US2957301A

US2957301A - Centrifugal can spinning frames

Info

Publication number: US2957301A
Application number: US708484A
Authority: US
Inventors: Gardella Adriano
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1957-01-19
Filing date: 1958-01-13
Publication date: 1960-10-25
Anticipated expiration: 1977-10-25
Also published as: CH360326A; DE1158882B; FR1198454A

Description

Oct. 25, 1960 A. GARDELLA 2,957,301

CENTRIFUGAL CAN SPINNING FRAMES Filed Jan. 15, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 25, 1960 A. GARDELLA 2,957,301

CENTRIFUGAL CAN SPINNING FRAMES Filed Jan. 13, .1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 g INVENTOR United States Patent CENTRIFUGAL CAN SPINNING FRAMES Adriano Gardella, 11 Piazza della Vittoria, Genoa, Italy Filed Jan. 13, 1958, Ser. No. 708,484

Claims priority, application Italy Jan. 19, 1957 17 Claims. (Cl. 57-36) This invention relates to improvements in sliver twisting and yarn spinning devices in centrifugal can spinning frames. Hitherto in such spinning frames, when the sliver or yarn broke accidentally or was severed on discharging a full cheese from the can or pot, the mechanism was stopped by automatic stopping devices and manual manipulation was necessary to feed the sliver or yarn into the can before the mechanism could be restarted. Since the sliver or yarn had to be hand-threaded through a thread guide, whether the guide was mounted on a rotatable can disposed in reciprocating bearings or the guide reciprocated while the can rotated, and since breakages were not always infrequent, these breakages substantially increased the cost of operating centrifugal can spinning frames.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a sliver-twisting or yarn-spirming device for use in centrifugal can spinning frames in which the twisting or spinning is automatically restarted after an accidental or voluntary break.

Further, in known can spinning frames, the twist imparted to the thread by the centrifugal spinning can extends upwardly to the delivery rollers of the drafting unit and this upward propagation of the twisting, particularly where friction surfaces are provided in the thread guide, may be incomplete and thus, in the proximity of the drafting unit, the twist is less than at the lower end of the thread guide. Another object of the invention is to provide some pre-twisting in the guide in the same direction as the twist imparted by the spinning can to provide a substantially uniform twist along the whole thread section between the delivery rollers of the drafting unit and the outlet end of the thread guide and compensating for the partial decrease of the twist in the upward direction.

Also in known can spinning frames, in order to start the spinning operation, it is necessary to hang a previously twisted thread section from the drafting unit for feeding manually into the mechanism before starting each spinning operation. It is a further object of this invention to obviate the necessity for this step thus greatly speeding up the starting operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a suction force on the sliver or yarn to aid its automatic movement into the thread guide thus further reducing time and labor involved in starting the spinning operation.

According to the present invention a method of twisting sliver or spinning yarn by centrifugal can spinning includes delivering the sliver or yarn from a drafting device into a pre-twist thread-guide rotating in the same angular direction as the can to impart an initial twist into the sliver or yarn, causing the initially twisted sliver or yarn to enter the can after leaving the pre-twist thread guide and twisting the sliver or spinning the yarn in the can in the same direction as the initial twist imparted thereto in the pre-twist thread guide.

The invention further comprehends apparatus for twisting sliver or spinning yarn in a centrifugal can spinning frame comprising a rotatable pre-twist thread guide 2,957,301 Patented Oct. 25, 1960 disposed with its inlet in close proximity to the delivery rollers of the drafting device so as to receive the sliver or yarn from the drafting device, and a device by which rotation can be imparted to the pre-twist thread guide, whereby, at least after a break in the sliver or yarn has occurred, the pre-twist thread guide can be rotated in the same direction as the rotation of the can to twist the sliver or yarn before it reaches the can so that twisting of the sliver or spinning of the yarn in the can will start automatically.

In a preferred construction the device for imparting rotation to the pre-twist thread guide is arranged to drive the guide continuously in the same angular direction as thecan during spinning and to re-start spinning automatically after a break has occurred in the sliver or yarn. The pre-twist thread guide is preferably tubular or annular in cross-section perpendicular to its axis.

