US3640163A - Method of severing filamentary material - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus for and method of severing a tangled sleevelike mass of a material, such as fiber glass yarn, from an associated spool using a high-velocity fluid jet defined either by a liquid or by a gas-containing abrasive particles wherein the highvelocity jet is impinged against the sleevelike mass while relatively moving the spool and high-velocity jet to provide efficient severing of the sleevelike mass along the full length of the spool.

Description

iiied States Patent Giardini et a1.

[ 5] Feb. 8, 1972 [54] METHOD OF SEVERING IFHLAMENTARY MATERIAL [72] Inventors: Dante S. Giardini, Dayton; George A. Preston, Xenia; Richard N. Roney,

Dayton, all of Ohio [73} Assignee: The Bendix Corporation [22] Filed: Oct. 15, 1969 211 App]. No.: 866,695

[52] US. Cl .L.....83/53, 28/19, 28/72, 51/l4,5l/3l9, 83/177, 83/924 [51] lint. Cl. ..B24c H00 [58] FieidofiSeareh ..51/319,320,321,8,14; 83/53, 177, 924; 28/19, 72 CS [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,747,087 2/1930 Schmatz ..83/177 Baker ..83/177 2,963,821 12/1960 3,036,358 5/1962 Scaglia ..28/19 3,137,913 6/1964 Hayes ..28/19 3,517,578 6/1970 3,534,503 10/1970 Kulischenko .1. ..51/8

Primary Examiner-Lester M. Swingle Attorney-Flame, Hartz, Smith and Thompson [57] ABSTRACT An apparatus for and method of severing a tangled sleevelike mass of a material, such as fiber glass yam, from an associated spool using a high-velocity fluid jet defined either by a liquid or by a gas-containing abrasive particles wherein the highvelocity jet is impinged against the sleevelike mass while relatively moving the spool and high-velocity jet to provide efficient severing of the sleevelike mass along the full length of the spool.

5 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures FEE? rm SHEET 2 [1F 3 INVENTORS DANTE S. GIARDINI GEORGE A. PRESTON BY R|CHARD N. HONEY d a W KWW THEIR IYH ORFWIEYS METHOD OF SEVERING FILAMENTARY MATERIAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There are numerous industrial uses for fiber glass yarn and such yarn is often supplied on reuseable spools made of hard materials such as plastic materials, for example. As the fiber glass yarn is used from its spool and particularly when only a few layers of such yarn remain on the spool, such remaining layers often become tangled into a sleevelike mass, making it impossible to continue unwinding of such yarn wher eby it is necessary to replace the spool with anew one. However, in order that the exhausted spool may be reused it is necessary to tangled and define a sleevelike mass or tangled sleeve which is also designated by the reference numeral 11 for ease of presentation.

The spool is provided with a holding fixture comprised of a caplike portion 16 which surrounds the large diameter portion 13, a cup-shaped portion 17 which is posi' tioned around the end portion 14, and a shaft 18 which exremove the sleevelike mass of fiber glass yarntherefrom and heretofore such mass has been cut away from its spool by hand using a sharp cutting blade such as a razor blade. It is generally very difficult and time consuming to cut fiber glass yarn from an associated spool using a cutting blade; further, the spool is often badly scratched and/or nicked during the cutting action and this is very undesirable.

SUMMARY This invention provides an improved method of removing a tangled sleevelike mass of a filamentary material such as fiber glass yarn from an associated spool thereof in a simple, economical, and high speed manner without damaging the associated spool.

