US3321810A

US3321810A - Textile carding machine

Info

Publication number: US3321810A
Application number: US493019A
Authority: US
Inventors: Burnham Virgil Allan
Original assignee: Maremont Corp
Current assignee: Maremont Corp
Priority date: 1965-10-05
Filing date: 1965-10-05
Publication date: 1967-05-30
Anticipated expiration: 1984-05-30

Description

May 30, 1967 vA. BURNHAM TEXTILE CARDING MACHINE Original. Filed June 25, 1963 United States Patent O 3,321,810 TEXTILE CARDIN@ MACHHNEE Virgil Allan Burnham, Saco, Maine, assigner, by mesne assignments, to Maremont Corporation, Chicago, lll., a corporation of Illinois Continuation of application Ser. No. 290,388, .lune 25, 1963. This application (ict. 5, i965, Ser. No. 493,019 4l Claims. (Cl. l9-10'7) This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 290,388, filed June 25, 1963. now abandoned. Its invention relates to textile carding machines and more particularly to novel pneumatic means for removing short fibers and for stripping fibers and trash from the flats of cards.

The function of a card, as is well known is the textile art, is to clean and separate fibers from dirt and trash and from one another and to remove such dirt and trash, together with short fibers while removing or damaging the longer bers to as small a degree as possible.

The so-caled flat card, which has a series of flats in endless chain form set close to the main cylinder and moved slowly along it, has long been used in the textile art. The flats are located as close together as possible to seal out the escape of lint and dust in the interest of cleanliness, but nevertheless lint, dust and short fibers are accumulated by the flats during the carding operation. Such has been removed from the ats by mechanical means such as a rotary brush, for example, and collected on the roll or in a pan. It then has to be removed by the operator from the brush or pan several times during the day. This conventional mechanical means not only utilizes the operators valuable time but it fails to remove the lint that is thrown out from between t-he flats by the air currents created by the rotation of the main cylinder. Although some of the lint is accumulated on a scavenger roll inside the fiat assembly, a large percentage of the lint collects on the inside of the flats and on all adjacent parts thus requiring frequent cleaning. The mechanical cleaning means also fails to remove the air laden with abrasive materials that is blown out with the lint. This abrasive laden air is not only detrimental to the Inechanical bearings on the card but is harmful to the health of the personnel in the area of the cards.

ri`he present invention deals especially with the problems presented by the foregoing conditions. Its `aim is not only to remove the accumulations from the tiats but also to greatly increase the separation of short fibers, as well as to remove the lint and short fibers so separated from the inside of the flat assembly and remove the dust laden air, thus saving labor, improving the efliciency of short fibers removal, reducing the cleaning requirements of the card, reducing the wear of the mechanical components, and creating a more healthy condition for the personnel in the card room.

A further object of this invention is to reduce the number of mechanical components, thus simplifying and reducing the cost of the machine.

A still further object of this invention is to facilitate the removing of the strips from the tiats, in which the direction of movement of the flats is reversed from the conventional, so that the strips are removed in the same direction as the rake of the teeth on the flats, rather than in the opposite direction.

According to the present invention, these objects of the invention are accomplished by means of two major changes relative to the conventional flat card, both invoiving control of air flow in the region of the fiats of the card which changes are interdependent upon one another for most efficient operation.

The first of these changes involves the spacing of the flats from one another in the region in which they are ad- 3,32 l i 0 Patented May 30, l 967 ICC jacent to the main cylinder, contrary to the former practice which decreed that the ats should be as close together as mechanically possible. Utilizing a spacing between the flats of at least 0.065 but. not exceeding 0.125 inch, in the region in which the fiats are set close to the main cylinder, of the order of 0.005 to 0.020 therefrom, to create a substantial transfer of fibers back and forth between the ats and cylinder, the short, unspinnable fibers released during the transfer are passed between the spaced flats into the interior of the flats by reason of the air flow between the spaced Hats created by the rotation of the carding cylinder and otherwise. By reason of this aspect of the invention, a uniquely high degree of removal of unspinnable liber is provided, and without the addition of further structure to the card.

