US2832999A - Electrostatically insulated coiler head mechanism - Google Patents

Description

y 1958 J. R. WHITEHURST 2,832,999

ELECTROSTATICALLY INSULATED COILER HEAD MECHANISM Filed March 14, 1955 5s 56 GI 60 INVENTORZ Joe R. WWTEH U251.

ATTORNEYS 2,832,999 "Patented May 6, 1958 ELECTROSTATICALLY INSULATED COILER HEAD MECHANISM Joe R. Whitehurst, Bessemer City, N. (1., assignor to ideal Industries, Inna, Bessemer City, N. C., a corporation of N orth'Carolina Applicafion March 14, 1955, Serial No. 494,171

6 Claims. (Cl. f19-159) This invention relates to coiler head mechanisms for drawing frames, carding machines and the like and it is particularly concerned with improvements in a coiler head mechanism of the type disclosed in United States Patent No. 2,700,797 issued to Elvin B. Robinson on February 1, 1955.

As is well known in the art, a coiling mechanism is disposed above a can and rotates relative to the can for depositing sliver in the can in a spiral manner. As the can becomes filled, the coils of sliver protrude above the can, bear against the lower surface of the coiling mechanism and raise the coiling mechanism slightly upon the can being filled to the desired capacity. It has been customary to make the coiler mechanism entirely from metal, as well as the means supporting the coiler mechanism and the rotary motion of the coiler mechanism on the parts supporting the same as well as against the coils of sliver in the filled can have resultedina great amount of friction and the creation of static electricity. As is well known, the static electricity developedby the relaimproved coiler head wherein a metal annular gear is supported on a'disk made from an anti-static material,

such as ceramic or plastic material, fiberboard or-the like, which rotates in acoiler plate also made from plastic, fiberboard or other anti-static material.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a coiler mechanism of the character last described wherein the opening in which the disk of the coilerhead is positionedhas an inwardly projecting annular flange thereon which underlies an outwardly projecting annular flange onthe disk and the proximal surfaces of said flanges are provided with metal races made from a suitable metallic bearing material so the" race on the disk may rotate in engagement with the race on the coiler plate when the disk is not supported by the coiled sliver in the can or, in the event of failure of other bearing means to maintain the annular'bearing race on the disk in spaced relation abovethe annular bearing race on the coiler plate.

Some of the objects of the invention havingbeen-stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a fragmentary somewhat schematic vertical sectional view taken through a portion of a drawing frame and .the improved coiler head mechanism and the support for thecan and showing the main elevation with the central portion thereof broken away;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view taken substantially along line 2-2 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially along line 3-3 in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view similar to the righthand portion of Figure 3, but showing a second form of race means disposed at the mating shoulders of the antistatic disk and the anti-static'coiler plate;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 showing a third form of race means on the mating shoulders of the antistatic disk and the anti-static coiler plate.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the numeral indicates one of the supporting members for the bottom rolls 11 on which top rolls 12 rest and through which a roving or sliver S is drawn and attenuated. The roll support 10 is supported on a channel-shaped frame 14. Sliver S is drawn through a trumpet 15 mounted in a swingable lever 16 fixed on a shaft '17. Shaft 17 has a finger 20 and a stop motion rod 21 fixed thereon and the trumpet holding lever or member '16 has a projection 22 having a set screw 23 mounted therein which is adapted to engage a stop motion lever 24 also mounted on shaft 17. The free end of .the'stop motion lever 24 bears against the upper surface of a coiler mounting bracket or spider broadly designated at 25, which will be later described in detail.

As is well known in the art, the free end of the stop motion lever 24 moves upwardly 'to stop the machine upon the sliver coiled in the can C engaging the lower surface of the tube gear assembly or coiler head mechanism, to be later described. Also, it is apparent that, when the sliver S parts, the pressure applied by its passing through the trumpet 15 will cease and allow the member 16 to spring upwardly in the usual manner, thereby allowing the stop motion rod 20 to swing downwardly at its left-hand end in Figure 1 to stop the machine.

A conventional drawing frame is also equipped with a driven coiler shaft suitably journaled on an improved coiler plate 31 which is provided in lieu of the usual conventional coiler plate and difiers from the conventional coiler plate primarily in that it is made from anti-static material such fiberboard, plastic or the like. The improved coiler plate extends substantially throughout the length of the drawing frame and is suitably supported by the channel-shaped frame member 14, such as by means of an angle bar 32 and screws 33. The

shaft 30 has abevel gear 34 fixed thereon for each of the coiler mechanisms and each bevel gear 34meshes with a bevel gear 35 integral with a third gear or spur gear 36. The gears 34, 35, 36 are conventional and the gear 36 meshes with an improved coiler gear to be later described.

The gears 35, 36 are fixed on the upper end of a substantially vertically disposed shaft 37 whose lower end has'a spur gear 40 fixed thereon which meshes with a train of gears, not shown, one of' which, in turn, meshes with a gear 41 fixed on a shaft 45 journaledin a suitable concave plate 46. The shaft 45 is integral with or suitably secured to a conventional rotatable platform '47 which supports and imparts rotation to the can C.

