mechanism, which also constitutes a feature of the invention as hereinafter eX- plained. The invention thus operates to gain uniformity in the product sliver according to a principle resembling the common process of doubling and drawing, but it differs therefrom in that combing is likewise and coincidently effected upon each of the separate laps and the individual fibers thereof become thereby distributed longitudinally so as to break Vup the coextensive termination of adjacent fibers, known as square ends, existing in the raw fiber, and thereby produce-an ultimate' sliver having its individual fibers disposed in uniformly imbricated relation, which effect, as is well known, cannot be accomplished by doublingV and drawing alone. The manner of collecting the combed fibers of each combing unit facilitates this disposition of the fibers, the collection being accomplished by a train or chain of gill-pins common to each of the combing units sol that the fibers therefrom will fall or be drawn upon it, in superposed and successively,overlapping relation. Such collector train l preferably operates as an additional combing instrument, for which purpose it is run at a greater speed than the high speed trains of the combing units from which it .collects the fiber so that it will comb and straighten out their respective products. A delivery means serves to remove the fiber from the collector train, and may be geared to exert further draft thereon if desired. It is thus made possible to subject the liber, by one passage through a machine embodying the present invention, to a thorough combing action without producing an undesired attenuation in the ultimate product.

ln each of the exemplifications of the invention herein set forth, the several combing units are identical in construction and mode ofl operation, for convenience of manufacture, although they might be otherwise. ln

Y Figs. l to 6, for convenience, only two combing heads are shown, but from the foregoing explanation it will be apparent that these machines are intended to employ many, and preferably six or more of such heads, as

Y desired for the work in hand.

The machines illustrated in the vdrawings are intended for operation upon raw fiber and for this reason the several fiber-receiving devices thereof are provided with feedboards l upon which the bunches of fiberA are intended to be placed in successively overlapping positions to form a continuous fiber-lap, but it will be understood that when the machine is used for fiber that has al.- ready been combed or formed into laps, the receiving devices will be modified accordingly. The feed boards are mounted on the upright frame posts 2,k and are all inclined in the same 'direction so that they can be overlapped as indicated, which compact arrangement enables the operator to supplyy the liber with the least effort. The bunches of fiber can'be quickly laid in place upon them by a horizontal motion, the several boards being open at the sides for this purpose. Each board terminates at its base in an elbow chute or conduit 3, which slightly condenses the lap as it passes through it to the combing unit mounted immediately below. The combingunits are each comprised of two or more trains of gill-pins adapted to operate on the lap according to the principle of the common hackling machine. The gill-pins thereof may be carried by any suitable means, as for instance by cylinders, or by articulated chains, or in any other suitable way, whereby a succession of gill-pins is caused to act on the fiber by continuous movement in a xed path.

ln the machine illustrated by Figs. 1 to 3,y

ICylinders having. self-housing pins operating in this manner are .well known to builders ofhemp and flax working machinery and for this reason the details of their construction is not necessary to be described herein. The upper cylinder l constitutes the low speed train of each combing unit,

being driven by a worm and worm wheel 6 from the shaft 7. The pins of this train engage the lap directly as it issues from the elbow conduit and conduct and present it to the action of the pins of the lower cylinder 5. This cylinder constitutes the high speed train of the unit7 being driven from shaft 7 by bevel gears S and its combing efect upon the fiber presented toit by the low speed train will be readily understood bythose familiar in this art. The lap is held upon or against the pins of both trains by the inclined lap apron 9 which is supported for that purpose within the side posts 2. The upper face of this apron is curved in general conformityto the path of movement of the liber constantly engaged therewith to a uniform extent 'of penetration. All of the units ,are mountedto operate or move their pins in a direction which is inclined toward the delivery end of the machine, reversely to the inclination of the feed boards which supply the liber to them. so that they are also compactly contained in the machine frame. As thus organized the combing units occupy a tandem relation with respect to each-other and the collector train. rlhe several driving shafts 7y are bevel-geared to a commondriveshaft 10 journaledin brackets 11 on the main side girders 16 of the frame, and this shaft is driven through a change speedv gearing,

