US1153679A - Machine for marking bobbins. - Google Patents

Description

W. ELLIOT, JR.

MACHINE FOR MARKING BOBBINS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20, I914. 1,15,79, PatentedSept. 14, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

' W wazgw; ELLIOT, 1R.

MACHINE FOR MARKING BOBBINS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20, I914.

Patented Sept. 14, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2 n sane Parr. ran.

WILLIAM ELLIOT, JR., 015 LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR MARKING BOBBIN S.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. Sept. 14, 1915.

Application filed November 20, 1914. Serial No. 873,199.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VVILLIAM ELLIOT, J r., a citizen of the United States, and resident of Lawrence, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Marking Bobbins, of which the following is a specification.

It is customary to mark bobbins used in textile mills according to the character or grade of yarn which the bobbins are to carry, the small ends or tips of the bobbins being usually painted for this purpose.

The object of the present invention is to provide a machine for the purpose stated, whereby bobbins may be marked with great facility and rapidity.

Of the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one form in which the present invention may be embodied, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a bobbin'marking machine. Fig. 2 represents a plan view of the operating mechanism which appears in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents a View indicated by line 33 of Fig. 1, showing a bobbin in cooperative relation to the marking means. Fig. 4 represents a horizontal section of the structure intersected by line 41 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 represents a horizontal section of the structure intersected by line 55 of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 represents a section of the structure intersected by line 6-6 of Fig. 1.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts wherever they occur.

The machine includes a bobbin carrier 10 hich, as shown, is in the form of a wheel. This carrier is provided with a series of bobbin holders 11 which are in the form of spindles and are arranged radially with relation to the axis of the wheel. The bobbins are indicated at 12. The wheel or carrier 10 is affixed to a shaft 13 which is arranged in suitable bearings 14 on a frame or base 15.

In operation the carrier 10 is rotated step by step in one direction, as indicated by an arrow in Fig. 1, the length of the steps being coextensive with the intervals between the bobbin holders 11. An attendant places the bobbins upon the holders, in the vicinity of reference letter A in Fig. 1. The bobbins are carried successively into cooperative engagement with suitable marking means arengaging the marking means. The marked bobbins descending on the opposite side of the axis with reference to the loading point A are brought successively into register with a knock-off device 16 by which they are thrown out radially so that they may drop into a receptacle B.

The mechanism shown for rotating the carrier step by step comprises pin-and-slot gears,the slotted member 17 being afixed to the shaft 13, and the pin 18 being carried by a sprocket wheel 19. This sprocket wheel is driven by a chain 20 which in turn is driven by a sprocket wheel 21. Sprocket wheel 21 is compounded with a pulley 22 which for convenience is arranged upon the shaft 13, said pulley being loose with relation to the shaft so that it may rotate continuously, whereas the shaft itself rotates intermittently. During the intervals be tween the rotative steps of the carrier 10 the latter is held by a retaining device which comprises a plunger 23, compression spring 24. collar 25, and roll 26. The collar 25 is atiixed to the plunger 23, and the sprin bears against the collar to hold the roll against the disk 17, said roll being arranged to roll upon the rim of the disk and to react with the slots 17' therein.

Referring to Fig. 3, each spindle or holder 11 is affixed to a stud 27 and each stud is arranged to slide endwise in a bearing in the rim of the carrier 10. The inner ends of the studs 27 are provided with washers 29 whose function is to keep the studs in their bearings. Each bobbin holder is provided with a rotatable disk 30 upon which the bobbins are seated. The force of gravity is relied upon to keep the bobbins seated upon the disks 30 and to keep the shoulders 28 of the studs 27 seated upon the outer ends of the bearings when the holders are above the horizontal plane of the axis of the carrier.

