US2976557A

US2976557A - Travelling cleaner for textile machinery

Info

Publication number: US2976557A
Application number: US570895A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jr James F King
Original assignee: Bahnson Co
Current assignee: Bahnson Co
Priority date: 1956-03-12
Filing date: 1956-03-12
Publication date: 1961-03-28
Anticipated expiration: 1978-03-28

Description

March 28, 1961 J.- F. KING, JR

TRAVELLING CLEANER FOR TEXTILE MACHINERY Filed March 12, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR James F King J/r ATTORNEYS /1 W JJJW 20 Rd March 28, 1961 J. F. KING, JR 2,976,557

TRAVELLING CLEANER FOR TEXTILE MACHINERY Filed March 12, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 l l l I l l l INVENTOR fies EKir- Jr:

v ATTORNEYS March 28, 1961 J. F. KING, JR 2,976,557

TRAVELLING CLEANER FOR TEXTILE MACHINERY Filed March 12, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR darnes .FKih Jh BY f 12. J i/$ ATTORNEY March 28, 1961 J. F. KING, JR 2,976,557

TRAVELLING CLEANER FOR TEXTILE MACHINERY Filed March 12, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 1 m 502% & kw

ATTORNEYS TRAVELLING CLEANER FOR TEXTILE MACHINERY James F Km Jr:

BY WJJWM MJM ATTORNEYS TRAVELLING CLEANER non 'rnx'rnin MACHINERY James F. King, Jr., Winston-Saiern, Nil, assignor to The Bahnsen Company, Winston-Salem, N.., a corporation of North Carolina a and; Mar. 12, 1956, Ser. No. 57e,s95

in Claims. to]. -312 This invention relates to the art of cleaning textile processing machinery and more particularly to cleaners of the pneumatic type adapted to travel along a trackway located at a level above the textile machinery and blow towards the same with streams of air which clear the accumulated lint and other particles from such exposed surfaces of the machines as can be effectively reached by the streams. Travelling cleaners of this general type have been designed in the past but within applicants knowledge all of such designs have suffered from the disadvantage in not being able to reach certain of the machine surfaces. As a result, additional cleaners have been required to keep these hard-to-reach surfaces free from lint.

Theobject of the present invention is to present an improved construction which can be deemed universal in character in that it is able to reach practically all of the exposed surfaces on the machine on which lint is prone to collect. Moreover, the cleaner embodies air nozzles which direct blasts of cleaning air not only at the parts of the machine itself but also at the overhead structure and ceiling thus eliminating the necessity for providing specially designed blow-01f devices for such purposes.

In general, the improved cleaner construction is con stituted by a carriage adapted to travel along a trackway located at a level above and longitudinally of the machine to be cleaned, and a plurality of air nozzles lo cated laterally outward from the longitudinal axis ofmachine and which are arranged to sweep inwardly towards the sides and top surfaces of the machine in a plane normal to the longitudinal axis of the machine,

The air nozzles are preferably arranged for continuous rotation throughout a complete circle but they can be arranged to oscillate in any given angle less than 360 if such is desired. Also, some of the air nozzles can be arranged to blow at a fixed angle while others can be made to sweep through a given are orthrough a cone plete circle. Also, the nozzles can be made to index through a given angle rather than be shifted in a continuous manner. According to one embodiment to be hereinafter described, the air nozzles are constituted by the outlets from the casings of motor-driven centrifugal blowers located on arms projecting laterally outward from a carriage adapted to travel longitudinally of the machine to be cleaned, on a track located above the machine and generally aligned with the longitudinal axis of the machine.

