US2694448A

US2694448A - Textile apparatus

Info

Publication number: US2694448A
Application number: US310060A
Authority: US
Inventors: Svend A Petersen
Original assignee: Celanese Corp
Current assignee: Celanese Corp
Priority date: 1952-09-17
Filing date: 1952-09-17
Publication date: 1954-11-16
Anticipated expiration: 1971-11-16

Description

Nov. 16, 1954 s. A. PETERSEN TEXTILE; APPARATUS Filed Sept. 17, 1952 lllllfll lllllllll llllllll Ill W. 5 RS. 0R a TE N F E R v% o A m D N E n B 4| W 6 m u 4 4 4 4 I is 44 w m m W 2 i .1% I -L TEXTILE APPARATUS Svcnd A. Petersen, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Celanese Corporation of America, New York, Y'., a corporation of Delaware- Application September 17, 1952', Serial No. 310,060

3 Claims. (Cl. 164-61) This invention relates. to textile apparatus and relates more particularly to cutters for cutting continuous filaments into fibers of staple length.

In the cutting of continuous filaments intov fibers of staple length, it is the practice to pass a, bundle or tow of continuous filaments through a crimping device to. impart a crimp to the filaments and then to pass the crimped tow through a cutter. Because of the crimp in the filaments, it is difficult to. cut the continuous filaments into staple fibers of uniform or controlled length. If, during the cutting operation, the cutter imposes no tension on the crimped filaments, there will be obtained. fibers whose length varies in an irregular manner. On the. ther hand, if the cutter imposes a considerable tension on the crimped filaments there will be a tendency for the crimp to be pulled out of the filaments, at least in part, thereby producing fibers that are not commercially acceptable.

It is an important object of this inventionto provide a cutter for cutting continuous filaments into fibers of staple length which will be free from the foregoing and other difliculties and which will be especially simple in construction and efficient in operation.

A further object of this invention is to. provide a cutter for cutting continuous filaments into fibers of staple length which will yield fibers of substantially uni-form or controlled length.

Other objects of this invention, together with certain details of construction and combinations of parts, will ble apparent from the following detailed description and c aims.

According to the present invention, there is provided a cutter comprising a feed wheel over which the continuous filaments, which are usually in the form of a bundle or tow, are trained and which is positively driven to control the rate of feed of the tow. As the tow leaves the feed wheel it is guided into an open-ended conduit that is positioned concentrically and internally of a second conduit which extends beyond the end of the first conduit. A fluid under pressure is introduced into the annular space between the conduits and flows through said annular space and then through the second conduit. 4

The flow of the fluid through the second conduit will carry the tow through the conduits and into and through an annular cutter block which is positioned adjacent the end of the second conduit. As the end of the tow emerges from the cutter block it is cut to produce fibers of staple length by a cutter comprising at least one cutting member mounted for rotation in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the tow, which member carries a cutting blade that cooperates with the cutter block to do the actual cutting. The cutting members are shaped and positioned so that when they are rotated during the cutting operation they will tend to cause a current of fluid to flow away from the cutter block to carry the cut tow away from the point at which the cutting takes place and to assist in moving the tow through the conduits.

A preferred embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawing wherein the figure is a side view of the cutter, partly in section.

Referring now to drawing, the reference numeral 11 designates a tow of continuous filaments that passes around the periphery of a feed Wheel 12 driven in any suitable manner (not shown) to regulate the feed of the tow. After passing around the feed wheel 12, the tow 11 enters a funnel-shaped guide 13 which directs the tow into an open-ended conduit 14 positioned internally and concentrically of a conduit 15 that extends p s the n of c nduit 14-. A fluid under pr ssur such as air, is entered into annular space 16 between the

conduits

14 and 15 through a supply pipe 17 and flows through said space into and through, the conduit 15. The flow of fluid through the. conduit 15 induces a flow of into and through the conduit I4v in the same direction as the tow 11. The end of the conduit 14 is provided with a series of angularly disposed flutes 18 to impart a. rotary motion tov the fluid flowing from the annular space 16. and thereby hold the individual filaments in the. tow 11 together as, a compact bundle as it passes through the conduit 15. after emerging from the conduit 14.

The tow 11 next enters an annular cutter block 19 that is provided around its periphery with a flange 21 which bears against a rim 22 projecting internally of a sleeve 23 into which the conduit 15 is threaded. The flange 21 of the. cutter block 19 is yieldably urged against the rim 22 by means of a spring member 24 in the form of a spring washer that is interposed between the said cutter block and the end of the, conduit 15. The exposed. end, of the cutter block 19 is curved as at 25' and the cutter block is held against rotation by means of a key 26. The entire, feed assembly, indicated generally by reference numeral 27, and comprising the guide 13, the

conduits

14 and 15, the, cutter block 19 and the sleeve 23 is adjustably supported in a tubular frame member 28, by means of an apertured plate 29 pinned to a stud 3.1, which stud extends through a boss, 32 projecting from, the frame member 28 and is held in place by nuts 33..

