US2301749A - Automatic stop motion - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 10, 1942. G. E. REPASS 2,301,749

AUTOMATIC STOP MOTION Filed Aug. 50, 1941 a. B Z A 4a 1 if IN V EN TOR. 526/7036 A TTORNEYS.

Patented Nov. 10, 1942 AUTOMATIC STOP MOTION George E. Repass, Pawtucket, R. I., assignor to H & B American Machine Company, a corporation of Maine Application August 30, 1941, Serial No. 409,014

4 Claims.

This invention relates to automatic stop motions, and has particular reference to an automatic stop motion device of the mechanical type for machines which apply a twist to a longitudinally moving strand of material as it is wound upon a rotating bobbin or other usual take-up receiver supported upon and rotated by a positively driven vertical winding spindle.

An object of the invention is to provide a machine of the type indicated above with a stop motion device in conjunction with the feeding and winding mechanisms for the individual strands in which each strand will control the operation of its particular feeding and winding mechanism in a manner so that in the event of breakage of the strand the stop motion will not only automatically stop further feed of the broken strand to a bobbin or spool on which the twisted strand is being wound but it will also stop the rotation of the particular winding mechanism for the strand.

Another object of the invention is to provide a stop motion associated with a frictionally driven winding spindle and rendered effective to automatically cause the operation of the indi vidual braking means for any of the spindles to stop the rotation of a particular spindle at the time that the feed of the strand is stopped following breakage of a strand but without stopping the rotation of the positively driven driving means for the spindle.

A further object is to provide a stop motion which will be rendered effective to automatically stop the feeding of any strand to its particular spindle and the winding thereof whenever breakage occurs of any strand, but which will not become operative upon slight slackness in the twisted strand between the feeding rolls and any bobbin, such as would be caused by the stopping of the entire machine.

A still further object of the invention is to increase the production of machines of the above class by the reduction to a minimum of the loss in idle time and waste in material involved, when any strand becomes broken, in twisting the strands.

The invention is broadly applicable to any machine for winding strand material upon a positively rotated bobbin or spool as the strand leaves a pair of feed rolls. The invention is useful in connection with various textile machines in which yarns, sliver, rovings, thread, etc, are drawn along and packaged upon bobbins or spools, such as twister frames, spinning machines, and winding machines. More particularly, the invention has been adapted and illustrated as embodied in connection with a machine for making twisted paper string or twine.

Briefly, the invention is directed to a stopmotion device associated with each spindle 01' a spinning or twisting machine, and comprises a spring-loaded, retractile, stop-motion actuating rod movable by its spring from a retracted position to effect simultaneously the raising of a pivoted support carrying one of a pair of coacting feed rolls to stop the ieed of the strand material to a particular winding spindle and the operation of an individual brake mechanism associated with the spindle to stop the rotation of the spindle and the bobbin thereon. The stopmotion actuating rod is normally held inoperative and in a potentially charged, retracted position'by means of a pivoted latch lever having three arms, one of which is formed with a tooth or catch element which engages an abutment on the retracted rod. The latch lever is pivoted at the outer end of another arm whereby appropriate swinging movement of the latch lever will move the tooth or catch element into operative and inoperative positions. Pivoted to the third arm of the latch lever is a feeler mount having a tail piece which is normally held in an elevated position out of the path of oscillation oi a positively driven oscillatory knock-01f member but when either the strand material breaks or gives out, the tail piece will drop in front of and become coupled by means of a projection to said knockoff member which during its next forward swing will engage and push forward the pivoted latch lever and the feeier mount as a rigid body a suliicient distance to disengage the tooth from the abutment to release the retracted stop-motion actuating rod and permit it to be acuated by its spring to stop the feeding and the winding of a particular strand.

The invention also consists in the features of construction and operation of the several parts of the device which is hereinafter fully described in the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the mecha nism of this invention as applied to a machine for making twisted paper string or twine and showing certain parts in section with the feeler being shown held in its normal depressed position by the unbroken strand and with the spring actuated rod being engaged by and held in a retracted position by the latch lever;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view, on smaller scale, taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail view in side elevation of the latch mechanism of the stop motion device illustrated in Fig. 1 but with the rockable feeler being shown swung upwardly from its normal depressed position following the breakage of a strand and after effecting the release of the spring actuated rod which i shown in its unlocked position;

Fig. 4 is a detail in front elevation of the positively driven oscillatable knock-off arm;

Fig. 5 is a detail in perspective of the latch lever for locking the spring-charged rod in its retracted and inoperative position; and

