US1380637A - Wet-machine - Google Patents

Description

H. A. CONSTANTINE'. WET MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 31,1lQ.

1,380,637. I Patented June 7, 1921.

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, pulp is slit lengthwise of the roll conducted is continuously vAs the length of time HENRY A. CONSTANTINE, OF NIAGARA FALLS, YORK.

WET-MACHINE.

ea set.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 7. reel.

7 Application filed January 31, 1919. Serial 1\To..274,332.

To all whom it may concern 7 Be it known that I, HENRY A. CONSTAN- TINE, a citizen of the 'United States of America, residing at Niagara Falls, in the county of'Niagara and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Tmprovements in VVet Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates generally to wet machines, and more particularly to automatic means for removing the sheets of pulp from I said machines and-laying the said sheets in a pile.

It is well known to those skilled in the art, that in machines of this type the pulp is conducted to the pressure rolls of the machine by means of an endless sheet or belt of fabric, preferably felt; and the pulp so deposited upon one of the pressure rolls until the sheet of pulp on this roll has reached a predetermined thickness. Atthis time the sheet of and thereby removed from the machine. This slitting operation is usually performed by an operator who uses a stick or a knife to slit thesheet of pulp. After the sheet has been discharged from the machine the operator usually folds the sheet and places the same in piles.

required for the slitting and folding operation is but a small fractional part of the time it takes for the sheet of pulp to reach its predetermined thickness, itwill be seen that a good deal of time is lost by this manual method of performing'these operations, as it is necessary for the operator to remain at themachine and wait until the sheet of pulp is ready to be slit.

The principal object of my invention has been to provide a device which will automatically slit the sheet of pulp when it has reached the predetermined thickness, and

while the machne IS in operation.

Another object has been vice for slitting the sheet of pulp which shall perform the operation as nearly like that performed by hand as is mechanically possible.

Another general object has to provide a de-,

been to provide means for grasping one edge of the sure rolls of the is suitably journaled within the housing 12 suitable means, and about and allowing it to fall and to be deposited in a pile.

Another object has been to provide a device of this nature which maybe easily attached to existing machines.

Furthermore, my operation and of such a design that it will not easily get out of order.

The above objects and advantages, as well as others which will be apparent to those skilled in the art, have been accomplished by the device shown in the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this application. In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of my device with portions thereof broken away.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of my device.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, plan view of the cutter of my device and its associated parts.

Fig. .41 is a fragmentary, front view, slightly enlarged, of means.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional plan view of the cutter operating means, taken on line 55 of Fig. 1.

device is simple in its the cutter operatmg Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary seetional view of the same means, taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 1. v

Fig. 7 is an enlarged, fragmentary, perspective view of the pulp carrier and gripping device.

In' the Figs. 1 and 2, 10 and ll-represent the preswet machine, each of which The lower pressure r011 11 manner by any this roll passes the endless band or belt of fabric 13. The upper pressure roll 10, whichis pressed in contact with the lower roll in the usual and well known manner, is mounted in suitable bearings carried by the housing 12 and is driven by means-oits contact with the lower roll '11 and the fabric 13. The roll 10 takes from the belt 13 the pulp which has been deposited thereon and accumulates this pulp until, by successive layers, it has reached the predetermined thickness, when it is ready to be slit and removed from the roll.

Aguide or -track'14.- is arranged in front of the pressure roll10 and is carried by brackets 15 which are secured to the rods 16 of the machine at each side thereof. This track is preferably square-shaped, or

of the machine. is driven in the customary drawings, with special reference to other polygonal cross section, and mounted to slide thereon is a cutter carriage 17. A cutter arm 18 is pivotally connected at 19 to the carriage 17 and the cutter 20 is detachably secured to the inner end of this arm. This cutter is provided with a sharpened point 21 which is arranged to move in contact with the surface of the pressure roll 10 when it is moved across this roll by the carriage 17 to slit the sheet of pulp. The point 21 is so designed that it will not gouge into the material of the roll 10, but will smoothly move along its surface and in close contact therewith, so that the sheet will be cut through its entire thickness. A stop 22 is provided on the carriage for limiting the motion of the arm 18 when the knife is being returned to its operative position, and an emergency stop 23 is also provided on the carriage for limiting the motion of the arm 18 should the cutter fail to function properly. The stop 23, however, is not in contact with the arm when the cutter is operating normally, and is simply provided as a safeguard for preventing the point of the cutter from catching on the end of the roll when it is starting on its forward movement, and also for preventing the possibility of the cutter catching or digging into the roll should the track, for any reason, move away from the roll.

