US3493455A

US3493455A - Continuous web reinforcing machine

Info

Publication number: US3493455A
Application number: US532380A
Authority: US
Inventors: John M Lebolt; Richard O Rupp
Original assignee: Cromwell Paper Co
Current assignee: Cromwell Paper Co
Priority date: 1966-03-07
Filing date: 1966-03-07
Publication date: 1970-02-03
Anticipated expiration: 1987-02-03
Also published as: DE1560718A1; LU52425A1; GB1130577A; NO121577B; BE689978A; AT292441B; NL6611327A; DE1560718B2; SE320265B; CH461256A

Description

Feb. 3, 1970 J, M LE BOLT EVAL 3,493,455

CONTINUOUS WEB REINFORCING MACHINE Filed March 7, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 40 j QT] `46 W 72 @i5/s; v /j 4&1@ um@ @ma Wg 2;@ TL 5 50 49 +5 I 3 /A/VE/VTORS JOHN M. LBOLT 55 A R/CHARD 0,. RUPP Feb. 3, 1970 J. M. L E BOLT ET AL CONTINUOUS WEB REINFORCING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 j 5 Filed March www;

/N VE N TORS. JOHN M. LE BOLT R/CHARD 0. RUPP Feb. 3, 1970 J. M. L E BOLT ETAI- 3,493,455

CONTINUOUS WEB REINFORCING MACHINE Filed March 7, 1966 I5 Sheets-Sheet 5 /6 85 787 a/ 66 55 u u 'lu 1 64 l In /2 0 /2 /2 I);

37 56 l 23 f 63 32 /4 52 82: M50 /83 j 34 52 l 8 36 35 84 nl.

mi 23 37 MM /4 u 66 55 j@ M NVENTORS JOH/V M E BOLT R/CHARD 0. RUPP United States Patent 3,493,455 CONTINUOUS WEB REINFORCING MACHINE John M. LeBolt, Highland Park, and Richard O. Rupp,

Chicago, Ill., assignors to The Cromwell Paper Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Mar. 7, 1966, Ser. No. 532,380 Int. Cl. D04h 3/08; B65h 81/00 U.S. Cl. 156-440 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A machine for forming a fabric of continuous crisscrossed reinforcing filaments between a pair of continuous Webs of sheet material being laminated between a pair of pressure rolls, said machine comprising an endless filament distributing chain encompassing longitudinally extending marginal selvage strands in a plane normal to said strands and having means for guiding the filaments into engagement with the selvage strands at a fixed point 1ocated a predetermined distance forwardly of said delivery chain plane, the machine being movable longitudinally to adjust the distance between said fixed point and the nip of the pressure rolls for varying the width of said fabric between the selvage strands.

Machines of this kind are well known in the art, as exemplified by U.S. Patents 1,951,301, 2,575,666, and 2,614,054, and in such machines the reinforcing strands are fed from a rotary creel, carrying a spool of the strand material for each strand of the reinforcing fabric, to an endless distributing chain or strand layer, traveling an orbital path parallel with the bite of the laminating rolls, and thence into the said bite between the webs to be reinforced along paths that extend obliquely of the webs as they are being laminated.

A problem in the operation of such machines, however, has been that of adequate control of the reinforcing filaments or strands at the edges of the webs where reversal of the strand paths occur, particularly when the strands are turned over a selvage string fed under tension between the laminating rolls adjacent the edges of the continuous Webs of sheet material, not only with respect to eliminating slack in the reinforcing strands at the turn but also with respect to the tendency of the oblique strands to pull the selvage strands toward each other and thus cause a necking inwardly of the reinforcing fabric.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide improved means for guiding the obliquely extending reinforcing strands onto the selvage strand; to provide such a means whereby the obliquely extending strands are engaged with the selvage strings substantially at the bite of the laminating rolls; and to provide such a means whereby the extent of necking in of the selvage strands can be precisely controlled.