Fig. 6 represents diagrammatically the crosssectional shape of the paper ribbon as it issues from the former device but before being compressed and twisted.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing, Hi generally designates a spindle upon which a bobbin, spool or other take-up receiver for a strand material (not shown) is mounted for rotation within a ring H. In the twister illustrated the spindle l0 and the ring II are each one of a series of spindles and associated rings of a paper twine machine the general construction of which is similar to twister frames commonly employed in the textile industry for twisting cotton sliver or roving but it differs therefrom by being arranged to operate upon a relatively narrow strip or ribbon of paper to form a twisted paper strand. As is clearly shown in Figure 1, each ring I I is fixedly mounted upon the usual reciprocable rail l2 in such a manner that the top edge of the ring is spaced from the rail, and loosely mounted upon each of said rings in the usual well known manner is an ear-shaped traveler i3 that rests upon the upper edge of the ring I and travels circumferentially about the ring as the rotating bobbin (not shown) carried by the spindle Ii) draws the twisted strand M onto itself. The traveler |3 moves about the ring H as a track as the ring is traversed up and down by the rail l2 in accordance with a predetermined traversing motion and the traveler puts the desired twist in the strand material It passing therethrough and lays it onto the bobbin to form thereon a package of wound twisted material of a desired build.

The spindle I9 is substantially the same as that shown, described and claimed in the co-pending application of Clarence E. Buote, Serial No. 378,- 755, flied February 13, 1941, and comprises an annular member 2| of friction material interposed between the fixed flange 3!} on the spindle blade 22 and the freely rotatable positively driven whirl 23 carried by the upper tubular extension of the spindle base. The friction ring 2| may form a clutch facing on either said flange or said whirl and since the spindle blade is yieldably supported for longitudinal movement within the spindle base the Weight of the spindle blade assembly normally presses the flange 30 against the Whirl 23 and establishes a frictional driving connection with the ring 2| for rotating the spindle blade and the bobbin thereon during the normal running of the spindle. stoppage of the spindle blade 22 is effected by separation of the frictional connection of the flange 3|] with the whirl 23 and by applying braking pressure to the flange 39. The spindle arrangement also includes a brake device which consists of a lever 25 pivoted intermediate its ends on the upper end of the upright support 26 to provide long and short arm members.

The short lever arm is bifurcated 75 to form two parallel yoke arms 21 which embrace the opposite sides of the spindle and extend beneath the underside of the flange 30. Mounted upon the upper faces of the arms 21 near to their free ends are the friction pads 28 which are positioned on opposite sides of the spindle axis on a diameter of the flange 30 and the pads 28 are normally held by the brake lever 25 in a spaced relation from the under surface of the flange 38 during the normal running of the spindle blade but they are brought into engagement with the under surface of the flange when the brake lever 25 is depressed to the dotted position shown in Fig. 1, and lift the spindle blade bodily a sufficient distance to separate the frictional driving connection of the flange 3|] with the whirl 23 and to bring the upper surface of the flange 30 firmly against the friction pad 3| depending from the underside of the overhanging support 32 whereby the combined frictional action of the pads 28 and 3| readily bring the spindle blade to a stop.

The strand material M which is to be folded and twisted, is in the form of a flat continuous strip or ribbon of paper, is unwound from a suitable source of supply, such as a roll (not shown) by the pull of the feeding rolls I5 and I6. As the paper strip is being unwound from the supply roll and before reaching the front feed rolls l5 and IE it passes under the idler rollers El and 6 2 of the shoe 63 which presses the paper against the wet top peripheral surface of a moistening roll 65 freely rotatable with its lower portion immersed in the water contained in the trough 66 and revolved therein as the paper ribbon is given a longitudinal movement. The ribbon of paper l4, after being thus moistened, is drawn forwardly over the idler roller 61 by the pull of the feeding rolls l5 and I6 and before reaching them it passes through the former F which folds the moving ribbon of paper into a tube-like body of generally U-shaped cross-section having both longitudinal edges of the ribbon rolled inwardly on the same side of the ribbon with each edge being disposed inside of the tube between two plies of the material at each side of the center (see Fig. 6) thereby making a combined thickness of six plies. The structure of the former F' is essentially that set forth and claimed in my copending application, Serial No. 409,013, filed August 30, 1941, entitled Former for paper string. The folded ribbon is drawn between the feed rolls l5 and I6 and in passing therethrough the top and bottom parts of the folded ribbon are compressed together and is practically a flat multi-ply ribbon as it issues from the feed rolls for twisting.

