US2701936A

US2701936A - Rotary wheel for linearly feeding multifilament strands

Info

Publication number: US2701936A
Application number: US334807A
Authority: US
Inventors: Drummond Warren Wendell
Original assignee: Owens Corning Fiberglas Corp
Current assignee: Owens Corning
Priority date: 1953-02-03
Filing date: 1953-02-03
Publication date: 1955-02-15
Anticipated expiration: 1972-02-15

Description

Feb. 15, 1955 w. w. DRUMMOND 2,701,936

ROTARY WHEEL FOR LINEARLY FEEDING MULTIFILAMENT STRANDS Filed Feb. 3, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 mmvrox. Warren nm/w/ Drum/fiend Ar FOINIYJ' Feb. 15, 1955 w, w. DRUMMOND 2,701,936

ROTARY WHEEL FOR LINEARLY FEEDING MULTIFILAMENT srrmmos Filed Feb. 3. 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

QM I A1 TORNE Y3 tion ofDelaware :1

r 2,701,936 lc Patented Feb. 15, 1955 ROTARY WHEEL FOR LINEARLY FEEDING MULTIFILAMENT STRANDS Warren Wendell Drununond, Anderson, S. C., asslgnor to Owens-Coming Fiberglas Corporation, a corpora- Application am... '3, 1953, Serial No. 334,807

' 7 Clai ns. (Cl. 49- 17) tion SeriaLNo. 334,806 of Slayter and Steitz and the mstant case, is; directed toward improvements in the construction,ofsuchwheels. 1

In thementioned Slayter and Steitz application there are disclosed rotary; wheels which have scalloped pc- 7 ripheries and whichareintermeshed in the manner of ,ggcars. The stranddikematerial to be fed at high speeds is introduced between the bite ofthe two pulling wheels 1 .and the pullingwheels aredriven at a speed to produce 7 ,a linear feeding of the strand in the neighborhood of, say, 7 10,000. feet perminute. Thistype of high speed pulling roller is particularly effective, for example, in feeding f. a multifilamenttglass fiber strand which concomitantly -may be formed by being pulled from a melting bushing I 1 having a pluralityofsmall fiber forming orifices. Molten glass pours through the orifices and as each stream of glass 1 congeals to. forml' individual fiber, a selected number of fibers are gathered together and pulled by the wheels to' attenuate them] into fibers and to combine the fibers into Ia strand.

Many problems are encountered in this attenuating and feeding operationwhich are discussed in the mentioned copending application and which are overcome by the 'useof intermeshed scalloped periphery pulling wheels.

It is,.therefore, the object of the instant invention to provide an improved design for scalloped periphery pulling wheels and in particular'lto provide structure which makes the wheels stronger, for preventing the stressing and destruction of pro ecting scallops due to the high centrifugal'forceacting upon portions of the wheel and i to reducethe destructive forces resulting from the. heat of friction between the contacting surfaces of the wheels.

These objects will be more apparent from the specification whichfollows and from the drawings, m which:

, Fig.1 is a simplified view of a glass fiber drawing operation employing pullingjwheels embodying the invention.

' Fig. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged view in elevation, and with parts broken away, illustrating one embodiment v of the instant invention] Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

process appears in Fig. 1 in which a glass tank for maintaining a supply of molten glass is provided with a plurality of nipples 11 each of which 18 pierced by a small orifice through which a stream of molten glass flows. The streams of molten glass flowing through the nipples 11 are formed into fibers 12 by being gathered together as by an eye 13 and fed between peripheries by a pair of a high speed pulling rollers 14 to form a strand 15.

Fig. 4 1S a fragmentaryview inelevation, somewhat similar to Fig. 2, butshowmgpulling wheels embodying Z a modified form of the invention. 7 i Fig. 5 .is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary isometric view of one element of the pulling wheelshown in, Fig. 4

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary isometric view of a cooperating element of the pulling wheel shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 8. is a fragmentary view with parts broken away and showing a further modification of the invention.

;Fig; 9is a fragmentary projected view taken substantiallyon the line9-9 of Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 10-10 of Fig. 8.

Pulling rollers embodying the invention are well adapted for the purpose of attentuating glass fiber strands.

A simplified showing of apparatus for performing this Each of the pulling rollers 14 (see Figs. 2 and 3) may be fabricated with a hub section 16 by which the wheel is mounted upon its shaft, a web section 17 and arim section 18. The wheel 14 may be made from any one of numerous materials. For example, it may be molded from reinforced resinous material, machined or cast from lightweight metal as, for example, aluminum, or otherwise formed. No particular material is required for the body of the wheel 14, it being necessary only that it be made from material which has considerable tensile strength and rigidity so as not to be distorted greatly by the very great centrifugal force acting upon the radially large portions of the wheel during their high speed rotation and that it be capable of supporting elements attached in the manner now to be described.

