US2720006A

US2720006A - Variable speed mechanism for carding apparatus

Info

Publication number: US2720006A
Application number: US124468A
Authority: US
Inventors: Charles W Carter; James S Cowhey
Original assignee: BIGELOW SANFORD CARPET CO
Current assignee: BIGELOW SANFORD CARPET CO; BIGELOW-SANFORD CARPET COMPANY Inc
Priority date: 1949-10-29
Filing date: 1949-10-29
Publication date: 1955-10-11
Anticipated expiration: 1972-10-11

Description

Oct. 11, 1955 c. w. CARTER ErAL 2,720,006

VARIABLE SPEED MECHANISM FOR CARDING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 29, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet l s E mgr: X m B i 3 X f/ l 3 X z X 1; N E E K N 1i i E w E k L E W IE *3 Q 1 L L I. I.

Q I, E. L E X X X E Q O Z M w 3 CHARLES w. CARTER M 1 E55 TAMES s. COWHEY 1' g i y veflibzs i d E y 1 a m flfifizfley Oct. 11, 1955 C. W. CARTER ETAL,

VARIABLE SPEED MECHANISM FOR CARDING APPARATUS Filed 001;. 29, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 CHARLES w. CARTER and JAMES 8. C HEY fiuflflhrs 6y United States Patent 1 2,720,006 VARIABLE SPEED MECHANISM FOR CARDING APPARATUS Charles W. Carter, Feeding Hills, Mass., and James S.

Cowhey, Hazardville, Conn., assignors, by mesne assignrnents, to Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Company, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application October 29, 1949, Serial No. 124,468 1 Claim. (Cl. 19--160) This invention relates to carding machines and in particular to a method of feeding material, as it is being carded, by means of a variable speed mechanism located between a breaker card and a finisher card.

As is well known in the art, between the breaker card and the finisher card a narrow flat web or round roping of fibrous material is laid from side to side upon a moving conveyor by means of a traveller running at uniform speed back and forth over the conveyor to form a sheet composed of overlapping webs or parallel ropings which is conveyed into the finisher card and emerges therefrom in a series of roving ends which are wound on jack spools. It has been found that these several rovings gradually decrease in weight from the middle jackspool to the end jackspools.

The object of this invention is to produce rovings of substantially uniform weight across the spools. In order to accomplish this object the speed of the traveller is accelerated throughout its travel from the edges of the conveyor to its middle and decelerated throughout its travel from the middle of the conveyor to its edges. A preferred form of the invention is described below and other objects and features will appear from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic elevational view of the delivery end of the breaker card and the feed end of the finisher card,

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of the traveller and associated mechanism, and

Fig. 3 is a side view of the preferred means controlling the variable speed of the traveller.

The delivery end of the breaker cards consists of a moving apron 2 moving in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 2, and upon which the web 4 lies and which feeds the web to a point above a conveyor 6 adapted to carry the web 4 into the finisher card at 8. Below the end of the apron 2 and above the conveyor 6 is a traveller 9 which grips the web or roping as it descends from the apron 2, and feeds it onto the conveyor 6.

The traveller is caused to travel transversely in relation to the conveyor 6 by means of an endless sprocket chain 12 mounted upon two

sprockets

14, 14 around which the chain is driven. Upon one side of the traveller 9 is mounted what is known in the art as a Scotch yoke 15. Projecting horizontally from and fast to the chain 12 is a pin 16 which engages the yoke 15.

As the pin, yoke, chain and traveller and the function of each are well known, a more detailed description is deemed tobe unnecessary for a full understanding of the present invention which consists of controlling the speed of the chain 12 which propels the traveller back and forth across and above the conveyor 6.

Fast to the axis of the sprocket 14 bearing the chain 12 is a bevel gear 31 meshing with bevel gear 32 fast on the shaft C which passes through a side or frame of the mechanism. Fast on the end of the shaft C outside the frame is sprocket 20 around which passes chain 25 which also passes around sprocket 22 rotatably mounted on stub shaft E. Fast concentrically to the sprocket 22 is a smaller sprocket 21 around which passes a chain 26 which also passes around sprocket I mounted on stub shaft F. Adjustably mounted on the sprocket 1 by means of nuts and bolts in the slots 29 is sprocket 40. By

loosening the nuts, the sprocket 40 may be adjusted to any degree of eccentricity in relation to the sprocket 1 as desired. Chain 28 passes around the sprocket 40, sprocket 41 and idler sprocket 30. The sprocket 41, like the sprocket 40, is adjustably mounted on sprocket 39 to give it the eccentricity desired in relation to the sprocket 39 by means of bolts and nuts. It is, of course, optional which sprocket (40 or 41) is set for eccentricity. The idler sprocket is mounted on adjustable arm 27 to maintain tension on the chain after the

sprockets

40 or 41 have been adjusted upon sprockets 1 or 39, respectively.

Meshing with gear 39 is gear 18 fast to gear 17 which rotates on stub shaft G and engages gear 10 fast on power shaft A which is run at a uniform rotation and drives the train of gears, sprockets and chains, heretofore described, which in turn drives the chain 12 to drive the traveller 9.

By properly adjusting the location of the

sprockets

41 or 40, one or the other being held concentric, and the arm 27, said train transforms the uniform rotation of the shaft A into an accelerating and decelerating rotation of the shaft C to cause the traveller to accelerate throughout its travel from the edges of the conveyor to its middle and to decelerate throughout its travel from the middle of the conveyor to its edges.

It has been found that the variation in speed imparted to the web laying traveller unit by this combination of gears and chains corrects the fault heretofore existing and described herein and produces rovings which are substantially uniform in weight across the jack spools.

Only a preferred means to control the speed of the chain driving the traveller has been described herein in detail. It is realized that many modifications such as changing the number of chains and gears and/or their relative locations can be made without deviating from the invention as hereinafter claimed. Other means may also be employed to transfer a uniform rotation into one of acceleration and deceleration, such as a crank arm in combination with a rack and pinion wherein the crank arm is driven by a source of power and operates the rack in a reciprocating motion, the rack meshing with and moti vating a pinion the shaft of which in turn is connected to and propels the traveller back and forth; or an elliptical gear mounted at the source of power and meshing with and motivating another elliptical gear the shaft of which is connected with the shaft of the gear propelling the traveller.

The apparatus disclosed herein is claimed in our copending divisional application Serial No. 250,632 filed October 10, 1951.

We claim:

The method of laying a roping of fibrous textile material back and forth across the width of a card-feeding conveyor, which comprises delivering the roping at a constant rate of travel from a delivery point above the middle of the receiving end of the conveyor to a traveller which delivers the roping at a constant rate of travel, and reciprocating the traveller bodily back and forth across the width and above the conveyor at a continually varying non-uniform speed such that its speed is accelerated throughout its travel from the edges of the conveyor to its middle and is decelerated throughout its travel from the middle of the conveyor to its edges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 994,748 Howe June 13, 1911 1,167,950 Stiles Jan. 11, 1916 1,658,860 Schorsch Feb. 14, 1928 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,153 Great Britain of 1863 490,769 Great Britain Aug. 22, 1928 764 Switzerland Apr. 20, 1889