US1747143A - Cloth-winding machine - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 11, 1930. c. G. RICHARDSON CLOTH WINDING MACHINE Filed Feb. 4, '1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I 27871- .g giffm A Feb. 11, 1930. c. G. RXCHARDSON 1,747,143

CLOTH WINDING MACHINE Filed Feb. 4, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,Z/Zz/eZiZbn- A 16 4 W Patented Feb. 11, 1930 nears stares means PATT orria CHARLES G. RICHARDSON, OF SPRINGFIELD, VERMONT, ASSIGNOR TO PARKS & WOOL-- SON MACHINE COMPANY, OF SPRINGFIELD, VERMONT, A CORPORATION OF VER- MONT CLOTH-WINDING IVIACI-IINE Application filed February This invention relates to cloth winding machines, and particularly that class of winding machines that are frequently employed. for re-winding the cloth from a round bolt or package into another.

As these machines have heretofore been constructed the windin and the unwinding elements and the tensioning devices were so arranged that the operation of the machine involved much passing by the operator from one side of the machine to the other both when threading or drawing the cloth into the machine preparatory to re-winding, as well as during the re-winding operation itself, all of which consume time and increase the labor of performing this operation.

The present invention is intended to obvi ate these long-standing objections by providing a construction and arrangement of winding machine that will permit the operator to readily thread in the cloth, preparatory to rewinding, and thereafter perform the re-windin and measuring operation, all from the front of the machine, while having both the unwinding and re-winding elements as. well as the cloth measuring element always in plain sight when operating the machine.

With these objects in view the invention comprises first the combination of unwinding and winding elements and of a measuring drum arranged in a substantially vertical plane or order, combined with upper and lower tensioning devices arranged somewhat rearwardly in relation thereto, all being accessible to the operator from the front of the machine both for threading in and rewinding. Secondly the invention consists in the construction and arrangement of the tensioning devices in such a manner as to permit them to oppose a yielding tensioning resistance to the cloth traveling over them, while normally being very responsive to differences in tension in the cloth in order to equalize the tension of the cloth as it is being re-wound and measured.

These and other features of the invention will be more particularly explained in the following specification and will be defined in the claims hereto annexed.

In the accompanying drawings Ihave il- 4, 1926. Serial No. 85,889.

lustrated a simple, compact and convenient embodiment containing my present improvements, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation showing the complete machine set up for re-winding and measuring the cloth.

Figure 2 is a detail view showing, in their proper relative positions, the two adjustable bearing supports or elements for the unwinding and winding elements.

Figure 3 is a detail view showing a plan view of these two adjustable bearing members in their assembled positions.

Figure 4 is a front elevation of the machine, the top part being omitted and the middle portion of the winding elements being out out to permit a large scale of the details with which this invention is concerned.

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail view showing the variable driving means for operating the machine at different speeds, according to the character of the package being re-wound.

In the practice of the invention, according to the form illustrated, I provide two uprights or side frames 1, having at their upper ends forwardly projecting arms 1 affording bearing supports for the rotatable cloth-measuring drum 2, which is operatively connected by suitable connections with the dial wheel 3, which indicates the yardage according to the number of revolutions or parts of revolutions of the'cloth-drum induced by the friction of the cloth traveling around the drum from the Lin-winding element 8 to the windingelement 12 Such a measuring drum and dial being now wellknown in theart need no detailed description.

Theylower portions of the uprights 1, are joined together by a pair of horizontal crossrods 5 and 5 in the same vertical plane and by an additional tie-rod 62 to the rearward of the tie-rod 5*.

At the upper portion of the frame there is an additional tie-rod 61. This arrangement leaves a very large opening throughout the middle portion of the machine between the uprights for a purpose presently to be explained.

In the present embodiment of the machine the unwinding element, that is, the rotatable element supporting the cloth package for unwinding, is located in the lower part of the machine and the rotatable winding element for re-winding the cloth into another package is located at a convenient distance above the unwinding element.

