US2773296A

US2773296A - Fabric control apparatus

Info

Publication number: US2773296A
Application number: US359875A
Authority: US
Inventors: Cohn Samuel; Cohn Eugene; Jules G Walter
Original assignee: Samcoe Holding Corp
Current assignee: Samcoe Holding Corp
Priority date: 1953-06-05
Filing date: 1953-06-05
Publication date: 1956-12-11
Anticipated expiration: 1973-12-11

Description

Dec. 11, 1956 s, co -1 ETAL 2,773,296

FABRIC CONTROL APPARATUS Filed June 5, 1953 I INVENTORS. 35 36 Samuel Cohn Eugene Cohn BY Jules G. Wulr-er ATTORNE 5 United States Patent Walter, Manhasset, N. Y., assignors to Samcoe Holding Corporation, Woodsidc, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June 5, 1953, Serial No. 359,875

19 Claims. (Cl. 26-55) This invention relates to an apparatus for controlling the advance of tubular knitted fabric in substantially flattened form, More particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus adapted to be employed in combination with a conventional spreader over which tubular knitted fabric is passed and distended to flattened form, or in combination with one of the many conventional types of propellers which are usedto advance tubular knitted fabric longitudinally while at the same time distending the fabric to flattened form, for counteracting the tendency of the fabric to spiral about the spreader or propeller, as the case may be, during the advance and/or for imposing a positive spiral movement of the flattened fabric during advance to give any desired orientation to the flattened fabric during a treating operation or in preparation for a subsequent treating operation.

Tubular knittedfabric is advanced in flattened form for a variety of treating operations such as calendering, steaming, inspection, folding, rolling, rerolling, etc. It is placed in flattened condition by a conventional spreader over which it is drawn, or by any of a variety of propeller type spreading apparatus such as those disclosed in United States Patents Nos. 2,285,402, 2,339,151 and 2,391,547,

all assigned to the same assignee as is this application. In being passed over these various fabric spreading and flattening devices, tubular knitted fabrics have exhibited atendency to spiral to a certain extent, the degree of spiraling varying with different types of fabric. For most treating operations, however, it is desirable, if not essential, that the flattened fabric be placed in a particular orientation. For example, certain fabrics are knitted with a selvage and in many instances it is desirable that this selvage lie exactly along the edge of the flattened fabric. In order that this may be accomplished despite the tendency of the fabric to spiral in being flattened and passing over a spreading device, some means must be provided to counteract the spiraling tendency. In other instances it is de sirable that the selvage lie at some predetermined posi tion between theed ges of the flattened fabric. In the past, control of the fabric in passing over a spreading device has been taken care of manually, that is, the ma} chine operator manually adjusts the position of the fabric during its passage over the spreading device so that the selvage will lie along the edge thereof or at some predetermined position intermediate the edges. Some of the disadvantages of such a manual control will be obvious, namely, that the longitudinal advance of the fabric must necessarily be very slow and hence this type of control is most uneconomical. Also under certain circumstances the fabric is steamed during its advance over the spreading deviceand hence a safety hazard issimposed on the operator attempting .to control the advance .of, the fabric.

The same .need for lateral control of-atubular knitted fabric that is distended to flattenedformby longitudinal advance over a spreading device also arisesinthe handling of tubularifabricsknittedwithout a selvage. Hence in 2,773,296 Patented Dec. 11,1956

knitting certain fabrics, a separate feed of a .dis: similar yarn or color of yarn produces a stripe or line longitudinally of the fabric, the orientation of which it is frequently desired to predeterminedlly maintain dur ing subsequent treating operations. In other instances one or more feeds maybe left out in the knitting of the fabric, thereby producing a drop-stitch. It is frequently desired in treating these fabrics also to carefully control the posi: tion of the drop-stitch during the advance of the fabric. Another instance in which careful control of the lateral or spiral movement of a piece of tubular knitted fabric is necessary during the longitudinal advance thereof in flattened form is when a pattern has been printed on the top and/ or bottom sides and the fabric is then to be finished. Duringthe handling and treatment of these and other types and forms of tubular knitted fabric it is, as indicated, important to carefully. control the orientation of the fabric during its advance in flattened condition. In this discussion, however, we shall discuss, for sinsplicityssake, only the control of the advance of a tubular knitted fabric having a selvage formed therein.

