US2535426A

US2535426A - Metier

Info

Publication number: US2535426A
Application number: US33021A
Authority: US
Inventors: Albert W Keight
Original assignee: Celanese Corp
Current assignee: Celanese Corp
Priority date: 1948-06-15
Filing date: 1948-06-15
Publication date: 1950-12-26
Anticipated expiration: 1967-12-26
Also published as: GB663116A

Description

A. W. KEIGHT Dec. 26, 1950 METIER Filed June 15, 1948 INVENTOR.

ALBERT VV. KEIGHT.

ATTORN EVS Patented Dec. 26, 1950 METIER Albert W. Keight, Cumberland Md, assignor to Celanese Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Application June 15, 1948, Serial No. 33,021

8 Claims.

This invention relates to filament spinning apparatus, and relates more particularly to a novel door construction for a filament spinning cabinet or metier and also to novel filament guide means employed in connection with said door.

In the production of textile filaments by the so-called dry-spinning process, a solution of filament-forming material in a volatile solvent is forced through a spinning jet located at the top of a metier. As the filaments travel downwardly, the solvent is evaporated by means of a stream of heated air or other gas passing through the metier. The filaments, now relatively free from solvent, are drawn from the nietier, in contact with a filament guide which changes their direction of travel from generally vertical to generally horizontal, through a filament aperture, located near the bottom of the front wall of th metier, to any suitable filament lubricating and take-up apparatus. In the past, the angle of contact between the filaments and the filament guide has ranged from 60 to 90 degrees producing considerable frictional drag and increasing the tension in the filaments between the filament guide and take-up apparatus, thereby limiting the inaximum spinning speed.

It has also been customary in the past to position the filament guide at a considerable distance from the filament aperture, thereby reducing the accuracy with which the filaments were guided and necessitating a relatively large aperture to pevent accidental contact between the filaments and the aperture walls. The large filament aperture was also necessary to permit the filaments to be readily threaded through the metier wall when spinning was started or after a filament break. The presence of a large filament aperture was a serious disadvantage, however, since it permitted the escape of vapor laden air from the metier when the pressure insde the metier was above atmospheric, and permitted an undesirable quantity of air to be drawn into the metier when the inside pressure was below atmospheric. The latter was an especially serious defect when a downdraft of air from the top of the metier was produced by exhausting the air from a point near the bottom. of the meti r, since aspiration of air into the filam nt aperture shortcircuited the desired downdraft. Previous proposals' to reduce the size of the filament aperture and avoid short-circuiting the air stream were unsuccessful: since the threading and guiding difiiculties rem ined unsolved.

It is, accordingly, important object of this invention. to. provide a simple door structure and 2 a simple filament guide means" for use with said door structure, which will be free from threading and guiding difiiculties and permit of the use or a small filament aperture.

A further object of this invention is to provide a metier in which the contact angle between the filament and the filament guide is substantially less than 60 degrees.

Other objects of this invention, together with certain details of construction and combinations of parts, will appear from the following detailed description and the claims.

I have found that the freshly-spun filaments may be automatically and accurately threaded and guided through a filament aperture by providing. a pivotaliy mounted door to close an opening in the metier wall, forming the filament aperture so as to intersect lower edge of said opening, and providing two filament guides, an upper guide adapted to guide the filaments when spin ning is being started a lower guide fastened to the pivoted door and adapted to guide the filaments during normal spinning. By vertically aligning both the upper and lower guides and the filament aperture, and suitably positioning the guides relative to each other, it is possible to have the lower guide automatically pick the filaments from the upper guide as the door is closed and guide them accurately into and through the filament aperture. This construction also permits of the use of a low contact angle between the filaments and the lower guide without impairing the accuracy with which the filaments are guided, thereby reducing the frictional drag and filament tension.

A preferred embodiment of my invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing in whic Fig. l is across-sectional view of the lower portion of a inetier, showing my novel door'structure and filament guide-means,

Fig. 2 is across-sectional view taken on the line 2*? of Fig. 1, showing the construction of the inside of the door,

Fig. 3 isa cross-sectional view or" the door taken on theline 33 0 Fig. 2 and,

Fig. i. is a detail view of one of the filament guide means.