The unwinding element itself is of well known construction and embraces a pair of holding jaws 8 and 9, the former of which is hingedly connected, as shown at 8, to a collar fast on the rotatable shaft 7 which is rotatably supported in a bearing arm or bracket secured to one of the uprights 1, the object of the hinging being to permit the core-board 9 which is swiveled to the hinged jaw 8 on the swivel pin 8 to be released from the ri in 'aw 9 and swin about its aivot to disengage its left hand end from the clamping jaw 9 to allow the package of cloth to he slipped on or off from the core-board. The clamping-jaw 9 is itself mounted on a rotatable shaft 10 carried in the bearing box of a forwardly projecting arm 6 of a slidable tail-bracket or carriage 6.

This tail-bracket or adjustable carriage comprises a. vertical arm 6", perforated to allow the cross-bars 5, 5 to pass through it so as to permit the bracket to be adjusted or slid along those cross-bars which act as trackbars for the tail-carriage. The vertical member 6 of this slidable bearing bracket has a lateral extension or arm 6 extending some distance out beyond the adjacent side-frame 1, and the outer end of this terminates in the forwardly projecting arm 6 carrying a hearing box for the reception and support of the shaft 10 of the unwinding element.

It will be understood that bolts of cloth vary considerably in width, some being doubled along their middle longitudinal line and some pieces being single. Consequently different lengths of core-board, according to the length of the bolt or width of the cloth, will he used as needed, thus requiring that the core-board supporting jaws 8 and 9 shall be moved in closer together or extended farther apart. lVhile smaller extensions and contractions may be made through adjustments of the supporting shafts 7 and 10, in their hearing boxes, yet it will be understood that any very extended adjustment in this way will fail to afford proper bearing support for the rotatable shaft since the bearingwill be located too far from the end at which the thrust or strain is imposed. Moreover, the slidable tail-carriage or bracket, with its laterally and forwardly offset bearing member permits an extension of the frame to accommodate exceptionally wide pieces of cloth, while normally allowing the frame to occupy much less space on the fioor for ordinaryuses.

The winding element on which the cloth is rewound is of somewhat similar construction,

but it will be noted that the vertical arm 60 of its adjustable bearing bracket or tail-carrlage is very much elongated so as to extend from the upper cross-bar or track-bar 61, at

the upper part of the machine, to the lower cross-connecting track-bar 62, near the bottom of the machine, thus leaving all the middle part of the machine open except for the obstruction afforded by the winding element itself.

This slidable carriage 60 comprises the vertical member 60, the lateral or horizontal extension 60, which permits it to project be yond the adjacent side frame, and the forwardly extending arm 60, which brings the bearing for the tail-shaft 11 of the winding member above the corresponding bearing on the unwinding element.

The hinged jaw 12 and the clamping jaw 12 of the winding element, as well as the core-board 12, are similar in construction to that of the unwinding element.

The supporting shaft 13 of the hinged jaw 12 is the driving shaft of the machine and may be driven either by power or by hand, but in the present machine the hand drive is illustrated. This drive-shaft 13 is provided with a longitudinal spline 13 which, as shown in Figure 5 in detail, receives a set screw 14$ carried by a thrust-collar 14, mounted on an elongated sleeve or hollow shaft member 14, into which the shaft 13 telescopes to permit a moderate adjustment axially of the hinged jaw 12. V V

The sleeve or hollow shaft member 14 is rotatably mounted in a forwardly projecting arm 15 of a supporting bracket 15, and its outer end is carried in a similar arm 15 of said bracket. An additional thrust collar 14 prevents longitudinal displacement of the sleeve or hollow shaft 14.

To the outward extension 16 of this shaft 14 is secured a sprocket wheel 17 having a projecting head 17, forming an arbor for the reception of the hub 20 of a hand-wheel 20 by which the shaft is rotated. The bracket 15 has a forward horizontal extension 15, carrying a short stud or arbor 18 for rotatably supporting a larger sprocket wheel 18, and a precisely similar arbor 19 for rotatably supporting an intermediate size of sprocket wheel 19. A sprocket chain 17 passes around all three sprocket wheels. The driving wheel 20 is provided with a set screw 21, which looks it to any one of the arbors 17*, 18 or 19, to which it may be applied by the operator.