The second of these changes involves a novel pneumatic stripper having its mouth opening positioned closely adjacent to the flats preferably at a point immediately following the point at which they move away from their operating relationship to the card cylinder, and preferably at a point at which the ats are passing around an end bight so that a substantially increased space is present between the flats, for removal of unspinnable fibers and other material from inside the endless chain of ats. The mouth opening of the stripper of the invention extends entirely across the machine, but is of limited peripheral extent preferably less than the width of a card hat and has a lower lip extending for about the width of a flat around the bight toward the card cylinder, so that a fllat is stripped simultaneously throughout its length by air passing into said mouth from across and between the flats, a suitable source of suction being provided to create `an air flow of relatively high velocity for stripping. More specifically, the pneumatic stripper of the invention is positioned at the bight of the fiats adjacent the inlet side of the card cylinder, the operating flats being moved preferably in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the card cylinder from input to output, that is from the output side of the card toward its input side.

Also, according to the invention, the card flats are provided with strip sheet metal metallic teeth which rake in the direction of flat movement, air movement being pr-ovided between the flats as well as across a flat between it and said lower lip in the same direction as the rake of the teeth on the flats to facilitate removal of fibers therefrom. Preferably, the card cylinder is provided with similar teeth which rake in the direction of cylinder movement.

Still further objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, together with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic vertical longitudinal section of a typical fiat card embodying my invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged isometric detail view of a portion of the card of FIG. l, showing the cooperation of my novel spaced flats and pneumatic stripper means with the elements of the card;

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of my novel pneumatic stripper as used with the card of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical longitudinal section of a portion of the card of FIG. l, showing thel cooperation of my novel spaced flats and pneumatic stripper means with the fiats and the cylinder of the card;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are enlarged detail views of the strip sheet metal metallic teeth elements on the card flats; and

FIGS. 7 and 8 are enlarged vertical views of portions of the card of FIG. l, showing the rake of the teeth thereof.

Apparatus embodying my invention may be used with any suitable conventional card. As diagrammatically represented in FIG. l, this may have the usual lickerin cylinder 10, fed by any suitable picker lap 12, which separates and delivers fibers to a main card cylinder 14, which cards the fibers in cooperation with the fiats 16 and delivers the fibers to a dofiing cylinder 1f; from which they are removed in the form of a card web 20 by the dofling comb 22. The flats are arranged in an endless chain which is separated by wheels and sprockets into two spaced fiights 24 and 26, separated by bights 24a and 26a, the flight 24 being guided so that `the surfaces 27 of the flats are maintained by card cylinder guide surface 13 in carding relationship with the card cylinder throughout a large part of its circumference, with tooth tip clearances of 0.005 to 0.020 inch. The flats are moved very slowly relatively to the rotation of the card cylinder. This movement is so slow that the flats may be considered stationary as far as carding action on the fibers is concerned. A casing 30 encloses as much of the card proper as is practical. However various large openings in the casing are essential. The most important of these is at the space occupied by the fiight 24 of flats. The casing includes shields adjacent the main and dofling cylinders, and includes a shield or cover adjacent the licker-in roll and proximate portions of the main cylinder. These shields extend substantially the full axial length of the cylinders.

Each fiat 16 consists mainly of a bar 32 of Vshaped cross section (FIGS. 2 and 4) extending across the width of the card cylinder. At each end, each bar is pivoted to an endless chain 36 at pivot points 37 (FIG. 4). The two endless chains pass over a pair of sprockets 38. As shown in FIGS. l and 2, the chains and flats form a fiight 24 which is concave with respect of the card cylinder, and a fiight 26 which consists of a series of loops, which are convex with respect to the card cylinder, in which the individual flats are upside down with respect to the fiats in the fiight 24. Where the chain passes over the sprockets 38, the flats are necessarily widely separated, the interval between them being of the order of 1/s to 1A inch. The space between the two fiights may be of the order of eight inches. The fiats in the two fiights in effect form walls of anair chamber or enclosure 44 open at both sides throughout the length of the flights. The widely separated fiats which are passing over the sprocket 38 provides slots 40a constituting passages connecting with the main passage 44.