In the drawing, the reference numeral 5 designates thefilarnents (solid line) asthey pass down-' wardly through the metier 2, over the filament guide, indicated generally by the reference numeral and through the filament aperturev tto any suitable filament drawing, lubricating and take-up apparatus (not shown) with. .thedoor 6 closed for spinning. The door 6 is pivotally mounted on a door frame I by means of a spring hinge 8, which is tensioned to hold the door in the open position, door 6 being held closed during spinning by any suitable latching means. The door frame 1 is positioned to outline an opening in inclined wall 9, near the lower end of the metier 2.

The filament guide 3 includes a base portion Ill and an end portion l l bent at an angle to the plane of base portion if A generally V- shaped cut-out E2, in end portion H of the guide 3 provides a filament guiding opening, defined by arms 53, having an insert I4 of synthetic sapphire or other suitable bearing material at its apex. The bearing surface 16 of insert i4 is suitably finished and rounded and has a contact angle substantially below 60 degrees and preferably between 18 and 20 degrees with the filaments passing in contact therewith, thereby reducing the frictional drag and tension on the filaments. The filament guide 3 is adjustably and removably fastened to door 6 by screws l1 passing through slots 18 in base portion It],

with the apex of the V-shaped cut-out i2 vertically aligned above filament aperture 4. When the bearing surface of the filament guide 3 becomes worn the entire unit may be readily removed and replaced by loosening screws ll, sliding the old unit out, sliding the new unit in and tightening screws H.

A second filament guiding member IQ of stainless steel, or other suitable material is mounted on door frame I by screws 29 and projects into the metier 2. The leading edge of the projecting portion of filament guiding member I!) is provided with two

tapers

22 and 23 forming a shallow V-shaped groove 24 which is above and vertically aligned with the V-shaped filament guiding cut-out 12.

In operation, when pinning is started, door 6 is opened to the position shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1 and the operator pulls the filaments from the metier and leads them to the filament drawing, lubricating and take-up apparatus. The filaments assume the position shown by the dotted line in Fig. l, riding on the filament guiding member l9, and are automatically centered by the \l-shaped groove 24. After the filaments have been engaged by the drawing apparatus, the door 5 is closed and, during olosing, the filaments are automatically picked off filament guide l9 by the filament guide 3 which positions the filaments to pass through filament aperture 4.

Owin to the close spacing of the filament guide and filament aperture, there is no opportunity for the filaments to weave and the filament aperture need be only slightly larger than the filaments passing through it. The small lament aperture does not create any difiiculties during starting since the filaments are automatically positioned to pas through the aperture without any special care by the operator. Since the filaments almost fill the aperture during spinning very little air can be drawn into or forced out of the aperture, thus avoiding short-circuiting of the air stream which has been so objectionable in previous downdraft structure and in the filament guide employed therewith, without departing from the spirit of this invention. For example, the filament aperture may be located in the door frame, or partly in the door frame and partly in the door, so long as it intersects the lower edge of the opening in the metier wall. Furthermore, the angle of inclination of wall 9 and door 6 may be varied over a large range or they may be vertical without altering the manner of operation of the metier. Several groups of filaments may be passed through spaced apertures in a single door, although it is preferable to have only a single group of filaments passin through a single door.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description is given merely by way of illustration and that many variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a filament treating apparatus having an opening in a wall thereof for the passage of filaments, the combination with a door pivotally mounted to close said opening, of means including a filament aperture intersecting the lower edge of said opening, filament guide means coopcrating with said opening to guide filaments through said opening when said door is opened and other filament guide means cooperating with said filament aperture to guide the same filaments through said filament aperture when said door is closed, the construction and arrangement of said filament guide means being such that the filaments are in operative contact with only one of said filament guide means at any one time.

2. In a filament treatingapparatus having an opening in a wall thereof for he passage of filaments, the combination with a door pivotally mounted to close said opening, of means including a filament aperture intersecting "the lower edge of said opening, an upper filament guide means cooperating with said opening to guide filaments through said opening when said door is opened and a lower filament guide means fixed to and movable with said door and cooperating with said filament aperture to guide the same filaments through said filament aperture when said door is closed, the construction and arrangement of said filament guide means being such that the filaments are in operative contact with only one of said filament guide means at any one time.

