US2809401A - Process of making worsted type yarn - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 15, 1957 K. AVERY PROCESS OF mumc WORSTED TYPE YARN 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 2, 1955 ArsAX ATTORNEYS Oct. 15, 1957 K. AVERY 2,309,401

PROCESS o5" MAKING IOR$TED TYPE mm Filed Dec. 2, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 L INVENTOR lA r 14/519) ATTORNEYS.

PROCESS OF MAKING WORSTED TYPE YARN 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 K. AVERY Oct 15, 1957 Filed Dec. 2, 1955 Oct. 15, 1957 Filed Dec. 2. 1955 K. AVERY 2,809,401

PROCESS OF MAKING WORSTED TYPE YARN 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEYS.

BY 7, 71 MW.

Oct. 15, 1957 5 K. AVERY 2,809,401

PROCESS OF MAKING WORSTED TYPE YARN Filed Dec. 2, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 T1 ca .7.

ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent Ofifice 2,809,401 Patented Oct. 15, 1957 2,809,401 PROCESS OF MAKING WORSTED TYPE YARN Kent Avery, New York, N. Y., assiguor to Bachmann Uxbridge Worsted Corporation, Uxbridge, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Original application February 18, 1953, Serial No. 337,599. Divided and this application December 2, 1955, Serial No. 550,571

2 Claims. (Cl. 1H5

This invention relates to worsted top and yarns suitable for use in the manufacture of wearing apparel including high quality worsted type fabrics. This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 337,599, filed February 18, 1953, now abandoned, which was a continuation-in-part of my application Serial No. 670,752, filed May 18, 1946, now abandoned.

Existing standard practices or methods for making Worsted yarn for wearing apparel, including the Bradford and French systems, employ long wool fibers, often referred to as worsted wools, comprising fibers which run up to from 5" to 7" or more in length. Of these fibers approximately 65-80% by weight are over- 2" in length and approximately 30-65% by weight are over 2 /2" in length. Such long fiber wools are substantially more expensive than the shorter fiber wools used in making the Worsted type yarn as disclosed herein.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide worsted top and yarn which compares favorably with high quality worsted top and yarn presently commercially available and whichis unique in its short-fiberlength distribution. i i

Another object of the invention is to provide high quality worsted yarn which has the advantage of economy both in the raw material employed and in the processing of the fibers into'yarn, and from which worsted top fabrics may be made effecting a substantial economy over fabrics of substantially equal quality made from standard worsted wools.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple, practical and efiicient process for the production of worsted yarn.

Other objects of the invention will be in part obvious or in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, arrangements of parts, and in the several steps and relation and order of each of said steps to one or more of the others thereof, all as will be pointed out in the following description, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

The invention will best be understood if the following description is read in connection with the drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic elevation of the picker;

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic elevation of the card and associated feed and discharge apparatus;

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic elevation of a draw frame used in the first drawing operation;

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic elevation of the comber;

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic detail view illustrating the joining of the trailing edge of the previously combed lap and the leading edge of the newly combed fringe, proportions being exaggerated in this view for clearness;

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic plan view of the discharge of the comber showing the manner in which slivers from the several combing heads of the machine are combined for drafting as they leave the comber;

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic elevation of a draw frame used in carrying out a drafting operation subsequent to the combing step;

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic elevation of roving apparatus and also shows a draw frame for carrying out a drafting operation just preceding the roving step; and

Figure 8 is a diagrammatic elevation of apparatus used in the spinning step of the process.

Wool suitable for use as a raw material in my process, may, for example, be the noil obtained as a by-product from the combing of worsted wools, or woolen wools such as pieces," crutchings" and shortings" can be used. Suitable short-fiber wools are obtained from sheep that have been clipped more frequently than once a year or wools that have been pulled from the pelts of slaughtered sheep. By my process short-fiber scoured wools of the type referred to above may be made into worsted top and yarn of good quality. The process comprises fewer operations than standard processes of making worsted yarn, and yarns made by my process and having the short-fiber-length distribution taught in this disclosure, can be produced at lower cost than the longer-fiber yarns made by the prior art processes. The resulting worsted top and yarn has a strength and appearance comparable with the longer-fiber worsted yarns of the prior art. Moreover fabrics made from yarns produced by my process have strength, appearance and wearing quality substantially equal to those of fabrics produced from the customary long fiber worsted yarns.

