US2386158A - Making and packaging strands of material - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 2, 1945. H w. COLLINS MAKING AND PACKAGING STRANDS 0F MATERIAL Filed Sept. 23, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 31m): rater, .Eowdrd K62224561 I Oct. 2, 1945. H. w. COLLINS 2,336,153

MAKING AND PACKAGING STRANDS OF MATERIAL Filed Sept. 25, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 gvwcnkw ffalfaral 71 Collins,

Patented Oct 2, 1945' mmq'rann s PAT '2, 3l l6 ,158 i memento 's'raanns or MATERIAL E OFFICE.

, Howard Collins,'"Newark, Ohio, asslgnorto Owens-Corning Flberglas Corporation, a Jeorporation of Delaware Applicationseptember 23, 1942, Serial No. 459,460 b 14 Claims. (01. 242-42): I

. .is capable of being packaged or wound on theretlcular kind of'material, for the purpose of illustration I have shown my invention asapplicable to the manufacture of strands of filaments formed of glass or equivalentinorganic materials.

In the manufacture of strands or filaments 'ofthe above general type, a plurality of streams of the selected material flow from a bushing having a given number of small orifices andthe streams thus formed are attenuated into filamentsbysuitable means and the filaments gathered tov gether into a single strand; The strand resulting from the above is usually wound into; a package on a revoluble; supporting member, which maybe also the attenuatingmeans, by traversing the strand along the member. closed, for instance, in the Fisher Patent No.

2,224,149 of DecemberlO, 1940.

volu-ble member. It follows, therefore, thatin order to double the production at any one station it was necessary to duplicate all of the apparatus at this stationincluding the traversing equipment. This procedure is not only expensive but requires considerablev floor space and necessitates providing additional operators,

The present invention contemplates materially increasing the production at'any one station with out'duplicating the equipment by arranging the streams issuing from a single large bushing or a from a plurality of separate bushings into a plu-' rality of strands and by simultaneously winding the strands. on a single revoluble supporting member. r t

' 7 Another object of this invention is to individur ally wind the strands. on the-supporting member This process" is disin spaced relationship so that the windings of the individual strands are, in effect, independent of [one another and may be removedindividually from the revoluble supporting member. a

3 Still another object of this invention is to pro- In the production of packaged strands of glassgs the latter lengthwise of the revoluble. member and filaments by the above process, and also in the. packaging ofstrands of continuous filaments of' rate whenbeing unwound from the package espe- 1 break away from the strand do not'unwind with other material, the strand of filaments may sepathe strand and form what are called ringers 'on the package.

snarl the windings and interfere with further unwinding of-thestrand, and, because of the very small diameter of the individual filaments, are

These "ringers tangle and extremely diflicult to trace and remove, makingv it necessary oftentimes tofdisc'a'rd a'large portion of the package as a loss. r a

It'is an object of the present invention to provide a package of strands from which ringers areautomatically removed in the unwinding op v i accompanying drawings, wherein: i I Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side elevational view of a strand or filament producing apparatus con= vstructed in accordance with my invention;

eration. This is attainedby-winding a plurality of strands into a single package in such a manner that each of the strands in unwinding removes v any ringers left by the otherfstran'd'or strands. Thlsnovei winding also facilitates starting of unme at which the strand issuin'gfromthe bushing Its "Flgure1;' Figure 3 isa diagrammatic plan viewof the vide atraversin'g element having projections successively engageable with the strands to advance having the leading edges of the projections inclined ina direction. tov maintain the strands in. spacedrelation during the traversing movement.

with respect to the revoluble member to effect return travel of the strands -in an-out of phase relationshipduring the interval provided between engagement orthe strands by adjacent projections-on' the;traversingelement.

The foregoing, as well as other objects, will made more apparent as this description proceeds,

especially when consideredin connectionwith the .Figure' 2 is a front view for the. apparatus of apparatus shownin Figures 1 and 2 with the ex- I ception of the-bushing or feeder; and y a Figure 4 is -a diagrammatic plan view of a portionof'the'traversing equipment and of a. package woundin accordance with the present invention.

- 1A5 previouslystated, the-present invention, is

illustrated in: connection with the manufacture ofv continuous strands of of inorganic materials, such as glass or other materials having characteristics similar to glass; and is principally concerned with winding an improved package of the strands andincreasing the production of strands with the minimum amount of'equipment.

With the above in view referencewill Know be made to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings wherein the reference character [0 indicates a bushing having laterally-spaced rows of orifices I I through 10.. which molten glassis caused lto'fiow continuously in the form of streams l2. Thestreams, l2

are attenuated to form filaments and the filaments are gathered into individual. strands l3 and I4 by suitable collecting guides and I6 respectively. In the present instance, the guides may include sizing pads which function to apply a; suitable lubricant to the surfaces of the glass farthest removed pad 15 to traverse along the package at a higher rate than the strand from the otherand nearer pad ll so that during return traverse the strands are out of phase. a By the invention two. continuous strands are ent invention renders it possible to at least double y the production without increasing the number of filaments and thereb protect the surfaces oithe,

filaments and bind each group of filaments into an integral strand.