The primary object of this invention. is therefore to provide an apparatus by which a tubular knitted fabric may be properly oriented during its longitudinal advance in distended, flattened form whereby the disadvantages inherent in a similar manual control are obviated.

Accordingly our invention contemplates the provision of apparatus for use in combination with a spreading device that will engage one layer of a tubular knitted fabric being advanced over the spreading device in flattened form and'c'onstantly change or maintain any lateral movement of that layer of the fabric. In accomplishing this result, the aforesaid layer of fabric is distended from its normal plane of advance to provide firm engagement with the control apparatus.

More particularly, our invention contemplates the provi; sion, in combinationwith a spreading device for distend ing a tubular textile fabric to flattened form as it is advanced thereover, of a rotatable means supported by the spreading device and adapted to lie within the tubular fabric during advance thereof over the spreading device. The rotatable means engages one layer of the fabric, distending it out of its normal plane of advance over the spreading device. A second rotatable means supported outside the advancing fabric is positioned to engage the layer of fabric so distended and to alter the .direction of movement thereof relative to the general direction of advance of the fabric. Both rotatable means are adjustably mounted so that their axes of rotation may.

be altered relative to the direction of advance of the fabric to vary to a greater or lesser extent the degree of; change in direction of movement of the fabric laterally of the direction of advance.

F or a more detailed discussion of our invention, refer:

once may be had to the following specific description of one form of apparatus according to our invention taken in connection with the accompanying drawingin which it is illustrated and in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus in combination with a conventional spreader;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an alternative form of one portion of the control apparatus; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the adjustment means for one portion of the control apparatus.

Referring to Fig. 1, the numeral 10 identifies a portion of the frame of a fabric-treating apparatus. On it are mounted a pair of idler rolls 11 and lz adapted to support a conventional spreader 13 made of Wire and having a curved lead-on end 14 and-terminating in a dead bar fabric-drive rolls 16 shown in phantom. Atubular. fabric 17 having a selvage 18 is drawn by the drive rolls 16 from a source of supply, not shown, over an idler roll 19 suitably supported on frame and thence over the spreader 13, the curved end 14 of which facilitates the lateral distension of the fabric onto the spreader.

With most tubular knitted fabrics a tendency to spiral is exhibited in passage thereof over the spreader 13. Hence, as indicated, it has been the practice to manually adjust the fabric as it passes over the spreader in order to counteract this spiraling tendency and in order to properly position the selvage 18 of the fabric. The apparatus of this invention which is provided in order to obviate the necessity of manual adjustment of the fabric, whereby the fabric may be passed over the spreader and at a greatly increased rate, comprises a rotatable wheel 30 mounted for free rotation Within the tubular fabric on an arm 31 which is in turn adjustably supported by a clamp 32 adjustably mounted on a rod 33 which is secured by a clamp 34 to the curved inlet end 14 of the spreader. The

clamps

32 and 34 may be seen more clearly in Fig. 2. It will be noted that the clamp 34 is made up of two

angular sections

35 and 36 that may be secured together to embrace the curved portion of the spreader 14 and further to clamp securely therebetween rod 33. The clamp 32 adjustably receives and may be secured to rod 33, the same holding true for the support thereby of rod 31 on which wheel 30 freely rotates. It will be noted in Fig. 1 that the wheel 30 is adapted to rotate in a plane normal to the plane of the flattened fabric, the upper surface thereof extending substantially above the normal plane of the upper layer of the fabric. Hence in passage over the spreader and over the wheel 30, the upper layer of the fabric is distended out of its normal plane and therefore firmly engages the surface of wheel 30.

