US1715443A - Machine for the combing or hackling of coco-bristle fibers or other like operations - Google Patents

Description

June 4, 1929- P. v. APPLEBY MACHINE FOR THE COMBING OR HACKLING OF COCO BRISTLE FIBERS OR OTHER LIKE OPERATIONS Filed April 20, 1928 June 4, 1929. p, v, P Y 1.715.443

momma FOR THE comsme 0R HACKLING 0F coco Y BRISTLE mamas OR OTHER LIKE OPERATIONS Filed April 20, 1928' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 2

A ymen 12 I Patented June 4,1929. i

' PERCY vnvnssnun TAPP EBY, or Lennon, mve Annl MACHINE FOR. THE confine Application filed April '20, 1928,,Seria'1 n6.

This invention relates to machines for, combing or hacklingfibers and JWhllG it is particularly designed for the combmg of coco bristle fibenit may be applied'wlth like'advantage and equal effect to 'the comb-- ing or hackling of fibers or fibrous: ma-

terial generally. i I

The ob'ectof the present invention is to devise'a simple andleflicient machine for automatically effecting the combing operations hitherto generally performed" I hand by native labour in the countries in. which the fibers are produced.

Theinvention 6011318128 in a machine forcombing fibers comprising meansfor convey ingthe fibers in a direction transverse to the length of the fibers and means for combing the samein the direction of their length, that is, in a direction transverse tothe d1- rection of travel of the fibers.

The invention also consists in a machine for combing fibers comprising a belt, band or rope conveyor travelling longitudinally of the machine and carrying fibers which are laid across said conveyor and one orfmore laterally moving rakes orcombs for combing the fibe'rsin the direction oftheir length,

means being provided for holdingthe fiber "ends during the combing operations.

The invention further consists in a fiber combing machine according to the precedmg paragraph in which the fibers are held alternately at one endand then atthe other so that the whole length of the'fibers may be adequately combed or hackl'ed. p 1

,The invention also consists in 'other de-' tails and arrangements hereinafter"described or indicated.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one convenient mode of carrying jout the'invent Figure l g 7 side elevation of machine Withthe invention; 7 V

Figure 2 is an end elevation on a some? what larger :scale, and a Figure3is aplan.

.In carrying my invention'into eifectf in one convenient manner as, -for example, ,in its application to'a ma'ch'me {designed for hackling' coco bristle fiber, :the length of' @Whiclija'ries in general from about;8 inches to'fabou't 13 inchesfl form my improved machine with-any suitable framework or enis a more or less diagrammatic- 1n accordance 271,616, andin 'Great Br'itain May 4,1927.

tablature a adapted to carry a conveyor 6 which may comprise two ropes or leather or'metal belt or. band or other suitable conon m gma-or coco nnrsrtn meme THER I LIKE or n ArIons.,f.. E I I veyi'ng element which travels longitudinally otthe ;-machin'c,means being providcdof" v I any su1tablespeed' whichmay or ma'y not' be va r1able', and a weighted ockeypulley cc.

ora' screw operatoror'other' movable bear-' mg or: other means being also preferably.

suitablecharacter to drive the conveyor'nt provided to maintain the requisite degree of tension'in. the beltor jband'oi,fotlier' nember. I

or m'embers comprising the conveyor? Inpractice thegfiber to be combed isla'id uponthe conveyor at the feed end (that is& I the right-hand end of Figure so tofbe carried through the niachine'forthe: various" operationsthat are to be performedtherein and; prefer to fac'ilitate such feeding op eration by the -e'1nploymentfof" a', suitable metal rack forlnedl'of Wire or .rodor other suitable materialof substantially U shape and ofa width sufficient to enableit to span" theconveyor member, the rack "being of a"- suitable length to take asufllcie'nt charge of fiber which'jmay' be laidftransversely thereon and beingconvenientlyfitted with: a handle to facilitateits manipulation so that a charged rackmay be laid over the feed end of the conveyor I whichthereupon' automatically removes the charge of fiber from the rack for the purpose of conveying the same through. th'emachine. Other sim j ilar racks in the meantime Will be prepared with the ,fiber laid'thereon so thatin thisy. the filing of the machine may. 7 be 9 1 substantially "continuous. fFOIf GXaHiple, if.

a rack'is' 2feet'6' incheslong andthe-linear' spec d of the conveyor is 15 feet jpenminute a continuous :feed' will require the emptying oif six racks per minute so that if there-are two operators engaged in" filling racks the maximum time forffilhng'one rack Will be I 20 seconds. The I fiber is carried fibers will gripped "be 'efi machine loc ' with tyres (such as d?) of rubber: or other compressible or friction material to facilitate the gripping of the fiber ends.

