US2309647A - Adjustable cloth guide - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 2, 1943;. a. M. JONES ETAL 2,309,647

ADJUSTABLE CLOTH GUIDE Filed Feb'. 6,1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 2, 1943. B. M, JONES ETAL ADJUSTABLE CLOTH GUIDE Filed Feb. 6, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 2, 1943. I JONES ETAL 2,309,647

ADJUSTABLE CLOTH GUIDE Filed Fel a. 6', 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet s fiderztmr 22 am 721-757;. Car/HSzreeter Patented Feb. 2, 1943 ADJUSTABLE CLOTH GUIDE Bliss M. Jones and Carl H.

assignors to Rodney H Streeter, Orange, Mass., unt Machine Company,

Orange, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application February 6, 1942, Serial No. 429,772

20 Claims.

This invention relates to adjustable cloth guides for textile machinery and in particular to those applied to fulling mills.

Objects of the invention include the provision of a continuous closed cloth guide in the form of a ring or the like, this guide being adjustable generally radially throughout its circumference s that'the effect is to produce a pot-eye which is adjustable in size; the provision of a cloth guide having a warped surface which, when turned, will present increasing or decreasing degrees of curved or inclined areas whereby the surface included in the Warp will provide a guiding means which presents an increasing or decreasing guiding section; the provision of a pair of rollers which are provided with generally similar but reversed concave warped surfaces cooperatively presenting an aperture or guiding throat between the rollers, which is adjustable in diameter when the rolls are correspondingly rotated; the provision of a cloth guiding throat for machines of the class described wherein the throat is continuous in outline in the general form of a ring, there being means effective to adjust the size of the ring for the purpose of applying pressure from all sides to various thicknesses and materials of strings of cloth passing through the guide, said guide being adjustable in a generally radial direction so as to vary the size of the throat in all directions normal to the line of passage of the cloth string.

Further objects of the invention include the provision of a throat guide for a fulling mill which comprises two rolls each having corresponding but reversed concave warped surfaces which cooperate to provide a contractible or enlargeable continuous guide, in combination with throat plates which are mounted on the rolls and which approach each other to narrow the pathway therebetween as the continuous throat guide is contracted and which diverge when the throat is enlarged, in proportion to the decrease or increase in the size of the opening which forms the throat; the provision of an adjustable throat guide for a fulling mill comprising a pair of rolls which are mountable in any desired or convenientlocation in a fulling mill, but preferably immediately in advance of the fulling rolls, the rolls being provided with peripheral concave warped or curved surfaces of Varying degree, so that when the rollers are rotated together they will present a throat therebetween which is adjustable in size depending on said rotation, there being a pair of camgrooves in each roller, said grooves being preferably but not necessarily spiral in form and conforming to the size of the grooves, a throat plate mounted in a pair of corresponding cam grooves, said throat plates extending between the rolls and beyond the surfacesthereof, to be adjusted to and from each other by means of the cam grooves as the rollers are rotated to enlarge or decrease the throat opening therebetween.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of the parts 1 of a fulling mill to which this invention pertains, and illustrates one embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the parts of Fig. 1 and shows the top roller in position to provide a large throat opening;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged rear view of the rollers showing an enlarged throat opening;

, Fig. 4 is across section on line 4-4 in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the rollers corresponding to Fig. 3, but showing the rollers from the front;

Fig. 6is a cross section on line 66 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a view from the rear of the rollers and showing them in a position to present a small throat guide opening;

Fig. 8 is a cross section on line 8-8 of Fig. 7

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 7 but showing the rollers as they look from the front;

. Fig. 10 is a cross section on line I 0-H! of Fig. 9;:

Fig. 11 is'a top plan view of the top roller as it appears in Fig. 9;

Fig. 12 is a side elevation of a throat plate; and a Fig. 13 is a cross section on line l3-l3 of Fig. 12.

