US2521105A

US2521105A - Bristle clamping device

Info

Publication number: US2521105A
Application number: US755050A
Authority: US
Inventors: Charles F Werkheiser
Original assignee: E B & A C Whiting Co
Current assignee: E B & A C Whiting Co
Priority date: 1947-06-17
Filing date: 1947-06-17
Publication date: 1950-09-05
Anticipated expiration: 1967-09-05

Description

P 1950 c. F. WERKHEISER 2,521,105

BRISTLE CLAMPING DEVICE Filed June 1'7, 1947 Patented Sept. 5, 1950 UNITED Es- PAr EN OFFICE.

BRISTIi-EGIEAMPING DEVICE Charles F. .Werkheiser', Burlington, Vt, .assignor toi E. .B..&. A...G.' .Whiting Company, Burlington,"

Vt., a corporation ofVermont Application June-.1 7, 1947, Serial No. 755;!)50

fiClaiins. 1-.

This invention .relates to :an: improved. mecha nism for: clamping bristle; animal;hair; varioustypes of fibrous materials, andvmixturesethereofi. While conveying same througha treatment step and; while. not limited thereto; isparticularly adaptable for incorporation in. a machine-ion rials, and mixtures thereof, machines have been.

heretoforeutilized for automatically; subjecting a generally" heterogeneou'slyv disposed; mass. of-

fibrous materials: or: bristles. to a combing;- action:

so. as. to. eiTect the side by side -alignm'entiof such fibers/or bristles. For reference-convenience; such. materials. will be hereafter generically, referred: In the machines-7 heretofore to as bristles. known, the; bristles aredisposed; upon .a conveyorrconstituting; apair of spaced flexible chainsi which areso located" with respect to ithe averag-e 1engthofthew bristles' that the bristles project laterally a substantialdistance beyond:

chains. The. bristles are then moved suocessively past. two combs, which are continuously;-

moving: and .so :disposed as to intersect the? path.

of thebristles at-about the centerfof thebristlesz and :to: pass 1 through the: bristles-in opposite di- When rections outwardly" toward". their. ends:

theflbristlesr' reachxthe point where they are to he operated ron-by--the..-comb, it is.- o-bviously neces sary; that. there-mi of the bristles which is not being-worked. on bythe comb :be tightly; clamped with respect to the; conveyor" to -prevent theren tire-mass of bristles .fromdoeing combed '01? r the conveyor Such clamping action also-has: the

efiect of. permitting thecomb to eliminateany;

extremely short bristles, inasmuch as theends' ofthe-short bristleswouldnot-beeengaged by the clamping devices and. hence. such shcrthristles wouldbepulled-outof the mass-of longer bristles."

and discarded by-the com-h..-

In the clamping mechanisms heretofore utilized, the. clamping effect/on the.-bristles was not-sufiicientlypositive to insure:that all-bristles of. proper length i would. oe-retained on the iconveyor.

Furthermore, certain" bristle-:01" fibrous materials; particularly very fine materials; could not be. satisfactorily combed by machines em. 0

ployingthe known clamping devices.

Accordingly it iszanobject of this-invention taprovide-an' improved clamping; device: for: se-

curing-Jone. end. of each of a mass: Of-Lbl-iSHBSJOIi similar fibrous materials on aamoving. conveyorr While; the. other: end. thereof is. worked: on: by; as

tool; such 3,5113; comb:

A1 particular object. ofv this invention: is; to:

provider-an improved clampingsmechanism forr'a bristle.v combing.- machine characterized by the:

provisionof: cooperating; surfaces. of rubber: or/

flexible resilient: composition: .for effecting a; clamping action: upon .the= bristles: as: they: are":

moved through the workinggzoneof thencomb;

the: following, detailed description: of the annexedl sheet of. drawings which; by" way ofipre;

. ferred': example 01113 illustrate: one specific? enr- 1 bodiment of; the? inventions Ontha drawings:

Figured is anend. elevational view of. a bristle combing; machine; embodying; a clamping: device;

constructed in accordance with thiseinventiom.

