US2918778A - Textile machine - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 29, 1959 H. H. WORMSER TEXTILE MACHINE Filed April 19, 1957 IN V EN TOR. HA N 5 H. WORMSER ATITORNEY United States Patent TEXTILE MACHINE Hans H. Wormser, East Greenwich, R.I., 'assignor to liniversal Winding Company, Cranston, R.I., a corporation of Massachusetts Application April 19, 1957, Serial No. 653,973

5 Claims. (Cl. 57--35) The present invention relates to an apparatus for treating'a strand of yarn and more particularly relates to a multi-purpose apparatus for imparting crimp to a strand of yarn.

Since the advent of synthetic yarns, many processes and mechanisms have been developed for imparting varying degrees of crimp to the synthetic fibers in attempts to alter their feel and appearance to more nearly resemble wool, to enhance their bulk, to increase their heat insulating properties and to augment their stretch or resilience. The more successful of these prior art methods and mechanisms have broadly involved the steps of twisting the yarn, setting the twist in the yarn, and untwisting the yarn. These steps have been performed in various ways' with varying degrees of success. The most successful approach to the problem from a commercial point of view has been to'highly twist the yarn on twisting ma chines of the type known as uptwisters. The packages of:twisted yarn are then removed from the twisting machineand the twist set by subjecting the packages of twisted'yarn to a moist or humid atmosphere at relatively high temperatures. Following twist setting, the yarn is rewoundonto uptwister bobbins which are placed on 'uptwisters' and all or substantially all of the twist removed. This process has produced very good results and has achieved considerable commercial success when employed in connection with thermoplastic yarns as, for example, linear superpolyamides of the typeknown as nylon. While producing satisfactory yarn, it is extremely costly because of the length of time involved, the number oftimes the yarn must be'handled in the course of the various steps and the large amount of machinery that must be devoted to the work in order to obtain yarn in marketable quantities.

In order to overcome these disadvantages many attempts have been made to perform the twistings, twist settingand untwisting operations as a continuous process by employing a false twister. In general, a continuous process of this type involves the steps of wetting the yarn,

passing the yarn through a heating zone and then to 'a' false'twisting device while carefully controlling the tension therein, and finally collecting the yarn in a suitable package. Early efforts along this line contemplated the use of a steam chamber as the heating zone in order that the process might be as analogous as possible to the early non continuous procedure. There are, however, obvious difficulties in supplying steam to a multi-position twisting frame and, moreover, as greater rates of production were sought, the need for a more intense source of heat becaine apparent. Accordingly, -more recently the use of an electrically heated block-like metallic member has been suggested.-

Experimentation with these so-called heater blocks has ledto a division of opinion among those skilled in the art as to how they might be best employed for heating the yarn. Theyarn can be passed across the face of theheater in direct contact therewith and those who favor contact heating point out that better heat trans- 2,918,778 Patented Dec. 29, 1959 fer results, permitting a higher rate of production with less consumption of electrical energy. On the other hand, the yarn can be passed in slightly spaced relation ship with the face of the heater, being heated by radiation, and proponents of the radiant method emphasize that there is less likelihood of damage or discoloration of the yarns, resulting in a cleaner, whiter product. In addition, there are some who believe that the texture of yarn set by radiation is different from that set by contact.

This division of opinion is something of a problem to the manufacturer of uptwister frames modified for the crimping of yarn since he must be able to supply frames adapted for both types of heating. Further, a mill hav-- ing frames of one type may desire to convert to the other due to changes in policy or supervisory personnel,

and different customers of a single mill may demand I yarn processed according to their particular preference. The need for a machine that is readily and quickly convertible from radiant to contact heating and vice" versa will be quite apparent.

It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for continuously crimping yarn that is interchangeable with a minimum of effort I from contact to radiant heating and vice versa.

A further object is an apparatus of the type described having a multiplicity of positions in which all of the positions may be converted from one type of heating' to the other by a single operation.

An additional object is a heater member so designed as to be equally adapted for either radiant or contactheating.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description of one form of apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention taken in con junction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig.1 is a front elevation of a portion of an apparatus embodying the present invention, omitting unessential supporting components;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partial in section, corresponding to Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view, in side elevation, of

the heater member and associated yarn guides of Fig. 2;

and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken generally along lines IV-IV of Fig. 1.

In general terms the apparatus of the present inventiori is adapted to draw a strand of thermoplastic yarn from a source of supply, wet said yarn with water, aliquid including water, or other suitable fluid, pass the strand of yarn to a heating zone and a false twist spindle which highly twists said strand over a predeter-'- mined length thereof, the twist being set by the heating zone, and collect the yarn in a suitable package. heat applied to the wet twisted yarn in the heating zone preferably is sufiicient to at least partially plasticize the yarn and to convert the liquid carried thereby to vapor to thereby set the twist therein. After the twist has'been set, the twisted strand passes through a zone tive position, wherein the roller is engaged with a driv ing= mechanism therefor and partly immersed in a yarn Q Wetting liquid, to an inoperative position, wherein the roller is disengaged from its driving mechanism, out of said liquid, and accessible for a manual threading operation.