It will be understood that some times the cloth is to be rewound into a package on a rod or roll not much more than an inch in diameter, while in other cases it may be wound on a bar 12 or 15 inches in diameter as well as upon intermediate cores. In the former case it would be a very slow and laborious operation for the operator to wind on a large piece ofcloth and to meet this situation he may shift his hand-wheel from arbor 17 to arbor 18*, of the sprocket-wheel 18, which would be equivalent to multiplying the diameter of the core three-fold in this particular case. As the driving wheel is very quickly shifted from one sprocket to another this arrangement eiiects considerable economy of time.

The tensioning devices for equalizing the tension on the cloth as here constructed 7 and arranged, are particularly advantageous since they are very simple to operate and normally stand in a fixed position before the cloth is threaded through them, are very responsive to the variations in the pull of the cloth against them and yet oppose an increasing resistance to displacement from normal position with substantial increase in the tension of the cloth.

Although mounted in relatively reverse arrangements, the principle of construction of both tension equalizers is the same.

The lower tension equalizer comprises a horizontal rock-shaft 30, carrying near its opposite ends projecting parallel arms 31 of equal length, in whose free ends are mounted a tensioning roller 32 adapted to engage and guide the cloth. The extensible tensiontransmitting link 35 connects each arm 31 to the rear ends of horizontal pivoted levers 33. Tension springs 34 are connected to the forward ends of these arms 33 so as to exert the desired tension or pull upon the arms to bring the centers 30, 30 and 35 into alignment. The alignment of these three centers determines the normal position of the equalizer roll 32, yet the equalizer roll will respond very easily to slight differences in tension but will offer an increasing resistance as the roll is moved farther from its normal position. This prevents jerks and perfectly accommodates yielding tensions of the cloth.

In similar fashion the rock-shaft 40, mounted in the upper ends of the side-arms, carries two parallel arms 41, in whose free ends is mounted an equalizing roller 42. The swinging arms 41 are connected by means of extensible links 45 with horizontal levers 43, whose rear ends are attached to contractile tensioning springs 44: having the same action as the springs 34, already described. It will be seen the cloth-engaging drum 2, which engages the stretch of cloth intermediate the two pivotal equalizers, acts to stabilize or steady this portion of the cloth in its movement through the machine, since it prevents the jerkiness or unevenness that would result from the equalizers sometimes pulling directly against each other and at other times relaxing simultaneously their pull on the cloth as the equalizers are subjected to sudden stresses and relaxations owing to the eccentric form of the unwinding and rewinding cloth packages.

In practice the package or bolt of cloth to be rewound is placed in the unwind'er element in the lower portion of the machine, which is properly adjusted according to the width of the cloth package to be inserted. At this time the upper rotatable or winding element is completely opened to allow access to the tension devices at the rear. The operator is, therefore, free to pass the free end of the cloth from the inserted package'around the tension roll 32, up over the measuring drum 2, at the top of the machine, down around the tension roll 42, of the upper tei'isioning equalizer, and is then ready to attach the free end to the core which is then inserted in the winding element. As the core piece need not be inserted in the winder element until the threading operation is completed, it will be seen that the operator has virtually unobstructed access to completely thread and set up the cloth in the machine. The hand wheel is then applied to the proper sprocket-wheel hub and the unwinding and rewinding is efiected by rotation of the driving wheel which can be accomplished in full view of the cloth-measuring dial and of both the unwinding and the winding elements, it being unnecessary at any time for the operator to leave the front of the machine.

W hat I claim is:

1. In a cloth winding machine the combination with vertical side frames having upper and lower forwardly extending bearing arms, a pair of coacting winding board jaws rotatably mounted in the lower bearing arms to hold the unwinding bolt of cloth, a pair of winding board jaws located in the upper bearing arms, a cloth engaging roll mounted in bearings at the top of said side frames, upper and lower cloth-tensioning members swingingly supported by said side frames and located rearwardly of the winding and un- -winding elements, whereby the unwinding and the winding elements and the tension devices are accessible to the operator from the front of the frame for drawing a piece of cloth into the machine and rewinding it.