In one of its broader aspects the present process comprises converting. short-fiber wool top into spun worsted yarn by the steps of picking, carding, drawing, combing, drawing, roving and spinning. It should be noted that various operations such as gilling and back-washing ordinarily employed in the processing into worsted yarns of long-fiber wools can be eliminated in the present process. In standard worsted manufacture it is customary to control the shorter-than-maximum-length fibers during drafting by fiber carriers such as gills or porcupines but they are not necessary in the present process, and hence this process permits the use of simpler and less expensive machinery as well as eliminating a number of steps presently employed in producing worsted yarn.

In making my worsted top and yarn I have had very Avery Type Avery Type lk-lh French Type mwmwwwwwmm nwL 7 5 & 51 3 12%8 French Type 2&5

Percent by Weight Average mechanic Percent by Weight Average Type Warp Type Schedule 3 mmwwwmwmmmmmmmw 7655131694 122 7 0 51 WQQS 4W1.

Warp Type Schedule 4 Length of Fibers- Groups of istribution Mean Length.

3 satisfactory results using wool fibers at least 50% of which are not longer than 2" and .at least 70% are not longer than 2 /z In the following schedules 1 and 2 the fiber d of wool top used in manufacturing worsted top and yarn 5 of 64/76 grade by the Avery process, which is the subject of this application, is compared with the fiber distributionof the three different types of wool top known in the industry as Warp type, Average type and French Length of Fibers- Geoups 0t 56" n of the Wool fiber stock making worsted top and col fiber stock used in in each 36" Schedule 1 Mean Length.--

ges given 11 in the Brad- ;processes in making worsted pproxithe stated percentages would be table variable being proportional to y-weight of g worsted yarn by the French ed in the or less,

are "not y use y weight do not of which do not in length, and 85% or more of which do not exceed 2%" :in length.

ight do do notexceed 2"; and

pplicant to definitely for all manufacturers it range having a variation of a the Avery system p and yarn I preferabl re of which b exceed 1% in length and 65% or more exceed '2" ght variation between ditfcrent d the above percenta are representative of the fiber distributio ford and French prior art given in the above schedule Wool comprise only 20.16% b makin 943.69% by weight .of the total yarn by the Bradford system; y weight of the total fibers used according to the Avery system; 9% of the fibers us or less, and only 27.48%17.92% he Bradford system are 2" In making worsted top and yarn of 64/70 grade I have 21 70 obtained very good results using short fibers 99.6% of exceed 3" in length; 41.8% by we by weight exceed 2%" in length. .l have percent by weight of the fibers m0 m r. mo W3 8 m w s 1 mm mw mm h s 5 6 While there is some sli ,It will beseenthatas fibers 1 /2" or les yarn. While ,it is impossible for a state the range of such variations is believed that a mately 5%--;l-

batches of fiber-emplcye what acceptable, the accep the lengthof the fibers.

the total fibers in system;'.and only 7.8

fibers in making worsted 3 mg; but comprise over 36% b y in making vworsted yarn and whereas =0nly 10.1

French system are 2 of the fibers used in t which do not not exceed 1% 80.1% 97.6% by weight do not used stock in which the which are 1 /5"- or less are greater'than in the aboveex- 'ght of the French ype prepared in the ate to wool fiber gth i. e. what perype of wool top do ot exceed 2 Peroent by Weight Average yne yarn, and'worsted top in gives the percent "by weight the average fiber distributio 2515 0 d rrh w 22110 0 5 1 1 mw n a v ay tw mwa o y w t h Y n T t w n mkm n t W a rR m m o e ct h m m oe Nwgg Bp w vk e n n d m an a mama m n h mm r n t a h m m t a .N- mc So mad war Mvo S um sVzada .mw ymw t mM tm m ocw emr. S fh g U u W 6 c O n m. a n mwh afm wWB Th m o b v. d s u eb c g d 0 mi mmmm 0T mwv a l 5 Si r P Sdy e 9...: S VECH m pL mmw m m e I c n r. S 0.10 h mmm u .w m .c It u S w am l 0 e n W/ Y 0 W mi Q O S b. w a mm ff nfa O WooflkoemwC usedin the Avery process for yarn of grade 64/70 and of the w making worsted top afores h n s s & Q n S .S nmmwmfienmmw ea r1 rk krbrl rvmrhw P I I T F T IM '0' 01 Or Or 0 000 u 77665544332M.l1% 0 5 0 3 3 4 v. n u 1 u A 1 m. m wwwmwmmmucm 8 m mm 0000 2 m wm 51 w T V. b m e mmacnnnwwwe s e v c P A 2 p wmawmammwawmwa. r am mmmumi m H m m w an m n m h u I I u h D u a. h m m :Warp