Another problem with machines of this type is that of the extensive periods of shut-down time required whenever the width of sheet material web is changed. In such cases it is necessary to remove the filament distribution conveyor or chain and replace it with another designed particularly for the new web width, and to then re-thread the reinforcing material filaments or strands into the guide eyelets of the conveyor and thence into the laminating rolls.

Therefore, further objects of this invention are to provide a filament distributing means, or strand layer system, which can quickly be adjusted to accommodate different widths of sheet material webs which are to be reinforced by a fabric extending substantially from edge to edge of the web; to provide such a system having a removable filament-reversal guide means which can be changed quickly and easily to adjust the width of the reinforcing 3,493,455 Patented Feb. 3, 1970 ,e ICC fabric produced by the conveyor; and to provide an improved means for weaving a fabric of reinforcing filaments whereby the fabric width can be precisely controlled and adjusted to accommodate various widths of laminating webs without changing the strand conveyor or weaving head.

A specific embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view showing a reinforcing fabric weaving machine embodying our invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view, partly broken away, showing a reinforcing filament weaving head and direction reversal guide means according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the same, as seen from the plane of line 3-3 of FIG. 2, showing its operative relation with the laminating Webs at the nip 0f the laminating rolls;

FIG. 4 is a similar view, with parts broken away showing the operative relation of the weaving head and the nip of the laminating rolls when a web of smaller width is being reinforced;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the weaving head or strand layer, as on line 5-5 of FIG. 2, showing the means for supporting and guiding the continuous distributing chain;

FIG. 6 is a front elevational view of the weaving head showing a modified form of the filament reversal guide means;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary plan view of the same as seen from line 7-7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of another form of filament reversal guide means;

FIG. 9 is a sectional View of the same as on line 9 9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary, longitudinal, sectional view of the drive end of the weaving head, showing the arrangement for feeding the selvage strands along the axis of the distributing chain sprocket; and

FIG. 1l is a schematic plan view of the weaving machine showing its drive arrangement for the rotary creel and the Weaving head.

The inventive concept involved in the present disclosure is to control the necking-in of the selvage strands, in a continuous laminated-paper reinforcement weaving machine, so that a weaving head of predetermined size may be used for edge to edge reinforcement of paper webs of different widths; and to accomplish that objective by guiding the reinforcing filaments into engagement with the selvage strands, upon reversal of filament feed direction, at an adjustable predetermined distance in advance of the nip of the laminating rolls.

As shown in the drawings, a continuous-web paperreinforcing machine with which out invention may be carried out comprises a rotary creel 10` having a plurality of storage discs 12 each of which carries a plurality of angularly spaced spools 14 of the filament or reinforcing strand material, for example spun glass, a distributing wheel 16, a strand layer or weaving head 18, and a movable carriage 20 having wheels 22 riding on suitable rails 24. The storage discs 12 and distributing wheel 16 of the creel 10 are mounted on a rotable quill shaft 26 mounted in support columns 28 and turning on a stationary shaft, not shown, which is fixed at its rear end in a support column 30. The filaments are led from the spools 14 to the periphery of the distribution wheel 16 by means of individual exible tubes 32 and from the wheel 16 the filaments run directly to the eyelets of the weaving head 18, to be later described, as indicated at 33 in FIG. l. An extension 34, on the said fixed shaft, projects forwardly through a gear box 35 and provides the entire support for the weaving head 18. The gear box 35 is fixed to the extension 34 and mounts spools 36 which provide the selvage strands 37 for the reinforcing fabric for the paper webs.