Other details, uses, and advantages of this invention will become apparent as the following description of the exemplary embodiments thereof presented in the accompanying drawings proceeds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings show present exemplary embodiments ofthis invention, in which I FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an exemplary plastic spool having a fiber glass yarn tangled in a sleevelike mass therearound with such spool being supported on an associated holding fixture;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the spool of FIG. I removed from its holding fixture and with the sleevelike mass of fiber glass yarn severed therefrom;

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of one exemplary embodiment of the method of this invention with certain parts in cross section, other parts broken away, and still others shown schematically; 7

FIG. 4 is a greatly enlarged cross-sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3 and illustrating a fluid ejection head having a single orifice provide therein;

FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 4 and illustratin'g a modification of a fluid ejection head having a plurality of three orifices provided therein.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 3 illustrating another exemplary embodiment of the method of this inventron;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 66 of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS Reference is now made to FIG. I of the drawings which illustrates a spool or bobbin 10 which has a filamentary material such as fiber glass yarn l1 tangled therearound to define sleevelike mass. The spool 10 may be made of a suitable material such as a hard plastic, a metallic material, or the like and is reuseable once the tangled fiber glass yarn has been removed therefrom.

As seen in FIG. 2, the exemplary spool 10 has a substantially right circular cylindrical central portion 12, a comparatively large diameter portion 13 comprising one end thereof and a smaller diameter portion 14 defining its opposite end. The spool 10 normally has fiber glass yarn wound concentrically around its cylindrical portion 12 and during the course of unwinding such yam the last few layers thereof often become tends through a hollow portion or axial opening 10A through the spool 10 and holds portions 16 and 17 of the fixture together so that the associated portions 13 and 14 respectively of the spool 10 are in a protected position.

The shaft 18 has one end thereof suitably fixed to the caplike portion as by welding, for example, and has external threads 19 formed over a predetermined axial length of its opposite end portion. A threaded nut 20 is provided to hold the cup-shaped portion 17 in position and the threaded axial length enables spools 10 of different lengths to be supported by the holding fixture 15.

The caplike portion 16 has an internally threaded cylindrical flange 21 extending outwardly therefrom which is adapted to receive a supporting shaft used to support fixture 15.

Reference is now made to FIG. 3 of the drawings which illustrates one exemplary embodiment of the method of this invention which is designated generally by the reference numeral 22 and is used to remove the tangled sleevelike mass of fiber glass yarn from the cylindrical portion 12 of the spool 10. The apparatus 22 comprises a support shown as a supporting shaft 23 which has an externally threaded end portion 24 which is threaded within flange 21 to support the fixture 15 and hence the spool 10 at the terminal end thereof.

The apparatus 22 has means 25 for ejecting a fluid at high velocity against the fiber glass yarn 11 to provide a severing thereof as will be described in more detail subsequently and also has moving means 26 for relatively moving the support or supporting shaft 23 and the ejecting means 25. In this example of the invention the ejecting means 25 is held stationary and the support 23 with the fixture l5 and spool 10 is moved relative thereto. The apparatus 22 has a tank 27 which has a pair of end walls 28 and 29 and the end wall 28 has a sleeve bearing 30 provided therein which is adapted to receive shaft 23 therethrough and support such shaft for axial sliding movement to enable moving the spool 10 past the ejecting means 25.

The moving means 26 comprises an air cylinder 31 which has an axially movable piston 32 slidably supported within the cylinder 31 in a known manner and the supporting shaft 23 is suitably attached to piston 32, as by threaded engagement, and extends outwardly from one end thereof and through one end wall of the cylinder 31. The piston 32 also has another shaft 33 fixed to the opposite end thereof and the shaft 33 extends through the opposite end wall of the cylinder 31. The shafts 23 and 32 are freely axially slidable through their associated cylinder walls while maintaining a fluidtight seal between such shafts and the cylinder.

The apparatus 22 has a supporting housing 34 which has one end fixed to the end wall 28 of tank 27 and the housing 34 has an end wall 35 provided with a suitable bearing 36 which supports shaft 33 for axial sliding movement therethrough. The air cylinder 31 has a pair of air supply lines 37 and 38 suitably connected thereto which are adapted to supply air under pressure to opposed surfaces of the piston 32 and upon supplying air through line 37 with line 38 effectively vented to atmosphere piston 32 and spool 10 is moved toward end wall 29 and upon supplying air through line 38 with line 37 effectively vented to atmosphere the spool 10 is moved away from end wall 29.

