US2297593A - Unrolling device for fourdrinier wires - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 29, 1942. w, WEBB 2,297,593

UNROLLING DEVICE FOR FOURDRINIER WIRES Filed Feb. 11, 1941 INVENTOR NELEDNW WEBB.

' ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 29, 1942 UNROLLING DEVICE FOR FOURDRINIER WIRES Nelson W. Webb, Montclair, N. J., assignor to Eastwood-Nealley Corporation, Belleville, N. 3., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 11, 1941, Serial No. 378,361

8 Claims. (01. 242-54) The present invention relates to an unrolling device for Fourdrinier wires, and has for its object to provide a device to be operated in relation to a Fourdrinier paper making machine during installation of a new wire to unroll such wire as received from the wire manufacturer in a convenient, rapid manner, and particularly in such a way as to prevent any possibility of damage to the wire, it being understood that any twisting, kinking or pinching strains imposed thereon may seriously impair the paper making surface and materially shorten the life of the expensive wire.

Fourdrinier wires, which are in the form of a relatively long, wide endless belt of fine mesh woven wire, are shipped in rolled relation upon poles, so as to prevent any sharp bends being made therein, three poles usually being employed, one being engaged in each end of the endless belt, and the third pole being layed over one side of the outer surface adjacent one of the end poles, these two adjacent poles then serving as a winding core about which the rest of the wire is wound. the other end of the wire with the other end pole engaged therein being layed over the wound wire, the whole being then secured by suitable wrapping ready for shipment. The practice of unrolling in the paper mill has consisted in supporting the projecting ends of the pair of adjacent winding poles in fixed slings supported from a beam rigged over the P per machine, and thereupon unrolling by means of handles nailed to the ends of the poles, one man turning at one end and another at the other end, while the third pole is pulled in unrolling direction along the paper machine by a man carrying it at each end or by suitable crane hooks. Now, when it is considered that the two poles rest in stationary slings having a high co-eflicient of friction, and that the weight of an average size wire and two poles is over 300 pounds, it is seen that an unequal force exerted on the handles will twist the poles to an un-parallel position, and tend to kink, twist and pinch the delicate layer of wire cloth between the two poles. Sometimes, also, the man at one side may be called away to do something else, leaving one man only to turn, which produces an extremely unbalanced force on the wire.

It is proposed in the present invention to provide a device which will impart equal turning force to the two ends of the pair of winding poles, so that there will be no possibility of the poles assuming an un-parallelposition and kinking the wire, and further which may be operated from or from both sides by two men, as desired. Another object is to provide a device which is adjustable to accommodate various widths of wires in different width paper making machines.

With the above and other objects in view an embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, and this embodiment will be hereinafter more fully described with reference thereto, and the invention will be finally pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an unrolling device, according to the exemplary illustrated embodiment of the invention, the wire being shown partially unrolled.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of one end of the device, with intermediate portions broken away, the other end being of identical form.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation, partially broken away.

Fig. 4 is an end view, partially broken away, showing the arrangement of the wire and poles about to be rolled.

Fig. 5 is an end view, showing the rolled and. wrapped wire ready for shipment.

Similar reference. characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures ot the drawing.

Referring to the drawing the unrolling device, according to the illustrated embodiment of the invention, comprises a supporting beam l0, preterably in the form of a length of cylindrical steel I tubing, and which is adapted to be suspended across the end of the paper making machine from a suitable traveling crane, being provided for this purpose with a. pair of I-bolts llll for engagement by the crane hooks i2-l2. The I-bolts are rigidly secured to the beam by engaging the shank portion I3 of each of them through holes I and 15 in the beam and welding the shoulder portion l6 around the upper hole ll, as at H, and welding the lower end of the shank in the lower hole i5, as at ll.

Upon each end and at the center of the beam Hi there is secured a bearing hanger member i9, having a circular hole 20 in its upper portion in which the beam is engaged and secured by a set screw 2|, and also by welding at suitable spots, as at 22, and having in its lower portion a circular hole 23, in which is fitted a bearing bushing ring 24, preferably bronze, secured by set-screws 25, one at each side and one at the bottom.

