US2929570A

US2929570A - Automatic doffing mechanism for textile processing machine

Info

Publication number: US2929570A
Application number: US559994A
Authority: US
Inventors: Stein Marcel
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1956-01-18
Filing date: 1956-01-18
Publication date: 1960-03-22
Anticipated expiration: 1977-03-22

Description

M. STEIN March 22, 1960 AUTOMATIC DOFFING MECHANISM FOR TEXTILE PROCESSING MACHINE Filed Jan. 18. 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENT OR MARCELL size/N ATTORNEYS- M. STEIN March 22, 1960 AUTOMATIC DOFFING MECHANISM FOR TEXTILE PROCESSING MACHINE Filed Jan. 18, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENI'OR MARCELL STE\N BY 777065 gawk ATTORNEY M. STElN 2,929,570

AUTOMATIC DOFFING MECHANISM FOR TEXTILE PROCESSING MACHINE March 22, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 18. 1956 S m 5M Tm m N B 0 VT ww S u 0 a W M 9 .9 H

Y B m March 22, 1960 M. STEIN 2,929,570

AUTOMATIC DOFFING MECHANISM FOR TEXTILE PROCESSING MACHINE Filed Jan. 18, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 7 [2 v INVENTOR MAMELL STE\N BY 7770016. \L [gawk ATTORNEYS March 22, 1960 M. STEIN 2,929,570

AUTOMATIC DOFFING MECHANISM FOR TEXTILE PROCESSING MACHINE Filed Jan. 18, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 5' MENTOR mmceu STEIN BY Wad -1 f k ATTORNEYS ,sucl1 portions of the lap turn a 2,9295% Patented Mar. 22, 1960 AUTOMATIC 1301* i ENG MECHANISM FOR TEXTILE PRGQESSING MACHINE Marcel Stein, Budapest, Hungary Appiication January 18, 1956, Serial No. 559,994

14 Claims. (Cl. 242-55.1)

This invention relates to automatic dofi'ing mechanisms or lap dofiers for textile processing machines.

The hitherto known automatic dofling mechanisms or cotton lap dofiers for lap winding machines have considerably intricate mechanism.

Furthermore, they require specially controlled mechanical devices for the detachment of the complete lap rolls or a specially controlled motor whereby the doffing apparatus is likewise rendered intricate. Also, the racks had to be undesirably long on account of dofiing the lap roll and introducing the lap rod, an inconvenience the elimination of which has been suggested by composing the bottom portion of the racks of several members.

Finally, with the hitherto known mechanisms the reversal or wrapping on of the lap is not satisfactory and the braking of the racks has to be delayed when starting the lap roll so as to warrant the possibility of removal of the lap rod from within the lap roll. Such a delay of the braking action entails that thelap is only partly subjected to a draft when starting the lap roll and thus out to be heavier than the remainder of the lap roll. Thereby one of the most important advantages of the automatic lap doffers, that is a lap with evenly distributed weight throughout the length thereof, becomes impaired.

The present invention consists in an automatic lapdofting mechanism for lap winding machines of the type in which a lap is wound on driven fluted carrier rolls under pressure from rack heads of racks which perform upward and downward movements so as to doff a complete lap roll and feed an empty lap rod after a predetermined length of lap has been obtained, the carrier rolls being adapted to be driven at a uniform speed from a scutcher through a one-way clutch, and in which a reversible motor drive is provided for imparting a positive reciprocal vertical motion to the racks and increased rotational motion to the carrier rolls with respect to their uniform speed due to the scutcher during the upward stroke of the racks associated with dolfing so as to detach the lap while the scutcher is running, for which purpose a one-way clutch oppositely positive to said first mentioned one-way clutch is provided between the reversible motor drive and the fluted carrier rolls, there being control means provided adapted to be actuated in the extreme positions of the racks and reversing the reversible motor drive.

The doffing of the complete lap roll and the introducing of the empty lap rod has hitherto been performed by at least two pairs of constructional units Whereas with the preferred embodiment of the invention both these operational steps are effected each by means of a le pair of lever organs arranged on both sides or the machine. With a preferable embodiment of the invention the pair of levers mounted on the racks is urged by means of springs so as to be constantly pressed upwards. With upward movement of the racks the pairwise arranged levers become pushed downwards against the action of the springs by the journals of the lap'rod supporting the complete lap roll so that the latter glides, by means of the journals of the lap rod, down along slides or guide rails formed by the levers in an apron known per se. As soon as the journals of the lap rod supporting the complete lap roll have parted with the levers, the latter are snapped up by the action of the tensioned springs. In this position they are suitably locked or bolted. Then, the levers occupy a position which permits the new or empty lap rod to be lifted off its preparatory position and to be introduced in its working position. I

In such a position the inclination of the levers is opposite to that associated with dofling the complete lap roll. Abutments provided or formed on the racks are adapted to lift the lap rod from its rest position in the frame of the machine onto the lever arms occupying their above described locked or bolted position and into guide forming portions thereof, respectively. The disadvantageous dropping movement of the lap rod is obviated by a suitable form of the machine. During the downward movement of racks the empty lap rod is led by the frame of the machine because of the inclination of the levers therealong in theangle between the levers and the racks. The lap rod is guided by the racks into its operational position along this perpendicular. Adjacent to the lowmost position of the racks the pair of levers becomes unlocked by abutments arranged on the frame of the machine so that they are again ready for dofiing the next complete roll. Lifting and lowering of the levers can-instead of by means of the springsbe effected through the medium of a counterweight or, with a preferable embodiment, by means of an abutment (roller) attached to the frame of the machine.

