US2798825A - Method of removing lint from textile machines - Google Patents

Description

y 1957 c. DE v. MILLER ETAH 2,798,825

' METHOD OF REMOVING LINT FROM TEXTILE; MACHINES Original Filed Dec. 27, 1950 4Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS Carroll de V- Miller A Franc/S N- Becker-- y 1957 c. DE v. MILLER ETAL 2,798,825

METHOD OF REMOVING LINT FROM TEXTILE MACHINES Original Filed Dec. 2'7, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS Carroll de M Miller 4 Francis N- Becker,

BY 7a ICHE'K WA 775, EOGERIO/H N-NE/VM' y 1957 c. DE v. MILLER ET AL 2,798,825

I METHOD'OF REMOVING LINT FROM. TEXTILE MACHINES ori ina Filed D sc, 27, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet s y 1957 c DEV. MILLER ETAL 2,798,825

METHOD OF REMOVING LINT FROM TEXTILE MACHINES Original Filed Dec. 27. 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN VEN TORS Carroll de V- Hider- AQ Francis A/- Becker.

63 E/cHEY, WATT-S, EDGEKTOMQM-NEMNY United States Patent M METHOD 0F REMOVING LINT FROM TEXTILE MAQE'HNES Carroll de V. Miller, Rocky River, and Francis N. Becker,

Lakewood, @hio, assignors to The American Mono- Rail Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Original application December 27, 1950, Serial No. 202,856, new Patent No. 2,729,845, dated January 10, 1956. Divided and this application February 11, 1955, Serial No. 487,602

Claims. (Cl. 134--37) This invention relates to the art of cleaning textile machinery and is particularly concerned with a new method of freeing a loom of lint and maintaining it in substantially lint-free condition.

Heretofore, there has been no automatic apparatus for cleaning looms so far as we know. The practice has always been for an operator to wipe accumulated lint ofl? the various parts of the loom from time to time when the accumulation became so large that it interfered with the weaving operation. Although it has long been recognized that it would be highly desirable to have apparatus which would automatically free a loom of lint and keep it in clean condition, no one has heretofore devised any apparatus which was satisfactory for that purpose.

This invention provides a new method of cleaning looms by which one or more looms may be kept substantially free from lint without interfering in any way whatever with the intended operation of the loom.

The present invention will be better understood by those skilled in the art from the following description taken with the drawings which accompany this specification and in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of one embodiment of the present invention shown in its association with a loom;

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view ofthe apparatus and loom of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevational view of the form of the invention shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an end elevational view of the apparatus of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view taken on line 5--5 of Fig. 3 with parts broken away;

Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of the apparatus of Fig. 3 with parts broken away; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary, side view, partly in section of a modified form of fan housing and nozzle actuating means.

The apparatus shown in Figs. 1 to 6 includes a monorail track 1 suspended over a loom 2 of a row of looms and serving as a runway for trolleys 3 which support a carriage 4 below the track.

Two motors 5 are attached to the carriage 4 on the under side thereof and the extended rotor shafts 6 of these motors project in opposite directions from the remote ends of the motors. Each shaft 6 has a fan '7 affixed to its end. The carriage, motors and fans are positioned above the arch G of the loom and move lengthwise of the loom harness F. Each fan is enclosed in a housing d which has an axial air intake 9 and a peripheral nozzle outlet 10 disposed to direct air downwardly beside the harness. Each housing 8 has plate 11 onv its side opposite the intake 9 and this plate is attachedto a cylinder 12 which carries bearings 13 supported on shafts 6. Thus, each housing may be rotated about the rotor shaft 6 so as to change the direction of streams of air issuing from outlets 10.

The motors a are energized by current brought to Cff them through conductors 15 connected to collectors 16 which engage electrically energized bus bars 17 above track 1.