Within the bearing bushings 24 there is roeither side of the paper machine by one man, tatably supported the roller beam 26, which is preferably formed of the same cylindrical steel tubing as the supporting beam ID, the roller beam projecting beyond the bearing hanger at each end and having a toothed ratchet cap 21 rigidly mounted and secured thereon by means of a set-screw 28, and which acts as a thrust bearing collar to prevent longitudinal shifting of the roller beam. A hand wheel 29 is secured by a nut 30 upon a square cross-section stud 3| secured in the end of the ratchet cap by a pin 32. A ratchet lever 33 having a tooth 34 is pivoted upon the hanger member l9 by means of a stud 35 and is adapted to be engaged with the ratchet cap 21 to lock it against rotation, being swung out of engagement, as shown in Fig. 1, during turning operation of the roller beam 26.

Near each end of the roller beam there is engaged an endless sling belt 36, which may be formed of rubberized canvas, or other suitable material, having the necessary strength to support the rolled wire and poles and a high coeflicient of friction to cause it to grip the surfaces of the roller beam and the wire winding poles, so that as the roller beam is turned the two sling belts are positively and equally driven to impart equal turning movement to the ends of the winding poles.

The belt is prevented from shifting by means of a belt guide 31 in the form of a U-shape sheet metal yoke, the upright sides of which are each provided at the upper portion with a circular hole 38 engaged by the supporting beam l and at its lower portion with a larger circular hole 39 freely engaged by the roller beam 26, the sides of the guide engaging at each edge of the belt and the transverse connecting portion extending through it beneath the roller beam. The holes 38 are only slightly larger than the beam I0, and the sides are normally sprung outwardly in divergent relation, so that the edges of these holes frictionally grip the beam to secure the position of the guide. In order to shift the guide to adjust the position of the belt the sides are simply pressed into parallel relation thus releasing the grip of the hole edges on the beam and allowing the guide to slide freely.

In Figs. 4 and I have illustrated the manner in which the Fourdrinier wire to be unrolled by the device of the invention is rolled and prepared for shipment to the paper mill. Three poles A, B and C are used, which may be wood poles, or tubular steel poles with wood plugs driven in the ends, these being longer than the width of the Fourdrinier wire W, so that their ends project. The poles A and C are engaged in the ends of the endless wire belt, and the pole B is thereupon layed upon the upper surface adjacent the pole A, so that a layer of wire is between the poles A and B. The wire is then wound around the poles A and B, which form a winding core, the end of the wound wire with the inserted pole C being finally placed upon the upper surface of the wound wire, as shown in Fig. 5, and the roll of wire being then secured by a suitable bands or cords to hold the three poles together and by wrapping 40.

When received at the paper mill the wrapping is removed from the wire, the bands or cords which hold the three poles together are cut, and the poles A and B are placed in the sling belts 3635. By means of a crane the whole device is lifted and the belts 3536 are revolved to allow pole C with the loop of wire cloth around it to hang suspended several feet below poles A and B. The roller beam 28 is locked in this position by the ratchet levers 33 engaging the ratchet caps 21. The umolling device holding the poles and wire are then transported by a crane and the loop of wire cloth between the poles A and B and pole C is slid over the couch roll of the paper machine. The pole C by means of a second crane or by a man on each side of the machine is transported lengthwise of the paper machine during which time the roller beam 26 is rotated by means of the handwheels 29, or by one of them, causing the sling belts 36-38 to be driven to impart equal turning movement to the poles A and B and thus unroll the wire W, the poles A and B remaining in constant parallel relation to each other during this operation. When the wire is completely unrolled the ratchet levers 33 are engaged with the ratchet caps 21 to lock the roller beam against rotation, and the pole B is thereupon removed, the wire belt now being ready to have the paper machine rolls engaged in its ends in place of the poles A and C.

