United States Patent [1 1 Hollingsworth [451 May 6,1975

[ METHOD OF GRINDING CARD CLOTHING [76] Inventor: John D. Hollingsworth, PO. Box

516, Greenville, SC. 29202 [22] Filed: Mar. 7, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 338,911

[52] U.S. Cl. 51/281 R; 51/242 [51] Int. Cl..... D0lg 15/00; B24b 1/00; B24b 19/18 [58] Field of Search 51/281 R, 290,154,161, 51/211 R, 242, 243, 323

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 294,962 3/1884 Brierley 5l/242 426,545 4/1890 Rankin 51/242 865,401 9/1907 Koster 51/242 2,664,679 l/l954 Kelly 51/161 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 8/1970 U.S.S.R 51/242 Primary Examiner-Donald G. Kelly Attorney, Agent, or FirmBailey & Dority [57] ABSTRACT The method of grinding the teeth of metallic card clothing on a roll of a textile carding machine contemplates positioning an abrasive grinding surface in substantially stationary grinding relation substantially entirely across a segment of the card clothing on the roll so that said grinding surface conforms generally to and engages the teeth of the card clothing, and imparting rotation to the roll causing the grinding to result substantially entirely from the rotation of the teeth with respect to the stationary grinding surface.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures METHOD OF GRINDING CARD CLOTHING BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It has been the practice to grind card clothing using a traverse grinder. During such grinding the roll is rotated and a rotating grinding stone traverses the rotating surface of the roll. Grinding operations are carried out both in the mill with the rolls in situ upon the card, and in the shop upon suitable supports which carry the rolls for rotation. Usually grinding in situ has been in the nature of touch up grinding, it being more convenient to position the rolls upon supports provided for carrying out the grinding. Normally a number of full traverses of the clothing are carried out taking considerable time, on the order of an hour for each roll so ground. The clothing of the various rolls of a carding maching which carry card clothing including the main cylinder, doffer and licker-in is ground to sharpen and remove imperfections such as metal burs from the teeth. Grinding is also calculated to true up the cylindrical carding surface generated by the points of the teeth. At an earlier time both the cylinder and the doffer were ground simultaneously by diverging narrow flat grinding surfaces one extending across the cylinder and one across the doffer. Both grinding surfaces were successfully traversed across the entire surface of the clothing thereon.

Since it is difficult to achieve a uniform traverse action the grinding often results in either too much or too little metal being removed from the teeth. Grinding sometimes produces an irregular carding surface. If too much metal is removed the teeth are dulled and if too little the desired results are not achieved. If the carding surface is irregular the critical card settings become more difficult to achieve and at best undesirable variations occur in the carded web produced thereby.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It has been found that significant improvements in card grinding are achieved by utilizing a substantially stationary grinding surface and positioning such surface to conform generally to the carding surface generated by the teeth of the clothing carried by the roll and then driving the roll causing the grinding to result substantially from the rotation of substantially all the teeth with respect to such stationary grinding surface in a single operation. Such operation can be carried out more quickly, in some instances on the order of five minutes.

An important object is achieved in that a more uniform carding surface results by virtue of the elimination of the necessity for a traversing operation.

Less metal is removed because more accurate positioning of the grinding surface is possible through use of simple effective means for setting the grinding surface with respect to the roll.

A more uniform carding surface of greater utility is achieved simplifying card settings and improving the quality of the web.

The grinding operation itself is simplified, expedited and greatly improved facilitating grinding in situ upon the carding machine.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The construction designed to carry out the invention will be hereinafter described, together with other features thereof.

The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of the following specification and by reference to the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof, wherein an example of the invention is shown and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a card grinding operation in accordance with the method of this invention being carried out upon a standard cotton card;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation taken on the line 2-2 in FIG. 1 further illustrating the method; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view looking from below illustrating a grinding surface which may be utilized in carrying out the method.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED APPLICATION OF THE METHOD The method of grinding the teeth of metallic card clothing on a roll of a textile carding machine contemplates placing an abrasive grinding surface in grinding relation across the card clothing on the roll so that said grinding surface engages the teeth of the card clothing, and imparting rotation to the roll causing the grinding to result substantially entirely from the rotation of the teeth with respect to such stationary grinding surface. Restraining the grinding surface against arcuate movement about the roll during grinding by positioning same against an abutment formed by segments described below between carding plates.

Preferably, the grinding surface is arcuate and concave extending across a segment of the card clothing conforming generally to a surface generated by the teeth. In the case of the main cylinder and licker-in rotation is preferably in a direction opposite to that in which it would be rotated during carding. In all cases it is preferred that the teeth point in a direction opposed to such rotation.

