US3866404A

US3866404A - Ring assembly

Info

Publication number: US3866404A
Application number: US433023A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jack Doleman; William H Hills
Original assignee: Monsanto Co
Current assignee: Monsanto Co
Priority date: 1974-01-10
Filing date: 1974-01-10
Publication date: 1975-02-18
Anticipated expiration: 1992-02-18
Also published as: FR2257713B3; ES433608A1; NL7500151A; SE7500189L; IL46411A; IT1028264B; FR2257713A1; CS180033B2; ZA75164B; IL46411A0; RO71518A; DE2500669A1; LU71606A1; JPS50100324A; AR206803A1; BE824239A; AU7719775A; BR7500148A; DD115716A5

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a ring assembly providing forced circulation of a cooling liquid in thermally conductive contact with the ring. The use of a forced cooled and lubricated ring permits substantially increased spindle speeds, particularly for spinning or twisting of materials requiring high balloon tensions.

Description

United States Patent Doleman et al.

[451 Feb. 18, 1975 RING ASSEMBLY Inventors: Jack Doleman, West Melbourne;

William H. Hills, Melbourne, both of Fla.

Assignee: Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Mo.

Filed: Jan. 10, 1974 Appl. No.1 433,023

US. Cl 57/119, 57/l20, 57/l56 Int. Cl. D0lh 7/52, D0lh 7/62 Field of Search 57/1 R 34 R, I12, 119,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS ll/l897 Foster 57/l 19 X 2.756.558 7/1956 Camp ct al. 57 [I9 3.302.382 2/1967 Klutt 57,9[20 3,369,358 2/l968 Wayson 57/l10 3,399,522 9/1968 Wayson 57, 120 3.593512 7/l97l Wayson ct all 57,020 3,603,070 9/1971 Alwood cl al, 57 20 Primary ExaminerDonald E. Watkins [57] ABSTRACT The disclosure relates to a ring assembly providing forced circulation of a cooling liquid in thermally conductive contact with the ring. The use of a forced cooled and lubricated ring permits substantially increased spindle speeds. particularly for spinning or twisting of materials requiring high balloon tensions.

15 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures RING ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to textile ring assemblies of the type commonly referred to as spinning rings and to methods for their improved use for spinning and twisting operations. Spindle speeds of ring assemblies and balloon tensions associated with their use are limited because the heat of friction developed as a result of the passage of the traveler about the inner circumference of the ring. In the course of such operations thermoplastic travelers commonly employed will rapidly wear, or even melt, as the heat of friction accumulates in the ring as a result of increasing speeds and tensions. Moreover, as heat of friction develops the viscosity of the lubricant changes and can, with enough heat, evaporate from the surface of the ring.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to improvements in ring assemblies. The invention further relates to methods for use of such improved assemblies for spinning and twisting fiber and filamentary materials.

More particularly, the invention relates to a ring twister assembly comprising a ring support having a metallic ring mounted thereon in combination with means for lubricating the said ring and means for force circulating a heat transfer liquid in thermally conductive contact and preferably in direct contact with the said ring. Additionally, the invention relates to an improved method for spinning or twisting a plurality of fibers or filaments, such as wire or other mineral fibers or organic fibers on a ring twister assembly having a supported and lubricated metallic ring and a traveler mounted on the said ring where the fibers or filaments traverse the traveler, wherein the improvement comprises force circulating a cooling heat transfer liquid in thermally conductive contact with the said ring.

The use of the improved ring assembly of this invention generally permits operations at higher traveler speeds and higher balloon tensions without corre' sponding reductions in the useful life of plastic travelers and without substantial viscosity changes or degradation of the lubricant.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other features of the invention will become more apparent from the following description of the invention in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view through a portion of a ring assembly showing means for force circulating a heat transfer liquid in thermally conductive contact with the said ring;

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing, in part, the ring assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of a different ring modification of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of a different ring modification of the invention; and

FIG. 5 is a vertical section view of still another different modification of the ring assembly of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIG. 1 strand is wound onto rotating bobbin 12 mounted on a driven spindle 14. The strand l0 traverses traveler l6 slidably mounted on ring 20 which is in turn mounted on a ring support 22. The traveler 16 will contact the ring 21 as it rotates or slides thereabout at points, for example, 24 and 26. Additionally, the strand l0 traverses the traveler across an abrasion resistant insert 18. A passageway or cavity 28 is situated about the circumference of the ring 20 to provide passageway for a heat transfer liquid in actual contact with the ring 20. Jet 30 provides a means for spraying a lubricant oil 32 on the surface of the ring 20. As spindle 14 is rotated strand l0 traverses traveler l6 and is wound onto bobbin 12. Higher spindle speeds and higher tensions of the strand balloon 34 cause increasing friction at

points

24 and 26 as the traveler l6 rotates about ring 20. The friction results in heat build-up in the ring sufficient to severely increase wear or even melt conventional plastic coated or nylon travelers. Referring to FIG. 2, liquid coolant input conduit 36 and liquid coolant exit conduit 38 are connected to the passageway 28. The passageway 28 has a baffle or dam 40 so that liquid coolant supplied to the passageway 28by a pump, or other means not shown, through input pipe 36 conduit will be forced to exit, at least in part, and preferably entirely, through the liquid coolant conduit exit 38. Other modifications of the forced cooled ring assembly are illustrated by FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 wherein each depicts a

ring

42, 44 and 46, respectively, mounted on a

ring support

48, 50 and 52, respectively, and each having a

passageway

54, 56 and 58, respectively, for circulation of the liquid coolant in thermally conductive contact with the ring. As an alternative to the spray lubricating means 30 shown in FIG. 1,

rings

42 and 44 have

lubricant ducts

60 and 62, respectively, in which case a lubricant is normally gravity fed to the ducts used in combination with porous sintered metallic rings.