I have illustrated and described a preferred and satisfactory embodiment of the invention, but it will be understood that changes may be made therein, within the spirit and scope thereof, as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A portable unrolling device for a Fourdrinier wire belt, wound upon a pair of cylindrical poles disposed in contiguous parallel relation to each other with their ends projecting beyond the longitudinal edges of said wire belt and said pair of contiguous parallel poles providing a winding core of non-circular cross-section, comprising supporting bearing means adapted for attachment to a crane or the like and including a plurality of spaced bearings, a roller beam comprising a cylindrical member rotatably supported at its ends in said bearings, and including an elongated cylindrical pulley surface disposed between said bearings, manually operable means connected to said roller beam for imparting manually controlled rotation to it from a point immediately adjacent an end of said roller beam, and a pair of equal length sling belts engaged over and depending from said pulley surface and adjustable thereon toward and away from each other adapted to receive the ends of said poles with the wire belt disposed thereon, whereby said wire belt is free to unwind from said poles as they are rotated. said sling belts adapted to be simultaneously land equally driven through rotation of said roller earn.

2. A portable unrolling device for a Fourdrinier wire belt, wound upon a pair of cylindrical poles disposed in contiguous parallel relation to each other with their ends projecting beyond the longitudinal edges of said wire belt and said pair of contiguous parallel poles providing a winding core of non-circular cross-section, comprising a cylindrical tubular supporting beam adapted for attachment to a crane or the like, a plurality of bearing hanger members secured to said supporting beam, each having 9. depending portion provided with a cylindrical bearing opening, a roller beam comprising a cylindrical tubular beam rotatably supported adjacent its ends in said bearing openings, and including an elongated cylindrical pulley surface disposed between said hanger members, manually operable means connected to said roller beam for imparting manually controlled rotation to it from a point immediately adjacent an end of said roller beam, and a pair of equal length sling belts engaged over and depending from said pulley surface and adjustable thereon toward and away from each other adapted to receive the ends of said poles with the wire belt disposed thereon, whereby said wire belt is free to unwind from said poles as they are rotated, said sling belts adapted to be simultaneously and equally driven through rotation of said roller beam.

3. A portable unrolling device for a Fourdrinier wire belt, wound upon a pair of cylindrical poles disposed in contiguous parallel relation to each other with their ends projecting beyond the longitudinal edges of said wire belt and said pair of contiguous parallel poles providing a winding core of non-circular cross-section, comprising a supporting beam adapted for attachment to a crane or the like, a plurality of bearing hanger members secured to said supporting beam, one at each end and one substantially centrally, each having a depending portion provided with a cylindrical bearing opening, a pair of crane attaching means secured to said supporting beam respectively between each of said end hanger members and said central hanger member, a roller beam rotatably supported adjacent its ends and centrally in said bearing openings, and including elongated cylindrical pulley surfaces extending continuously between said end hanger members and said central hanger member, means connected to said roller beam for imparting rotation to it, and a pair of equal length sling belts engaged over and depending from said respective pulley surfaces and adjustable thereon toward and away from each other adapted to receive the ends of said poles with the wire belt disposed thereon, whereby said wire belt is free to unwind from said poles as they are rotated, said sling belts adapted to be simultaneously and equally driven through rotation of said roller beam. 7

4. A portable unrolling device for a Fourdrinier wire belt, wound upon a pair of cylindrical poles disposed in contiguous parallel relation to each other with their ends projecting beyond the longitudinal edges of said Wire belt and said pair of contiguous parallel poles providing a winding core of non-circular cross-section, comprising supporting bearing means adapted for attachment to a crane or the like and including a plurality of spaced bearings, a roller beam comprising a cylindrical member rotatably supported at its ends in said bearings, and including an elongated cylindrical pulley surface disposed between said bearings, a handwheel secured upon each end of said roller beam for imparting direct manual rotation to it from points immediately adjacent each end of said roller beam, and a pair of equal length sling belts engaged over and depending from said pulley surface and adjustable thereon toward and away from each other adapted to receive the ends of said poles with the wire belt disposed thereon, whereby said wire belt is free to unwind from said poles as they are rotated, said sling belts adapted to be simultaneously and equally driven through rotation of said roller beam.