The strands i3 and wound on a revoluble member I! in the form of a spool supported in any suitable manner for rotation about an axis I 8.- As a result of windin the two strands on the spool in accordance with the present invention, a package I9 is formed having two individual windings of strands which are capable of being removed as separate strands or, if desired, as one strand from the spool. In

M are simultaneously the furtherprocessing of the strands the two ends a right angle.

. pins 23 are preferably inclined from the periphe,

from one packagemay be twisted singly to form two yarns or twisted together to form a yarnof' 20 of the spool to theend 2i by a traversing disk" 22 supported for rotation about an axis perpendicular to the'axis of rotation of the spool and A having a plurality of circumferentially spaced projections in the form of pins 23 extending from the'periphery'thereof. The traversing disk is so located with respect to the spool i! that the pins 23 respectively engageboth strands and move the same from the end 20 of the spool to the opposite end 2! of the latter. It will, of course, be understood that the strands are released from their respective pins at points adjacent the end 2! of the spool I7 and are returned to the end ZObefore the next adjacent pin engage the strands. This return movement is efi'ected by positioning the guides or pads i5 and to outside the space bounded by planes normal to the axis of rotation of the spool and passing through the ends 2i], 2! of the spool or the ends of the package to be wound'on the spool. The arrangement is such that when the strands approach the end 2! of the spool they are under tension an will return toward the end 20 as soon as they are released due to their tendency to meet the spool axis at a It will be noted from the drawings that the ery of the disk 22 in a direction opposite the direction of rotation of the disk; This disposition of 'the pins 23 is preferred because it tends to maintain the strand in spaced relationship during traversing movement of the strands bythe pins, due to the angular relation between the pins and the surface of the package on the spool and machines or stations and without proportionately increasing the numberroi operators required.

.Figure 4 illustrates diagrammaticallythe type of package wound in accordance with the pres ent invention, and the relation thereto of a portion of. the traversing apparatus. The size' and spacing of the strands is exaggerated to more clearly illustrate the arrangementthereof on the packages The cycie'of winding depicted in this view begins at the point a. and under actionof the traversing disk the two strands l3 and- N are vspiraled about the package to the point I), with the strands in spaced relation due to the inclination of the strand-engaging projections'on I the' disk. The strands gradually approach each otheras they are traversed. along the. package due to the change in angular relation between the pins 23 and the package as the pins move along the package so that the strands are wound onthe package in out-oi-phase relationship. Depending upon the degree of inclination of the pins, the *strands may-come into actual contact at the end 2! of the package or may be slightly spaced or may cross each other. At the point D, the strands are releasedfrom the projections on the disk and return along the package under the influence of the oifset relation of the guides l5 and I8. 'Due to the greater distance that one of the guides, namely the guide I5, is spaced outwardly from the plane passing through the end' of'the package, the strand -l3 traverses along the package at a higher rate. This causes the space between the strands to increase as the strands approach the starting position on the a package, so that inefiect the strands on return traverse are also in out-of-phase relationship. From the fact that the strands come into contact or even cross each other at the end '2! of the package it can be seen that if substantially radially extending pins are employed in place of the pins 23 on the disk, the strands during the whole of the traversing movement under action of the pins will be in contacting relationand may even cross back and forth over each other'and will, in eifect, be wound on as a single strand. Although this arrangement of the strands is not as desirable as where traversing is effected byvv under action of the pins, or other traversing the relation of the package and pads illustrated in Figure 3.

The fact that the pads l5 and ii are offset from one another in the direction of the axis I8 of the mechanism that may be employed, are in spaced.

contacting, or crossing relation, theherein disclosed relation of the guides 15 and. I6 causes thestrands to wind on separately on return traverse in out-of phasereclaims.

-tion.- v,

,ialthough tn invention has-,,.been describedin nnection; with thegsimultaneousproduction and repackaging. of double (strands; various aspects of p the invention are applicable also to the winding ,-.or rewinding ,=:O1= previously; formed yarns or tstrands, and alsoto the-production and/or winding of more than twostrands. The invention also, contemplates thatthe guides l5, It may be i replaced ,byxsourcea of strands, for instance,- -spools of strands to be rewoundr into a double end package whereaspects of thepresent invention are employed-in the rewinding art.

These and various other modifications maybe made'wlthin the spirit and scope of the appended Iclaimz t -A M 1. Inapparatus for manufacturing continuous strands ot material, a revoluble member about which a plurality of lengths of strands are adapt-, -:ed to beifound, means for traversing the revoluble member with the strands comprising an element rotatable about an axis perpendicular to the axis of rotation of said member and having a plu rality of circumferentially spaced projections successively engageable with the strands to move the same in one direction lengthwise ofthe revoluble member, said projections having the leading edges inclined atsuch angle to the path of traversing movement that the strands are maintained in spaced relationship during the traversing movement and are separately wound in out-of-phase relationship on the revoluble member.

