US2427054A - Apparatus for stretching continuous filament textile material - Google Patents

Description

p 1947- 'T. JACKSON ET AL ,427,054

APPARATUS FOR STRETCHING CONTINUOUS FILAMENT TEXTILE MATERIAL Filed 001;. 7, 1941 A A77 N Patented Sept- 9, 1947 APPARATUS FOR STRETCHING CONTINU- OUS FILAMENT TEXTILE MATERIAL Thomas Jackson and Frank Brentnall Hill,

Spondon, near Derby, England, assignors to Celanese Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Application October '1, 1941, Serial No. 413,954 In Great Britain October 30, 1940 7 Claims.- (Cl. 28-59.5)

This invention relates to the stretching of continuous filament textile materials, especially materials having a basis of cellulose acetate or other organic derivative of cellulose, for example cellulose formate, propionate, or butyrate, and ethyl and benzyl cellulose.

' British Patents Nos. 438,584, 438,585, 438,586, 438,587 and 438,656 described processes in which continuous filaments are stretched with the aid of wet steam or hot water, and U. S. Patents Nos. 2,142,909 and 2,142,910describe similar processes in which the filaments are fed to a stretching chamber .by means of a feed device in a "feed chamber" containing air or other fluid under pressure. U. S. application S. No. 355,357, filed September 4, 1940, describes the stretching of a sliver of continuous filaments, i. e. a bundle that may total 20,000 or 30,000, or more denier, to produce material that is cut into staple fibre.

According to the invention, a method 1 of stretching continuous filament materials comprises forming a sliver-like bundle by assembling a number of smaller threads of continuous filaments side-by-side, passing said bundle into a stretching chamber through an opening in the form of a slit of a length and width such as to embrace closely the assembly of smaller threads, and stretching the sliver-like bundle in said stretching chamber. The stretched bundle leaves the stretching chamber by an orifice having a cross-sectional area appropriately reduced in accordance with the amount of stretch applied, the shape of the orifice advantageously appreaching the circular because of the tendency of the originally fiat bundle to assume cylindrical form under the stretching tension.- The threads may enter the feed chamber preceding the stretching chamber by a slit, so that they remain in warp or ribbon form as they pass the nip rollers or other feed device in the chamber and are delivered in that form to the inlet slit of the stretching chamber.

The stretching of cellulose acetate filaments enables strengths of 4.5 grams per denier upwards to be obtained, and the invention is advantageous in that the warp or ribbon formations ensures that a high increment of strength results in spite of the heavy weight of filaments undergoing simultaneous treatment. At the same time, each stretching apparatus can handle a large number of slivers, because the side-byside disposition of the individual threads occupies the minimum of width.

The slits employed closely embrace the-warp or ribbon, and thus cuts down loss offiuld from the stretching chamber to the feed chamber,

and from the feed chamber to the atmosphere. Either or both oi the slits may be formed by the juxtaposition of twoappropriately shaped adjustable plates, which may be separated to facilitate threading up and afterwards brought closer together. The outlet orifice may likewise be made adjustable, both to facilitate threading and to allow for the reduction in siiversize after stretch has been applied.

Combs may be used to guide the threads in the desired side-by-side formation into the slits. For simultaneously producing 4 or 5 slivers of stretched filaments each totalling 9000 denier, the filaments may be led into the stretching apparatus through a corresponding number ofv slits 1" long and 0.044 wide, each slit taking 38 threads of 2400 denier totalling approximately 90,000 denier, which can then be stretched 10 times. The 38 threads substantially fill the slit, both along its length and acrossits width, and thus cut down loss of fluid through the slit. There is, however, suflicient freedom to minimise chafing or abrasion of the threads, and there is also the possibility of twisting-in another thread or a broken thread during the running.

of the operation. The several slits may be arranged in line, with suilicient space between adjacent ends to ensure that the bands of filaments do not contact with each other in their passage through the apparatus. Other arrangements of the slits may, however, be used; for

example, they may be arranged in two or more The threads of filaments may be supplied froni balls, cheeses, or other packages or from cans, and the stretched filaments may be formed into similar wound packages or collected in cans. The stretched filaments may, if. desired, be twisted, either by twisting the stretched sliver like bundle as such, or by twisting multiples of such bundles together, or fractions thereof separately.

Stretched filaments of cellulose acetate or other cellulose ester may be saponified in order to acquire a strength or 6 grams per denier or more. In the case of filaments intended for staple fibre, saponification may be effected before or after cutting. If the saponification is to follow cutting, the cutting may be eflected continuously with the delivery of the filaments from the stretching apparatus.

The stretched material may also be shrunk, e. g., by the process described in U. S. Patent No. 2,058,422 for the purpose of increasing its extensibility, and after shrinking, the material may be saponified.

