US3371388A - Installation for conveying slivers between two textile machines - Google Patents

Description

P. DILLIES March 5, 1968 INSTALLATION FOR CONVEYING SLIVERS BETWEEN TWO TEXTILE MACHINES 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 24, 1964 NH wmw 3% Nu N J P. DlLLlES INSTALLATION FOR CONVEYING SLIVERS BETWEEN TWO TEXTILE MACHINES Filed Dec. 24, 1964 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 5, 1968 P. DlLLiES 3 INSTALLATION FOR CONVEYING SLIVERS BETWEEN TWO TEXTILE MACHINES Filed Dec. 24, 1964 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 March 5, 1968 P. DILLIES 3,371,388

INSTALLATION FOR CONVEYING SLIVERS BETWEEN TWO TEXTILE MACHINES Filed Dec. 24, 1964 e Sheets-Sheet 4 March 5, 1968 P. DILLIES 3,371,388

INSTALLATION FOR CONVEYING SLIVERS BETWEEN TWO TEXTILE MACHINES Filed Dec. 24, 1964 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 .n qi

g 5 I I'III-I-I March 5, 1 968 P. DILLIES 3 3,371,388

INSTALLATION FOR CONVEYING SLIVERS BETWEEN TWO TEXTILE MACHINES Filed Dec. 24, 1964 I 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 United States Patent F 3,371,388 INSTALLATION FOR CONVEYING SLIVERS BETWEEN TWO TEXTILE MACHINES Pierre Dillies, Croix, Nord, France, assignor to Etablissernents Lemaire & Dillies, Nord, France, a French company Filed Dec. 24, 1964, Ser. No. 420,965 Claims priority, application France, Jan. 3, 1964, 959,318 6'Claims. (Cl. 19-151) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention is directed to the design of an installation for continuously conveying slivers between two textile machines, for example between the web divider which is placed at the delivery of a carding machine and a spinning frame, or alternatively between a drawing and condensing machine and a roving machine. The object which is contemplated is to process slivers or roving, hereinafter referred to as slivers, in a form in which said slivers can be transferred automatically between the two machines, thereby dispensing with any further need for handling operations, which in turn results in very numerous advantages.

The installation according to the invention comprises, in the case of each group of slivers or in the case of each sliver, a conveyor belt or traveling band which is driven in continuous motion at a suitable speed and which extends from the delivery of the machine located upstream to the feed end of the machine which is located downstream.

It is wholly suitable to make use of an installation of this type between the web divider which is placed at the delivery of a carding machine and a spinning frame. In fact, in addition to the economy in time and labor which increase production, a very appreciable reduction is achieved in the quantity of waste fibers produced in the spinning operation, in view of the fact that it is easy to employ these fibers again immediately owing to the proximity of the carding machine and by reason of the fact that it is not necessary to tear them. Provision need no longer be made for bobbins or conveying systems for moving back and forth between the carding section and spinning section. Consideration need no longer be given to the spacing of slivers, to the widths of cheeses and reciprocal motion of beam tenters since each sliver is supplied under the best possible conditions to the spinningframe spindle. The presence of carding machine operators is no longer required since there is no longer any winding onto bobbins and, as a consequence, the spinning machine operator can very easily take care of the carding machine since close attention need no longer be devoted to re-winding of slivers. Materials can very easily be spun which are rubbed only to a very slight extent and which could not be spun with the bobbin system. It is easy to detect the causes of a defect in a thread since the progress of this latter can very conveniently be checked back from the spindle to the tape and to the carding machine in order to trace the cause of the defect. Since 3,371,388 Patented Mar. 5, 1938 the slivers have not been subjected to any handling, there is no danger of mixing those of one variety with those of another variety or the slivers of a new stock with those of an old stock, or of spinning the most recent slivers before older slivers. Since the slivers arrive in a continuous manner, there is no piecing in the reels of yarn, with the result that the yarn has less irregularities and breaks less frequently during. winding-01f. Supervision is easier since the slivers are clearly visible and readily accessible. There is no need to reduce the speed of the usual drawing processes and any spinning defects arising from the transfer of slivers from the carding section to the spinning section are eliminated.

