US2889034A - Yarn feeding and collecting device - Google Patents

Description

J1me 1959 s. G. HAWTIN ETAL 2,889,034

YARN FEEDING AND COLLECTING DEVICE Filed May 12, 1954 "FIG. I. FIG. 2.

United States Patent FEEDING AND COLLECTING DEVICE Selwyn George Hawtin and Denis William Groombridge, Spondon, near Derby, England, assignors to British Celanese Limited,a corporation of Great Britain Application May 12, 1954, Serial No. 429,307

. Claims priority, application Great Britain May 15, 1953 6 Claims. (Cl. 222-655) This invention relates to yarn feeding and collecting devices, and in particular devices in whichyarns, tows and other filamentary materials (hereinafter referred to collectively as yarns) are fedto cans into which they fall by their own weight and in which they are collected without being wound up.

When yarns are to be collected in this way it is most important that they should be fed evenly into the can.

yarn is wet, irregularities in the feed and hencein the arrangement of the yarn in the can maybe very troublesome, ihowev er carefully the operaa'on is performed.

.' We now believe the yarn tending to stick to the surface of the wheel, with therresult that it clings to the wheel over a varying distance beyond the point at which it would leave it in the absence of adhesion. This belieffinds support in the itwis lapped one or more times, and especially when the A that these irregularities are caused by p i fact that the novel feeding device described below, which provides much less scope for the occurrence of the efiect described, does in fact substantially eliminate or at the least greatly reduce the irregularities, and enables the yarn to be evenly laid in the can so that it can later be withdrawn from the can rapidly and cleanly.

The yarn feeding device of the invention comprises a. positively driven forwarding wheel in the form of a cylinder, a number of pegs extending laterally from one side of the wheel around its periphery and having their axes parallel or nearly parallel to the axis of the wheel, and means whereby a yarn, after lapping the cylindrical wheel one or more times, is caused to pass over the pegs before leaving the device. While the feeding device is of particular advantage when the yarn is to be fed into a can under its own weight, it may also be used to feed yarn to a winding device or other textile apparatus.

The pegs may conveniently be of circular cross-section, but Whether they are or not, it is desirable that as much of their surface as makes contact with the yarn should be so curved that the yarn does not pass over any sharp edges. We prefer to use five or more, for example 10 20, pegs spaced between about 2 and 6 inches apart. The yarn-carrying surfaces of the pegs may be flush with the yarn-carrying surface of the wheel, or may be stepped up slightly. Preferably the number and positions of the pegs are such that the length of a complete lap of yarn round them does not differ by more than 5%, and special- 1y by more than 2%, from the length of a complete lap round the wheel; indeed we have found it most advantageous to arrange the pegs so that the length of a complete lap round them is within 0.5% of the length of a Patented June 2, 1959 complete lap round the wheel. (By the length of a complete lap of yarn we mean that length of yarn which would completely encircle the specified part of the device in the absence of any means for causing the yarn to traverse along the device, which necessarily lengthens the path of the yarn round the device.)

To cause the yarn to pass from the wheel to the pegs some form of guide means is provided. This may for example. comprise a pig-tail or other yarn guide spaced from and opposite the pegs. It is preferable to provide also guide means to cause the yarn to move transversely across the wheel as it laps it, so as to keep the several turns of yarn separate. Thus a series of pig-tail or other yarn guides may be fixed in line, one or more being opposite the wheel and one or more opposite the pegs. Instead of the yarn guides a suitably placed skew roller may be used to effect the transverse movement of the yarn.

A yarn feeding and collecting device in accordance with the invention is illustrated diagrammatically in the drawing, in which a Figure 1 represents a frontal View, and

Figure 2 represents a side view, of the device in operation.

Referring to the drawing, the yarn feeding device comprises a wheel 3 mounted on a shaft 4 journalled in a bearing member 5 and driven by any suitable means (not shown). Cylindrical pegs 6 equally spaced round the periphery of the wheel 3 extend from the side of the wheel away from the bearing member 5. The pegs 6 are stepped up slightly from the surface of the wheel 3. A rod '7, carrying pig- tail yarn guides 8, 9 and 10, is mounted on the bearing member 5 and extends underneath the wheel and most of the length of the pegs, parallel to and in the same vertical plane as the axis of the wheel.

In using the yarn feeding device, a yarn 11 is passed in contact with the wheel 3, through the yarn guide 8, round the wheel, through the yarn guide 9, then partly round the wheel and partly round the pegs to the yarn guide 10, whence it is carried once more round the pegs and allowed to fall into a sliver can 12. Threading up at high operating speeds is made easier if a clutch is provided in the drive for the shaft 4.