The present invention willbe better understood by those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments and from the accom panying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of one embodiment of a travelling cleaner in accordance with the invention as applied to a spinning frame or the like wherein a'plurality of centrifugal blowers are arranged transversely outward from the longitudinal axis of the spinningframe,

2,976,557 Patented Mar. 28, 1951 the casings for the blowers being arranged in-vertical planes normal to the longitudinal axis of the frame, and each casing and its nozzle outlets being driven in rota tion about a horizontal axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the frame thereby to deliver the air streams issuing from the nozzles in various angular directions in the plane normal to the longitudinal axis of the spinning frame thus sweeping the latter in a generally transverse direction from top to bottom or vice versa and also blowing off the floor and overhead structure;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the travelling cleaner shown in Fig. 1; i

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the travelling cleaner shown in Fig. 1 and also showing a portion of the spin ning frame, above and outwardly of which the centrifur self-propelled carriage taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 6 and drawn to a larger scale than Figs. 1-4 to better illustrate the structural details embodied therein;

Fig. '6 is a transverse vertical section on line 66 of Fig. 5 and-drawn-to the same ;scaleas Fig. 5, this view showing thearrangement'for rotating the blower casings; Fig. 7 is a view partly in plan andpartly in section on line 7-7 of Fig. 6- showing structural details similar to those of Fig. 6;- f f Fig. 8 is a vertical transverse.sectionoirline3 S of Fig. 5 showing the power take-off for rotating the lQWr casings; and i l Fig. 9 is a view in vertical section taken on line 'of Fig. 8 showing similar structural detail's'but looking in a direction at right angles to Fig. 8.

With reference now to the embodiments lof the in /e11 tion illustrated in Figs l-Q, the travellingjcleaner is see n to include a carriage 1 which can be towed but preferably is arranged to beself-propelle'd along atr'ackway consisting of a pair of spaced railsZ, 3, inthe form of angle members located above a row of spinning frames as is indicated in Fig. 3, these rails extending'longitudinally of the frames and being in general alignment with the longitudinal axis of the frames. "Also, the height of the rails 2, 3 above the floor is so selected that the cleaning apparatus supported upon the carr-iage has along the top edges ofthe flanges of the rails 2, 3 and be-' ing guided along the same bysets of rollers 10, 11 which are arranged to bear against the opposite sides of the rail flanges. To better enable the carriage 1 to negotiate curved sections of the trackway, the front wheels 12, 13 of the carriage are mounted on a horizontal axle 14 which is capable of being shifted about a vertical axis.

Also, the mounting for axle 14 is preferably such that it may be swung about its center in a vertical plane. To these ends,it will be seen that the front axle 14 is journalled in a transverse bearing support 15 which, in r is c re pi lly y mea of a ho zo t l rivet pin 16 to a support 17 depending from the center portion of a tie member 18 spanning the pipes 4 and 5 of the frame. The upper part of support 17 is tubular and a bolt 19 passing vertically through the same into the tie member 18 enables the support 17 to turn about the axis of the bolt 19. With this arrangement, the front axle 14 can swing about the axis of bolt 19 to thus enable the front wheels 12, 13 to negotiate a curve in the trackway. The front axle 14 is also enabled to swing about the axis ofhorizontal pivot pin 16 so as to accommodate any slight differences in level between the two rails 2, 3. The front Wheel 12 is flanged at one side to keep it on its associated rail 3 and two longitudinally-spaced sets of guide wheels 21, 22 adapted to con cal of the many constructions which may be utilizedfor the self-propelled carriage and are not specifically relied upon for patentable novelty. Moreover, as previously indicated, the carriage may omit the self-propelled feature and simply be towed by a separate power unit. Electrical power for driving the motor 7 is obtained by collector shoes mounted on the carriage and connected to the motor, the shoes running in contact with conducting rails carried by but suitably insulated fron'i'the trackway structure. These details havenot been illustrated since power pick-ups of this general type are well known in the art.

As previously indicated, the principal objective of this invention is to locate air blast nozzles laterally outward from the machines to be cleaned and to sweep those nozzles in a plane generally transverse to the longitudinal direction of the spinning frame or other textile machinery as the cleaner travels along the trackway. Accordingly, the carriage'frame 1 includes a bracket v26 depending from the pipe members 4, Sand which is provided with a transversely extendingbore 27 in which is secured an arm in the form of apipe 28 that extends laterally outward from opposite sides of the'carriage 1 preferably to a pointlocated approximately midway between adjacent rows of spinning frames F. Each outer: end of pipe 28 is entered into a bracket 29 that is secured to an electric 7 motor 30 which receives its power from the same conductor rails as furnish power for the carriage drive motor 7. While each motor 30 may be arranged to drive a single centrifugal blower, it is preferable to make each of the two motors 30 of the double-ended shaft type for driving two blowers. That is to say, each motor 30 includes a horizontal drive shaft 31 which extends from each end of the motor casing, the drive shafts 31 being arranged parallel with the direction of travel of the carriage 1 along the spinning frames F. Secured to each end of each drive shaft 31 is the fan element 32 of a centrifugal blower 33. The casing elements 34 of the four blowers I33 arrangedrin 'a vertical plane surround their respective fans 32 and each 'of these casings has an axial air intake 35 and at least a single and preferably 36, 37 disposed 180 apart aboutthe axis of the blower. The

