US2392349A - Apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 8, 1946. D; L. WEBB 2,392,349

APPARATUS Filed June 21, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet l DwW'JLocke abb INVENTOR- BY W" K," I

A T TORNEY D. L. WEBB Jan. 8, 1946.

APPARATUS Filed June 21, 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 DamJJLacIce Mu,

Jan. 8, 1946.

D,. WEBB APPARATUS Filed June 21, 1944 Daw'dLooke I Vebb BY A.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 8, 1946 APPARATUS David Locke Webb. Buffalo, N. Y., assignor to E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Wilmington, DeL, a corporation of Delaware Application June 21, 1944, Serial No. 541,409

2 Claims. (Cl. 74394)' This invention relates to an improved apparatus for the conversion of uniform speed rotary motion to variable speed rotary motion. The apparatus of this invention has particular utility for driving a viscose delivery pump at a variable speed in the production ofyarn having variations in denier along the length thereof.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved apparatus which is adapted to convert the uniform speed rotary motion of a drive shaft to a variable rotatory motion.

It is another object of this invention to provide means for driving a shaft at speeds varying in accordance with a definite and predetermined pattern.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved apparatus for-driving a pump which feeds a filament-forming composition to a spinneret at a variable speed in accordance with a definite pattern whereby to produce a yarn having thick and thin sections along the length thereof.

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

The above objects may be accomplished, in general, by the provision of an apparatus comprising a planetary gear system in which the central sun gear is connected to the output, or driven shaft, the sun gear being driven, through a plurality of planet gears, by means of an internal gear, in combination with means to oscillate the planet gears between the sun gear and internal gear in accordance with a definite pattern and in accordance therewith vary the speed of the sun gear and output shaft.

The output or driven shaft may be connected by means of a gear train or'the like to the shaft of a pump which feeds a filament-forming composition to a spinneret for the spinning of arti ficial filaments.

The details of the invention will be more readily comprehended by reference to the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying illustrations, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical,cross-sectional view of the embodiment of apparatus constructed in accordance with the principles of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of-the appa-' ratus of Fig. 1 with certain parts removed-to show the main drive, and the cam and lever arrangement.

Fig. 3 is a perspective, diagrammatic view showing the manner in which the apparatus of Figs. '1 and 2 may be positioned between a var-- iable drive unit and a spinneret pump.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings reference numeral l designates the input or drive shaft which is supported in bearings mounted in the end walls of the casing II. A drive worm I2 is keyed to shaft ill in a position to mesh with and drive worm wheels i4 and 32. Worm wheel I4 is fixedly mounted on bushing l6 which is p htioned to rotate on'stud shaft l8. A pinion gear 28 is also fixedly mounted on bushing i6. The pinion 20 is in driving engagement with spur gear 22 positioned on shaft 24. The cam 26 is fastened to spur gear 22 by means of screws 25 and rotates in unison therewith as the gear turns about shaft 24. The cam 26 is adapted to actuate the cam lever 28 through cam roller 36 positioned on the end of lever 28.

The cam surface of cam 26 is of irregular contour having a. number ,of lobes of different sizes and shapes so as to oscillate cam lever 28 at different speeds and distances. As will appear from the description that follows, this oscillation of lever 28 will impart a varying rotational speed to output shaft 46.

Worm wheel 32 is fixedly mounted on bushing 38 which rotates about support plate 48. The bushing 38 and worm wheel 32 are held in place on plate 40 by thrust washer 42 and a 'number of cap screws 44. An internal gear 34 is fastened to worm wheel 32 by means of screws 36. The rotation of input shaft Iii is therefore directly imparted to internal gear 34 and the rotational speed of the internal gear 34 will be'as constant as the rotational speed of input shaft l0. Except for a very gradual, slight change in speed to compensate for yarn winding speed, shaft i8 and internal gear 34 will be operated at a constant speed when used in the spinning of yarns. The rotation of internal gear 34 is transmitted, through planet gears 48, to sun gear 64. Planet gears 48 (usually three in number) rotate on bearings 58 which are held in position on studs 52. One end of studs 52 is mounted in planet gear support cap 54 which is fixed to an oscillating shaft 56 and the other end is mounted in planet gear support ring shaft 56.

58. The support ring 58 is attached to support cap 54 by spacers 68 and cap screws 62. As above indicated, planet gears 48 mesh with sun gear 64 which is integral with output shaft 46. Output shaft 46 is supported in bearing 66, and the end 68 of the shaft is supported in bearing I8 which is pressed into the end of oscillating The output shaft 46, in the absence of speed changes imparted by the oscillating shaft 56, will have a uniform speed through wor'm wheel 32,

internal gear 34, planet gears 48 and sun'gear 64.

are mounted on shaft 66 and are held in position by lock nut 18. Shaft 56 is supported on bearings 88 that are mounted in support plate 48, the latter being fastened to casing II by cap screws 82. Support plate 40 is fixed and has mounted thereon by means of bushings 88 and cap screws 98, a plurality (usually three) of planet gears 84. The planet gears 84 are positioned on bearings 86 which are mounted on bushings 88. The bearings 86 are held in place by means of snap rings 92. Planet gears 84 mesh with sun gear 94 which is keyed to shaft 56 so as to rotate therewith.

