US2126629A

US2126629A - Napping machine

Info

Publication number: US2126629A
Application number: US93331A
Authority: US
Inventors: Fleisher Harry
Original assignee: PRINCETON Inc
Current assignee: PRINCETON Inc
Priority date: 1936-07-30
Filing date: 1936-07-30
Publication date: 1938-08-09
Anticipated expiration: 1955-08-09
Also published as: GB467226A

Description

Aug. 9, 1938. H. FLEISHER 2,126,629

NAPPING MACHINE .Filed July so, 1956 2 Sheets$hct 1 INVENTOR Harry. Fleisher A TTURNEY Aug. 9, 1938. sH 2,126,629

NAPPING MACHINE Filed. July 30, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Harry Fleisher A TTORIJI:

Patented Aug. 9, 1938 .11...

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE NAPPING MACHINE Harry Fleisher, Watertown, Conn assignor to Princeton, Inc., Watertown, Conn., a oorpora-- tion of Connecticut 1 Application July 30, 1936, serial N sasa 19Claims. (01. 66147) This invention relates to knitted fabrics, and frame In. 'A' sinker-bed I5 is suitably supported more particularly to an attachment to a circular by brackets (not shown) above the frame Ill and knitting machine for napping a tubular knitted carries a series of sinkers I6 for cooperating with fabric produced therein. the needles I3 in the customary manner.

5 One object of this invention is to provide a In order to support the usual spool guides and 5 napping device of the above nature which isprootherparts of the machine in an elevated posivided with a plurality of napping discs which are tion, provis on s a e of a P Of pp s circumferentially spaced around the tubular spaced vertical posts I! and I8, which are deknitted fabric, and adapted to be rotated in optachably'secured at their lower ends to the frame posite directions so that their fiat end faces. will n, a byh law The ppe ends of the posts 10 engage the interior surface of said fabric for IT a d ar a e as y u s Within a producing a novel circular twisted nap effect P Of tubule! bosses Which are integrally thereon. formed at the opposite ends of an overhead cross A further object is to provide a napping device beam 2! Supported y Said pests H and of the above nature having, in addition to the Th central portion of ss am 2 s 15 rotating napping discs, a non-rotating napping formed with a relatively large tubular boss 22 disc and a rotating napping wheel, located at in which s rigidly held, a y means of a set spaced intervals around the periphery of the screw 23, a l r v r i l ppo rod 2 posiknitting machine. tioned concentrically with respect to the tubular A still further object is toprovide a napping fabric produced by the knitting machine and 20 device of the above nature which will be simple a p d to f m s pp r the l v p r in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, o the e smwhich will produce an attractive and ornamental s best shown in l e fabric 25 Whic s nap on the knitted fabric, and which wi11 b knitted by the circular row of needles I3 is drawn 25 durable and efficient in use. downwardly through the hollow interior of the 25 With these and other objects in view, there t g needle cylinder and rolled p 0h have been illustrated on the accompanying drawtab e drum at the base of the machine y ings two forms in which the invention may be sui l mechanism; not shOWn- AS the tubular conveniently embodied in practice. fabric 25 passes downwardly th u the me- In the drawings: chine, it is held in cylindrical form by means of 30 Fig. 1 represents a front elevation, partly in a pair of upp and 10We1 horizontal ar section, of a circular knitting machine upon

uide rings

25 and 21 Which are adapted which the improved napping mechanism has been ease the interior surface of said knitted fabric. installed. The upper ring 26 is preferably held stationary Fig. 2 is a horizontal transverse sectional view by means f a pair of radial flat bars 28 formed 35 of the same, the View being taken along the line i t a W a Central tubular hub 29 just- 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking downwardly. ably secured on the central rod 24, as by a set Fig. 3 is a fragmentary left side view of the screw 30, the extremities of said bars 28 being rotary napping wheel positioned at the rear of made secure to said ring 26. v