The lift of the racks may preferably be decreased by forming the arms supporting the preparatory empty lap rod as double-armed levers. One of the arms is provided for supporting the preparatory lap rod whereas the other arm is acted upon by a yielding force such as a spring so as to keep the levers in their rest positions. The abutments arranged on the racks cause with upward movement thereof the levers to be angularly displaced against the action of the yielding force whereby the arm supporting the lap rod and the lap rod proper are moved downward. The lift of the racks is decreased by the amount of the downward movement of the lap rod. The lift of the racks will preferably be decreased so as to be just sufiicient for dofiing the complete lap roll. In such cases the transfer of the laprod to the pairwise arranged levers on the racks is efiected during the downward movement of the latter. By such a decrease of the lift of the racks it is, alternatively, rendered possible to enable the temporary accelerated motion of both front fluted carrier rolls permitting the detachment of the lap roll to be derived in a simple manner from the motion of the racks without specially controlled members or the danger of a double detachment of the lap. Thereby, also a special device or a motor for the accelerated motion of the fluted frontal carrier rolls can be dispensed with.

The same advantage can be obtained by a change speed motor whereby the upward movement of the racks is efiected at a greater speed than the downward one. Such an arrangement has also the advantage that adjacent to the bottom position of the racks in consequence of the lower speed a lesser amount of momentum than normally has to be consumed by means of braking. Such an advantage can be obtained with a pneumatic or hydraulic motor with which the working fluid is suit ably throttled during the downward movement whereas with upward displacement no throttling is applied.

Double detachments can also be averted by an embodiment with which the empty weight roll between the lowmost calender roll and the rear fluted carrier roll is temporarily lifted from its operational position by the upwardly moving racks through the medium of abutments, whereas with their downward movement it is re- 'turned 'in'to its operational position.

I with thefrieWautomaticlapdoifer the lap rod may 'be provided with a" sleeve the friction coefficient of the I mantle surface of which has been increased: by means of flutin'g, milling or turning-in, or by any other suitable complete or partial machining, or by means of covering it with ar'n'ate'rial of increased friction coefficient '(e.g. rubber, paper etc.), or in any other suitable mannerl- The lap is wrapped on or wound onto this sleeve. Thereby the initial portion of the lap roll is enabled to suitably adhere to the mantle'surfa'ce having increased 'frictioning qualities; Thus, the wrapping on or reversal of the initial lap roll layers and therewith also the draft thereof is rendered more appropriate. The lap roll is transferred to the cards together with the sleeve. The disadvantage of the lap rod being hardly able or quite unable to be removed from the lap roll because of the interior of the lap roll adhering too much to the lap rod is obviated thereby as well. By such an arrangement also the delay of the braking action due to the aforesaid adhering is eliminated and the evenness of the lap enhanced. The lap wound on the sleeve runs down on the cards better than from the hitherto applied lap rods. V

In its broadest terms, however, the invention refers to an automatic dofling mechanism or lap dotfer for lap winding machines, of the type having rack means with rack heads performing upward and downward movements so as to doff or discharge a complete lap roll and to feed or introduce an empty lap rod after a predetermined length of lap has been obtained in which, in accordance with the main feature of the present invention, the rack means perform positive, reciprocal mo tion whereas a transmission gear with accelerating action is provided between the racks and a driving means of fluted carrier rolls for imparting an increased circumferential speed to the carrier rolls during the upward stroke of the rack means so as to cause detachment of the lap roll by means of tensioning the lap between the lap roll and the lap feeding means- For this purpose, the transmission gear, comprises a pair of oppositely positive one way clutch means which permit the carrier rolls to be rotated intermittently at an increased speed while their driving means responsible for the rotation of the carrier rolls during the lap winding process is running on.

Further details of the present invention will be described by taking reference to the accompanying drawings which show, by way of example, several embodiments thereof. In the drawings:

'Fig. 1 is a side elevational view showing an embodiment of the device according to the invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 11-11 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic side elevational view of the rack motion and the brake mechanism of such devices.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 illustrate elevational and plan views, respectively, partly in section, of parts of the device shown in Fig. '1.

' Figs. 7, 8. and 9, Figs. 10, 11, 12, and 12a and Figs.

" 13"to 16, respectively,'rep resent three further embodi ments of the device for dofling the complete lap roll and'introducing the empty lap rod.

Figs. 17 and 18 show a preferable embodiment of the reversal or wrapping-on mechanism according to the invention.

Fig. 19 is a side elevational view of the above mentioned sleeve as'applied to a lap rod.

Fig. 20 shows a cross-sectional view taken along the line XX--XX in Fig. 19.

