US3303982A - Filament feeding - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 14, 1967 R. H. BALCH FILAMENT FEEDING 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed March 13, 1959 Feb. 14, 1967 R. H. BALCH 3,303,982

FILAMENT FEEDING Original Filed March 13, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent M FILAMENT FEEDING Ralph H. Balch, Charlotte, N.C., assignor to Celanese Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Original application May 13, 1959, Ser. No. 812,954, now

Patent N0. 3,151,021, dated Sept. 29, 1964. Divided and this application Apr. 29, 1964, Ser. No. 368,438

11 Claims. (Cl. 226-97) This invention relates to filament feeding and positioning, more particularly to means for continuously providing a plurality of spaced filaments.

This application is a division of application Serial Number 812,954, filed May 13, 1959, now United States Patent 3,151,021.

In certain manufacturing procedures, such as the making of reinforced paper, it is necessary to supply continuously a plurality of spaced filaments, i.e. a warp. The job of starting up the equipment is time consuming in that all of the filaments must be manually threaded up. In addition, in the event of breakage or other interruption of the supply of any one of the filaments it is necessary to stop the equipment to permit reinsertion of the broken filament end or of a new filament. Additionally where a plurality of yarn ends are fed to continuous production process equipment, as required in the production of a desired reinforcing matrix, it is generally desirable to be able to vary the spacing between the matrix components, so as to permit different qualities and sizes of material to be made by the production equipment.

It is with the above problems in mind that the present means have been evolved, means implementing the continuous feeding of a plurality of spaced filaments from a supply of said filaments to a continuous production process. The novel feeding means minimizes the occurrence of breaks in the filament, eliminates the need for stopping the production process in order to re-insert an interrupted filament and also permits the selective adjustment of the spacing between the fed filaments. The term filament is here employed to designate any elongate material such as yarn, thread, fibers or the like,

whether synthetic or natural, and whether twisted or not.

It is accordingly a primary object of this invention to provide improved filament feeding means.

Another object of the invention is to provide filament feeding means serving to minimize the occurrence of filament breakage.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for making filament-reinforced paper continuously irrespective of discontinuities in the filaments.

An additional object of the invention is to provide feeding means for feeding a plurality of adjustably spaced filament ends.

It is also an object of the invention to provide an improved process and apparatus for introducing a filament to a continuous production process.

These and other objects of the invention which will become apparent in the following disclosure and claims are achieved by provision of novel filament maintaining means supporting a supply of filament packages in combination with a pneumatic conveyor such as an aspirator for picking up a filament end in a fluid such as air, and means guiding the air along with the filament end to a selectively adjustable delivery point. The filament supply maintaining means comprises a creel on which a plurality of pairs of filament package supports are mounted. Arranged on the creel are a plurality of aspirators, one for each pair of filament packages. Upon passage of air through an aspirator a filament end supplied to the aspirator will be sucked in and carried along with the air to means guiding the air stream to a selected delivery point, said guiding means comprising a flexible tube formed of 3,303,982 Patented Feb. 14, 1967 materials such as polyvinyl plastics, polyolefins such as polyethylene, polyamides, polyesters, or the like. The free ends of the tubes are preferably arranged to be supported by an expander comprising a plurality of hinged panels Which permits selective adjustment of the spacing between the filaments fed by the tubes.

A primary feature of the invention resides in the arrangement of the air and filament guiding tube in combination with the creel, suction pick-up, and expander so that the passage of a filament from the creel to the desired delivery point is protected, minimizing filament breakage.

Another feature of the invention resides in the fact that the use of flexible tubes for guiding the filament to the point of delivery permits positioning of the creel at a distance remote from the delivery point providing for a flexibility of installation.

Another feature of the invention resides in the aforedescribed feed means in combination with a papermaking apparatus to permit continuous production of reinforced paper without interruption even where one or more of the reinforcing filaments temporarily runs out.

The specific structural details of a preferred embodiment of the invention, and their mode of functioning, will be made most manifest and particularly pointed out in clear, concise, and exact terms in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 represents a schematic perspective view with parts broken away of the novel filament feeding and positioning equipment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a machine for making paper reinforced with filament supplied thereto by the equipment of FIG. 1; and FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view through the aspirator shown in FIG. 1 employed for introducing a filament from the filament packages supported on the creel to the guiding tubes.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing like numerals in the various figures will be taken to designate like parts. As best seen in FIG. 1 the novel feeding and positioning means 10 comprise means maintaining a supply of the filaments to be fed, in the form of creel 11. Creel 11 as illustrated comprises a plurality of spaced struts 12 between which a plurality of vertically spaced cross pieces 13 extend. Angle irons are found most suitable in the fabrication of these struts 12 and cross pieces 13. A plurality of pairs of filament package supports in the form of pins 14 are arranged on the cross pieces 13 with one pin 14 of each pair preferably arranged on cross pieces 13 on opposite sides of strut 12.