This invention also has for its object forms of embodi ment which comprise at least one of the following characteristic features: (a) The conveyor belt is carried by drums mounted in supports which are suspended, preferably in an adjustable manner, from a horizontal girder located at a height which ensures sufiicient clearance for personnel.

(b) The upstream loop of the endless-belt conveyor passes over a head drum mounted in a support fixed to the lower extremity of a column which is suspended from the corresponding extremity of the girder.

(c) The first support for the drums carried by the girder is located at a certain distance away from the corresponding extremity of said girder in such a manner as to ensure that the conveyor belt has a suitable angle of slope which'permits the slivers to rest under good conditions on the top ascending run of said conveyor belt.

(d) The girder is provided with one or a number of smooth intermediate supports on which at least the top run of the conveyor belt is intended to rest.

(e) Immediately upstream of the head drum, there is located a fixed entry guide which is preferably followed by an idler drum and the configuration of which is such that the slivers which pass over said guide are naturally arranged on the conveyor belt side by side and in uniformly spaced relation.

(f) The conveyor belt is driven from one of the two machines by one of the drums on which it is supported, preferably through the intermediary of a system providing a variable speed ratio.

, (g) The downstream machine is provided underneath the downstream end of each conveyor belt with a funnel connected to a suction system for inducing the transfer of slivers which are then taken one by one for the purpose of feeding them into the corresponding inputs of the devices which are intended to receive them in the second machine.

A better understanding of the invention will be obtained from a perusal of the description which follows below and from a study of the accompanying drawings in which is shown by way of example one form of embodiment of an installation for transferring slivers between the webdividing unit of a carding machine and a spinning frame.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the installation as a whole;

FIG. 2 is a front view in vertical cross-section taken along the line 11-11 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view in profile on a larger scale, this view being taken in cross-section along the line IIIIII of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a detail of FIG. 2, on a larger scale and looking in the opposite direction. a

FIG. 5 is a top plan view corresponding to FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a profile 'view looking in the direction of the arrow VI of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a detail view of a portion of FIG. 3, shown on a larger scale;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view corresponding to FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a view in cross-section taken along the line IXIX of FIG. 7;

FIG. is a view in cross-section taken along the line XX of FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 shows on a larger scale the initial outgoing portion of a conveyor belt looking in the direction of the arrow XI of FIG. 1;

FIG. 12 is a view in profile looking in the direction of the arrow XII of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a top plan view corresponding to FIG. 12.

The installation which is shown as a complete assembly in FIGS. 1 to 3 is intended for the direct and continuous transfer of slivers of textile fibers which are delivered from the web divider 1 of a carding machine to a spinning frame 2.

This transfer installation comprises conveyor belts 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, 4e, 4 4g and 4h which are eight in number in the example and which are mounted respectively on eight nearly identical structural supports. Said supports in fact differ from each other only in respect of their position, orientation and the length of certain components.

There will now be described in detail only one structural support, for example the support which carries the conveyor belt 4a. The corresponding components of the seven other structural supports have been designated in the drawings by the same reference numerals to which there have been assigned the indices b, c, d, e, f, g, h respectively.

The conveyor belt 4a is an endless belt which has, for example, a width of the order of ten centimeters and which passes over a head drum 6a and over a tail drum 7a, the top run of said conveyor belt being additionally passed over an intermediate drum 8a and over one or a number of smooth intermediate guides 9a whilst the bottom run thereof is additionally passed over an intermediate drum 11a and over an auxiliary tail drum 12a.

The head drum 6a is mounted to rotate freely on a support 14a (as also shown in FIGS. 11 to 13) which is secured to the lower extremity of a column 15a which is suspended vertically from one end of a box girder 16a, said box girder being in turn suspended at a height which ensures sufiicient clearance to enable personnel to pass underneath from a horizontal structural steel member 22 forming part of a framework which is in turn anchored to the building in which the machines are housed. The girder 16a is accordingly suspended by means of a tiebrace 18a and a cramp 19a which bears on the bottom flange of a channel iron member 21 which is placed on its side and the top flange of which is accordingly fixed against the underface of the structural steel member 22.

The intermediate drums 8a and 11a are mounted to rotate freely in another support 24a which is also fixed to the box girder 16a and, in a similar manner, the tail drums 7a and 12a are mounted in a support 25a (as also shown in FIGS. 4 to 6) which is also fixed to the box girder 16a.