The parts heretofore described, with the exception of the specific construction of the coiler plate 3.1, are conventional and, although the improved coiler head, to be presently described, is constructed generally similar to the coiler head disclosed in said Patent No. 2,700,797, many features of its construction are peculiar to the pres ent invention, particularly as to the means for eliminating the development of static electricity.

The improved coiler plate 31 has a plur'a-lity of studs become worn.

or screws 50 thereon which slidably penetrate the free ends of spider' legs 51 of a coiler mounting bracket or spider 25. A compression spring 53 is disposed between the, head of each stud or. screw 50 and the end of the corresponding spiderwleg' 51. The spider'25also comprises a hub portion. 54 integral with or fixed to, the spider legs51 andin'which is mountedithe outer race55 of a sealed anti-friction bearing which has an inner race 56 with suitable balls 57? disposed between the inner and lower portion or base thereof has normally been'disposed on the same level as the lower-surface of the conventional coiler plate which, in this instance, is replaced by the improved anti-static coiler ,plate 31.

1 Now, in order to minimize the creation of static electricity, the metallic circular'base 64 fits in a recess 65 provided therefor in the upper surface of a coiler pressure plate orfdisk-66 which is also made from an antistaticzmaterial, such as fiberboard, plastic and the like. Thebase 64 is positioned in the recess 65 in order to insure-accurate.relativerconcentricity between the disk 66 and the base 64. i It will be noted that the base 64 projects upwardly above the uppersurface of the coiler pressure disk 66 and fits snugly in an annular groove 67-provideda on, the inner lowerperipheral edge of an annular coiler gear 70 which is provided in lieu of the usual tubegear andewhich, meshes with the gear 36.

Preferably, the pressure disk 66 is clamped against the lowersurface of the base 64and the shoulder formed by thelannular, groove 67 in the coiler gear70 is clamped against the upper: surface ofthe base 64by means of a plurality of circularly spaced screws 71 which penetrate the annular gear 70 and are threadably embedded in the coiler pressure disk or pressure plate 66 outwardly of the periphery of the-base 64.- It will be noted that the periphery, of the coiler pressure disk is substantially the same as the periphery of the coiler gear 70, the disk 66 being-formed with;a peripheral shoulder 72 thereon which loosely fits in a corresponding circular opening 73 pro- 1 vided in ,the coilerplateSl. The wall of the circular opening 73 in the anti-static coiler plate 31 also has an inwardlywprojecting.v annular shoulder 74 thereon which on the coiler pressure plate or disk 66.

The hub portion 61 of the coiler head body 62 has the open upperend of an inclined pipe or sliver tube 75 fixed therein whose lower portion extends through the circular base 64 and through the coiler pressure disk or plate 66. Of course, the sliver S passes through the sliver tube 75 in its course from:the trumpet 15 into the coiler can C. Ordinarily, the rotary parts of the coiler head,

, including the coiler head body 62, the disk 66 and the coiler gear70, are supported by the sealed anti-friction bearing comprising-the outer and inner races 55, 56, However, in order to insure that the rotating parts of the coiler head assembly are properly supported in the event offailure of the anti-friction bearing or for any other reason or" if the anti-friction bearing is omitted from the assembly for any reason, it is apparent that, since the coiler plate 31 and the coiler pressure disk or plate 66 are made from a pressed fiberboard or plastic material, the contacting surfaces thereof would not serve satisfactorily, as bearing surfaces, since they would soon Thus, I have provided an annular metal race of a suitable bearing material on the mating surfaces of the annular shoulders'72, 74, which annular bearing underlies the outwardly projecting annular shoulder 72 races are respectively designated at 80, 81. The annular bearing race may be suitably secured to the lower surface of the annular shoulder 72 and the annular bearing race 81 may be suitably secured to the upper surface of the inwardly projecting annular shoulder 74 on the coiler plate 31. It has been found that the upper annular bearing race 80 may be secured against the shoulder 72 by pressing the same on the lower portion of the pressure disk 66 and, likewise, the lower annular bearing race 81 may be secured in the opening 73 and against the upper surface of the shoulder 74 by a pressed fit. It might be stated that, although a space is shown between the proximal surfaces of the disk 66 and the opening 73, these adjacent parts are actually spaced an imperceptible distance from each other; that is, preferably within a tolerance of five one-thousandths of an inch from each other.

In Figure 4 there is shown a second form of bearing race secured to each the shoulder 72 and the shoulder 74 of the coiler pressure disk 66 and the coiler plate 31. Those parts in Figure 4 which are identical to parts shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3 willtbear the same reference characters.

The upper bearing race in Figure 4 is indicated at 83 and the lower bearing race is indicated at 84. As in the form of the invention shown inFigure 3, the bearing races 83, 84 are suitably secured against the proximal surfaces of the shoulders 72, 74 of the pressure disk 66 and the coiler plate 33. The bearing races 83, 84 differ from thebearing races 80, 81 in that the outer portion of the bearing race 83 has a downwardly projecting annular ridge 85 integral therewith which encircles an upwardly projecting ridge86 formed on the inner portion of the lower annular bearing race 84.

