US1402584A

US1402584A - Cloth-plaiting machine

Info

Publication number: US1402584A
Application number: US447032A
Authority: US
Inventors: Henry E Elrod
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1921-02-23
Filing date: 1921-02-23
Publication date: 1922-01-03
Anticipated expiration: 1939-01-03

Description

H. E. ELROD.

CLOTH PLAITING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB: 2 3I 192]- 1,402,584, Patentgzd Jan. 3, 1922.

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. CLOTH PLAITING MACHINL APPUCATION FILED FEB. 23,1921. 1, };Q2,5841 Patented Jan. 3, 1922.

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Be it known that 1,. HENRY E. ELRoD, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Dallas, county of Dallas, and

State ofTexa's, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ,Cloth-Plaiting Machines, of which the fol-lowing is a specification.

My invention relates to cloth-"plaitingma chines and more particularly to machines adapted to plaiting cloth longitudinally thereofor the length of theroll of cloth.

In carrying out my'invention, the plaited cloth is passedbetween two rubber rolls underpressure, thereby imparting to the plaits in the cloth the final creasing These-pressure rolls are driven at constant speed 1 and act as feeding or pulling rolls for driv- 'ingthecloth through the machine, It is essential, therefore, that each. longitudinal or warp thread be under the sametension in yorder' that thecloth will be pulled through the machine evenly.

Therefore, one of the essential features of my improved machine is that of. providing means [for conveying: the cloth through the 'machine evenly and with a uniform: longitudinal tension. In consequence of this the pla-iting of the cloth is accomplished uniformly and the plaits'are disand parallel throughout its length.

' In carrying outmy invention, 1 provide av frame upon which are mounted in longitudinal alignment two guide boards through which the cloth'tobe plaited is adapted to pass. Connecting the two guide boards are a multiplicity. of supporting wires. which engage the cloth and preliminarily fold the same, As the cloth leaves the second guide board it is engaged by two sets of intermeshing discs which compact the folds formed by the" guide boards. From these discs the cloth is conducted between the pressure rollers which in addition to feeding the cloth through the machine, impart to the folds the final creasing operation, thereby forming permanent plaits in the cloth.

I The various features of my invention and the details of structure will bemade more apparent in the accompanying specification and drawingsin which Fig. .1 is a side elevatlon of a machine constructed-in accordance wlth my lnvention,

Fig. 2 is atop plan view ofthe structure illustrated in Fig. 1, v

Fig- .3 is a detailed sectional view taken nlin 3 9 s- I Specification offLetter'sPaten't." Patgntd J jni 3; 1 Application filed February 23, 192-1. Serial No. 447,032

Fig. 4 is a similar sectional view taken on 7 ,line of Fig. 2, somewhat enlarged;

Fig. 5 is ahsec'tion taken on: line ,5-'5

and A F 1g. 7 is a section taken online 7 7 of Fig. 2. r I ;he frame of the machine is provided with sultable support; 10, supporting mern- I hers 11 and a base 12.. Disposed vertically of the frame and at one end thereof are a pa r of shafts 13 journaled upon the frame 10 an'dbase 12. The upper end of the shafts 13- projeet above the table for a purpose to I be more fully hereinafter described.

One of the shafts carries a pulley 14 which is engaged by'a belt 15 and through which connection is made with a motor 16 supported on the bas 12. Theshafts 13 are each provided with a pinion gear 17 which intermesh thereby causing the'two shafts 13 to be rotated atthe same ratio-and in opposite directions. For supporting the shafts 13 intermediate their length,'f1 provide a bracket member 1-8 secured at one of its ends to a vertically disposed support 19 and at its other end to one of the legs 11.

Disposed transversely of thesupporting frame 10 and at one end thereof are a pair of supporting drums'QO journaled in suitable bearings 21. These drums '20 are adapted to support a roll of cloth 22 to be plaited.

Disposed immediately adjacent the sup porting drums20 is apairof creasing rolls 2 and 3, the upper roll 2 being provided with V-shaped ribs 4L, While the bottom roll 3 has formed therein correspondingly shaped grooves 5.' Therolls are mounted in brackets 6, the upper portion of one of the brackets being hinged as indicated at 7 to permit the upper roll to be swung away from the lower roll to facilitate the threading. of the cloth through these rolls. The remaining bracket is providedwltli any suit able type of fastening means 8 for locking the upper and :lower sections of the bracket I together. i

Also disposed transversely of the sup porting frame 10 and spaced apart, are guide boards A and B. The details of the guide board A: will be described first and attention is directed particularly to Figs.