Schedule 12 gives the percentages by -we1 whichido not exceed a stated len what percent do n of fin ups 'lhe gtollowing Schedules 3 and 4 are same way as Schedules 1 and 2 but rel stock used in making worsted ers lis chedule :2

cent of the'total fibers of a given t not exceed llti'f getcent do not exceed 2%" in length etc.

length of FIbees -Grc MeenLengththe casenof the Avery process of- :grade 62:

ample. I have also successfully used stock in which the percent by weight of the fibers which are 2 /5" or less in length has been 95.2%; the percent by weight of fibers 2" or less has been 68.2%; and the percent by weight of fibers 1 /2" br'less has been 28%. 5

The following table shows the distribution of both average and maximum length stock I have used in producing worsted top and yarn of 64/70 grade:

Average Maximum Fiber length Wt. in Fiber Length Wt. in

Percent Percent Total 100.0

The following fiber distribution is representative of yarn I have made of 60/62 grade: 39.2% by weight of 1 /2 or less; 73.9% by weight of 2" or less, and 94.5% by weight of 2 /2" or less. I have used stock having a larger percentage of the fibers of said lengths, and I have also successfully used stock in which the percent by weight of the fibers which are 2 /2" or less has been 93.6%; in which the fibers 2 or less has been 56%, and in which the fibers 1 /2" or less has been 26.5%.

The following table shows the distribution representative of both average and maximum length stock I have used in producing worsted top and yarn of 60/62 grade:

Average Maximum Fiber length Wt. in Fiber Length Wt. in

Percent Percent 4.5-5.0 "2i? "(1'5 a 3. f 3.0-3.5 0.8 0. a 40 2.5-3.0 4. J 5. 6 2.0-2. 20. 6 37. 6 1.5-2. 3'1. 7 29.3 1.0-1. 27.6 19. 9 .75-1. 7.7 4.6 .50-.75 2.9 1. 5 .25-.50 0. 7 0.4 .00-.25 0.3 0.1

Total 100. 0 Total 100. 0

The present method taught herein avoids the processing of fibers in bulk, such as occurs in the manufacture of worsted top which commonly weights 250 to 230 grains per linear yard. With the present process, the product is handled as a relatively light-weight sliver averaging about 40 grains per yard and at no time exceeding one hundred grains per linear yard. By avoiding the heavy bulk characteristic of prior processes, a satisfactory yarn can be produced with fewer reduction steps.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment wool top, comprising fibers the longest of which are on the order of three inches, and more than 50% of which by weight, and preferably more than 65%, are not over 2", i. e. 2" or less in length, is prepared for carding by being fed through a picker, similar in some respects to a cotton picker, but of modified construction as will be explained. The picking operation opens the wool and removes therefrom residual amounts of dirt, grit and other foreign material and also puts the material into lap form for the subsequent carding operation. It should be noted that worsted wools are not prepared for carding by picking in any of the conventional prior art systems.

The second step of the preferred embodiment of my process is carding, which in accordance with my invention can be carried out on a relatively simple one-cylinder roller card, employing as few as three workers and strippers. The wool is fed into the card in the form of a blanket-like lap as it comes from the picker. Since the wool has been previously opened by the picker, a relatively simple card can be used.

The product of the carding operation is a sliver which is lighter in weight per unit length than is obtained with long-fiber wools and has a smaller relative variation in weight from length to length and therefore requires less subsequent attenuation and averaging out." The high degree of uniformity of the product of the carding operation is to a considerable extent due to the fact that the wool is fed to the card in lap form and hence the lap feed to the. card is an important feature of this process.

