US2028537A - Spinning spindle - Google Patents

Description

E. H. ERHARD SPINNING SPINDLE Filed Sept. 29, 1954 'ill 'h M INVENTOR.

M/LE h! EEHA ED. BY M W W/ TNESS.

CL/NTON 5. O5U 4 TTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 21, 1936 PATENT OFFICE 2,928,537 SPINNING SPINDLE Emile H. Erhard, Dedham, Mass, assignor to Draper Corporation, Hopedale, Mass., at corporation of Maine Application September 29, 1934, Serial No. 746,198

2 Claims.

The present invention pertains to spinning spindles of the type commonly used on ring spinning frames, twister frames and the like.

Spindles of the type mentioned are usually comprised of a bobbin receiving spindle blade to which a driving whorl is attached, a base, and a bearing such as a bolster in which the spindle blade revolves. Present day requirements of increased production and high efiiciency call for higher spindle speeds that have been practicable heretofore. Such higher speeds have particularly aggravated the lubrication problem. It is noted especially that while certain types of prior spindles can be adequately lubricated at high speeds, such spindles are so constructed that oil in. varying quantities escapes from the base and accumulates on adjacent parts of the spinning frame. The undesirable consequences of such an accumulation of oil are of sufficient magnitude that the prevention thereof is of major importance to the industry.

Accordingly, the principal object of the present invention is to provide, in a spindle of the type above mentioned, means for adequately lubricating the spindle blade and its bearing, and means for entirely preventing the escape of oil from the spindle while still permitting visual inspection of the oil supply.

In accomplishing the aforementioned object I have utilized a spindle base having an oil reservoir contained therein, and a bearing, such as a bolster, which extends into the interior of the whorl. The bearing above the oil level is lubricated by reason of the oil feeding upwardly of the spindle blade or the bolster, this phenomena being well-known in the art. The oil thus fed upwardly overflows and runs down the inside of the whorl, from whence it is thrown off by centrifugal force. I have discovered that the oil is thrown from the whorl with such velocity that upon striking a vertical surface it will become vaporized, and the resulting oil vapor cannot be prevented from passing outside the spindle and condensing on any adjacent objects.-

I have-further discovered that the condensation of oil vapor, as aforesaid, is responsible for accumulations of oil around what appears to be an oil-tight spindle base.

The present invention seeks to prevent acculations of oil as aforesaid, by providing for collecting the oil thrown from the whorl, in such manner as to prevent its being vaporized. To this end, I provide an oil-collecting member which has a downwardly and outwardly inclined interior surface surrounding the lower'edge of the whorl and leading to the interior of the oil reservoir. I find that the inclined surface will receive and collect the oil, virtually eliminating the vaporization of the latter which characterizes prior constructions.

A still further object is to provide a novel means whereby the oil level in an enclosed spindle base may be determined without dismantling the spindle and without permitting the escape of oil vapor therefrom.

Other objects will be hereinafter more specifically enumerated, or will become apparent as the description proceeds.

The preferred embodiment of my invention is illustrated on the accompanying drawing, of which:

Fig. 1 is a View partly in elevation and partly in section, of the said embodiment;

Fig. 2 is a view in elevation of the spindle of Fig. 1;

Figs. 3 and 4 are respectively, a plan and an 1 elevation of the oil collecting member of Fig. l.

The spindle shown on the drawing includes a spindle blade I of usual construction, a base 2 attached to a spindle rail 3, a bearing in the form of a bolster 6 within the base, a whorl 5 fixed to the spindle blade above the base, and a conve-ntional centrifugal clutch (i. The spindle blade bears at its lower end in the bolster and is revolved within the latter by the usual tape or band (not shown) which engages the pulley surface i on the whorl.

The lower face of the whorl is recessed, as is clearly shown, and the tubular'portion 8 of the base extends upwardly into such recess. In the present construction, the bolster likewise extends upwardly into the recess in the whorl, the top of the bolster being preferably flush with the top of the portion 8 of the base. The base is oil tight, preferably being cast of metal in one piece. An annular, open-topped oil reservoir 9 is formed as a part of the base, the reservoir being constituted by a cylindrical wall Ii! and a floor I I both co-axial with the spindle blade and bolster.

