WO2001028908A1

WO2001028908A1 - Device and method for packaging long fibre tapes

Info

Publication number: WO2001028908A1
Application number: PCT/FR2000/002912
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jean-Pierre Clarisse
Original assignee: Societe Chargeurs Wool (Eurasia) S.A.
Priority date: 1999-10-21
Filing date: 2000-10-19
Publication date: 2001-04-26
Also published as: FR2800053B1; EP1248742A1; AU7931400A; FR2800053A1

Abstract

The invention concerns a packaging method for natural or synthetic fibre tapes wherein a coiler (4) continuously drops a fibre tape (1) into a container (7) whereof the bottom (11) is gradually lowered as it fills. Said container (7) is parallelepiped in shape, and is mounted on a mobile platform (12) whereof the displacing motions are arranged such that the tape (1) falling into said container (7) are deposited therein forming successive offset coils, which are superposed on one another and densely fill up the container (7). Once the container (7) is full, the content is transferred into a baling press, wherein are subsequently transferred, once or several times, the contents of the container (7) filled once more in the same manner. Then said successive coils are compressed by means of said press, to obtain after packaging a bale containing fibre tapes with optimal quality strands and capable each of having a considerable weight.

Description

Device and method for packaging very long fiber ribbons.

The present invention relates to the technical field of the production of ribbons of natural or synthetic fibers. More particularly, it relates to the manufacture of "bales" (bundles of fibers), for example following carding-combing of wool, containing one or more continuous ribbons of great length. In other words, the present invention relates to a device for packaging fibers forming continuous, heavy weight ribbons.

In spinning, the fiber treatment processes start with an operation called "preparation", during which the fibers are forced to align with each other and which consists, using machines called "gills", of assembling then to stretch ribbons of fibers coming from several "spools" (windings of fibers around a horizontal axis) and / or "pots" (windings of fibers whose overall shape is that of a cylinder having a vertical axial chimney) .

In recent years, spinners have been able to use gills with increasing flow, the latest models reaching over 300 m / min. But as the duration of unwinding of the coils and pots varies in inverse proportion to the flow of the gills, the use of modern gills leads to more frequent stops in order to be able to change the coils or the pots, and therefore to logistical losses. An obvious solution to this problem consists in using pots or reels containing a length of ribbon greater than the current value, the latter corresponding to a weight of the order of 40 gp. This is why spinners now wish to be able to buy pots or reels containing 200 to 400 kgp of continuous wick.

When seeking to manufacture such windings, spinning suppliers must respect the usual presentation of bundles of fibers, namely in the form of parallelepipedic bales containing packed ribbons of in a dense way, because this presentation meets essential needs in terms of transport and storage. Conventional bales contain from 10 to 48 coils or pots compressed according to their weight by means of a hydraulic press, then enclosed in a banded tarpaulin.

In addition, spinning suppliers must take care to maintain the integrity of the wick, which is all the more difficult as the fiber ribbons that are wrapped are longer and heavier. Indeed, the ribbons are very sensitive to mechanical stresses, such as irregular stretching or friction, and any deterioration in the quality of the wick is irreversible. In particular, it is important to be able to preserve the "short-term regularity", or "coefficient of variation Uster", of the wick. A method of manufacturing bales of fibers has recently been proposed, in which a cylindrical pot containing 200 kgp of continuous wick is produced, which is then pressed with a second identical pot to form a cubic bale of 400 kgp. More specifically, said method consists firstly in feeding a large diameter pot using a gills specially designed for this purpose; once the pot is completed, it is sent to a press, also specially designed, comprising a funnel through which the contents of the pot are pushed, which opens into a container of cubic shape; then the content of a second jar identical to the first is introduced into the press in the same way; finally, the content of said cubic container, formed of two successive compressed ribbons, is packaged in a conventional manner. It can therefore be seen that the implementation of this method has the drawback of requiring a significant investment in equipment. However, this method has the drawback above all of causing a significant deterioration in the short-term regularity of the wick, due to the transfer of the ribbon winding from a cylindrical container to a cubic container under the effect of a strong mechanical thrust. The present invention relates to a process for manufacturing parallelepiped bales containing one or more ribbons of continuous fibers, said process allowing said continuous ribbons to have a high weight (for example, 200 kgp) while perfectly respecting the quality of the wick, and not requiring, for its implementation, gills or balers different from those already commonly used in the art.