According to the present invention, the fiats 16 are provided with strip sheet metal toothed members 17 extending across the narrow dimension of the fiat 16, preferably with the teeth of adjacent rows staggered with respect to one another, all as shown in FIGS. 5-7. The teeth of such members are raked as is best shown in FIG. 7 toward the direction of movement of the yflats as is hereinafter more fully described. Preferably, the main cylinder 14 is Wound with strip sheet metal toothed material 15 of the same general type, and the tips of the toothed member 17 of the fiats are spaced from the tips of the toothed members 15 of the card cylinder a distance C of about 0.005 to 0.020 inch.

It is a vital feature of the present invention that the flats 16 are arranged with a slot 40 in between them, when the flats are in carding relationship with the cylinder, as best shown in FIG. 4. The slot width is exaggerated on the drawing for clarity. By maintaining the slot width :at least as wide as 0.065 to 0.125 inch, while the fiats are in such relationship, the short unspinnable fibers below about 1/2 inch in length, are released during the transfer back and forth between the points of the teeth 17 on the fiat and the points of the teeth 15 on the cylinder. The slot width between the fiats should be kept below a maximum width that will maintain efiicient pressure to blow the fibers between the fiats, preferably not much exceeding 0.125 inch. This arrangement provides a multiplicity of areas for the short unspinnable fibers to escape from the carding process without the longer fibers being removed from the cylinder, resulting in a very efficient method of i removing unspinnable fibers during the carding process.

The invention also includes means for removing the short fibers which are blown inwardly of the flats through slots 40, together with any dust so removed, including means for maintaining a current of air through the passages 40 and along the face of a fiat 16a to remove fibers therefrom, this air being thereafter conveyed to any suitable filter for separating the fly. To this end, it is preferable that the fiats in carding relationship to the cylinder be moved in a direction toward the inlet end of the card, preferably opposite to the direction of rotation of the main cylinder, and in the same direction as that of the rake of the teeth 17 on the card fiats. The teeth 15 on the main cylinder rake in the direction of movement of the cylinder, as shown.

As exemplified herein, the novel pneumatic means of the invention for creating and maintaining these air currents includes a hood 50 close to the fiats where they pass over the sprockets at the left of FIG. 1. The hood 50 has a lmouth opening or orifice 52 spanning the entire length of the fiats 16 across the card, as well as a lip 54. The latter extends around the bight toward the card cylinder for a distance about as great as the width of a card fiat. The suction at the orifice 52 not only removes the strip on the flats by creating a current of air along an advancing flat 16a (FIG. 8) between said fiat and lip 54 but also removes the short fibers and other waste material that accumulates on the inside of the fiats as a result of having been drawn through the single passageway 40a successively exposed thereto. The pressure of the short fiber and dust laden air is higher through the passageway 40 at the area where the periphery of the card cylinder is under the infiuence of the last fiat 16b successively in carding relationship therewith. The largest amount of short fiber and dust laden air is created in the area close to the influence of the suction member. FIG. 1 shows aforementioned typical arrangement of the card wherein the suction member 50 is connected by a suction line 58 to a filter 60 including a fan.

In operation, air is drawn into the enclosure 44 between the fiights at two principal entrances, these being the two sides of the slots 40 between the spaced tiights. Air leaves the passage 44 through one principal exit, the single slot 40a between the fiats open to hood orifice 52, since the latter is narrower than a fiight and so cannot accommodate two such slots 40. This current of air carries with it, into the hood 50, a very large proportion of the short fibers liberated by the card fiats and by the main card cylinder. These short fibers, together with other waste, are carried to the filter 60 and so are kept out of the atmosphere surrounding the card.

In addition to removing the dust and lint laden air from between the fiights, the present invention is particularly unique in removing the strip from flats 16, by creating an air current through the passageway between lip 54 and fiat 16a. To ensure that such air current is of sufficiently high velocity to strip the teeth 17 of a fiat 16a advancing along lip 54, `a relatively small clearance of the order of 1%@ to 3%; inch (distance D in FIG. 8) should be maintained between the points of teeth 17 and the inner surface of lip 54. It should be noted particularly that the air current so created is in the same direction as the rake of teeth 17 on fiats 16, so that fibers are cleanly removed therefrom.