The cutter carriage 17 is moved back and forth by means of cords or ropes 24 and 25, which have their ends preferably passed through and secured. to the outer end of the cutter arm 18. The rope 25 passes over an idler 26 arranged at the right hand end of the track 14 (as viewed in Fig. 1) it is returned beneath the track where it is crossed, and then passes over an idler 27. The rope 24 passes over an idler, like the idler 27, which is mounted upon the same shaft, but which does not show in the drawings. The outer ends of the ropes 24 and 25 are connected with the operating means of my device, described below.

As clearly seen in Fig. 1, the track 14 is arranged at. an angle with the axis of the pressure roll 10. This angular arrangement is provided so as to compensate for the continued rotation of the sheet of pulp as it is be ing slit by the cutter 20. The high end of the track is at the left of Fig. 1, and as the cutter moves from right to left it will be seen that, if the sheet is to be cut squarely across, the cutter will have to travel upwardly as it advances to the cut. This is provided by the inclination of the track as shown in the drawings.

In order to imitate the'hand operation of litting the sheet of pulp, it is necessary that the slitting be done quickly; and, to accomplish this, I have provided a weight 28 which is vertically slidable upon ways or tracks 29. The outer end of the rope'24 passes upwardly to the upper limit of travel of the weight 28, and is there passed over an idler 30. The end is brought downwardly and attached to the weight at 31. The outer end of the rope 25 is also attached to the weight 28 at 32. Mounted above the ma chine at an elevation governed by the width of the sheet of pulp to be cut, and the consequent, necessary travel of the weight 28, is the means for operating the weight of my device. These means comprise a bracket 33, supported by the ceiling above the machine or in any other suitable way. Journaled within the bracket 33 is a main shaft 34, which carries a gear 35. Below the shaft 34 is arranged a drive shaft 36, which carries at its outer end a pinion 37, meshing with the gear 35. The carries a sprocket wheel 38, which is rotated by a sprocket chain 39, passing over'a sprocket wheel 40. The sprocket wheel 40 is carried by an extension shaft 41, preferably attached to the outer end of the shaft of the lower pressure roll 11. Mounted so as to freely rotate upon the shaft 34 is a drum 42, and attached thereto at one of its ends is a belt or strap 43. The other end of this belt passes downwardly and is secured to the weight 28. As the drum is rotated in a clockwise direction, when viewed from the right hand side of Fig. 1, the strap 43 will be wound upon its periphery and the weight 28 will be elevated. Passing through the drum 42 near its. periphery, is a stop 44, the ends of which engage with the bracket 33 and lim the rotation of the drum, thereby preverting the lug 51 thereof from passing beyond the key 47. Endwise motion of the drum 42 upon its shaft is prevented by providing a set collar 45 at one side thereof, and by an operating arm 46 at the opposite side thereof. This operating arm is rigidly attached to the shaft and is rotatable therewith. At its outer end is slidably carried a key 47 which is provided with a downwardly extending arm 48 (Fig. 4). cam 49 is carried by the bracket 33 and its surface is engageable with the arm 48 of the key 47. The key 47 is normally pressed inwardly by means of a spring 50 carried by the arm 46. The inner end of the key, in its innermost position, projects beyond the surface of the arm 46 and lies in position where it will engage with a lug 51 provided on the drum 42. When the key 47 is in the position shown in the figures of the drawings and the arm is totated, the drum 42 will also be rotated by the engagement of the key 47 with the lug 51 of the drum. When the drum 42 has reached its predetermined point, the arm 48 of the key will engage with the cam 49 and move the key outwardly to a point where its engagement with the lug 51 will be released, whereupon the drum 42 will be drive shaft 36 also 28 from falling if, for any reason,

mined thickness and for graspingthe end 62 and a movable bar to the carrier 61, and which the stops will engage ment with the lug 51 of the drum, so that thedrum will be almostimmediately again engaged and rotated so as to raise theweight 28 for another movement of the cutter. 1