the machine, as viewed in Fig. 2. i The lower guide ring 21 is secured to a cross 40 Fig. 4 is a fragmentary left side View of the bar 3I,,the intermediate portion of which is apstationary napping disc which is located at the ertured for loosely embracing the support rod front of the machine. '1: 24, {Ifhe crossbar 3| is freeto rotate between Fig. 5 is a front elevation of a modified form a pair of rigid

space d collars

32, 32 secured to of driving mechanism arranged to rotate the said rod 24, as by. set :

screws

33,33. It will thus 5 rotary napping discs in the same direction. bev seen that the lower guide ring 21 will be al- Referring now to the drawings in which like lowed to rotate with the tubular fabric within reference numerals denote corresponding parts which said ringis tightly and frictionally enthroughout the several views, the numeral I 0 ingaged. v i

dicates the main frame of the circular knitting Napping mechanism 50 machine, said frame supporting. a stationary an- 7 I nular member II carrying a plurality of cams T napping O e tubular knitted fabric, as it [2 which are designed to raise and lower a se-- p s w throu t ac n is accomries of vertical knitting needles l3 disposed plished on the inner surface thereof by means of around a rotary cylinder I4,located within said two rotating

flat disc brushes

34, 35, a non-rotat- 55 the stationary arms 42.

ing fiat smoothing" disc brush 8|, and an auxiliary rotating wheel brush 69, all of said rotary napping brushes being located substantially in a single horizontal plane midway between the

guide rings

26 and 21, and said non-rotating napping brush being carried by one of the upper guide ring cross bars 28.

The pair of rotating

flat disc brushes

34 and 35 are preferably provided with a multiplicity of short bristles set in square

shaped blocks

36 and 31.

disc brushes

34 and 35 are seated in a pair of channel shaped holders 38 and detachably retained therein by small set screws 39. The block holders 38 are in turn attached to the outer opposite faces of a pair of small sheaves 40 and 4| loosely mounted independently of each other on the outer ends of a pair of axially'adjustable nonrotating arms 42 which are threaded at their inner ends. The sheaves 4|] and 4| are provided with enlarged inwardly extending hubs 43, within which are a pair of outer ball bearing raceways 44,

surrounding a pair of cooperating inner raceways 44a rigidly mounted on the reduced ends 42g, of The radial arms 42' are adjustably mounted in a pair of tapped opposed tubular members 45 extending outwardly on opposite sides of the vertical support rod 24 from a hub 46 which is adapted to be held in vertically adjusted position on said rod 24 by means of a set screw 41. The tapped members 45 are adapted to receive the threaded inner ends of the arms 42.

In order to manually twist the radial shafts 42 and also serve to indicate the adjustment of the

napping brushes

34 and 35, provision is made of a pair of pins 48 passing transversely through intermediate sections of said arms 42. The arms 42 are adapted to be locked securely in any desired adjusted positions by means of a pair of locking nuts 49. The axial adjustment of the radial arms 42 determines the pressure exerted by the rotating

brushes

34 and 35 against the inner surface of the knitted fabric 25 to be napped.

In order to cause the fabric 25 to be held tightly against the flat working areas of the rotating

disc brushes

34 and 35, provision is made of a pair of inwardly-convex elongated flat leaf springs .50, which are adapted to engage the fabric just below the

brushes

34 and 35, causing said fabric to be slightly bulged inwardly, as shown in Fig. 1. The leaf springs 50 are supported at their fixed ends by flat horizontal plates which are adapted to be fitted upon the lower threaded ends of a pair of vertical studs 52 (only one stud being herein shown) depending from the under surface of the knitting machine frame In. The plates 5| are held in any desired vertical adjusted position on said studs by a pair of opposed nuts 53.

Driving mechanism In order to continuously rotate the napping brushes to produce a twisting inclined napping action upon the interior of the traveling knitted fabric, provision is made of an elevated horizontal driving shaft 54 located above the knitting and napping mechanism and having its left-hand end journaled in an upper enlarged end 55 of an angular bracket 56, said bracket being heldadjustably on the vertical rod 24, as by a set screw 51. The opposite right-hand end of the shaft 54 is journaled in. another bracket (not shown), which may be readily attached tov any convenient stationary part of the knitting machine. A thrust collar 58 engages the outer face of the enlarged end 55 of the bracket 56 to prevent the driving The

blocks

36 and 31 of the flat napping shaft 54 from sliding to the right, as viewed in Fig. l. The shaft 54 is driven by means of a pair of meshing

beveled gears

59 and 60, the gear 60 receiving power from any suitable source, not shown.