The hood '50 with its lip 54 extends beneath the fiats 16 and as close to them as practical. This lip may, if desired, be provided with end pieces to cause as much as possible of the air drawn into the hood to be drawn from the passage 44 and along lip 54. For best results the longitudinal air intake throttling slot 52, that is, the mouth orifice of the hood 50, should be at least about as wide as the maximum space 40a between flats 16 at the bight 26a, as shown in FIG. 4. Although appreciable quantities of air can `be drawn into the hoods from outside the enclosure 44, sufficient air is drawn into said enclosure through the slots 40 to prevent important quantities of air and short fibers and other waste from leaving the main cylinder of fiats except through the filtering system.

The hood 50 is constructed and arranged to provide a uniform suction across the width of the card (FIG. 3). The cross section of the hood is smallest at the remote end and increases progressively to the center where it is connected to pipe 58. In this way currents of uniform velocity across the width of the card enter the opening 52.

Thus it will be seen that the invention provides a unique solution to the problem of short fiber removal and cleaning of a card. Various modifications of the invention, within the spirit thereof and the scope of the appended claims, will be apparent to those skilled in the carding art.

I claim:

1. A fiat card having a card cylinder rotatable to move fibers from the inlet end to the outlet end of said card, an endless chain of flats in carding relationship with the cylinder, the flats being disposed parallel to the axis of the cylinder in a pair of flights separated by a pair of bights, the individual adjacent flats being relatively widely initially separated by at least 0.065 inch substantially throughout the fiights and relatively further separated at the bights forming an air enclosure having side openings between the flights and end openings `between the fiats at the bights, means for moving said fiats to move the flight of said iiats in carding relationship with said cylinder, and pneumatic means providing, with the rotation of said carding cylinder, a current of air inwardly between the individual adjacent dats when said flats yare in carding relationship with said cylinder to remove short fibers from said cylinder and draw them into the interior of said endless chain of flats and, a current of air to remove tibers from the interior of said endless chain of flats.

2. A fiat card as claimed in claim 1 wherein said flats are widely separated by at least 0.065 to 0.125 inch.

3. A fiat card as claimed in claim l wherein said pneumatic means for applying suction includes a hood having a mouth opening extending entirely across said card, said mouth opening being of limited peripheral extent less than the width of a card fiat and means for applying suction to said hood to remove iiber's outwardly between pairs of individual adjacent fiats.

4. A flat card as claimed in claim. 3 wherein said hood has a lower lip extending for a dist-ance at least about as great as the width of a card flat providing a current of air along an advancing individual fiat between said lip and said yadvancing flat in the same direction as the rake of the teeth of said advancing iiat to remove fibers therefrom in the direction of said rake.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,297,367 3/1919 Lamb 19-102 1,338,651 4/1920 Goldsmith 19-109 1,441,850 1/1923 Hamilton 19-107 1,642,758 9/1927 Wilkinson et al. 19-107 2,683,901 7/1954 Griswold 19107 X 2,900,672 8/ 1959 Hollingsworth 19-112 FOREIGN PATENTS 548,777 10/1922 France.

21,672 of 1898 Great Britain. 666,185 2/ 1952 Great Britain. 860,417 2/ 1961 Great Britain.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner. DORSEY NEWTON, Examiner.

Claims

1. A FLAT CARD HAVING A CARD CYLINDER ROTATABLE TO MOVE FIBERS FROM THE INLET END TO THE OUTLET END OF SAID CARD, AN ENDLESS CHAIN OF FLATS IN CARDING RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CYLINDER, THE FLATS BEING DISPOSED PARALLEL TO THE AXIS OF THE CYLINDER IN A PAIR OF FLIGHTS SEPARATED BY A PAIR OF BEIGHTS, THE INDIVIDUAL ADJACENT FLATS BEING RELATIVELY WIDELY INITIALLY SEPARATED BY AT LEAST 0.065 INCH SUBSTANTIALLY THROUGHOUT THE FLIGHTS AND RELATIVELY FURTHER SEPARATED AT THE BIGHTS FORMING AN AIR ENCLOSURE HAVING SIDE OPENINGS BETWEEN THE FLIGHTS AND END OPENINGS BETWEEN THE FLATS AT THE BIGHTS, MEANS FOR MOVING SAID FLATS TO MOVE