In the example shown, the box girder 16a is almost horizontal. In actual fact, however, said box girder is set at a very small angle of slope from the upstream end towards the downstream end. The tension of the conveyor belt can easily be regulated by displacing the support 24a either in one direction or in the other along the horizontal box girder 16a. For this purpose, the support 24a consists of a sheet-steel plate 27 (as shown in FIGS. 7 to 9) which is held applied against a vertical face of the square-section box girder 16a by means of four bolts 28 which are inserted in pairs in two clamping plates 29 which are applied against the other vertical face of the box girder 16a. By slackening off the bolts 28, itis thus -made possible to slide the support 24a along the box girder for the purpose of regulating the belt tension.

The support 25a on which the tail drums 7a, 12a are carried is mounted in a similar manner on the box girder 4 16a by means of four bolts 34 and two' clamping plates such as the plate 36 (as shown in FIGS. 4- to 6).

The smooth intermediate guide 9a is also secured to the box girder 16a by means of a plate 31 (as shown in FIG. 10) which is rigidly fixed to said guide and held applied against the underface of the box girder 16a by means of bolts 32 which apply a clamping plate 33 against the top face of said box girder.

The head support 14a is also adapted to carry an idler drum 37a (as shown in FIGS. 11 to 13) and a fixed entry guide 38a having a configuration such that the slivers which are delivered from the corresponding story of the web divider 1 are naturally spaced at uniform intervals on said drum and deposited in similarly spaced array on the top run of the conveyor belt 4a which is carried by the head drum 6a.

The head support 14a also comprises a plate 40 which is secured by means of bolts 41 and clamping plates 42 against one face of the column 15a.

The conveyor 4a is driven from the tail drum 7a by means of a drive system which comprises a pulley 45 (as shown in FIGS. 3 to 6) which forms one piece with said drum, a belt 47 which passes over said pulley and over another pulley 48 carried by a shaft 49 which extends along the entire length of the spinning frame and which is mounted in bearings 52 which are respectively secured to right-angle brackets 54, said brackets being fixed against the web of the channel iron member 21. The pulley 48 is a stepped pulley and the belt 47 is a rubberized belt in order to permit the possibility of regulating the speed of the conveyor belt 4a. The shaft 49 is driven in rotation from the spinning frame 2 through the intermediary of an assembly such as a radial plate unit 55 (as shown in FIG. 1) comprising gear-wheels and, for example, a belt transmission system 57 with stepped pulleys, also for the purpose of speed regulation. The radial plate unit 55 is in turn driven from the motor 59 of the spinning frame through the intermediary of a suitable drive system.

There is additionally fixed on that end of the box girder 16a which is located above the spinning frame 2 a support 61a on which is mounted an idler drum 62a (as shown in FIGS. 3 to 6) over which the slivers 100 are intended to pass before progressing downwards into the different pressure cylinders such as the cylinder 64 (as shown in FIG. 3) which are set at intervals on both faces of the spinning frame along the entire length of this latter. In the exemplified embodiment, each conveyor belt such as 4a feeds a certain number of spinning-frame heads (as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2). There have also been indicated in FIG. 3 the false twisting devices 65, the spindles 66, the travelers 67, the devices 71 for sucking waste fibers, the ducts or conduits 72 which extend along the entire length of the spinning frame and which are connected to a suction device 75 (as shown in FIG. 2), as well as the two servicing footplates 77. The conveyor belts are located at a height such that servicing personnel stationed on the footplates can gain ready access to the slivers which are deposited on said conveyor belts.

Beneath the downstream extremity of each conveyor belt, for example the conveyor belt 4a, provision is made for a funnel such as 81a which is connected to a suction conduit 82; said conduit also extends along the entire length of the spinning frame and is also connected to the device 75 for sucking waste fibers. The funnel referredto is intended to facilitate the initial transfer of the slivers when the entire installation is put into operation and also to receive and discharge those slivers which may break between conveyor belt and pressure cylinder.