indicated somewhat diagrammatically at 12, Y

by the main, transversely.journaled power shaft 13. The collectortrain is formed by a chain of articulated gill-pin bars 14 mounted to run on tracks 15 on the inside faces of the side girders 16, although any suitable means for producing a succession or train of pins, moving through a predetermined path, adjacent to the combing units can be employed with similar eect. The chain emplo-yed in the present instance is such as is commonly used in hackling machines, and a description of its mechanical construction may therefore be omitted. It is driven at its middle by driving sprocket wheels 17 engaged with both the upper and lower stretches. The shaft of the driving sprockets carries a large sprocket wheel 18 driven by sprocket chain 19 from the power shaft 18. At the end of its lo-wer stretch the collector chain passesl over a notched idler wheel 14'd by which it is elevated to the beginning of the track of the upper stretch and in moving along this upper stretch its pins are maintained in a forwardly inclined position which is gradually diminished as they approach the delivery end, and finally reversed as they move downwardly into the forward end of the lower stretch. The control of the inclination, or rake, of the collector pins in this manner is accomplished by means of the dogs on the ends of the gillbars which run in appropriate cam-grooves adjacent the tracks 15. lllhe dogs appear in Fig. 2,v and their construction and mode of opera-tion are quite well-known to perso-ns familiar with this art.

`When the machine is built with a suflicient number of combing units all contributing to the collector train and each producing the desired degree of combing effect, the collector chain 14 may be driven at a speed substantially equal to that of the high speed trains of the combing units so that the combed fibers therefrom will be deposited upon the collector chain without further combing or further attenuation, in which case the chain will serve solely as a collector to combine the products of the several units and convey them as a composite sliver to the delivery head, which removes them from the chain. It is preferred, however, that the collector chain shall also contribute to the combing action of the machine, for which purpose it is driven at a higher speed than the cylinders 5 and engages and draws the fiber therefromwith a coincident combing effect and further attenuation. Each lap supplied through the elbow conduits 3 is thus subjected to successive combing actions, two in the present case, as it moves from the conduit to the delivery head, the last combing action being effected by a member, the chain 14, which is common to all of the laps, and combines them. As the pins of the combined collector and combing chain approach the delivery head, the reversal of their normal forward inclination enables them to leave the lap by withdrawal in an endwise direction.

The delivery head, stationed at the end of the upper stretch of the collector chain 14, comprises a system of rollers appropriately journaled in the side frames and carrying two apron belts, 21 and 21a, of leather, which run in contact with each other from a point at about the level of the chain 14 to the top of the head. The fiber on the chain is directed into the nip of these two belts by the guide board 14b and is thereby carried upwardly, becoming deposited upon a short conductor chute 22 from whence it passes through the calender rolls 23 into the sliver can. rlhe system of delivery -head rollers is driven by a belt or chain 24 from the power shaft and the calender rolls, by a suitable belt connection 25 from one of the roller shafts. rEhe mechanical details of the delivery head, like the collector chain 14, are also well known to this art. When combined in the present invention, the speed of its belts is adjusted to that of the chain 14 so that it exerts more or less draft upon the composite sliver according to the body of the latter, and when the number of combing units is sufficient to form a composite sliver on the collector chain of greater thickness or body than is necessary or required for the next succeeding operations, the draft of the delivery head may be correspondingly increased to reduce such sliver to a proper or desired transverse dimension.

Referring now to Figs. 4 and 5, it is apparent that the principle of construction and operation is the same as the machine above described. The gill-pin trains of the combing units, however, are formed by articulated chains 26 and 27, like the chain 14, in-

stead of by gill-pin cylinders, and for that reason the pins thereof have the advantage that they may travel in straight paths and engage the fiber for a greater distance. rlhe upper and lower chains are shown as being the same in size and length, being carried on the notched wheels 28 and 29 respectively, which are journaled in the side frames. rlracks and cam ribs, not shown, are also provided to guide the movement of the pins and the rake thereof. A lap-apron 30, which in this form is a flat board, holds the fiber at uniform penetration on the pins. rf'he slow speed chain 2G may move with its pins raked forwardly during the early part of their operative path to give them positive engagement with the fiber, but as they approach the higher speed chain 27, their rake is gradually reversed, as indicated, in orderto keep the liber from being pulled too readily from them by the action of the lower chain. Power is applied to the chains through their lower carrier wheels, the drive of one being through a worm wheel and worm from the shaft 7, and the other through bevel gears from the same shaft.V

substitution of different driving memwhich there should be several, and on en-v gaging the collect-or chain 14 will be again and further combed, producing a combed sliver on the said chain which is removed in the obvious manner bythe delivery head and deposited inthe sliver can.