A control roll 40 provided with any suitable surface for making good frictional contact with the fabric is supported above the flattened fabric 17 and spreader 13 toward the discharge end of the spreader from control wheel 30. The control roll 40 is supported for free rotation between the free ends of a U-shaped frame member 41 which is in turn adjustably supported by an adjustable connection 42 from a rigid U-shaped frame 43 fixedly secured to the main frame 10. The control roll 40 is so supported relative to control wheel 30 that its surface is firmly engaged by the upper layer of fabric distended above its normal plane by control wheel 30.

An enlarged view of the adjustable connection 42 which supports movable frame 41 from fixed frame 43 is shown in Fig. 3. It comprises a vertically upstanding rod 45 which is fixed to frame 41 and extends freely through a cross member 46 of frame 43. At its upper end rod 45 is threaded to receive a nut 47 to which is welded a friction plate 48. A lock-nut 49 is provided to lock nut 47 and the attached friction plate 48 in any desired position along the threaded portion of rod 45. A second friction plate 50 is secured to cross member 46 of the fixed frame. Interposed between the

friction plates

48 and 50 is a cork disk 51. A spring 52 surrounding the lower portion of rod 45 is compressed between cross member 46 of the fixed frame and a pair of jam nuts 53 supported by the movable frame 41. The spring 52 normally urges the frame 41 and rod 45 downwardly relative to fixed frame 43 compressing the cork disk 51 between

friction plates

48 and 50. From the above description it will be clear that the adjustable frame 41 and rod 45 may be rotated about the axis of rod 45 against the frictional resistance to rotation imposed by cork disk 51. The connection may be adjusted to vary the degree of this resistance to rotation. Normally the amount of friction employed is enough to resist movement of the frame by the fabric through roll 40 but is not enough to prevent manual rotation of the frame.

In operation of the apparatus, the fabric is initially spread to flattened form by the lead-on end 14 of the spreader. During the lateral distension of the fabric, the upper layer thereof is raised from its normal plane and rides over guide wheel 30. The positioning of guide wheel 30 is such that the upward distension of the upper layer of the fabric extends lengthwise thereof until it meets and is firmly engaged by guide roll 40. If, as is usual, the fabric tends to spiral as it advances on the spreader, so that the selvage, which for the purpose of illustration is shown initially lying along one edge thereof, tends to move away from the edge of the fabric, the guide roll frame 41 is pivoted about the axis of its support so that the engagement of guide roll 40 with the fabric will tend to spiral the fabric in the opposite direction to compensate for the inherent spiraling, whereby the selvage may be maintained along the edge of the flattened fabric. Should the fabric not be initially presented to the spreader, so that the selvage lies along one edge thereof, the adjustment of guide roll 40 will be made so that the spiralingof the fabric imposed thereby will result in the selvage being gradually moved to the edge. If, as indicated, it is desirable to have the selvage positioned at the edge of the flattened fabric, then the edge of the fabric itself may serve as a guide. In the event, however, it is desirable to have the selvage lie in the center of the upper layer of the fabric, some other guide must be provided. Such a guide may be a rod 60 fixed to and depending from the fixed frame 43.

As previously indicated in the description of the guide wheel 30 and its support, the guide wheel itself may be adjusted from its normal position in a plane extending in the direction of advance of the fabric to a plane extending at an angle thereto. When so adjusted, the guide guide wheel 30. However, in most instances it is necessary to employ guide roll 40 for this purpose, guide roll 30 then serving primarily to raise the upper layer of fabric so that it will make good firm contact with guide roll 40.

