US2141003A - Card sliver control - Google Patents

Description

20, 1938. r J. KING ET AL 2,141,003 9 CARD SLIVER CONTROL Filed March 16, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l ff g v I' ML. Wh z'fien INVENTOR} Dec. 20, 1938, J J. L. KING ET AL. 2,141,003

- CARD SLIVER CONTROL Filed March 16, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 |NVENTOR$ .1711 Kim ML. Whz'ffen f WZ v ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 20, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CARD SLIVER CONTROL Application March 16,

5 Claims.

Our invention relates to a means for controlling the sliver, produced by a carding engine, so as to maintain it substantially even in thickness or density to the end that thick and thin places may be reduced or substantially eliminated in the finished yard.

It is the common practice in textile mills to set the cards to produce sliver of a given weight in grains per yard, which sliver is stripped in the form of a delicate filament or web, from the full width of the cards dofiing cylinder by the action of a vibrating comb, and is gathered into a trumpet and thence directed between calendering rolls to a coiler head which feeds it in a coil into a sliver can.

It'is of very great importance to efiicient mill practice that the unit weight of the sliver should be maintained as nearly constant as possible, but this is diflicult of attainment for many causes, such as the action of the card itself. in causing the lap to split, or the inability of the operator accurately to join lap ends so that overlapped, rather than butted lap end joints result, giving double lap thickness at the overlap. Any unevenness in the sliver, arising from these and other causes, will be reflected throughout the entire treatment of the yarn in the roving and spinning frames, producing thick and thin places in the finished yarn and variations in its breaking strength, which adversely affect not only the quality of yarn itself but also its economic conversion into Woven cloth and the like.

We have conceived that if an automatic feeler control can be devised which will maintain the uniformity of the sliver, a marked improvement in the textile industry will result, and to this end we propose a feeler control which will be responsive to variations in the volumetric flow of stock at some point through the cards and which will act so to modify the operation of the card that any inequality thus detected will become evened out before it is reflected to any material extent in sliver of abnormal weight.

More particularly, our invention contemplates, in its preferred form, feeling the silver itself by means which will respond to any abnormality in the thickness, density, or weight per yard of the sliver and exert a control on the drive of the doffing cylinder so that the rate of delivery of the filament by the comb to the trumpet will be increased or diminished so that the production of sliver of the required weight will be rapidly reestablished and maintained.

Our invention further contemplates feeling the sliver in its pass between the calender rolls which 1936, Serial No. 69,108

are designed and adapted to have relative displacement responsive to an abnormality in the sliver, which displacement through suitable mechanism controls a variable speed drive which regulates the R. P. M. of the dofiing cylinder to the end and for the purposes above described.

Our invention further contemplates passing the sliver into a groove in one of the calendering rolls in which it is felt by a complemental bead on the other calendering roll, thus adapting the sliver to be felt within a confined space.

Our invention further contemplates a sensitive control of the means for varying the driving speed of the doffing cylinder, this means preferably utilizing a valve to control by hydraulic pressure the setting of the variable speed drive.

Our invention further comp-rises a novel Variable speed drive, the elements of which are sensitively controllable by hydraulic pressure or otherwise and which are capable of producing a substantial lowering of the R. P. M. of the doifing cylinder below its normal rate and an increasing of its R. P. M. above the normal rate at least It is a further object of our invention to accomplish the feeling and control of the sliver by mechanism that shall be simple in operation, of a compact nature, not unduly expensive, and so arranged as not to incumber the manipulation and control of the card.

Our invention further comprises the novel details of construction and arrangements of. parts which are hereinafter more particularly described and claimed, and which are illustrated only in their preferred embodiment in the accompanying. drawings which form a part of this specification,

and in which:

Fig. 1 is an end view of the doffing cylinder and part of the main cylinderof a carding engine, the frame, coiling head, and sliver can being shown in dotted outline.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged front view of the calender rolls showing the sliver in position between them, the hydraulic pressure control valve in cross section, and the bearings and frame for the rolls being broken away.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross sectional view taken through the variable speed drive.

Fig. 4 is a detail View of. a typical drive for the variable speed unit with a tension takeup to care for the changes in running position of the driving belt.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

It will be understood that our present inven tion is readily adaptable to the various types of carding engines which have long been on the market and which therefore require no detail showing beyond that necessary to properly corelate the novel features of our invention with the carding engine so as to modify its action.

