US3390438A

US3390438A - Method and apparatus for continuous crimping of textile yarns

Info

Publication number: US3390438A
Application number: US316379A
Authority: US
Inventors: Epstein Herman
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1963-10-15
Filing date: 1963-10-15
Publication date: 1968-07-02
Anticipated expiration: 1985-07-02
Also published as: GB1057310A; DE1435442A1; ES303431A1

Description

July 2, V1968 H. EPSTEIN 3,390,438 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUS CRIMPING 0F TEXTILE YARNS Filed oct. 15. 196s 2 sheets-snee@ 1 xNvENToR HERMAN IQTZN 465km." MU( T A T RN July 2, 1968-v H. EPSTEIN METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUS CRIMPING OF TEXTILE YARNS 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Oct. l", 1963 FIG. Z.

HIGH POINT OF RESISTANCE CORE OF CRIMPED YARN TRANSPARENT GRNIT SIDE' FOR STORAGE COOLING 8. CONDITIONING INVENTOR a HERMAN EPSTEIN JW ATToRNEY.

United States Patent O 3,390,438 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUS CRIMPING F TEXTILE YARNS Herman Epstein, 39 Bailey Ave., Hillside, NJ. 07205 Filed Oct. 15, 1963, Ser. No. 316,379 Claims. (Cl. 2S-1) ABSTRACT 0F THE DISCLOSURE It is an object of this invention to provide continuous crimping by initially feeding the filament to be crimped into a predetermined straight line upward direction, accumulating and crimping said filament in a predetermined area thereafter along a path of feeding gradually deviating from the initial direction of feeding to become vertically downward so that the filament becomes subjected to gravity control.

This invention relates to the continuous crimping of textile yarn, especially in the form of synthetic filaments or group of filaments which are to be crimped with a minimum of operations and devices, whether such operations and devices are automatically or manually controlled.

It is an object of this invention to provide continuous crimping by initially feeding the filament to be crimped into a predetermined straight line upward direction, accumulating and crimping said filament in a predetermined area thereafter along a path of feeding gradually deviating from the initial direction of feeding to become vertically downward so that the filament becomes subjected to gravity control.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a prolonged path of accumulation of crimped material in a curved shape in which the accumulation of crimped material emerging from the crimping point is so shaped, as first to extend substantially in the same direction as the direction of feeding at entry or prior to crimping, and thereafter deviating from this direction and preferably assuming a direction opposite to the direction of entry.

Another object of the invention is to make at least a terminating portion of such a curved accumulation of crimped elements, transparent so as to permit an observer or operator to visualize the density of the crimped accumulation and, depending upon such density observation, to adjust the speed or velocity of the filament or filaments prior to crimping or before entering the path of accumulation following the crimping point.

Still another object of the invention is to produce crimping by feeding the filament or filaments to the crimping point in a vertically upward direction, and to shape the path of accumulation of crimped material following that crimping point in such a way that such accumulation extends first in the same direction as the feeding direction and thereafter is curved or turned around at least by an angle of 180 so as to cause the filament or filaments emerging from this curved path of accumulation to feed in a direction opposite to the direction of entry.

As a further specific object of this invention, the path of feeding the filament at the termination or exit of the accumulation of crimped material is further shaped curvedly so as to extend into a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of feeding at enry.

These and other objects of the invention will be more fully apparent from the drawings annexed hereto, in which Fice FIG. 1 illustrates schematically certain principles of the invention.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the invention in greater detail.

FIG. 3 shows in cross-section part of the crimping mechanism shown in FIG. 2 in cross-section perpendicular to the view shown in FIG. 2.

As schematically indicated in FIG. 1, the yarn 1 is drawn from package 2 through guide 3 over and around grooved rollers 4 by feed rollers 5 and 6. Yarn 1 is then crimped by being forced by rollers S, 6 upward into tube 7, consisting 0f Teflon or having an inner coating of Teflon, where the crimped yarn is accumulated, taking the form of a cylinder 8, which is called a core.

From there, cylinder 8 travels through another tube 9, consisting of Teon or having an inner coating of Tefion, past its high point of resistance at 10 and through its gravity to controlled portion 11 to slub catcher consisting of metal clip 12, which fiattens the Teflon tube 9 at that position which is preferably transparent, to catch core 8 and prevents it from going any further.

