U.S. patent number 3,780,399 [Application Number 05/225,167] was granted by the patent office on 1973-12-25 for fiber opening machine.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Constructions Mecaniques F. Laroche & Fils. Invention is credited to Andre Morel.
United States Patent |
3,780,399 |
Morel |
December 25, 1973 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
FIBER OPENING MACHINE
Abstract
The textile fiber-opening machine is provided with a feed roller
having a plurality of pivoted pressure members individually spring
biased toward the periphery thereof to assist in the feeding of the
material of varying thickness therebetween. A breaking cylinder is
also provided having a plurality of axially directed peripheral
grooves. An assembly of toothed members are fastened together
end-to-end. Such an assembly is inserted and retained in each of
the grooves with the teeth projecting outwardly from the grooves to
engage the material being fed by the feed roller.
Inventors: |
Morel; Andre (Cours,
FR) |
Assignee: |
Constructions Mecaniques F. Laroche
& Fils (Cours (Rhone), FR)
|
Family
ID: |
22843811 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/225,167 |
Filed: |
February 10, 1972 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
19/97 |
Current CPC
Class: |
D01G
9/06 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
D01G
9/00 (20060101); D01G 9/06 (20060101); D01b
001/00 (); D01g 019/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;19/97,112,234,115,96
;29/110,121R,121A,121H,124,125,81J,81L ;69/27 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
584,933 |
|
Sep 1933 |
|
DD |
|
2,024,357 |
|
Dec 1970 |
|
DT |
|
Primary Examiner: Newton; Dorsey
Claims
I claim:
1. A textile fiber opening machine comprising an opening cylinder,
said cylinder being comprised of a plurality of axially spaced
apart discs and a plurality of parallel axially disposed tubes
secured to said discs adjacent the periphery thereof, each of said
tubes having a longitudinal slot therein so that said tubes define
a plurality of axially directed peripheral grooves, a plurality of
toothed assemblies each having a plurality of toothed members,
connecting means for securing said members together, each of said
assemblies being disposed in one of said axially directed grooves
with teeth of said toothed members projecting outwardly from the
periphery of said cylinder, and retaining means on said cylinder
and each of said assemblies for retaining said assembly in said
grooves.
2. A textile fiber opening machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein
each toothed member is comprised of a short tube having a tooth
projecting radially outwardly therefrom.
3. A textile fiber opening machine as set forth in claim 2 wherein
each tooth has a curved profile with a concave cutting edge and a
pointed tip.
4. Textile fiber opening machine as set forth in claim 2 wherein
the tube of each toothed member in an assembly is disposed on a
common rod and further comprising screw and nut clamping means for
applying an axially directed compressive force to clamp said
toothed members together.
Description
The present invention relates to breaking or opening machines of
the kind which are used in the textile industry, mainly to produce
fibres from recovered waste fabric, or to open up new fibres before
carding or burring.
In machines of this kind, it is necessary to hold the waste or
fibres whilst they are acted upon by the teeth of a swift, and for
this purpose different holding systems are utilised. On of the
commonest of these consists of a rubber covered roller which draws
the material on to a steel trough. Another known system comprises
two fluted metal rollers. Both these known devices ensure a good
grip on the material, but on the other hand, they have a
disadvantage in that they do not allow the passage of an excess
thickness of any kind, such as a pad of cuttings, representing
fifteen to twenty thicknesses of cloth superposed on each other,
cords with knots, seams or very large tufts of fibrous material. As
regards the component which is used for the opening up of the waste
of fibres, it is generally composed of a drum clothed with plates
covered with round or flat pointed teeth according to the nature of
the material which is to be treated. The plates themselves are made
from steel or wood.
It is a major disadvantage of these drums, that the teeth are
relatively fragile, which necessitates their frequent
replacement.
The present invention has as one of its objects, a particularly
robust feeding and holding device for the waste or fibres, and as
another object, the provision of an opening up component which is a
toothed cylinder of novel construction.