In order to compensate for Vary ng thicknes'ses of fiber to be gripped the uppe'r Wheel of the pair of Wheels is mounted'in a bearing which is 'capableof verticalmovernent and the necessary gripping pressure is mam tained in partby the Weight of'the heel and in part also bya -'suitablecounterweight I e acting upon the wheel or its bearings preferably through the medium ofa compound lever system 6, it being understoochhowever, "that such tCld1l11OIHLlW61ght1Ilg means may necessary grip. By such an arrangement I the fiber'is thus gripped over a certain dth peripheral speeds of the gripping heels,

be dispensed with if theweight of the Wheel itself be found sufficient to provide the While at the same time travellingalong at the same speed as the conveyor belt, the

i d, df being adjusted for the purpose, so as a} to be equal to thetravelling speed of the-belt.

VWhilethe fiber is thus gripped at one end of the gripping wheels itis subj ectedto the faction of a rake or comb f operated by le'- ,vers or other suitablemechanism seas to be @given arapid motion in a direction transnermost position-in a path located above the.

verse to the direction of movement of the,

feed belt-and 'thu's in the direction of the length of the fibers tolbe combed.

By a suit ble cam actionorother mech anismthe comb may. be made to travel so that it dips into the fibers only on the out Ward or active stroke,retu-rning to its infiber so as not tof disarrange the combed fibers, i g p 7 In the construction illustrated the neces,

sary movement of the comb or rake is imparted by a suitable crank 9' (preferably counter-balanced) operating upon an arm or'lever f carrying at one end the comb or rake f' (which may COIHPI'ISQIQ, 7, 8 or other" convenient number of teeth" in one or more rows in general limited by the widthgiover .Which] the fibers are held), the arm or lever f being supportedby alink or pair'of links. carrying a roller or rollers I f adapted during the oscillation of the'linksl f to move overa suitable cam path hi so as to impart thedipping motion ofthe comb referred to {in the preceding "paragraph, and'the' upper V end or ends of the link orlinks-f be1ng spring-controlled and "movable vertically asuitable'oscillating bracket -It will be understood, however, [construction is givenpurely byway: of 1llustration and'that any other suitable means that this may 1 be 5 adopted for applying 1 the necessary the requisitespeed. Moreover, the feed belt I i and the combingmecha'nisms may be driven by" separate motors.

The fibers having thus been submitted, to

a. combing'at one end are carriedon by the conveyor until they are gripped at the other end bya similar pair of Wheels 2', @l to that previously described-but located upon theopposite side of the conveyor, and While so gripped the other end of the fiber is then similar to that hereinbei'ore describedand ,75 subjected to a combing operation by a rake similarly operated but again located at the opposite side of the conveyor.

These Wheels can be brought more closely together" than shown in Figure l as long as the periphery of one Wheel isc'lear of the axle of the; succeeding Wheel. 7 In this Way the overall length of the machinemay be considerablyreduced. a i s v ,7 With some fibers a single combing'operation at each end may be found suffic ent but With other fibers it may be desirable to subject the same to a number of combing opera- 1 tions, in Which case themachine may comprise a number or sets of gripping Wheels and combsor rakes With their attendant mechanisms, and 'in such case any suitable meansmay be adopted for throwing one'or m'ore of-su'ch rakes out of operationfwhen the machme s intended to treat'fibers requirrng a ieWer number of combing operations.