Following the carding operation the fiber is subjected to drawing operations both before and after combing. In accordance with my invention, these drawings are carried out on a draw frame using drafting rolls only. As previously pointed out, this drafting operation differs from the corresponding operation of prior processes in that the prior processes used drafting apparatus incorporating gills 0r porcupines, whereas in the present process, the drafting can be effected by the use of rolls only. The purpose of the first drafting step is to parallelize the fibers as much as possible before combing.

The combing is carried out on a multiple-head comber described more fully hereafter. The machine is preferably so adjusted as to remove only a minimum of short fibers, thus reducing the waste or noil on the combing operation. The comber comprises a number of separate combing heads and the slivers from these separate heads are combined and drawn on the machine by drafting rolls similar to those employed on the draw frame used pr1or to the combing step. Thus the product of the combing operation is averaged, and is generally superior 1n evenness, and of less bulk, than the product obtained from the standard worsted combing operation.

The combing operation is followed by a drawing operation, usually two drawing steps, in addition to that which takes place as the product leaves the comber. In none of these drawing operations does this process employ gill boxes, or porcupines, nor does it use twist" for fiber control. Due to the evenness of the product obtamed from the comber, it has been found that two drawmg steps subsequent to combing are desirable to produce a product comparable with that previously obtained in worsted manufacture by using five to nine gilling and drawing operations. The drawing operations are followed by a single roving step and a single spinning step. For these steps I have found it possible to employ high draft roving and spinning frames similar to those used in the cotton and rayon industry but modified as will be described.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to the lefthand side of Figure l, the raw wool is carried by an endless belt or apron 10 to an elevator 12 which is an endless belt mounted on the sprockets 14 and 16 and driven in the direction of the arrow. The surface of elevator 12 is provided with pins 17 that pick up the wool discharged by conveyor 10 and carry it upwardly. Near the top of elevator 12 there is an oscillating fork 18 that oscillates through a small angle about shaft 20. The operating end of oscillating fork 18 is spaced at predetermined distance from the adjacent surface of elevator 12 and operates to limit the thickness of the layer of wool that is carried over sprocket 16. Wool removed by the oscillating fork 18 is thrown downwardly toward the bottom of the elevator and this action serves to open up the wool to some extent.

The layer of wool on elevator 12 passes over the sprocket 16 and is removed from the elevator by a dofferbeater roll 22 'mounted on and driven by shaft 24 in the direction of the arrow and provided with blades 26. The blades of roll 22 have a higher peripheral speed than the beltofele'vator 12 and hence remove the layer of wool therefrom and drive it downwardly along an arcuate grid 28 adjacent to the periphery of roll 22. The dotting and beating action of the roll 22 further opens up the wool and causes dirt and foreign material therefrom to pass through the interstices in grid 28 and fall into a container 30 which serves to collect these impurities. 7

From the grid 28 the wool passes down a ramp 32 onto an endless apron 34 which is driven in the direction of the arrow and carries the wool to a three-bladed carding beater generally designated 36. As the wool is conducted toward the beater by apron 34, it is held downwardly against the apron by a pair of corrugated press rolls 38 and 40. At the discharge end of apron 34, the layer or lap of wool passes between two feed rolls 42 which serve to feed the lap to the beater 36. The heater comprises three blades 44 which are provided at their outer ends with pins 46. The blades 44 rotate rapidly and carry the wool from feed roll 42 down over a fringe roll 43 and along an arcuately arranged series of grid bars 48. Because of the high speed at which they rotate, the blades 44 further open up the wool, and dirt and other foreign matter contained therein pass through the grid bars 48 to a container 50 wherein they are collected. The wool in opened form is drawn through a channel 52 toward a pair of screen rolls 54 and 56 that are driven in the direction indicated by the arrows thereon. The rolls54 and 56 have a screen surface and are internally evacuated through a conduit 58 by means of a fan 60. The vacuum produced in the interior of rolls 54 and 56 draws the wool against the screen surfaces of the rolls from which the wool is removed, after passing through the bite between the rolls 54 and 56, by the draw-off rolls 62. Material passing through the screen surfaces of rolls 54 and 56 is driven by fan 60 through a channel 64 to a housing 66 containing a screen roll 68 having a fine screen surface. The roll 68 is internally evacuated to cause the fine material suspended in the air to collect on the surface of the roll, and this layer of material is removed by a pair of draw-off rolls 70 and rejected.