The apparatus 22 may be provided with a shaft 40 which has an internally threaded female connector 41 fixed thereto and the connector 41 is dimensioned to'enable threading thereof over threaded end 19 of the shaft 17 comprising the holding fixture 15, see FIGS. 1 and 3. A suitable bearing 42 may be provided in'wall 29-of the tank 27 and bearing 42 supports shaft 40 for axial sliding movement. Thus, it will be seen that once the cylinder 31 is supplied with air under pressure the supporting shaft 23 slides in a substantially frictionless manner through its bearing 30 while shaft 40 slides in a similar manner through its bearing 42 to thereby support opposite ends of the fixture 15 and hence spool to facilitate rectilinear movement thereof. The shaft 40 is an optional component and need not necessarily be used and where such shaft is not used the fixture and spool 10 are simply supported in a cantilevered manner at the end of shaft 23.

The spool 10 and the tangled sleeve 11 of fiber glass yarn wound on the cylindrical central portion 12 of such spool are thus moved in a rectilinear path past the fluid-ejecting means 25 so that a jet 44 of high-velocity fluid ejecting from such ejecting means impinges against the tangled sleeve 11 of fiber glass yarn to provide a longitudinal severing thereof essentially as shown at 45. Once the tangled sleeve 11 has been severed along its full length it may be easily grasped and lifted away from the spool 10.

The fluid-ejecting means 25 comprises a fluid supply conduit 50 which in this example comprises a water pipe or conduit which is connected to an ordinary source of tap water. High pressure pump means shown as a pump 51 is provided in the conduit 50 and the pump 51 is capable of providing a pressure generally of the order of 12,000 p.s.i.g. downstream thereof. The conduit 50 terminates in an ejection head or assembly 52 which is mounted on the tank 27 by a supporting structure or bracket 58, see FIGS. 3 and 4. The ejection head 52 has orifice means provided therein comprised of a plate 54 which has an insert 55 suitably fixed therein. The insert 55 has an orifice 56 which is preferably of circular cross-sectional area extending therethrough and the diameter of such orifice is precisely controlled.

As high-pressure water is supplied to the assembly 52 it is forced through the orifice 56 and exits therefrom as the extremely high-velocity jet 44 which is capable of severing the fiber glass yarn because of the character of such yarn yet the jet 44 does not damage the spool 10. In the event the tangled sleeve 11 is not completely severed during one pass past the high-velocity jet 44, a plurality of passes may be made to provide complete severing of such tangled sleeve.

The cross-sectional area of the orifice 56 is correlated with the pressure provided by the high-pressure pump 51 so as to control the velocity and hence the severing or cutting action of the high-velocity fluid as it is ejected through such orifice. In one exemplary application of this invention a water pressure of 12,000 p.s.i.g. and an orifice 56 of circular cross section having a diameter of 0.016 inch were used whereby an optimum severing action was provided.

It has also been found that improved severing of the tangled sleeve 11 is provided by arranging the assembly 52 so that the high-velocity jet 44 ejecting from the orifice 56 is directed at an included angle ranging between 75 and 90 with the longitudinal axis 60 of the spool 10. However, adequate severing is provided by directing the jet 44 generally transverse the axis 60 at practically all angles ranging from very small acute angles to 90 with the longitudinal axis 60. It has also been found desirable to direct the jet 44 either radially inwardly toward the longitudinal axis 60 or only a small fraction of an inch (generally not exceeding one-eighth inch on a spool having a cylindrical central portion roughly 2 inches in diameter) above or below such axis.

As previously indicated, the fixture 15 and spool 10 are moved by the air cylinder 31 which is supplied with air through either line 37 or 38 depending upon which direction it is desired to move the spool 10. The cylinder 31 has a selector valve assembly 61 operatively connected thereto and the assembly or selector valve 61 is supplied with air under regulated pressure from any suitable source through a conduit 59.

