US3268314A - Apparatus for detecting breaks during molten fiber formation - Google Patents

Description

Aug- 23, 1966 F. N. STEPHENS E1I'Al. 3,258,314

APPARATUS FOR DETECTING BREAKS DURING MOLTEN FIBER FORMATION Y INVENTUM. ZA 2y@ 26 Jaseph E. Mcfv'ae l 4/ BY F/de/m /V, 57206605 Aus 23, 1966 F. N. STEPHENS `ETAL. I 3,268,314

APPARATUS FOR DETECTING BREAKS DURING MOLTEN FIBER FORMATION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 30, 1963 mw... k .w www M T c mgm W 0J ,QM Kfm v H m m% IIN v Nm III/RJ Y IN I 6% v@ Nxwswd www \I=|I. mm @AE @A QQ Q I QI N ml I United States Patent O 3,268,314 APPARATUS FR DETEQTING BREAKS DURING MOLTEN FIBER FURMAI'IGN Frederick N. Stephens, Leawood, Kans., and Joseph R.

McBride, West Peabody, Mass., assignors to Gustin- Bacon Manufacturing Company, Kansas City, Mo., a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 30, 1963, Ser. No. 305,665 2 Claims. (Cl. 155-11) This invention relates to apparatus and process improvement in the detection and control of breakage in glass fibers being drawn from glass furnace bushings and refers more particularly to such methods and apparatus wherein, once a break is detected, suitable apparatus is moved to deflect the glass coming from the bushing away from the winding drum normally operative to draw said glass fibers from said bushing.

The Patent to Case 2,955,772, issued October ll, 1960, for Textile Fiber Winder illustrates a typical device for high speed winding of textile fibers on a rotating winding drum. In such an operation, strands of textile glass fibers are formed by pulling some 204 glass fibers from a platinum bushing. The fibers are collected together on a shoe to form a strand, at which point sizing is applied and, from the shoe, the strand is directed to a windup mechanism. The requirements for winding such a textile glass fiber strand dier markedly from those encountered -in Winding twisted fibers such as yarn. For textile fibers, it is imperative for one to be able to unwind individual strands Ifrom the drum, each strand being made up of 204 filaments. The individual filaments which make up the strand are not twisted together and therefore have no unitary integrity. The `sizing serves to bind the 204 filaments into a strand, but must not bind strands together so as to hinder the unwinding operation.

It is not uncommon for one or more fibers or filaments to break in the strand winding process. In such case, the position of the filament with respect to the bushing is critical. In case the break occurs in the filament being pulled from one lof the end bushing orifices, the winding process can continue for a minute or so, although the glass may bead down from the orifice of the broken filament. If the break occurs in a center filament, the situation is more critical with the probability of the beading down broken filament seizing other monofilaments much higher. In such case, the process must be stopped and restarted with a fresh filament -being drawn from the critical orifice.

Generally speaking, no fiber packages are saved which lhave been wound for a period -of less than two minutes.

The causes of a fiber or filament bre-ak generally relate to an unbalenced temperature condition of the bushing. Thus, for example, if the bushing is too hot, the glass viscosity may be so reduced that a greater mass liow of glass occurs than is desired. Such quantity of flow may exceed the ability of the drawing process to attenuate the fiber and surface tension may be lost. Secondly, the difficulty may relate back to the characteristics of the glass marbles fed to the furnace feeding bushing, particularly in the case where the refractory furnace producing the glass for the marbles has spalled, thus producing stones or seeds in the glass marbles. Likewise, if the marbles do not anneal properly, stresses may remain in the marble which may cause rupturing when heated. Further, the glass must be homogeneous in the melt tank with only a single type of marble supplied else corded glass may be generated. Finally, humidity and temperature in the vicinity of the drawing process are critical and sudden changes in temperature are very undesirable.

The fiber or filament may break at the orifice in the l-CC bushing, at the applicator roll or pad for sizing, on the heater wire or Reese roll. Occasionally, the cardboard winding tube or even the collet itself will explode, thus causing breaks.

