US2124576A - Transfer device - Google Patents

Description

July 26, 1938.

W. F. KNEBUSCH ET AL TRANSFER DEVI CE Filed Aug.. 21, 1935 INVENTOR5 WALTER F. KNEBUSCH a FOSTE?) F. HI LL|X m ATTORNEY Patented July 26, 1938 TRANSFER DEVICE,

Walter F. Knebusch, Cleveland, and Foster F. Hillix, Lakewood, Ohio, assignors to Industrial Rayon Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application August 21, 1935, Serial No. 37,252

8 Claims.

This invention relates to a transfer mechanism for removing a thread from a rotating surface on which it is being wound. More particularly, the invention relates to a transfer wheel adapted 5 to contact with a rotating surface on which a wet thread is being wound to sever such thread and to transfer the thread end so formed to another surface which may also be rotating. The invention provides, among other things, a disk- 10 like member having blades spaced around its periphery adapted to sever a thread which is winding on a rotating cylindrical surface. The device is particularly useful in connection with reels which operate to advance a thread in helical 15 turns along its'length, the transfer device acting to sever the thread and remove the free end so formed, so that the thread can be transferred to another similar reel where the winding operation is repeated.

10 The invention is especially useful in connection with the continuous spinning of artificial'silk, in

which all of the treatments necessary to finish.

an artificial silk thread coming from a spin bath are performed on the thread in succession on a number of reels arranged in regular order. Thus, in the viscose process of making artificial silk, the thread may be washed, desulphurized, bleached, soaped, etc., each operation being performed while the thread is passing over a separate reel; The method is continuous in'that the thread automatically winds in approximately helical form along a given reel, runs fromthis reel onto the next reel, travels along the second reel in the same manner, and so on until the :3 finished thread is taken up on a packaging device. Such a machine is described in copending application Ser. No; 651,404, filed January 12,

1933, and the present mechanism may be used therewith or wherever it is desired to transfer a traveling thread from one surface to another without interrupting the running of the thread. While the transfer mechanism can be used in connection with various forms of reels for winding thread, its operation will be described in association with the form of reel set forth in application Ser. No. 652,089, filed January 16, 1933, wherein is disclosed a reel consisting of two cage members made up of laterally extending intermeshing bars, the cage members being G mounted for rotation about axes'both offset and canted or askewwith respect to each other. As the bars of the respective cage members move in and out due to this offset relation oftheir axes, the turns of thread are alternately picked up and 55 dropped byeach set of bars, the turns being dropped'onto the bars slightly forward of the position which they last occupied due to the canted relation of the axes. This results in axial travel of the thread along the reel until it has come to the end thereof and is ready to be 'trans- "5 ferred to another similar reel.

Some automatic means to effect this transfer from reel to reel is desirable in order thateach' thread endmay be caused to wind overthe several reels provided for the application of the solutions 7 required for the various treatments to which the thread is subjected. Such a transfer can to advantage be employed when the machine is set first in operation, which is done by applying the thread from a spin bath to'the first reel, causing it to wind over the first reel, transferring it to the second reel, completing the travel on this reel, and again transferring, until the finished thread is run off onto the final packaging device. Breakage of a thread during operation o'f the machine also necessitates transfer. Manual transfer is possible but naturally automatic transfer is preferred, especially since the mini:- ber of transfers is very large where a commercial quantityof thread is being spun. Furthermore, removal of the thread from the reel is made difficult by the fact that the thread is wet by the various baths to which it is subjected and tends to clingto the bars of the reel. Also, the liquid is' showered onto the reels and tends to wash following turns of thread over the leading end. Where the true leading end is thus bound under following turns, a transfer mechanism should be used which is capable of creating a new free leading end by severance of the thread back of the true end.

Another problem which arises in connection with such transfer devices is the requirement that the severing edges which are presented to the reel must necessarily bear thereagainst with 40 sufiicient rigidity to cut the thread when contact is made therewith but at the same time this rigidity must be neither so great that the transfer mechanisms will become worn out quickly and require replacement nor so great that a groove will be worn in the winding reel resulting in abrasion and breaking of the still soft, wet thread during operation of the machine. For this reason, a mechanism is required which is moderately flexible, so that it yields somewhat upon contact with the reel but yet may be urged against the thread with suffi-cient firmness to sever such thread.