Each cylinder 12 has a threaded post 2%) extending radially outward therefrom at substantially a right angle to the axis of the rotor shaft 6. Links 21 disposed at substantially right angles to the axes of the rotor shafts 6 are adjustably connected at one end to posts 20 and at the other end to plates 22 which are pivotally supported on pins 23 depending from the carriage 4. A rod 25 disposed at substantially right angles to link 21 is slidably mounted in bearings 26 on the under side of carriage 4 and is connected at its opposite ends to plates 22. Stops 27 attached to rod 25 serve to engage the adjacent bearing 26 alternately to limit the extent of end- Wise movement of rod 25. Collars 28 are connected to shaft 25 in spaced relation and between them is mounted a sleeve 29 which is slidable on the rod 25 and is disposed between the adjacent ends of two springs 30 the remote ends of which abut against collars 28. Sleeve 29 has an upwardly projecting pin 31 which is disposed in the bifurcated end of arm 35 which is mounted on pivot 36 and is connected to a bar 37 disposed at sub stantially right angles thereto. The ends of bar 37 are tapered as indicated at 33 to engage with lugs 39 depending from plates 4 which are pivotally connected to carriage 4 by pivots 41 and are connected at their free ends by spring 42.

As is shown in Fig. 5, pivot 36 extends up through carriage 4 and is keyed to a lever 45 which is pivotally connected at its ends to the ends of links 46. These links are connected intermediate their ends by a spring 47 and are also connected by two links 48 pivoted thereto and to each other. One of these links 48 has a lost motion slot 49 in which a pin connected to the other link slides. The slot carrying link is pivotally connected at its free end to pusher bar 55 by pin 51. The free ends of links 46 are beveled as indicated at 56 to engage with the pusher bar 55.

Pusher bar 55 is connected to the end of pusher ro 57 which is slidably mounted in bearings 58 on top of carriage 4 and at its outer end carries a roller 59 to engage with an abutment (not shown) fixed along the track 1.

The operation of the apparatus of Figs. 1 to 6, if not entirely clear from the foregoing detailed description of the various parts thereof and their relation to one another, will be fully understood from the following brief description. When the carriage 4 is moving along track 1 and current is being supplied to motors 5 with resultant rotation of fans 7, streams of air will be blown through outlets 19 of each of the housings 3. Since the housings are initially set so that the streams of air are directed downwardly at different angles to the vertical, these streams will trace different, separate paths across the loom 2 on opposite sides of the harness F as the carriage moves over the loom at substantially right angles to the warp, i. e., parallel to the warp beam B and cloth roll C. When the carriage next approaches the loom, roller 59 will engage the fixed abutment and thereby will move pusher rod 57 endwise and press pusher bar 55 against the beveled end 56 of one of the links 46. The pressure of bar 55 on link 46 turns lever 45 about the center line of pin 36 and this turning movement shifts the other link 46 and links 48 and 49 and moves the pivotal connection between links 48 and 49 to the other side of the centerline of pusher rod 57. Simultaneously the link 46 is moved out of engagement with pusher bar 45 and the other link 46 is brought into engagement therewith. Since arm 35 and bar 37 are keyed to pivot 36, these parts will shift simultaneously with lever 45, this shifting movement being resisted by spring 42 which 2,798,825 Patented July. 9, 1957' presses lugs 39 against the tapered ends 3 8 of bar 37. The turning movement of arm 35 about the center line of pivot..36..moves sleeve 29- toward the right asseen in Fig. 6, thereby compressing the right-hand spring 30 and urging rod 25 enclwise toward the right in that figure.

Asrod 25- moves endwise, it rotates plates 22 about their pivot pin 23 and these plates move links .21 endwise and thereby rotate cylinders 12 about motor shafts 6 with the. result that each of the housings 8 will be shifted or rotated through a short angular distance about shaft-6-and the directions of the streams of air issuing from. outlets 16 will .be changed. In other words, when the carriage moves across a given loom the streams of air will blow downwardly from a level above the arch of'the loom and on opposite sides of the hardness F in directions to trace two different, separate paths across the loo 9. and, onthe next passage of the carriage over the loom, the housings will be shifted so that the air streams will then trace different, separate paths across the loom. On the next trip over the loom the streams will. be vshifted back to the original paths.

Thus, two streams of air may each be caused to trace two paths across the loom, each path being equal to about /4 of the distance from the warp beam to the edge of the cloth over the cloth roll and in the next passage of the carriage over the loom, the streams of air may be shifted so as to trace two other paths each equal in width to the width of the first pair of paths and covering the half of the loom not covered by the first two paths. Conveniently, in the first passage of the carriage over the loom one stream D may extend from the warp beam about haif way to the harness F and the other stream E may extend from the harness to beyond the path of the shuttle, that is, about half way to the edge of the cloth above the cloth roll. On the next passage of the carriage i over the loom the first stream of air may be shifted to the position D so that it will extend from the harness F about half way to the warp beam and the other stream B will extend from the edge of the cloth over the cloth roll beyond the path of the shuttle andabout half Way to the harness.