Supported on the creel in any suitable fashion by means of straps or the like are aspirators 15 one for each pair of pins 14 (only some being shown in FIG. 1). As best seen in FIG. 3, the aspirators 15 each comprise an air inlet nozzle 16 for directing a stream of compressed air to a chamber 17. The air is conveyed to each nozzle 16 by an air supply hose 18 coupled to the nozzle 16 by means of hose nipple 19 or the like. All the hoses 18 are connected through a valving device 20 with a master supply hose 21 so that air can be supplied selectively to one or more of the aspirators 15. If desired, however, a single hose 18 may be provided selectively to be attached to whichever aspirator 15 needs servicing.

Each aspirator 15 also includes an air outlet 22 coupled to a flexible guide tube 23 and a filament inlet tube 24 extending into chamber 17 and terminating adjacent air outlet 22. Each tube 23, one for each aspirator 15, is trained along struts 12, and suitably secured thereto by means of appropriate fastening devices such as straps or the like. The free end of each tube 23 is thereafter secured to adjustable selective spacing means in the form v of an expander 25.

Expander 25 comprises a plurality of panel members 26 connected by hinges 27 and formed with spaced aligned apertures 28 through each of which the free end of one tube 23 may extend. The hinging between panels 26 permits adjustment of the lateral spacing between the filaments exiting from the tubes 23. One can readily see from an examination of the operation of expander 25 that as the angle between any two adjacent panel members 26 is decreased from 180 degrees that the lateral spacing between filaments is also decreased. Expander 25 is suitably mounted in any conventional mechanically expedient fashion for positioning adjacent the nip rolls 29 of the equipment to which the filaments are to be fed, as further shown in FIGJZ.

Operation The aforedescribed structure is designed to facilitate positioning thereof in combination with a variety of production equipment to which filaments must be fed. This is implemented by the flexibility of guiding tubes 23, and the fact that they can be made of any desired length. The creel 11 is suitably positioned in any available floor space adjacent the process equipment to be supplied with filaments. Thereafter expander 25 with its associated tubes 23 is arranged adjacent the nip rolls 29 of the process equipment. As is apparent, expander 25 is sufiiciently close to nip rolls 29 so that any filaments emerging from tubes 23 will be caught up by the rolls 29.

The creel is loaded with filament packages containing filaments of the type desired for introduction into the process. Upon each pair of pins 14 two appropriate filament supply packages, which for sake of clarity are not shown, such as bobbins, cones, cheeses, or the like are arranged. The beginning of the filament 30 on one package of each pair is held near filament inlet 24, as is more clearly shown in FIGURE 3 of the drawing, and compressed air is selectively supplie'di to hose 18. In passing around the inner end of tube 24 within chamber 17 and then out outlet 22 into and through tube 23, the compressed air sucks the filament 30 into the tube 23. The rolls 29 are not running and are temporarily separated so that the filament end falls over the lower roll in the space between the rolls. The compressed air is successively and selectively supplied to the other hoses 18, and other filaments 30 are successively and selectively positioned adjacent each inlet 24 at each aspirator until the full warp of filaments 30 lies over the lower nip roll. Nip rolls 29 are brought together and started rotating, supplying the reinforcing filaments 30 to the production equipment to which filaments are to be fed.

The end of the filament on one package of each pair is tied to the beginning of the filament on the other package so that upon exhaustion of one of the filament packages, the other may commence feeding. An operator who periodically services the creel will note the empty package and replace it with a full package, the beginning of which is tied to the end 'of the running package to provide a 7 continuous filament supply.

In the event of a break or other discontinuity in one filament it is not necessary to stop the process to reinsert the broken end. Instead the broken end is brought near the filament inlet 24 of its respective aspirator 15, compressed air is applied to the resective hose 18 and the broken filament is carried to, and then between, rolls 29 to restore the desired running conditions. As is apparent from the drawing, the displacement of the individual panel members 26 with respect to rolls 29 will determine the spacing between the filaments, the greater the angle between'panel members 216 the greater the spacing between the filaments at their points of entry between rolls 29.

The invention is hereinafter more particularly described a in combination with paper-making apparatus but is not intended to be limited thereto. A paper-making slurry is fed to a large tank 31 which meters it in conventional manner as a mat 32 onto a screen conveyor 33. Excess suction boxes 34. As shown schematically in FIGURE 2, the tubes 23 can discharge their filaments onto the conveyor 33 near where the slurry is deposited. The filaments can be either up ermost or lowermost depending upon whether they reach the conveyor after or before the slurry and in FIGURE 2 they are lowermost, i.e., be tween the slurry and conveyor. From the conveyor the mat 32 is calendered by rolls 35 and further processedin conventional manner. It will be seen that since the filaments are conveyed through flexible tubes to the point of incorporation, the tubes need not be perfectly parallel. This permits the creel 11 to be located at one side of the paper-making machine and some distance away from it, which is particularly advantageous in a paper mill. The tubes can be made as long as necessary, taking into consideration the amount of friction between the filaments and tubes and the strength of the filaments.