The selector valve 61 has a conduit 62 operatively connected thereto and to the upstream end of conduit 37, and a control valve 63 is installed in the conduit 62. When it is desired to move the spool 10 toward the end wall 29 the selector valve 61 is actuated so that air under pressure flows through conduit 62, control valve 63, and conduit 37 to exert pressure against a surface 64 of the piston 32 to move such piston so that the shaft 23 is extended outwardly.

The selector valve 61 has another conduit 65 operatively connected thereto and to the upstream end of conduit 38, and a control valve 66 installed in the conduit 66. When it is desired to retract the shaft 23, i.e., move spool 10 away from end wall 29, the selector valve 61 is actuated so that air under pressure flows through line 65, control valve 66. and conduit 38 to exert pressure against a surface 67 of the piston 32 to move piston 32 away from end wall 29.

The valves 63 and 66 are adjustable flow control valves and may be adjusted to provide any desired movement of the spool 10. If desired, the movement of the spool 10 in one direction may be at one speed while the movement of such spool in an opposite direction may be at a different speed.

The apparatus 22 also has a measuring apparatus 70 for measuring the rate of movement or velocity of the spool 10 past the high-velocity jet 44. The apparatus 70 comprises a permanent magnet assembly 71 fixed to the outer end portion of the shaft 33 and the assembly 71 operatively associates with a pair of spaced-apart normally open electrical switches 72 and 73 which are suitably supported at fixed positions and the switches 72 and 73 are operatively connected to an electronic time measuring device 74. The assembly 71 operates to close each switch 72 and 73 as it is moved adjacent thereto.

Thus, as the cylinder 31 is supplied with air to extend the shaft 23, for example, the assembly 71 moves from the solid line position illustrated at 75 to the dotted line position indicated at 76 whereby the device 74 operates to determine and indicate the total time which elapses from the instant switch 72 is deenergized, by assembly 71 moving away therefrom, until switch 73 is energized.

Because the total movement of the spool 10 and hence assembly 71 in any one direction is a predetermined fixed distance it is a simple matter to determine the velocity of the spool 10 past the jet 44.

As previously explained, the control valves 63 and 66 may be adjusted to provide air under controlled conditions to the piston 32 and by utilizing the electronic device 74 together with valves 63 and 66 an optimum rate of movement of the spool 10 and its tangled sleeve 11 past the jet 44 may be established so as to provide the most efficient severing of the sleeve 11. Once an optimum rate of movement has been established, it will be appreciated that the electrical apparatus 74 need not necessarily be utilized again except as a check of such optimum rate of movement.

Reference was made earlier in this specification to the use of an orifice 56 in the insert 55 wherein such orifice had an effective diameter of0.0l6 inch. However, it is to be understood that the effective diameter of an orifice 56 may range roughly between 0.002 inch and 0.032 inch, depending upon the fluid pressure provided upstream thereof by associated pump means.

Reference was also made earlier in this application to the use of ordinary tap water provided to the orifice 56 at a fluid pressure of 12,000 p.s.i.g. However, it is to be understood that the actual water pressure utilized may range roughly between 4,000 p.s.i.g. to 20,000 p.s.i.g. depending upon the cross-sectional area of the orifice 56.

Thus, it is seen that the effective diameter of the orifice 56 may be varied roughly within the range of 0.002 inch and 0.032 inch. Similarly, the pressure upstream of the orifice 56 may be varied roughly within the range of 4,000 p.s.i.g. and 20,000 p.s.i.g. The particular orifice size and fluid pressure will be matched for each application within the respective ranges mentioned, causing the jet 44 to have the velocity and energy required to provide an optimum severing of the tangled sleeve 11.

As previously explained, the velocity of the spool 10 and tangled sleeve 11 past the high-velocity jet 44 may be precisely controlled by using the adjustable flow control valves 63 and 66 in conjunction with the electronic device 74. Good results were obtained under conditions where it required between l40-l 50 milliseconds to move the spool one foot. At this rate of movement past the high-velocity jet 44, the tangled sleeve 11 was cut to a depth ranging between roughly 0.020 inch and 0.030 inch for each pass when providing ordinary tap water at a pressure of 12,000 p.s.i.g. through an orifice 56 having an effective diameter of0.0l6 inch.