The bobbin-marking device as shown comprises two bobbin-engaging strips 32, although one of them may be omitted or others may be added if desired. These strips are, in the present instance, intended to apply a colored liquid, such as paint or dye, to the bobbins, and for this reason they are made of absorbent material, such as felt. Each strip is supported by a holder 33, and each holder is in turn supported by a suitable hanger which is movably mounted so as to enable the strip to take its position according to the path traversed by the bobbins. The two hangers as shown are mounted upon a pivot member 34. Each hanger comprises a base 35 and a pair of substantially vertical rods 36. The holders 33 are formed with holes to receive the rods 36, and are provided with setscrews 37 arranged to engage the rods. The holders 33 are capable of being adjusted up and down on the rods so that they may be set at any desired position. The hangers are oppositely disposed with relation to the path traversed by the bobbins, so that the strips 32 will engage the bobbins at diametrically opposite points. 1 consider this the most desirable arrangement, although the structure shown would enable more than one marking device to be mounted upon the same pair of rods 36. As shown by Figs. 3 and 4, the marking devices are bearing against the bobbin, and suitable working pressure against the bobbin is maintained by the force of gravity, the hangers beingso weighted and their pivot -member 34 being so disposed as to cause the holders 33 to tend to swing into the path of the bobbins. Stop members 38 are arranged to coact with the under sides of the bases 35 of the hangers to prevent the marking devices from swinging too far into the path of the bobbins when no bobbin is within the range of the marking devices. These marking devices as shown are adjusted to enable the bobbin-engaging surfaces of the strips 32 to set initially in the path of the bobbins sufficiently to insure working engagement with the bobbins, but not so far into said path as to interfere with the movement of the bobbins. Each bobbin upon encountering the strips 32 displaces said strips laterally, the swinging tendency of the marking devices being then sustained by the bobbin instead of by the stop members 38, until the bobbin passes beyond the marking devices, whereupon the members 35 descend slightly until they rest upon the stop members 38.

Each holder 33 is formed with a chamber 39 and with outlet ports 40 by which the paint or other coloring liquid is conducted to the backs of the absorbent strips 32. The coloring liquid is contained in reservoirs 41 and is conducted to the chambers 39 by flexible tubes 42, the flexibility of said tubes affording the necessary freedom of movement of the marking devices, as hereinbefore explained. The two reservoirs 41 as shown are formed in a single case or receptacle and are separated from each other by a partition 43 (Fig. 3), whereby the device is adapted to apply different colors separately if desired. Stopcocks indicated at 44 are provided for controlling the flow of coloring liquid from the reservoirs.

The several elements of the marking device as shown are mounted upon a frame 45 which is detachably mounted upon two upright rods 46. Bosses 47 formed upon the frame 45 are bored for the reception of the rods 46 and are adapted to be slipped downwardly over the upper ends .of the rods.-

Clamping collars 48 are arranged upon the rods and afford the necessary support for the frame 45.

Figs. 3 and 5 illustrate a device by which the bobbins are rotated while undergoing the action of the marking devices, to the end that the coloring liquid shall be wiped upon the bobbins and thereby evenly applied. The device for this purpose comprises a strip 50 of suitable friction material such as soft rubber, and is arranged to bear against the lower ends of the bobbins. Each bobbin has a rolling action upon the strip 50 in consequence of the bodily movement caused by the carrier 10, and the bobbins are. thus caused to have wiping action upon the strips 32, the larger diameter of the lower end of the bobbin causing a relatively slow peripheral speed of the marked portions in comparison to the lineal speed along the strips 32. The strip 50 as shown is attached to a holder 51. Said holder may be made of wood. and the friction strip may be attached to it by cement or glue. The holder 51 is supported by a pair of slides 52 arranged upon rods 53. These rods as shown are affiXed to a bracket 54. Compression springs 55 bear against the slides 52 to keep the strip 50 against the bobbin with suflicient pressure to insure rotation of the bobbin about its own axis. When the bobbin passes beyond the strip 50 the latter is moved by the springs 55 into the path of the succeeding bobbin, collars 56 being afiixed to the rods 53 in position to limit such movement, so that the strip may be easily forced back by the succeeding bobbin. The bracket 54 as shown is arranged upon one of the rods 46, and is in the form of a split clamp, so that it may be set at any desired position upon the rod. If it is desired to cause the bobbins to rotate in the opposite direction, the bracket 54 may be mounted uponthe other rod 46, in which case the friction strip 50 would bear against the opposite side of the bobbin. When two marking devices are used and are oppositely disposed as shown, it would be immaterial which way the bobbins rotated; but if only one marking device is used, or if a plurality ofmarking devices are arranged upon the same side of the bobbin, it might be desirable to change the direction of rotation of the bobbin. The rotatable disk 30 upon which the bobbin rests has a sleeve portion 30' which sustains the bobbin against the lateral thrust of the friction member 50 and which because of its freedom to rotate upon the spindle facilitates the rotation of the bobbin more than if such lateral stress were sus tained directly by the dead spindle.