As shown in Fig. l, the horizontal driving shaft 54 passes directly through the axis of the vertical support rod 24, the upper part of said support rod 24 being separated by a space 6| from the lower part thereof. In order to connect the upper and lower parts of said rod 24, provision is made of a tubular sleeve 62 which is detachably locked in position thereon by means of a pair of set

screws

63, 63a. A pair of transverse openings 64 are provided in the sleeve 62 for loosely accommodating the drive shaft 54 which passes therethrough.

A pair of relatively

large pulley sheaves

65 and 66 are made rigid to the driving shaft 54, and are preferably equally spaced from the vertical rod 24. The

sheaves

65 and 66 are connected by

belts

61 and 68 with the sheaves 46 and 4|, respectively, of the

rotary napping brushes

34 and 35. The lefthand belt 61, as shown in Fig. 1, is crossed so that the

brushes

34 and 35 will be caused to rotate in opposite directions, and thereby produce a more effective twisting napping upon the fabric 25 as the latter moves downwardly and rotates past said brushes in a helical manner.

In order to produce a vertical napping of the fabric 25 in addition to the rotary napping produced by the

brushes

34 and 35, provision is made of a thin brush 69 having a cylindrical napping surface and rotating in a vertical plane, said brush 69 being hereinafter referred to as the auxiliary brush. As best shown in Fig. 2, this auxiliary brush 69 is mounted on a horizontal stub spindle rigidly secured to a hollow hub 1|, the latter having an integral sheave 12 and being mounted by means of ball bearings 13 upon a stationary axle 14 projecting from the outer face of an angular bracket 14a. The angular bracket is adjustably supported on the outer threaded end of a horizontal support bar and is retained in adjusted position thereon by a pair of opposed looking

nuts

16, 16. The opposite end of the support bar 15 is threadedly engaged in an apertured rectangular block 11 adjustably fitted over the right-hand member 45 of the hub 46 and locked in position, as by a set screw 18.

The auxiliary wheel brush 69 is driven by means of a. belt 19 engaging the sheave 12, similar to the sheaves 40 and 4| and passing over a large sheave 80 (similar to sheaves 65 and 66) rigid on the driving shaft 54 and located adjacent the sleeve 62 of the support rod 24. the auxiliary brush 69 is adapted to rotate in such a direction as to cause its peripheral surface to travel downwardly rapidly in the same direction as the slow movement of the knitted fabric 25. It is within the spirit and scope of the present invention, however, to rotate the auxiliary wheel in the opposite direction if desired.

Smoothing-out brush The stationary disc brush 8| is attached to the downwardly offset end 82 of a strap bracket 83 secured to. the underside of the cross bar 28 by means of a pair of bolts 84', 84. The offset end 82 extends downwardly to a position where the attached brush 8| will engage the fabric just below the working plane of the rotary brushes 34 and 35 and the auxiliary brush 69,

and serves to smooth out the nap raised on the As shown in Fig. 3,

fabric by said rotary brushes. The strap bracket 83 is provided with an elongatedslot 85 through which the bolts 84 pass, which construction permits adjustment of said bracket 83 with respect to saidcross bar 28, whereby the smoothing brush 9| may be heldagainst the fabric 25 with any desired pressure.

Modified form of napping device In case it is desired to rotate the disc napping brushes in the same direction by employing only a single belt, the form of the invention shown in Fig. 5 may be employed. In this form, the main support rod 24' will be also separated at a point 86 between the napping brush discs, and the adjacent ends of said rod 24' will be joined by a hollow T-member 81 having a vertical sleeve 81a and set screws 88 passing therethrough into engagement with the adjacent ends of said rod. The T-member 81 is also privided with horizontal opposed tubular sleeves 89 terminating in enlarged ends 99. In this form of the invention, a horizontal spindle shaft 9| passes through the space 86 and fits loosely within the horizontal sleeves 89. The outer ends of said shaft 9| are journaled in

ball bearing mountings

92, 92 carried by the enlarged ends 90, 99 of said hollow T-member 81.