A funnel-shaped non-rotatable mouth piece is disposed with its sliver receiving mouth disposed to receive the sliver or yarn directly from the delivery rollers of the drafting device while its outlet is disposed to deliver the sliver or yarn directly into the inlet of the pre-twist threadguide.

According to the invention, this mouthpiece may be provided with a projecting lip co-acting with a feeler for detecting any jamming of sliver in the mouthpiece and stopping the operation of the drafting and spinning unit.

In one preferred construction the rotatable pre-twist thread guide is mounted on a spinning can reciprocably mountable in the spinning frame. In an alternative construction the rotatable pre-twist threadguide is mounted in bearings in the spinning frame above a reciprocable thread guide, means being provided to telescope the reciprocable threadguide with respect to the pre-twist guide durin spinning or twisting. In the latter construction the two guides may be co-axial tubular members disposed one above the other, the upper tubular member being rotatable but not reciprocable and constituting the pre-twist guide, while the lower tubular member is vertically reciprocable outside the upper member and projects into the spinning can.

Where two thread guides are provided one telescoping within the other in operation the reciprocable thread guide may be non-rotatable or idly rotatable; alternatively the reciprocable thread guide is rotatable in which case it is provided with drive means whereby it may be rotated at the same angular speed as the spinning can non-reciprocable pre-twist threadguide.

A suction fan may be mounted beneath the can in the frame whereby in spinning air is induced through the ..hread guide in the direction of movement of the sliver or yarn therethrough to assist the automatic movement of the sliver or yarn into and through the thread guides. The fan may be mounted on or incorporated in the lower end of the spinning can and means may be provided for securely coupling the fan-carrying member to the can.

Stabilizers may be provided on the reciprocable threadguide when provided and/ or on the pre-twist thread guide to smooth the sides of the thread in at least two directions, and such stabilizers may comprise friction surfaces disposed to engage the thread passing through the pretwist guide during spinning.

The above and other objects and characteristic features of the invention, as will fully appear from the following specification are described by way of a preferred nonl-i-miting example in the following specification taken with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

Figures 1 and 2 show together a vertical section of a centrifugal can spinning unit embodying the invention, Figure 1 showing the upper section of the unit from the drafting unit-to and including the pre-twisting thread- .guide, while Figure 2 shows the lower section of the same unit to and including supporting members of the "closure bottom plate of the spinning can, and

Figures 3 and 4 are transverse horizontal sections on lines III-III and IVIV of Figure :1,

In the drawings, 1 is a bell-shaped centrifugal spinning c'an'which is suspended from the fixed supporting member 2 by its bored neck 101 which is rotatably mounted ,in a pair of spaced'ball bearings 3 mounted in two coaxial superposed bushings 4, 5 which are connected together by means of upright posts 6. The lower bushing 4 is provided with spaced lugs 104 and is inserted in a hole 102 of the supporting member 2 provided with similarly spaced inwardly projecting brackets 202 on H which the lugs-104 may bear. 7

On the can neck 101 between the bearings 3 a pulley 8 is mounted which is driven by belt 9 and drives the spinning can. Due to this arrangement of. the pulley 8 between two bearings, an inclination of the can axis'due to theside pulling of the belt 9 is avoided. To the upper supporting bushing 5 a cover plate 10 is fastened, The above described construction permits an easy and quick mounting and dismount-mg of the can 1 by inserting the fbushings '4," 5 from below through the hole 102by causing the lugs 104 to move through the spaces between the bracket members 202 and then rotating the can :until the lugs 104 come in alignment with thebrackets 202 to which they are fastened by means of screws 7.

The spinning can 1 is closed at its bottom end by a co-axial counter plate 11 idly rotatable on a supporting as to open the can 1 and to permit the discharging of the cheese 14.

" The plate 11 is mounted beneath the can 1 on the upper end of a vertical shaft 16 with vthe interposition of aresilient bushing 15 which allows small oscillations of the plate with respect tothe shaft 16, thus compensating for possible small misalignments between the shaft 16 and the superposed can 1.