nozzles

36, 37 thus direct air streams therefrom in opposite directions in a vertical plane transverse to the direction of travel of the carriage. the streams of air issuing from

nozzles

36, 37 to sweep through an angle, the invention provides means for effecting rotation of one or both blower casings 34 at each side of the carriage 1 and hence also the

nozzles

36, 37 of such casings. Movement of the'casings 34 can be angular oscillatory through any desired sweep angle or continuous rotation in one direction can be employed. In the illustrated embodiment, the casings are rotated In order to causea pair of'tangential oppositely directed outlet nozzles continuously in one direction and the

nozzles

36, 37 are thus caused to sweep the air streams issuing therefrom inwardly toward the side of the spinning frame, reaching the same and blowing oif all surfaces thereof between the floor and the top of the frame. With a loop track layout and the motors 30, blowers 33 and

nozzles

36, 37 being rotatable about a horizontal axis parallel with and approximately intermediate adjacent rows of spinning frames, it will beevident that as the carriage 1 moves along the trackway, each of the rotating nozzles will sweep the air stream issuing therefrom transversely along the side of one frame during approximately one half a revolution of the blower casing 34 and then sweep transversely along the side of the frame in the adjacent row during approximately the other half revolution of blower casing 34. Also, it will be evident that as each

nozzle

36, 37 becomes directed generally upward, the air stream issuing therefrom will sweep across the overhead thus cleaning accumulations of lint off surfaces of the latter as well as the spinning frames themselves.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1, 6 and 7, the casings 34 of all four of the centrifugal blowers 33 are arranged for continuous rotation. The related structural details for supporting each casing 34 for rotation are best shown in Figs. 6 and 7. There it will be seen that a flanged ring 38 is secured by a plurality of circumferentially spaced bolts 39 to the inner end face of each casing 34, each ring being concentric with the axis of the casing and motor shaft 31. Mounted upon each ring 38 is a sprocket .41, also secured in place by the bolts 39. A plurality of circumferentially spaced studs 42 project axially from the adjacent face of the motor 30 and each stud 42 mounts a roller 43, these rollers being arranged with their axes located at such equal radial distances from the center of motor shaft 31 that a circle tangent to the-outer faces of the rollers has the same radius as the internal surface 38a of ring 38. As shown in Fig. 6 the ring 38 and casing 34 are mounted upon the rollers 43 and hence provide an anti-friction mounting for rotation of the blower casings 34 about dreams of motor shafts 31. e

To effect rotation of blower casings 34 it will be seen that a horizontal shaft 45 is arranged parallel with each motor shaft31' and passes through the bracket structure 29 by which the motor 30 is mounted, each shaft45 being journalled in its corresponding structure 29 by means of spaced sleeve bearings 46. Small sprockets 47 are mounted on opposite ends of each shaft 45 and a chain 48 connects each of the sprockets 47 with its larger, companion sprocket 41 in alignment'therewith. A bevel gear 49 secured upon each shaft 45 serves to rotate the latter and hence also the sprockets 41, 47 and casings 34, and