The outer ends of the horizontal shaft 9| are threaded and adapted to adjustably receive a pair of tapped

hubs

93, 93 formed integral with a pair of channel blocks 94, 94, which are adapted to detachably hold the brushes 34' and A pair of locking nuts 95 are provided for securing the

hubs

93, 93 in adjusted positions upon the opposite ends of the spindle 9!. The spindle shaft 9| is adapted to be rotated by means of a single sheave 99 secured to said shaft 9| and driven by a belt 91 which in turn passes over a large sheave (not shown) keyed to the elevated driving shaft 54.

While there have been disclosed in this specification two forms in which the invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that these forms are shown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention is not to be limited to the specific disclosures but may be modified and embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit. In short, the invention includes all the modifications and embodiments coming within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new, and for which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, is:

1. In a combined knitting and napping ma chine, mechanism for knitting a tubular fabric, means for interiorly supporting said fabric at a pair of spaced circumferential lines, and interior rotating flat-faced napping disc located between said supporting means, and means for causing the flat face of said disc to contact with said fabric.

2. In a napping machine, means for interiorly supporting a tubular fabric along a pair of spaced lines, an interior rotating flat-faced napping disc with an outwardly extending napping surface on its flat face located between said supporting means, and means to cause the flat face of said disc to engage and nap the interior surface of said fabric.

3. In an apparatus for napping the interior surface of a continuously traveling tubular knitted fabric, a rotating fiat-ended member having napping means on its flat end surface, and resilient means pressing inwardly upon said fabric to cause said member to engage the interior surface of said tubular fabric along a flat area thereof.

4. In a napping apparatus, means for continuously delivering a slowly rotating tubular knitted fabric, a rotating napping member having a flat face located within the circular path of said tubular fabric, and means on the exterior of said fabric to resiliently press upon a portion of said fabric to cause a fiat area of said fabric to contact with the flat napping face of said member.

5. In an apparatus for napping the interior surface of a continuously traveling tubular knitted fabric, a pair of rotating members having fiat napping end faces, and resilient means pressing inwardly upon said fabric to cause the napping faces of said members to engage the interior surface of said tubular fabric along a pair of separated flat areas thereof.

6. In an apparatus for napping the interior surface of a continuously traveling tubular knitted fabric, a plurality of rotating members having flat napping end surfaces located within said fabric, and resilient inwardly pressing exterior means for pressing corresponding flat areas of the interior surface of said fabric against said rotating members to produce an inclined napped effect thereon.

7. In an apparatus for napping the interior surface of a continuously traveling tubular knitted fabric, a pair of rotating members having flat napping end faces, and resilient means outside said fabric to cause the napping faces of said members to engage the interior surface of said tubular fabric along a pair of separated flat areas thereof, and means to rotate said discs in opposite directions.

8. In an apparatus for napping the interior sur face of a continuously traveling tubular knitted fabric, a pair of rotating members having flat napping end faces, exterior means pressing inwardly upon said fabric to cause the napping faces of said members to engage the interior surface of said tubular fabric along a pair of separated fiat areas thereof and produce an inclined napping effect, and a non-rotating napping member spaced from said rotating members for smoothly brushing the napped surface of said fabric. I

9. In an apparatus for napping the interior surface of a continuously traveling tubular knitted fabric, a pair of rotating brushes having flat napping end faces, exterior means inwardly pressing on said fabric to cause the napping faces of said brushes to engage the interior surface of said tubular fabric along a pair of separated flat areas thereof, and a rotating auxiliary brushing wheel having a thin cylindrical napping periphery for napping the interior surface of said fabric along a line located between said flat areas.