The periphery of each of the pulling wheels 14 is formed, in this instance, with generally sinusoidal scallops thus providing spaced projections 19 and intermediate valleys 20. The projections 19 are molded, shaped or milled with arcuate grooves 21 cut on a radius centered on the axis of the pulling wheel so that, if extended between the projections 19, the grooves 21 would all form a continuous annular groove. All of the grooves 21 are cut into the projections 19 from the same face of the wheel 14.

The grooves 21 receive an annular resilient band 22 which extends through the grooves 21 and spans the valleys 20. The band 22 is retained in the grooves 21 by means of a spider shaped retaining ring 23 which is secured to the forward face of the pulling wheel 14 by means of screws 24. Each of 'the spider shaped retaining rings 23 has a number of fingers 25 there being one finger 25 for each of the projections 19 on the pulling wheels 14.

The shafts of the two pulling rollers 14 are spaced from each other a distance such that the ends of each of the projections 19 contact and deform the band 22 on the opposite wheel when the interdigitated projections and valleys of the two wheels pass through the bite between the pulling rollers. As can best be seen by reference to Fig. 2, when the strand 15 enters the bite between the two pulling rollers it is first gently grasped between the end of one of the projections 19 and the deformable band 22 of the opposite wheel 14 and then more tightly grasped, being displaced laterally from the pitch line of the intermeshed pulling wheels 14 as it passes therebetween.

This embodiment of the invention retains the advantageous characteristics of intermeshed scalloped periphery wheels and the radial spacing of the portions of the bands contacted by the projections of each wheel, from the bodyofthe wheel, reduces the transferral of frictionally created heat to the bodies of the wheels. The spaces behind the contacted portions of the resilient bands thus serve to cool the bands and lengthen their lives.

By providing the spider shaped retaining ring 23 the bands 22 can be replaced when they are worn at con siderably less cost than can a wheel molded from resilient material to incorporate scallops in the main body of the wheel which contact each other and thus are worn out.

The same advantages of providing only tire-like portions of the wheels which need to be replaced when worn and of employing simple retaining means with such tirelike portions, is present in the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 4-7, inclusive. In this embodiment of the invention a pair of pulling wheels 26 of modified design is shown. Each of the pulling wheels 26 has a hub section 27, a web section 28 and a rim section 29. The rim section 29 is molded, cast or milled, depending upon whether the wheel is constructed from a material to be formed in any one of these three manners, to provide an annular groove 30 (Fig. 5) having a conical inner wall 31, a fiat bottom and an annular outer wall 32 which is formed by a lip 33. The lip 33 has axial length less than the axial length of the conical wall 31.

The groove 30 is designed to receive a scalloped tread tire 34 shown fragmentarily in an isometric view in Fig. 6. The tire 34 has an annular flange-like main body 35 with one edge 36 radially thinner than its opposed edge 37. The radially thinner edge 36 is inserted into the bottom of the annular groove 30 of the pulling wheel 26. An inner surface 38 of the tire body 35 is conically shaped to match the surface 31 of the rim section 29 and an outer surface 39 of the tire body 35 is cylindrical. The tire body 35 is provided with spaced projections 40 of generally wave shape configuration, the projections being integral with the body 35. The projections 40 are so shaped as to readily intermesh when the two pulling wheels are associated with each other as shown in Fig. 4.

A pulling wheel designed according to the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 4-7, inclusive, is provided with a retaining ring 41 (see Fig. 7) which is relatively thin and has spaced openings 42 through which the projections 40 extend when the ring 41 and tire 34 are assembled on the pulling wheel 26. These. elements are assembled by crushing the tire 34 radially inwardly, inserting its projections 40 through the holes 42 in the ring 41 and then axially thrusting the-edge of the ring 41 and the edge 36 of the tire 34 into the groove 30 in the pulling wheel 26. When the edges of the projections 40 strike against the end of the lip 33, the edge of the ring 41 and edge 36 of the tire 34 abut the bottom of the groove 30.

A retaining ring 43 which has an annular groove 44 is fed over the edge 37 of the tire 34 and the associated edge of the ring 41. The retaining ring 43 is held on the pulling wheel 26 by a plurality of screws 45.

In this embodiment of the invention the projections 40 are resilient and engage the relatively less resilient surfaces of the retaining rings 41 when the projections pass through the bite between the pulling rollers. The strand is grasped between the projections 40 and the outer surface of the ring 41 being fed thereby. As is the case with the earlier described modification of the invention, a tire-like element is removable from the pulling wheel and can be replaced when it is worn to provide a new strand feeding surface.