The device of the invention is particularly valuable in connection with the production of cellulose acetate yarn by a wet-spinning method. For example, a spinning solution of cellulose acetate in acetone may be extruded into aqueous acetone or aqueous diethylene glycol diacetate in a device such as is described in one of the following specifications, viz: U.S. applications S. Nos. 217,816, filed March 27, 1951, of S. G. Hawtin and J. W. Grebby, now U.S. Patent No. 2,786,737; 237,397, filed July 18, 1951, of W. I. Taylor and S. G. Hawtin, now Patent No. 2,700,- 794; and 323,788, filed December 3, 1952, of P. F. C. Sowter and F. B. Hill; U.S. applications S. Nos. 451,190, filed August 20, 1954; and 451,191, filed August 20, 1954 (now abandoned), corresponding to UK Patent No. 787 557, both of R. J. Brown and I. Downing; U.S. application S. No. 451,193, filed August 20, 1954 (now abandoned), corresponding to United Kingdom Patent No. 787,558 of F. B. Hill and 1. Downing; U.S. application S. No. 457,721, filed September 22, 1954, of P. F. C. Sowter and F. B. Hill; U.S. application S. No. 457,684, filed September 22, 1954 (now abandoned), corresponding to United Kingdom Patent No. 787,560 of R. J. Brown and 1. Downing; U.S. application S. No. 451,192, filed August 20, 1954 (now abandoned), corresponding to United Kingdom Patent No. 787,561 of F. B. Hill and J. Downing; U.S. application S. No. 488,- 868, filed February 17, 1955, of R. J. Brown and 1. Downing, or U.S. application S. No. 285,238, filed April 30, 1952, of W. H. Bradshaw and R. 0. Denyes, now U.S. Patent No. 2,732,586; the yarn so formed, preferably after passing through an aqueous or other washing bath, may be fed by means of the new feeding device into a can. If desired, the yarn may subsequently be drawn from the can and passed to a stretching device, or it may be partly or completely saponified in the can, as described in British specification No. 688,781 of W. Whitehead and A. W. Keight. The new feeding device may be used also in connection with the manufacture of yarns by other processes, and in connection with treatments of previously formed yarns, for example the stretching of cellulose acetate yarns softened by contact with a hot aqueous medium.

Having described our invention, what we desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A yarn feeding device suitable for feeding Wet yarns into cans, comprising a forwarding wheel in the form of a cylinder positively driven about a horizontal axis, at least five equally spaced pegs extending laterally from one side of the Wheel around its periphery and having their axes substantially parallel to the axis of the wheel, the number and positions of the pegs being such that the length of a complete lap of yarn around them is Within 2% of the length of a complete lap around the wheel and means whereby a yarn, after lapping the cylindrical wheel at least one time, is caused to pass over the pegs before leaving the device.

2. A yarn feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the length of a complete lap of the yarn round the pegs is within 0.5% of that of a complete lap round the wheel.

3. A yarn feeding device according to claim 1, wherein as much of the surfaces of the pegs as makes contact with a yarn passing round the device is so curved that the yarn does not pass over any sharp edges.

4. A yarn feeding device according to claim 2, Wherein as much of the surface of the pegs as makes contact with a yarn passing round the device is so curved that the yarn does not pass over any sharp edges.

5. A yarn feeding device suitable for feeding wet yarns into cans, comprising a forwarding wheel in the form of a cylinder positively driven about a horizontal axis, at least five equally spaced pegs extending laterally from one side of the wheel around its periphery and having their axes substantially parallel to the axis of the wheel, the number and positions of the pegs being such that the length of a complete lap of yarn around them is within 2% of the length of a complete lap around the Wheel, and means whereby a yarn, after lapping the cylindrical Wheel at least one time, is caused to pass over the pegs before leaving the device, the means for causing the yarn to pass over the pegs after lapping the wheel comprising at least one yarn guide spaced from and in an extension of a radius of the wheel, and at least one other spaced from and on an extension of a straight line passing through and perpendicular to the axis of the polyhedral figure Whose edges are the axes of the pegs.

6. A yarn feeding device suitable for feeding wet yarns into cans, comprising a forwarding wheel in the form of a cylinder positively driven about a horizontal axis, at least five equally spaced pegs extending laterally from one side of the Wheel around its periphery and having their axes substantially parallel to the axis of the wheel, the number and positions of the pegs being such that the length of a complete lap of yarn around them is Within 0.5% of the length of a complete lap around the Wheel, as much of the surface of the pegs as makes contact with a yarn passing round the device being so curved that the yarn does not pass over any sharp edges, and means whereby a yarn, after lapping the cylindrical Wheel at least one time, is caused to pass over the pegs before leaving the device, the means for causing the yarn to pass over the pegs after lapping the wheel comprising at least one yarn guide spaced from and in an extension of a radius of the wheel, and at least one other spaced from and on an extension of a straight line passing through and perpendicular to the axis of the polyhedral figure whose edges are the axes of the pegs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,683,482 Phifer Sept. 4, 1928 2,259,202 Cooper Oct. 14, 1941 2,238,755 Cole Jan. 11, 1944 2,339,403 Pierre Apr. 30, 1 946 2,579,846 Moravec Dec. 25, 1951 2,661,522 Lowe et al. Dec. 8, 1953 2,702,623 Pelton Feb. 22, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 694,586 Germany Aug. 3, 1940

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