US2828122A - Accumulating apparatus for flexible continuous sheets or webs - Google Patents

Description

March 25, 1958 N J. DQROBERTSON 2,823,122

ACCUMULATING APPARATUS FOR FLEXIBLE CONTINUOUS SHEETS OR WEBS Filed Dec. 27, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

March 25; 1958 J. D. ROBERTSON 2,328,122

ACCUMULATING APPARATUS FOR FLEXIBLE v v cou'rmuous SHEETS 0R WEBS Filed Dec. 27, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

United States Patent John D. Robertson, Taunton, Masst, a'ssignor to Mount Hope Machinery C0mpany, Taunton; Massi, a corporation of Massachusetts Application December 27, 1955, Serial No. 555,538

6 Claims. (Cl. 27-1-23) This invention relates to improvements in accumulating apparatus for flexible continuous sheets or webs'. It relates more especially to textile scrays, and the like, wherein a web of cloth, or other continuous and flexible sheet material, drawn from a supply roll, may be accumulated to provide a relatively loose intermediate sup'-' ply from which the cloth, or other sheet material, may be continuously withdrawn for processing. The inven= tion provides improvements in the accumulating portion of such apparatus whereby the material within and delivering to the said accumulating portion of the apparatus is more effectively and efficiently restrained and controlled as compared with prior comparable structures and procedures.

In the textile industry, for example, a relatively loose intermediate supply of cloth frequently is accumulated in a scray of either the so-called vertical or horizontal type. In each case, the bottom or floor of the scray ac= cumulator has a substantial portion which is inclined downwardly with respect to a horizontal plane. The sheet material delivering to a scray sometimes is in a wet condition and sometimes is relatively dry. In the socalled vertical scrays, the inclined portion of the scray bottom or floor ordinarily has a relatively steep incline, such as an incline of the order of seventy degrees with respect to a horizontal plane, for example. On the other hand, the bottom or fioor of so-c'alled horizontal scrays may have inclination of only from to 30 degrees from a horizontal plane. Sheet material deliveringinto a socalled vertical scray falls away from the feed means into the scray. Sheet material delivering into a so-called horizontal scray ordinarily must push sheet material ahead of it along the relatively slightly inclined bottom or floor of the scray. In each case, however, it is importantto restrain the accumulated material and the incoming material against undue lateral displacement on the scray bottom or floor. But, it also is important to avoid undue resistance to slip of the material along the bottom or floor of a scray in the direction of its downward inclina-' tion, this being especially true when either wet or dry sheet material is delivering to a so=called horizontal scray, and when wet sheet material is delivering to a socalled vertical scray.

In the textile field, for example, cloth-handling sc rays have employed abutment means in the nature of scray side-walls for limiting lateral displacement of cloth delivering to and accumulated in a scray. Ordinarily the abutment means includes provision for lateral adjustment of the abutments toward or from each other to accommodate cloth of different widths. These side-wall abutments, when properly adjusted for anypartic'ular' width of cloth being handled, do prevent undue lateral outward displacement of the edge or] selvag'e portion which is adjacent to an abutment. But instead of settling in the scray and accumulating in a fully spread condi tion, the cloth delivering-to the scray not infrequently tends to pile up in a folded and crease-formin co nd-i tion against one of the side-wall abutments. Also, when the scray is of the so-called horizontal type, friction between the deliv'ered cloth and the conventional plane surface of the bottom wall or floor of the scray frequently interferes with the desired sliding of the delivered cloth along the scray bottom under the urge of the incoming cloth and regardless of whether the cloth is dry or wet. An objectionable amount of friction similarly may intertote with sliding of wet cloth along the scray bottom of a so-called vertical scray. As a result, accumulated cloth, or portions thereof, may become objectionably wrinkled and creased within either of the mentioned types of scray.

My present inventionsubstantially overcomes the mentioned problems with a scray structure which includes means for engaging the delivered cloth, or other flexible sheet material, at spaced locations distributed across the full width of the cloth and which effectively maintain all portions of the engaged cloth against lateral displacement and lateral crawling within the scray. Also, the said engaging means constitute a series of spaced generally parallel longitudinal runners along which the delivered cloth, or other flexible sheet material, more readily can slide as compared with the prior scrays of the so-called horizontal and vertical types.