It will now be apparent that shaft 56 is rotated clockwise and counter-clockwise as the internal gear I2 is oscillated by the action of cam lever 28, and this oscillating motion is transmitted through planet gears 84 to shaft 56. Of course, if the cam lever is held fixed, shaft 56 will be maintained stationary.

As previously pointed out, planet gear support cap 54 is fixed to shaft 56 to rotate therewith. Since planet gears 48 are mounted on cap 54, they will be oscillated together with shaft 56 to impart a variable rotational speed to sun gear 64 and output shaft 46.

Since internal gear 34 rotates at a constant uniform rotational speed, and transmits this rotation to planet gears 48, the speed of output shaft 46 will vary as the oscillation of cam lever 28 and shaft 56. By the cooperation of the two planetary drives, the speed of output shaft 46 is either increased in speed and then maintained temporarily at a uniform speed, or the speed is decreased to a normal uniform speed. In this manne the speed is varied in accordance with the abrupt or gradual, as desired.

Referring to Fig. 3 of the drawings, the input drive shaft I8, of variable speed apparatus such as described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, may be made integral with the output shaft I86 of a speed transmission I05. The mechanism is driven in a known manner, and is provided with means for very gradually increasing the rotational speed of output shaft I06. The means for increasing the rotational speed of output shaft I86 comprises a well-known mechanism and since this forms no part of the present invention, it need not be described in this application.

The output shaft 46 of the variable speed mechanism is connected in driving engagement with the drive shaft II8 of pump I20. Pump I28 is connected through member I2I to an inlet conduit I22 and through member I23 to outlet conduit I24 for a filament-forming composition, for example, a viscose solution. Outletconduit I 24 is connected to a spinneret I26 through which the filament-forming composition is pumped for the formation of filaments. Since the pump I28 will be driven by the variable speed shaft 46 at different speeds it will force the filament-forming composition through the spinneret I26 at different rates. The yarn is drawn from the coagulating bath I3I by feed wheel I33. Feed wheel I 33 is driven by shaft I 86 of the mechanism through a worm I35, gears I31, I39, I4I, I43, I45 and I4].

The rate of withdrawal'of the formed filaments, therefore, will be constant relative to the speed rotation of input shaft III. As a result, the filaments formed will have thick and thin sections along the length thereof in accordance with the variations in speed imparted to pump shaft I I8.

The apparatus of the present invention is not limited by the specific construction described and illustrated. Fo example, any combination of speed changes, can be obtained by altering the shape and speed of the cam 26. The cam 26 and cam lever 28 could, of course, be replaced by known equivalent mechanical means for oscillating internal gear I2, the latter could, for example, be operated in a known manner by means ofv a reversible electric motor.

Prior to the present invention, the preferred construction of apparatus for the production of thick and thin ,yarn included the use of two pumps; a constant speed pump and a large capacity, intermittently operating pump. Th constant speed pump supplied the composition delivery for the base yarn and the intermittently operating pump supplied the composition delivcry to provide thicker sections along the length of the base yarn. By the use of the apparatus of this invention, when applied to yarn spinning devices, only one spinning pump is necessary, and thick and thin yarn sections of almost any length and cross-section can be produced thereby.

The apparatus of this invention also has the advantage of easy and quick change-over from a variable speed transmission to a constant speed transmission. It is only necessary that the cam lever be fastened in a given position to change the speed of output shaft 46 from a variable speed to a constant speed. This may be accomplished in any desired manner, for example, by disconnecting cam 26 from spur gear 22, or by removing the cam 26 and rigidly fastening cam lever 28.

The apparatus of the present invention makes possible the production of a yarn having comparatively long sections of heavy denier yarn a1- ternating with sections of light denier yarn. The yarn may be made with one, two, three or four 0 yard lengths of either heavy or light denier yarn sections.

Since it is obvious that many changes and modifications can be made in the above described details without departing from the nature and spirit of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited by the above-described details except as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An apparatus adapted to convert uniform speed rotary motion to variable speed rotary motion, said apparatus having, in combination, an input shaft and an output shaft, a planetary gear system, comprising an internal gear, a sun gear and a plurality of planet gears, for transmitting rotary motion from said input shaft to said output shaft, said sun gear being fixedly connected with said output shaft, and cam operated planetary gear means driven by said input shaft for oscillating the planet gears meshing with the sun gear and internal gear to vary th speed of the output shaft.

2. An apparatus adapted to convert uniform speed rotary motion to variable speed rotary motion and having, in combination, two planetary gear systems each comprising planet gears and a sun gear, means for imparting an oscillatory motion to the sun gear of one planetary gear system, and means connecting said sun gear to the shafts of the planet gears of said other planetary gear system whereby to oscillate the planet gears of said other planetary gear system about the sun gear thereof.

DAVID LOCKE WEBB.

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