Reference is now made to the drawing wherein a. preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention is disclosed. As shown in Fig. l, the apparatus preferably includes a plurality of substantially identical units mounted side by side on an elongated base or frame, all being operated by a single common. source of power. Inasmuch as the gang mounting of textile machines is well known in the art and the units in the gang are substantially identical, only one unit of the apparatus will be explained in detail together with such other details as are necessary to a complete understanding of the invention.

A longitudinal support or shelf is carried by vertically extending frame members (not shown) and serves as a support or creel for the supply packages.

12 and 13 of thermoplastic yarn which is to be crimped.

by the apparatus. Support It} is provided with a plurality of pins 11 to position and hold packages 12 and 13 in predetermined locations thereon. Pins 11 are preferably arranged in two substantially parallel rows with the pins in said rows and the associated packages staggered with respect to one another in order to conserve space. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the packages 12 form a back row and the packages 13 form a front row. Inasmuch as false twist spindles are used to impart twist temporarily to the strands of yarn drawn from packages 12 and 13, the yarn being twisted does not ballloon to any appreciable extent, thus making it possible to position the false twist spindles closely adjacent one another. By staggering the packages 12 and 13 as above described, packages of large diameter can be arranged in the same amount of space.

A longitudinal rail 14 forming a part of the framework of the machine and supported by vertical frame members (not shown) has a plurality of yarn guide eyes 15 and 16 projecting forwardly therefrom. Guide eyes 15 are located above supply packages 12 and guide eyes 16 project outwardly a greater distance from the rail so as to be located above supply packages 13. Rail 14 also carries a generally U-shaped trough 17 which extends the full length of the machine along a locus slightly to the rear of supply packages 12. A shelflike bracket 18 projects forwardly from trough 17 and is provided adjacent its front edge with a plurality of yarn guide eyes 19, one for each supply package 12 or 13, and aligned therewith. In back of each guide eye 19, bracket 18 carries a tension applying device 20 which preferably is of the disc type, old and well known in the art. To the rear of tension device 20 another yarn guide 21 is provided to hold a running strand of yarn in the tension device.

A shaft 24 is disposed within the confines of trough 17 and is journaled for rotation in any approximate manner. Suitable means, not shown, such as a separate motor or a connection to the source of power driving the machine, are provided for rotating shaft 24. A gear '25, formed from a non-corrosive material, is fixedly secured to shaft 24 to one side of the vertical plane through each tension device 20 and its associated sup ply package. Fixedly secured to the frame of the machine along a locus spaced forwardly of trough 17 is a horizontal shaft 26 on which is pivotally mounted a plurality of bell-cranks 27, one for each supply package. Each bell-crank carries by means of a stub shaft 31 a yarn feed cylinder 28 and a gear 29 on its rear termination. Gear 29 is secured to one end of cylinder 28 so that the gear and cylinder rotate together as a unit. Both are preferably made from a noncorrosive material that will not be affected by the particular yarn Wetting liquid contained in trough 17.

4 Each bell-crank 27 is so positioned along shaft 26 that when it is pivoted rearwardly to position cylinder 28 in trough 1'7, gear 29 will mesh with gear 25. The forwardly extending arm 32 of bell-crank lever 27 functions as an operating handle by means of which cylinder 28 and gear 2 can be pivoted rearwardly to enmesh the gears. Suitable stop means, not shown, can be provided to hold cylinder 28 in its forward position. If yarn is wrapped around cylinder 28, it will be obvious that when gears 25 and 29 are in mesh, rotation of shaft 24 will rotate cylinder 28 to feed the yarn at a predetermined rate. Means operable to space the wraps of yarn on said cylinder may be supplied, if necessary.

A heating member 33 for the yarn from each supply package is fixedly secured to a longitudinally extending bar 34 above and in generally vertical alignment with cylinder 28. Heater 33 preferably takes the form of a metallic block having yarn guiding grooves 35 formed in the convex forwardly facing surface thereof. Heating member 33 can be heated in any convenient manner; however, it is preferred to embed therein an electrical resistance heater, not shown, which is connected to a source of current by suitable leads, also not shown.