' The short fibers which are combed out by the actlon ofithe combs or rakes" may be guided into hoppers or chutes is suitably placed for their reception, and" in order to facilitate this guiding operation I-Tmay provide adjacent to eachhopper or chute a rapidly rotating disc Z having teeth {or ser rations round its-periphery or a fan or any other suitable means may be adopted for the purpose.

vfhen the combed finally issu'es from" the machine it may be collected upon a tra elling band or "any other Way found most suitable I for its eve'ntu al'hanki'ng, that is, tying into hanks;

he machine may 7 I be driven. by an electric motor m or'anyothersuitable form of prime mover With any clutchin' or loose pulley'and belt arrangement orf'other contrivan cefor permitting of the ready starting and 'stop-" ping of the machine, andv the gripping 1 ing discs for the combings may also be am Wheels, rake-driving mechanism, and guid en'at the appropriate speeds byjchain or belt or other suitable'xtransmission mechanisms adopted for the purpose.

. In a modincation of the invention; Imay 7 provide two electricimotors, one forftheibelt vorconveyor drive connected thereto by worm andivvormrwheel'and skew 'orb evel or other gearing, and one fordriving, throughTthe medium of spur "gearingan'd c'hainldriv'esilao or other transmission means, the comb shafts and fans or the like for clearing the loose fibers. Moreover, instead of providing chutes for the latter Iinay make the conveyortable of, say, sheet metal with $101)- ing sides and an upper central part to take a wooden or other table or support over which parts may be varied from the foregoing to transversely, a laterally 'inovable' comb for combing the-fibers in the direction of'their. length, upper andlower wheels arranged at y suit any particular kind of fiber or fibrous material upon which the machine is to operate or any practical requirements which the invention may be called upon to fulfil, it being understood that-the details of 'construction hereinbefore given are by way of example only to illustrate the nature, and are not intended in any way to limitthe scope, of the invention; f

Having now described-my invention, what I claim'as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A machine for combmg fibers compris-- .mg a flexible conveyor on which the fibers.

are laid transversely, means for moving said conveyor, upper and lower wheels arranged at one side of sald conveyor for gripping the fiber ends and laterally moving. combing means for combing the fibersin the direction of their length. Y

2. A fiber combing machine according to claim 1 in which one of the wheel members is provided with a tyre of compressible-ma terial.

A fiber-combing machine according to claim 1 in which the upper wheel ofapair of gripping wheels is mounted in a movable bearing and acted upon'by a counterweight.

4. Afiber-combing machine comprising in combination a longitudinally movable conveyor across: which the fibers may-be laid the fiber.

veyor therefrom.

1 comb.

5, A-fiber combing machine according to claim/.1: having also cam means controlling the movement of the combso that it-dips into the fibers only on the outward or active to stroke and returns to its innermost position in a path located above the fibers. 6.. A fiber combing machine comprising in combination a longitudinally movable con- .veyor across which the fibers maybe laid transversely, laterally movable combmeans for combing said fibers in the direction of their length, an upper and lower wheel set to one side of the conveyor for temporarily. gripping the ends of the fibers during the' combing operation, crank mechanism for actuating the combing means and means for oneside of said conveyor for gripping the ends of the fibers during the combing opera j .tion and crank mechanism for'operatmg sald facilitating the ejection of the combings from the machine.

7 A fiber-combing machine; according" to claim 6 having also cam means controlling the movement of said combin means so I C that the comb dips into the fibers only on the outward or active stroke and returns to its position in a pathv located above c e V innermost 8. A fiber combing machine comprising an endless belt conveyor, upper and lowe'r.

wheels located to one side of the conveyor, upper and lower wheels on theotherxside of the conveyor and in staggered relation'to fsaid first upper and lower wheels, and combing means adjacent each upper and lower' wheel and on the opposite sideof the con- 9. A fiber combingmachine comprising' a flexible endless conveyor across which the "fibers are laid, upper lower wheels hav v ing flexible rims a'nd'located on each side of said conveyor 1n staggered relation, combing means associated withyeach pair of wheels and on the opposite side of 'sa'id conveyor therefrom, and'means for varying the pressure of the upper -wheels on thealower wheels 1 i In testimony whereof I have signed name to thisspecification.

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