Under some circumstances it may be desirable to reinforce the replaceable tire of the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 4-7. The embodiment of the invention in Figs. 8-9 provides for such a reinforcement, being a modification of that shown in Figs. 4-7.

In Figs. 8-10 a pulling wheel 46 is shown as provided with a removable tire 47 having resilient projections 48 which is retained in place by a retainer ring 49. These portions are identical with those of the embodiment of the invention disclosed in Figs. 4-7. In the fabrication of the tire 47 of Figs. 8-10, however, a reinforcing strap 50 is molded into a flange-like body 51 of the tire 47. The strap 50 extends entirely around in the tire 47 having less axial width than the tire body 51 and being provided with circumferentially spaced holes 52 through which the material of the tire 47 extends to be firmly bonded to the strap 50.

The reinforcing strap 50 resists the action of centrifugal force acting upon that portion of the tire 47 located radially inwardly from the strap 50 thereby strengthening the entire body of the tire 47 and preventing its outward distortion by the high centrifugal force acting thereupon.

All of the embodiments of the invention provide resilient tire-like elements easily demountable from a rotary pulling wheel. The resilient tire-like elements serve to provide frictional and compressive forces, to act upon a strand being fed, to grasp it securely, to permit its being attenuated and fed at high linear speeds and, by reason of their design, are easy to replace and wear resistant.

I claim:

1. Pulling wheels for linearly feeding a multi-filament strand, said wheels having intermeshed, scalloped peripheries, each of said wheels having a hub portion, a web 4 portion and a rim portion, the rim portion of each 0 said wheels comprising a plurality of circumferentially spaced, radially protruding projections and an annular member extending generally circumjacently around said wheel and across the spaces between said projections on a radius greater than the radius of the bases of said projections and smaller than the radius of the tops of said projections, said wheels being mounted upon axes so spaced that the projections on each of said wheels contact the member on the other of said wheels in the bite of said wheels, all of said projections on each of said wheels and said annular member on the other of said wheels forming two opposed strand engaging surfaces, at least one of said surfaces being resilient.

2. Pulling wheels for linearly feeding a multi-filament strand, said wheels having intermeshed, scalloped peripheries, each of said wheels having a hub portion, a web portion and a rim portion, the rim portion of each of said wheels comprising a plurality of circumferentially spaced, radially protruding projections and an annular member extending generally circumjacently around said wheel and across the spaces between said projections on a radius at least equal to the common radius of the bases of said projections and smaller than the common radius of the tops of said projections, said wheels being mounted upon axes so spaced that the projections on each of said wheels contact the member on the other of said wheels in the bite of said wheels, all of said projections on each of said wheels and said annular member on the other of said wheels forming two opposed strand engaging surfaces, at least one of said surfaces being -resilient, each of said wheels having means for removably mounting the element having the resilient surface.

3. Pulling wheels for linearly feeding a multi-filament strand, said wheels having intermeshed, scalloped peripheries, each of said wheels having a hub portion, a web portion and a rim portion, the rim portion of each of said wheels comprising a plurality of circumferentially spaced, radially protruding projections and an annular member extending generally circumjacently around said wheel and across the spaces between said projections on a radius at least equal to the common radius of the bases of said projections and smaller than the common radius of the tops of said projections, said wheels being mounted upon axes so spaced that the projections on each of said wheels contact the member on the other of said wheels in the bite of said wheels, all of said projections on each of said wheels and said annular member on the other of said wheels forming two opposed strand engaging surfaces, only one of said surfaces being resilient, each of said wheels having means for removably mounting the element having the resilient surface.

4. Pulling wheels according to claim 3 in which the projections have arcuate grooves cut in one face, all of the grooves on each wheel having the same radius, and being centered on the axis of said wheel and the annular member lies in said grooves.

5. Pulling wheels according to claim 4 in which the annular member is a resilient band mounted in said grooves and said grooves lie at a radial distancefrom the axis of the wheel such that said member is deformed by the projections on the other wheel in the bite between said wheels.

6. Pulling wheels according to claim 3 in which the annular member is a non-resilient band having openings through which the projections extend radially. 7. Pulling wheels according to claim 3 in which the proections are resilient and all are integrally constructed in the form of a removable tire and the annular member 15 a continuous non-resilient band fitting over said tire and having openings through which said projections radially extend.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,030,252 Hale et a1. Feb. 11, 1936 2,259,202 Cooper Oct. 14, 1941 2,419,320 Lohrke Apr. 22, 1947