The stretching of the filaments enables various final deriers to be obtained by suitable choice of initial denier and amount of stretch. In general, a stretch of 10 times may be employed, but

much greater stretches than this, e. g., 20 times or 100 times, may be used, and this latitude in the amount of stretch enables the final filament denier to be adjusted in accordance with the filament denier that may be most advantageously obtained in the initial spinning of the filaments. Thus, initial denier and amount of stretch may be adjusted so that final filament deniers of 0.4/0.5 to 1.0 are obtained, but heavier deniers and finer deniers (e. g. 0.1) may readily be obtained if desired. The choice of final filament denier and the range of lengths into which the filaments may be cut enables staple fibre of different characteristics to be produced. As regards length, the fibre may be cut to resemble cotton, say 1.5 to 2", worsted, say 3.5" upwards, or linen, say 5 to 10".

By way'oi. example some forms or apparatus t e f rrying out the invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic sectional side elevation of the entire apparatus,

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the input end of the stretching apparatus proper, partly broken away to show internal details,

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the output end of the stretching apparatus,

Figs. 4 and 5 are fragmentary plan views of the details shown in Figs. 2 and 3 respectively,

Fig. 6 shows an alternative form of feeding means for the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, and

Fig. 7 shows an alternative form of take-up means.

Referring to Fig. 1, a number of sliver cans I,

are provided, from each of which an individual end or thread of continuous filament 2 is taken, and drawn through a tension device 3. From the tension device 3 the ends 2 proceed to a reed 4 by means of which they are assembled side by side to form three sliver-like bundles 5 each of fiat cross-section, the bundles 5 being drawn into a chamber 6 by means of drawing rollers 1 contained within the chamber. The fiat bundles 5 enter the chamber 6 through three slits 8 (as shown in Fig. 2), formed in a plate 9 bolted over a hole I in the front wall of the chamber 6. The slits 8 are of a length and width such as to embrace closely the cross-section of the sliver-like bundles passing through them.

From the chamber 6 the bundles 5 pass into a chamber I3 where stretching takes place, the

effected by supplying air, under a pressure slightly lower than that in the chamber I 3, to the chamber 4 by means or a supply pipe I2.

The flat sliver-like bundles 5 pass from the chamber 6 to the chamber I 3 through three openings I4, similar in shape and size to the openings 8 in the plate 9, and formed between the edges of two plates I5 and I6, the edge of the plate I5 being shaped so as to form wide shallow grooves, while the plate I6 has a fiat edge which serves to close the upper sides of the grooves to form the slots I4. The plate I6-is mounted so as to slide vertically between slides I1 and is operated by means of a screw I8 passing through a lug I9 integral with the rear face of the chamber 6 and connected to a lug 20 projecting from the plate I6. A knurled knob 2| is provided at the upper end of the screw I8. v

For the purpose of threading up the apparatus, the top plate 22 of the chamber 6 is removed irom its flanges, giving access to the interior of the chamber, and the plate I6 is raised by means of the screw I6. The sliver-like bundles are threaded through the openings 8 and are passed between the separated plates I5 and I6, into the chamber I3 where they can be secured from the other end of the chamber 53 and drawn out. The other end of the chamber I3 is shown in Figs. 3 and 5, and is of the form described in U. S. application S. No. 342,494, filed June 26, 1940, now Patent No. 2,299,145. The arrangement comprises two overlapping plates 23, 24, each having three pear- shaped apertures 25, 26, therein. The plate 23 is fixed and the plate 24 is capable of sliding vertically between guides 21, being actuated by means of a screw 28 working in lugs 29, 30, and actuated by a knob 3|, similar to the arrangements I8 to 2| shown in Fig. 2. For the purpose of threading up, the plate 24 is adjusted with reference to the plate 23 so that the large ends of each of the three pairs of apertures 25, 26, coincide to form a large aperture through which the three sliver-like bundles 5 passed into the chamber I 3 may be drawn. From th apertures 25, 26, the sliver-like bundles 5 are passed to stretching rollers 29.

After the bundles 5 have been drawn through the apparatus as described above and passed to the stretching rollers 29 the slit-like apertures I4 (Fig.2) are closed, the plate I6 being brought down on the plate I5 by means of the screw I8. The apparatus is then set in operation and brought to full strength, e. g. by the means described in U. S. application S. No. 372,108, filed December 28, 1940, now Patent No. 2,276,394, so that the bundles 5 are stretched in the chamber I3. When the full stretch has been reached the plate 24 is adjusted by means of the screw 28 so as to bring the small ends or the pear shaped openings 25, 26 into coincidence so that the three apertures through which the stretched bundles 5 pass are reduced in size and closely surround the bundles. The stretched bundles are then conducted from the rollers 29, over and under threedrying drums 30, and thence to a take-up arrangement comprising a pair of swifts 3|, the bars 32 of which are arranged to alternate, the bars of one swiftfalling between the bars of the other as the swifts are rotated so as to form a nip for the passage of the bundles 5. The rotating swifts 3| lead the bundles 5 into sliver-cans 33, by means of which the stretched bundles are collected.