The paper Webs 38 and 3-9, to be laminated and reinforced, are supplied from suitably mounted rolls thereof. only one being shown as at 40 in FIG. 1, and these webs are brought together at the nip of laminating on

pressure rollers

41 and 42, which are mounted for rotation on axes disposed so that the nip of the rolls will be substantially in a plane which includes the axes of the creel shaft 26 and the conveyor chain sprockets of the Weaving head 18, As shown in FIG. l, the web 39 is provided with a coating of adhesive material by means of a roller 43, rotating in a trough 44, prior to its entry into the nip of the pressure rollers 4142. and the reinforcing strands 33 are led into the adhesive coated surface of the web 39 at the nip of the pressure rolls where the said strands are embedded between the laminated webs 38-39. The reinforcing strands are thus pulled from the Creel by the pressure rolls 41-42 and are under considerable tension over their entire run from the respective spool to the pressure line at the nip of the laminating rolls.

The reinforcing strands are carried, back and forth, transversely of the webs 38-39 by the strand layer or weaving head 18, as the strands are being drawn between the pressure rolls 41-42, so as to weave the reinforcing fabric. As shown in FIG. 2, the weaving head 18 comprises an endless chain 45, trained around sprockets 46 and 47 a respective ends of a horizontal support bar 48, and a plurality of uniformly spaced eyelet fingers 49 are mounted on the outer side of the chain 45 so as to project radially outward therefrom. An eyelet nger 49 is provided for each strand 33 of reinforcing material, and each finger has an eyelet grommet 50 adjacent its outer end through which the strand extends (see FIGS. 2 and 10).

As indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2 the reinforcing strands 33 are drawn from the spools 12 on the creel 10 through suitable outlets, not shown, of the feed tubes 32, at the periphery of the distributing wheel 16, and thence through respective eyelets 50, in the fingers 49 on the endless chain 45 of the weaving head 18, into the nip of the pressure rolls 41-42. As the strands are pulled by the pressure rolls, the icreel and distributing wheel are rotated at a predetermined speed and the chain 45 of the distributing head is driven so as to orbit the eyelets 50 about the sprockets 46-47 at the same angular speed as the wheel 16. In this way each strand is pulled diagonally across the path of the webs being laminated, first in one direction and then oppositely, and since the strands are uniformly spaced along the entire length of the conveying chain 45, half of the number will be running in the other direction. Thus, in the well known manner, the several strands will be woven to form the reinforcing fabric between the laminated webs.

As herein shown, the selvage strands 37 supplied from the spools 36 are led to the laminating rolls 41-42 through the centers of the weaving head sprockets 46-47 which, generally, are spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the width of the widest web to be reinforced by the Weaving head. Thus the selvage strands enter the nip of the rolls 41-42, parallel with the path of travel of the webs 38-39 through the rolls and under a constant tension and pull.

This manner of selvage strand feed is a distinctive feature of our improved continuous web reinforcing machine and the arrangement for doing so is shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 wherein a feed tube 55 is` indicated to extend axially through each of the sprockets 46-47. Thus the filaments comprising each selvage strand are gathered at the entering end of the respective feed tube 55 and are pulled axially therethrough directly into the nip of the pressure gr laminating rolls and between the web 38-39 to extend along the margins thereof, preferably as des@ tQ the edge of the websv as practicable,

Details of an arrangement of the weaving head sprockets for this purpose are shown in FIG. 10 wherein the sprocket 47 is mounted on the extension 56 of a quill shaft 57 journaled in suitable bearings 58 mounted at the respective end of the main support bar 48. As shown the feed tube 55 extends axially through the quill shaft 57 and is fixed, at its inlet end, on a suitable part of the support bar structure.

FIG. 10 also illustrates an arrangement for driving one of the weaving head sprockets, in this case the sprocket 47. As shown, the quill shaft 57 has a rearward extension 59 on which a beveled pinion 60 is mounted to mesh with a pinion 61 fast on a drive shaft 62. The drive shaft 62 is, in turn, driven through suitable gearing, by a power shaft 63 (see FIG. l1) extending forwardly from one side 0f the gear box 35 where the power shaft 63 is directly actuated by the creel shaft 26 through suitable gearing not shown. In this manner the weaving head conveyor chain 45 is driven in timed relation with the rotation of the creel 10 and the distributing wheel 16. In the form shown, the weaving head is driven at one end only and the gearing and drive shaft are enclosed in a suitable housing 64 for safety purposes.