The novel structure may be employed in a variety of situations requiring a plurality of spaced filaments. Thus the structure may be utilized in conjunction with, in addition to the fabrication of paper laminates as above described, the fabrication of plastic laminates, and in the production of non-woven fabrics. As illustrated the novel structure has particular applicability in conjunction with the provision of reinforcing yarns such as high tenacity regenerated cellulose in the production of laminated kraft paper. While the space available to feed filaments into the forming zone of conventional kraft paper making equipment may be limited, use of the novel filament feeding apparatus here disclosed permits creel 11 to be arranged at any convenient point either on the side or to the rear of the paper machine. Positioning of the expander permits the ready feeding of the filaments to the kraft paper making machine. The spacing between the filaments may be adjusted by varyingthe angles between the panel members 26 and the filaments fed are protected in transit by guide tubes 23.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description is given merely by way of illustration and that many variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention What I desire to secure by Letters Patent is: p

1. Means implementing the continuous feeding of a plurality of spaced filaments, said means comprising filament supply means, filament end pick-up means adjacent said supply means, filament guiding means coupled to said pick-up means, and adjustable spacing means supporting the delivery end of said guiding means to permit the selective spacing of the delivered filaments.

2. Means as in claim 1 in which said filament guiding means includes a flexible tube through which each filament is guided, whereby the discharge of said guiding means may be adjustably positioned with respect to said supply means. 7

3. Means for feeding elongate material, said means comprising means maintaining a supply of the material,

pneumatic conveying means adjacent the supply of material, means for supplying compressed air to said conveyor means 'for transport of the material, guiding means coupled to said conveying means for carrying the air stream along with the end of the material to a discharge at a selected delivery point and adjustable spacing means supporting the discharge end of said guiding means to a permit the selective spacing of the delivered elongate aspirator means, guiding means coupled to each of said aspirator means respectively for carrying each air stream along with its respective filament end to a discharge at a selected delivery point adjacent the delivery points of the other air streams and their respective filaments and adjustable spacing means supporting the delivery end of the guiding means whereby the filaments are laterally spaced with respect to one another.

5. Means as in claim 4 in which said means for supplying compressed air to said aspirator means selectively includes an air hose for each aspirator means, a master air supply hose, and valving means for selectively connecting said master air supply hose with any one or more of said air hoses.

6. Means for providing a Warp of spaced filaments, comprising a plurality of pairs of supports for filament packages, an aspirator for each pair of supports, means for supplying compressed air to said aspirators thereby to draw an end of a filament into the respective aspirator, a plurality of guides respectively coupled to said aspirators for carrying each air stream along with its respective filament end, and expander means adjustably supporting said guides to permit variation of the relative disposition of the filaments issuing from said guides.

7. Apparatus as in claim 6 in which said expander comprises a plurality of panel members having apertures through which said guides may pass, and hinges connecting said members to permit adjustment of the angle therebetween and thus of the lateral distances between filaments.

8. Means for providing a warp of spaced filaments, said means comprising means maintaining a plurality of filament packages, aspirator means adjacent said packages and at least equal in number to the number of filaments to be provided, an air hose for each aspirator means, a master air supply hose, valving means for selectively connecting said master air supply hose with at least one of said air hoses, guiding means coupled to each of said aspirator means respectively for carrying each filament and its respective air stream to a predetermined discharge point, and adjustable spacing means operatively associated with said guide means whereby the lateral spacing between the filaments in the warp of spaced filaments is determined.

9. Method of supplying a plurality of filaments in a predetermined spaced relationship from a supply means at a distance remote from their delivery point comprising:

(a) forwarding said filaments to a selectively adjustable delivery point at which point the filaments are in a fixed spaced relationship; and

(b) forwarding said filaments from said delivery point into the nip formed by a pair of rolls whereby the lateral spacing between the filaments is changed.

10. Means according to claim 8 wherein the guide means are flexible plastic tubes and the spacing means comprises a plurality of panels having apertures therein in each of which is located a guiding tube, said panels being interconnected by hinges whereby the panels are selectively adjustable with respect to one another and the spacing between the filaments is thereby determined.

11. Expander for selective adjustment of spacing between a plurality of filaments comprising a plurality of panel members hingedly connected together, each of said panel members having therein. a plurality of spaced aligned apertures through which said filaments pass, the spacing between the filaments being adjusted by varying the angles between the panel members.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,481,197 9/1949 Caille 226-97 2,899,159 8/1959 Leblang 24868 X 2,971,243 2/1961 Burns. 2,971,683 2/ 1961 Paulsen 226-97 3,039,170 6/1962 Marshall.

ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner.

HADD S. LANE, Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. MEANS IMPLEMENTING THE CONTINUOUS FEEDING OF A PLURALITY OF SPACED FILAMENTS, SAID MEANS COMPRISING FILAMENT SUPPLY MEANS, FILAMENT END PICK-UP MEANS ADJACENT SAID SUPPLY MEANS, FILAMENT GUIDING MEANS COUPLED TO SAID PICK-UP MEANS, AND ADJUSTABLE SPACING MEANS SUPPORTING THE DELIVERY END OF SAID GUIDING MEANS TO PERMIT THE SELECTIVE SPACING OF THE DELIVERED FILAMENTS.

Images