The web divider 1 comprises four stories 96, 97, 98, 99 of rubbers (as shown in FIG. 3) which deliver web strips or slivers. The slivers which are delivered from the first story of rubbers 96 are conveyed onto the twoend conveyor belts 4a and 4/1 of which the entry guides such as the guide 38a are located at a suitable corresponding height, the entry guide of the last conveyor belt 4h being no longer visible in FIG. 3 since it is located at the same level as the entry guide 38a of the conveyor-belt 4a. The entry guide 38b of the conveyor belt 4b and the corresponding guide of the belt 4g are located at a slightly higher level and receive the slivers which are delivered from the second stage of rubbers 97. The entry guide 38c of the conveyor belt 40 and the corresponding entry guide of the belt 4 are located at a level which is again slightly higher and receive the slivers of the third story of rubbers 98. Finally, the entry guide 38d of the conveyor belt 4d as well as the corresponding entry guide of the belt 4a which are at the highest level in the installation receive the slivers which are delivered from the top story of rubbers 99.

There have also been illustrated in FIG. 3 four horizontal standby rods 101, 102, 103, 104 which are each located at the delivery of the web divider 1 at a slightly lower level than the corresponding entry guide of the conveyor belts, for a reason which will be explained hereinafter.

There are located at the bottom of the web divider 1 a winding drum 111 and a bobbin 112 which is held by guide rails 113 and, similarly, the top portion of the web divider frame carries a winding drum 115 and a bobbin 116 which is held by guide rails 117.

Provision is also made at the top of the divider frame for a fan 121 for the purpose of returning false slivers to the charger.

There is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 a control desk 12s on which are centralized the electric control devices of the installation and, in particular, the devices for controlling the synchronized motors of the carding machine, the cam gear, the fan 121 for returning false slivers to the charger and the sliver suction fan of the spinning-frame.

The operation of the belt conveyors is made dependent on the spinning frame inasmuch as it is carried out through the intermediary of a speed-changing mechanism which is driven by the spinning frame and so regulated that the feed rolls of said spinning frame absorb with slight tension the slivers which are brought in by the conveyor belts.

Similarly, the speed of transmission is regulated by means of the radial plate 55 and belt drive wiih stepped pulleys 57 and, as a consequence, the speed of each conveyor belt is regulated by means of the stepped pulleys 48 in such a manner as to produce a light drawing action on the slivers which are delivered from the rubbers of the web divider.

The spinner has the task of operating the control units which are placed on the control desk 123 in order to carry out the convenient starting and stopping of the installation except at the end of take-up, in which case stoppage is automatic.

The operation of the installation is as follows:

At the time of initial processing of stock, the slivers are delivered simultaneously from the rubbers of the web divider. The machine operator begins by taking up the slivers from the top rubbers 98, 99 onto thewinding drum 115 and these slivers are therefore wound onto the bobbin 116.

During this period of time, those slivers which are delivered from the lower rubbers 96, 97 fall to the ground and it is merely necessary to place them on the winding drum 111 and on the bobbin 112 in order that they should thus be taken up progressively as they arrive.

The slivers which are delivered from the web divider therefore form together two inclined curtains or sheets between the rub-bers and the bobbins, from which the slivers can readily be removed for the purpose of passing them over the fixed entry guides such as the guide 38a and then caused to be conveyed over the corresponding conycyor belts.

On each conveyor belt, for example on the conveyor belt 4a, the slivers are therefore transferred from the fixed entry guide 38a beneath the entry drum 37a onto the initial portion of the top run of the conveyor belt 4a which passes successively over the intermediate drum 8a, over the fixed guide 9a and over the tail drum 7a. Whilst the conveyor belt returns to its starting point and passes over the auxiliary tail drum 12a, over the intermediate drum 11a and again over the head drum 6a, the slivers fall from the downstream end of the top run of the conveyor belt into the funnel 81a of the spinning. frame and are drawn into the suction conduit 82 which is connected to the device 75 for sucking waste fibers.

When all of the slivers have been conveyed and sucked through, the machine operator then moves to each of the funnels such as the funnel 81a in turn in order to extract each sliver which falls therein and to place this latter beneath the corresponding pressure cylinder 64, then into the false twist devices 65 and into the travelers 67 for the purpose of winding them onto the spindles 66 which immediately begin the spinning process. I When a thread breaks during the spinning operation, it is sucked through the corresponding pipes 71, then into the conduits 72 up to the device 75 for sucking waste fibers.