The oil reservoir is filled with lubricating oil substantially to the level indicated on Fig. 1, and this oil enters the chamber in which the bolster is located, through oil leads I2 which extend from the bottom of the reservoir to the bolster. Further oil leads i3 extend through the walls of the bolster to permit the oil to reach the spindle blade. While the oil level in the reservoir is well below the top of the bolster and base, it is found that, particularly at higher spindle speeds, the oil will feed upwardly of the spindle blade and overflow therefrom. The cylindrical wall H on the interior of the whorl serves as an oildirecting surface for directing the oil downwardly, exteriorly of the base.

An annular groove may be formed in the lower face of the whorl, thus dividing the same into an inner sleeve l5 and an outer skirt It. It will be noted that the sleeve I5 is cylindrical in form and that its diameter is only sufficiently greater than the diameter of the portion 8 of the base to provide clearance thereover. Since the diameter of the sleeve is thus as small as it can be made, oil thrown from the lower edge of the sleeve will be thrown at the minimum velocity. The oil flowing down the wall I4 is thrown outwardly from the lower edge of the sleeve, and

' my invention provides a member for collecting this oil and returning it to the interior of the base.

The oil-collecting member is indicated generally at ll, and is comprised, in the present embodiment, of a lower cylindrical portion l8 and an upper portion is. The interior surface of the upper portion is continuous and is a surface of revolution which inclines downwardly and outwardly away from the axis of the spindle at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the axis of the spindle. It will be apparent that the oil thrown from the sleeve it, having a more or less parabolic path, will be moving downwardly and outwardly away from the spindle when it strikes the portion it, the angle of the latter being calculated to coincide as closely as possible with the direction of movement of the thrown oil. The particular surface shown is of frusto-conical shape, and the upper edge thereof is positioned within the aforesaid groove, while the lower edge thereof is integral with the cylindrical portion E8. The member ll, if formed separately from the base, is preferably firmly fixed to the base, as by being force-fitted into the oil reservoir.

It is found that when the drops of oil thrown from the lower edge of the whorl are caused to strike against an inclined surface they are not broken up, or vaporized, but merely cling to and run down such surface. Thus, the inclined surface truly constitutes means for collecting the oil which, in prior art devices, would escape from the spindle either because its exodus is unimpeded or because it is first vaporized and then allowed to escape as oil vapor. In the present construction the inclined surface is integrally joined with the internal surface of the cylindrical portion I8. Since this cylindrical portion is positioned inside the base, i. e., inside the oil reservoir the collected oil is thereby returned to the interior of the oil reservoir.

The oil-collecting member above described serves to enclose the space between the opentopped oil reservoir and the whorl, thus obscuring the oil supply from view. There is shown on the drawing a novel means for permitting the inspection of the oil in the reservoir. Such means is comprised of an open-ended tube 20, which may be of cylindrical cross-section, extending from the outside of the oil collecting member downwardly into the oil reservoir. The tube terminates at its lower end well below the surface of the oil in the reservoir.

Thus, the tube is sealed against the exit therethrough of any oil vapor which may be present within the base. While this tube is desirable, obviously, it is not essential and may be omitted.

Having fully disclosed the preferred embodiment of my invention, I claim:

1. The combination of a spinning spindle having an oil-containing base, a bolster, a whorl, and a circumferentially extending oil reservoir in said base, said spindle being of the type wherein oil supplied to said bolster flows downwardly interiorly of said whorl exteriorly of said base and is thrown from the lower edge of the former by centrifugal force, with an oil-collecting member for collecting the oil thrown as aforesaid, said member completely enclosing the space between said whorl and said oil reservoir, and an openended tube extending from the outside of said member downwardly into the oil reservoir to a point below the surface of the oil supply in the reservoir.

2. The combination of a spinning spindle having an oil-containing base, a bolster, a whorl, and a circumferentially extending oil reservoir in said base, with an oil-throwing flange depending from said whorl and extending into said oil reser voir, an oil-collecting member enclosing the space between said whorl and said reservoir, and an open-ended tube extending from the outside of said member through the latter and downwardly into said oil reservoir thereby rendering the oil level in said reservoir visible from the outside of the latter, the lower end of said tube terminating in said reservoir below the said oil level to thereby provide a seal against the exit of oil vapor through the tube.

EMILE H. ERHARD.

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