In the operation of machines of this kind wherein the diagonally running strands or filaments of the reinforcement fabric are turned or reversed in run direction, as the conveyor chain passes around the end sprockets, they are brought to bear upon a respective one of the selvage strands and because of the tension on the said diagonal strands they tend to pull the selvage strands inwardly toward the middle of the pressure rolls. The extent of this inward pull, or necking of the selvage strands varies directly with the distance between the nip of the pressure rolls 41-42 and the nearest point of positive support for the selvage strands. Also, the amount of necking of the selvage strands is directly affected by the number of diagonal strands pulling inwardly on the selvage strands in advance of the nip of the rolls. While this necking action of the selvage strands has heretofore been a disadvantage, requiring elaborate means foi: delivering the transversely running filaments, independently of the selvage strands, to a point as close as possible to the nip of the pressure rolls, we have found a way to take advantage of this characteristic to not only simplify the mechanisms involved, but also to make a single weaving head do the work of several, insofar as handling various widths of the webs to be reinforced is concerned. This We do by use and accurate control of the necking in characteristic of the selvage strands.

Since, 'by means of the delivery tube 55, the selvage strands can be supported to within less than one inch from the nip of the pressure rolls, the first step for necking control is to support the diagonal strands, coming from the weaving head or strand layer, independently of the selvage strands and until they reach an unsupported length of the selvage strands at a predetermined distance from the pressure rolls nip, in such a manner as to maintain a substantially constant tension on the weaving strands during the entire reversal of run direction and avoid the formation of wide loops at the margins of the webs being reinforced.

Means for accomplishing this result comprises a weaving strand guide device 65 mounted on the weaving head at each end thereof and having a forwardly projecting element 66 extending diagonally in the plane of the selvage strands and the nip of the pressure rolls :from adjacent the pitch circle of the strand layer eyelets 50, at the ends of the weaving head 18, to at least the end of the selvage strand delivery tube 55.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, the weaving strand guide device 65 is mounted on a bracket member 67 bolted to the front face of the support bar 48 and adapted to straddle the delivery tube 55, and the nut 56 which holds the. sprocket 46 on the sprocket shaft 57. The arm element 66 is arranged so that its rearward end is disposed as close as practicable to the pitch circle @f the eyelets 50, at th plane of travel of the fingers 49, and so that its forward end extends at an angle so as to intersect the axis of the respective sprocket at a distance, forwardly of the sprocket, about equal to the diameter of the said pitch circle. Thus as the distributing chain fingers carry the web reinforcing filaments 33, one after the other, around the chain sprockets, to reverse the filament run, the filaments are successively engaged with and supported by the angled arm of the guide device and pulled forwardly therealong by the laminating rolls until they drop off onto the selvage strand and are carried thereby into the nip 0f the laminating rolls. Meanwhile, and during the entire 180 turn of direction over the distributing chain sprocket, the tension on the filaments has been maintained constantly.

When the reinforcing filaments engage the selvage strands, the tension of the laments immediately exerts an inward pull on the selvage strands tending to pull them toward the center of the laminating webs. Thus, by varying the unsupported length of the selvage strands, rearwardly of the nip of the laminating rolls, the actual extent of inward movement of the selvage strands under the pull -of the reinforcing web filaments can be accurately adjusted.

In this manner a weaving head 18, of a given size, can 'be made to weave a reinforcing fabric having as much as 12 inches less width than the center-to-center spacing 0f the sprockets 46-47. For example, a Weaving head having a sprocket center spacing of 84 inches can be used to prO- vide edge to edge reinforcement for laminated webs of any width between 84 inches and 72 inches by merely adjusting the distance between the forward end of the selvage strand feed tubes 55 and the nip of the rolls 41- 42. As herein shown, such adjustment is accomplished by moving the carriage toward or away from the laminating rolls 41-42, according to whether the web width is to be increased or decreased, and for this purpose the track 24 is indexed as at 68 and a pointer 69 is provided on the carriage yfor quick determination of the desired setting.

