US2906087A - Antifriction bearing arrangement for spindles and the like - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 29, 1959 1 H. DE LANGEN 2,906,087

ANTIFRICTION BEARING ARRANGEMENT FOR SPINDLES AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 19. 1955 INVENTOR United States Patent O ANTIFRICTION BEARING ARRANGEMENT FOR SPINDLES AND THE LIKE Lambertus Hendrik de Langen, Arnhem, Netherlands, assignor to American Erika Corporation, Enka, N.C., a corporation 'of Delaware Application September 19, '1955, Serial No. `535,237

Claims priority, application Netherlands September 21, 1954 1 Claim. (Cl. 57-77.45)

This invention relates to the twisting of yarns and threads yand is more particularly concerned with an antifriction bearing arrangement for the mounting of a twister spindle for very high speed operation.

It is, of course, known in the twisting arts that the rate at which twisting can be accomplished is dependent upon how fast the twisting spindle can be turned. This is apparent when one bears in mind .that twist exists in the form of convolutions per unit length and the faster the convolutions can be made the faster the unit length of thread can move through the twisting area. At the present time not only are twisting spindles widely used but spindles for false twisting are employed for imparting curl to thermoplastic synthetic iibers. Here again the speed of the false twister in a. measure controls how fast the curl-ing operation may take place.

It is well known in the antifriction bearing art that tball and roller bearings can support shafts or spindles for :rotation at m'uch higher speeds than plain bearings. On the other hand, even ball and roller bearings are limited by the speed at which the ba'lls or rollers may ebe turned with the result that a modern twisting spindle even in a ball bearing mount is incapable of rotating at :a high enough speed fully to exploit the high speed take nlp devices which are available today to the textile infdustry.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an antifriction bearing in which the speed of the rotating member may greatly exceed the speed limitations normally imposed by the ball or roller elements.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a false twister spindle capable of tremendous rotational speed whereby a processing operation such as imparting curl to thermoplastic yarn may be performed at speeds greatly in excess of those achieved by the prior art.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention Will be apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof in conjunction with the single figure of drawing wherein the invention is shown in application to a false twister for imparting curl to thermoplastic yarn, the bearing arrangement of the present invention being shown in vertical section.

ln the drawing the numeral represents a stationary frame on which a hollow -spindle 11 is mounted for high speed rotation. The 'upper end of the hollow spindle 11 enters rthe hub 12 of the dish or balloon guiding assembly 13. This assembly comprises a belt pulley 14, a flared member 15 for balloon control and a cylindrical yarn wrapping surface 16 connected to the hollow interior of the spindle 11 by ports 17. It will be recognized that the thread to be twisted enters the hollow interior of the spindle 11 at the bottom of the spindle as lit appears in the figure of drawing. It moves upwardly Patented Sept. 29, 1959 rial No. 450,486, filed August 17, 1954, now abandoned,

which is commonly owned herewith and the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.

The present invention is concerned with the bearings which mount the spindle 11 for very high speed rotation. A roller bearing cage 18 is mounted in a sleeve 19 which also mounts a ball bearing cage 20 at its opposite end. The axial displacement of the cage 20 out of the sleeve 19 is prevented by a stop ring 21 and the axial displacement of the roller bearing cage 18 out of the sleeve 19 is prevented by an annular disc 22. Between the cages 18 and 20 there extends a positioning coil spring 23. At the upper end of the sleeve 19, the outer surface is formed to define a belt pulley 24. The lower outer surface of the sleeve 19 isy set in a ball bearing race 25 which is held in a fixed sleeve 26 between a ring 27 and a coil spring 2S. The upper end of the coil spring 28 acts on the bottom of a roller bearing assembly 29 which is positioned by an annular disc 30. The sleeve 26 is capped at the top with a cap 31 through which the sleeve 19 and its contents project and the bottom thereof is capped by a cap 32 through which the hollow end of the spindle 11 projects. A nut 33 holds the sleeve 26 in fixed relation to the frame 10.

It can now be seen that the sleeve 26 is a stationary part but that sleeve 19 is yso mounted that it may rotate not only relative to the spindle 11 but likewise relative to the sleeve 26. If now a belt is connected to the pulley 24 and the pulley is driven at about 40,000 r.p.m. in relation to the stationary sleeve 26, and if another belt is connected to the pulley 14 and it is driven at about 80,000 r.p.m. relative to the sleeve 19, it will be seen that the spindle 11 will rotate at 120,000 rpm. in relation to the stationary sleeve 26 or in fact the machine frame. This speed is very much beyond the capabilities of the ball or roller bearings here disclosed were these bearings interposed between the spindle 11 and a fixed part. By interposing a floating rotating sleeve 19, however, the total speed rwhich any one of these bearings is required to withstand is within its capabilities. Note that the distribution of speed is about two to one as between the bearing group 18-20 and the bearing group 25-29. This is due to the difference in diameter of the two journals with resulting difference in peripheral speed per unit r.p.m.

While the present invention is shown applied to a false twisting spindle, it is apparent that the invention is o-f general utility 'where a shaft is required to be supported for exceedingly high rotational speeds as, for example, in other twisting and textile uses.

What is claimed is:

A high speed thread twisting assembly comprising a rotatable spindle having an axial opening formed therein for receiving traveling thread, means defining a radial port in one end of said spindle, said port communicating with said axial opening and adapted to receive and impart 4twist to said traveling thread uipon rotation of said spindle, a first drive pulley secured to said spindle adjacent to said port by which the spindle may be rotated, a rotatable sleeve surrounding said spindle, rst bearing elements mounted within said rotatable sleeve for rotatably supporting said spindle, a stationary sleeve surrounding said rotatable sleeve, second bearing ele 3 4 ments mounted within said stationary sleeve for rotatably References Cited in the le of this patent supporting said rotatablesleeve, and a second drive pulley FOREIGN PATENTS secured to said rotatable sleeve by which said sleeve may be rotated independently of but in the same direction as 641044 France API" 10 1928 said spindle, whereby the relative motion between the 5 Ilrfgng, 231, spindle, sleeves and bearing elements may be reduced, 917,537 Germany Sept. 6 1954 thereby permitting an increase in the speed of rotation of said-spindle and `theyli-near speed sof :said `traveling thread.

454,56() Italy Jan. 24, 195Q

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