1 to 3. This guide board is formed in sections 23 and 24 hinged atone end as indicated at 24' and supported 'in' a vertical position upon the frame 10 by suitable brackets 25 disposed at the edge of the supporting frame. The ends of the sections opposite from the hinge are provided with a suitable locking means 25 for securing the sections in closed position. Any suitable type of locking means may be provided, such'for instance, as indicated at 8 for thecreasing rolls. The adjacent edges of the sections 23 and24 of the guide board A are shaped as illustrated clearly in Fig. 3 and when .in position, form a serpentine or irregular passage-way or slot 26 between 'thetwo-through which thecloth 22 is adapted to pass.

The guideboard B comprises an upper and

lower section

27 and 28 respectively, hingedly connected at one end thereof asindicated at 28, and this guide boardB is supported on the frame by suitable brackets 29. 'The other ends of the sections are provided with suitable locking means29', such for instance, as illustrated in Fig. for the creasing rolls. An irregular or serpentine slot is formedby the sections of the guide board B by providing the adjacent edges with a multiplicity of tapering projections 30 and 3'l respectively' which interengage with one another as clearly illustrated" in Fig.4. The extent ofthis inter-engagement of the

projections

30 and 31 is limited by the straight edges 32 of the

sections

27 and 28 which abutto properly positionthe

projections

30 and 31 with respect to each other.

For supporting the cloth 22 between the guide boards A and B and for retaining the folds in the cloth there are provided a

multiplicity'of supporting wires

33 and 34, the endsof these wires are fastened in the guide boards A and B, the set of wires 33 having their ends secured in the top sections ofthe guide boards while theset 34 have their ends anchored in the lower seer tions of the uideboards. These wires are disposed at tie points of the guide boards which form the crease or folds in thecloth and the wire-swill therefore converge from the guide board A toward the guide board B as will be clearly apparent.

Mounted adjacent the guide board B are two sets of disks 3'5and 36 mounted on erated for sake of clearness.

transversely disposed

shafts

37 and 38 respectively. These shafts are journaled in the plaits. These discs act inthe nature of compacting discs for the folds so'as to condense the transverse width of the folded fabric. 7

Mounted upon the upper end of the shafts 13 are rubber pressure rollers 40 adapted to engage the cloth22 after it leaves-the compacting discs. One of the purposes of these rollers is to impart to the fabric the final creasing along the lines of the folds so that the fabric will be permanently plaited. These rollers also act as feeding rollers and grip the cloth between their adjacent faces and draw it through'the'parts of the ma- .chine. Asthe cloth emerges from between these rollers 40, it has formed therein a multiplicity of longitudinally disposed pertween the rollers 40 may be regulated to rod 43 and a nut 44 by which the space bevary the tension exerted by these rolls {on the .cloth.

The-method of operating my improved machine is as follows:

The motor 16 is drivenfrom source of current and through the medium of the belt 15 and] pulley 14 rotates'one of the shafts 13. By reason of the pinion gears 17 carriedby the shafts13, both shafts are rotated at a uniform. speed but in opposite directions. Cloth 22 from the supply-roll is unwound by the rubber rolls 40 because of its engagement with these rotating rolls." As the cloth is unwound from the roll, it is in a fiat or uncreased condition. It first passesbetween creasing rolls 2 and 3 and has imparted to it a'preliminaryicreasing;

It then passes through the guide board and has imparted to it a-further folding because of theshape of the serpentine slot.26.- The folds thus imparted to'the cloth areretained therein and somewhat compacted between the guide board 'A and the guide board B,

owing to the converging sets of

wires

33 and 34 stretched between guide board A and guide board 13. As the cloth passes through guide board Bit has been made to assume more closely flconfined folded'condition. After passing through the'guide board 13 the clothis engaged by the sets of compacting discs and 36 wliich'engage the cloth with their peripheries at the lines upon which they are folded. The space between the intermeshing peripheries of the discs 35 and -36'is sufficient only to accommodate the thickness of the cloth-and hence the folds already imparted to the cloth are compacted to a comparatively small transverse .dimen sio'n. The cloth thus folded is thendrawn between the rolls 40 and finally creased, the

any suitable amount of pressure of the rolls being governed by the adjustment of the clamping rod'eii.