2. In a machine for rewinding cloth the combination of a rotatable unwinding element, a rotatable rewinding element and a cloth engaging drum arranged in a substantially vertical series, and upper and lower pivotally mounted cloth-tensioning members arranged one above the other rearwardly of the winding and unwinding elements, whereby the cloth may be drawn through the machine and afterward rewound by the operator from the front of the machine. j

3. In a machine for rewinding cloth, the combination of upright side frames, a series of horizontal cross-bars connected to the upper and lower portions of the side frames to leave an unobstructed opening between the middle portions of the uprights for threading the cloth, the upper and lower slidable carriages mounted on said cross-bars to provide adjustable bearing supports, upper and lower cloth unwinding and rewinding elements rotatably supported in said adjustable bearing supports, upper and lower cloth-tensioning members swingably supported rearwardly of said elements, and a cloth-engaging and steadying member arranged to engage the stretch of cloth between the two tensioning members.

at. The combination with cloth unwinding and rewinding elements, of a tension equalizer embracing a cloth-engaging roll mounted to swing about an axis transverse to the travel of the cloth, and a tensioning member having operative connection with the equalizer to exert a yielding stress in a direction radial to the transverse axis and thereby normally maintain the roll in a predetermined position, while allowing it to swing away from such position with increasing resistance, substantially as described.

5. The'combination with cloth unwinding and rewinding elements, of an associated tension equalizer embracing a transverse clothengaging roll and a pair of pivotal arms mounted to swing about a common axis, tensioning springs, tensioning levers operatively connected with said springs and links interconnecting said levers with the aforesaid pivotal arms and arranged to exert a yielding pull onsaid arms in a direction radial to the axis of said arms.

6. A tensioning equalizer for cloth winding machines, embracing a pair of swinging side arms pivoted on a common axis, a transverse clothengaging roll mounted in the free ends of said arms, and tensioning springs operatively connected with said arms to exert an outward pull in a direction radial to said axis to normally maintain said roll in a predetermined position while allowing it to yield to increased pull of the cloth being wound.

7. In a machine for winding cloth, the combination with upright side frames and transverse connecting rods forming parallel tracks for a movable tail-carriage, of a rotatable core member detachably supported at its opposite ends by rotatable end shafts, one of said end shafts having a supporting tail-carriage comprising a vertical arm slidably mounted on said track rods, and an angle arm extending laterally and then forwardly-from said vertical arm to enable it to project beyond the adjacent side frame and having at its proj ecting end a bearing for one of said shafts.

8. In a machine for rewinding cloth, the combination with upright side frames having cross-connecting track rods, of rotatable and extensible unwinding and rewinding elements each supported by rotatable end shafts one of which is mounted in a carriage slidably mounted on the track rods, and having a bearing arm laterally offset and forwardly projecting from the track-engaging portion to provide a bearing that is adjustable to a position substantially beyond the outside of the adjacent side frame.

9. In a rewinding machine, the combination with extensible rotatable unwinding and rewinding elements arranged respectively to support a package of cloth to be unwound and to rewind said cloth into a new package of desired size, of driving means for rotating the rewinding element, and a hand-actuated member for operating said driving means, said hand-actuated member being applicable to different parts of the driving means to compensate for different sizes of winding elements.

10. In a cloth winding machine, the combination with upright side frames having supporting arms projecting forwardly from its lower portion and another pair of supporting arms projecting forwardly from its upper portion, an unwinding element comprising rotatable spaced holding jaws mounted in one pair of arms, a winding element comprising rotatable jaws mounted in the other pair of arms, a cloth-engaging drum mounted at the top of said side frames, and means for rotating the winding element, substantially as described.

11. In a machine for rewinding cloth the combination with an upright frame of two coordinated reels rotatably supported by said frame one above the other, each comprising a pair of axially aligned adjustably spaced holders for revolubly supporting a cloth package, a rotatable drum arranged above the upper reel in position to engage and support the cloth passing over it as the cloth unwinds from one reel and passes downward to be wound upon the other reel, and means for rotating the latter reel, said drum being rotated by frictional engagement with the cloth pass- 1ng over it.

In witness whereof, I have subscribed the above specification.

CHARLES G. RICHARDSON.

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