In accordance with the present invention, the bottom wall 36 of the groove 35 is curved on a very large radius of curvature, except at the extreme ends which are rounded off, so that it departs from a straight line only length, as can be seen from Fig. 2.

ture is somewhat smaller than that of the groove bottom. The depth of groove 35, i.e., the distance between the face 37 of the heater block and bottom wall 36, is

so selected that even when face 37 is arcuate, the path of the yarn may be spaced from bottom wall 36, as shown in solid lines in Fig. 3, and still lie intermediate bottom wall 36 and face 37 over almost the entire portion of such path that is coextensive with the heater. In other words, assuming that the radii of curvature of both bottom wall 36 and outer face 37 fall on a common line through the approximate midpoint of heater 33, the normal curvature of face 37 should not intersect a line drawn tangential to the wall 36 at such radius within the vertical confines of the heater.

Located below each heater 33 is a yarn guide 41 and located above each heater is a yarn guide 42, both guides being so arranged as to guide the yarn along a path spaced slightly outwardly from the outermost projection of bottom wall 36. All of the lower guides 41 are carried by a common rail 43 while all of the upper guides 42 are carried by a common rail 44. In turn, the rails 43 and 44 are mounted for limited sliding movement laterally of the frame on fixed frame members 45 and 46, respectively. To this end, as can be seen in Fig. 4, both rails are slotted as at 47 and a shoulder screw 48 is inserted through the slot and threaded into the frame member. The diameter of the shoulder screw is somewhat less than the vertical dimension of slot 47 to provide adequate clearance and the projection of the screw head is somewhat greater than the thickness of the rail. A spring washer 50, having a dished shape, for example, may be interposed between the head of screw 47 and the outer face of the rail to eliminate wobbling. A greater area of contact between the edge of the washer and the face of the rail can be attained by placing a flat washer 51 therebetween. Frictional resistance to the movement of the rails relative to the corresponding frame member can be reduced through the use of lubricants or other known expedients.

In order that rails 43 and 44 may move as a unit, they are connected at their ends and other points, if desired, by a vertical member 53. Operating means are provided for readily shifting the rails laterally, which means may take the form of a hand lever 54 pivotally connected tothe vertical member 53 by alink 55 one end of the lever being pivotally mounted on a bracket 56 supported, in turn, from an end stand or frame member 57 of the machine, only a fragment of which is shown in Fig. 1. Movement of the rails to the extreme lateral positions permitted by the slots therein is insured by connecting an over-center spring 58 to the lever. Such a'spring'may comprise anordinary coil spring having one end fixed, as to a lug 59 supported by end strand 57, at a point below and in vertical alignment with the pivotal axis of lever 54 and the other end fixed to the lever above such axis. Since the spring will be at maximum extension when'its point of connection with the lever is in vertical alignment with the pivotal axis and its point of connection below such axis, it will tend to move out of such alignment-to a position-of lesser extension ori' either side thereof as limited by the ends of slots 47. Other operating means accomplishing the same result can'be employed.

A false twist spindle 62, driven by a belt 63, is attached above heater 33 to a bed 64 which is supported by 'vertical frame me'r'n'bers (not shown). The spindle engagesthe strand of "yarn" beingprocessed and'impar'ts twist thereto along the portion of the length thereof extending down to cylinder 28.

Arranged above and somewhat to the rear of false twist spindle 62 is a winding or take-up unit adapted to collect the running strand of yarn after it has left the spindle. As shown, two banks of winding units are provided in the apparatus of the present invention, the units in the banks being staggered for conservation of space. Each take-up unit comprises a rotatable driving drum 65, 65a, and means for holding a winding package in contact therewith. Two rotatable horizontal shafts 66, 66a, arranged in vertically spaced parallel relationship, are journaled in frame members (not shown) above and to the rear of spindle 62. The drums 65 and 65a are secured to shafts 66 and 66a, respectively, at spaced points along their lengths in alignment with supply packages 12, 13 and the twisting and twist setting mechanisms associated therewith. Reciprocating traverse bars 67 and 67a are located in front of each set of drums 65, 65a and each traverse bar carries a plurality of yarn guides 68 adapted to traverse the running strand of yarn onto a winding package, all in the manner well known in the art. A spool 69 is positioned above each of the drums 65, 65a so that its barrel, or the yarn wound thereon, contacts the periphery of the corresponding driving roller to rotate said spool and thereby wind the strand of yarn thereon. Any convenient means, for example slotted fingers 70, may be employed to hold spools 69 in position above said driving rollers.