Similar ranges of adjustment can be had for weaving heads of other sizes, i.e. center-to-center sprocket spacings of 72 inches and 60 inches. Thus 3 weaving heads sizes can 'be made to handle web widths of any

size bed tween

48 and 84 inches.

FIGURE 3 illustrates the maximum fabric width disposition of the weaving head 18 with respect to the nip line 70 of the laminating rolls. As shown the guide means arm 66 and feed tube 55 extend as close as possible to the nip line, where the reinforcing filaments 33 are gripped between the webs being laminated, and as so disposed the selvage strands 37 are delivered from the feed tubes 55 twith a minimum of unsupported length to the nip and hence a minimum of necking At this position of the weaving head 18 the web width can be substantially the same as the center-to-center spacing of the sprockets 46-47 and the selvage strands will be laid just enough inside the edges of the web to be completely sealed between the laminated sheets.

FIG. 4 illustrates the relationship of the weaving head 18 and the nip line 70 when a reinforcing fabric of less width than the spacing of the sprockets 46-47 is desired, as when a narrower -width of web 38 is being worked. In this case the weaving head 18 has been retracted from the nip 70 so as to leave an unsupported length of the selvage strand 37, between the nip 70 and the forward end of the feed tube 55, sufficient for the filaments 33 to act to cause necking in of the selvage strand to the extent necessary to cause it to enter the nip 70 just inside the edge of the web 38.

In each of FIGS. 3 and 4 it will be understood that the filaments 33 are being carried transversely of the webs 38-38 by the conveyor chain 45 of the weaving head 18, simultaneously with the forward travel of the webs, which action causes the inward pull on the selvage strands 37.

The guide arms 66 may be of any suitable form that will engage the filaments at the turn and then support them as they slide forwardly to engage the selvage strand, and may be made of any material which can have sufficient rigidity and a minimal coefiicient of friction for the filaments sliding thereon. As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the guide arm is formed of a metal rod doubled upon itself and with the legs diverging from the looped forward end 71. The legs are then welded, adjacent their rearward ends, to lateral members 72 which are connected to the bracket 67. The filament engaging surfaces of the guide arm are highly polished or otherwise treated, to minimize friction and preferably the distal end of the arm is curved inwardly across the path of the selvage strand adjacent the end of the feed tube 55 to avoid interference with the said strand when it is defiected by the necking-in process.

FIGURES 6 and 7 show another form of filament transfer guide device wherein the forwardly projecting element 73 is made to include a segment of a right conical surface for its filament engaging area, the axes of generation for such surface being disposed coincidently with the axis of the selvage feed tube 55 and the radius of the base being only sufficiently less than that of the pitch circle of the distributing finger eyelets 50 to permit the filaments to engage the conical surface as they are carried over the coaxial sprocket. This segment of a cone is mounted on a bracket member 74, which is apertured at 75 to clear the nut 56 and the feed tube 55, and the bracket is mounted on the distributing head frame 48 in substantially the same manner as the device of FIGS. 2 and 3. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the distal end of the feed tube 55 extends to, and is coincident with the forward tip 76 of the cone element 73.

FIGURES 8 and 9 show still another form of filament transfer guide device wherein the forwardly projecting element is a solid bar 77 having a rounded outer surface on which the filaments are engaged. This bar is disposed in the same manner as the guide device of FIGS. 2 and 3 and is attached to a mounting bracket, like that for the cone element of FIGS. 6 and 7, by means of a lateral member 78.

As in the case of the guide device of FIGS. 2 and 3, the filament engaging surfaces of the forwardly projecting element, regardless of its form, is highly polished, or otherwise treated, to minimize friction.