In the drawings we have shown in Fig. l a side frame ID of a carding engine in which is mounted the usual main cylinder I I which rotates therein in the direction of the arrow, being suitably driven by any drive means, notshown. A doffing cylinder I2, mounted on a shaft I3 in suitable bearings which are not shown, is driven reversely to cylinder II by any suitable drive means.

These cylinders II and I2 are provided with the customary card clothing I4 and in their normal action cotton engaged by the clothing on the main cylinder II is transferred to the clothing on the doffing cylinder I2 by the difference on the relative surface speeds of the cylinders at their point of closest approach, and the cotton thus engaged upon the clothing of the cylinder I2 passes about under and then upwardly to the point where it is engaged by the vibrating comb I5 and stripped off as a web or filament having a width corresponding to the length of the dofling cylinder I2 which is usually about 40 inches. The filament of cotton thus combed from the dofiing cylinder is gathered, its end twisted and inserted through the trumpet l6 which forms a sliver that flows continuously into. the pass between a pair of calendering rolls I! and I8 mounted on a.

forward extension I9 of the card frame.

These calendering rolls are usually mounted in a suitable housing 20 secured to the card frame and comprising fixed end bearings 2| for the lower roll IT and at each side a rear extension 22 in which we mount on pivots 23 a movable bearing frame for the upper roll I8 adapted to permit it to swing freely upwardly while preventing any lateral cocking play of the roll or its frame. This swinging roll frame comprises side members 24 rigidly connected by an arch bar 25 (see Fig. 2) and having bearings 25 in which the upper calendering roll I3 is journalled.

The lower calendering roll l! is shown provided with a circumferential groove 21 disposed opposite the delivery end of the trumpet I6 so that it will receive the sliver 23, see Fig. 2, directly into this groove. The calendering roll It has a bead 29 which fits snugly between the side walls of the groove 2! and is complemental thereto or approximately so. When there is no sliver the two rolls will turn in surface contact with the bead 29 running slightly clear of the bottom of the groove 21. When the sliver enters the groove the bead will ride upon it and act after the fashion of a feeler that will contact the sliver continuously and will respond to any changes in its density or size.

The frames in which the rolls I1 and I8 are mounted make suitable provision for the mounting of clearers or wipers 3t and 3|, which are formally illustrated in Fig. 2 and as is customary are shaped to conform more or less to the contour of their respective calendering rolls to keep them wiped clear of lint. The sliver passes from the calendering rolls upwardly into the rotating coiler head 32 and thence is delivered into the rotating can 33, all as will be understood by those familiar with this art.

The dofling cylinder I2 may be driven in any suitable manner, the means shown comprising a gear 35, fast on the drive shaft l3 for the cylinder l2, which meshes a small gear 36 shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1. The gear 36, as shown in Fig. 3, is keyed to the inner end of a sleeve 31 that is mounted upon a stud bearing 38 rigidly secured to the shifting lever 39, which is pivoted to the frame at 40 and controlled by the cam lever 34, suitably mounted in the bracket I34 which receives the free forward end of the lever. The cam lever is customarily set to hold the gear 36 in mesh with the gear 35, which is the driving relation, but when the cam lever is raised the shifting lever 39 swings down, moving the gears out of mesh and stopping the drive of the doffing cylinder.

Instead of the customary belt and pulley drive, which is employed to drive the gear 36, we substitute a variable speed drive which will be better understood by reference to Figs. 3 and 4 and which comprises an expansible V-pulley formed by a pair of reversely bevelled V-pulley disks 40 and 4|, the disk 40 being preferably formed integral with a sleeve 3! having a reduced bore at its inner end that bears on the pin 38. A sleeve 42 which is integral with the disk 4| telescopes with a snug fit into the bore of the sleeve 37. A coiled compression spring 43 is interposed between the inner end of the sleeves 31 and 42 and tends to press the pulley disks 40, 4| apart.