Attached to the outer end" of the drive shaft 36 is a ratchet wheel 52, and engaging with this ratchet wheel is a'ratchet pawl 53. The ratchet pawl is carried by the bracket 33 and its engagement with the ratchet wheel 52 willprevent the weight the sprocket chain 39 should break, or anythin else should fail to'properly operate. It wil be seen that if the weight 28 should acci- -dentallyfall befor'eit has reached its pre determined upward motion, the sheet of pulp would not have reached its predeterwould be out along a portion of its width. It will be obvious that as the weight28 cutter carriage 17 is being returned to the right handiside of the track as viewedi'n Fig.1, and the apparatus isso timed that when'it has reached this position the pulp will be at its predetermined thickness, at which time the weight'will be released and draw the cutter across the roll through the sheet of ulp. r

In Or er to take the fiatsheets of pulp from the machine and place the'm in a] stack, I provide a track at eachs'ide of the machine. These tracks are inclined upwardly from the machine and mounted to move thereon is a pulp carrier 61. This pulp carrier is provided with gripping means of the sheet of pulp which comprlse a stationarilyarranged bar 63, which extend the full width of the machine. The movable bar 63 is carried at the upperends of arms 64. are arms which are rigidly secured are arranged in spaced relation therewith. The arms 64 are pivotally attached near their middle portion to the lower ends of the arms 65, and are arranged'between these arms and the carriers 61. Stops 66 are arranged at the inner ends of the tracks 60, and stops 67 at the 'outerends of the tracks. The stops 66 are so arranged that when the carrier 61 is in'the position shown in Fig. 2 the arms '64 above connection and serve to move the bar 63 out of contact with the bar 62, thereby opening the jaws of the gripping means and permitting the edge of the sheet of pulp to pass therebetween, (see Fig. 2). At this instant the carrier 61 is drawn upwardly by means hereinafter described,

their pivotal is being raised the sizes,

20 will have been 'side of the track "upon the drum thus allowing the movable bar 63 to fall into contact with the stationary bar 62, which will cause the sheet to be frictionally held between the bars 63 and 62 by reason of the weight of the bar 63 and its attaching arms. As the carriage reaches the upper point of its travel the arms 64 will engage with the stops 67 below their pivotal points, which will serve to open the grippin means and allow the sheet of pulp to fall in between the tracks and to be stacked in a pile as shown at 68 in Fig. 2,

The pulp carrier is operated by ropes 69 and 70, one arranged at each side of the carrier. The ropes pass re'arwardly and over idlers 71. The rope 69 passes upwardly and connects directly with the drum 72, while rope 70 is preferably passed over idlers 73 and also around the drum 72. The drum 72 is mounted upon'a shaft 74, which is mounted in suitable journals. A drum 75 of smaller diameter than the drum 72 is also mounted upon the shaft 74 and is connected with a drum segment 76 by a belt or rope77'.

The drum segment 76 is loosely mounted upon the outer extended end of the shaft 34 and prevented frommoving endwise there on by means of aset collar 78and an operating arm 79. The drum segment 7 6 is preferably made adjustable so that it may be adapted to pressure rolls of different or adjusted when the pressure roll is reduced in diameter by having its surface redressed, it being obvious that the rate of travel ofthe pulp carrier 61 must be the same as the rate of discharge of the sheet of pulp. A stop 84 is preferably provided for the drum segment so as to limit its travel, counter-clockwise,beyond the position shown in Fig. 2. 1

The operating arm 79 carries a key 80, similar in design to key 47, ahd having an upwardly extending arm 81. A cam 82, like the cam 49, is supported by an extension 83 of the bracket 33. This cam serves to move'the key out of engagement with the drum segment 76, when it has moved the pulp carrier 61 to the upper limit of its travel. The track 60 being inclined, as

hereinbefore stated, the weight of the pulp -weight 28-will have been drawn upwardly to its uppermost position by the drum 42, and the cutter carriage 17 with the cutter moved to the right hand as vieWed in Fig. 1, where- 42 will be released, the weight will fall, and through the medium of the cords 24 and 25, the carriage 17 will quickly '-draw the cutter 20 across the face of the pressure roll 10 and slit the sheet of pulp thereon. The lower edge of the sheet of pulp will fall by gravity and move downwardly, as it is being discharged from the machine, to a position between the open jaws of the gripping device. When the edge is moved between these jaws the apparatus is so timed as to cause the drum segment 76 to operate and draw the carrier 61 upwardly on its tracks. As the carrier starts to travel the arms 64 will. be released from engagement with the stops 66, thereby closing the gripping means on the edge of the sheet of pulp. As the carrier continues its travel along the tracks 60 the outer edge of the pulp sheet will be moved along between the tracks 60, as the sheet is being discharged from the machine, thereby keeping the sheets substantially flat. When the upper predetermined travel of the carrier is reached the jaws thereof will be released and the sheet allowed to fall in between the tracks on the pile 68.

