US2618836A - Thread advancing reel - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 25, 1952 H. A. KULJIAN THREAD ADVANCING REEL 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 15, 1948 KI i.

Nov. 25, 1952 Filed Oct. 15, 1948 H. A. KULJIAN 2,618,836

THREAD ADVANCING REEL .3 Sheets-Sheet 2 6/ INVENT9IS.

grrj 4 2/9147? W 7 NOV. 25, 1952 KULJIAN 2,618,836

T READ Filed 001.. 15, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Nov. 25, 1952 THREAD ADVANCIN G REEL Harry A. Kuljian, Merion, Pa., assignor to The Kuljian Corporation, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application October 15, 1948, Serial No. 54,666

1 Claim. 1

In the manufacture, or in the processing of synthetic or natural thread by the continuous process method, the freshly extruded filament, or the thread to be processed, is caused to travel, in the form of a helix, longitudinally of a thread storing and advancin device, and, while so moving, the thread or filament is treated with various liquids for the purpose of regenerating such filament, or for producing other desired results on the thread.

For simplicity and brevity, in the following specification reference will be made to the manufacture of synthetic filaments only, but it will be understood that the invention is applicable to the treatment of synthetic or natural filaments.

Other things being equal, the speed with which the filament comes off the thread storing and advancing device is an important factor in determining the rate of production, and, hence, the cost of the filament.

When the thread storing and advancing device is of the cage type formed of reciprocating bars, the strength of the filament, the repeated stretching of the filament by the action of the cage, and the structure of the cage itself all combine to place narrow limits on the speed with which the filament can be moved along the cage.

When the thread storing and advancing device is of the reel type, which is formed of two or more elongated rolls, the speed of the movement of the filament along the rolls can, at least theoretically, be greatly increased by increasing the R. P. M., and, hence, the peripheral speed of the rolls. In practice, however, it is impossible to increase the rate of rotation of the rolls enough to produce a substantial increase in the rate ofproduction because increasing the R. P. M. of the rolls, especially when such rolls have a relatively small diameter correspondingly increases the centrifugal force acting on the filament and on the liquids applied to the filament; and the increased centrifugal force tends, among other things, to throw off the treating liquids before they have had time to complete the regeneration, or other processing, of the filament.

For example, and according to the formula and if the peripheral speed of a 3 inch diameter roll is assumed to be five feet per second we have where M represents the mass.

If the peripheral speed of the 3 inch roll is increased to 10 feet per second, we have (2) M=800(M) where M represents the mass.

Because centrifugal force increases as the square of the peripheral speed, production cannot be appreciably increased by merely increasing the peripheral speed of rolls having, a relatively small diameter such as the three inch rolls referred to.

However, if the 3 inch diameter rolls are allowed to rotate about their axes so as to have a peripheral speed of 5 feet per second, and if all of the rolls are simultaneously rotated in the form of a reel about a common axis so that the reel will have a peripheral speed of 5 feet per second, also, we will have a total peripheral speed the reel itself is assumed to be 14 inches.

(4) (1) plus (3)=243 M, or an increase of only 43 M in the centrifugal force developed while the total peripheral speed has been doubled.

While this is satisfactory, it is obvious that 1 by extension of this principle the centrifugal force can be decreased to a value below 200 M while the total peripheral speed is maintained at 10 feet per second.

For example, the peripheral speed of the 3 inch rolls can be reduced to, say, 3 feet per second and the peripheral speed of the reel itself can be increased to, say, 7 feet per second, in which case we have for the 3 inch roll And for the reel as a whole we have (6) 49(712) (7) (5) plus (6)=156M From the foregoing examples, which should be understood as illustrating, but not as limiting, the invention, it will be seen that the total peripheral speed, and, hence, the rate of production, can be increased while the total centrifugal force is actually decreased. By this arrangement, also, the loss due to liquids being thrown off by centrifugal force is reduced.

It is, therefore, the main object of the invention to increase the peripheral speed of a rotating reel type of thread storing and advancing device so as to increase the rate of production of the filament while at the same time decreasing, instead of increasing, the centrifugal force acting on the filament and on the liquids applied to said filament.

The manner in which my invention is practiced will be more clearly understood from the following specification and the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary, vertical sectional view of a thread storing and advancing device embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 on Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 on Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 1, but showing the parts in a different operative position.

Fig. 5 is a section on 1ine 5-5 on Fi 1.

In order to carry out my invention, I use a reel type of thread storing "and advancing device formed of a plurality of elongated rolls arranged circularly about a central common axis and I provide means for rotating said rolls individually about their respective axes, and for rotating all of the rolls, as a unit, about said common central axis. I also predetermine the rates of rotation of the rolls about their individual axes and about the common central axis so as to obtain part of the linear speed of the thread-from the rotation of the rolls about their individual axes and part from the rotation of the rolls about the common axis. By this arrangement, the rates of rotation are so controlled that a greatlyincreased total peripheral speed, and, hence, production, is obtained while the total centrifugal force is either decreased or is only slightly increased according to the values selected for V, for the rotation of the individual rolls about their individual axes and for the rotation of the rolls as a unit about a common axis, in accordance with the formula above set forth.

As shown, I provide a suitable support ID, which carries a fixed housing I2. Within the housing I2 is an outer sleeve I4, the enlarged outer end I6 of which carries an internally toothed ring gear I8. The sleeve I4 also carries a main drive gear 29 which is adapted to be driven by a gear 22 on a shaft 24. The shaft 24 also carries a gear 26, which is driven by a pinion 23 on the shaft of a motor M.