The shaft 16 is idly rotatable in a pair of bearings 17 mounted in a sleeve 18 which is slidable in a cylinder 19 [fastened to the supporting member 12 as by screws 20 passing through its flanges. The sleeve 18 is provided with vertical slots 22 through which the ends of screws 21 pass, which are screwed radially through bushing 19 thus permitting small axial movements of the bushing and attached parts. Between the bottom plate 118 of the slid-able sleeve 18 and the bottom closure 119 of. the fixed bushing 19 a spring 23 is inserted which pushes both the sleeve 19 and shaft 16 upwardly and V elastically'presses the plate 11 against the can 1, when another co-acting friction ring 23 on the edge of the plate 11. The lining 24 is preferably made of a fibrous material such as that known under the trade name of fFerodo and is made of asbestos embedded in a good synthetic resin wh-ile the lining 23 is preferably made of at fibrous material embedded in a synthetic resin which is suitably elastic as to slightly expand itself radially under the centrifugal force generated by the spinning of the can 1 and is loosely applied on the plate 11 so as to permit said expansion. Thus, during spinning,

.the lining 23 by expanding itself, is pressed against the lining ring 24 thus ensuring a good ftictioncoupling be tween the can 1 and the plate 11. Both

linings

23 and 24 are easily changeable, when worn out. I

The coupling between can 1 and plate 11 is furthe improved by fastening on said plate 11, and preferably on its lming ring 23, a number of pins or screws having projecting heads 25 which a short time after the beginning of the spinning, remain encased in the bottom of the cheese 14 formed in the can 1 and thus provide a kind of claw coupling.

In a central portion of the plate 1 1 a number of holes 26 are provided and on the lower face of the same plate fan blades 227 are fitted which are so shaped and arranged as to induce an air suction through the holes 26 of the contained in said can and consequently, in the thread guide 39, when the can is rotated.

The thread F in the spinning can 1 is formed by twisting a sliver N delivered by the delivery rollers 127 of a drafting unit generally indicated at 27.

Just below the said delivery rollers 127 a fixed funnelshaped mouthpiece 28 is mounted on an arm 130 projecting from the machine frame 30 as at 29. Close to the outlet of said mouth piece a rotatable tubular thread guide 31 is mounted, which shall be called the pre-twist thread guide. This pre-twist thread guide is only rotatable about its own axis. and is rotated either continuously, or at the starting of each spinning operation, in

the same direction as the can 1. Said guide 31 is rotatably mounted in bearing 32 fitted in a bushing 33 fastened as by screws 34 under the mouthpiece 28. The upper part 131 of said p're-twisting thread guide 31 projects above the supporting bushing 33 and shaped as a grooved pulley over which a driving belt 35 is entrained. On the upper surface of said pulley 131 concentricribs are provided between which a circular rib is disposed which projects downwardly from a flange 128 of the fixed funnel 28, so that a kind of labyrinth joint 36 is formed. Inside of the pre-twisting thread guide 31 a helical rib 37 is provided which projects towards the axis of said thread guide so as to leave at the center of the guide 'a narrow bore 28 through which the thread F passes. The inner edge of said helical ribs 37 constitutes a friction surface which acts on all the sides of the thread F being formed, and smooths same.

On the lower section of said pre-twist guide 31 an axially slidable, co-axial distributing thread guide 39 is telescoped, the lower section of which is slidably mounted into the spinning can 1 by passing through its tubular neck 101. Said distributing thread guide 39 is mounted on a reciprocating supporting member 40, the stroke of which is such as to reciprocate the outlet end 139 of the thread guide between the inside bottom end to the top end of the can 1.

Thread guide 39 is idly rotatably mounted in bearings 42. By this arrangement recoiling of the thread F in the lower end of the guide 39 is avoided whenever an obstacle such as a large knot entangles itself within the helical rib 37, thus stopping or intercepting the thread passage. In fact, in such event the thread F would be tensioned between the outlet 139 of reciprocating thread guide 39 and theche ese 14 in the can 1 and, if the thread guide 39 were not rotatable, the thread would uncoil itself from .the cheese 14 and, due to the spinning of the can 1, would recoil itself on the said thread guide 39. This does not happen with an idly rotatable thread guide 39 because in'such event the thread guide 39 is entrained into rotation by the same can, substantially at the same angular speed.