In machines built as above described, the draft ratio of the members of each combing unit is made sufficiently high to perform the greater part of the combing andimbricating action necessary while the pins of the collector chain perform the remainder. The draft ratio of the members of the combing units may, for instance, be SO or 90 to l, which will besufticient to dissipate square ends in manila hemp and clean and disentangle the snarled and matted fibers with a fair degree of thoroughness, and if the collector chain have a draft ratio of say 3 to l to the combing' units, the additional combing and imbricating action thereby effected will produce a product still more thoroughly combed. The attenuation of the lap incident to the high draft employed in eachV unit will necessarily call for a suiiicient rate of fiber supply to form a removable composite sliver on the collector chain, and this is accomplished by the multiplicity of contributing heads or combing units as above eX- plained; from all of which it will be observed that this invention provides a means for attaining, in a single continuous operation, any degree of combing or hackling effect that may be desired in the preparation. of the fiber for spinning, although the invention, it will be understood, is not in any way limited by the extent of combing which it is called upon or constructed to perform in a single passage of liber through it.

F ig. 6 shows the same arrangement of high and low speed chains constituting the combing units, as shown in Figs. 4E and 5, but in this form of machine the liber from the high speed combing unit chains is positively withdrawn bv a pair of rollers 3l and by them deposited upon the collector chain 14; otherwise the machine is the same as the preceding. rlhe rollers 3l are driven by bevel gearing 32 from the shaft 10.

In all of the above forms the combing trains of t-he several units operate in an inverted position, which is particularly suitable for high draft operation and hence preferred, since gravity is thus made to assist in the transfer of the fiber to the collector chain and facilitates its deposit upon the latter in longitudinal and parallel positions without tendency `of looping or bunching,

and moreover, the arrangement permits the lower portions of the lap, which are in contact with the lap apronr9 on the under side of the body ofthe lap, to engage first with the pins of the collector chain so that, if such portions have not receivedV uniform combing in the combing unit, they are compensated by the collector chain. Y

The driving and speed-changing connec as a whole will be susceptible of adjustment to fibers of different lengths and character and to different results. Y Y

It will be understood by those skilled in this art that the machines above described are not limited in respect of the size or proportion of their parts or pins, nor of their draft ratio, nor to the details Vof the mechanical assemblage, and lthat various omissions, substitutions and alterations'in the form and operation may bemade without departing from the invention. It .will be observed, moreover, that the several combing units thereof can be used with different kinds of fiber and with different draft ratios and sizes of gill-pins or with such other changes in relative proportions as may adapt` Y it for the most effective operation 'upon the kind or kinds of iber'with which it is to be used. y Y

I claim:

l. A combing machine adapted to receive three or more separate, continuous supplies of the ber to be combed, a corresponding number of combing-units each composed of high and low speed gill-pin trains respectively operative with a combing effect on each of such separate supplies, in combination with means for collectingrthe products of all said combing-units and combining the same into a single sliver.

2. A combing machine, comprising three or more feed-boards adapted for the forming of bunches of raw fiber into continuous laps of fiber, a combing-unit for each such lap, each unit comprising a gill-pin train for conducting the lap and a higher speed train cooperating therewith with combing effect upon the lap,rin combination with means common to all the said combing-units for combining their combed products into a continuous, composite sliver. Y

3. A combing machine, comprising a plus rality of feed-.boards terminating in/ elbow,

conduits, a combing-unit operative upon the fiber issuing from each such conduit and mechanism common to each unit for collecting and co-mbining the fiber combed thereby.

4. A. combing machine having a plurality of feed-boards inclined in the same direction and adapted for the formation of bunches of raw fiber placed thereon into continuous fiber-lap, a combing-unit operative upon each lap at the base or end of its feed-board and a common conveyer mechanism adapted to collect and combine the combed fiber of all the combing units.

5. A combing machine, comprising a plurality of combingunits, each comprising high and low-speed gill-pin trains, means for supplying fiber to be co-mbed to said units and conveyer and collector means mounted to travel beneath said combingunits for collecting and combining the combed fiber from each of them into a single sliver.

