U.S. patent number 3,695,021 [Application Number 05/079,720] was granted by the patent office on 1972-10-03 for textile spinning machines.
This patent grant is currently assigned to T. M. M. (Research) Limited. Invention is credited to Richard Motler, Reginald Ormerod.
United States Patent |
3,695,021 |
Ormerod , et al. |
October 3, 1972 |
TEXTILE SPINNING MACHINES
Abstract
In an open-end spinning unit for spinning textile yarns, there
is provided a first housing containing opening means to open a
sliver or roving fed thereto, a second housing containing spinning
fibers delivered by said opening means, and a closure member for
the spinning means mounted on the second housing, the first and
second housings being movable between a first disposition in which
the closure member is held thereby in a closed position and which
they occupy during normal working of the machine, and a second
disposition in which the closure member is not so held and moves or
is movable to gain access to the spinning means.
Inventors: |
Ormerod; Reginald
(Clayton-Le-Moors, EN), Motler; Richard (Accrington,
EN) |
Assignee: |
T. M. M. (Research) Limited
(Oldham, EN)
|
Family
ID: |
10455280 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/079,720 |
Filed: |
October 12, 1970 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Oct 13, 1969 [GB] |
|
|
50,263/69 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
57/407 |
Current CPC
Class: |
D01H
4/08 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
D01H
4/00 (20060101); D01H 4/08 (20060101); D01h
001/12 (); D01h 007/00 (); D01h 013/26 () |
Field of
Search: |
;57/58.91,58.95 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Watkins; Donald E.
Claims
What we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters
Patent is:
1. An open-end spinning unit for spinning textile yarns, comprising
first housing containing opening means to open a sliver or roving
fed thereto, a second housing containing spinning means for
spinning fibers delivered by said opening means, and a closure
member for the spinning means mounted on said second housing, said
first housing and said closure member being relatively movable
between a first relative position in which the closure member is
held by said first housing in a closed position, and which they
occupy during normal working of the machine, and a second relative
position in which the closure member is not so held and moves or is
movable to gain access to the spinning means.
2. A unit according to claim 1 wherein said first and second
housings are arranged for sliding movement between their first and
second dispositions.
3. A unit according to claim 2, wherein said first housing abuts
against the second housing in said first disposition of the
housings, and wherein said first housing is held in spaced relation
to said second housing in the said second disposition of the
housings.
4. A unit according to claim 3 wherein said closure member is
hingedly mounted on said second housing so as to be pivotal from
the closed position to an open position in which access can be
gained to the spinning means, wherein the first housing abuts
against the closure means in said first disposition of the housings
to prevent the said closure member from being moved from the closed
position to the open position, and wherein the first housing is
held sufficiently clear of the closure member in said second
disposition of the housings as to permit the closure member to be
pivoted to the open position.
5. A unit according to claim 4, wherein said closure member
contains a fiber feed duct through which fibers from said opening
means are transported in discrete form in an airstream to the
spinning means housed in said second housing, and wherein said
fibers are delivered to said fiber feed duct through a fiber
deliver duct in said first housing and forming a continuation of
said fiber feed duct when the first and second housings are in said
first disposition with said first housing abutting against said
closure member.
6. A unit according to claim 5, wherein said fiber feed duct and
said fiber delivery duct lie in a straight line parallel to the
direction of sliding movement of the said first and second
housings.
7. A unit according to claim 6, comprising drive means for driving
said opening means, said drive means drivingly engaging said
opening means in the first disposition of the first housing and
being drivingly disengaged from the opening means on said first
housing moving to said second disposition.
8. A unit according to claim 7 comprising braking means for braking
said opening means upon the said first housing moving to said
second disposition.
9. A unit according to claim 8, wherein said opening means
comprises an opening roller carried by a shaft, wherein said drive
means comprises a drive pulley on said shaft drivingly engaged by a
tangential driving belt in said first disposition of the housings,
and wherein the pulley moves out of contact with said belt on the
said first housing moving to said second disposition.
10. A unit according to claim 1 comprising drive means for driving
said spinning means and being drivingly connected to said spinning
means in said first disposition of said second housing and
drivingly disengaged from said spinning means upon said second
housing moving to said second disposition.
11. A unit according to claim 9 comprising braking means for
braking said spinning means upon said second housing moving to said
second disposition.