The exterior operating surfaces of the feed rolls l5 and 16 have complementary shapes, and in the present instance, the upper roll I5 is provided with a circumferential rib which is received by a circumferential groove formed in the large lower roll I6. The lower feed roll I6 is positively driven by suitable mechanism (not shown) while the upper feeding roll I5 is freely rotatable on the upper end portion of the pivoted arm l8 which is suitably weighted and arranged to normally press the upper roll against the lower roll to compress and flatten the folded ribbon passing therebetween. The compressed and flattened strand M as it issues from the delivery side of the rolls l5 and I6 is drawn over the guide I9 made of porcelain or other wear-resisting material mounted on the outer free end of the feeler 2B, and thence passes through the guide eye E and is led through the traveler l3 to the bobbin on the spindle ID in the usual manner by which arrangement the twisted strand I4 is formed.

As above indicated, it is desirable immediately upon breakage of any twisted strand M to stop the feed of the twisted strand to the bobbin and at the same time to stop the rotation of the spindle carrying the bobbin upon which the twisted strand is being wound, and for this purpose the free end of the long actuating arm of the brake lever 25 is slotted as at 34 and an upright rod 35, which forms the actuating rod of the stop motion mechanism, is pivoted at its lower end to this arm by a bolt 36 which extends through the slot 34 and has movement lengthwise therein during pivotal movement of the brake lever 25 to and from braking position. The rod 35 has sliding movement through holes in the spaced arms 31 and 38 of the U-shaped bracket 49. The upper arm 38 is shown as being considerably longer than the lower arm 31 and is fixedly secured in a suitable manner to the underside of the usual rail 4| of the machine.

Fixed to the upper end of the rod 35 is an upright coupling device 42 which has pivotal and sliding connection with the rearwardly extending arm of the bell crank in a suitable manner, as by the pivot pin 43 which extends through the slot 1| formed in the outer end portion of the arm 10. The upright arm of the bell crank 15 serves as a hand lever for resetting the stop motion after it has become operative to stop the feed and. the wind. The bell crank 15 is fast on the rock shaft 14 on which the weighted arm l8 carrying the upper roll I5 is also loosely fulcrumed by means of a key accommodated within a wider slot than the key formed in the hub of the arm l8.

Mounted upon the rod and disposed between the arms 31 and 38 of the bracket is a helical spring 45, one end of which bears against a collar 46 suitably secured to the rod 35, as by means of a set screw 41, while the other end of the spring 45 bears against the inner face of the arm 38 of the bracket as an abutment.

A collar 48 is provided on the portion of the rod 35 intermediate the coupling 42 and the arm 38 of the bracket 40 and the opposite ends of this collar are bevelled as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The lower bevelled end face of the collar presents a shoulder 49 which is engaged by a tooth 50 formed on the free end portion of a pivoted latch lever 5| of the stop motion mechanism whereby the rod 35 is normally held in its retracted and inoperative position as shown in Fig. 1, against the compression of the spring during the normal operation of the machine. The spring 45 will be compressed sufiiciently to provide the necessary force for forcibly impelling the latch rod 35 downwardly when the lever 5| is suddenly tripped and moved to one side by the upwardly movement of the feeler 2!] when a strand breaks, to disengage the tooth from its locking position with the shoulder 49 as shown in Fig. 3, the particular structure for effecting the tripping of the latch lever 5| being hereinafter more fully described.

Thus, when the actuating rod 35 of the stop motion mechanism is released and allowed to move downwardly by the action of the spring 45 the descent of the rod 35 will not only depress the brake arm 25 to separate the frictional drive members of the spindle and apply pressure to cause the spindle to come to a stop but at the same tim it will swing the arm 10 of th bell crank downwardly to move the handle of the bell crank 15 into the dotted position indicated at 15a.