The third form ofcbearing means shown in Figure 5 is also similar to those shown in Figures 3 and 4 and,

here again, like parts shall bear the same reference char- 7 acters. The upper and lower annular bearing races in Figure 5 are indicated at 90, 91 and the medial portion of the lower surface of the upper annular race has an anular groove 92 therein, upwardly into which an annular rib 94 integral with the medial portion of the lower annular bearing race'91 projects.

The flat proximal surfaces of the annular races 80, 81 in the first form of the bearing means are disposed in such close proximity that they will ordinarily prevent lint and the like from passing upwardly between the coiler pressure disk 66 and the coiler plate 31. However, the configuration of the proximal surfaces of the bearing races 83, 84 and the bearing races 90, 91 inthe other two forms of bearing means may be desirable, in processing short fiber materials such as synthetics to further insure that the hut does not pass upwardly between the proximal surfaces of the corresponding coiler plate 31 and coiler pressure disk 66.

It is thus seen that I have provided novel means to prevent the creation of static electricity between the rotating parts of the coiler head and the stationary parts thereof which means is embodied in a coiler plate made from an anti-static material and which is further embodied in a coiler pressure plate fitting in a circular opening provided in the coiler plate, which coiler pressure plate is also made from an anti-static material and, also, wherein a novel coiler head construction is devised to facilitate the use of a coiler pressure plate made from anti-static material without sacrificing the strength of the rotating parts of the coiler head.

generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim: 1. in a coiler mechanism for laying sliver into a can,

a rotatable coiler head having a base thereon and an inclinml sliver tube mounted in said coiler head; the combination of a coiler plate made from anti-static material and having an opening therein, a coiler pressure disk fixed to the lower surface of said base and loosely disposed in said opening, and said sliver tube also penetrating said coiler pressure disk, the coiler pressure disk also being made from an anti-static material whereby the anti-static material in the coiler plate and the pressure disk prevents the creation of static electricity during rotation of the pressure disk and the coiler head relative to the coiler plate.

2. In a coiler mechanism for laying sliver into a can, a coiler body comprising a circular base, a reduced uprising portion on the central portion of said base, a stationary spider comprising a hub spaced above said base, bearing means supporting the upper end of said uprising portion for rotation in said hub, a sliver tube fixed in said uprising portion at its upper 'end and extending through said base at an angle, a driven gear and a plurality of circularly arranged legs extending radially outwardly and downwardly from said hub; the combination of an improved coiler plate made from anti-static material and having a circular opening therein, said circular opening being concentric with said coiler body and being of substantially greater diameter than said circular base, a coiler pressure disk fixed against the lower surface of said base and being loosely mounted in the corresponding opening in said coiler plate, said tube also extending through said disk, said pressure disk being made from an anti-static material, an annular gear fixed to the upper surface of the coiler pressure disk and engaging the first-named gear, and means resiliently securing the lower ends of the legs of said spider to the upper surface of said coiler plate outwardly of the periphery of the pressure disk.

3. A structure according to claim 2 wherein said pressure disk is provided with an outwardly projecting annular shoulder on the upper portion of its periphery, the wall of said opening in the coiler plate being provided with an inwardly projecting annular shoulder underlying the outwardly projecting annular shoulder on the pressure disk, and the proximal surfaces of the shoulders on the pressure disk and on the wall of the opening each having an annular metallic bearing race thereon.

4. In a structure according to claim 2, the upper surface of said pressure disk having a shallow circular recess therein, said base also being circular and having its lower portion snugly fitting in said circular recess, said annular gear having a shoulder formed on its inner lower periphery, and said shoulder fitting snugly in engagement with the peripheral portion of the base whereby to maintain the annular gear and the pressure disk concentric with the base of the coiler body.

5. In a coiler mechanism for laying sliver into a can; the combination of a coiler plate made from an electrically non-conductive material and having a circular opening therein, a driven rotary coiler head having a circular lower portion loosely disposed in said opening and having an inclined sliver tube therein for guiding and coiling the sliver into said can, and at least said lower portion of the coiler head being made from an electrically nonconductive material.

6. In a coiler mechanism for laying sliver into a can, a rotatable coiler head having a base thereon and an inclined sliver tube mounted in said coiler head; the combination of a coiler plate made from anti-static material and having an opening therein, a coiler pressure disk fixed to the lower surface of said base and loosely disposed in said opening, said sliver tube also penetrating said coiler pressure disk, the coiler pressure disk also being made from an anti-static material and being provided with an outwardly projecting annular shoulder on the upper portion of its periphery, the wall of said opening in the coiler plate being provided with an inwardly projecting annular shoulder underlying the outwardly projecting annular shoulder on the pressure disk, and the proximal surfaces of the shoulders on the pressure disk and on the wall of the opening each having an annular metallic bearing race secured thereagainst whereby the anti-static material in the coiler plate and the pressure disk prevents the creation of static electricity during rotation of the pressure disk and the coiler head relative to the coiler plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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