The grinding surface is removed from the roll after a predetermined amount of grinding of the teeth has been accomplished. Preferably the method is carried upon the main cylinder since the advantages are more pronounced in connection therewith. The grinding surface is preferably granular extending entirely across the clothing so as to carry out the entire operation at one time in situ on the carding machine.

The drawing illustrates a textile carding machine having side frame members 10 and 11 bridged by end frame members 12 and 13. As is customary, fiber is carried by the licker-in 14 to the main cylinder 15. The main cylinder is mounted upon arches l6 and 17 which carry the cylinder shaft 18 for rotation. The shaft 18 carries a flanged drum 19 which carries a driven belt 20. The belt is driven by a motor 21 carried by a suitable support 22 secured as by bolts 23 to the frame 10. The usual doffer is illustrated at 24 for removing fiber from the main cylinder. The doffer may be stripped by the usual comb 25 and the web (not shown) passed between the calender rolls 26 for delivery to the coiler head 28 to be deposited in the form of sliver in the can v29.

The card is illustrated as being equipped with carding means opposed to the main cylinder 15 in the form of stationary carding plates of the type illustrated in U. S. Pat. Nos. 3,604,062 and 3,604,475. FIG. 1 shows three of these plates illustrated at 30. One of the carding plates 30 has been removed and replaced by a similar plate 31 which carries an arcuate concave abrasive grinding surface 32 in lieu of the customary card clothing. The grinding surface 32 is illustrated in the form of a sheet to which glue 33 has been applied for firmly attaching it to the inner concave surface 31a of the plate 31. A suitable granular sheet is provided by Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company of Saint Paul, Minn. and designated Threemite PSA. Number alu minum oxide grit is preferred and for example, is similar to that normally used on the plates of granular cards such as illustrated in U. S. Pat. No. 2,879,548.

While it is preferred that the grinding surface be concave a flat or other substantially stationary surface may be utilized which extends substantially entirely across the clothing so that substantially all the teeth receive a uniform grinding action at the same time. While the grinding surface may not extend entirely across the clothing and slight traverse motion applied it is impor tant that substantially all the teeth be ground substantially simultaneously to avoid uneveness. It is preferred that the grinding surface extend beyond the clothing on each side and that slight transverse movement be manually imparted to the plate.

The plate 31 carrying the grinding surface may be simply placed upon opposed segments 37 so as to restrain movement thereof about the arch as may be urged by the action of the teeth against the grinding surface. The weight of the plate is sufficient to exert any pressure as may be required for grinding. If desired, the plate 31 carrying the grinding surface may be set on opposite ends thereof on respective sides of the card as in U. S. Pat. No, 2,879,549. As illustrated, the plate 31 carries a flange 34 which has projections 34a having apertures 35 therein for receiving bolts 36 for attachment to the upper surface of spaced segments 37. The arch carries internally threaded blocks 38 for receiving elongated threaded members 39 carried by the segments 37. Lock nuts 40 and 41 are carried by the threaded members 39 on both sides of the threaded block 38 to, in turn, adjust the position of the plates 30 and 31 with respect to the card clothing 42 carried by the main cylinder 15. It will be noted that the teeth 42a project in the direction of normal rotation of the cylinder during carding, as illustrated by the arrow in FIGS.

1 and 2. After the plate 31 has been substituted for a plate 30 and properly set to achieve the desired grinding, the direction of the motor 21 is reversed so as to drive the main cylinder in a reverse direction as described above.

It is to be understood that the specific operation described herein may be varied to carry out a grinding operation upon any other clothed roll such as the doffer or licker-in. After sufficient grinding has been carried out the plate 31 is removed and in the case of the main cylinder of a card of the type illustrated, the opposed carding surface is replaced.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described using specific terms, such description is for illustrative purposes only, and it is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. The method of grinding the teeth of metallic card clothing on a roll of a textile carding machine comprising the steps of:

A. removing a carding surface opposite said card clothing on the roll;

B. placing a substantially stationary abrasive concave grinding surface in grinding relation transversely of the card clothing on the roll so that said grinding surface extends substantially entirely across the roll and engages the teeth of the card clothing;

C. restraining said grinding surface against arcuate movement about the roll during grinding;

D. imparting rotation to the roll causing the grinding to result substantially entirely from the rotation of the teeth with respect to such stationary grinding surfaces; and

E. removing the grinding surface from the roll after a predetermined amount of grinding of the teeth has been accomplished.

2. The method set forth in claim 1, wherein the roll is a main cylinder, the grinding surface is a granular concave surface carried across opposite sides of the carding machine including, carrying out the steps in situ on the carding machine.