The above-described apparatus is threaded for contact heating in the following manner: First, operating lever 54 is moved to the left in Fig. 1 to the dotted line position, shifting the guides 41, 42 out of alignment with the path of the yarn. Strand of yarn Y is drawn from each package 12, 13 and is threaded through the appropriate yarn guide eye 15, 16. Strand Y is next inserted through guide eye 19, through tensioning device 20, and then through yarn guide 21. The forwardly extending end 32 of bell-crank lever 27 is depressed to swing cylinder 28 out of trough 17 to an accessible position above tension bracket 18. Strand Y is then wrapped several times around cylinder 28. Next it is drawn upwardly in front of heater 33, through false twist spindle 62, over traverse guide 68 and finally attached to take-up spool 69. Spool 69 is placed in contact with the corresponding drum 65, 65a and bell-crank lever 27 is lifted to swing cylinder 28 downwardly and rearwardly into trough 17 to mesh gears 25 and 29 to thereby rotate said cylinder. The rearward movement of cylinder 28 lays strand Y in the groove 35 in heater 33 and rotation of the cylinder withdraws the strand from its supply package and feeds it towards heater 33, spindle 62 and take-up-spool-69. Rotation of spindle 62 inserts twist of one direction in'the portion of strand Y between the spindleand feed cylinder 28, and'inasmuch as that por tion extends past heater 33 and in contact therewith, the j a twist isset in the yarn. I is such that the strand Y is' heated to a temperature The temperature of heater 33 Y to cool below its plastic temperature before leaving said spindle.

When the yarn is to be heated by radiation, lever 54 is pivoted to the right in Fig. l, shifting the rails 43,-

44 likewise to the right, and placing guides 41, 42 in vertical alignment with the path of yarn at each position of the frame. The threading operation is the same as that previously described, except that the yarn is inserted through guides 41 and 42,'respectively, before and I The after being threaded through false twist spindle 62. guides are now operative to maintain the yarn slightly spaced away from-the bottom wall 36 of' groove 35. While heating by radiation, the temperature of the heater block may be slightly higher than when contact heating is employed.

Trough 17 is filled with a supply of water or any other desired fluid to a level above the lowermost part of cylinder 28 so that strand Y is thoroughly wetted prior to coming into the region of heater 33. As the wet yarn passes heater 33, the moisture carried thereby is vaporized to provide a high temperature vapor which in many instances assists in setting the twist in strand Y.

It will be obvious that feed cylinder 28 can be driven at different speeds. Therefore, it is possible to feed yarn into the zone between spindle 62 and cylinder 28 at a higher speed than it is being wound by take-up spool 69, to permit the strand to shrink as it passes over heater 33. Alternatively, the strand can be fed into that zone at a speed lower than the speed at which it is wound, whereupon it is stretched while it is in the plastic state, or it can be fed to the zone at a speed equal to its Winding speed so that it is neither stretched nor shrunk.

Since certain changes may be made in the above apparatus without departing from the scope of the invention herein involved, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A dual purpose apparatus for crimping continuous filaments of thermoplastic material comprising a source of yarn, a false twisting spindle, means for feeding yarn from said source through said spindle to impart false twist to said yarn, a metallic heating member having a generally U-shaped groove therein to receive said yarn, said heating means being arranged to heat said yarn while it is in twisted condition before passage through said spindle, electrical means for heating said member, movable guide means disposed on each side of the heater for guiding the yarn in the region of said heater along a path spaced slightly from the walls of said groove and in alignment with the longitudinal axis of the groove, said guide means being movable from said guiding position to inoperative position out of alignment with the groove axis, said yarn being in direct contact with said groove when said guide means are in inoperative position, and means for moving said guide means from operative to inoperative position and vice versa, whereby said apparatus is adapted to heat the yarn either by direct contact or by radiation.

2. A dual-purpose apparatus for crimping continuous filaments of thermoplastic yarn comprising a source of yarn, a metallic yarn heating member having a U-shaped longitudinal groove through which yarn from said source is adapted to be passed, a false twister spindle adapted to insert twist in said yarn while it is being heated by said heating member, yarn take-up means for withdrawing yarn from said source and passing it through the groove of the heater in contact therewith and through the false twist spindle, and a guide selectively interposable at each end of said groove to maintain said yarn spaced from but within the walls of the groove as it passes the heater.

3. A convertible apparatus for crimping a plurality of ends of thermoplastic yarn comprising a source for each end of yarn; a metallic heating member for each end, said member having a U-shaped longitudinal groove therein through which the end is adapted to be passed; a pair of guides for each heating member, one at each end of the groove therein, said guides being movable to and from one position at which the end contacts at least one wall of the groove from and to another position at which said end is maintained slightly out of contact with the groove walls but still generally within the confines of said groove; operating means common to all of said guides whereby they are moved simultaneously from one 8 position to the other; a false twister spindle for each end, which spindle is adapted to insert twist in said end while it is being heated; and take-up means for collecting the end after passage through said spindle.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 including a movable support common to all of the corresponding guides of each pair, said support being movable in one direction to move the guides to one position and in the other direction to move the guides to the other position, stop means contacted by said support upon movement in either direction when the guides are in the corresponding position, and spring means biasing the support against the stop means in either direction.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said spring means comprises an over-center spring which changes the direction of its bias just after passage over dead-center.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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