12. A unit according to claim 10, wherein said spinning means
comprises a spinning rotor mounted in said second housing on a
shaft supported thereby, wherein said drive means comprises a drive
pulley on said shaft drivingly engaged by a tangential driving belt
in said first disposition of the housings and wherein said pulley
moves out of contact with said driving belt on the said second
housing moving to said second disposition.
13. A unit according to claim 5, wherein said opening means
comprises an opening roller lying in a plane containing the common
axis of the fiber feed duct and the fiber delivery duct and wherein
said fibers are delivered to said fiber delivery duct tangentially
from said opening roller.
14. A unit according to claim 11, wherein said opening roller is
arranged to be fed with fibers from a feed roller lying in said
plane.
15. A unit according to claim 1, wherein said first and second
housings are mounted for vertical sliding movement one above the
other and with the first housing uppermost, wherein said second
housing supports first housing in said first said disposition of
the housings and wherein the housings are lowered to said second
disposition, the first housing being brought to rest against a stop
while the second housing is lowered to a position in which it is
spaced from the said first housing.
16. A unit according to claim 1 wherein said first and second
housings are supported in said first disposition by pneumatic means
and released to move to said second disposition by operation of
said pneumatic means.
17. A textile spinning machine comprising a plurality of units
according to claim 16, wherein said pneumatic means are controlled
by a control valve which is common to all said pneumatic means and
which controls the supply of pressurized air thereto, whereby the
closing of said control valve simultaneously causes the release of
the pneumatic means of all the spinning stations of the
machine.
18. A unit according to claim 1 wherein said first and second
housings are relatively movable between a first disposition in
which the closure member and the first housing are in the said
first relative position, and a second disposition in which the
closure member and the first housing are in the said second
relative position.
Description
The present invention relates to machines for the open-end spinning
of textile yarns.
Various types of open-end spinning machines are known, and in one
type a sliver or roving is fed to opening and combing means from
which the opened fibers are delivered in discrete form for
transportation in an airstream to an internal fiber collecting
surface of a spinning rotor which constitutes the spinning element
of the machine. The fibers are removed from the fiber collecting
surface of the rotor in the form of a spun yarn to be wound on a
package.
It is a requirement with open-end spinning machines that
maintenance of the spinning elements be carried out quickly and
simply and it is also a requirement that this can be done in a safe
manner.
According to the present invention, there is provided an open-end
spinning unit for spinning textile yarns comprising a first housing
containing opening means to open a sliver or roving fed thereto, a
second housing containing spinning means for spinning fibers
delivered by said opening means, and a closure member for the
spinning means mounted on said second housing, said first and
second housings being movable between a first disposition in which
the closure member is held thereby in a closed position and which
they occupy during normal working of the machine and a second
disposition in which the closure member is not so held and moves or
is movable to gain access to the spinning means.
One embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of
example with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:
FIG. 1 is a part sectional front elevation of a spinning unit of a
multi-unit open-end spinning machine according to the
invention,
FIG. 2 is a part sectional end elevation taken on the line II--II
in FIG. 1, and
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a pneumatic circuit for use in the
machine shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the main frame of the machine is
designated by the reference numeral 1 and the fiber opening and
spinning means for each unit is fixedly located within the main
frame by a sub-frame 2. Attached to each sub-frame 2 are two
pillars 3 and 4 on which are slidably mounted a housing 5
containing the fiber opening means and a housing 22 containing the
spinning means.
Within the housing 5 is a fluted feed roller 6 fixed to a shaft 7
which is rotatably mounted in a pair of plain bearings 8 and 9. The
drive for the roller 6 is obtained from a chain 10 through a chain
wheel 11 and an electro-magnetic clutch 12. Co-operating with the
fluted feed roller 6 is a pedal 13, pivotally mounted on a support
member 36 at a point 14 and resiliently biased against the feed
roller 6 by a spring 15. The support member 36 may be pivoted about
a pivot pin 37 for access to the opening means.
Also mounted within housing 5 is an opening roller 16 suitably
clothed with saw-tooth wire or needles on its peripheral surface.
The opening roller 16 is fixed on one end of a shaft 17 which is
rotatably mounted in a pair of anti-friction bearing 18 and 19 and
the drive for the roller 16 is obtained from a driving belt 20 in
frictional engagement with a pulley 21 mounted on the other end of
the shaft 17. A cover 38 is fixed to the housing 5 in front of the
opening roller 16.