Also it should be understood that in special cases, where a certain weaving head is to be used to weave a reinforcing fabric of lesser width than the center-to-center spacing of the conveyor chain sprockets, the guide tube 55 may be angled inwardly from the sprocket axis and the filament turn-over guide element may be extended to the delivery and of the guide tube. FIGURE 8 shows such an arrangement.

FIGURE 1l illustrates the manner in which our improved reinforcing fabric weaving machine is driven. Power is taken from the drive for the laminating rolls, not shown, through a shaft 75, clutch 76 and drive shaft 77. The drive shaft 77 connects with a speed change device 78 by belts 79, running over pulleys 80 and 81, and the Speed change device is drivingly connected to the main quill shaft 26 by belts 82 running over pulleys. The quill shaft 26 turns the creel 10 and, as before mentioned, also drives the weaving head 1,8, at the same angular speed, through the gear box 35 and the shaft 63.,Thus, by means of the speed change device 78 (the speed of the weaving head can be adjusted as may be desired to vary the mesh or density of the web reinforcing fabric.

We claim:

1. In a machine for forming a reinforcement fabric on a continuously moving web of sheet material, a weaving head comprising (A) An endless conveyor disposed to travel transversely of the said web around a pair of laterally spaced pulleys and having a plurality of uniformly spaced radially projecting eyelet fingers thereon for guiding filaments of reinforcing material,

(B) means for driving said conveyor at a predetermined speed,

(C) means for feeding a selvage strand forwardly from said conveyor along the axes of each of said pulleys,

(D) and fixed guide means projecting forwardly from each pulley and extending inwardly from adjacent the pitch circle of said eyelet fingers toward the pulley axis for supporting reinforcing material filaments turned thereon by the orbiting eyelet fingers on said conveyor while guiding said filaments into engagement with said selvage strands.

2. A machine as defined by claim 1 wherein the filaments and selvage strands are under a constant tension.

3. A machine as defined by claim 1 wherein the fixed guide means comprises elements of a cone having its apex located adjacent the axis of the respective pulley and its base adjacent the plane of the endless conveyor.

4. A machine as defined by claim 1 wherein the fixed guide means comprises elements of a cone disposed with its axis intersecting the axis of the respective pulley and lying in a plane common to the axes of both pulleys.

5. In a mechanism for forming and laying a fabric of reinforcing material upon a continuously moving continuous web Iof sheet material comprising continuously moving means for laying spaced filaments upon said web diagonally of the direction of movement thereof and including an endless conveyor which travels around a pair of laterally spaced sprockets and orbits filament carrying eyelets in a plane substantially normal to the direction of web movement, and means for feeding a selvage strand to said moving web along the axis of rotation of each of said sprockets, the improvement comprising forwardly and inwardly projecting guide means extending from adjacent the pitch circle of the orbiting eyelets at each sprocket to intersect the respective sprocket axis at a fixed distance forwardly of the orbit plane of said eyelets for supporting said filaments as said eyelets turn about the sprocket axes and delivering said filaments onto the respective selvage strand at said fixed distance from the said orbit plane.

6. A mechanism as defined by claim S including a pair of laminating rolls for pulling said web of sheet material and between which said laments and selvage strands are drawn into engagement with said web, and means for adjusting the distance between said endless conveyor and the plane of the laminating roll axes.

7. A mechanism as defined .by claim 6 wherein the said conveyor has a pitch length greater than twice the Width of said web of sheet material.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,338,164 4/1920 Angier 156-430 1,362,066 12/1920 Wandel 156-430 1,951,301 3/1934 Augier et al. 156-430 2,772,718 12/1956 Magnuson 156-439 XR 2,614,054 10/1952 Baisch et al 156-439 XR 3,284,268 11/1966 Rsler 156-439 3,360,410 12/1967 Romanin 156-430 XR HAROLD ANSHER, Primary Examiner D. J. FRITSCH, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R.