The carrier 10 as shown by F ig. 1 is in a dwelling position, in which position the bobbins are all out of register with the marking device. The successive intervals between the rotative movements of the carrier afl'ord ample time in which the attendant may slip the bobbins upon the spindles at A. The spindles while traveling from discharging position to bobbin-receiving position are set out radially from the axis of shaft 13, the heads 29 at such time bearing against the inner ends of the bushings 28; but if the attendant in placing the bobbins upon the spindles fails to force the spindles inwardly until the shoulders 28 are seated against the bearings, the spindles will automatically take such position before reaching the marking device, the force of gravity and the an gular position of the spindles increasing sufliciently to insure the desired position before the bobbins reach the marking device.

Each bobbin upon moving into register with the discharging device 16 is immediately discharged, such discharge occurring during the interval between rotative steps of the carrier. The discharging device as shown is in the form of a plunger and is arranged to slide in bearings aiforded by a bracket 57. The plunger is normally held retracted by a compression spring 58 which acts against a collar 59 affixed to the plunger. Said collar is normally held against the inner bearing of bracket 57. The outer end of the plunger (Fig. 6) carries an offset piece 60 which is arranged to engage the disk 30 when the plunger is moved outwardly. The plunger may be operated by any suitable means, and have in the present instance arranged it so s to be moved outwardly by the pin 18 which drives the carrier 10. The inner end of the plunger is arranged in the path of the pin 18, and said pin upon passing out of contact with the disk 17 abuts against the inner end of the plunger and moves the plunger outwardly, such movement being transmitted to the spindle by the offset piece 60. The pin 18 traveling in a circular path soon moves out of register with the plunger, and the latter is thereupon immediately returned by its spring 58. The discharge of the bobbin from the spindle is due to the momentum acquired by the bobbin in consequence of the longitudinal movement of the spindle) It is obvious that the bobbins would be discharged by gravity alone if the discharging device were omitted, but that in such case the bobbins would remain upon the spindles for a longer time before being discharged. The chief reason for providing the discharging device is to enable the discharged bobbins to drop into a receptacle resting upon the floor which supports the machine, without the necessity of elevating the machine for such purpose. It might, however, be desirable in some cases to set the machine upon an elevated platform, in which event the discharging device would not be necessary and the bobbins would slip off automatically from the spindles upon reaching an angular position which would enable the force of gravity alone to effect the discharge of the bobbins.

I claim: v

1. A machine for marking bobbins, comprising a rotatable carrier, a series of bobbin-holders thereon, a stationary strip of absorbent material arranged to be engaged and traversed successively by the bobbins on said holders, and means arranged to feed a marking fluid to said absorbent strip.

2. A machine for marking bobbins, comprising a rotatable carrier, a series of bob-- bin-holders thereon, a marking device arranged to be engaged successively by the bobbins on said holders, and bobbin-rotating means arranged to act successively upon the bobbins as the latter traverse the working range of said,marking device, said means consisting of an elongated strip of friction material, a movable holder for said strip, and yielding means arranged to act on said holder to keep said strip normally in the path of the bobbins, said strip and holder being displaceable against the stress of said yielding means by the peripheral surfaces of the bobbins.

3. A machine for marking bobbins, comprising a rotatable carrier, a series of bobbin-holders thereon, a marking device arranged to be engaged successively by the bobbins on said holders, a bobbin-discharging device arranged to register with the marked bobbins successively as the carrier is rotated, and means arranged to act alternately on said carrier and on said discharging device to rotate said carrier step by step and to impart discharging movement to said discharging device.

4:. A machine for marking bobbins, comprising a carrier, a series of bobbin-holders thereon, a stationary elongated marking device and a stationary elongated friction device both arranged to be engaged by the bobbins, said friction device being arranged to cause each bobbin to rotate about its axis in consequence of movement of said carrier. whereby the bobbin has a wiping action upon said marking device.

5. A machine for marking bobbins, comprising a carrier, a series of spindles arranged thereon, and a marking device arranged to coact successively with a series of bobbins arranged on said spindles, said carrier being arranged to tip said spindles sufficiently to render them incapable of retaining the marked bobbins.

6. A machine for marking bobbins, comprising a rotatable carrier the axis of which is substantially horizontal, a series of bob sively by the bobbins on said holders during bin-receiving spindles arranged substanthe first said one half of the cycle. 10 tially radially on said carrier whereby the In testimony whereof I have aflixed my bobbins are caused by gravity to remain signature, in presence of two Witnesses.

5 thereon during one half of the cycle of said WILLIAM ELLIOT, JR.

carrier and to slip therefrom during the Witnesses: other half of said cycle, and a bobbin-mark- FREDERICK G. GOUGH,

ing device arranged to be engaged succes- ELSIE J. DIXON.

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