From the rolls 62 the wool passes to and between a pair of endless belt elevators 72 and 74 which are driven in the direction of the arrows thereon and by means of which the wool is raised and discharged into a housing 76. At the top of the elevators, the wool passes between a press roll 78 and the top of elevator 74 and then through feed rolls 80 to a doffer-beater 82 similar to the dotfer-beater 24. The wool is driven downwardly by the doffer-beater 82 along a series of grid bars 84 similar to the bars 28- and is discharged into a compartment 86. At the bottom of compartment. 86 the wool is collected and conducted by a series of rolls generally indicated by the numeral 88 to a carding beater 90 similar to the beater 36. From beater 90 the wool passes between screen drums 92 and 94 which are provided with a vacuum and waste disposal system similar to that associated with rolls 54 and 56. The wool is removed from screen drums 92 and 94 by the draw-off rolls 96 and passes between calendar rolls 98 to a wind-up roll 100 which rests on the supporting rolls 102 and 104.

The wool on the wind-up roll 100 is in blanket or lap form and in the next step of the process is fed in this form to a card in a manner which will now be described.

Referring to Figure 2, the roll 100 is mounted to rest on an idler supporting roll 106 and the lap is drawn over a feed plate 108 by a feed roll 110 and delivered to licker-in roll 112 at a relatively slow rate. The lickerin roll 112 is rotated at high speed in the direction of the arrow thereon and may have a surface speed of about 70 times the speed at which the lap is fed thereto. The surface ofthe licker-in-rollis provided with pins or wires iii that catch the wool fibers and carry them downward past a pair of r'note knives 114 and series of grid be 1-16 to the surface of a main carding cylinder 118. T high speed of the l'icker-in roll 112 serves to open up ti wool considerably, and dirt and foreign materials ther by released from the wool pass through the grid bars 11 to a container 119.

The main carding cylinder 118 is rotated in the dire tion indicated by the arrow thereon with a peripher speed approximately twice that of the licker-in roll. Tl surface of the carding cylinder is provided with pins 1 wires and since the surface speed of the carding cylind is greater than that of the licker-in roll 112, the cardir cylinder removes wool fibers from the licker-in roll at carries them upwardly to a series of three worker rol 120 and stripper rolls 122 located adjacent to the top po tion of the carding cylinder 118. The worker and stri per rolls 120 and 122 are provided with pins similar 1 those on the surface of carding cylinder 118 and are n tated as indicated by the arrows. The worker rolls 12 rotate at a lower peripheral speed than the main can ing cylinder and remove a portion of the wool from tr surface of the carding cylinder. The stripped rolls 12 rotate at a speed intermediate that of the main cardin cylinder and that of the worker rolls and serve to tran: fer wool fibers from the worker roll back to the surfac of the carding cylinder again. As a result of this cart ing action the wool is further opened and dirt remove therefrom.

At the down-turning side of the carding cylinder 11 there is a dotfer roll 124, the surface of which is prc vided with pins similar to those on the carding cylindei The dotfer roll 124 is rotated at a surface speed consid erably less than that of the main carding cylinder an removes wool therefrom. Wool transferred to the doffe roll 124 is in turn removed therefrom by an oscillatin comb 126 oscillatable about a shaft 128. The remove fibres are drawn through a funnel 130 by a pair of roll 132 and thereby converted into a sliver which is coilel into a container 134 by a conventional coiling mechanism generally designated 136.

In the next step of my process the slivers produce from the carding operation are drawn in a draw frame i1 lustrated in Figure 3. As indicated in Figure 3, a num ber of slivers, in this case six, are combined and fed tr the first pair of rolls of a draw frame generally des ignated 142. In the draw frame 142 the wool passe: from the roll pair 140 successively through the roll pair; 144 and 146. The successive roll pairs are driven at suc cessively higher speedsand thus the wool is attenuate: or drafted as it passes between the roll pairs. Associatec with the rolls 144 there is a third roll 148, the surface of which is spaced a predetermined distance from the surface of roll 144. The purpose of roll 148 is to control the shorter fibers. It should be noted that the rolI pairs 140, 144 and 146 are relatively closely spaced and that no pins or gill fallers are used, control of the short fibers being obtained solely by close spacing of the rolls. From the rolls 146 the wool passes through a funnel 150 and calendar rolls 152 and is then coiled by a conventional coiling mechanism 154 into a container 156.