It is accordinglyan object of the invention to provide means of moderate flexibility for autolike article being wound on a rotating surface and removing such leading end from the surface. Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for automatically transferring a helically winding thread from one rotating surface to another. A further object of the invention is to provide a transfer mechanism having flexible thread-severing elements for severing and transferring a winding thread. Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear more in detail herein after.

In the drawing, which illustrates severalof the various forms which the invention may take, Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly broken away, of one embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a vertical section taken through Figure 1; Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 of another embodiment, of the invention; Figure 4 is a corresponding section through Figure 3; Figure 5 is an elevation of still another embodiment; Figure 6 is a vertical section therethrough; and Figure '7 is a fragmentary view in elevation of a transfermechanism constructed in accordance with the invention mounted in operative relation to a thread-processing reel.

, The invention is adapted for use in connection with any process of making artificial filaments,

as,for example, artificial silk or rayon, such as the cuprammonium, cellulose acetate, cellulose nitrate and viscose processes; but it is especially valuable in connection with the viscoseprocess and will be more particularly described in relation thereto, although no limitation is thereby implied. In fact, the apparatus will be found useful wherever it is necessary to transfer a thread from a rotating surface to another surface, particu larly if the'thread to be transferred is wet and tends to cling to the surface from which it is to be removed. P

Referring to Figure '7 of the drawing, a spinning reel I consists of acage member 2, carrying longitudinally extending bars 3,'and a cage member 4, carrying intermeshing bar members 5, the two sets of bars moving in and out radially with respect to each otherdue to the offset between their respective axes of rotation. As the turns of thread reach the endof the reel, they encounter the transfer mechanism -6 which is mounted to rotate in contact with the bars on a bracket '1. This bracket is mounted in the reel housing 8 by means of a rubber gasket 9' and may be adjustable in relation to the reel. A belt ll drives the transfer mechanism from a suitable source of power (not shown). The mechanism 6 is rotated in the same angular directon as the reel Iin order that the severing blades l2 may move in the opposite direction to the bars 3 and 5 at the point of contact to effect detachment of the severed end from the reel. The thread end 'then'drops through the opening lit in the reel housing 8 to contact with the surface of another reel-placed therebelow or otherwise disposed in proximity to reel I. r

In order to provide the necessary flexibility of the blades while insuring sufficient rigidity to sever the wet thread, the present invention affords a structure in which the blades are preferably formed integrally with the body of' the disk by 6 cutting the latter and twisting into the desired shapethe separate sections so made; A scroll formation has been found to be particularly advantageous in that it causes the blades to contact with the reel bars firmly while also permitting against the bars. The modification of the invention shown in Figures 1 and 2 is of this type, consisting of a disk l4 mounted to rotate with a spindle l5. The disk is positioned between shrouds l6 and I1 and carries blades |2a integral with the disk. These blades are scroll-shaped and are twisted so that the width thereof lies parallel to the axis of rotation of the disk,.the blades, furthermore, curving from. their points of attachment to the body of the disk in a rearward direction with respect to the direction of rotation 7 of the transfer mechanism, as they approach the periphery of the disk. As a result, the cutting edges l8 of the blades will tend to be pushed inwardly toward the center of the disk as they press against the surfaces of the reel bars. This lessens the diameter of the transfer mechanism temporarily as it passes the contact point and thus reduces friction and wear on the two structures. However, the cutting edges 18 will beheld against the bars with sufficient firmness by the resiliency of the scroll-shaped blades so that effective severing of the thread occurs.