The bearing pin 38 is mounted fast in the shifting lever 39 and extends through and beyond the disk 4| so as to fit into the bore 44 of a piston 45 which works in a cylinder 46 carried by an outer frame member 41, which in turn is suitably bolted to a complemental frame member 43 carried by a sleeve 49 which turns on the sleeve 37 and extends from the disk 40 to the gear 36. A key 50 couples the disk sleeves 31 and 42 for joint rotation while permitting of their relative axial play. Suitable thrust bearing elements are interposed between the piston 45 and the disk 4|, such for instance as the bronze disk 5| and the steel disk 52 which are mounted on an extension 53 of the sleeve 42. A cup washer 54 is mounted on the outer end of the piston 45 and fluid pressure is admitted to the cylinder 46 through the head 55 by means of a flexible pipe 56. This fluid escapes from the cylinder through a nipple 51 past a needle valve 58 into a flexible pipe 59 by means of which it is returned to the pipe line 60 which returns it toa tank 6| from whence it is de- .livered to a constant pressure pump conveniently illustrated at 62 and discharged by the pump through the pressure line 63 to the control valve 64 above the calendering rolls. Responsive to the control of this valve the fluid flows on through the pipe line 65 to the flexible connection 56 and thence returns to the cylinder 46.

These flexible connections are necessary in order to permit the variable speed drive mechanism to rise and fall with the shift lever 39. To prevent rotation of, and hold the drive mechanism in correct alignment, we mount a guide bearing 66 fast on the'fioor with its upper end vertically grooved to receive and guide the web 61 on the frame member 41. This arrangement leaves the frame free to rise and fall to the eX- tent necessary to engage and disengage the gears '35 and 36.

faces of this sectional pulley a V-driving belt 68 which passes about a driving pulley 69 fast on the countershaft ID that is driven by a second V- pulley ll through a belt 12 from a pulley 13 on the shaft 14 of the main cylinder II or from any other suitable source of drive. We provide double tension take-up pulleys l5 and 16 which engage on opposite sides of the non-driving flight of the belt 68, being mounted upon a rocker frame Tl so pivoted at 18 so as to be counter-balanced and effectively take up the large amount of slack that arises in connection with the variable speed control of the pulley sections 46, 4|.

When pressure rises in the cylinder 46 it will press the head 45 inwardly, compress spring 43, and force the pulley section 4| toward the section 46. This squeezes the running V-belt 68 outwardly away from the pulley axis and thus reduces the driving speed transmitted through sleeve 31 to the gear 36. When the pressure falls in the cylinder 46, the spring 43 tends to open the V-pulley sections and as 4! separates from 40 the belt 68 will gradually work inwardly toward the axis of the pulley thereby increasing the R. P. M. of the drive. The design of parts is such that in its normal running position the belt '68 will produce a predetermined R. P. M. for the dofling cylinder l2 and will allow of a limited displacement of the belt outwardly to slow up the cylinder l2 and such a movement of the belt inwardly as will produce a full 100% increase above normal R. P. M. of cylinder I2.

The control of the pressure in the cylinder 46 must be positive and yet delicate and we propose to regulate this pressure in the manner which will now be described by reference to- Fig. 2, wherein the valve body 64 is shown set in its correct preferred relation to the frame 25, being here disposed at right angles to the showing of it in Fig. 1. The pipe 63 delivers fluid under constant pressure to the valve body 64 which fluid passes through a restricted port 86 into a cylindrical valve chamber ill in which a piston valve 82 works with a close fit, being held against rotation by means of the eccentric pin 33 inserted through a bleeder hole 84 in the valve cylinder head.

A stuffing box 85 surrounds the stem 86 of the valve which has a restricted port Bl leading therethrough and normally standing in about half register with the port 80, but always being in full register with a large outlet port 88 leading to the outlet pipe 65. A coil spring 90 surrounds the stem 86 and bears against a lock nut 9| screwed on the stem 86 and adapted to hold, in adjusted position on the stem, a rounded nut 92 which bears on the center of the yoke arm 25 above the sliver feeling bead 29 on the upper calender roll.