In commercial production, one man will generally handle six to ten textile fiber Winders of the type contemplated in the Case patent, supra, each fed by a separate platinum bushing. An optimum package produced by any one of these machines would be one which wound for ten minutes. If a Ibreak occurs at one or more machines while he is in the process of changing apackage on anothermachine, the operator must immediately, in the conventional setup, go to the device with the break and move the hay chute into place to defiect the glass from the machine with the break and shut off the motor driving the rotating collet. Unless this is done, the break can ruin a package. If, for example, a nine-minute package were Wound, followed by a break, without the operator stopping the drawing process and defiecting the glass from the package, it is possible that the beading down glass could mage a weldment on the package and thus cause the loss of the entire nine minute package.

Additionally, production information in winding operations -as to operator and machine variance is difiicult to obtain. The poundage produced is the only index to date.

An object of the invention is to provide means operable to detect glass fiber breaks as soon as possible by locating any glass Ibeading occurring at the bushing.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sensor for glass fiber breaks which is completely out of the way of the glass drawing operation and does not hinder in any way the operator or the operation itself.

Another object of the invention is to provide an automatic activation mechanism for the hay chute and shutoff of the fiber winding collet once a fiber break is detected whereby to give the operator as much time as desired to get to the machine, remove the package and restart the winding process.

Another object of the invention is to provide a signal in addition to the action of the hay chute and shutdown, per se, which calls the attention of the operator to the down machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide means and techniques operable to increase production' and minimize lost operating time and maintenance time in textile fiber winding rooms.

Another object of the invention is to provide mea-ns and techniques operable to enable better production evaluation information to be gathered in textile fiber winding rooms and processes.

Another object of the invention is to provide means and devices which operate to maximize production in fiber Winder operations and also maximize protection of partial packages already wound.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sensing system of variable sensitivity to simultaneously warn and take care of fiber breaks in fiber Winding operations.

Another object of the invention is to provide sensing systems which will discriminate between critical and noncritical fiber or filament breaks in winding systems.

Another object of the invention is to provide a ber break warning system for textile fiber w-inding operations which will effectively operate with any type of bushing, fin cooled or not.

Other and further objects of the invention will appear in the course of the following description thereof.

In the drawings, which comprise a part of the instant specification and are to be read in conjunction therewith, an embodiment of the invention is shown and, in the various views, like numerals are employed to indicate like parts.

FIG. 1 is a front view of an arrangement including the iiber drawing apparatus, per se, shown schematically, including the bushing, show and winding drum, the hay chute and apparatus associated therewith for moving same into operative position from an inoperative position, the sensor which registers glass ber breaks at the bushing and a warning light signal. The full line showing is with the hay chute in inoperative position and the dotted line is in operative position.

FIG. 2 is a view taken along the iine 2 2 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the photo-electric cell receiving unit shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a schematic electrical diagram of the circuit used in the instant arrangement and apparatus.

At is shown a ceiling structure which supports the furnace and feeding means therefrom for molten glass (not seen as conventional) which passes the glass into conventional bushing 11 which may be of the types shown in the patents to Phillips 2,632,278 and Stephens et al. 2,846,1257. Bushing 11 has a number of small orifices 11a from which individual iibers 12 are drawn. Fibers 12 are drawn together in a shoe 13 from whence they are Wound as a strand 14 on drum 15 mounted on shaft 16. The Winding drum mechanism and strand beating devices usually associated therewith are not detailed as they are conventional and typical or such mechanisms as are disclosed in full detail in various patents previously mentioned in this application,

A bracket 17 is fastened to ceiling 10 by bolts 18 and mounts vertical sleeve 19 which pivotally receives therein elongate shaft 20. Shaft 20 has elongate :arm 21 fixed thereby by base 22 extending normal thereto. Attached to the free end of arm 21 is conventional hay chute 23 which comprises an elongate angled chute lioor having side walls 24 extending vertically therefrom. Floor 45 is angled at approximately 45 from vertical. Suitable clamps or attaching means 25 connect the outer end 21a of arm 21 to the underside of the hay chute 23. Vertical handle 26 is iixed to the free end of member 21a.

Vertical beam 27 has bracket 2S at the lower end thereof to which is connected by pin 29 one end of hydraulic cylinder 30. The outer end of hydraulic cylinder 30 is pivotally'connected by pin 31 to bracket 32, the latter connected to the upper side of arm 21.