In the drawings numeral 10 indicates the outside housing of a fulling mill or other machine using the present invention. Fulling or other rolls I2 are mounted in the housing in any convenient or desired manner, and a packing box l4 may be arranged as usual at the rear side of the fulling rolls. A front guide roll I 6 may be used to direct a cloth string l8 to the fulling rolls and between a pair of throat plates 20.

A pair of rollers 22 are mounted one above the other vertically, at the front or incoming side of the fulling rolls, rollers 22 being of a substantially smaller diameter than that of the fulling rolls, and these rollers may be mounted in any desired or convenient manner in the housing ID or if convenient on extensions I3 of packing box M. Each roller is provided with a pair of similar but reverse cam grooves 24 and 25, these grooves starting at a point adjacent the ends of the rollers and extending inwardly spirally and around and stopping at spaced points more adjacent the center of the rollers axially thereof. The grooves in one roller are complementary to the grooves in the other roller so that at the points on the peripheries of the rollers most closely adjacent to each other, the grooves always correspond as seen in Figs. 3, 5, 7, and 9. Means such as the crank and gear in Fig. 2 may be provided to rotate the rollers in opposite directions so that their adjacent peripheries move in the same direction.

Vertical throat plates 29 are constructed to have portions thereof entering corresponding grooves so that the plates are located between the rollers. Throat plates 29 are constructed with a forward or outer guiding portion 28 or an inward or rear pointed portion 28, the latter conforming to and extending between the peripheries of the fulling rolls l2. Between portions 26 and 28, the throat plates are provided. with oppositely extending circular concave guidin curves as at 30 and these curves are undercut or rabbeted to form curved guide flanges 32 on the throat plates fitting into the cam grooves 24 and of the rolls. The effect of this construction is that when the rollers are turned with adjacent side moving in the same direction, that is with the roller shafts 34 turning in opposite directions, throat plates 20 will travel laterally of themselves to and from widely separated positions as shown in Figs. 4 and 6 to more closely adjacent positions as shown in Figs. 8 and 10. By this means the throat plates will be seen to be adjustable to and from each other soas to provide closer or more widely spaced throat guiding plates for the cloth string l8. It is to be noted that rollers 22 are geared together so that they will always move correspondingly under influence of the hand. crank or other means for rotating them.

Rollers 22 are provided with concave or warped hollowed out irregular surface areas which extend from the periphery of the rollers as for instance at 36 where they are narrowest, as will be seen in Figs. 3 and 4, and this hollowed out concave surface gradually deepens and widens as it proceeds around the periphery of the rollers until it reaches the deepest point towards the centers of the rollers at approximately the point. 38, which is visible in both Figs. 3 and 5, this point lying in a line which forms the deepest concavity in the concave area. From point 38 the hollowed out concave surface continues to widen as seen in Fig. 6 but again begins to approach the periphery of the rollers as at 40 as will be seen from Figs. 5 and 7.

The surfaces just above described may be referred to as concave warped surfaces which form irregular grooves in the peripheries of the rollers. It will be seen that the embodiment of the invention here illustrated does not carry the warped groove entirely about the periphery of the rollers, but it is within the limits of this invention to vary the warped surface of the groove sufficiently to bring the two ends of the groove together, or to form the rollers with an even wider roller surface at 42. The essential form of the groove resides merely in the provision of a concave surface which starts adjacent the periphery, deepens and widens to a certain point and then, while still becoming wider it becomes portions 26 of less deep to again approach the periphery of the roller.

It will be seen from the drawings that the widest portion of the concave grooves correspond to the most widely separated ends of grooves 24 and 25, and that the edges 44 of the grooves extend in substantial conformance to grooves. 24 and 25 as the latter. run inwardly from the ends of the rollers and around the same. Fig. 3 illustrates the appearance of the rollers as seen from the fulling roll aspect, in substantially one extreme condition of the rollers wherein the guide throat or opening formed by the hollowed out grooves presents the largest possible aperture between the rollers, and it will be seen that throat plates 20 are here widely separated to conform to the largest guide opening between the rollers. As the rollers are correspondingly rotated to constrict the guide opening between them, the throat plates are gradually moved by the cam grooves towards each other so that the throat plates 20 will be seento always conform in spacing to the size of the guide opening no matter what size it is. Also the concave warped grooves in the rollers are so arranged that a smooth surfaced cloth guiding area is always presented to the incoming string of cloth; that is, as viewed in Fig. 5 the cloth will find a. comparatively wide apron or funnel-like guideway 46;.and as the rollers areturned to present a small aperture as in Fig. 9, a similar guide 48- is. presented, although in this case it is not quite so extensive as it does not guide as large a string as in the case of Fig. 5. In all cases the inside faces: of