Like details are referred to by substantially the same reference numerals throughout the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 3 has a frame 70 with a series of feed or calender rolls 71 to 74 and a pair of fluted carrier rolls'17 and 18 which serve for introducing a lap a andfor winding it up onto a lap rod 29 with journals'30, respectively, as is well known in the pertinent art. The feed or calender rolls 71 to 74 are driven in a not represented ye't'well known manner by an associated picker.

The carrier rolls 17 and 18 have rotational motion imparted thereto likewise by the picker which the represented lap-dotting machine is associated with. The driving connection between the not represented picker and the illustrated lap-dofiing machine is indicated 'by a driving belt 75. This is engaged with a belt pulley 76 the shaft 77 of which has a gear 78 fixed to it which is the first member of a series of gears 78 to 82 transmitting the rotational motion of the pulley 76 to the rear carrier roll 18 by means of a gear 26. The frontal carrier roll 17 of the pair of fluted carrier rolls 17 and 18 receives its rotational motion by means ofgears 24 and 25 from the gear 26.

The conventional racks 7a with their heads 7 are ar ranged on and guided in the frame 70 so as to be displaceable in a vertical direction as is well known in the art and therefore not represented as to its details. The racks 7a have reciprocal motion imparted thereto by an electric motor 6 of the reversible rotation type by means of a series of meshing gears 8 to 10 the last member 10 of which engages with teeth 83 of the racks 7a. The shaft 19 ofthe gear 20 is at the same time the shaft of a per se known brake mechanism to be described hereinafter and has a further gear 23 loosely arranged on it which meshes with the gear 24 meshing, in turn, with the gears 25 and 26 of the carrier rolls .17 and 18. Thus, the latter have a double driving system the branches or sub-systems of which are rendered independent of one another by ratchet mechanisms inserted in each of the driving subsystems 75 to 82 and 8, 9, 10, 23, respectively.

One of these ratchet mechanisms is shown in Fig. 2. The disk 20 with gear 9 on its periphery is keyed to the a shaft 19 whereas the gear 23 is running loosely. The

provided on the shaft 86 of the gears 81 and 82. If the double'system of driving means is running in the direction of the solid arrows 87, obviously the speed of the carrier rolls 17 and 18 cannot be lower than that which corresponds to the speed of the system 75 to 81 since below .the limit value the ratchet mechanism 84 and 85 forms a positive driving connection between the gears 81 and 82.

"On'the other hand, if the system 8 to 9 is running in the reverse direction indicated by dotted arrow 88, the

ratchet mechanism

21 and 22 is rendered idle since then the pawls 21 skip over the teeth of the wheel 22. If, however, the system 8 to 9 is running in the direction indicated by the solid arrow 12y the

ratchet mechanism

21 and 22 engages and the carrier rolls 17 and 18 are driven by means of gears 23, 24, 25 and 26, respectively, at an elevated speed and at the same time the racks 7a are lifted. Then the ratchet mechanism 84' and 85 is rendered idle.

' Apair of arms 33 with notchesron the upper portion of the frame 70 serves for holding a new or empty lap rod 29a with journals 30a in its preparatory position.

gether with the operational sequence of dofling a lap roll.

(l) Lifting and lmvering the racks, releasing and putting on the brake, lifting of the drop levr.-After a predetermined amount or length of lap a has been ob V 27 in Fig.

weight and of an additional weight 1a through the medium of one of the known counter devices into a position shown in Fig. 3. A brake pedal 3 is by means of a rod 2 pushed down and an electric push button 4 pressed upon. The brake pedal 3 is locked in this position by means of a pawl 5a provided with a counterweight 5. Upon closing the contacts of the push button 4 a remote control switch of the electric motor 6 (Fig. 1) is turned on whereupon the latter raises the rack heads 7 with their racks 7a by means of gears 8, 9 and 10. With the racks 7a moving upwards the lever 1 is raised by a yielding abutment 11 arranged on one of the racks 7a through the medium of a one-armed lever 12 and a rod 2 and is brought into its original or initial position (indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3). in the topmost position of the racks the upper portion of an abutment 13 attached thereto presses on a push button 14 (Fig. 3) whereby the rotation of the electric motor 6 becomes reversed. Thereupon, the latter causes the racks 7a to move downwards. When the downmost position of the rack 7a is reached, the remote control switch of the electric motor is displaced into its break position since the bottom portion of the abutment 13 presses on a push button 15. At the same time, the pawl 5a is rotated in the counterclockwise direction by an abutment 16 attached to one of the racks 7a. The brake pedal 3 is lifted thereby under the action of its counterweight 3a and the shoe 3b of the brake put on again. The play of upward and downward movements of the racks is at an end therewith (Fig. 3).