5. A portable unrolling device for a Fourdrinier wire belt, wound upon a pair of cylindrical poles disposed in contiguous parallel relation to each other with their ends projecting beyond the longitudinal edges of said wire belt and said pair of contiguous parallel poles providing a winding core of non-circular cross-section, comprising a cylindrical tubular supporting beam adapted for attachment to a crane or the like, a plurality of bearing hanger members secured to said supporting beam, one at each end and one substantially centrally, each having a depending portion provided with a cylindrical bearing opening, a pair of crane attaching means secured to said supporting beam respectively between each of said end hanger members and said central hanger member, a roller beam comprising a cylindrical tubular member rotatably supported adjacent its ends and centrally in said bearing openings, and including elongated cylindrical pulley surfaces extending continuously between said end hanger member and said central hanger member, a handwheel secured upon each end of said roller beamfor imparting direct manual rotation to it from points immediately adjacent each end of said roller beam, and a pair of equal length slin belts engaged over and depending from said respective pulley surfaces and adjustable thereon toward and away from each other adapted to receive the ends of said poles with the wire belt disposed thereon, whereby said wire belt is free to unwind from said poles as they are rotated, said sling belts adapted to be simultaneously and equally driven through rotation of said roller beam.

6. A portable unrolling device for a Fourdrinier wire belt, wound upon a pair of cylindrical poles disposed in contiguous parallel relation to each other with their ends projecting beyond the longitudinal edges of said wire belt and said pair of contiguous parallel poles providing a winding core of non-circular cross-section, comprising supporting bearing means adapted for attachment to a crane or the like and including a plurality of spaced bearings, a roller beam comprising a cylindrical member rotatably supported at its ends in said bearings, and including an elongated cylindrical pulley surface disposed between said bearings, manually operable means connected to said roller beam for imparting manually controlled rotation to it from a point immediately adjacent an end of said roller beam, a pair of equal length sling belts engaged over and depending from said pulley surface and adjustable thereon toward and away from each other adapted to receive the ends of said poles vwith the wire belt disposed thereon, whereby said wire belt is free to unwind from said poles as they are rotated, said sling belts adapted to be simultaneously and equally driven through rotation of said roller beam, and a pair of sling belt guide means each including abutment portions disposed at each side of one of said sling belts, said belt guide means being adjustable longitudinally of said roller beam along said elongated cylindrical pulley surface thereof.

7. A portable unrolling device for a Fourdrinier wire belt, wound upon a pair of cylindrical poles disposed in contiguous parallel relation to each other with their ends projecting beyond the longitudinal edges of said wire belt and said pair of contiguous parallel poles providing a winding core of non-circular cross-section, comprising supporting bearing means adapted for attachment to a crane or the like and including a plurality of spaced bearings, a roller beam comprising a cylindrical member rotatably supported at its ends in said bearings, and including an elongated cylindrical pulley surface disposed between said bearings, manually operable means connected to said roller beam for imparting manually controlled rotation to it, from a point immediately adjacent an end of said roller beam, a pair of equal length sling belts engaged over and depending from said pulley surface and adjustable thereon toward and away from each other adapted to receive the ends of said poles with the wire belt disposed thereon, whereby' said wire is free to unwind from said pair of poles as they are rotated, said sling belts adapted to be simultaneously and equally driven through rotation of said roller beam, and manually operable latch means arranged to secure the roller beam against rotation and operable from a point immediately adjacent an end of said roller beam,

8. A portable unrolling device for a Fourdrinier wire belt, comprising in combination a pair of poles, one of said pair of poles being adapted to be engaged in one end of the loop of a Fourdrlnier wire belt, the other of said pair of poles being adapted to be engaged outside the said loop contiguous and parallel to the first pole with a thickness of the wire therebetween, a third pole parallel to said pair of poles and adapted to be engaged in the other end of the wire loop, said wire being wound about said pair of poles into a bundle, each of said three poles being longer than the width of said wire and projecting therefrom at its ends, supporting bearing means adapted for attachment to a crane or the like and including a plurality of spaced bearings, a roller beam rotatably supported in said bearings and including an elongated cylindrical pulley surface disposed between said bearings, manually operable means connected to said roller beam for imparting manually controlled rotation to it from a point immediately adjacent an end of said roller beam, and a pair of equal length sling belts engaged over and depending from said pulley surface and adjustable thereon toward and away from each other and adapted to.be simultaneously and equally driven through rotation of said roller beam, said sling belts respectively receiving the projecting ends of said pair of poles with the wire belt disposed thereon, whereby said wire is free to unwind from said pair of poles as they are rotated and as said third pole is moved away from said pair of poles in the unwinding direction of said wire.

NELSON W. WEBB.

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