In the next step of my process the wool is combed in a suitable comber, such as that shown in Figure 4 of the drawings. The wool is fed to the comber in the form of a relatively narrow lap made by combining a number of slivers from the preceding drawing operation. A number of these slivers, say twenty for example, can be combined in a conventional lap-Winder to produce the feed lap for the comber. Since such a lap winder is well known in the art, it is not illustrated in the drawings.

Referring to Figure 4, a double-sided comber is illustr-ated wherein the rolls of feed lap are supported on corrugated rolls 162 and the laps are fed downward- 19 along guide plates 164 to the feed rolls 166 and 167,

the surfaces of which are provided with pins that engage the lap. It will be noted that the two sides of the comber, are identical in construction but do not perate in phase, that is to say, at any given time the two sides of the comber are performing different parts of the combing operation. For convenience the left-hand side of the comber will be described first.

The principal parts of the comber associated with the roll 166 are an upper nipper jaw 168 and a lower nipper jaw 170 which are relatively movable, a rotary comb 172 having the combing needles 174 arranged around a predetermined portion of its periphery, a top comb 176 and the detaching rolls 178. In general the sequence of operations is as follows: during the period when the nipper jaws 168 and 170 are separated, feed roll 166 is rotated to cause a small amount of the leading end of the lap to pass between the jaws, after which the nipper jaws are brought together to leave a fringe 180 of the lap protruding, The protruding fringe 18!) is engaged by the needles 174 of rotary comb 172 as the comb rotates and is combed thereby. The length of the fringe 180 determines the amount of waste or noil combed out. Waste is removed from teeth 174 of comb 172 by a rotary brush 165.

When the needles 174 have moved beyond the fringe 180, the feed roll and nipper jaw assembly swings outward to the position shown in Figure 4a. At the same time, the detaching rolls 178 are rotated in the direction of the arrows shown in Figure 4a to move the previously combed lap back so that the trailing edge 182 thereof is engaged by the fringe 180 that has just been combed. The direction of rotation of rolls 178 is then reversed to draw the trailing edge 182 and newly combed fringe 180 between the detaching rolls. At approximately the same time the nipper jaws open and the top comb is lowered to cause the parts to occupy the position shown at the right side of Figure 4.

Referring particularly to the right-hand side of the comber of Figure 4, the principal parts of this side of the comber are feed roll 167, upper jaw 169, lower jaw 171, rotary comb 173 with needles 175, top comb 177, and detaching rolls 179. With the parts as shown in Figure 4, the detaching rolls rotate in the direction shown by the arrows and feed roll 167 also rotates, but at a slower speed than the detaching rolls. This action causes a portion of the lap to be detached at a point below feed roll 167. Since the feed roll has a surface provided with spaced projections and since the feed roll is slowly rotating, this detachment is readily effected without breaking of the fibers. The detached portion of the lap is drawn by detaching rolls 179 through the top comb 177 and combed thereby. The feed roll 167 continues to rotate to feed another fringe through the nipper jaws for combing, after which the feed roll stops and the nipper jaws again come together to clamp the trailing end of the fringe for the next combing action.

Reverting to the left side of Figure 4, the combed wool passes through a sliver pan 184 and then through a funnel 186 and corrugated rolls 188 to a channel 190.

Referring now to Figure of the drawings, this is a diagrammatic plan view of some six combing heads of the type just described and further illustrates the manner in which the combed lap is drawn through funnel 186 to form a sliver and passes between corrugated rolls 188 of each of the combing heads. The resulting slivers designated 194 pass around the guide posts 196 in channel 190 and are combined as feed to draw frame generally designated 198 and particularly shown in Figure 6 of the drawings. Referring to Figure 6 the draw frame 198 is essentially the same as the draw frame 142 of Figure 3 and comprises the closely spaced roll pairs 200, 202 and 204. The rolls pairs are rotated at successively increasing speeds to attenuate and draft the fibers. From the draw frame 198, the drawn sliver passes htrough a funnel 206 and calendar rolls 208 to a Figure 8, the roving creels or bobbins 224 10 coiling mechanism 210 by which it is coiled into a container 212.