In order to avoid the entraining of the distributing thread guide 39 into rotation during the normal spinning, due to the friction of the thread F on its outlet end 139, braking means are provided, such as a small cylindrical flange 239 fitted on its upper end and on which a small brake shoe 43 is pressed by a spring 44 whose force may be adjusted by a screw 45.

Between the reciprocating thread guide 39 and the neck 101 of the spinning can 1 a bearing 46 is inserted in which said thread guide 39 is slidably mounted centered with respect to the can. Said bearing 46 further closes the can neck 101 all around the reciprocating thread guide 39. Above the supporting bearings of the said reciprocating thread guide 39 a fixed cover 146 is fitted, which is provided with a central bore through which passes with a very small clearance the pre-twist guide 31. Due to the described arrangement of labyrinth joints 36 and the provision of said cover 146, the suction generated into the can 1 by the fan 227 is induced without appreciable loss through both thread guides 31, 39 up to the mouthpiece 28. Between the supporting member 33 of the pre-twist guide 31 and the movable supporting member 4!] of the reciprocating thread guide 39 as well as between said supporting member 40 and the fixed upper can-supporting bushing 5, tubular bellows 47 and 48 are provided. The operation of the above described devices is as follows:

It should be mentioned, that in order to start the centrifugal spinning, the end of the sliver must have been already pretwisted. In case of breaking of the thread F during the spinning, the sliver N delivered by the rollers 127 is sucked through the funnel 28 into the rotatable pre-twist thread guide 31 and, by coming into contact with the said rotatable thread guide, is subjected to a pre-twisting, in the same direction as the final spinning, so that when this pre-twisted sliver comes into the spinning can 1 it is immediately spun. Thus the piecing of the broken thread takes place in a completely automatic manner. Due to this automatic starting of the spinning, whenever in the pro-twisting guide a length of pre-twisted sliver is present it is no longer necessary to take special arrangements or precautions for severing the thread end each time a cheese is formed but it is sufficient to stop the drafting unit 27 during the last revolution of the can 1, thus promoting the breaking of the thread F beyond the delivery rollers 127. It may be mentioned that the friction members such as the helical ribs 37 in the rotatable thread guide serve also for imparting a supplementary twist to the thread being formed, thus compensating for the partial losses of twist due to the propagation of the torsion imparted to the thread F from the can 1 upwardly to the drafting unit 27.

The just described device is provided with means for stopping the operation of the drafting unit whenever at the starting of each spinning operation, the sliver N is not regularly sucked into the thread guides and jams itself into the mouthpiece 28. For this purpose the mouthpiece is provided at one side with a projecting lip 228 in front of which, but beyond the axis of the thread guide 31, a feeler 49 is arranged which projects on one of a double armed swinging lever 50 fulcrumed at 150 on the machine frame 30. During the normal operation, the sliver N does not touch the feeler 49 and thus the lever 50 remains in rest position as shown by full lines in Figure 1. When however a jamming of sliver N occurs in the mouthpiece 28, the abutment member is shifted by the pressure of the jammed sliver towards the right hand side in Figure 1 and thus the lever 50 is caused to swing and, by this swinging it operates a drafting unit-stopping device, which may be of any suitable yp In the example as shown, this device comprises a double armed lever fulcrumed at 151 to the machine frame and one end of which is in the form of a pawl 51 adapted to co-act a ratchet wheel 53 so as to stop same, while the other end is provided with a counterweight 52 which tends to unbalance the lever in ratchet stopping position. On the counterweight lever arm a rigid link 54 is hinged which is slidably mounted in substantially vertical direction, for example by means of a slotand-pin coupling 55. When the counterweight 52 is suitably lifted so as to disengage the pawl 51 from the ratchet wheel 53, the lower end of the link 54- is adapted to bear on the suitably formed upper end 250 of said swinging lever 50 thus holding the counterweight 52 lifted and the pawl 51 in a disengaged position. When however due to jamming of the sliver in the funnel 28 the abutment member is shifted towards the right, in the position shown by dash and dot lines in Figure 1, the top end 250 of said lever 50 moves out of its counterweight supporting position below the end of link 54. Thus the link is allowed to fall down, by action of the weight 52 until the pawl 51 engages one tooth of the ratchet wheel 53, thus stopping the rotation thereof.