Depending on the pull from take-up coil 13, any tangles (slubs) that may have formed by the heat are pulled out, due to broken filament condition of the yarn at the point of crimp. From slub catcher clip 12, the crimped yarn 12' travels to a flattened orifice formed at the end of Teflon or Teflon coated tube 9 and thence to ball bearing rollers 15. Rollers 15 are free rolling and not in a fixed bearing position. They are designed to have enough resistance to catch and hold a yarn tangle long enough to allow the pulling out of the entanglement without breaking the yarn.

If the tangled yarn is too hard to be pulled out, the force of the pull will lift top roller 15 and allow the tangle to go through to the final take-up coil 13 to be taken out in subsequent twisting or back winding processes. This avoids excessive breakage and further entanglements due to shirring or pushing back of broken filaments due to holding spring and gate tensions.

From rollers 15, yarn 12' travels over a spring tensioned wire 16, which actuates a micro switch (not shown) in case of a break in yarn 12 while it is being wound onto take-up package 12. If such a break occurs, it will actuate in otherwise well known manner switches and solenoids (not shown) to shut off the motor or motors (also not shown) which drive the feed rolls 5 and 6 and the final take-up coil 13. From wire 16, yarn 12 travels underneath a tension rod 17 over oil roller 18 through guide 19 onto take-up coil 13.

In this arrangement, all tensions through which yarn 12 operates or travels are designed to carry the yarn over grooved rollers and these rollers are, in turn, so disposed as to produce the necessary tension. Any gripping tensions such as `gate or disc type elements tend to cause the outer or broken filaments to be shirred or pushed back. This causes tangles and slubs in the crimping, which in turn cause excessive breakage, entanglements, and a loopy filament condition of the yarn in the final package, which is avoided in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 shows the invention wherein housing 20, shown to support rotatable shaft 21, to which feed roller 22 is attached, which is driven by gear (not shown) and motor mechanism, and otherwise well known in the art. This gear mechanism meshes with another similar gear (also not shown) which is secured to shaft 23, journaled in swing arm 24, and secured to feed roller 25, Arm 24 is pivoted to housing 20 and has a suitable projection 26 to receive a hooked rod 27 on which a predetermined Weight 28 is suspended in a manner similar to that discussed with respect to FIG. l. Weight 28 is of such a size as is necessary to grip yarn 20. Yarn is fed into a crimping tube 30.

Tube 30 is suitably heated by a number of spaced elements 31 or other heating means. These heating elements are housed in two .semi-circular chambers 32. Actuating chambers 32 are shown in cross-section in FIG. 3 in greater detail. As apparent from FIG. 3, heating chambers 32 are hinged at 33 and held together by a ball and spring lock at 34. Chambers 32 have a refractory lining 35 which is sufficient to prevent troublesome heat losses.

Chambers 32 are opened by pulling on knobs 36 that are coated with a material (not shown) that will keep them cool enough for handling and to place chambers 32 into open positions shown by dotted lines 37. in this open position of chambers 32, heat is taken away from tube 30 whenever the movement of the yarn is stopped and whenever it is necessary to retie a break which was caused by a slubbed or fused crimped yarn. At the same time, the movement of feeding of yarn is stopped, to insure as much heat as possible, and also to insure quick return to normal heat; heating elements 31 remain energized and baffles 27 retain heat with the least loss at the small center opening.

As apparent from FIG. 2, the crimped yarn schematically indicated at 29 passing heating chambers 32 travels up into a specially formed tubing 39 extending into the form of a ring 4t). Ring 40 is sutiiciently transparent to see how much crimped yarn is stored after emerging from storage tube 39 in the form of a single end of crimped yarn derived from the squeezed portion 39 of ring 4Q. During its downward movement, yarn 41 is cooled and conditioned. At 42, lubricating oil 43 is drip fed through an orice 44 at a predetermined rate. Oil 43 is held in a reservoir 44 .suitably mounted on bracket 45 by band 46 and screws 47. Oil 43 enters through opening 48 into

tubing

49 and 36A discharge end of tube 49. Tubing 49 is slightly beveled at its end at 50 to insure the iiow of oil 41 around the tube joint. When the crimped yarn reaches a xed point in discharge tube 49, the take-up is started manually. The yarn is then pulled at 39 through the iiattened orifice 51 of terminating tube 4% by take-up means similar to those shown and described with respect to FIG. l at a speed .slightly greater than it is fed by

feed rollers

22 and 25.