Hence, it is among the objects of my invention to provide a sheet material accumulating apparatus wherein a sheet material accumulator has a series of inclined generally parallel tracks on its bottom wall and the de livering sheet material more readily can be moved in spread condition along the tracks with the tracks tending to maintain substantially all portions of the delivered sheet material against lateral travel within the accumulator.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sheet material accumulating scray having an inclined wall poi tion provided with spaced and generally parallel upstanding longitudinal ribs for maintaining a generally fully spread condition of sheet material accumulated in the scray while facilitating sliding movement of 'the sheet material in direction along the sp'aced'ribs.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a sheet material accumulating scray whose bottom wall is' inclined and provided with sheet material engaging portions which simultaneously minimize frictional resistance to sliding of sheet material along said bottom wall and restrain the sheet material against movement of any portion of the engaged sheet material transversely of said bottom 'wall. 7

Still another object of the invention is to rovide a sheet material accumulating scray having a series of iriclined generally parallel longitudinal tracks upon which sheet material delivers in spread condition and along which the delivered sheet material slides while being maintained by the tracks in its spread condition,- and wherein there is means for readily varying the inclination of the tracks relative to any predeterminedplane.-

It is, moreover, my purpose and object generally to improve the structure and operative efficiency of sheet material accumulating devices and especially such devices 7 in the nature of scrays wherein delivering sheet material is accumulated as a replenishable intermediate supply from which the material may be continuously withdrawn for processing.- a

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig, l is a side elevation of sheet material accumulating apparatus embodying features of my present invention;

Fig; 2 is a cross-sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig; 1;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a fragment of the scray bottom wall of Fig} 2, on a larger scale, sheet material being diagrammatically represented by dotted lines supported by adjacent ribs out of cont-act with the bottom wal-lortions between the su porting ribs;

Fig. 4 is a view generally similar to Fig. 3 but showing a modified form of scray bottom wall structure; and

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional side elevation with supports in cross-section, of the sheet material accumulating portion of a so-called vertical scray which is shown supported in a fixed position, and the cross-section of whose bottom wall at line 22 may be generally the same as represented in Figs. 2 and 3 or Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows sheet handling apparatus which includes a frame having means at one end for removably supporting a supply roll12 of cloth, or other flexible sheet material, from which the material may be withdrawn intermittently by a sheet-feeding means 14 which is mounted on the frame above the supply roll 12. The sheet-feeding means 14 delivers the sheet material into the accumulator or scray 15 which has an inclined bottom wall portion 18 on which the delivering sheet material accumulates to provide a relatively loose intermediate supply from which the material may be withdrawn continuously for processing. narily, means (not shown) responds automatically, when there has been a predetermined partial depletion of the intermediate supply in the accumulator, to start operation of the sheet-feeding means 14.

Although the accumulator 16 is represented as pivotally supported at 20 on the frame, with provision for ad justment of the angle of inclination of bottom wall portion 18, as more particularly disclosed in my co-pending application Ser. No. 518,830, filed June 29, l955, entitled Sheet Material Accumulating Apparatus, it should be understood that my present invention has application as well to accumulators or scrays which have fixed positions and fixed inclinations of their bottom wall portions, as in conventional accumulators or scrays.

The invention relates, more particularly, .to an improved accumulator or scray bottom wall structure which minimizes frictional resistance to longitudinal sliding of delivered sheet material along the inclined. bottom wall portion while restraining substantially all portions across the width of the delivered and accumulated sheet material against any. substantial movement transversely of the accumulator or scray.