This ratchet wheel 53 may be connected to any device which promotes the stopping of the drafting unit whenever the ratchet wheel 53 is stopped.

From the foregoing it is apparent that a simple and reliable device has been provided for atomatically restarting the spinning each time the sliver or the thread is broken even after the spinning can is emptied without particular care, and for stopping the drafting unit each time jamming at the mouthpiece of the thread guides occurs.

It is also apparent that any mechanical equivalent will be possible without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is the following:

1. In a spinning frame, at least one centrifugal can spinning unit including a rotatable spinning can, a rotatable thread guide for inserting pre-twist into the sliver and disposable with its inlet in close proximity to the delivery rollers of a drafting assembly to receive a sliver therefrom and with its outlet within said can, and means for constantly rotating said thread guide to twist the sliver before it reaches the can whereby upon a break in the sliver the broken sliver end will be pretwisted and spinning will automatically begin again in said can.

2. A sliver twisting device according to claim 1 wherein the pres-twist thread guide is tubular and of annular cross section perpendicular to the path of the sliver therethrough.

3. A sliver twisting device according to claim 1 wherein a funnel shaped non-rotatable mouthpiece is disposable with its sliver receiving mouth close to the delivery rollers of a drafting device and its outlet is close to the inlet of the rotatable pre-twist thread guide.

4. In a spinning frame, at least one centrifugal can spinning unit including a rotatable spinning can, a rotatable thread guide for inserting pre-twist into the sliver and disposable with its inlet in close proximity to the delivery rollers of a draft-ing assembly to receive a sliver therefrom and with its outlet within said can, and means for constantly rotating said thread guide to twist the sliver before it reaches the can whereby upon a break in, the sliver the broken sliver end will be pretwisted and spinning will automatically begin again in said can, said rotating means being arranged to drive the guide continuously in the same angular direction as the cam during spinning and after a break has occurred in the sliver.

5. In a spinning frame, at least one centrifugal can spinning unit including a rotatable spinning can, a rotatable thread guide for inserting pre-twist into the sliver and disposable with its inlet in close proximity to the delivery rollers of a drafting assembly to receive a sliver therefrom and with itsoutlet within said can, and means for constantly rotating said thread guide to twist the sliver before it reaches the can whereby upon a break in the sliver the broken sliver end will be pretwisted and spinning will automatically begin again in said cam, the rotatable pre-twist thread guide including a reciprocating thread guide, and means being provided for telescoping the reciprocable thread guide with respect to the pretwist thread guide during operation of the spinning frame.

6. A sliver twisting device according to claim 5 wherein the reciprocable thread guide is provided with the before it reaches the can whereby-upon a break in the sliver the broken sliver end will be pretwisted and spinning will automatically begin again in said can, two coaxial tubular members being provided telescopable one within the other, the upper tubular mmnber being rotatable but non-reciprocable and forming the pre-twist thread guide, while the lower tubular member also forms a thread guide and projects into the spinning can and is vertically reciprocable outside the'upper tubular member.