At the end of stock, the automatic stoppage of the spinning frame also stops the carding section but with a certain time-lag in the case of the spinning frame in order to compensate the higher inertia of the carding machine.

Re-sbarting is facilitated by the fact that, at the time of stoppage, the slivers are slackened between the delivery of the rubbers of the Web divider and the entry guides of the conveyor belts, with the result that said slivers form a reserve sheet, as shown in chain-dotted lines in FIG. 3 in the case of the slivers which pass out of the bottom story of rubbers 96 and which rest on the horizontal stand-by rod 101. A similar reserve is formed at the delivery of each of the four stories of the four rubbing stories. The slivers thus form a reference which enables the machine operator to set the re-starting of the spinning frame in relation to the speed of delivery of the slivers from the carding unit, with a view to preventing any breaks from occurring at the time of re-starting.

When the slivers have been passed a first time as indicated above, it is merely necessary thereafter, at the time of changes of stock, to leave the slivers on the conveyor belts and to wind a certain quantity over the entry of each conveyor belt in such a manner as to permit the possibility, when the carding section is stopped, of joining the slivers of the new stock to the slivers of the old stock which are in the stand-by position.

After starting of the carding frame and spinning frame, adjustments of twist and count are checked, the starting lever is lifted and the spindles are changed for final operation.

As will be readily understood, this invention is not limited to the form of embodiment which has been described and illustrated but can be provided with a number of modifications without thereby departing either from the scope or the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. Installation for continuously transferring slivers from a first textile machine adapted to produce slivers to .a second textile machine adapted to process said slivers, said installation comprising a plurality of narrow endless conveyor belts, each of said conveyor belts extending overhead from a location at the exit from said first textile machine to another location above the entrance to said second textile machine and including an upstream loop at said location at the exit from said first textile machine and a downstream loop at said other location, and guiding means in front of the upstream end of each of said conveyor belts for guiding slivers leaving said first textile machine and for distributing said slivers regularly over the width of said conveyor belt, said conveyor belts being laterally spaced apart from one another, like means supporting each of said conveyor belts, each of said means comprising a girder mounted overhead, rotary drums mounted on supports, each of said supports including means mounting the support on the girder and for permitting the position of the support along the length of the girder to be adjusted, said belt passing over and in contact with said drums, the axis of each of said drums being transverse of the length of the belt, said means supporting each of said conveyor belts being so positioned as to provide headroom under the conveyor belts for an operator of the installation.

2. Installation according to claim 1, in which each of said conveyor belts has a first portion extending upwardly from said location at the exit from said first textile machine and a second portion extending substantially horizontally tosaid other location.

3. Installation according to claim 1, in which an upright column is suspended from the extremity of each of the girders at the upstream end of the conveyor belt supported by the girder, a head drum mounted on a support, said support being mounted on the lower extremity of the column, the axis of said head drum being transverse of the length of the belt, the upstream loop of the belt passing about and in contact with said head drum.

4. Installation according to claim 1, in which the most upstream of the drums carried by the girder is positioned so as to provide an upward angle of the conveyor belt between the head drum and said upstream drum carried by the girder predetermined to permit the sliver to assume a proper disposition at the top of the ascending run of the conveyor belt.

guiding means comprises an idler rotary drum and a stationary curved guiding rod situated in a plane sustantially parallel to the axis of said idler drum and positioned for passage thereover of the slivers leaving said first textile machine, said guiding rod having a configuration adapted to cause the slivers passing over said rod and said idler drum to be arranged on said drum side by side in uniformly spaced relation.

6. Installation according to claim 1, further comprising at the exit from said first textile machine at least one rotating winding drum and a bobbin frictionally maintained against said rotating Winding drum for temporarily winding said slivers leaving said first textile machine.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,610,209 12/1926 Schirnek 19-105 X 2,389,024 11/1945 Brownlee 19-156.1 2,778,186 1/1957 Luttgen et al. 5750 3,130,535 4/1964 Royster 5750 X 3,131,527 5/1964 Gourley 57-345 X 3,162,004 12/1964 Hogg et al 57--34.5 X

FOREIGN PATENTS 869,864 11/1941 France.

841,224 7/1960 Great Britain.

928,397 6/1963 Great Britain.

524,151 4/1955 Italy.

DORSEY NEWTON, Primary Examiner.

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