Where a particularly wide movement of the selvage from its position in the fabric as fed to the spreader to its desired position in the flattened fabric is necessary, the upper layer of cloth should be distended frequently to a greater extent than it will be distended by the guide wheel 30 as shown. In these instances a modified form of support for the guide wheel may be employed. Such a modified form of support is illustrated in Fig. 2 where the guide wheel 30 is supported substantially directly above rather than to one side of support rod 33. A wheel support member 31' of slightly diiferent form than cor-- responding wheel support member 31 previously described is employed for this purpose, the clamp 32 extending then in a vertical direction from rod 33 rather than laterally therefrom as illustrated in Fig. 1. With this alternative mounting of guide wheel 30 it is especially important that provision be made to avoid excessive damage to a piece of fabric being advanced that has a hole therein resulting from a knitting imperfection or the like that might catch on the guide roll 30. To accomplish this a fabric guide member 61 is provided which extends from clamp 34 upwardly toward the upper edge of guide wheel 30. The upper end of the guide rod is split, having portions extending on either side of the guide wheel 30 just below its upper extremity. Normally the fabric will not engage the guide rod 61, but in the event there is a hole in the fabric being advanced and it is in line to pass over guide wheel 30, the guide rod 61 will prevent its catching on the wheel.

While the above specific description of a particular form of apparatus according to my invention has been set forth in connection with control of the position of a selvage in a piece of tubular fabric being advanced in flattened fo'rm; it should, as previously indicated, be under: stood that other types of fabric require-the same control oftheir movements,- such'for instance as fabricsprovided with drop-stitches, loose-stitches, stripes, etc. Further more it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made in the apparatus illustrated and described without departing from Tthe. scope of our invention which, therefore should be limited only to the extent set forth in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In combination-with a device for spreading a tubular textile fabric to'flattened formas it is-advanced thereover, a rotatable'membersupported by said device for rotation in a plane substantially normal to the plane of the flattened fabric and-adapted to lie within the tubular fabric passed over said spreaderto engage one layer thereof, the fabric engageable surface of said rotatable member lying a substantial distance from the plane in which said one layer of fabric is normally disposed by said spreading device whereby the tubular fabric is distended substantially in two directions in passage over said spreading device and said rotatable member, and means to adjust said rotatable member to change the angle of its plane of rotation relative to the direction of advance of "said tubular fabric.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 which includes a guide means supported adjacent said rotatable member to guide said one layer of the fabric from its normal plane of advance substantially to the plane of the fabric engageable surface of the rotatable member.

3. In combination with a device for spreading a tubular textile fabric to flattened form as it is advanced thereover, a rotatable member supported by said device for rotation in a plane substantially normal to the plane of the flattened fabric and adapted to lie within the tubular fabric passed over said spreader to engage one layer thereof, the fabric engageable surface of said rotatable member lying a substantial distance from the plane in which said one layer of fabric is normally disposed by said spreading device whereby the tubular fabric is distended substantially in two directions in passage over said spreading device and said rotatable member, means to adjust said rotatable member to change the angle of its plane of rotation relative to the direction of advance of said tubular fabric, and a freely rotatable roll engageable with the outer surface of said one layer of fabric the axis of said roll extending laterally of said flattened fabric and substantially parallel to the normal plane thereof.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 which includes means adjustably supporting said freely rotatable roll for movement relative to said fabric to change the direction of extent of its axis of rotation relative to the direction of advance of the fabric.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 in which said supporting means includes means to maintain said rotatable roll in any adjusted position.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 in which the means for maintaining the rotatable roll in any adjusted position comprises friction means.

7. In combination with a device for spreading a tubular textile fabric to flattened form as it is advanced thereover, means supported by said device and adapted to lie within said tubular fabric as the latter passes over the device to engage one layer thereof and distend it out of its normal plane of travel over the spreading device, and means supported to engage the distended outer face of said one layer of the flattened fabric to impose upon the fabric as it advances a force tending to produce a spiraling movement thereof.