3. In a filament treating apparatus having an opening in a wall thereof, for the passage of filaments, the combination with a door pivotally mounted to close said opening, of means including a filament aperture intersecting the lower edge of said opening, an upper filament guide means projecting past sai Wall and having its projecting edge tapered to define a generally V- shaped filament guiding groove cooperatingwith said opening to guide filaments through said opening when said door is open, and a lower filament guide means fixed to and movable with said door, and having arms defining a generally V- shaped filament guiding groove cooperating with said filament aperture to guide the same filaments through said filament aperture when said door is closed, the construction and arrange-ment of said filament guide means being such that the filaments are in operative contact with only one of said filament guide means at any one time.

4. In a filament treating apparatus having an opening in a wall thereof for thepassage of fila-.

merits, the combination with a door pivotally mounted to close said opening, of means including a filament aperture intersecting the lower edge of said opening, an upper filament guide means projecting past said Wall and having its projecting edge tapered to define a generally .l-shaped filament guiding groove cooperating with said opening to guide filaments through said opening when said door is open, and a lower filament guide means fixed to and movable with said door, and having arms defining a generally V-shaped filament guiding groove cooperating with said filament aperture to guide the same filaments through said filament aperture when said door is closed, said filament guiding means and said filament aperture lying in a common vertical plane.

5. In a filament treating apparatus having an opening in a wall thereof for the passage of filaments, the combination with a door pivotally mounted to close said opening, of means including a filament aperture intersecting the lower edge of said opening, filament guide means cooperating with said opening to guide filaments through said opening when said door is opened and other filament guide means cooperating with said filament aperture to guide the same filaments through said filament aperture when said door is closed, said second filament guide means projecting past said first filament guide means when said door is closed and acting to lift the filaments from said first filament guide means as said door is closed.

6. In a filament treating apparatus having an opening in a wall thereof for the passage of filaments, the combination with a door pivotally mounted to close said opening, of means including a filament aperture intersectingthe lower edge of said opening, an upper filament guide means cooperating with said opening to guide filaments through said opening when said door is opened and a lower filament guide means fixed to and movable with said door and cooperating with said filament aperture to guide the same filaments through said filament aperture when said door is closed, said lower filament guide means projecting past said first filament guide means when said door is closed and acting to lift the filaments from said upper filament guide means as said door is closed.

7. In a filament treating apparatus having an opening in a wall thereof, for the passage of filaments, the combination with a door pivotally mounted to close said opening, of means including a filament aperture intersecting the lower edge of said opening, an upper filament guide means projecting past said wall and having its projecting edge tapered to define a generally V- shaped filament guiding groove cooperating with said opening to guide filaments through said opening when said door is open, and a lower filament guide means fixed to and movable with said door and having arms defining a generally V- shaped filament guiding groove cooperating with said filament aperture to guide the same filaments through said filament aperture when said door is closed, said lower filament guide means projecting past said first filament guide means when said door is closed and acting to lift the filaments from said upper filament guide means as said door is closed.

8. In a filament treating apparatus having an opening in a wall thereof for the passage of filaments, the combination with a door pivotally mounted at its upper edge to close said opening, of means including a filament aperture intersecting the lower edge of said opening, an upper filament guide means projecting past said wall and having its projecting edge tapered to define a generally V-shaped filament guiding groove cooperatingwith said opening to guide filaments through said opening when said door is open, and a lower filament guide means fixed to and movable with said door and having arms defining a generally V-shaped filament guiding groove cooperating with said filament aperture to guide the same filaments through said filament aperture when said door is closed, said lower filament guide means projecting past, said first filament guide means when said door is closed and acting to lift the filaments from said upper filament guide means as said door is closed.

ALBERT VI. KEIGHT.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,070,036 Houghton Aug. 12, 1913 1,949,983 Taylor Mar. 6, 1934 1,994,556 Butler Mar. 19, 1935 2,072,928 Taylor et a1 s- Mar. 9, 1937 2,217,707 Samerdyke et al. Oct. 15, 1940