This movement of the bell crank will turn the rock shaft 14 in a counter clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1 and thus take up the small clearance normally existing between the key and the wall of the slot toward which the key is being swung by the turning movement of the shaft 14 and to engage this wall so that further turning of the shaft 14 in the same direction as the arm 10 of the bell crank moves to complete its downward swing will raise the curved arm l8 and the upper roller l5. Conversely, forward movement of the hand lever arm of the bell crank 15 from the dotted position 15a into the vertical position shown in full lines in Fig. 1 will raise the bell crank arm 10 and with it the rod 35 and the brake lever 25 against the tension of the spring 45, thereby resetting the stop motion with the parts taking the position shown in Fig. 1 and held locked in place by the latch lever 5|.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the essential operating mechanism of my improved stop motion consists of the spring-actuated retractile stop-motion actuating rod 35, the latch lever 5| for holding the latch lever normally locked in a retracted and inactive position, a lobe-shaped feeler mount 52 (hereafter called cam) which is pivoted in an off-balanced position on an extended portion of the latch lever 5| and yieldably connected thereto by a lug 59, a feeler 20 mounted on the cam 52 in an overhanging relationship for engaging an unbroken run of strand material, and an oscillatable power driven knock-off dog 53 for tripping the latch member 5| to effect the release of the rod 35 upon engagement of the dog with the cam 52 when it drops into the path of oscillatory movement of the dog and is struck forcibly to one side following breakage of the strand material to free the feeler from the tension normally supporting the feeler in a depressed position with the cam removed from the path of swing of the dog.

Referring again to Fig. 1, the latch lever 5| consists of a curved arm pivoted at one end to an upright support 54 suitably bolted to the lever. The cam 52 is pivoted to the outer end of the arm extension 60 of the latch lever and when the catch or tooth 50 is normally positioned in engagement with the shoulder 49 of the collar 48, as above described, the cam 52 weighting the feeler arm 20 will be both in the relationship shown in this figure, and the oscillating dog 53, which is positively oscillated by means of the shaft 55 and suitable gearing (not shown) will be oscillated to and fro in an are from the full line position to that indicated by the dotted outline 5311 without striking the lower back corner of the cam. However, whenever a twisted strand 4' becomes broken the feeler arm 20 which normally is held down by the tension of the twisted yarn I4 being drawn upon the bobbin Will suddenly swing upwardly due to the sudden downward swing of the cam 52 about its pivot 51 on the latch lever and the cam will then project into the path of travel of the oscillating dog 53 with the laterally projecting lug 59 resting upon the top surface of the arm extension 60. When the cam 52 and the feeler 2|! are in this position the lower rear curved surface of th cam 45 will be struck by the finger 58 projecting laterally from the oscillatable dog 53 to lift both the weighted cam 52 and the latch lever 5| and thereby push them bodily to one side in a combined outwardly and upwardly direction to quickly pull the tooth 50 out from beneath the shoulder 49 of the collar 48 whereby the rod 35 will be instantly impelled downwardly from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that depicted in Fig. 3 by the sudden release and expansion of the spring 45 and thereby actuate the brake lever 25 to quickly bring the rotating spindle to a stop and also to raise the upper roll I5 to stop the feed of the ribbon M.

If the twisted strand I4 is merely slackened gradually instead of breaking, as would occur when the entire machine is being shut down, the feeler 20 will tilt upwardly to assume a slightly oblique position but the tension of the unbroken strand M will prevent it from being moved to such an extent as to bring the cam 52 into striking engagement with the dog 53 so as to disengage the latch tooth 50 and release the stop motion actuating rod 35.

I claim:

1. In a spinning or twisting machine, the combination with means for feeding a strand of material to be twisted, means for twisting said strand, means for winding the twisted strand upon a rotary receiver, and a brake mechanism associated with said winding means, of a spring loaded, stop motion actuating rod operatively connected at one end to said feeding means and at the other end to said brake mechanism associated with said winding means, the said rod being so arranged that when actuated by said spring it will render said feeding means for the strand inoperative and at the same time actuate said brake mechanism to stop the winding means for said strand, abutment means on said stopmotion actuating rod presenting a shoulder, a pivoted latch lever having a downwardly inclined arm with a catch element at the outer end of the arm, said lever being pivoted to move said catch to operative and inoperative positions relative to said shoulder, said catch normally engaging said shoulder to hold the said stop motion actuating rod in a retracted and inoperative position during the normal operation of the machine, an oscillatable positively-driven knock-off member, a cam member pivoted for up and down movement on said latch lever, a feeler affixed to said cam member for pivotal movement therewith and having a guide at its outer end for engaging an unbroken strand as it is fed by the feeding means to the twisting means, said feeler being normally supported by the tension of the strand passing over the guide to keep said cam above and out of the path of oscillatory movement of said power-driven knock off member; and means on said cam to engage said latch lever and limit the extent of downward swing of said cam into the oscillatory path of said positivelydriven knock-off member when the strand breaks or gives out, said last named means acting to connect said cam and said latch lever whereby they will move together as a rigid body when said cam is pushed forward by said power-driven knock-off member a sufficient distance to swing the latch lever far enough to disengage the catch from the shoulder and release the stop motion actuating rod for rendering said rod operative under the action of its spring.