The invention provides spaced generally parallel upstanding ribs 22 which extend longitudinally of bottom wall portion 18 and which are arranged and adapted to serve as longitudinal tracks along which the accumulated material can slide or be pushed more readily than when the material rests, as in the past, on a relatively flat and smooth scray bottom surface. But, more important is the fact that the tracks or ribs 22 restrain the engaged material against appreciable lateral movement or slip on the bottom wall portion 18.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 2-3, the ribs 22 preferably have inverted V shape providing linear crests over which the delivering material becomes draped in a sinuous manner which avoids the heretofore troublesome problem of lateral slippage or crawling of the material with the prior resulting tendency to accumulate and pile up to one side or the other of the center line of the sway or other accumulator. Also, the ribs 18 make it unnecessary to have adjustable side abutments which, heretofore, have had to be adjusted inwardly or outwardly to limiting positions beyond which the material is pre-' vented from moving laterally to either right or left within the accumulator, However, the mentioned side abutments of the prior art do not prevent transverse move- I ment and slippage of the material between the abutments nor the previously mentioned tendency of the sheet material to become more or less piled up against one or the other of the abutments.

'The ribs or. tracks 22 may be suitably proportioned and arranged so that their crests engage the sheet material at suitably spaced locations across the width of sheets which may be of any of various widths, with the portions-1 of the material between crests more or less suspended; between adjacent crests although this intervening-material 1 Ordiadapted to engage thedelivered limp material settling may actually'engage or rest upon the portions of scray bottom wall 18 between the rib crests. In any event, the delivering sheet material becomes deposited over the crests of ribs 22 as diagrammatically represented in Fig. 3, and the relatively uniformly distributed delivered and accumulated material is more readily movable along the ribs 22 as compared with material accumulated and sometimes piled on the conventional relatively flat and smooth scray wall. However, the primary purpose and function of the ribs 22 is to maintain the delivered and accumulated sheet material against any appreciable lateral sliding or crawling of any portion of the material within the scray and independently of any side abutments. The ribs act to prevent any appreciable lateral movement of the material in either direction, and the material continues substantially fully spread and substantially free of objectionable wrinkles until withdrawn from the scray for processing.

Another important advantage of the ribs 22 is that they eliminate the need for the heretofore required adjustable side abutments for accommodating material of ditferent widths. Hence, a scray may be wide enough to accommodate sheet material of a predetermined maximum width, and narrower material accumulates in generally centered condition within the scray and no edge abutment is required to limit lateral movement thereof because the distributed ribs restrain the material against lateral travel. This is illustrated in Fig. 3 where the diagrammatically represented sheet material has its illustrated edge portion substantially inward from the side of the scray or accumulator.

In the modification of Fig. 4, the scray bottom wall is represented as made up of a series of overlapping ribbed sections 18', 18" which may be welded together, or otherwise joined, to provide a bottom wall of any desired width. The effect on the entering and accumulated sheet material in the Fig. 4 form is substantially the same as in the Figs. 2 and 3 embodiment.

It will be obvious that the inclined wall portion of the fixed vertical type of accumulator of Fig. 5 may have cross-section as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 or as shown in Fig. 4. The accumulator 16' of Fig. 5 is represented as mounted in fixed position on suitable supports 21. Also, it should be understood that the ribs 22, in either a horizontal or vertical scray, need not extend throughout the extent of the accumulator bottom wall but may, if desired, extend only along a selected portion or selected portions of the bottom wall. Furthermore the crosssectional shape and the number and spacing of the ribs 22 may be varied to suit particular requirements and conditions, it being intended that the patent shall cover, by suitable expression in the appended claims, whatever features of patentable novelty exist in the invention disclosed.

I claim as my invention: I

1. In a sheet material or web accumulating apparatus for relatively limp sheet material, an accurnulator having an inclined wall portion disposed for constituting a support for limp sheet material delivered upon it, means for drawing continuous sheet material from a supply source and for delivering it in limp condition upon said inclined wall portion thereby to accumulate an intermediate supply of sheet material in said accumulator, said inclined wall portion having a plurality of spaced, generally parallel straight ribs extending longitudinally along said wall portion and said ribs being arranged and thereon with the said material draped over the crests of the ribs, whereby the said ribs restrain the settled sheet material against any appreciable movement in directions generally transversely of the direction of horizontal extentof said ribs,each said rib having side walls extending fron 1, -its crest downwardly to said inclined wall portion, and each; saidside wall having an outwardly sloping surface portion for slidably supporting said draped material, and the regions between said ribs being clear of transverse obstructions.