Fig. 7 shows a modified form of housing and nozzle shifting means. In this figure the apparatus is generally the same as that shown in Figs. 1 to 6, the principal difference being in the details of construction of the housing and its shifting means.

The link 21!; is connected to a threaded post 20a which is fixed at its ends in a bracket 60. The motor 511 has a rotor shaft 6a which projects only a short distance beyond the motor housing as compared with motor shaft 6 of Fig. 2.- A disk 61. carries a bearing 61:: which is mounted on shaft 6a so that the disk may remain fixed while the shaft rotates. Posts 62 are afiixed to the motor housing and to disk 61 to support and prevent the plate from rotating. At its outer periphery disk 61 is surrounded by two rings 63, each substantially half as thick as the disk 61. Housing 8a, which is substantially like housing 8 of Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive, is secured to the outer periphery of these rings 63. These rings are connected together (by means not shown) and are attached to bracket 60 as by cap screws 64. The outer periphery of disk 61 and the inner peripheries of rings 63 are cut away to provide a runway for ball bearings 65. Rods 21a may be actuated cndwise by means substantially like the means shown in Figs. 1 to 4 and including cam 22, rod 25 and rod 57.

When the housing shifting mechanism including rod 25, cam 22 and link21 are shifted as described above in connection with Figs. l to 6, rings 63 are moved rotatively on disk 61 and shift housing 8a rotatably on that disk so as to trace paths across the loom as described in connection with apparatus of Figs. 1 to 6.

It will be understood that the extent of shifting of the housings Sand 8a depends on the location of the link 2 1 or 21a on posts 20 or zilqfrespectiveiy. When either of these rods is logated near the outerend-of, its post the angle through which the housing is shifted is at its maximumand when the connectionof either rod isnear the inner end of its post the angularity of the shifting of the housing is at its minimum. Thus, by adjusting the position of the connection ofthe links on the posts, any desired angularity of shifting of the streams of air may be obtained withirrthe limits permitted by the adjustment of the rods on the posts.

The volume and velocity of air which is delivered to the loom arecritical. Ifthevolume or velocity is too great the air will actuate the stop. motions and shut down the loom; and, on the warp side of the loom, will blow down throughnth enwarp and onto the floor where it will stir up lint andblow it toward other machines; and on the cl'oth side of the loom there will be much more air than the operators desire. We have found that when the :air stream at thecloth level of the loom has a lineal speed .of betweenabout ltlOQ and about 2,800 feet per minute and avolurneiofbetween about 800 and about 1,200 cubicfe et perminute, the loom will be effectively and satisfactorily cleaned and will continue to operate properly. Air in smaller volume or at lower velocity, or both, will beflin'etfec'tive cleaning the parts of the loom beneath the warp while air in greater amounts or at greater velocity, or both, will actuate the stop motions andcreate undesired conditions. In general, the velocity may bathe, samef or both the warp and cloth sides of the loon but the volnrne should be a little less for the cloth side than for tlre warp. side. The foregoing limits include these variations.

The volume and velocity of air at the cloth level may be variedlwithin the foregoing limits in various ways. If a given blower installa tion delivers too great a volume of air, the yolurnemaybe decreased by fitting a ring into the intake opening, as opening 9 of Fig. 4, the radial width of this ringbein g such as to reduce the air taken in sufliciently to bring the voluinekofair delivered through the outlet opening downto the, desired amount. In other words, by varyin g the size of the intake with what might be called adapter rings, the volume of air delivered at the cloth level ,Inaybevaricd as desired.

If it is desired to vary the velocity of the air at the cloth level, this may be, doneby varying the distance between the outlet nozzle of the fan housing and the cloth level oftlre loom, If the velocity at the cloth level is to be increased with a given blower installation, the blower may be lowered closer to the arch of the loom or the same effect may be obtained by providing the nozzle with an, extension which releases the air closer to the arch of the loom. Similarly, if the velocity at the cloth level is to be decreased, the blower installation may be moved farther away from the arch of the loom or the outlet from the fan housing may beeffec tively raised by taking away removable extensions thereof This applicationis a division of our copending applicationSerial No 2 0 2,856, filed December 27, 1950, now Patent No. 2,729,845, issued January 10, 1956.