In this Way, the crimped yarn in storage is slightly reduced so that the output is greater than the input. As soon as the operator sees that the crimped yarn has emptied from the gravity side of tube 36 to a predetermined mark, the operator stops the take-up operation until the feed rolls 22 and 25 fili the gravity side of tube 36 with sufficient storage material -so that the supply to the takeup means is maintained constantly from the gravity side and not from the resistance side of tube 49. Otherwise, if the supply were varied or taken from the resistance side of the mechanism, the bulk or elasticity of the crimped yarn would vary.

Under these circumstances, in accordance with the invention, quality control is maintaining a simple and relatively unskilled manual operation of stopping and starting the take-up mechanism to keep the storage and gravity side of tube 36 sufficiently full until the take-up package is completed.

In an alternative method of keeping sufiicient storage crimped yarn for the take-up package, at the gravity side of tube 36,

feed rolls

22 and 25 are driven by an individual motor and voltage control.

In accordance with the invention, in order to regulate speed and delivery rate of crimped yarn to the gravity side of tube 36, this control, and thereby quality control, can be assured manually whenever the operator sees the need for decrease or increase of the predetermined quantity on the gravity side of tube 49.

While the invention has been shown and described on specific shapes, types, and arrangement of elements, it is not limited thereto, but may be applied in any form or manner whatsoever without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

I claim:

1. In a method for crimping textile fibers in the form of at least one lament, the steps of initially feeding the filament to be crimped into a predetermined straight line upward direction, accumulating and crimping Said ilament by pushing it against the accumulated iilament in a predetermined area, and moving the accumulated filament under control of the pushing force of the feeding filament along a path gradually deviating from the initial direction of feeding to become vertically downward so that the accumulated filament becomes subject to gravity control.

2. Method according to claim 1 wherein said path of accumulation includes a curve.

3. Method according to claim 1 wherein said path of deviation includes a semi-circular path and wherein the filament emerging from said path is fed along a further curve into a direction perpendicular to the Said initial direction.

4. Method according to claim 1 wherein said initial direction of feeding extends vertically upward and the direction of emergence from said deviation is vertically downward, and wherein the filament emerging from said accumulation is guided through a further curved part following said deviation and extending in a direction perpendicular to said initial direction.

5. In a crimping machine for textile filaments, means for feeding at least one filament in a predetermined straight line upward direction, straight tubular means of a predetermined cross-section arranged vertically upward above said feeding means so as to permit the filaments to be accumulated therein when emerging from said feeding means so as to oifer resistance to the following filament, causing said filament to be crimped, curved tubular means of a cross-section substantially larger than the cross-section of said straight tubular means, and following said straight tubular Imeans to change the direction of said accumulation of filament so as to become vertically downward and subjected to gravity control, said curved tubular means being at least partially transparent to permit observation of said accumulation, and said feeding means being adjustable under control of an operator observing said visible accumulation.

6. Machine according to claim 5 wherein said curved tubular means is of semi-circular shape.

7. Machine according to claim 5 wherein said straight tubular means has a wall consisting at least partially of Teflon.

8. Machine according to claim 5 wherein said curved tubular means has a wall consisting at least partially of Teflon.

9. In a crimping `machine for textile filaments, means for feeding at least one filament in a predetermined straight line upward direction, straight tubular means of a predetermined cross-section arranged vertically upward above said feeding means so as to permit the filament to be accumulated therein when emerging from said feeding means so as to offer resistance to the following iilament, causing said lament to be crimped, curved tubular means of a cross-section substantially larger than the cross-section of said straight tubular Imeans following said tubular means to change the direction therein of said accumulation of filament, said straight tubular means being arranged vertically extending above said feeding means, and Said curved tubular means being arranged reversing the direction of filament accumulation so that the filament emerging from that curved tubular means is subjected to gravity control, and further tubular means following said curved tubular means for leading out of said accumulation into a direction substantially perpendicular to said straight line tubular means.

5 10. Machine according to claim 9 wherein said further 2,575,838 curved tubular means includes means for separating at 2,760,252 least one lament from another. 2,820,983 2,950,520 References Cited 5 3,166,820; UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,096,562 7/1963 Russo et al. 28-72 3,284,868 11/1966 Langway et a1. 28-72 6 Raimard 28-72 Shattuck 28-1 Wegener 28-72 Sonnino 28-64 Taul et al.

LOUIS K. RIMRODT, Primary Examiner.