The full line showing of the hay chute mechanism in the views shows same in inoperative position, that is, out of the line of draw of fibers 12 from oriiices 11a of bushing 11. The dotted line position of the views shows the hay chute in operative position under bushing 11 deflecting said fibers 12 away from winding drum 15 (and into any suitable bin or container (not seen)]. From FIG. 2 it can be seen that arm 21 pivots somewhat less than 90 from inoperative to operative position with hydraulic cylinder piston 30a fully extended when hay chute 23 is in ber deecting position. It should be noted that the operator can optionally move the hay chute into operative position by simple grasping handle 26 and moving the hay chute into operating position. He also may move hay chute 23 back out of operative position by manipulation of handle 26. The hydraulic line connections to hydraulic cylinder 30 are not shown as they are conventional.

The sensing device for detecting incandescent beading of glass at orifices 11a is generally designated 33 and is received between upper and lower plates 34 and 3S of a mounting bracket, said plates held together by bolts 36. Legs 37 mount the isensor bracket construction on ceiling 10. Cable 38 carries signals from the sensor to the electrical system activating hydraulic cylinder 30 and the Warning signal. Another beam 39 carries a socket 40 for an electric light 41 at t-he lower end thereof. This elec-' tric light is activated by signals from sensor 33 at the same time hydraulic cylinder 30 is activated to move hay chute 23 from inoperative to operative position.

Referring to FIG. 3, therein is shown the photo-electricV cell receiver unit for incandescent bead detection at thek bushing 11. This has been previously generally designated 33 and comprises an elongate tube 50 having recessed shelves 50a and 50b produced along the length thereof and opposed to one another by greater thickness portion 50c. Shelf 50a receives insert 51 having slot 51a in the end thereof, member 51 retained Within tube 50 by removable screw 52. Tube insert 53 has slot 53a in the end thereof abutting shelf 50h and carries lens 54 at the other end thereof retained thereagainst by retaining ring 55. End enclosure tube 56 itself has recessed shelf portions 56a and 561; produced by greater thickness portion 56e. Hollow ring insert 57 having opening 57a centrally thereof receives therewithin in greater diameter portion 57b thereof, rod 58 which is hollow centrally to receive therein photo-electric cell 59. Screws 60 mount thereon insulator 61 carrying centrally thereof screw 62 having nut 63 thereon. Screws 60 are threaded through ring 57. End insert 64, by means of grommet 65 receives the cable 38 therein. Electrical communication from photo-cell 59 passes to screw 62 and thence to cable 3S via wire 66. Ground wire 67 connects from cell 59 to tube 56 and thence to ground.

Referring to FIG. 4, therein is shown 4a schematic circuit diagram of the electrical circuit used in the instant invention. 11S-volt A.C. power is input to lines 68 and 69. Disconnect switch 70 is normally closed. Fuse 71 is provided on line 68. Lines 72 and 73 input power to transformer generally designated 74. Plate circuit relay winding 75a is adapted to energize through its contact 7517 power control relay winding 76a which energizes through its contact 76b hay chute solenoid 77 (itself adapted to actuate the hydraulic cylinder 3G) and red warning light 41. At 78 is seen the take-off for the filament of thyratron 79. Transformer output lines 80 and 81 lead to a D.C. source circuit comprising bridge rectifier S2 connected through filtering capacitors 83 and 84, filter inductor 85, fixed dropping resistor 86 and voltage regulator 87 to a voltage divider circuit generally designated 88. One side of the voltage divider circuit through lines 89 and 90 connects photo-conductive cell 59 between the D.C. source and the No. 1 grid of thyratron 79. The No. 1 grid of the thyratron is then connected via line 91 through fixed resistor 92 to ground 93. The other side of the cathode and the No. 2 grid of the thyratron are connected by line 94 to the center tap of a potentiometer 95 which is connected between the D.C. source and the ground. Line 96 connects the other end of the voltage divider circuit to the plate of thyratron 79 through auxiliary contact 97 on the starter of the winding machine and plate circuit relay winding 7 5a.