10. In an apparatus for napping the interior surface of a continuously traveling tubular knitted fabric, a pair of rotating brushes having fiat napping end faces, exterior means pressing inwardly on said fabric to cause the napping faces of said brushes to engage the interior surface of said tubular fabric along a pair of separated flat areas thereof, and a rotating auxiliary brushing wheel having a cylindrical napping periphery for napping the interior surface of said fabric along a line located between said flat areas.

11. In an apparatus for napping the interior surface of a tubular knitted fabric which is continuously moved longitudinally and slowly rotated at the same time, means to force said fabric inwardly, a rotating member inside said fabric having a flat end napping surface for engaging and napping a flat area of said fabric, and a nonrotating brush inside said fabric spaced from said rotary napping member.

12. In an apparatus for napping a continuously helically moving tubular knitted fabric, a rotating flat surfaced napping member engaging and napping said fabric along a flat area thereof, means for forcing said fabric against the flat surface of said napping member, and a non-rotary napping member spaced longitudinally from said rotating napping member for smoothly brushing the surface of said fabric.

13. In an apparatus for napping a tubular knitted fabric which is continuously rotatable and movable in a longitudinal direction, a central vertical supporting bar, a horizontal driving shaft passing through said bar, a pair of interior fabric supporting rings below said shaft, a pair of napping members mounted to rotate on horizontal axes between said rings, means to press said fabric inwardly against said napping members, said members having outer flat surfaces adapted to nap the interior surface of said fabric along a pair of flat areas, and means operated by said shaft for continuously rotating both of said members.

14. In an apparatus for napping a tubular knitted fabric which is continuously rotatable and movable in a longitudinal direction, a central vertical supporting bar, a horizontal driving shaft passing through said bar, a pair of interior fabric supporting rings below said shaft, a pair of napping members mounted to rotate on horizontal axes between said rings, means to press said fabric inwardly against said napping members, said members having outer flat surfaces adapted to nap the interior surface of said fabric along a pair of flat areas, and means operated by said shaft for continuously rotating both of said members, said upper supporting ring being stationary, and said lower supporting ring being rotatable on said central bar with said fabric.

15, In an apparatus for napping the interior surface of a longitudinally traveling tubular knitted fabric, a central supporting bar, a rotating brush having a flat end napping surface for engaging a flat area of said fabric, and an auxsaid fabric, said brush and wheel being mounted .to rotate in bearings supported by said central bar, and 'means'to press said fabric inwardly against said brush and napping wheel.

16. In an apparatus for napping the interior surface of a longitudinally traveling tubular knitted fabric, a vertical central supporting bar, a horizontal driving shaft, a rotating brush journaled on a horizontal axis and having a fiat end napping surface, and an auxiliary napping wheel having a cylindrical napping periphery adapted to rotate in the direction of movement of said fabric, and belt and pulley means connecting said driving shaft with said brush and said napping wheel to rotate the same.

17. In an apparatus for napping the interior surface of a continuously traveling tubular knitted fabric, a rotating fiat-ended member having napping means on its flat end surface, means to press said fabric against said member to engage the interior surface of said tubular fabric along a fiat area thereof, and means for adjusting the pressure of said napping member against said fabric.

18. In an apparatus for napping the interior surface of a tubular knitted fabric which is continuously moved longitudinally and slowly rotated at the same time, means to press said fabric inwardly, a twisting member having a flat end napping surface for engaging and napping a flat area of said fabric, a non-twisting brush spaced vertically from said rotary napping member, and means to adjust the pressure of said non-twisting brush upon said fabric.

19. In an apparatus for napping the interior surface of a longitudinally traveling tubular knitted fabric, a central supporting bar, means to press said fabric inwardly, a rotating brush having a fiat end napping surface for engaging a flat area of said fabric, and an auxiliary napping Wheel within said fabric having a cylindrical napping periphery adapted to engage a vertical line of said fabric, said brush and wheel being mounted to rotate in bearings supported by said central bar, and means to adjust the pressure of said auxiliary napping wheel.

HARRY FLEISHER.