Figurev 2. is a schematic; top; elevational 2 view of. the conveyor'and clamping elements of the":

machineof Figure: 1;

Figure 3.iswa vertical sectional view:takerx-along=;

EigHI'BAiis'fi? side elevational. view of 'thecomow element:

Assshown onthe drawings:

In. bristle combing; machines. of; known.- com struction, a fiexi b'lexbristle:conveyor. I05 is: employed :which. may conveniently comprise a: of spaced,flexible-.movingx conveyor: chains Wu:

andi lfl'b are separated assulficient: distance; with respect to .the avera'ge length. of ithekblist lfisii I .to. bectreated so that such ":bristles; when placed.

; ture inconventionaldfashion. Thussthe (301111114? is= pivotally secured to an" offset end" of a. crank. plate I6 which is rotated by suitable mechamismi (notshow n). The'position of the teeth Mix: of the comb l 4 with respect to the *bristles: is comtrolled throughout the rotation of crank plate it by, a pivoted linkage? I8;-

As will: be. understood those; skilled in the art; at least: twosof suchimovingg combs: Ware.- provided, being spaced respectively along; the length .ofxthe-zpathrof the-.:conveyor-. ID? The first comb [4 will operate from the center of the bristles transversely out to the ends of the bristles past the conveyor chain Ilia while the second comb, which has not been shown in order to avoid complicating the drawings, will work from the center of the bristles outwardly to the other ends thereof past the conveyor chain lflb.

To provide a reliable clamping of the ends of the bristles while they are being worked on by the comb, this invention provides a drum 20 which is suitably journalled on a shaft 2| in the frame structure 12 for rotation about a horizontal axis and is disposed adjacent the path of movement of the comb [4. The drum 20 is laterally disposed with respect to the conveyor Iii so as to be partially lapped by one of the con veyor chains, for example the chain lflb. The other chain Illa is supported below the level of chain Illb on a pulley l5. It will be understood that an additional drum is provided at the location of the second comb and that such second drum is of identical construction to the drum 20 illustrated, but is lapped by the chain Illa.

The drum 20 is provided in its peripheral surface with an annular recess 20a to receive the conveyor chain lDb therein. The depth of this recess is preferably selected so that over a portion of the drum periphery, the chain Illb will be effectively disposed below the surface of the drum and hence the fibers I carried by the conveyor chain lflb will rest upon the drum surface adjacent the annular groove 20a. In accordance with this invention, such adjacent drum surface is preferably formed of a rubber or similar flexible resilient cohesive plastic composition by the application thereto of a layer of such material indicated at 22 (Figure 3). While not limited thereto, satisfactory results have been obtained by forming the band 22 of rubber of approximately 60 durometer.

To effect a clamping action upon the fibers or bristles as they pass over the flexible resilient surface of the drum 20, this invention provides an idler belt 24 which is trained over

suitable pulleys

26 and 28 so as to be drawn tightly toward that portion of the drum surface which is lapped by conveyor chain lflb. Thus, in effect, a clamping region is formed between the idler belt 24 and the rubber composition surface 22 of the drum 28 wherein the ends of the fibers or bristles are tightly clamped. Such clamping area is indicated by the numeral 25 in Figure 3 of the drawings wherein the clamped bristles have not been shown for purposes of clarity. It should be noted that the bristles or fibers are clamped on that portion of the drum surface which, if extended axially would intersect a portion of the path of moving comb l4.

While any desired form of guide pulley ar rangement might be utilized to efiect the positioning of idler belt 24 in clamping relationship with respect to drum 26, this invention preferably mounts the pulley 26 for rotation on a fixed axis shaft 26a while the pulley 2B is rotated about an adjustable axis shaft 28a. Thus the shaft 28a upon which pulley 28 is journalled may be mounted in the end of arm 39a of an angle bracket 30, which in turn is pivotally journalled on a horizontal pin 32. A weight 34 may then be mounted upon the other arm 32b of angle bracket 32 to effect a gravitational bias of the axis of pulley 28 in the direction to effect the tightening of idler belt 24 against the drum surface 22.