The detector is mounted near the bushing which is generatin-g the iilaments in a position to see all the filaments just as they come out of the bushing. When one or more filaments break, a bead of glass is formed which is seen by the detector and causes the hay chute and the red warning liquid to be activated. The detector consists of a tube with a slot in the end nearest the bushing, a photoconductive cell mounted in the other end and a lens to focus the light from the slot on the sensitive area of the photo-conductive cell. When the light intensity is changed on the photo cell, a resistance chan-ge Iacross the cel-l occurs. As the light intensity increases, the photo cell resistance decreases, and the voltage on the thyratron grid increases. The detector circuit is powered by a regulated and filtered D.C. supply. v

The photo cell is connected between a D.C. source and the No. 1 grid of a thyratron. The grid of the thyratron is then connected through a iixed resistor to ground. By using a voltage divider circuit the No. l grid is kept at a fixed D.C. potential when the lglass is drawing fibers properly. The cathode and the No. 2 grid of the thyratron are connected to the center tap of a potentiometer (sensitivity adjustment) which is connected between the D.C. source and ground. By adjusting the potentiometer, a Small bi Aifi applied to the thyratron to keep it from tiring.

aaesla If the detector photo cell resistance decreases, the No. 1 grid voltage is raised :and the thyratron starts conducting. Usually a single bead is sufiicient to start the thyratron conducting. Starting the thyratron to conduct energizes a relay 75 or lCR in the plate circuit which initiates a relay sequence 76 or 2GB that energizes the hay chute solenoid and the red light warning light system.

The detector circuit is set up by an auxiliary contact on the starter of the winding machine. After the bead is detected, the winding machine is shut down to rethread, at which time the detector circuit is automatically reset (through the auxiliary contact shown on schematic).

From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinabove set forth together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the process.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. Apparatus for protecting a ber winding operation wherein a multiplicity of fibers of molten material are drawn from a lmulti-oriced bushing and wound on a revolving drum comprising a photoelectric receiver located at such point as to sense the light intensity at the bushing,

and signal when one or more incandescent beads are formed at the bushing when one yor more bers drawn therefrom are broken, a fiber deiiecting device positioned near and below said bushing, and means for removing said ber deecting device between the bushing and the winding drum on said signal from said photoelectric receiver.

2. Apparatus for protecting a fiber winding operation wherein a multiplicity of fibers of molten material are drawn from a multi-oriced bushing and Wound on a revolving drum comprising a photoelectric receiver located at such point as to sense the light intensity at the bushing of a limted number of the fibers being drawn from said oriiices in the ber drawing operation and signal when one `or more incandescent beads are formed at the bushing when one or more of said limited number of bers drawn therefrom are broken, a ber deflecting device positioned near and below said bushing, and means for moving said ber deiiecting device between the bushing and the winding drum on said signal from said photoelectric receiver.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,704,430 3/ 1955 Harris 57-81 3,001,438 9/1961 Warthen 88-148 3,158,852 l1/l964 Schacher 57-81 S. LEON BASHORE, Primary Examiner.

DONALL H. SYLVESTER, Examiner.

G. R. MEYERS, Assistant Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. APPARATUS FOR PROTECTING A FIBER WINDING OPERATION WHEREIN A MULTIPLICITY OF FIBERS OF MOLTEN MATERIAL ARE DRAWN FROM A MULTI-ORIFICED BUSHING AND WOUND ON A REVOLVING DRUM COMPRISING A PHOTOLECTRIC RECEIVER LOCATED AT SUCH POINT AS TO SENSE THE LIGHT INTENSITY AT THE BUSHING, AND SIGNAL WHEN ONE OR MORE INCANDESCENT BEADS ARE FORMED AT THE BUSHING WHEN ONE OR MORE BIBERS DRAWN THEREFROM ARE BROKEN, A FIBER DEFLECTING DEVICE POSITIONED NEAR AND BELOW SAID BUSHING, AND MEANS FOR REMOVING SAID FIBER DEFLECTING DEVICE BETWEEN THE BUSHING AND THE WINDING DRUM ON SAID SIGNAL FROM SAID PHOTOELECTRIC RECEIVER.

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