Conventionally, to make pots in factories where fiber ribbons are wrapped, a gill is fed with several continuous ribbons, which are assembled and stretched to form a single ribbon. The latter comes out of the gills via a "paste", the function of which is to cause the ribbon to emerge from an orifice animated with a circular movement, this circle overhanging the pot and being inscribed in a horizontal plate called "plate to coil "; the center of this circle is located at a distance from the vertical axis of the pot approximately equal to the radius of said circle, this radius being approximately equal to half the radius of the pot. At the same time, the pot turns on itself around its axis, so that the ribbon is deposited in the pot in epicycles. A dense material is thus obtained arranged around a central chimney of small diameter. On the other hand, during filling, the bottom of the pot is gradually lowered so as to keep the top of the contents of the pot. Constantly pressed against said plate to coil.

The device according to the invention also comprises a conventional coiler which continuously drops a ribbon of fibers into a container, the bottom of which progressively lowers during filling. But here, on the one hand, the container is of parallelepiped shape, and on the other hand, it is mounted on a mobile platform whose movements are arranged so that the ribbon falling into said container is deposited therein. forming successive staggered turns, which overlap and fill the container densely. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, said movable bottom is integral with a jack fixed on this movable platform and which exerts, during filling, an increasing upward force, so that the mass formed by said fibers, the upper face of which presses against the coiling plate, is subjected to constant pressure.

Once the container is filled, it must be packed. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the contents of the container are first transferred into the trunk of a baler, into which the contents of the container which has been filled are transferred later, one or more times. new in the same way; these successive ribbons are then compressed by means of said press, in order finally to obtain, after packaging, a bale containing ribbons of fibers of optimum wicking quality and which may each have a high weight.

Thus, the device according to the invention makes use, as has been said, of a gills and a conventional baler. On the other hand, the apparatus used to implement the invention comprises two specific mechanisms, one serving for the horizontal movement of said mobile platform, and the other for the vertical movement of the bottom of said container. However, such mechanisms are known in themselves, and relatively inexpensive to produce.

According to a particular characteristic of the invention, said mobile platform is driven in a translational movement along a rectangle traversed as many times as necessary until said container is full. According to another particular characteristic of the invention, the instantaneous speed of said mobile platform is synchronized with the speed of the coiler.

Other advantages, aims and characteristics of the present invention will emerge from the description below of an embodiment of the invention presented by way of example, said description being supported by the appended figures, in which: FIG. 1 shows in vertical section a gills in the process of feeding a container according to the invention with tape by means of a coiler, FIG. 2 is a top view of the apparatus represented in FIG. 1, Figure 3 shows the mobile platform driving, according to the invention, said container during filling, and Figure 4 shows how the fiber ribbon is arranged in the container falling from the coiler.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, we see a fiber ribbon 1 passing through a gills 2 equipped with a coiler 4 to finish in a container 7 mounted on wheels 8. This gills 2 is entirely conventional, and, so known, the coiler plate 6 extends just above the container 7, which is naturally open at the top. The container 7 is however of characteristic design of the invention, as explained below; in particular, its height will preferably be greater than that of conventional pots, which requires the use of a sole 3 to raise the gills 2. In a known manner also, the ribbon 1 emerges from the coiler 4 through an orifice which is moves along a circle 5 contained in the plane of the coiling plate 6.

According to the invention, this fiber ribbon 1 is deposited in the container 7 on a movable plate 11 which gradually decreases during filling. This movable plate 11 (which for convenience of language we call "the bottom of the container") is integral with a jack 13 which exerts, during filling, an increasing upward force, so that the mass constituted by said fibers, the upper face of which presses against the coiling plate 6, is subjected to constant pressure.