The valve 62 is set so that a predetermined flow of the fluid from the constant pressure source 63 will flow into the pipe 65 and thence through the cylinder 46 and past the needle valve 58 which is set to permit this predetermined volumetric flow. If the roll I8, in response to its feeling of the sliver 28, be raised by an increase in the size or density of the sliver, it will raise the roll I6 proportionately and cause the yoke arms 25 to force the valve 82 upwardly thereby reducing the volumetric flow into the pipe 65. This reduction of flow, without change at the needle valve 58, will cause a proportional drop in pressure in the cylinder 46 and thereupon, acting responsive to the spring 43, the v-pulle tions 40, 41 will separate, permiting the V-belt 68 to work its way in closer to the pulley center and thus increase the R. P. M. of the gear 36,

the drive is reached. As the arm 25 is lowered by such reduction in size or density of the sliver, the valve 82 drops, the volumetric flow from 63 to 65 increases and, needle valve 58 being unchanged, pressure will build up in cylinder 46 until it forces the piston 45 inwardly and presses the V-pulley sections 46 and 4! together, so as to displace the driving belt outwardly from the pulley center and slow up its speed. This permits the doffing cylinder to take off a greater amount of cotton per R. P. M. from the constant speed main cylinder H and restores the sliver to its normal weight per lineal yard.

This sliver weight per lineal yard usually runs from 30 to '70 grains and the elements heretofore described can be set and adjusted to produce a speed for the doffing roll that will under normal conditions give the desired weight in grains per yard in sliver. When abnormal sliver is felt by the roll l8 the reaction of the control mechanism is almost immediate and a change in speed of the doifing cylinder is effected so quickly that but little disturbance in the evenness of the sliver will result.

It being the practice to use the weight in grains per lineal yard as a convenient measure for sliver, such will be referred to hereinafter as its unit weight.

It is to be understood that out invention in its broadest aspect contemplates feeling the cotton in its traverse of the carding machine and, wherever the feeler is placed, transmitting a regulating function to some element of the machine which will accelerate or decelerate the flow of the cotton at the control point so as to even out. and maintain substantially constant the resultant sliver. We prefer to feel the sliver itself and to effect its control at the delivery end of the card.

While we have shown our invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications, without departing from the spirit thereof, and we desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What We claim is:---

1. In a carding engine, coacting elements for advancing the stock under treatment, hydraulic pressure means to give one of said elements a gradually variable speed drive so that its speed relative to other elements can be varied infinitely within a predetermined range, and feeler mechanism acting on the stock under treatment and sensitive to variations in its volumetric flow, said variable speed element being controlled automatically by said feeler mechanism so as to maintain the unit weight of the sliver substantially constant.

2. The combination with the dofling cylinder of a carding engine and its calendering rolls, of valve controlling mechanism sensitive to variations in the unit weight of the sliver, separable V-pulley elements having a driving connection with the doffing cylinder, a V-driving belt working between said pulley elements, a hydraulic 15 cylinder having a piston and means controlled thereby to regulate the spacing between the pulley elements, and means responsive to said valve for controlling the hydraulic pressure in said cylinder.

3. The combination with the dofling cylinder and calendering rolls of a carding engine, of a mounting for the upper calendering roll which permits vertical play thereof, a valve engaging said mounting and movable therewith responsive to variations in the sliver, means to deliver substantially constant fluid pressure to one side of the valve, a cylinder into which the fluid pressure passing the valve is delivered, a valve set toregulate the escape of the hydraulic fluid pressure from said cylinder, a piston in said cylinder movable responsive to variations in fluid pressure therein, separable V-pulley elements relatively adjustable by said piston, a driving belt engaged between the separable pulley faces, and a driving connection between said pulley and the dofling cylinder.

4. The combination with the shift lever of a carding engine controlling its doifing cylinder drive, of a sectional V-pulley mounted to rotate on said lever, a hydraulic motor mounted on the lever and operative to control the relative position of the pulley sections, a driving belt engaged between the relatively separable pulley elements and having suitable tension take-up means, a driving element for the doffing cylinder driven by said pulley, feeler' means working on the sliver, and valve means sensitively responsive to said feeler means and adapted to control said hydraulic motor and regulate the spacing'of the pulley sections, as and for the purposes described.

5. In a carding engine, coacting carding elements, one having a substantially constant speed, means to drive the other at a variable speed thereby to modify the'rate of stock flow past it, and feeler mechanism acting on the sliver to control the functioning of said variable speed element and comprising means to control the rate of flow of a fluid stream under pressure to vary by hydraulic pressure the rate of drive of the variable speed element.

NOAH LAWSON WHI'ITEN. JOHN LINDLEY KING.

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