gears 49 are meshed respectively with bevel gears 50 secured to the opposite ends of a horizontal shaft 51 arranged normal to shafts 45 and which extends between the same, passing through a central bearing 52 located on the carriage 1. As-shown in Figs. 6, 8 and 9, a bevel gear 53 is secured upon shaft 51 at a location within the carriage 1 and meshes with a bevel gear 54 secured to the upper end of a shaft 55 extending vertically downward, there being a friction-wheel 56 secured to the lower end of shaft 55 which rolls in contact with the vertical flange of rail 3. The bearing structure for shaft 55 includes the depending support bracket 26, the lower portion of which terminates in a U-shaped structure 26a opening downwardly; The lower bearing structure for shaft 55 is contained within a generally vertical tubular member 57 through which shaft 55 passes,'and'the upper portion of member 57 terminates in: a U-shaped structure 57a opening upwardly and being received in the downwardly opening vU-shaped structure 26a.- Co-axially arranged pivot pins 58 interconnect the leg portions of the two U-shaped structures 26a, 57a and thus provide 'for a limited amount of pivotal motion of shaft 55 about the axis of pivot pins 58, the upper bearing59 for the Supper portion of shaft 55 being such as to accommodate the slight pivotal motion of shaft 55. As seen in Fig. 8, the supporting structure for the lower end of shaft 55 includes a laterally extending arm 57b to which the lower end of a tension spring 60 is secured, the other upper end of spring 60 being anchored to a laterally projecting arm 26b on bracket 26 at a point above the pivot pins 58. Thus it will be evident from Fig. 8 that the tension in spring 60 will always be such as to urge the power take-off wheel 57 against the flange of rail 3 thus preventing any slippage therebetween and hence assuring continuous rotation of the drive input for effecting continuous rotation of the blower casings 34.

In the embodiment above described, all of the casings of the centrifugal blowers rotate continuously and hence also do their nozzles. Under some conditions it may be preferable to rotate only some of the blower casings and maintain others in a given stationary position sothe air issuing from the stationary nozzle or nozzles can be directed at a fixed angle, for example to some particular part of the spinning frame which may require special attention in order to keep it free from lint accumulation. Such an arrangement is shown in the embodiment of Fig. 4. There the structure is seen to be quite similar to that which has previously been described, and the desired result is obtained by arranging the shafting 45' to extend to only one of the two centrifugal blower units located laterally outward to each side of the carriage. Thus, in Fig. 4, shafting 45' which is driven by

bevelled gears

49, 50 and shaft 51' is connected via sprockets and chains 48' to only one blower casing 34 of each pair of blowers. The other blower casing 34" of each pair and its nozzles 36", 37" do not rotate in a continuous manner but rather are rotatably mounted and adjustable to any desired position with respect to the stationary housing of the motor so that each nozzle will direct its corresponding air stream at any desired angle within a range of 360. Thus the stationary nozzles can be directed to blow at the floor, at the overhead, or at any part of the spinning frame, as desired. A friction drag in the form of a strap 44 mounted at one end on the stationary motor housing and hearing at its free end against the rotationally adjustable blower casing 34" will serve to maintain the blower casing and hence the nozzle or nozzles of the latter at the desired blowing angle.

In conclusion it will be understood that the embodiments of the travelling cleaner above described are to be considered typical rather than exhaustive of the structural arrangements that can be devised, and hence various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. Also, while the travelling cleaner has been illustrated as being mounted on a carriage running on rails above the level of the textile machinery, it is evident that other known forms of overhead trackage may be utilized such as, for example, the well known monorail from which the travelling cleaner would then be suspended, the monorail being secured to the overhead rather than supported on the machinery.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for cleaning textile machinery such as a spinning frame or the like comprising a carriage adapted to travel longitudinally of the frame above the same, support means extending laterally outward in opposite directions from said carriage and frame, a motor mounted upon each outer end of said support means, a centrifugal fan rotatable by each said motor about a substantially horizontal axis parallel to the direction of carriage travel, a substantially vertical rotatably mounted casing around each said fan, each said casing having at least one outlet nozzle directed tangentially of the fan casing associated therewith, and means effecting rotational movement of said casings and hence said nozzles to direct air strems therefrom towards opposite sides of said frame as said carriage moves along said frame.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein each said casing includes two nozzles displaced about the axis of the associated fan.,

3. Apparatus for cleaning textile" machinery such as av spinning frame or. the like comprising a carriage adapted to travel longitudinally of the frame above the same, support means extending laterally outward in opposite directions from said carriage and frame, a motor mounted upon each outer end of said support means, a pair of centrifugal fans rotatable by each said motor about a substantially horizontal axis parallel to the direction of carriage travel, a substantially vertical rotatably mounted casing around each said fan, each said casing having at least one outlet nozzle directed tangentially of the fan casing associated therewith, means effecting rotational movement of one casing of each pair of fans to direct air streams therefrom towards opposite sides of said frame as said carriage moves along said frame, the other casing of each pair of fans and hence the said nozzle thereon being adjustable to a selected stationary blowing angle about the axis of the fan.