The ring gear I8 meshes with eight gears 32 carried by eight shafts 34, which carry eight elongated rolls 36. Any desired number of rolls may be used, and the axes of these rolls are skewed with reference to a central common horizontal axis whereby, when a thread is laced about the rolls so as to be tangent to all of them, and the rolls are rotated about their own axes, the filament will move in a helical path longitudinally of'the rolls. In the present instance, the filament will move from right to left as viewed in Fig. 1.

The shafts 34 of rolls 36 also carry gears 40 adapted to mesh with a planetary gear 42, which is carried by a sleeve 44 through which passes the center post 46 of the apparatus. The center post 46 is journalled, at one end thereof, for rotation in bearings 48 carried by the fixed hous- 46, by means of a lever 50, only a portion of which is shown in the drawings. The sleeve 44 is provided with a first clutch formed of a friction cone 52 which is adapted to engage a similar friction cone 54 on the adjacent end of sleeve I4, and with a second clutch formed of friction cone 53 which is adapted to engage a similar friction cone 55 formed on the adjacent end of fixed housing I2. Thus, when the first clutch is engaged (cones 52, 54) the sleeve 44 is locked to, and will rotate with the sleeve I4 and, when the second clutch is engaged, sleeve I4 being locked to fixed housing I2, can not rotate. By this arrangement, when the parts are in the position of Fig. l, the rolls are rotated, about their respective axes, through gears 32, ring gear I8, gear 20, gear 22, gear 26 and gear 28. Because gears 40, on the inner ends of shafts 34, engage gear 42 on sleeve 44 (which is now locked to fixed housing I2), the reel, as a whole, will rotate about the axis of center post 46. Since center post 46 is keyed, as at 41 to bearing housings 49, the post 46 also rotates upon rotation of the reel. When the parts are in the position of Fig. 4, sleeve 44 is disengaged from fixed housing I2 and is locked to, and rotates with, sleeve I4. In this position, gear 42, gears 40, ring gear I8 and gears 32 are rotated at the same speed and therefore the rolls 36 will not be rotated about their respective axes. Again because the center post is keyed at 41, it will rotate with the reel. In other words, in the position of Fig. 1, the reel will rotate about the axis of center post 46 and the rolls will rotate about their own axes, and in the position of Fig. 4, the rolls are stationary and only the reel rotates about the axis of center post 46.

By providing the proper ratio between the gears 26 and 22, the reel, as a whole, can be made to rotate about the axis of center post 46 at a rate which will produce a thread linear speed of 600 feet per minute. By this arrangement, the filament is laced while the peripheral speed of the reel equals the maximum peripheral speed to which the filament will ultimately be subjected, and, therefore, the filament is subjected to the maximum stretching while it is still unregenerated and can be safely stretched. After the filament has been laced and has formed a helix circumscribing all of the rolls, the parts are moved back to the position of Fig. 1, in which the reel, as a whole, will have a peripheral speed of 300 feet per minute and the rolls themselves will have a peripheral speed of 300 feet per minute, thus producing a total thread linear speed of 600 feet per minute.

Reverting to the formula first above exemplified, we find that by rotating the rolls about their own axes at a rate of speed to produce, say, 300 feet of yarn per minute, the centrifugal force will be 200 M and that, by rotating the rolls individually and at the same time rotating the reel as a whole, so as to produce 600 feet per minute, the centrifugal force is only increased from 200 M to 243 M.

A freshly coagulated filament is passed over a godet wheel, or wheels, before being wound about the reel. Now, if the end of such filament comes in contact with any of the individually rotating rolls, it tends to wind about such roll. If to overcome this, the rolls are held against rotation, and only the reel as a whole is rotated during the winding, or lacing of the filament about the reel, and if, after the filament is wound about the reel the individual rolls are rotated in such a fashion that the peripheral speed of the rolls is added to the peripheral speed of the reel, the sudden increase in speed will either overstretch, or will break the filament.

By my invention, the reel, as whole, is first rotated at the maximum desired speed, that is the speed at which the yarn will be produced, sueh as 600 feet per minute, while the individual rolls are held against rotation. After the lacing operation, the speed of the reel is cut down to produce 300 feet a minute and the rolls are rotated about their own axes at a speed to produce 300 feet a minute. This is done simultaneously so that as far as the filament is concerned, there is no sudden and excessive burst of speed. This not only facilitates lacing of the filament about the reel, but it also doubles the production while only very slightly increasing the centrifugal force.

From the foregoing it will be seen that in addition to the apparatus described, I have also invented a novel method for manufacturing synthetic filaments or for processing the same whereby the rate of production can be doubled over what is now possible by the use of methods and devices now in practice.

It will also be seen that the apparatus is easy to manufacture and assemble and that operation of the apparatus and the carrying out of the method are also easy.

What I claim is:

A thread storing and advancing reel including a fixed housing, a first rotatable sleeve carried by said housing, a ring gear carried by said first sleeve, a second rotatab e sleeve disposed within said first sleeve, a planetary gear carried by said second sleeve, a center post disposed within said second sleeve, a plurality of rolls arranged in a circle about said center post, bearings in which the shafts of said rolls are journalled for individual rotation about their respective axes, means connecting said center post to said bearings for joint rotation about the axis of said center post, means for rotating said first sleeve, a first pinion carried by the shaft of each of said rolls and in mesh with said ring gear, a second pinion carried by the shaft of each of said rolls in mesh with said planetary gear, means for locking said second sleeve to said fixed housing, and means for locking said second sleeve to said first sleeve for joint rotation about the axis of said center post.

HARRY A. KULJIAN.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 758,520 Fredenburgh Apr. 26, 1904 1,920,224 Weaver Aug. 1, 1933 2,136,556 Lovett Nov. 15, 1938 2,302,508 Sordelli Nov. 1'7, 1942 2,475,483 Dasher July 5, 1949

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