It has also been found that instead of a single high-velocity jet of liquid ejecting from an assembly or ejection head, such as head 52, it may be desirable in certain applications to provide an ejection head which has a plurality of spaced orifices provided therein and such a head is illustrated in FIG. 4A of the drawings and designated generally by the reference numeral 52M. The ejection head 52M has a plate 54M which has an insert 55M suitably fixed therein and insert 55M has three orifices 56M provided therein with each orifice having an effective diameter of0.0084 inch.

The ejection head 52M may be used interchangeably with head 52 in apparatus 22 and upon supplying head 52M with liquid at high pressure three high-velocity jets are defined, each ejecting from an associated orifice 56M. The head 52M may be suitably mounted at a fixed position so that once the moving means 26 moves the spool 10 past the head 52M the three high-velocity jets cooperate to provide efficient severing of the tangled sleeve of fiber glass yarn in a common plane.

The use of an ejection head having an insert which has a plurality of smaller orifices therein enables operating the system with less power. In particular, the power required utilizing three 0.0084 inch effective diameter orifices is approximately 30 percent less than the power required using a single 0.016 inch effective diameter orifice.

In this example of the invention ordinary water is supplied through conduit 50 and high-pressure pump 51 and after the water is ejected from the assembly 52 it is discarded. However, it will be appreciated that a recirculating system may be provided, if desired, whereby the water would be reused. In any event, it will be appreciated that it is desirable to provide a filter 77 which is of sufficiently small size to assure that the orifice 56 will not be clogged with particles or impurities in the liquid. In addition, the insert 55 is made of hard material such as sapphire, for example, to assure the size of the orifice 56 is not increased excessively due to the eroding action of the water and minute unfiltered particles flowing therethrough.

The exemplary pump 51 may be adjustable and may have a single stage or a plurality of stages, or such pump may be replaced with a suitable pumping means which may be in the form of high pressure cylinder means, or the like.

It will also be appreciated that a suitable high-pressure accumulator may also be provided in the system so as to substantially prevent pressure fluctuations upstream of the assembly 52 or hold such fluctuations to no greater than 500 p.s.i.g.

Another exemplary embodiment of the method of this invention is illustrated in FIG. 5 of the drawings. The apparatus illustrated in FIG. 5 is very similar to the apparatus 22; there fore, such apparatus will be designated generally by the reference numeral 22A and parts of the apparatus 22A which are very similar to corresponding parts of the apparatus will be designated by the same reference numeral as in the apparatus 22, also followed by the letter designation A" and not described again. Only those component parts in the apparatus 22A which are substantially different from corresponding parts of the apparatus 22 will be designated by a new reference numeral also followed by letter designation A" and described in detail.

The main difference between the apparatus 22 and the apparatus 22A is that the apparatus 22A utilizes a gas in the form of ordinary air as the fluid which is ejected at high velocity toward the spool 10 and against tangled sleeve 11 of fiber glass and the air has abrasive particles 79A suspended therein which are propelled against the tangled sleeve 11 to provide the cutting or severing action. Thus, the apparatus 22A uses suitable components, now to be described, which are capable of providing and ejecting high-velocity air containing the abrasive particles against the tangled sleeve 11.

The apparatus 22A comprises an air conduit A which has its inlet operatively connected to a source of air under pres sure and its outlet connected to an abrasive dispenser assembly 81A and the assembly 81A has a conduit 82A connected to its outlet which terminates in a nozzle assembly 83A, see FIG. 6. The nozzle assembly has an insert 84A suitably fixed in the discharge end thereof, and the insert has an orifice 85A provided therein and through which a jet 86A of the high-velocity air which contains the abrasive particles is ejected.