Unlike conventional pots which are cylindrical, the container 7 according to the invention generally has the shape of a parallelepiped. The side walls of the container

7, preferably, will not be full, but made of crisscrossed bars like a cage, this at the same time for reasons of lightness and to facilitate monitoring of filling. As for the coïler plate 6, it is rectangular (unlike conventional coïler plates, which are circular), and the container 7 moves during its filling under this plate 6 so that the plate 6, in view of above, permanently completely covers the container 7.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates this movement of the container 7, which is carried out using a mobile platform 12 comprising wheels 9 associated with rails 10. These wheels 9 are actuated by one or more motors (not shown) , for example servomotors, and / or hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders.

The cylinder 13 actuating the bottom 11 of the container 7 is integral with this mobile platform 12. In addition, as shown in Figure 1, the lower part of the cylinder 13 plunges into a pit 14 dug in the ground, this pit 14 s extending over a surface contained in the surface covered by the mobile platform 12. The container 7 thus repeatedly travels a certain trajectory until it is full. We can also consider various forms of trajectories. In the case where a simple rectangle is chosen, the effect of the combined movement of the mobile platform 12 and the coiler 4 is to arrange the ribbon 1 in the container 7 according to offset turns and arranged in superimposed layers, each of which resembles the partially filled layer illustrated in FIG. 4. It can be seen in this figure that the ribbon 1 fills the container 7 densely as it should. The content of container 7 can easily reach 200 kgp with current means.

As is well known to those skilled in the art, it follows from the conditions of manufacture of the fiber ribbons that the speed of passage of these ribbons through the gills is irregular. A preferred embodiment of the invention, intended to optimize the regularity of the ribbon turns 1 which are deposited in the container 7, therefore consists in synchronizing automatically the instantaneous speed of the mobile platform 12 with the speed of the coiler 4, using sensors and an appropriate computer device.

Once the container 7 is full, the bottom 11 is lowered below the container 7, the content of which is then maintained by means of lateral fingers 15 situated at the base of the container 7.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the packaging of the fibers is then carried out in the following manner. The container 7 is first rolled up to the lower plate of a conventional baler (not shown). Said lower plate rises so that the content of the container 7 is lifted and introduced into the box of the baler. The ribbon 1 thus released from the container 7 is gripped laterally and kept in the air in said box, while the container 7 is brought back to the gills 2, and the lower plate of the press is lowered. Then we send a second container 7 (possibly the same), filled as the first, to the baler. Once the contents of the second container 7 introduced into the box, the upper plate of the baler is lowered in the direction of the lower plate and compresses the two ribbons one against the other. We then proceed to the final packaging, for example under a covered sheet. Finally, we reassemble the upper plate of the press, and lower its lower plate.

It can therefore be seen that the aim set by the inventors, namely the production of a ball of conventional shape but containing ribbons of fibers of very long length, is well achieved thanks to the device according to the invention. It will be noted in particular that this device does not subject the wick to any mechanical treatment which would risk deteriorating the quality.

The above description explains how to pack two ribbons of high weight fibers together, but it is obviously possible, according to the same principle, to repeat these operations to result in bales containing a number of ribbons of fibers greater than two.

Claims

1. Device for packaging fiber ribbons, comprising a coiler (4) which continuously drops a fiber ribbon (1) into a container (7), a coiler plate (6) extending just above of the container, the movable bottom (11) of which is integral with a jack (13) progressively lowers during filling, said container

(7) being of rectangular shape, and mounted on a mobile platform (12) whose displacements are arranged so that the ribbon (1) falling into said container (7) is deposited there by forming successive staggered turns , characterized in that the coiler plate (6) is rectangular in shape and larger in size than the container (7) which it permanently completely covers when the latter moves under this plate and in that said movable bottom (11) exerts, during filling, an increasing force upwards so that the mass constituted by said fibers, the upper face of which presses against the plate (6) of the coiler (4), is subjected to a pressure constant.

2. Method for the implementation of a device according to claim 1, characterized in that, once the container (7) is filled, the content is transferred to the trunk of a baler, in which one transfers subsequently, one or more times, the contents of the container (7) which has been refilled in the same way, and in that these successive ribbons are then compressed by means of said press, to finally obtain, after packaging, a ball containing fiber ribbons of optimum wicking quality, each of which may be heavy.