Having thus desc u ibled the present invention so that others skilled in the 'art may be able to understand and practice .the same, we state that what we desired to secure by Lettersil ateiitl is definedin what is claimed.

What is claimedis: V

1. The method of removing lint from looms which comprisesthe stepsof creating a stream. of air and dirccting it downwardly onto the warp of a row of looms on one side ofjthe loom harnesses, while repeatedly moving said streani so that it travels across the,looms and comes into contact with substantially all parts of the warp between the warp rcills andtheharnesses, said stream of air having, at the" ieter'jan "area substantially less in length'than thewidthof the warp at the warp roll and substantially less than the'distance from the warp roll to the, harness, said stream having a velocity and volume sufficient to pass between the warp strands and remove lint from loom parts below the warp but insufiicient to actuate the stop motions of the loom, the velocity of said stream, at the warp level, being between about 2,000 and about 2,800 feet per minute.

2. The method of removing lint from looms which comprises the steps of creating a stream of air and directing it downwardly onto the warp of a row of looms on one side of the loom harnesses, while repeatedly moving said stream so that it travels across the looms and comes into contact with substantially all parts of the warp between the warp rolls and the harnesses, said stream of air having, :at the warp level, an area substantially less in length than the width of the warp at the warp roll and substantially less in width than the distance from the warp roll to the harness, said stream having a velocity and volume sufficient to pass between the warp strands and remove lint from loom parts below the warp but insufficient to actuate the stop motions of the loom, the volume of said stream, at the warp level, being between about 800 and about 1,200 cubic feet per minute, the velocity of the stream being at least about 2,000 feet per minute.

3. The method of removing lint from looms which comprises \the steps of creating a stream of air and blowing it downwardly onto the warp of a row of looms on one side of the loom harnesses, while repeatedly moving said stream so that it travels across the looms and comes into contact with substantially all parts of the warp between the harnesses and the cloth, said stream of air having, at the warp level, an area substantially less in length than the width of the cloth and substantially less in width than the distance from the cloth roll to the harness, said stream having a velocity and volume sufiicient to pass between the warp strands and remove lint from loom parts below the warp but insufficient to actuate the stop motions of the loom, the velocity of said stream being between about 2,000 and about 21,800 feet per minute.

4., The method of removing lint from looms arranged in a row with the longitudinal axes of their arches, warp and cloth rolls in approximate alignment respectively which comprises the steps of blowing downwardly on opposite sides of the loom harnesses streams of air each having, at the warp level, a width substantially less than distance from the harness to the adjacent roll, a velocity of between about 2,000 and about 2,800 feet per minute and a volume of between about 800 and about 1,200 cubic feet per minute and repeatedly moving said streams across the loom transversely of the warp.

5. The method of removing lint from looms arranged in -a row with the longitudinal axes of their arches, warp and cloth rolls in approximate alignment respectively which comprises the steps of blowing downwardly on opposite sides of the loom harnesses streams of air each having, at the warp level, a width substantially less than the distance from the harness to the adjacent roll, a velocity of between about 2,000 and about 2,800 feet per minute and a volume of between about 800 and about 1,200 cubic feet per minute, repeatedly moving said streams across the loom transversely of the warp, and repeatedly blowing said streams through substantially all parts of the warp from the warp roll to the cloth by moving the air streams toward and away from the harness.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,447,418 Kenney Mar. 6, 1923 1,517,961 Cummings Dec. 2, 1924 1,857,410 Smith May 10, 1932 1,920,768 Smith Aug. 1, 1933

Claims (1)

1. 2.THE METHOD OF REMOVING LINT FROM LOOMS WHICH COMPRISES THE STEPS OF CREATING A STREAM OF AIR AND DIRECTING IT DOWNWARDLY ONTO THE WARP OF A ROW OF LOOMS ON ONE SIDE OF THE LOOM HARNESS, WHILE REPEATLY MOVING SAID STREAM SO THAT IT TRAVELS ACROSS THE LOOMS AND COMES INTO CONTACT WITH SUBSTANTIALLY ALL PARTS OF THE WARP BETWEEN THE WARP ROOLS AND THE HARNESS, SAID STREAM OF AIR HAVING, AT THE WARP LEVEL, AN AREA SUBSTANTIALLY LESS IN LENGTH THAN THE WIDTH OF THE WARP AT THE WARP ROOL AND SUBSTANTIALLY LESS IN WIDTH THAN THE DISTANCE FROM THE

Images