2. In apparatus for manufacturing continuous I able 'in one direction substantially lengthwise of the revoluble memberandhaving projections g spaced from each otherin'the direction ofrtravel .of the element for successively engaging: the strands, and guide meansrespectively engageable with the strands in advanceof thetraversing means and so located with respect to therevoluble member to,:maintain the strands in spaced relationship and to effect a traversing movement of the strands in the opposite direction during the interval provided between successive-engagement of the strands by the projections.

5. In apparatus for manufacturing continuous strands, a revoluble member about which a plurality of lengths of strands are adapted to be wound, means for traversing the revoluble member with the strands including a disk rotatable 7 about an axis perpendicularto the. axis of rotation of said member and having a plurality of circumferentially spaced projections successively engageable with the strands to advance the same in one direction lengthwiseof the revoluble member and to release the strands at different points at a the end of the traversingmovement in said direction, said projections having the leading edges 1 inclined at such an angle to the path of traversing movement that the strands are maintained in spaced relationship during traversing movement in the direction aforesaid and are thereby separately wound around the revoluble member in out-of-phase relationship, and guide means respectively engaging the strands in advance of the strands, a revoluble member about which a plurality of lengths of strands are adapted to be wound, means for traversing the revoluble member with the strands including an element movable in one direction substantially lengthwise of the revoluble member and having a projection engageable with the strands, the leading edge of vin spaced relationship during said return move ment.

3. In apparatus for manufacturing continuous strands of material, a revoluble member about which a plurality of strands are adapted to be wound, means for traversing the revoluble memher in one direction with the strands and for maintaining the strands in spaced relationship during the traversing movement to separately wind the strands on the revoluble memberin outof-phase relationship, and guide means respectively engageable with the strands in advance of the traversing means and so located with respect to the revoluble member to efiect return movement of the strands and to maintain the strands in spaced relationship during said return movement.

4. In apparatus for manufacturing continuous strands, a revoluble member about which a plurality of lengths of strands are adapted to be wound, means for traversing the revoluble member with the strands including an element mov-'- traversing means and so located with respect to the revoluble member to effect traversing movement of the strands in the opposite direction during the interval provided between successive engagement of the strands by the projections and to also maintain the strands in spaced relationship as they aremoved in said opposite direction.

6. In apparatus for manufacturing continuous strands, a revoluble member about which a plurality of lengths of strands are adapted to be wound, means for traversing the revoluble member with the strands including an element movable in one direction substantially lengthwise of the revoluble member and having projections spaced from each other in the direction of travel of the element for successively engaging the strands, and laterally spaced guide means respectively engageable with the strands in advance of the traversing means and positioned beyond a plane normal to the axis of the revoluble member and including the end of the package approached by the projections on the traversing means.

'7. The method of packaging continuous strands of material which comprisessimultaneously traversing in one direction a revoluble member with a plurality of strands, maintaining said strands in spaced relation during the traversing m ment thereof as they are wound, and causing the free return thereof in a different spaced relation.

8. The method of packaging continuous strands of material which comprises simultaneously traversing in one direction a revoluble member with a plurality of strands, maintaining said strands in spaced relation during the traversing movement thereof, and causing the free return of said strands in out-of-phase relation to each other while being individually wound on said revoluble member.

9. The method of packaging continuous strands of material which comprises simultaneously attenuating and winding a plurality of strands individually in spaced relation on a revoluble member by engaging said strands with a movable element, guiding the strands in one direction while traversing said member, and releasing said strands from said element one after the other for tree travel in the opposite direction.

10. The method oi packaging continuous strands of material which comprises simultaneously attenuating and Winding a plurality of 7 a movable element, and successively releasing said strands from said element for free return in individual out-of-phase relation.

12. The method of winding which comprises traversing a plurality of separate strands in one direction along a package in spaced relation and maintaining the space between the strands substantially constant throughout the traversing movement in said one direction to wind the strands on the package in substantially parallel spaced relation, and traversing the strands in return direction at individually diflerent speeds, thereby causing the strands to be wound on the package in side by side relation with the space between the strands constantly increasing as the return traverse progresses.

13. A package of strands comprising 'a supporting member, a plurality of continuous lengths of strands wound on the support in spaced relation, the strands of alternate layers disposed in individually different spacing to permit individual unwinding thereof. I

14. A package of strands comprising a supporting member, a plurality of continuous lengths oi strands successively wound on the support in spaced relation, the strands of alternate layers being in parallel spaced relation and the strands of the others oi said layers being spaced apart a distance progressively increasing from one end to the other of the package to permit individual unwinding thereof. A

- HOWARD W. COLLINS.

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