The dispenser assembly 81A has an abrasive dispensing container 87A which contains abrasive particles 79A and such particles may be of irregular shapes or in the form of glass spheres or balls, for example. The assembly 81A also has a tangential accelerator 88A arranged beneath the container 87A and a vibrator 89A is also provided and attached beneath the accelerator 88A. The vibrator 89A helps provide a steady flow of abrasive particles through suitable openings in the abrasive container and into the accelerator 88A which helps accelerate the particles so they may be moved at high velocity by the high-pressure air and ejected together with such air through the orifice 85A to define the high-velocity jet 86A.

The severing action provided by the air jet 86A containing abrasive particles is similar to the severing action provided by the high-velocity water jet 44 of apparatus 22. It will also be appreciated that the spool 10 is moved past the high-velocity air jet 86A by moving means 26A in a similar manner as previously described in connection with the moving means 26 of apparatus 22.

The apparatus 22A comprises an exhaust assembly 90A which is connected in flow communication with a vacuum tube 91A which is supported concentrically around the spool 10 adjacent one end portion thereof. The exhaust assembly 90A assures that the air with abrasive particles therein is removed from the area surrounding the tank 27A and the assembly 90A may also be provided with a suitable air filter 92A in a conduit portion 93A arranged downstream of assembly 90A to remove the abrasive particles from the air and allow the thus filtered air to be safely exhausted to the air.

The conduit 80A is suitably connected to any suitable air pressure source, such as shop air, a separate compressor, and the like, and good results have been obtained using ambient air at a pressure of 60 p.s.i.g. However, it has been found by tests that satisfactory results may also be obtained using air ranging in pressure roughly between 20 p.s.i.g. and p.s.i.g.

In one test application of this latter exemplary embodiment, good results were obtained using an orifice having an effective diameter of 0.020 inch with air at a pressure of 60 p.s.i.g. However, it has been found that satisfactory results may also be obtained with an orifice 85A having an effective diameter ranging roughly between 0.005 inch and 0.062 inch.

Depending upon the effective cross-sectional area of the orifice 85A, the abrasive particles may range in size from 1 micron to 250 microns. Further, it will be appreciated that the sizes of the abrasive particles and orifice should be correlated with each other and with the air pressure of the system to provide optimum results.

From the above description it is seen that the effective diameter of the orifice 85A may be varied roughly within the range of 0.005 inch and 0.062 inch. Also, the pressure upstream of assembly 83A may be varied roughly within the range of 20 p.s.i.g. and l20 p.s.i.g.

The orifice comprising the fluid ejecting means in each apparatus may be of either circular or noncircular cross-sectional configuration. An orifice of noncircular configuration and area would have an equivalent circular area; accordingly, to fully define the size of an orifice with a linear dimension irrespective of its cross-sectional configuration, the words effective diameter" have been used and define the size of such orifice in terms of the diameter of an orifice of equivalent circular area.

The thickness of the tangled sleeve 11 of fiber glass on each spool 10 will vary from a small fraction of an inch to one-half inch and more, depending upon the conditions under which the spool was used. However, it has been found that the majority of spools have a tangled sleeve thereon which is roughly one-eighth inch thick,

Specific controls for operating each apparatus 22 and 22A have not been presented in this specification; however, it will be appreciated that any suitable controls may be used.

As the tangled sleeve 11 is severed longitudinally, it has been found that the fluid from the high-velocity jet tends to strip such sleeve from the spool whereby an additional sleeve stripping device, or manual stripping, is generally not required.

As previously mentioned, each spool may be made of any suitable material, such as a hard plastic or a metallic material, for example. It has been found that the structural properties of these materials are sufficiently different from filamentary materials, such as glass yarn, that there is little likelihood of damage to such spools by either the high-velocity liquid jet or the high-velocity air jet containing abrasive particles, whereby each spool 10 cleaned using the apparatus or method as presented in this specification may be reused many times. In addition, in the case of filamentary materials other than fiber glass yarn, the method of this invention enable cleaning of spools having such other materials by adjusting the energy of the high-velocity fluid jet to provide the required severing yet without damage to the spool.