Similarly, the modification shown in Figures 3 and 4 of the drawing consists of a disk l9 positioned between shrouds 2| and 22 and mounted for rotation with a spindle 23. The blades l'2b are integral with the material of the disk l9 and are twisted so that the width of the blade extends parallel to the axis ofthe disk. In this case, however, the blades extend radially outward without taking the scroll formation, the desired yielding of the cutting edges 24 being provided by the flexibility of the material from which the disk is made. That is to say, the blades are of sufficient length so that they are forced backward slightly when contacting with the reel bars, and, while severance of the thread is effected, there is no rigid, unyielding contact between the blades and the bars. r

The modification shown in Figures5 and 6 presents a scroll formation somewhat similar to that shown in Figures 1 and 2. In this instance, a disk 25 is positioned between shrouds 26 and 21 and is mounted for rotation with a spindle 28. The disk 25 has saw cuts 29 therein following a more or less spiral path from the periphery of the disk inwardly a short distance. These regularly spaced saw cuts dividethe outer portion of the disk into sections or blades 3| and the ends of these sections are upset or bent to form cutting edges 3?. circumferentially spaced around the disk and extending parallel to the axis thereof. These blades or sections extend toward the periphery of the disk in the opposite direction to the rotation of the disk and will thus tend to yield inwardly as the disk contacts with the bars of the spinning reel. The action is substantially similar tolthat of the modification shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Any of the modifications described herein may be used with a continuous spinning machine of the type referred to above, one transfer wheel.

, being placed in contact with each spinning reel wherein it is desired to transfer a wet thread from a rotating surface to another surface.

It is intended that the patent shall cover by suitable expression in the appended claims, Whatever features of patentable novelty reside in the invention.

What we claim is:

1. In thread processing apparatus including a rotatable thread-storage, thread-advancing device, means for transferring thread from said device comprising a rotatable carrier having associ ated therewith a plurality of elongated blades individually adapted to flex along substantially their entire lengths in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of said carrier, the extremities of said blades being disposed equidistantly from the axis of rotation of said carrier for engaging the surface of said thread-storage, thread-advancing device and removing therefrom the thread to be transferred.

2. In thread processing apparatus including a rotatable thread-storage, thread-advancing device, means for transferring thread from said device comprising a plurality of scroll shaped blades arranged about a rotatable carrier, the extremities of said blades being disposed equidistantly from the axis of rotation of said carrier for engaging the surface of said thread-storage, threadadvancing device and removing therefrom the thread to be transferred.

3. In thread processing apparatus including a rotatable thread-storage, thread-advancing device, means for transferring thread from said device comprising a disk having associated therewith a plurality of spirally formed blades, the extremities of said blades being disposed equidistantly from the axis of said disk for engaging the surface of said thread-storage, thread-advancing device and removing therefrom the thread to be transferred.

4. In thread processing apparatus including a rotatable thread-storage, thread-advancing device, means for transferring thread from said device comprising a disk having associated therewith a plurality of blades each of which is twisted out of the plane of said disk throughout the greater part of its length, the extremities of said blades being disposed equidistantly from the axis of said disk for engaging the surface of said threadstorage, thread-advancing device and removing therefrom the thread to be transferred.

5. In a thread processing apparatus including a rotatable thread-storage, thread-advancing device, means for transferring thread from said device comprising a disk having projecting therefrom a plurality of integrally connected blades the outer ends of which are bent to form an angle with the contiguous portions thereof, the extremities of said blades being disposed equidistantly from the axis of said disk for engaging the surface of said thread-storage, thread-advancing device and removing therefrom the thread to be transferred.

6. In thread processing apparatus including a rotatable thread-storage, thread-advancing device, means for transferring thread from said device comprising a plurality of elongated blades arranged about a rotatable carrier each of which elongated blades lies edgewise to a common plane perpendicular to the axis of said carrier, the extremities of said blades being disposed equidistantly from the axis of rotation of said carrier for engaging the surface of said thread-storage, thread-advancing device and removing therefrom the thread to be transferred.

7. In thread processing apparatus including a rotatable thread-storage, thread-advancing device, means for transferring thread from said device comprising a serrated disk the serrations of which are disposed equidistantly from the axis of said disk for engaging the surface of said threadstorage, thread-advancing device and removing therefrom the thread to be transferred.

8. In thread processing apparatus including a rotatable thread-storage, thread-advancing device, means for transferring thread from said de- Vice comprising a disk having projecting therefrom a plurality of elongated blades formed integrally with said disk, the extremities of said blades being disposed equidistantly from the axis of said disk for engaging the surface of said thread-storage, thread-advancing device and removing therefrom the thread to be transferred.

WALTER F. KNEBUSCI-I. FOSTER F. HILLIX.

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