Obviously, some modifications of the de tails herein shown and described may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the appended claims; I do not, therefore, wish to be limited to the exact embodiment herein shown and described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. Ina wet machine, a roll adapted to accumulate a deposit thereon, a cutter movable across the roll, means for forcing the cutter toward the roll during the cutting stroke, and means for retracting the cutter from the roll during the return stroke.

2. In a wet machine, a roll adapted to accumulate a deposit thereon, a cutter movable across the roll, a weight for uickly moving the cutter across the roll to sit the sheet of pulp, and means for slowly elevating the weight to its initial position and slowly moving the cutter back to its initial position.

3. In a wet machine, a roll adapted to accumulate a deposit thereon, means for slitting the accumulated pulp while the roll is rotating comprising a track disposed in front ofthe roll and arranged. at an acute angle with the axis thereof, a cutter movable on thetrack and engageable with the surface of the roll, and means for operating the cutter back and forth across the surface of the roll, the initial position of the cutter being at the lower end of the track, whereby the sheet of pulp is cut substantially at right-angles with its side faces.

4:. In a wet machine, a roll adapted to accumulate a deposit thereon, a cutter movable across the roll, a vertically reciprocating weight connected with the cutter, and means for periodically tripping the weight.

5. In a wet. machine, a roll adapted to acdrum for elevating the weight,

fore it is tripped.

6. In a wet machine, aroll adapted to accumulate a deposit thereon, a cutter movable across the roll, averticall reciprocating weight connected with t e cutter, a means for rotating the drum, and means for periodically releasing the drum, whereby the weight is allowed to fall.

7. In a wet machine, a roll adaptedto accumulate a deposit thereon, a cutter movable across the roll, a verticall reciprocating weight connected with tl ie cutter, a drum for elevating the weight, means for rotating the drum, and cam actuated means for periodically releasing the drum, Whereby the weight is allowed to fall.

. 8. In a wet machine, a roll adapted to accumulate a deposit thereon, a cutter movable across the roll, actuating means for the cutter, an operating arm, connecting means between the arm and the actuating means, means for operatin the latter, and cam means for releasing the connecting means at a predetermined point, thereby allowing the actuating means to operate.

9. In a wet machine, a roll adapted to accumulate a deposit thereon, a cutter movable across the roll, a vertically'reciprocating weight connected-with the cutter, elevating means for the weight, an operating arm, connecting means between the arm and the elevating means, means for operating the latter, and cam means for releasing the connecting means at a predetermined point, thereby allowing the weight to fall.

10. In a wet machine, a roll adapted to accumulate a deposit thereon, a cutter movable across the roll, a vertically reciprocating weight connected with the cutter, a rotatably mounted drum, means connecting the drum and the weight, an operating arm adjacent to the drum, a key carried by the arm and normally engageable with the drum to rotate the same, and a cam engageable withthe key to release its engagement with the drum, thereby allowing the weight to fall. 11. In a wet machine, means for receiving and piling the sheets of pulp, formed thereon, comprising a pulp carrier mounted in front of the machine, gripping means carried by the carrier, actuating means for the carrier, an operating arm, means for normally connecting the actuating means and the arm, and means for periodically disengaging such actuating means and arm, thereby allowing the carrier to return to its inoperative position.

12. In a wet machine, means for receiving and piling the sheets of pulp, formed thereon, comprising a pulp carrier mounted in front of the machine, gripping means carried by the carrier, means for operating the carrier, comprising a drum segment, an operating arm, means for normally connecting the segment and arm, and means for periodically disengaging such segment and arm, thereby allowing thecarrier to return to its inoperative position.

13. In a wet machine, means for receiving and piling the sheets of pulp, formed thereon, comprising a pulp carrier mounted in front of the machine, gripping means carried by the carrier, actuating means for the carrier, an operating arm, a key carried by the arm and. held normally in engagement with the actuating means, and cam means for periodically disengaging the key from the actuating means, thereby allowing the carrier to return to its inoperative position.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my nam e. HENRY A. C ONSTANTINE.

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