In accordance with this invention, the idler belt 24 is also formed of rubber or similar flexible resilient cohesive plastic composition. Again, the formation of belt 24 from rubber material of approximately 60 durometer has proved to provide satisfactory performance.

With the described construction it has been found that the bristles or similar fibrous material are so securely clamped between the rubber surface of drum 20 and the flexible resilient clamping belt 24 that little, if any, loss of full length fibers is produced during the combing operation. Furthermore, the combing machine embodying this invention has been able to satisfactorily comb the fibrous materials that were heretofore impossible of being combed by simple machinery.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of construction may be modified through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a machine for combing a mass of fibers, a moving comb, a rotatable drum disposed adjacent the path of said comb, a flexible fiber conveyor lapping a portion of the drum surface, said conveyor being constructed and arranged to support fibers thereon in generally transverse relation to the path of movement of said conveyor and projecting laterally beyond said conveyor into the path of movement of said comb, a clamping belt of flexible resilient composition, and means for supporting said belt in snug overlying relationship with that portion of said conveyor lapping said drum, whereby the fibers are clamped between said clamping belt and said drum while acted on by said comb.

2. In a machine for combing a mass of fibers, a comb movable through a predetermined path, a rotatable drum. disposed adjacent the path of said comb said drum having a peripheral groove therein, a flexible fiber conveyor engageable in said groove and lapping a portion of the drum surface, said conveyor being constructed and arranged to support fibers thereon in generally transverse relation to the path of movement of 7 said conveyor and projecting laterally beyond said conveyor into said path of movement of said comb, a clamping belt of flexible resilient composition, and means for supporting said belt in snug overlying relationship with that portion of said conveyor lapping said drum, whereby the fibers are clamped between said clamping belt and said conveyor while acted on by said comb.

3. The combination defined in claim 2 wherein the surface of said drum comprises a resilient plastic composition.

4. In a bristle treating machine, a conveyor chain adapted to support a plurality of bristles thereon in generally transverse relation, a rotatable drum having an annular groove therein to receive said conveyor chain in partial lapping relation, whereby said chain is depressed below the surface of said drum and the bristles supported by the drum surface while moving across the partially lapped portion of the drum, a belt of flexible resilient composition, and means for positioning said belt in tight engagement with that portion of the drum surface adjacent the lapping portion of the conveyor chain, whereby the bristles are tightly clamped between said drum and belt and moved across the chain lapped portion of the drum.

5. In a bristle treating machine, a flexible conveyor chain adapted to support a plurality of bristles thereon in generally transverse relation with said bristles projecting ltaerally beyond said chain, a rotatable drum having an annular groove therein to receive said conveyor chain in partial lapping relation, whereby said chain is depressed below the surface of said drum and the bristles supported by the drum surface as they move across the chain lapped portion of the drum, the drum. surface beingformed of resilient material, an idler belt of resilient composition, and pulley means for positioningisaid belt in tight engagement with that portion of the drum surface adjacent the lapping portion of the conveyor chain, whereby the bristles are tightly clamped between said resilient drum surface and said resilient belt and moved across the chain lapped portion thereof.

6. In a machine for combing fibers, a rotatably mounted drum. having a cushioned surface provided with an annular groove, a conveyor chain having a run thereof arranged and guided for reception in said groove to lap a portion of said and align said fibers and comb out short insecurely held fibers.

CHARLES F. WERKHEISER.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,155,730 Hollier Oct. 5, 1915 1,314,100 Villamor Aug. 26, 1919 1,418,493 Stenger June 6, 1922 1,782,918 Erb Nov. 25, 1930