By'providing the sets of wires between the guide boards A and B the cloth is thereby prevented from sagging and the longitudinal' tension exerted thereon by the rollers 40 isunifcrm throughout the warp threads of the cloth. This uniform pressure and the absence of sagging of the cloth insures a uniformity of the'plaits and the efficiency of the'machine. 7

Furthermore, the distance between the guide boards A and B can therefore be made sufiicient so that the increase in the acuteness of the angle of the folds may not be caused too'abruptly, but that these folds will be formed easily and naturally by reason of the engagement of thecloth with the convergin supporting wires.

l3y reason of the hinged connections be tween the upper and lower sections of the creasing and folding elements the threading of the cloth through the machine is facilitated, it being only necessary to swing the upper sections of the folding elements away from the lower section to enable the cloth to be passed through these elements.

Various modifications of the structure illustrated may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and I particularly reserve this right.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a cloth-plaiting machine, a pair of guide boards for preliminarily folding the cloth to be plaited, supporting wires extending from one guide board to the other and engaging the cloth along the lines of fold, compacting discs engaging said cloth in the lines of fold for compacting the folds thus formed in the cloth and means for drawing the cloth through the machine and for com-' pressing the folds of the cloth.

2. In a plaiting machine of theclass described a pair of spaced guide boards for preliminarily folding the material to be plaited, supporting wires connecting said guide boards and engaging the material to be plaited along its folds, said guide boards and wires causing the acuteness of the angle of thefolds to gradually increase, revoluble compacting means engaging said material along the lines of fold for compacting the folds thus formed and means for compressing said folds to form permanent plaits, said means being adapted to draw the material to be plaited through the machine.

3. In a plaiting machine of the class described a pair of preliminary creasing rollers, a pair of guide boards for preliminarily folding the material to be plaited, material supporting means connecting said guide boards, rotary compacting means engaging the lines of fold in the material and compacting the folds thus formedand rotary compressing means for compressing the folds to formperm'anent pla ts in the material, said creasing rollers, guide boards and I compacting means being hingedly connected to facilitate the threadin of the material to be planted throughthe machine. 7

d. in a plaiting machine, rotary means for preliminarily creasing the material to be plaited, a pair of spaced guide boards for imparting to the material to be plaited' a preliminary fold of gradually increasing acuteness of angle, means disposed between said guide boards for supportnig the material to be plaited along its lines of fold, rotary intermeshing compacting; discs engaging the material to be plaited at its lines of fold for compacting the folds thus formed and rotary compressing rollers for compress ing the folds to form permanent plaits in the material, said rollers alsoactmg to draw the cloth through I the machine.

5. A machine of the class described com-V prising apair of guide boards, said guide boards being provided with means for imparting a preliminary fold to the cloth to be parting preliminary folds to the cloth, the

passage way in one of said guide boards forming the folds in said cloth with a more acute angle, supporting wires extending along the points of fold between said guide boards, two sets of compacting discs for compacting the folds thus formed in the cloth, and means for drawing the cloth through the machine and for finally compressing the folds, to form permanent plaits in the cloth.

7 A plaiting machine of the class described comprising a supporting frame, a pair of freely rotatable drums for supporting a roll of cloth to be plaited, means for preliminarily creasing the cloth, a .pair of spaced guide boards, each guide board being formed in two sections, the adjacent edge of each section being shaped to pro-, vide an irregular slotwhen the sections are together, the slot formed in one of these guide boards being composed of acute angles while the slot of the other guide board is formed of obtuse angles, the slots in said guide boards causing the cloth to be preliminarily folded, the folds increasing in pitch between the two guide boards, supporting wlres extending from one guide board to the other and along the lines of fold, two

sets of intermeshing compacting discs for compacting the folds thus formed in the cloth, a pair of constantly driven rubber rollers, means for adjusting said rolls, said rollers being adapted to draw the cloth through the machine and to compress the folds of the cloth.

8. A plaiting machine of the class described comprising a frame provided with a base, a motor mounted on said base, a pair of vertically disposed intermeshing shafts at one end of said frame, one end of each spaced guide boards, each guide board being formed in two sections, the adjacent edge of each section being shaped to provide an 1rregular slot when the sections are together, the slot formed in one of these guide boards being composed of acute angles while the slot of the other guide board is formed of obtuse angles, the slots in said guide boards causing the cloth to be preliminarily folded, the folds increasing in pitch between the two guide boards, supporting wlres extending from one guide board to the other and along the lines of' fold, two sets of intermeshing compacting discs for compacting the folds thus formed in the cloth, a pair of rubber rollers mounted on said Vertically disposed shafts, said rollers being adapted to draw the cloth through the machine and for compressing the folds of said cloth to form permanent plaits therein.

. HENRY E. ELROD.