(2) Detachment of the lap roll.-This is eifected after obtaining the predetermined amount or length of lap by emporarily imparting a higher rotational speed than normal to fluted carrier rolls17 and 18 whereby the lap a reaks at a; (Fig. 1). Both aforesaid, carrier rolls have accelerated rotational motion imparted thereto by a disk 29 keyed to the brake disk shaft 19. During the upward movement of the racks 7a the disk 20 is driven by the electric motor 6 through the medium of pawls 21, of the gear 23 running idly on the shaft 19 and forming a constructional unit with the ratchet wheel 22, and of gears 24, 25 and 26 (Fig. l). The gears 25 and 26 are driven during the downward movement of the racks 7a and while forming the lap roll in a manner known per so by gears 78 to 82 and a one-way clutch driven, in turn, by the not represented picker (see US. Patent No. 1,734,320) by means of the belt 75 and the pulley 76. Since, during lap formation and during the downward movement of the racks, the ratchet wheel 22 has a high r rotational speed than the pawls 21, the latter skip over the indentations or teeth of the former. The pawls 21 and ratchet wheel constitute a one-way clutch which is oppositely positive to the clutch in the drive from the picker. 7

(3) Dofiing the complete lap roll and feeding or introducing a new or empty lap r0a'.--During the upward movement of the racks 7a the lefthand arms of doublearmed levers 27 journalled in the racks 7a and urged in the clockwise direction by springs to be described hereracks 7a.

inafter strike against the journals 30 of the lap rod 29 which supports the already detached lap roll. Thereby the double-armed levers 27 are rotated against the action of the aforesaid springs in the counterclockwise direction till they strike against the racks and form each an inclined guide rail or slide (see the position of the arm 1 illustrated by solid lines). The lap roll 28 glides by means of the journals 36 of the lap rod 29 along the aforesaid slides into apron 31. As soon as the journals 30 of the lap rod 29 have left the lever arms 27, the latter are again rotated by the aforesaid springs.

in the clockwise direction so that they form slides or guide rails inclined toward the racks (see the upper position of the arms 27 in Fig. l illustrated by dotted lines).

" In this angularly displaced position the double-armed levers are, by means of a locking mechanism duly described by taking reference to Figs. 4, 5 and 6, insured against and prevented from tilting down.

With further upward movement of the rack heads 7 their rounded ofi upper portions or surfaces strike against the journals 30a of the preparatory lap rod 29a supported by supports 33 whereby the former becomes horizontally pushed ofi its rest position and lifted. Thus, the new or empty lap rod 29a drops along the front surfaces of the rack heads 7 onto the lefthand (long) arms of the double-armed levers 27 and rolls therealong under the action of the gravitational force down to the racks 7a. In order to prevent an angular displacement of the arms 27 under the action of the dropping lap rod 29a during the downward movement of the racks 7a the arms 27 have to be locked as illustrated in Figs. 4 to 6. The reversal of the motion of the racks takes place by means of a reversal switch after the new or empty lap rod 29a has been lifted from its rest position. Thus, the empty lap rod 29a the journals 351a of which lie between the downwardly moving racks 7a and the double-armed levers 27 reaches the initial portion of the lap 11 which has meanwhile arrived between the fluted carrier rolls 17 and 13. At the same time, the double-armed levers 27 are unlocked by means of an abutment 40a mounted on the machine frame 71) in a manner illustrated in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, so that the double-armed levers 27 are again ready to discharge a complete lap roll 28. The breaking of the supply circuit of the electric motor 6 and the braking of the racks 7a is then performed exactly in the same manner as has been described by taking reference to Fig. 3.

The levers 27 are locked by means of forklike branches 27b thereof (Figs. 4, 5 and 6). The double-armed levers 27 are angularly displaced, by means of springs 34 in the above described manner in the clockwise direction. After the complete lap roll 28 has been dotted, the doublearmed levers 27 which have snapped up under the action of the springs 34 have to be locked in an upper position so as to prevent their angular displacement in the opposite direction caused by the new or empty lap rod 29a when arriving thereon. For this purpose, there are bolts 37 supported by bearings 36 which are attached to the The bolts 37 have pins 37a fixed thereto which engage with longitudinal slots of hell crank levers 39. After the lap roll 28 has been doffed an abutment 40 causes the bell crank levers 39 to shift the bolts 37 in below the forks 27b. The arms 27 thus being locked, the new or empty lap rod 29a is safely supported by means of its journals 30a. In close proximity to the lowrnost position of the racks 7a the bell crank levers 39 are rotated in the counter-clockwise direction by means of the abutments 40a fixed to the frame 70 of the machine; Thus, the bolts 37 are shifted in the righthand direction whereby the double-armed levers 27 become unlocked or released.

Figs. 7 to 9 and 10, 11 as well as 12 and 12a, respectively, show further preferred embodiments of the lap roll dofling and lap rod inserting levers of the lap dotfer. Preferred embodiments of the arms supporting the new or empty lap rod in its preparatory position are shown as .well.

Fig. 7 represents one of the racks 7a and one of the doubled-armed levers 27 in the position which the same occupy directly before dofling the complete lap roll 28. The double-armed levers 27 are rotatably mounted on journals 27a fixed to the racks 7a and form, occupying an outwardly inclined position under the action of their dead weights, each a guide-rail or slide in a manner well known in the art. The levers 27 occupy their lowermost position associated with discharging the complete lap roll 28. I

The racks 7:: as well asthe double-armed levers-27 formed as guide rails or arms occupy each-a position close to their topmost positions as their motional direction changes in the position shown in Fig. 8; After the compiete lap roll.28 has slipped out of. the. machine along the double-armed levers 27 formed as guide rails 'or arms, the upwardly travelling arms 27b thereof strike against roller abutments 41 fixed to the frame 70 of the machine, whereby the double-armed levers 27 become rotated around the journals 27a in the clockwise direction. 7 Thus, the levers 27 occupy their position illustrated in Fig. 8. In this position the levers 27 become fixed or locked by means ofpawls 43 mounted for rotation on journals 42 and illustrated in Fig. 9. x In operation of the embodiment shown in Figs. 7 to 9, the empty lap rod 2% lies by means of its journals 39a in the notches of the arms 33 so as to occupy its preparatory position. The suitably formed noses 7b of the upwardly moving rack heads 7 strike against the journals 30a of the empty lap rod 29a whereby the latter becomes lifted from and tilted out of, respectively, the notches -and is thus displaced onto the levers 27 where it rolls, during the downward movement of the racks 7a, down into a position indicated by dot-dash lines (Fig. 8). The empty lap rod 29a will, by means of. the downwardly moving racks 7a, be carried along in the direction of its working position between the fluted carrier rolls 17 and Immediately before reaching the lowmost position, the arms 36a of bell crank levers 43 formed as pawls and urged in the clockwise sense by springs 45 anchored'to journals 44 strike against abutments 46 fixed to the frame 70 of the machine. Thus, the pawls'43 rotate in the counter-clockwise direction and release the arm extensions 27b. The levers 27 are through their greater dead weights again displaced into their initial position (see Fig. 7). The rotational movement of the bell crank ,levers 36a. is limited by abutments 47. I V

Fig. 10 illustrates a double-armed lever 52 mounted .forrotation around journal 51,fixed to the frame 70 of the machine. In a notch of its arm 52a there is accommodated one journal 30a of the empty lap rod 29a in its preparatory position. Springs 53 urge the lever arm 52b so as to rotate'in the clockwise direction. Its rotational motion is limited in this direction by abutment 54 fixed to the frame 70 of'the machine. 'Each of the rack heads 7 has an abutment 7c fixed to it which, with upward movement of the racks 7a, strikes against the arm 52and rotates it against the action of its spring 53 in the counter-clockwise direction. The journals 30a of the lap rod 29a tilting down in the aforesaid manner strike against the noses 7b of the rack heads 7 which lift the lap rod out of the notches and let it drop onto the levers 27 (Fig. 11). The curved portions 27b of the arms 27 permit the same to be approached to the rack heads 7 was to prevent the journals 30a of thedropping lap rod 29a from going through between the levers 27 and the rack heads 7 at the time of dropping. I

During the downward movement of the racks 7a the double-armed levers 52 are displaced by the springs 53 :into their original or initial positions. Because of the weight of the laprod 29a the curved portions 27b of the levers 27 are pressed against the roller abutments 41 whereby the front portions of the levers 27 again withdraw from the rack heads 7 and the lap rod 29a rolls down along the lever arms 27 quite up to the racks 7a so as to occupy a position indicated in Fig. 10 by dotand-dash lines.

The advantage of the means for supporting and inserting the empty lap rod 29a as described'by taking reference to Figs. 10 and 11 consists in that the lift of the racks 7a and the duration of the accelerated motion of the fluted carrier rolls '17 and 18, respectively, is rendered shorter. The danger of a double detachment of the lap is eliminated thereby. Thus, the invention enables the second motor which, with the known devices, was necessary for detachment of the lap roll 28, to be dispensed with whereby the construction is rendered still in'ore simple.

of the motor, first the winding associated with higher rotational speed is switched on whereas with reversal,

ii.e. with downward movement of the racks 7a, it is the winding associated with lower rotational speed which is put in circuit. Thus, the time period of the accelerated motion of the fluted carrier rolls 17 and 18 causing the detachment of the lap roll 28 is shortened whereby also double detachments of the lap a are excluded. 1

Fig. 12 illustrates a still more developed embodiment of the inventional lap dotfer' the lift of the racks 7a of which is decreased in that the arms 52a adapted to support the lap rod 29 in its preparatory position and journalled at 51 to the frame 70 of the machine are rotated against the action of the springs 53 in the counterclockwise direction during the downward movement of the rack heads 7 rather than carried along by the latter while moving'upwards. Thereby, the upward movement of the rack heads 7 may be reversed immediately after the complete lap roll 28 has been discharged.

For this purpose, the rack heads 7 are provided each with ratchet means 55 working as a draw-hook whereas the levers 52b supporting the journals 30a of the preparatory or empty lap rod 29a.have each an additional arm 56. The draw-hook 55 is urged by means of its inagainst the arms 56. The draw-hooks 55, however, being elastic skip over the latter. With downward movement of the rack heads 7 the draw-hooks 55 cause the arms 52a by means of their arms 56 to rotate in the counterclockwise direction so that the lap rod 29a occupying its preparatory position upon the former is tilted likewise in the counter-clockwise direction. Because of this rotational movement, the journals 30a of the preparatory lap rod 29a strike against the front surfaces of the rack heads 7. In consequence hereof, the lap rod 29a slides from the notches of the arms 52a onto the levers 27 mounted on the racks 7a wherefrom it arrives in its working position as has been described by taking reference to Figs. 10 and 11. As soon as the arms 52a have forwarded the preparatory lap rod 29a to the levers 27, the extremities of the arms 56 slip olf the draw-hooks 55. Thereupon, the arms 52a snap back under the action of the springs 53 into their topmost positions. The upward displacement of the arms 52:: is limited by means of abutments 57. V

With the above described embodiment the racks have to cover a path only which is neccssary for discharging the complete lap roll 28 since'then the draw-hooks 55 have already skipped over the arms 56 so that a further upward movement may be dispensed with.

By such an arrangement, that is by decreasing the lift of the racks 7a principally a gain of time is obtained,

since the time ratio of the upward movement with respect to the total movement of the racks 7a is substantially less than it was with the known devices. The possibility of a control of the detachment of the complete lap roll 28 through the medium of the motion, of the racks 7a is enhanced thereby. 7

Figs. 13 and 14 represent a particularly simple-and reliable embodiment of the device for introducing the empty lap rod 29a, supported in its preparatory position in :the notches of the arms 33 arranged on the frame 70, is lifted by the inclined portions 712 of the upwardly moving rack heads 7 and thus displaced onto the sloping slides 58 fixed to the frame 70 of. the machine. The lap rod'29a is prevented from further displacement by the rackheads'7 as long as thelower extremity of the latter Th same bj t of the invention, that is a simplegjf i reaehes a positionwhich is above the sloping slides 58 "aeaaero by a distance equal to the diameter of the lap rod journals 39a. As soon as the rack heads 7 have reached a position of such a level, the lap rod 29a glides along the unblocked slides 53 into notches 59 of the racks 7a. The upper edges of the notches 59 have meanwhile reached the level of the bottom edges of the slides 58 (see Fig. 14). The reversal of the motional direction of the racks 7a occurs at the same time therewith and thus the empty lap rod 29a lying already in the notches 59 is brought into its operational position.

In this case, the dofiing or discharging of the complete lap roll 28 is efiected in the hereinafter described manner (Figs. 15 and 16): Tongues 61 mounted for rotation on journals 69 of the upwardly moving racks 7a strike against the journals 30 of the lap rod 29 supporting the complete lap roll 28. The tongues 61 are thereby rotated against the action of springs 62 in the clockwise direction till their outer extremities come to rest on the outer walls of the notches 59. The journals 3% or" the lap rod 29 supporting the complete lap roll 23 then slide downwards along the inclined tongues 61 and thus arrive on the sloping arms 27 fixed to the outer wall portions of the notches 59. The lap roll 28 is lifted thereby from its position between the fluted carrier rolls 17 and 18 and discharged into the apron 31 in a manner well known to those skilled in the art.

After the journals 3% have, while moving downward, parted with the tongues 61, the latter are brought by the springs 62 again into their medial position. Thereby the path of the journals Elia of the empty lap rod 29a to the notches 59 is again rendered accessible. The empty lap rod 2% has, in the above described manner, been brought into its operational position, the tongues 61 strike against the journals Etta and become tilted upwardly against theaction or" the springs 63 in the counter-clockwise direction thereby. However, with further downward movement of the tongues 61 with the racks 7a their upper edges part with the journals 313a and they are caused by springs 63 to resume their medial position. Then the device is again ready for dolling the next complete lap roll 28.

In order to wrap on the initial portion of the lap roll around the lap rod, the latter was already fluted with some or" the known devices. Such a fiuting caused, however, the lap to be wound onto the lap rod so tightly that the removal of the latter from within the finished lap roll was either impossible or could be effected only by damaging the initial lap roll layers. In order to mitigate or ease the tightness of a too tight winding up on the lap rod the braking has been delayed as regards the initial portions of the lap roll. Yet, such a delay of the braking action had adisadvantageous effect on the evenness of the initial portions of the lap; If, however, a sleeve is applied, the outer surface of which offers, by fluting or machining whatever, or by providing a suitable cover, a high friction coeficient, the lap rod can be withdrawn therefrom without any difficulties. Consequently, by the use of such a sleeve the aforesaid disadvantage, the delay of the braking action and also the technological disadvantages connected therewith are all obviated.