8. In combination with a device for spreading a tubular textile fabric to flattened form as it advances thereover, a rotatable member supported by said device and adapted to lie within said tubular fabric as the latter passes over the device to engage one layer thereof and distend it out of its normal plane of travel over the spreading devicegand :a rotatable rollnsupported to engage the distendedpoutenface of said one layer of the flattened fabric to impose upon the .fabricas ityadvances a-force tending said spreading device formovement to changethe direc-.

tion of extentof its axis ofrot-ation relativeto the direction of advance of thefabric.

ll. A .pparatus according to claim 8 "which includes meansadjustablysupportingsaid-rotatable roll for movement to change the direction; ofaextent of its axis of rotation relative to the direction of advance of the fabric and which includes means adjustably supporting said rotatable member upon said spreading device for movement to change the direction of extent of its axis of rotation relative to the direction of advance of the fabric.

12. Apparatus according to claim 8 in which both the rotatable member and rotatable roll are mounted for free rotation.

13. In combination with a device for spreading a tubular textile fabric to flattened form as it is advanced thereover, a freely rotatable member supported by said device for rotation in a plane substantially normal to the plane of the flattened fabric and adapted to lie within the tubular fabric passed over said spreader to engage one layer thereof, the fabric eugageable surface of said rotatable member lying a substantial distance from the plane in which said one layer of fabric is normally disposed by said spreading device whereby the tubular fabric is distended substantially in two directions in passage over said spreading device and said rotatable member, means to adjust said rotatable member to change the angle of its plane of rotation relative to the direction of advance of said tubular fabric, a freely rotatable roll engageable with the outer surface of the distended portion of said one layer of fabric, and a U-shaped frame supporting said rotatable roll between the free ends of its side arms so that its axis extends laterally of said flattened fabric and substantially parallel to the normal plane of travel of said layer of fabric.

14. Apparatus according to claim 13 which includes means supporting said U-shaped frame in :a vertical plane for rotation about a vertical axis.

15. Apparatus according to claim 14 in which the frame supporting means includes friction means maintaining the frame in any rotated position.

16. In combination with apparatus for spreading tubular textile fabric to flattened form and for advancing the fabric in such flattened form, means adapted to lie Within the tubular fabric in spread condition and engageable with one layer of the flattened fabric along a line of contact extending at an acute angle to the direction of advance of the fabric to impose upon the fabric as it advances a force tending to produce a spiraling movement thereof.

17. In combination with apparatus for spreading tubular textile fabric to flattened form and for advancing the fabric in such flattened form, rotatable means adapted to lie within the tubular fabric in spread condition and engageable with one layer of the flattened fabric along a line of contact extending at an acute angle to the direction of advance of the fabric to impose upon the fabric as it advances a force tending to produce a spiraling movement thereof.

18. In combination with apparatus for spreading tubular textile fabric to flattened form and for advancing the fabric in such flattened form, means for constraining one layer of the flattened fabric to move through a path a substantial distance from its normal plane of travel over said spreading apparatus, rotatable means engageable with said one layer of the flattened. fabric a substantial distance from the normal plane of travel thereof and along a line of contact extending at an acute angle to the direction of advance of the fabric to impose upon the fabric as it advances a force tending toproduce a spiraling movement thereof, and means to adjust the position of the fabric engageable means to change the angle of contact thereof with the one layer of fabric.

19. In combination with apparatus for spreading tubular textile fabric to flattened form and for advancing the fabric in such flattened form, means for constraining one layer of the flattened fabric to move through a path a substantial distance from its normal plane of travel over said spreading apparatus, a rotatable member engageable with said one layer of the flattened fabric a substantial distance from the normal plane of travel thereof,

means adjustably supporting said rotatable member for movement to change the direction of extent of its axis of rotation relative to the direction of advance of the fabric, and means maintaining said rotatable member in any adjusted position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 964,088 Chatfield July 12, 1910 1,372,766 Moore Mar. 29, 1921 1,678,383 Firsching July 24, 1928' 2,339,151 Cohn et al. Jan. 11, 1944, 2,476,070 Solliday July 12, 1949 2,591,903 Yost Apr. 8, 1952 2,652,615 Lasley Sept. 22, 1953