A second housing 22 slidably mounted on pillars 3 and 4 is
positioned below the housing 5 and serves to contain the spinning
means. The spinning means consists of a rotor 23 fixedly mounted on
one end of a shaft 24 rotatably supported within a bearing housing
25. The drive for the spinning rotor 23 is obtained from a driving
belt 26 in frictional contact with a pulley 27 mounted on the other
end of the shaft 24.
A closure member 28 is hingedly attached to the housing 22 by
brackets 29 and hinge pin 55 and contains a fiber feed duct 30 and,
on the axis of the spinning rotor, a yarn delivery tube 31, through
which spun yarn 56 is withdrawn form the rotor by a pair of
delivery rollers 32 and 33.
Suction is applied to the interior of the housing 22 through an
opening 35 from an external source (not shown).
The drawing shows the housings 5 and 22 in their normal working
positions, that is to say, at their uppermost positions, and they
are held in these positions by supplying air to a pneumatic
cylinder 39 positioned beneath the housing 22. A simple pneumatic
circuit for the operation of this cylinder is shown in FIG. 3. A
main pressurized air line 40, which serves all the spinning units
of the machine, is tapped by an air line 41 and a valve 42 is
employed for controlling the supply of air to the cylinder 39. In
the position A of the piston of the valve 42, pressurized air
enters through inlet port 43 and passes out through an outlet port
44 into air line 45 to move cylinder 39 to its uppermost position.
To lower the cylinder 39, the piston of the valve 42 is moved to
the position B, whereby inlet port 43 is closed, thus shutting off
the supply of air, and exhaust port 46 is opened allowing air from
cylinder 39 to be exhausted by the downward force applied to it by
the housings 5 and 22.
In operation, a sliver or roving 57 from a supply, not shown, is
fed between the nip provided by the fluted feed roller 6 and the
co-operating feed pedal 13 to be delivered to the opening roller 16
for opening and combing thereby. The fibers are taken round on the
periphery of the opening roller 16 until discharged into fiber
delivery duct 47 formed in the housing 5. The fibers are
transported in an airstream derived from suction developed in
opening 35 and pass in discrete form down fiber feed duct 35 and
pass in discrete form down fiber feed duct 30 to be deposited as a
ring of fibers on fiber collecting surface 48 of the spinning rotor
23, from which they are withdrawn as the spun yarn 56 through yarn
delivery tube 31 by the delivery rollers 32 and 33, and the yarn is
then wound on a package in a conventional manner.
If it is desired to inspect the spinning rotor or if, for example,
the spinning rotor requires cleaning, without interrupting the
spinning of yarn at any of the other spinning units, the valve 42
is moved to the position B as shown in broken line, thus allowing
air to be exhausted from the cylinder 39 through air line 45 and
out through exhaust port 46 in the valve body. The housings 5 and
22 are thus lowered together on pillars 3 and 4 until the upper
housing 5 comes up against stops 49 fixedly mounted on the pillars
3 and 4 and there comes to rest. At the same time, the chain wheel
11 is taken out of engagement with driven chain 10 and the clutch
12 is disengaged, thereby disengaging the drive to the feed roller
6. Similarly, the drive to the opening roller 46 is disengaged by
the driving pulley 21 moving out of contact with belt 20. Braking
of the opening roller 16 is effected by pulley 21 coming into
contact with brake shoes 50.
After the upper housing 5 has come to rest, the lower housing 22
continues to move downwardly and the drive to the rotor 23 is
disengaged by its driving pulley 27 being taken out of contact with
the driving belt 26. Braking of the rotor 23 is effected by brake
shoes 51 which are fixedly mounted on the machine frame and with
which the pulley 27 engages upon the lowering of the housing 22. At
the bottom of the stroke of the cylinder 39, the upper face of the
closure member 28 is sufficiently clear of the lower face of the
upper housing 5 that the closure member 28 can be swung forwardly
on pivot brackets 29 to give clear access to the spinning rotor 23.
A flexible connection 52 between the two rigid sections 53 and 54
of the suction duct is provided to allow for the downward movement
of the lower housing 22.
On switching off the whole machine, the air supply to the cylinders
39 is cut off and all the housings 5 and 22 along the machine are
simultaneously lowered.
It will be seen that maintenance of the spinning means can be
simply and quickly carried out, while, from a safety view point,
access to the spinning rotor 23 cannot be gained when the housing
are in their normal working positions.
* * * * *