4. Apparatus for cleannig textile machinery such as a spinning frame or the like comprising a carriage adapted to travel longitudinally of the frame above the same, support means extending laterally outward in opposite directions from said carriage and frame, a motor mounted upon each outer end of said support means, a pair of centrifugal fans rotatable by each said motor about a substantially horizontal axis parallel to the direction of carriage travel, a substantially vertical rotatably mounted casing around each fan, each said casing having at least one outlet nozzle directed tangentially of the fan casing associated therewith and means effecting rotational movement of all of said casings and hence the nozzles thereon to direct streams of air therefrom towards opposite sides of said frame as said carriage moves along said frame.

5. Apparatus for cleaning textile machinery such as a spinning frame or the like comprising a carriage adapted to travel longitudinally of the frame on a trackway above the same, support means extending laterally outward in opposite directions from said carriage and frame, a motor mounted upon each outer end of said support means, at least one centrifugal fan rotatable by each motor about a substantially horizontal axis parallel to the direction of carriage travel, a substantially vertical rotatably mounted casing around each said fan, each said casing having at least one outlet nozzle directed tangentially of the fan casing associated therewith, and a power take-off from said carriage effecting rotational movement of said casings and hence the nozzles thereon to direct streams of air therefrom towards opposite sides of said frame as said carriage moves along said frame.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim 5 for cleaning textile machinery wherein said power take-off comprises drive shafting extending from a roller disc on said carriage running in friction contact with said trackway.

7. Apparatus as defined in claim 5 for cleaning textile machinery wherein said power take-off comprises drive shafting extending from a roller disc on said carriage running in friction contact with said trackway, a first sprocket secured to each casing concentric with the axis of rotation thereof, a second sprocket driven by said drive shafting, and a chain connecting said first and second sprockets.

8. Apparatus for cleaning textile machinery such as a spinning'frame or the like comprising a carriage adapted to travel longitudinally of the frame on a trackway lo cated above the frame, support arms extending laterally outward in opposite directions from said carriage, a motor mounted at the outer end of each said arm, each said motor including drive shafts extending horizontally from each end thereof parallel with the direction of movement of said carriage along the frame, a centrifugal fan mounted on each drive shaft of each motor, a casing around each of said fans mounted for rotation about the axis of said fan, each said fan and its associated casing being disposed in a vertical plane normal to the longitudinal axis of'the frame when travelling along the same, each said casing including at least one nozzle directing a stream of air in the plane of the casing, and a power take-oil derived from movement of said carriage along said trackway for continuously rotating said casings and hence said nozzles thereby to cause the streams of air issuing therefrom to be directed towards opposite sides of the frame as said carriage moves alongsaid frame and to move upwardly or downwardly along the frame sides in accordance with the direction of rotation of said casings.

9. Apparatus as defined in claim 8 for cleaning textile machinery wherein said power take-off includes a roller disc mounted on said carriage, said roller disc being spring-loaded into a running frictional contact with said trackway, and drive shafting extending from said roller disc converting rotary motion thereof into rotary motion of said casings.

10. Apparatus for cleaning textile machinery such as a spinning frame and the like comprising a carriage adapted to travel longitudinally of the frame above the same, support means extending laterally outward in opposite directions from said carriage and frame, a motor mounted upon each 'outer end of said support means, a pair of centrifugal fans connected to each said motor,

each said fan including an impeller rotatable by said motor about a substantially horizontal axis parallel to the direction of carriage travel and a substantially vertical casing surrounding said impeller, each said casing havinga nozzle arranged tangentially thereto for discharging-air from the impeller associated therewith, one of said casings of each pair being stationary, and means for rotating the other casing of each pair to direct air streams outwardly from the associated nozzles in different directions as said carriage moves along the frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES Textile World, American Monorail Adv., January 1955 issue, page 138. Textile World, Bahnson Adv., October 1955 issue, page 172.