The lap a may be reversed or wrapped-on onto the empty lap rod 290 by a mechanism the working principle of which is, in accordance with the present invention, the same as that applied when effecting the reversal or wrapping-on by hand-operation. Such an embodiment of the reversal mechanism, as shown in Figs. 17 and 18, substantially consists of a wrapping organ formed as an edged wrapping rod 89 and rotatably arranged with respect to the frontal carrier roll 17 in spaced apart relationship thereto. The wrapping rod 89 is supported by a pair of one-armed levers 90 journalled at 91 to curved link rods 92 which are, in turn journalledat 93 to a gear 17. Curved guide means 96 serve for guiding the levers 90 by means of rollers 97 so as to follow up the curvature Ire ofv the mantle of the carrier roll 17 when displaced around the shaft thereof whereby also the curved link rods 92 are held adjacent to the carrier roll 17. The dimensions are selected so that the edge 98 of the wrapping rod 89 contacts with the lap a at a generatrix of the lap rod 29a which lies at a level above the axial centre-line 99 of the lap rod 29a. Thus, the force acting on the wrapping rod 89 due to an angular displacement of the curved link rods 92 in the clockwise sense as regards the drawing has a component by which the wrapping rod 89 is passed over the lap rod 29a on and along the mantle thereof.

- The gear 94 meshes with a gear 109 the shaft 101 of which has a belt pulley 102 fixed to it. This is connected by means of a belt 193 to a pulley 104 keyed to the shaft of an electric motor 105 of the reversible type.

The circuit of the motor 105 is closed by a pushhntton switch 1% arranged on the frame 76 of the machine and actuated by the abutment 13 close to the lowmost position of the rack heads 7 (see Fig. 3'). The push-button 137 of the switch 106 is articulated so as to withstand and yield when acted upon in the downward and upward direction, respectively. An abutment 108 on the gear 94 serves for actuating a reversing push-button switch 109 fixed to the frame 70 of the machine. Finally, a push-button switch 110 is actuated by an abutment 111 formed at the lower extremity of one of the curved link rods 92. I

. In operation, the rack head 7 with the abutment 13 arriving in the proximity of its lowermost position actuates the push-button switch 106 by means of the abutment 13 whereupon the electric motor is set into rotation as indicated by an arrow 112. Thereby also the gear 94 starts rotating in the clockwise sense and causes the system 89 to 92 to be angularly displaced in the same direction. Thus, the wrapping rod 89 arrives at a position wherein it reaches below the lap a coming from the opposite direction and emerging from between the lap rod 29a and the frontal carrier roll 17 (see position 113 illustrated by dot-dash lines). Then the free end of the lap a is passed over the lap rod 29a and becomes wrapped thereon or reversed by a force which results from the dead-weight of the wrapping rod 89 and the force exerted by the system 89 to 92 (see position 114 represented likewise by dot-dash lines). The wrapping rod 89 occupies thereby its completely collapsed position. The time needed therefor is amply sufiicient for enabling the lap a to be suitably wrapped-on or reversed and thus to initiate the forming of a lap roll 23 of the desired quality. 7

Meanwhile the abutment 16S actuates the push-button switch 109 whereby the rotation of the electric motor 105 becomes reversed. The gear 94 now rotates in the opposite direction as indicated by the arrow 87 and causes the system 89 to 92 to resume its initial position represented by solid lines. At the end of this reverse angular displacement the abutment 111 strikes against the pushbutton switch 110 whereby the circuit of the electric motor 195 becomes interrupted and the above described cycle may start again when the abutment 13 actuates the push-button switch 106 at the next descending movement of the rack heads 7.

The advantage of such a working principle of the lap reversing mechanism is that the free extremity of the lap a is introduced between the rear carrier roll 18 and the lap rod 29a when the racks 7a have already finished their downward movement and rest with all their weight on the journals 30a of the lap rod 29a.

The time period of the temporarily accelerated motion of the carrier rolls may be shortened by releasing a clutch which is inserted in the accelerating gear mechanism between the racks 7a and the carrier rolls 17 and 18. The clutch is constantly engaged or actuated and is automatically released by an abutment on one of thegracks 7a only when the latter moves upwards after the lap a has been detached. After releasing the clutch, the normal drive of the carrier rolls 17 and 18 is again started the operation of which during the downward movement of the racks 7a cannot be disturbed by recoupling the clutch any more. Viz., the pawls 21 (Fig. 1) travelin opposite direction with respect to the ratchet wheel 22 and thus are unable to engage with the indentations or teeth thereof. The clutch may be of any releasable type such as an electromagnetic coupling.

Figs. 19 and 20 show a sleeve 89 applied to a lap rod 2%. It is arranged intermediate the lap rod 29:: and the lap roll 28. Obviously, the sleeve is mounted for rotation on said lap rod 29a as if it were a shaft which is axially retractable therefrom. The sleeve is provided with a fluted surface so as to enable the lap to adhere to it when reversed or wrapped on.

The mechanism mentioned above and provided for lifting the empty weight roll 123 is referred to by reference characters 120 to 122 of which 120 denotes a pair of single-anned levers, 121 abutments fixed to the

racks

7a and 122 rollers fixed to the levers 129 and adapted.

to engage with the weight roll 123 so as to lift it at the end of the upward movement of the racks 7a.