As indicated above the use of the method and apparatus of this invention result in greatly increasing the performance levels attainable both in terms of spindle speeds and balloon tensions. The invention has particular applicability for operations which require balloon tensions of greater than L000 grams to avoid kinks and curls in the strand balloon and in order to form symmetrical cord constructions,

Heat of friction appears to increase with increasing products of balloon tension and traveler velocity. That is, as either the traveler velocity or the balloon tension is increased, more heat accumulates in the ring as a result of increased friction between the traveler and the ring, Although a well lubricated ring is necessary for operations according to this invention, the combined use of a force circulated liquid coolant is essential as below indicated in the example and in the appended claims. Thus, at high spindle speeds and high balloon tensions, the lubricant changes viscosity and will, if heat continues to accumulate, vaporize with copious evolution of smoke. If conventional thermoplastic travelers, notably nylon, are used heat accumulation in the ring will rapidly degrade the traveler and, as above indicated, even melt the traveler. Thus, where one desires to spin or twist heavy organic fiber constructions, or where one uses the ring twister for operations involving materials such as wire or bast fibers, there is a tendency for the cord to kink or curl in the strand balloon. If such a kink or curl is formed in the balloon it will normally break or disengage the traveler from the ring as the kink or curl attempts to traverse the traveler. To avoid the formation of such kinks or curls, high balloon tensions are imposed on the system and, as already indicated, this results in increases in the friction between the ring and traveler. Thus, according to the instant invention, the problems of increasing heat of friction due to higher spindle speeds and higher balloon tensions can be resolved by force circulating a cooling liquid in thermally conductive contact with the ring during the spinning or twisting operation to remove heat from the rmg.

Except for the force cooling means and corresponding increased operational potential, the construction and operation of the ring twister assembly, the travelers used, whether metallic or plastic, as well as the use of either mist ring lubrication spray or gravity fed porous ring lubrication, may comprise the use of standard art practices and equipment.

In the operation of the preferred embodiment of this invention a cooling liquid, most preferably water, is forced from a source, such as a pump, through a passageway having a relationship to the ring such that the fluid will remove heat energy from the ring. While best heat transfer from the ring to the circulating liquid is achieved by direct contact between the liquid and the ring', the improvements of the invention can also be realized in modifications as depicted in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 wherein the coolant is forced through a passageway where the liquid coolant is not in actual contact with the ring, but rather in thermally conductive contact, as through a copper pipe surrounding the outer circumference of the ring, for example.

This invention is believed to expand the potential of ring twister technology for use in the spinning and twisting of fibers and filaments for reasons hereinbefore assigned. Such fibers and filaments comprise wire, particularly steel wire for tire cord, mineral fibers such as glass fibers, organic fibers such as nylon, polyester, bast fibers, including hemp, sisal and jute, slit films, foamed fibers and the like.

While water is the coolant liquid preferred for use in the operation of the invention, other heat transfer liquids, including aqueous mixtures can be used.

EXAMPLE Spindle S eed 6400 rpm Traveler peed about 6200 rpm Feed Rate 190 fpm Lubricant 30 SAE spray at 6 drops per min.

50 grains'fall nylon) about 2200 grams nominal 8 gallons per hour Traveler Weight Balloon Tension Normal water flow After 63 minutes of continuous operation the twister was deliberately stopped for purpose of inspecting the traveler. A slight cut diagonally across the traveler was observed as a result of the traversal of cord thereacross.

The point at which the traveler contacted the ring (generally corresponding to point 26 on FIG. 1) showed only very slight wear.

For comparison purposes three additional runs were made under the same conditions on the same twisting machine, except that the liquid flow was turned oft. Operations were involuntarily terminated in each ofthe three runs at 2 minutes and 30 seconds, 2 minutes and 20 seconds and 2 minutes and 7 seconds, all because of traveler failure. Inspection ofthe travelers in each case revealed that the nylon polymer had melted at the point of the break.

While this invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, various changes and modifications may be apparent to those skilled in the art and the invention is not therefore intended to be limited to such embodiments except as set forth in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A ring twister assembly comprising a ring support, a metallic ring mounted thereon, means for lubricating the said ring and means for force circulating a heat transfer liquid in thermally conductive contact with the said ring.

2. The assembly of claim 1 having means for force circulating a heat transfer fluid in direct contact with the said ring.

3. The assembly of claim 1 having means for supplying a lubricating mist on the surface of the said ring.

4. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the liquid comprises water.

5. In a method for spinning or twisting a plurality of fibers or filaments on a ring twister assembly having a supported and lubricated, metallic ring and a traveler mounted on the said ring, wherein said fibers or filaments traverse the said traveler, the improvement which comprises force circulating a cooling heat transfer liquid in thermally conductive contact with said ring.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the fibers or filaments are wires.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the wires are steel wires.

8. The method of claim 5 wherein the fibers or filaments are mineral fibers.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the mineral fibers or filaments are glass.

10. The method of claim 5 wherein the fibers or filaments are organic materials.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the filaments are nylon filaments.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the organic materials are bast fibers.

13. The method of claim 5 wherein the traveler is comprised of nylon.

14. The method of claim 5 wherein the liquid comprises water.

15. The method of claim 5 wherein the liquid is in direct contact with the ring.

Claims

4. The aSsembly of claim 1 wherein the liquid comprises water.