2. In a stop motion, a retractile stop motion actuating rod, a spring about said rod adapted to move said rod from a retracted position, abutment means on said rod presenting a shoulder to be engaged by a catch for holding said rod in a retracted and inoperative position, a pivoted latch lever having three arms, the outer end of one of said arms being formed with a catch, said lever being pivoted at the outer end of another arm whereby the swinging movement of said lever will move said catch to operative and inoperative positions, said catch in its operative position engaging said shoulder and normally holding said retractile member in a retracted and inoperative position, an oscillatable power-driven knock-off member, a weighted member pivoted to the third arm of said latch lever and having swinging movement downwardly into the path of oscillatory movement of said knock-off member, a feeler aflixed to said weighted member for pivotal movement therewith and having a guide at its free end for engaging a strand whereby the feeler will be normally held in a depressed position by the tension of an unbroken strand passing over said guide to keep said weighted member above and out of the path of oscillatory movement of said knock-01f member, and a lug projecting outwardly from a side of said weighted member to engage said latch lever and limit the downward swing of the weighted member into the path of said positively-driven knock-off member when the strand breaks or gives out, said lug acting to con nect said weighted member and said latch lever whereby they will move together as a rigid body when said weighted member is pushed forward by said knock-off member a sufficient distance to swing the latch lever forwardly enough to disengage the catch from said shoulder to release said retractile stop motion actuating rod and permit it to be actuated by its spring.

3. In a stop motion, a retractile stop motion actuating rod, a spring thereon adapted to move said rod from a retracted position, a collar fast on said rod presenting a shoulder to be engage by a tooth member for holding said rod in a retracted and inoperative position, a latch lever having three arms, one of said arms being inclined downwardly and formed with a tooth member at the outer end of the arm, another of said arms curving upwardly above said toothed arm, said latch lever being pivoted at the outer end of said curved arm to-move said tooth to operative and inoperative positions, said tooth normally engaging said shoulder to hold said rod in a retracted and inoperative position, an oscillatable power-driven knock-off member, a cam member pivoted to the third arm of said latch lever and movable into a. position to be acted upon by said oscillatory knock-off member upon downward movement of said cam member, a feeler affixed to said cam member for pivotal movement therewith and having a guide at its free end for engaging a strand whereby the feeler will be normally held in a depressed position by the tension of an unbroken strand passing over said guide to keep said cam member above and out of the path of oscillatory movement of said knock-off member, and a projection on said cam member arranged to engage the latch lever and limit the extent of downward swing of the cam member into the path of said positively driven knock-off member when the strand breaks or gives out, said projection acting to connect said cam and said latch lever whereby they will move together as a rigid body when said cam is pushed forward by said knock-off member a sufficient distance to swing the latch lever forwardly enough to disengage the tooth from said shoulder to release said retractile stop motion actuating rod and permit it to be actuated by its spring and move the rod from a retracted position.

4. In a stop motion, a spring loaded retractile stop motion actuating rod, a collar on said rod presenting a shoulder to be engaged by a tooth when said rod is held thereby in a retracted potentially charged and inoperative position, an upright support, a latch lever having three arms, one of said arms curving upwardly and pivoted at its outer end to said support, another of said arms extending downwardly and having a tooth at the outer end of the arm engaging said shoulder to hold said rod retracted and inoperative; the third arm of said latch lever being extended horizontally, an oscillatable power-driven mem: her having a laterally projecting knock-oil dog, a feeler mount having a convexedly curved lobe and pivoted at one end to the outer end of said horizontal arm of said lever and arranged to swing said lobe portion downwardly into the path oit oscillatory movement of said knock-01f dog, a feeler affixed to said feeler mount for pivotal movement therewith and having a guide at its free end for engaging a strand whereby the feeler will be normally held in a depressed position by the tension of an unbroken strand passing over said guide to keep said lobe of the feeler mount above and out of the path ofr'said oscillatory movement of said knock-off dog; and a lug projecting outwardly from a side of said feeler mount to engage the top side of saidif horizontal arm of the latch lever and limit the downward swing of the lobe into the path of said positively-driven knock-01f dog when the strand-breaks or gives out, said lug acting to connect said cam and said latch lever whereby they will move together as a rigid body when said cam is pushed forward by said knock-off dog a suflicient distance to swing the latch lever forwardly enough to disengage the tooth irom said shoulder to release said spring-loaded retractile rod and permit it to be actuated by its spring and move the rod from a retracted position.

GEORGE E. REPASS.

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