What I claim is: 1. In an automatic dofling mechanism or lap dofier for lap winding machines of the type having lap feeding means for introducing a lap to be wound, carrier rolls and transmission gearing means provided between said rack means and said driving means adapted to impart an increased circumferential speed to said carrier rolls during the upward movement of said rack means so as to cause detachment of said lap roll by means of tensioning said lap between said lap roll and said lap feeding means, the improvement which consists in that means are provided for dofiing or discharging said complete lap roll and introducing said empty laprod, said means consisting of a single pair of arms journalled to said rack means and adapted to form an outwardly sloping slide or guide rail by being tilted downwards under the action of the dead weight of one member of the group consisting of said arms and said complete lap roll so as to dofi or discharge said complete lap roll during the upward movement of said rack means, and to form a slide or guide rail inclined towards said racks in the topmost position and during the downward movement of said rack means for introducing said empty lap rod.

2. An automatic doffing mechanism or lap doifer for lap winding machines as claimed in claim 1, wherein means are provided for decreasing the *time period of the upward movement of said rack means with respect to the time period of their downward movement by increasing their speed at their upward movement and for automatically changing such an increased speed to a lower speed associated with the downward movement 1 at their upward movement and to return it into its opera tional position with their downward movement so as to prevent a double detachment of said lap.

4. An automatic dotting mechanism or lap doffer for lap winding machines as claimed in claim 1, wherein yielding means, formed by'at least one member of the group consisting of springs, counter-weights, abutments and control members, are provided for enabling said outwardly inclined arms for doffng or discharging said complete lap roll to' be adjusted from this position into said position inclined towards said rack means for introducing said empty lap rod. 7

5. In an automatic dofiing mechanism or lap doffer for lap winding machines as claimed in claim 1, further comprising means for locking said arms in their inwardly inclined position while feeding said empty lap rod.

6. In an automatic dofiing mechanism or lap dotfer for lap winding machines as claimed in claim 1, further comprising means for enabling said empty lap rod to be fed into its operational position entirely during the downward movement of said rack means so as to decrease the lift of the latter.

7. In an automatic doffing mechanism or lap doffer for lap winding machines as claimed in claim 1, the improvement which consists in that said driving means comprises a change speed motor having a high speed winding and means for energizing said high speed winding upon upward movement of said rack means.

8. In an automatic dofling mechanism or lap doifer for lap winding machines as claimed in claim 1, the improvement which consists in that means are provided for decreasing the time period of the upward movement of said rack means by means of one offthe eXpedients consisting of imparting an acceleration to the upward movement of said rack means anddecreasing'the'lift thereof;

' 9. In an automatic dofiing'mechanism or lap dofier for lap winding machines as claimed in claim 8, the improvement which consists in that means are provided for terminating the upward movement of said rack means in dependence of dofling said complete lap roll. I

10. In an automatic doffing'mechanism or lap dolfer for lap winding machines as claimed in claim 1, the improvement which consists in that said dotnng mechanism consists of a pair of arms fixed to the heads of said rack means, one of said arms being kept in a medial position by means of springs.

, 11. In an automatic dolfing mechanism or lap doffer for lap winding machines as claimed in claim 10, the improvement which consists in that a feeding path fo'r guiding said empty lap rod is fixed to the frame of said lap winding machine for guiding said empty laprod to the notches of the racks. a i

12. Inan automatic dofling mechanism or lap doifer for lap winding machines as claimed in claim 1, the improvement which consists in thatmeans are provided for wrapping-on the free extremity of said lap onto a new or empty lap rod after said complete lap roll has been detached and dofied or discharged, said wrapping-on means having individual driving means adapted to be con- J lap winding machines as claimed in claim 12, wherein said wrapping-on means consist of an edged rod means guided in spaced apart relationship with respect to the mantle of one of said carrier rolls and supported 'by articulated link rod means arranged for angular displacement around the shaft of oneof said carrier rolls, said individual driving means having control means adapted to enable said edged wrapping rod to contact .with said free extremity of said lapto be wrapped-on at a level above the longitudinal centre-line of said empty lap rod so as to pass said free extremity above said empty lap rod on and along its mantle and to introduce it between the other one of said carrier rolls and said empty lap rod, and to resume its initial position after wrapping-on has been effected. i i a 14. An automatic lap dotfer for lap'winding machines having, in combination, lap feeding means for introducing a lap to be wound, carrier rolls for supporting and rotating a lap roll while being formed of said lap, driving means 13 for imparting uniform rotational motion to said carrier rolls, vertically shiftable rack means, reversible motor means for imparting positive reciprocal vertical motion to said rack means, control means actuated by said rack means and adapted to reverse said reversible motor means in the dead-center positions of said rack means, a pair of oppositely positive one-way clutch means one of them being inserted between said carrier rolls and said reversible motor for imparting increased rotational speed to said carrier rolls with respect to said uniform rotational motion when said rack means perform their upward stroke so as to tension and detach said lap between said lap roll and said lap feeding means, and the other positive one-way clutch means of said pair of oppositely positive one-way clutch means being inserted in said driving means for permitting said carrier rolls to be rotated at an increased speed with respect to said uniform rotational speed while said driving means is running on, and transfer means on said rack means for dofling said lap roll from and introducing an empty l'ap rod between said carrier rolls after a predetermined length of lap has been supplied by said lap feeding means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,204,517 Steinacker Nov. 14, 1916 1,734,302 Ramsdell NOV. 5, 1929 2,037,348 Stein Apr. 14, 1936