8. In a spinning frame, at least one centrifugalcan spinning unit including a rotatable spinning can, a rotatable thread guide for inserting pre-twist into the sliver and disposable with its inlet in close proximity to the delivery rollers of a drafting assembly to receive a sliver therefrom and with its outlet within said can, and means for constantly rotating said thread guide to twist the sliver before it reaches the can whereby upon a break in the sliver the broken sliver end will be pretwisted and spin- 7 ning air is induced through the thread guide in the direction of movement of the sliver or yarn therethrough to assist the automatic movement of the sliver or yarn into and through the thread-guide. i

9. A sliver twisting device according to claim 8 wherein the fan is mounted in the lower end of the spinning can. t

10. In a centrifugal can spinning frame mounted at the delivery end of a sliver-drafting unit delivering a sliver into a funnel-shaped non-rotatable mouthpiece having sliver-receiving mouth and a coaxial outlet; and disposed with its sliver-receiving mouth close to the delivery rollers. of said drafting unit; a rotatable pre-twist thread guide mounted close to said outlet and pretwisting the sliver coming out of said mouthpiece and forming a pretwisted thread; means for rotating said pre-twist thread 7 guide; an idly rotatable reciprocating thread guide mounted beneath the said pre-twistthread guide with its upper c section telescoping with respect to thellower section of said pre-t-wist thread guide and with its lower section provided with an outlet end; a suspended positively driven centrifugal spinning can provided with a hollow neck having a bore through which the lower section of the said reciprocating thread guide passes and is so driven axially that its outlet end is reciprocated between the inside top and bottom of the can; means for inducing a suction through said thread guides and mouthpiece for sucking the said. sliver and pre-twisted thread into the said can; -a lip projecting upwardly from one side of said funnel-shaped mouthpiece; a feeler arranged in front of said lip beyond the axis of said mouthpieceiand movable away from said lip when a jamming in the mouthpiece occurs and means acted upon by said feeler, when same is sufficiently shifted away from said lip, for stopping the operationof the said drafting unit.

V 11 A centrifugal can spinning frame according to claim 10, in which the said feeler is attached to. the. end of a double-armed lever, the other arm of which controls the means for stopping the drafting unit. 7

12. A centrifugal can-spinning frame according to claim 10 in which the said feeler is attached to the lower end of a substantially vertical double-armed lever; a substantially horizontal double-armed lever arranged above-the top end of said vertical double-armed lever and carrying at one end a counterweight and at the other end a stop pawl; a ratchet wheel in the path of said pawl connected to the driving means of the drafting unit; means connecting said horizontal lever with said vertical lever so as to keep the said pawl out of the path of the ratchet wheel when the said feeler is in'rest position and for permitting said stop pawl to snapinto the teeth of said ratchet wheel when said feeler is pushed out of its rest position.

13. In a centrifugal can spinning frame in which the spinning can is bell-shaped and open at its lower end,

a bottom plate shiftable towards or away'from the open end of said can so as to close and open said end; holes in the central portion of said plate; a pre-twist thread guide above said can and projecting thereinto, means for coupling said plate to the can when in closed position, and fan blades fitted to the lower side of said plate for inducing a suction through said holes in the said plate and through the overlying can and thread guide when (the pl-ate'closes said'end to such a mouthpiece, so as to suck said sliver and pretwisted thread into the spinning can. 14. In a centrifugal can spinning frame according to claim 13, the arrangement of a bellow-shaped tubular member tightly enclosing the said pre-twist thread guide and a second bellow-shaped tubular member tightly enclosing the part of said reciprocating thread guide which projects out of said spinning can.

15. A centrifugal can spinning frame according to claim 13, in which the said plate which closes-the bottom end of said can is provided with a peripheral friction lining made of fibrous material embedded in a resilient synthetic resin; a friction lining fitted into the spinning can end so as to co act with said lining on said plate forming a friction coupling, the said lining on said plate being such as to expand itself under the centrifugal force and to adhere firmly against the lining in said cam.

16. A centrifugal can spinning frame according to claim 13 in which projecting heads are provided on said plate in a peripheral position which, when the thread cheese is formed in the can, cometo be embedded into the base of said cheese and assist in the coupling of said plate with the centrifugal can.

17. A centrifugal can spinning unit comprising a drafting section, a rotatable guide tube adjacent said section and positioned to receive sliver therefrom, means in said tube for pretwisting the sliver extending therethrough, a spinning can having a closed bottom and surrounding the lower end of said tube, means for causing a downward draft through said tube, and openings in the bottom of said can for relieving the draft without producing turbulent flow within the can.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS