US3623945A

US3623945A - Wire-mounting arrangement on a twin-wire vertical papermaking machine

Info

Publication number: US3623945A
Application number: US845010A
Authority: US
Inventors: Paul E Tommeraasen
Original assignee: Beloit Corp
Current assignee: Beloit Corp
Priority date: 1969-07-25
Filing date: 1969-07-25
Publication date: 1971-11-30
Anticipated expiration: 1988-11-30

Abstract

A paper-machine-forming section wherein a web is formed between two generally vertically travelling wires trained over a plurality of guides in the forming section, the guides being arranged to define a serpentinelike path of travel for the opposed wire runs carrying a newly forming web therebetween. The plurality of guides (breast rolls and foils) are all mounted for their respective functions on a pair of selectively movable beams which permit rapid wire change or the like as desired with a single operation and similarly a rapid startup after such a wire change without the necessity of individually repositioning and readjusting the individual guide means. the movable beams are rigidly attached to the breast rolls and pivotally attached to a frame. Hydraulic pistons attached to the beam and to the frame accomplish the pivotal movement of the beam. A stop member attached to the frame limits the extent of the beam''s pivotal movement.

Description

United States Patent [72] Inventor Paul E. Tommeraasen Beloit, Wis. [21] Appl. No. 845,010 [22] Filed July 25,1969 [45] Patented Nov. 30, 1971 [73] Assignee Beloit Corporation Beloit, Wis.

[54] WIRE-MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT ON A TWIN- WIRE VERTICAL PAPERMAKING MACHINE 6 Claims, 2 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 162/273, 162/303 [51] lnt.Cl D2lf H00 [50] Field of Search 162/200,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,149,028 9/1964 Robinson 162/303 X 3,215,593 11/1965 Green 162/301 3,262,841 7/1966 Embry. 162/303 X 3,326,745 6/1967 Graham 162/317 X 3,329,561 7/1967 Rojeckiet a1 162/273 FOREIGN PATENTS 219,338 12/1958 Australia 162/303 Primary Examiner-S. Leon Bashore Assistant Examiner-Alfred D'Andrea, Jr, Attorney-Hill, Sherman, Meroni, Gross and Simpson ABSTRACT: A paper-machine-forming section wherein a web is formed between two generally vertically travelling wires trained over a plurality of guides in the forming section, the guides being arranged to define a serpentinelike path of travel for the opposed wire runs carrying a newly forming web therebetween. The plurality of guides (breast rolls and foils) are all mounted for their respective functions on a pair of selectively movable beams which permit rapid wire change or the like as desired with a single operation and similarly a rapid startup after such a wire change without the necessity of individually repositioning and readjusting the individual guide means. the movable beams are rigidly attached to the breast rolls and 'pivotally attached to a frame. Hydraulic pistons attached to the beam and to the frame accomplish the pivotal movement of the beam. A stop member attached to the frame limits the extent of the beams pivotal movement.

PATENTEU mwso Ian WIRE-MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT ON A TWIN-WIRE VERTICAL PAPERMAKllNG MACHINE Attention is directed to copending applications of common assignee having U.S. Ser. Nos. 798,890 filed Feb. 13, 1969; 844,755 filed July 25, 1969, now abandoned and 116,348 filed Feb. 18, 1971, all of which disclose related subject matter.

The instant invention relates to fibrous web formations, and more particularly to an improved apparatus for making fibrous webs from a dilute aqueous suspension thereof.

In relatively recent years the art of paper making has undergone a number of significant advances in the field of paper web formation using two'opposed forming wire runs for web formation therebetween as contrasted to the heretofore more conventional Fourdrinier-type papermaking machine employing only a single forming wire. Downwardly inclined and/or substantially vertically aligned web-forming devices using two opposed forming wire runs are even more recent developments that present unique problems in forming an acceptable web. Nevertheless, such vertically aligned web-forming devices allow the utilization of substantially less floor space and higher speeds of operation thereby making such arrangements economically attractive. Such vertical twin-wire forming machines have met with a limited commercial success and these machines are still in the stage of being improved and various aspects of the operation thereof are still in need of further improvement. For example, such vertical formers utilize a plurality of guide elements to guide the opposed wire rungs through a forming section and it is necessary from time to time to replace such guide elements and/or the wire runs as they become worn out or damaged during the operation of the machine. l-leretofore, it has been necessary to completely dismantle such a forming machine and replace the damaged element thereof and then reassemble the machine for operation. It would be highly advantageous to provide a means of simplifying this operation without detracting from the favorable features of such vertical forming sections.

Accordingly, it is an important object of the instant invention to provide a novel arrangement allowing simple and rapid wire change in a twin-wire fonner.

It is another objectof the present invention to provide an improved paper-making-machine structure having a means of simply and economically moving guide elements into and out of operating position.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent from the following description of certain preferred embodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, although variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure, and in which:

FIG. 1 is an essentially diagrammatical elevational view of a paper-machine-forming section embodying the principles of the instant invention of the operating position; and

FIG. 2 is an essentially diagrammatical elevational view somewhat similar to that shown in FlG. 1 illustrating the machine in a nonoperative position.

For sake of convenience, like reference numerals are utilized throughout the various FlGS. to refer to like elements. H6. 1 illustrates an essentially diagrammatical view of a paper-machine-forming section 10. A headbox ll appropriately communicates with a supply of paper stock (not shown) continuously supplying a dilute aqueous suspension of fibers to the headbox 11 in a well-known manner. The headbox 11 communicates with a slice means 11a having devices 11b therein for increasing the dispersion of the fibers within the aqueous suspension while decreasing the turbulence thereof; the additional details of preferred forms of such devices are disclosed in copending Hill et al. U.S. Ser. No. 698,633, which is incorporated herein by reference. It will be understood, however, that any conventional head box and slice means may be utilized in place of the preferred slice means. The slice means 11a feeds a dilute aqueous suspensionof comoving fibers downstreamwise into a vertically extending forming gap G as a high-speed, substantially unidirectional jetstream of ribbonlike thinness.

A pair of

breast rolls

13 and 14 are mounted for rotation along a horizontal plane as by bearing support means 13a and 14a respectively. In this manner, the breast rolls are capable of rotation in a given direction, preferably toward one another as indicated by the curved arrows. The bearing support means 13a and 14a are connected to selectively movable beam means B, and B, respectively, which in turn are pivotally attached as at P, and P to a suitable frame or support S. The

breast rolls

13 and 14 are spaced apart a horizontal distance to define a vertically extending gap G therebetween that is thicker than the ribbon-thin jetstream of stock exiting from the slice means 11a. The

rolls

13 and 14 are also provided with doctor means 13b and 14b respectively on their off-running sides to cleanse their respective peripheral surfaces of any adherent foreign materials.

A first forming wire F, is trained to pass over breast roll 13 and is then trained to pass over a plurality of foil guide means 15 which are aligned below the gap G successively downstreamwise in an opposingly staggered manner to define a generally vertically aligned serpentinelike path of travel therebetween generally concurring with the jetstream direction. The first wire F, continues to travel downwardly beyond the foil guide means 15 to turning roll 19 and then away from the downward direction around a plurality of guide rolls 19a back to the upstream portion of the forming section 10. One of the guide rolls 19a may be provided with a tension means T, for maintaining a desired degree of tension within the travelling wire run, of course, if desired, additional tension means may likewise be provided. For convenience, the first forming wire and the forming wire run will both be referred to by reference numeral F,

A second forming wire F, is trained to pass over the opposed breast roll 14 and then likewise trained to pass over the plurality of foil guide means 15 in the vertically serpentinelike path down to turning roll 21. Thereafter, wire F, turns away from the downward direction and over a plurality of guide rolls 21a back to the upstream portion of the forming section 10. One of the guide rolls 21a is likewise provided with a tension means T to maintain the desired degree of tension in the second forming wire F,. For sake of convenience, the second wire and the second wire run will both be referred to hereinafter as F It will also be noted that guide rolls 19a and 21a are provided with doctor means 19b and 21b respectively at their off-running sides to remove any adherent foreign materials thereof. Further, it will be noted that breast rolls l3 and 14, the plurality of foil guide means 15 and the wire runs F, and F define an elongated forming chamber below slice means 11a wherein the stock steam is converted into a continuous fibrous web. More particularly, it will be seen that forming wires F, and F, are guided over the breast rolls l3 and 14 through initially close spacing at the gap G to receive the jetstream of stock therebetween. Directly thereafter, the wires are guided convergingly together into general parallelism to pass over the plurality of spaced opposingly staggered foil guide means 15. As the jetstream of stock enters the initial close spacing of the forming wires, drainage and/or water removal takes place immediately through the respective peripheral surfaces of the forming wires on the off-running sides of the

breast rolls

13 and 14 by virtue of gravity and tension within the forming wire runs. Such water removal continues throughout the forming section allowing drainage to occur through both sides of the sandwiched (wire-web-wire) structure. The jetstream of stock is directed from the slice means 11a as a substantially unidirectional jetstream of ribbonlike thinness at substantially jet speeds, i.e., 1,000 or more feet per minute. The jetstream impinges substantially tangentially to the peripheral surfaces of

rolls

13 and 14 in a pressure-creating relationship of the area of convergence. The speed of the jetstream is substantially converted into hydraulic pressure as the jetstream contacts the forming wires F, and F and augments the aforediscussed drainage phenomena.

At the immediate off-running sides of the

breast rolls

13 and 14, initial dewatering occurs removing water substantially in opposed directions from the newly formed web as indicated by A,,, of FIG. 1. In this type of arrangement, the forming wires F, and F exert very little, if any, actual pressure on the jetstream at this stage of web formation. In other words, an easy pressure exists at the area of initial close spacing of the forming wires. This easy pressure merely contains the fibers between the travelling wires allowing proper distribution of the various sized fibers throughout the cross section of the newly forming web while permitting water to exit away from such fibers. This arrangement allows the uniform distribution of the fibers within the cross section of the forming web and materially aids in producing a high-quality web having highly desirable characteristics. During this area of easy pressure, water continues to be removed along both sides of the newly forming web thereby allowing formation of a substantially uniform one-sided paper sheet.

As indicated hereinbefore, the travelling wires F, and F carry the newly forming web therebetween the converge together into general parallelism after the initial spacing and travel over the working surface of the plurality of aligned opposingly staggered foil guide means 15 which are successively spaced downstream from the gap G to define a generally vertically aligned serpentinelike path of travel therebetween generally concurring with the jetstream direction, i.e., downwardly. It will be understood that the term general parallelism" referred to herein includes the slight spacing caused by the sandwiched web between the forming wires and permits the slight movement of the wires toward one another as water is expressed from the newly forming web.

The foil guide means 15 present essentially stationary surfaces to the moving forming wire runs and are suitably rigidly mounted along beam means B, and B which also support

breast rolls

13 and 14. Thus, all of the guides in the forming section, i.e., the breast rolls and the foil guide means are mounted on opposed beam means B, and B in the manner as shown so that by properly positioning the beam means B, and 8,, the forming chamber defined by such guide members is properly formed and aligned for the production of continuous fibrous webs.

Each of the foil guide means 15 has a lead edge for contacting the wire runs and a trailing edge away therefrom. Each of the lead edges of the foil guide means 15 contact the wire runs in such a manner as to cause a deflection from its previous path of travel at a relatively rapid rate of deflection sufficient to drive water through and away (by creation of centrifugal forces on the moving water) successively from the opposed sides of the forming wire runs. The rate of deflection may be varied as desired, however, it must be at least about (from its previous path of travel) and preferably more so as to obtain sufficient deflection to drive water (by virtue of gravity and centrifugal forces) through and away from the exposed side of the wire runs. In this regard, it will be noted that, for example when a first foil guide means b contacts the converging wire runs, it actually only contacts the second forming wire F and it urges this wire into parallelism against the first forming wire F, which is free from restraining means at the area of contact with such first foil guide means 15b. This arrangement is repeated throughout the plurality of foil guide means, i.e., the area where each foil means is urging a particular wire against the other wire, said other wire is free from contact with restraining means at the area of that particular foil guide means. In this manner, substantially equal amounts of de watering take place along opposingly staggered areas of the newly forming web.

As will be appreciated, when the travelling wire runs F, and F carrying the moist sandwiched web therebetween are deflected from their direction of travel, centrifugal force is imparted to the entire mass, but particularly to the water present, since it is free to move. This centrifugal force causes the water within the sandwiched web to be thrown through and away from the exposed sides of the forming wire. Thus, a plurality of substantial dewatering areas A, A, A etc. through A, occur at each deflection in path of travel of the forming wire runs. Of course, gravity is acting on the entire mass and thereby aids the dewatering function. The expressed water contacts the solid side surfaces of the foil guide means 15 which directs such water into conventional saveall devices for removal of this white water from the forming section. Besides the centrifugal and gravitational forces acting on the newly forming web, the wire tensions exert a positive pulsating-type pressure on the web as the wires travel past the plurality of foil means to express additional amounts of water at the areas of such foil guide means. Dewatering also occurs at the areas away from the foil guide means along the exposed inner surfaces of the respective wire runs F, and F, In this manner, the substantial amount of water within the deposited paper stock is removed along both sides of the forming web preventing uneven fiber distribution therein. Thus, amounts of water are continuously removed along both wire surfaces throughout the forming zone and particularly at the areas of deflection.

In regard to each particular foil guide means 15, it will be noted that they are provided with a working surface 1511 (best seen in FIG. 2) which is provided with a hard mirrorlike finish coating. This coating is preferably tungsten carbide, titanium carbide or a ceramic-crystalline refractory metal oxide, such as aluminum oxide, and polished to mirrorlike finish. Such a ceramic material coating will form a thin monolithic surface layer over the foil guide surfaces which may be polished to a mirrorlike finish to provide a substantially frictionless area of travel for the forming wires F, and F, The coating has a construction somewhat similar to and may be applied in accordance with the teachings found in copending application of Charles W. E. Walker, U.S. Ser. No. 150,917, now abandoned, which is incorporated herein by reference. As will be appreciated, only the lead edge of the foil guide means need be coated with this mirrorlike finish coating. Additionally, such lead edge is somewhat rounded and thereby presents an area of surface contact with the travelling wire runs rather than mere line contact as would be produced with a chiseledge. It has been found that such chisel-like edges produce undesirable markings within the newly forming web and damage the wire. Additional details of the foil guide means 15 may be gathered from U.S. Pat. No. 3,277,236 owned by the instant assignee and incorporated herein by reference.

Referring back to the forming section 10, it will be noted that after the forming wires F, and F, complete their serpentinelike path of travel past the last of the foil guide means 15 they continue travelling downwardly past a further dewatering means 17. Dewatering means 17 is shown here as a plurality of stationary suction boxes acting on the inner peripheral surface of the forming wire F,. As the web travels past the dewatering means 17, the newly formed web has a tendency to adhere to the forming wire F, and depart from the forming wire F, The forming wire F, continues to travel downwardly to contact the peripheral surface of turning roll 21 which guides it away from the downward direction and back around to guide rolls 21a and to the upstream portion of the forming section 10. The wire F, carries the newly formed web W on its outside surface and continues to travel downwardly until it contacts turning roll 19 (here functioning as a couch roll having a suction gland 19a) which directs the newly formed web W and its supporting wire F, away from the forming chamber. The turning roll 19 is provided with a suction gland 19a to insure that the newly formed web W does not depart from the fonning wire F, during the area of turn.

The forming wire F, carries the newly formed web W upwardly to contact a pickup felt PF which is wrapped around a small suction roll 24. The pickup felt PF is trained over a plurality of guide rolls (not shown) defining a looped travelling felt that contacts the newly formed web to transfer the same from the forming section to other paper machine sections, such as a first press section, for additional processing a desired. A shown, the pickup felt PF carries the newly formed web W along its upper surface past a lump clearing roll 234 removing any adherent lumps therefrom in a well-known manner. The lump clearing roll 23 is associated with a conveyor C removing any lumps or foreign material away from the web for salvage or the like as desired. It will also be noted that a doctor roll 24 is provided to contact forming wire F, along its outer surface, i.e., the surface which was in contact with the web W, to remove any adherent foreign material therefrom. The roll 24 is provided with doctor means 24a to remove any adherent foreign material from such roll and direct it to the conveyor C. Turning rolls 19 and 21 are shown as being connected with drive means M, and M respectively. The drive means M, and M drive the forming wires F, and F via said turning rolls substantially at jetstream speeds in a synchronized manner so that there is very little relative movement between the travelling wire runs and the jetstream. While the drive means are here shown as being connected with

rolls

19 and 21, it will be appreciated that such drive means could be connected to other rolls as desired.

Referring back to the details of the selectively movable beam mans B, and B, it will be appreciated that both such beam means are substantially identical and accordingly only beam means B, will be described in detail. The beam means B, is composes of an elongated body member Ba having an upper end and a lower end. The upper end is connected with hearing support means 13a in a conventional manner so as to provide support for such bearing means allowing it to carry breast roll 13 for rotation in a conventional manner. The lower end of the elongated body member Ba is provided with pivotal mounting means P, which is rigidly attached to a rigid frame member S. Pivotal mounting means may comprise an earlike member having a base portion attached to the support S and an upstanding portion therefrom having an aperture for receiving a suitable pin and thereby allowing the beam means B, to selectively pivot as desired. It will be noted that the support means S has a stop member Js associated therewith in the vicinity of the lower portion of the beam means B,. The stop means .ls has an angular work surface Jss facing said beam means B, a limits the movement of such beam means substantially as shown in FIG. 2. Power means .I, is suitably mounted to the stop member Js for selectively moving the beam means B, into a desired position. The power means J, may comprise a plurality of hydraulically activated piston means having piston cylinders and extending piston rods. As shown, a pair of substantially similar piston means may be mounted one on top of the other to obtain certain mechanical advantages. Thus, a first of such piston means is mounted on stop member .ls so that the cylinder thereof can pivot about stop member Js and its rod extend upwardly toward the beam body Ba. The other hydraulic piston means having its cylinder pivotally mounted on the piston rod of the first piston means and its piston rod directly connected with the beam means. In this way, suitable control for the selective movement of the beam means B, is provided. As indicated hereinbefore, beam means B is substantially similar and is provided with a power means J As shown in FIG. 2, when it is desired to change wires and/or replace a particular element within the forming section 10, the power means I, and J are actuated (via conventional hydraulic control means, not shown) and caused to move the beam means B, and B away from the slice means 11a into the position shown at FIG. 2. It will be noted that in this nonoperative position the wires F, and F are substantially without tension and may be easily replaced, cleansed, etc. and that the various guide elements, i.e., rolls l3, 14 or foil guide means 15 are all exposed for servicing as necessary. Once the necessary servicing has been accomplished, power means J, and J, are again actuated moving the beam means back into their operative positions and all of the guide elements are automatically in proper alignment to define the forming section and allow immediate startup of the machine without the necessity of individually adjusting each and every separate guide element to insure its proper alignment without the forming chamber.

It will thus be seen that the invention provides an apparatus for forming a continuous fibrous web from a dilute aqueous suspension of entangled comovmg fibers and comprises a means defining an elongated forming chamber including a pair of spaced breast rolls in closely spaced relation in a horizontal plane defining a vertically extending gap therebetween, a plurality of opposed alternatively staggered foil guide mean below the breast rolls defining a generally vertically aligned serpentinelike path of travel within the forming chamber and a pair of opposed wire runs trained about the breast rolls and foil guide means defining said chamber, additional means for supporting the breast rolls and foil guide means in a selectively moveable manner allowing speedy and convenient positioning thereof into operating and nonoperating positions as desired. Of course, a means for projecting the dilute aqueous suspensions into the vertically extending gap between the breast rolls to form a fibrous web within the forming chamber is also provided as well as a means for receiving and guiding the fibrous web away from the forming chamber.

l claim as my invention:

1. In a device for forming a fibrous web and including means for defining an elongated forming chamber having a pair of spaced breast rolls mounted for rotation in a closely spaced relation along a horizontal plane so as to define a vertically extending gap therebetween, a plurality of opposed altematingly staggered stationary dewatering means positioned below said breast rolls for defining a generally vertically aligned path of travel with said forming chamber, one group of said dewater ing means being positioned below one of said breast rolls and another group of said dewatering means being positioned below the other of said breast rolls, a pair of opposed continuous forming wires trained to travel about said breast rolls and said stationary dewatering means, means for projecting a dilute aqueous suspension into said vertically extending gap between said wires traveling over said breast rolls, said wires being arranged for traveling at a speed sufficient to dewater said aqueous suspension as the wires travel past said dewatering means, and frame means for supporting said breast rolls and said dewatering means, the improvement comprising a pair of opposed selectively movable beam means pivotally attached the frame means, each of said beam means being rigidly attached to one of said breast rolls and its dewatering means and means connected to said movable beam means for pivoting said movable beam means.

2. The device as defined in claim 1, wherein each of the selectively movable beam means is pivotally mounted on a rigid frame means, and wherein said means for pivoting includes a power means connected therewith for selective pivotal movement of said beam means.

3. The device as defined in claim 2, wherein the power means comprise hydraulically actuated piston means.

4. The device as defined in claim 3, wherein the hydraulically actuated piston means comprises a pair of cooperating hydraulic piston means, one of said piston means having the cylinder thereof pivotally mounted on the rigid frame means and the other of said piston means having the cylinder thereof pivotally mounted on the piston rod of said one piston means.

5. The device as defined in claim 2, wherein the rigid frame means has s top member connected thereto positively limiting the movement of the movable beams means.

6. The device as defined in claim 1, wherein each of the selectively movable beam means comprises an elongated body member having an upper and a lower end, a bearing mounting means connected to the upper end of said body member and a pivotal attachment means connected to the lower end of said body member.

Patent No.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Dated November 30, 1971 Inventor(s) Column 1,

line line line line line Column 4,

line line line Column 5,

line line line line line line Column 6,

Signed Paul E. Tommeraasen It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Title page, ABSTRACT, line 12, "the" (first occurrence thereof) should read --The--.

line 30, "rungs" should read --runs.

"thereof" should read --therefrom--; "steam" should read --stream--;

"of" should read --at--.

"the" (second occurrence thereof) should read ---and----; "surface" should read --surfaces.

"3, 277, 236" should read -3, 377, 236--; "a" (second occurrence thereof) should read --as--; "234" should read --23--.

"mans" should read --means--; "composes" should read -composed--; "a" should read --and--.

"without" should read --within--; "mean" should read --rneans--; "with" should read --within--;

prior to "the" insert ---to-; "s top" should read --a stop--; "beams" should read --beam--.

and sealed this 27th day of June 1 972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR Attesting Officer OHM PO-105O (10-69) ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Commissioner of Patents USCOMM-DC GOSTG-F'GQ U 5 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE I 1969 O356-334

Claims

2. The device as defined in claim 1, wherein each of the selectively movable beam means is pivotally mounted on a rigid frame means, and wherein said means for pivoting includes a power means connected therewith for selective pivotal movement of said beam means.
3. The device as defined in claim 2, wherein the power means comprise hydraulically actuated piston means.
4. The device as defined in claim 3, wherein the hydraulically actuated piston means comprises a pair of cooperating hydraulic piston means, one of said piston means having the cylinder thereof pivotally mounted on the rigid frame means and the other of said piston means having the cylinder thereof pivotally mounted on the piston rod of said one piston means.
5. The device as defined in claim 2, wherein the rigid frame means has a stop member connected thereto positively limiting the movement of the movable beams means.
6. The device as defined in claim 1, wherein each of the selectively movable beam means comprises an elongated body member having an upper and a lower end, a bearing mounting means connected to the upper end of said body member and a pivotal attachment means connected to the lower end of said body member.