As the. tow 11 emerges, from the cutter block 19 it. is cut into fibers of staple length by means of a cutter assembly, indicated generally by reference numeral 3.4. The cutter assembly 34 comprises a frame member 35 in, which is mounted for rotation, in anti-friction bean ings, 3.6,, a, shaft 37 carrying a bevel gear .38. The shaft. 3.7 is caused to rotate by means of a bevel gear 39 secured; to a drive shaft 41 mounted in anti-friction bearings 42 in the frame. member 35. Secured to the end of the shaft 37 is a multi-blade cutter, indicated generally by reference numeral 43, that rotates in a plane. peqlaendicular to the axis of the. tow 11 and comprises a p ura1.1ty of radially extending members 44. carrying cutt ng blades 45 held in place by screws 46. Each of members 44 comprises an airfoil, which airfoils are arranged so that when they are. rotated by the shaft, 37 they will tend to cause a current of fluid to move downwardly away from the cutter block 19. Extending downwardly beneath cutter 43 is a passageway 47 whose upper end is closed by means of a cover 48 having a number of apertures 49 therein for the controlled admission of fluid.

During operation, the feed wheel 12 is driven at a suitable rate to control the feed of tow 11. As the tow 11 enters the

conduits

14 and 15 it will be drawn through the said conduit and the cutter block 19 by the stream of fluid entering the apparatus from the supply pipe 17. The end of tow projecting beyond the cutter block 19 will be severed by the cutting blades 44 to produce a bundle of fibers of staple length. The curving of the end portion 25 of the cutter block 19 produces a scissorslike action in the cutting of the tow 11, While the adjustability of the feed assembly 27 permits the clearance between the said cutter block and the cutting blades 45 to be set so as to give the most eflicient cutting action. The rotation of the cutter 43 will tend to cause a current of fluid to move through the passageway 47 to assist in moving the staple fibers through said passageway, while the apertures 49 will permit the entry of additional fluid into said passageway and thereby control the velocity of said stream of fluid. The length of the staple fibers produced will depend upon the relative speeds of the feed wheel 12 and the cutter 43. If it is desired to produce a mixture of staple fibers of different length, this may be readily achieved by having different angular spacings between the cutters 43 so that different lengths of tow 11 will emerge from the cutting block 19 between the successive cuts.

When continuous filaments are cut into fibers of staple length employing the apparatus of this invention, there are obtained products of substantially uniform or controlled length which retain substantially unchanged the crimp originally present in the continuous filaments.

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. A cutter for cutting continuous filaments into fibers of staple length, comprising a conduit, a second conduit extending past the end of the first conduit, said first conduit being positioned internally and concentrically of said second conduit, means for introducing a fluid under pressure into the annular space between the first conduit and the second conduit whereby the fluid will flow through the annular space and out through the second conduit to move a tow through the conduits, an annular cutter block positioned to receive the tow from the conduit, a cutting member carrying a cutting blade positioned to rotate in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the tow for bringing the cutting blade into operative cutting relation with the cutter block for cutting the tow emerging from said conduit to produce fibers of staple length, the outer end of the cutter block being curved so that the cutting is effected with a scissors-like action, said cutting member being constructed and arranged so that its rotation tends to cause a current of fluid to flow away from the cutting point, means for adjusting the clearance between the cutting block and the cutting blade, a passageway enclosing said cutting member, and means for permitting a controlled flow of fluid into said passageway.

2. A cutter for cutting continuous filaments into fibers of staple length, comprising a conduit, a second conduit extending past the end of the first conduit, said first conduit being positioned internally and concentrically of said second conduit, means for introducing a fluid under pressure into the annular space between the first conduit and the second conduit whereby the fluid will flow through the annular space and out through the second conduit to move a tow through the conduits, angularly disposed flutes carried by said first conduit for imparting a rotary motion of the fluid, an annular cutter block positioned to receive the tow from the conduit, a cutting member carrying a cutting blade positioned to rotate in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the tow for bringing the cutting blade into operative cutting relation with the cutter block for cutting the tow emerging from said conduit to produce fibers of staple length, the outer end of the cutter block being curved so that the cutting is eifected with a scissors-like action, said cutting member having an airfoil section so that its rotation tends to cause a current of fluid to flow away from the cutting point, means for adjusting the clearance between the cutter block and the cutting blade, a passageway enclosing said cutting member, and means for permitting a controlled flow of fluid into said passageway.

3. A cutter for cutting continuous filaments into fibers of staple length, comprising a conduit, a second conduit extending past the end of the first conduit, said first conduit being positioned internally and concentrically of said second conduit, means for introducing a fluid under pressure into the annular space between the first conduit and the second conduit whereby the fluid will flow through the annular space and out through the second conduit to move a tow through. the conduits, angularly disposed flutes carried by said first conduit for imparting a rotary motion of the fluid, an annular cutter block positioned to receive the tow from the conduit, stop means for accurately positioning the cuter block, means yieldably urging the cutter block against the stop means, a cutting member carrying a cutting blade positioned to rotate in a'plane perpendicular to the axis of the tow for bringing the cutting blade into operative cutting relation with the cutter block for cutting the tow emerging from said conduit to produce fibers of staple length, the outer end of the cutter block being curved so that the cutting is effected with a scissors-like action, said cutting member having an airfoil section so that its rotation tends to cause a current of fluid to flow away from the cutting point, means for adjusting the clearance between the cutter block and the cutting blade, a passageway enclosing said cutting member, and means for permitting a controlled flow of fluid into said passageway.

References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,764,202 Drefus June 17, 1930 2,107,933 Crockett et al. Feb. 8, 1938 2,143,252 Kornegg Jan. 10, 1939 2,173,789 Nikles et al. Sept. 9, 1939 2,296,253 Bitter Sept. 22, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 805,791 France Sept. 7, 1936 349,161 Italy June 8, 1937