'8. A combing machine, comprising a gillpin train forming a traveling conveyormember, a plurality of combing-units arranged in tandem relation with respect to the path of movement of said conveyer member and means for operating said combing-units whereby they deliver their respective combed products in superposed relation to said member.

7. A combing machine, comprising a plurality of suitable means for forming bunches of fiber into continuous fiber-laps and individual combing-pin trains operative respectively on each of' said laps to comb the same, in combination With a train of collecting gill-pins common to each of said first nientioned trains for collecting the combined fibers therefrom as a composite sliver of the several ber-laps.

8. A combing machine., comprising a plurality of feed-boards suitable for receiving bunches of fiber to form the same into continuous fiber-laps, a plurality of means for conducting said laps from the feed-boards, a plurality of combing-pin trains for combing them, and a train of collecting pins common to each of said combing-pin trains and adapted to deliver the fibers combed thereby as a single sliver.

9. A combing machine, comprising in combination, a plurality of combing-units each composed of high and low speed gillpin trains, and gill-pin conveyer mechanism common to said units adapted for collecting the combed fibers therefrom and delivering the same as a composite sliver.

10. In a combing machine, a plurality of means for receiving and forming bunches of fiber into continuous fiber-laps, a corresponding number of combing-units respectively operative upon -each of said laps and adapted to deliver combed ber product thereof upon a conveyer member, in combination with a moving train of pins constituting said conveyer member.

11. In a combing machine, a plurality of combing-units each adapted for operation upon a separate fiber-lap and organized to deliver their respect-ive products to a conveyer member, a moving train of pins constituting suoli conveyer member and means for driving the same with draft over said combing units.

12. ln a combing machine, the combination With a moving train of gill-pins, of a plurality of combing-units each adapted for combing operation independent of the others and delive "ing their respective combed products to successive points along the receiving stretch of said moving train.

13. riihe combination in a combing machine, of a plurality of low-speed gill-pin trains, a corresponding number of higher speed trains respectively coperating therewith, and a single train of combing pins common to all said last mentioned trains and means for moving the same at a still higher speed.

14. lfhe combination in a combing machine, of three or more combing-units each comprising a gill-pin train having combing effect upon the fiber passing therethrough, a common collecting train for said units eX- erting` draft on the fiber received from said units and a delivery-head for the fiber on said common collecting train exerting draft thereon.

15. A combing machine having organized therein a plurality of feed-boards and a single sliver-delivery head, in combination With means for combing and simultaneously conducting the fiber from each feed-board to the delivery-head, said means comprising a plurality of gill-pin trains operative With combing effect upon the fiber moving from each feed-board at tvvo or more successive points in the passage of said fiber to the delivery-head.

16. A. combing machine having organized therein a plurality of means for receiving fiber, and a single sliver delivery combined With means for separately conducting the fiber introduced at each receiving means to the said delivery, said means comprising a series of trains of gill-pins, each train transmitting its fiber-l ap direct to the succeeding train in the series and each succeeding train eXertin draft upon the lap taken thereby.

17. A combing machine having organized therein, a plurality of means for receiving liber and a single sliver-delivery head, in combination With means for conducting the fiber introduced at each receiving means to t-he said delivery head, said means comprising a series of trains of gill-pins, each train transmitting its ber lap directly to a succeeding train in the series and the last train in the series being common to all the said succeeding trains and adapted to conduct the combed fibers thereof to the said .sliver delivery, each succeeding train and the said last train exerting draft on the fiber.

18. ln a combing machine, the combination with a plurality of combing units each comprising high Yand low speed gill-pin trains, the pins thereof being pointed downwardly and a conveyer member traveling beneath said units and common to all of them.

19. In amulti-feed combing machine, a plurality of combing-units, eachv having high and low speed gill-pin trains and disposed n downwardly pointed position to move in a path forwardly'and `downwardly inclined with respect to the movement of the collector member and a collector member common to all of said units. Y

20. ln a combing machine, the combination of a collector combing-pin chain, a plu-y rahty of combing-units arranged m tandem Y relation along said chain. and delivering ber thereto and a delivery-head for removing the fiber from saidA combing chain.

lnV testimony whereof, I'have signed this specifica-tion in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN GOOD. llVitnesses:

' T. H. Pnossnn,

CLIFFORD H. KLOS.

Uopies of this patent may be obtained for iive cents each, by Aaddressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

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