In the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, the slivercans I, 33 are used both for the purpose of supplying the separate ends to the apparatus and for the purpose or collecting the stretched sliverlike bundles. Other means may, however, be employed for this purpose. For example, as shown in Fig. 6, the separate ends 2 may be drawn from a creel 35 carrying a number of cheeses or other packages 36, through guides 31 and so to the reed 4 and chamber 6. Again, as shown in Fig. 7, the stretched bundles 5 coming from the drying drums 30 may be passed over the reed IO and thence to a take-up creel comprising a plurality of winding devices 39 and traverse guides 49, by means of which the bundles 5 are wound in the form of cheeses or other packages 4!.

Having described our invention, what we desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for the stretching of continuous filament material comprising means for assembling side by side into a sliver-like bundle of flat cross-section a number of smaller threads of continuous filaments, a stretching chamber having an opening for the entry of said bundle in the form of a slit of 'a length and width such as to embrace said bundle closely and means for drawing said bundle through said opening and through said stretching chamber in such a manneras to stretch the filaments of said bundle.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the stretching chamber has outlet openings substantially circular in shape and of a cross-section substantially equal to the cross-section of the stretched sliver-like bundle.

3. Apparatus for the stretching of continuous filament material comprising means for assembling side by side into a sliver-like bundle oil flat cross-section a number of smaller threads of continuous filaments, a feed chamber having an opening for the entry of said bundle in the form of a slit of a length and width such as to embrace said bundle closely, a stretching cham ber following said feed chamber and entered therefrom by a slit-like opening of a size and shape similar to that of said feed chamber and means for drawing said bundle through said openings and through said stretching chamber in such a-manner as to stretch the filaments of said bundle.

t. Apparatus for the stretching of continuous filament material comprising means for assembling side by side into a sliver-like bundle of fiat cross-section a number of smaller threads of continuous filaments, a feed chamber havin an opening for the entry of said bundle in the form of a, slit of a length and width such as to embrace said bundle closely, a stretching chamber following said feed chamber and entered threads of continuous filaments. means tor assembling said threads side by side to iorm a sliver-like bundle of flat cross-section, a stretching chamber having an opening for the entry of said bundle in the form of a slit of a length and width such as to embrace said bundle closely and means for drawing said bundle through said form of a slit of a length and width such as to embrace said bundle closely, means for drawing said bundle through said opening and through said stretching chamber in such a manner as to stretch the filaments of said bundle and a takeup device for the stretched sliver-like bundle inthe form oi. a pair of inter-engaging swiits adapted to form a nip to feed the stretched bundle into a sliver-can.

7. Apparatus for the stretching of continuous filament material comprising means for drawing from a plurality of sliver-cans a number of small threads of continuous filaments, means for assembling said threads side by side to form a sliver-like bundle of flat cross-section, a feed chamber having an opening for the entry of said bundle in the form of a slit of a length and width such as to embrace said bundle closely, a stretching chamber following said feed chamber and entered therefrom by a slit-like opening of a size and shape similar to that of said feed chamber, said stretching chamber having an outlet opening substantially circular in shape and of a cross-section substantially equal to the cross-section of-the stretched sliver-like bundle, means for drawing said bundle through said openings and through said stretching chamber in such a manner as to stretch the filaments of said bundle, and a take-up device for the stretched sliver-like bundle in the form oil a pair 4 of inter-engaging swifts adapted to form a nip to feed the stretched bundle into a sliver-can. THOMAS JACKSON.

, FRANK BRENTNALL HILL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNI'IEH) STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,142,912 Moncriefl Jan. 3, 1939 2,142,910 Moncriefl Jan. 3, 1939 2,228,260 Dreyfus et al Jan. 14, 1941 1,904,885 Seeley Apr. 18, 1933 2,142,909 Moncrieif et al Jan. 3, 1939 2,142,911 Moncriefl et al Jan. 3, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 323,790 Great Britain Jan. 16, 1930 352,445 Great Britain July 8, 1931 Certificate of Correction Patent N 0. 2,427,054. September 9, 1947.

THOMAS JACKSON ET AL.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Column 4, line 53, for the word" strength read stretch; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this coofxfirection therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Signed and sealed this 4th day of November, A. D. 1947.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Gammz'ssizmer of Patents.

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