2. In a sheet material or web accumulating apparatus for relatively limp sheet material, an accumulator having a wall arranged to receive and accumulate thereon sheet material delivered thereto, means for drawing continuous sheet material from a supply source and delivering it in generally fully spread condition to said accumulator, said wall of the accumulator having a substantial portion thereof extending with downward inclination from said drawing and delivering means and disposed for supporting sheet material delivered thereon for sliding down said incline, and said inclined portion of wall having generally parallel upstanding ribs spaced apart in directions transversely of said downwardly extending inclined portion, said ribs being arranged and adapted to engage the sheet material delivered upon said inclined portion with the limp sheet material draped over the crests of the ribs, whereby said ribs maintain said sheet material in generally fully spread condition within the accumulator as the sheet material moves downwardly along said ribs on said inclined portion of the accumulator wall, each rib having side walls extending from its crest downwardly to said inclined wall portion, and each said side wall having an outwardly sloping surface portion for slidably supporting said draped material, and the regions between said ribs being clear of transverse obstructions.

3. In a sheet material or web accumulating apparatus for relatively limp sheet material, an accumulator having a wall arranged to receive and accumulate thereon sheet material delivered thereto, means for drawing continuous sheet material from a supply source and delivering it in generally fully spread relatively limp condition to said accumulator, said wall of the accumulator having a sub stantial portion thereof extending with downward inclination from said drawing and delivering means, and said inclined portion of wall being disposed for supporting sheet material thereon and being formed with inverted generally V-shaped parallel and straight ribs which extend longitudinally downward along said incline and which are spaced apart transversely of the general direction of their longitudinal extent, said ribs engaging the limp sheet material which becomes draped over the crests thereof whereby said ribs maintain the sheet material in generally fully spread condition as the sheet material moves along the ribs down said inclined portion of wall.

4. In a sheet material or web accumulating apparatus for relatively limp sheet material, an accumulator having a wall arranged to receive and accumulate thereon sheet material delivered thereto, means for drawing continuous sheet material from a supply source and delivering it in generally fully spread and relatively limp condition to said inclined portion of wall being disposed for support ing sheet material thereon and having generally parallel upstanding ribs at spaced intervals transversely of said wall portion, and said ribs extending longitudinally down said incline and being arranged and adapted to engage said sheet material with the limp material draped over the crests of the ribs, whereby said ribs restrain substantially all portions of the width of sheet material having any of various widths in substantially fully spread condition within the accumulator, each rib having side walls extending from its crest downwardly to said inclined wall portion, and each said side wall having an outwardly sloping surface portion for slidably supporting said draped material, and the regions between said ribs being clear of transverse obstructions.

5. In a sheet material or web accumulator for relatively limp sheet material, an inclined ,wall on which the sheet material accumulates and is supported for sliding movement down said incline, said wall having upstanding generally parallel and straight ribs extending longitudinally down said incline and spaced apart transversely of their said longitudinal extent, whereby sheetmaterial in relatively limp condition becomes draped over the said ribs with the ribs serving as friction-reducing tracks along which the sheet material moves downwardly along said inclined wall, said ribs being arranged and adapted to restrain all portions of the width of the limp sheet material against appreciable transverse movement on said wall whereby the sheet material moving down the inclined wall is maintained substantially in fully spread condition, each said rib having side walls extending from its crest downwardly to said inclined wall portion, and each said side wall having an outwardly sloping surface portion for slidably supporting said draped material, and the regions between said ribs being clear of transverse obstructions.

6. In a sheet material or web accumulator for rela tively limp sheet material, an inclined wall on which sheet material accumulates and is supported for sliding down i facilitating sliding movement of the sheet material along said wall and said ribs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Drenkard Oct. 21, 1941 Leguillon Ian. 11, 1944

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