the guide plates generally conform to and provide extensions of the curved guiding surfaces leading into the guiding throat formed by the grooves in the rolls as shown in Fig. 2. Also it will be seen that the inside faces of the throat plates are smooth and continuous and present no angles or corners for the cloth to catch on as it passes between the rollers.

By having rollers 22 somewhat separated and the central narrow portion 30 of throat plates 20 between them, a vertical oval shape is provided' for the throat guide opening'formed; by the roller grooves. This'shape is advantageous as it. tends to dispose the cloth string in a generally vertical plane as it approaches the horizontal nip of the fulling rolls 12, thus increasing the-fulling action provided by the combined throat plate and roller guideway. Since throat plates 20 must necessarily be angularlypositioned with respect to rolls 22, the rearwardly pointed ends 28 thereof are located at an angle to the main body of the plates. so as to form. a more or: less parallel-sided vertical. guideway between rollers 22 and. the fulling rolls. l2.

Fig. '7 illustrates the. fulling roll aspect of rollers 22 in their smallest guiding opening? condition, there being no funnel-like guide in this case, but. as the cloth passes directly into. the fulling. rolls l2, no guide except the lateral. guide members 28 is necessary.

The objects of the invention. will. be seen to have been accomplished by the above described construction, wherein any usual thickness of cloth. string will be taken care of for fulling. merely by turning a crank. or similar mechanism to turn the rollers 22 thus eifectively radially. adjusting the throat guide, or guide opening. formed by the irregular warped guide surfaces in the rollers, and simultaneously the throat plates 20 are; correspondingly adjusted. to. conform. to the size of the opening. The surfaces of the grooves in rollers 22 may be of other forms than here illustrated, as forinstance, a cloverleaf shaped opening could be presented by appropriately shaping the grooves, or square,.rectangular, or oval throat openings could be produced by obvious changes in the hollowed out warped surfaces.

Having thus described our invention and the advantages thereof, we do not wish to be limited to the detailsherein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what we claim is:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination of a movable element, means on said element forming a guideway adjustable in width; with a pair of spaced guiding members in extension of said guideway, and means associated with said movable element and effective to travel at least one of said guiding members relative to the other as said movable element is moved in a direction to vary the degree of spacing of said guiding membersin accordance with the adjustment in width of the guideway.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a movable element and means on said element forming a guideway adjustable in size, said guideway being adjusted in accordance with movement of said movable element; with a pair of spaced guiding members located in extension of said guideway-forming means, and means actuated by the movement of said movable element to travel said guiding members relatively to and from each other to adjust the spacing therebetween in accordance with the adjustment of the guideway.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a movable element, means forming a guideway associated with said element, said guideway being selectively enlarged or decreased in size depending on movement of said element; with a pair of guiding members located in extension of said guideway, and means associated with said element to cause at least one of said guiding members to relatively approach the other member as said element is moved to decrease the size of said guideway and selectively to relatively move away from the other member as said element is moved to increase the size of said guideway.

4. In a: device of the class described, the combination of a movable element, means associated with said element forming a guideway, said guideway being adjustable in size in accordance with the movement of said element depending on the direction of said movement, and means to move said element selectively in at least two directions; with a pair of guiding members mounted to move relatively corresponding to the adjustment of said guideway, and means associated with said movable element to cause relative approach of said guiding members as the guideway is lessened in size and to relatively move them away from each other as the guideway is enlarged.