While present exemplary embodiments of the methods of practicing the invention, have been illustrated and described, it will be recognized that this invention may be otherwise variously embodied and practiced by those skilled in the art.

We claim:

l. A method of removing a tangled sleeve of fiber glass yarn provided at normal ambient temperature from a reuseable spool while maintaining said spool substantially intact, said method comprising the steps of, supporting said spool on an associated support with its sleeve fully exposed, ejecting a high-velocity jet of liquid comprised of water provided at a temperature roughly near said ambient temperature from an associated ejection head and against said sleeve, said jet being directed transverse the outer surface of said sleeve and substantially radially inwardly toward the longitudinal axis of said sleeve to provide efficient severing of said sleeve without detriment to said spool, and relatively moving said support and said ejection head to provide substantially longitudinal severing of said sleeve.

2. A method as set forth in claim I in which said step of ejecting a high-velocity jet comprises defining said jet by providing orifice means in said ejection head having an effective diameter roughly within the range of 0.002 to 0.032 inch and supplying said liquid to said ejection head at a pressure roughly within the range of 4,000 to 20,000 p.s.i.g.

3. A method as set forth in claim I and comprising the further step of adjustably controlling the rate of said relative movement between said support and ejection head.

4. A method as set forth in claim 1 in which said relatively moving step comprises relatively moving said support and ejection head a plurality of passes to assure said longitudinal severing of said sleeve.

5. A method of removing a tangled sleeve of fiber glass yarn wound around a reusable spool which has a longitudinal axis while maintaining said spool substantially intact, said method comprising the steps of, supporting said spool on an associated support with its sleeve of yarn fully exposed and with said spool and sleeve at normal ambient temperature, simultaneously ejecting a plurality of high-velocity jets of liquid comprising water against said sleeve, said liquid being provided at a temperature roughly near said ambient temperature, said jets being directed radially inwardly toward and transverse said longitudinal axis and substantially in a common plane therewith to provide severing of said sleeve without detriment to said spool, and relatively moving said support and jets in said plane to provide severing of said sleeve along its full length.

Claims (5)

1. A method of removing a tangled sleeve of fiber glass yarn provided at normal ambient temperature from a reuseable spool while maintaining said spool substantially intact, said method comprising the steps of, supporting said spool on an associated support with its sleeve fully exposed, ejecting a high-velocity jet of liquid comprised of water provided at a temperature roughly near said ambient temperature from an associated ejection head and against said sleeve, said jet being directed transverse the outer surface of said sleeve and substantially radially inwardly toward the longitudinal axis of said sleeve to provide efficient severing of said sleeve without detriment to said spool, and relatively moving said support and said ejection head to provide substantially longitudinal severing of said sleeve.

2. A method as set forth in claim 1 in which said step of ejecting a high-velocity jet comprises defining said jet by providing orifice means in said ejection head having an effective diameter roughly within the range of 0.002 to 0.032 inch and supplying said liquid to said ejection head at a pressure roughly within the range of 4,000 to 20,000 p.s.i.g.

3. A method as set forth in claim 1 and comprising the further step of adjustably controlling the rate of said relative movement between said support and ejection head.

4. A method as set forth in claim 1 in which said relatively moving step comprises relatively moving said support and ejection head a plurality of passes to assure said longitudinal severing of said sleeve.

5. A method of removing a tangled sleeve of fiber glass yarn wound around a reusable spool which has a longitudinal axis while maintaining said spool substantially intact, said method comprising the steps of, supporting said spool on an associated support with its sleeve of yarn fully exposed and with said spool and sleeve at normal ambient temperature, simultaneously ejecting a plurality of high-velocity jets of liquid comprising water against said sleeve, said liquid being provided at a temperature roughly near said ambient temperature, said jets being directed radially inwardly toward and transverse said longitudinal axis and substantially in a common plane therewith to provide severing of said sleeve without detriment to said spool, and relatively moving said support and jets in said plane to provide severing of said sleeve along its full length.

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