Referring now to Figure 7 of the drawings, the roving apparatus there illustrated I comprises a drawing mechanism 214 essentially similar to the draw frames 142 and 198 previously described and a roving spindle generally designated 216. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention here being described, the wool sliver is preferably subjected to three drawing operations between the combing and roving steps, the first of these drawing operations being illustrated in Figure 6. The second of these drawing operations is not illustrated in the drawings, but can be carried out on a drawing frame such as frames 142, 198 and 214 and the product coiled into a container 218 (illustrated in Figure 7).

Still referring to Figure 7, sliver from container 218 is fed over a guide roll 220 and then passes through the paired rolls of draw frame 214 where it is further attenuated. From the draw frame 214 the roving passes to the fiyer 222 of the roving spindle 216 and is wound on a bobbin 224 in known manner.

The next step of my process is the spinning step which is illustrated in Figure 8 of the drawings. Referring to and 226 are mounted for rotation in a frame 228. The rovings from bobbins 224 and 226 pass over guide rolls 230 and 232 respectively and are drawn through a funnel 234 by cooperating rolls 236 and 238.. After passing through the rolls 236 and 238, the roving is supported on an endless leather apron 240 which passes over and is driven by roll 238. The apron 240 also passes over a supporting roll 242 and guide 244, and is held in tension by a tensioning roll 246. After leaving apron 240, the roving passes between a pair of drafting rolls 248 and 250 which rotate somewhat faster than rolls 236 and 238 and thereby further attenuate the fibres. The apron 240 serves to control the shorter fibres as the roving passes from rolls 236-238 to rolls 248250. Slip rolls 252 and 254 are provided which bear against the roving on the apron to control the fibre mass.

From the rolls 248 and 250, the emerging yarn or thread is spun in a conventional spinning device. Thus the yarn passes through a pigtail 256 to the traveler 258 of ring 260 and is then wound on the bobbin 262.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that the present invention provides a combed worsted top or roving or yarn and a process for making these products capable of achieving the objects set forth in the introductory portion of the specification. It is of course to be understood that the preferred embodiment of the process here described is illustrative only and that numerous changes can be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. The system of processing to convert short wool fiber stock into worsted yarn which comprises, (1) opening and forming a lap, (2) carding the lap and converting it into a sliver, (3) combining a plurality of carded slivers and drawing them by passing them between successive pairs of rolls, rotating at successively higher speeds, and spaced to handle stock having an average length on the order of one and a quarter inches, (4) combining a plurality of drawn slivers thus forming a lap and combing the lap, (5) converting the lap into a sliver and drawing it by passing it between successive pairs of drafting rolls rotating at successively higher speeds spaced to handle said stock, and thereafter subjecting the sliver to (6) a single roving step, and (7) a single spinning step.

2. The system of processing to convert wool fibers which are predominately from one-half inch to three inches in length into worsted yarn which comprises, opening the fibers with a picker and forming them into a lap, carding the lap and converting it into a sliver, combining a plurality of carded slivers and drawing them by passing 11 them between successive pairs of rolls rotating at successively higher speeds and spaced tohandle stock predominately one-half to three inches in length, combining a plurality of resulting drawn slivers thus again forming a lap and combing the lap, converting the combed lap into a sliver, combining a plurality of combed slivers and drawi hg by passing the combined slivers between successive pairs of drafting rolls rotating at successively higher speeds spaced to handle said stock, drafting the resulting sliver thereby further reducing its diameter and 10 twisting it to form a roving, and spinning the resulting roving.

I References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 287,405 Barker Oct. 30, 1883 12 874,714 Westcott et a1 Dec. 24, 1907 1,939,525 Schmitt Dec. 12, 1933 1,994,313 Jacobs Mar. 12, 1935 2,244,363 Holdsworth June 3, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 616,815 Great Britain Jan. 27, 1949 OTHER REFERENCES Woollen and Worsted, by Roberts Beaumont; published in- Londoni-n 1915 by G. Bell & Sons, Ltd. Copy in Division 21, pages 182; 198; 199.

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