5. In a device of the class described, a movable element, a Warped surface on said element forming a guideway, said surface being irregular in width in the line of movement of said element to present a selectively decreased or increased guideway, relative to a fixed point, as said element is moved in directions corresponding to said line.

6. A device as recited in the preceding claim wherein said surface is also irregular in depth 7 In a device of the class described, a movable element, a hollowed surface on said element, said surface being irregularin depth along the line of movement of said element, said surface forming a guideway of varying size, relative to a fixed point, as said element is moved in directions corresponding to said line.,

8. .A device as recited in the preceding claim wherein said surface is also irregular in width.

. 9. A device of the class described comprising a rotatable element, a hallowed groove in the periphery of said element, said groovebeing irregular in size and forming a guideway adjustable in size, relative to a fixed point, as said ele ment is rotated.

10. An adjustable guide comprising a pair of movable elements, means to move said elements correspondingly, warped surfaces on said elements cooperating to form a guideway, said surfaces being substantially correspondingly varying in size to adjust the size of the guideway as said elements are moved.

11. An adjustable guide comprising two elements having surfaces thereof relatively movable, at least parts of said surfaces being substantially concave to form a guide therebetween, the concave portions of at least one of said surfaces being irregular in size in a direction corresponding to the direction of movement of said one surface to present a guideway adjustable in size as said elements are moved.

12. An adjustable guide as recited in the preceding claim wherein said surfaces are irregular in width.

13. An adjustable guide as recited in the preceding claim wherein said surfaces are irregular in depth.

14. In a device of the class described, a rotatable element, cam grooves in the periphery of said element, said grooves gradually proceeding axially spirally of said element oppositely, and guide plates each having a portion located in a groove, whereby said plates are adjustable to and from each other depending on the direction of rotation of said element.

15. In a cloth guide, a pair of rollers arranged generally parallel to each other, a groove in each roller, said grooves cooperating to form a guideway between the rollers, and said grooves varying in size correspondingly so as to provide for adjusting the size of the guideway upon rotation of the rollers.

16. A cloth guide as recited in claim 15 wherein said grooves intersect the peripheries of their respective rollers, gradually widen and deepen around the rollers, and then while continuing to Widen become shallower and approach the roller peripheries.

17. In a cloth guide, a pair of rollers mounted to be rotated together, a peripheral groove in each roller, said grooves cooperating to form an opening between the rollers, each groove having two ends, one end being relatively wide and one relatively narrow and both ends approaching the roller periphery so that they are shallow, the intermediate portions of the grooves gradually deepening from each end to points approaching the axes of the rollers.

18. A cloth guide comprising a pair of parallel rollers, means to rotate said rollers, a groove in each roller, said grooves having edges diverging from one end to the other of each groove, said edges being substantially aligned throughout the rotation of the rollers, whereby a tunnel-like opening between the rollers is formed, said opening being capable of being widened or narrowed upon rotation of the rollers, said grooves graduall'y deepening in the direction of; divergence of the groove edgestatrleast part way therealong, the central axis of the: opening being'located: at. right angles to the axes of. the rollers.

19. In a cloth guide, a pair of rollers mounted for corresponding rotation on parallel; axes, means to rotate said rollers in opposite directions of rotation, a groove each. roller, said. grooves extending about the peripheries of said rollers.

in a general plane at right angles to the axes of the rollers, said groovesbeing located to, form;

means efiective. to relatively adjust said throat platestocorrespond to. the size of the opening.

20; In a. cloth guide, a pairof parallel rollers arranged to rotate together, a circumferential groove in each roller, said grooves corresponding to form an opening.- between the rollers, each groove having one end narrower than the other and diverging edges leading from the narrower to the wider end, portions of said, grooves gradually deepening away from the narrower ends to render said opening adjustable, cam grooves arranged in the peripheries of the rollers and extending along said edges, said cam grooves receiving throat plates adjustable thereby in V conformity with. the. adjustment of the opening as the rollers are rotated.

BLISS M. JONES. CARL H. STREETER.

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