According to one aspect of this invention, a textile breaking or
opening machine of the kind wherein a feed mechanism delivers the
material to a breaking cylinder, has its cylinder formed with a
plurality of axially directed peripheral grooves, and in each
groove there is fitted an assembly of toothed members fastened
together end to end, the arrangement being such that the assembly
of toothed members is retained within its axial groove until
released therefrom. The axial grooves and the assemblies of toothed
members are preferably so arranged that each assembly can only be
fitted in or removed from its groove by axial movement.
Preferably, the toothed members in an assembly are clamped together
by an axially applied compressive force, and it is preferred to
provide spacers fitted between adjacent toothed members. In a
preferred arrangement, the toothed members and the spacers, if any,
are threaded on to a common rod, and screw and nut clamping means
are provided to apply the compressive force.
According to another preferred feature each groove is formed by a
tube having a longitudinal slot in its cylindrical wall, and each
toothed member may comprise a short tube with a tooth projecting
radially outwards therefrom. It is also preferred that each tooth
has a curved profile with a concave cutting edge, and a pointed tip
after the fashion of a sickle.
According to another aspect of the invention, a textile breaking or
opening machine has a feed mechanism which includes a feed roller
co-operating with a series of independently mounted troughs
arranged in close juxtaposition across the width of the feed
roller. Preferably the troughs are pivoted on a common shaft
extending transversely of the machine. It is also preferred that
each trough is resiliently loaded towards the feed roller, and the
resilient load may be provided by a coil spring, or by Bellville
washers. Stop means are preferably provided to limit the movement
of each trough towards the feed roller.
According to yet another preferred feature of the invention, the
cylinder comprises a series of axially spaced discs supported on a
central shaft. In that case, the tubes may be received in holes
formed in the peripheries of the discs.
Thus, a machine constructed in accordance with the preferred
features of the invention has a feed system which ensures that
there is a good grip on the material, whatever may be its nature,
when it is being presented to the breaking or opening cylinder. It
is also to be observed, that the cylinder itself possesses
interchangeable sets of teeth provided by the individual
assemblies, the number and distribution of the teeth being capable
of selection in relation to the nature of the material which is to
be worked.
Other advantages of the invention, will appear from the following
description of a textile breaking or opening machine, which is
given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section through part of the machine,
showing the opening cylinder, and the material feed system,
FIG. 2 is an end view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1,
illustrating material of excess thickness being admitted to the
machine,
FIG. 3 is a detail view showing the mounting of a trough,
FIG. 4 is a transverse cross section through the breaking
cylinder,
FIG. 5 is a section on the line V-V in FIG. 4,
FIG. 6 is a section to a larger scale on the line VI--VI in FIG. 5,
and
FIG. 7 is a section on the line VII--VII in FIG. 6.
There is illustrated in the drawings a breaking or opening machine,
which essentially consists of a breaking cylinder 1, to which the
material or textile waste is presented, whilst it is gripped
between a fluted steel feed roller 2, and a series of independently
mounted steel feed troughs 3, arranged side by side in close
juxtaposition across the width of the machine, as clearly
illustrated in FIG. 2. Instead of being fluted, the feed roller 2
could be provided with teeth.
The troughs 3 are independently pivoted on a common shaft 4 which
is carried by screws 15 passing through holes in a mounting block
14 which is fastened to a stationary part of the machine. Locking
nuts are provided on the screws 15, for the purpose of securing the
screws in any adjusted position, so that it is possible to vary the
position of the shaft 4 relatively to the cylinder 1, and to lock
the shaft in such an adjusted position.
Each of the troughs 3 is resiliently loaded towards the feed roller
2, by loading means 5, which consists either of a coil spring, or a
series of Bellville washers. The resilient means acts on the trough
3, through a collar 5a and a sliding rod 5b, which is of adjustable
length. Thus by adjusting the length of the rod 5b, it is possible
to vary the resilient load on each of the troughs 3.
Each of the troughs also has a stop finger 6 (see FIG. 3) which is
adapted to engage with a regulating screw stop 7, secured in a
bracket projecting from the mounting block 14. The screw stop 7, is
pre-set to ensure a minimum distance 9 between the troughs 3 and
the fluted roller 2, so that in no circumstance can the troughs
actually engage with the fluted roller 2, due to the pressure of
the resilient means 5, when there is no material passing through
the machine.
It will be seen by reference to FIG. 2, how the passage of a local
excess thickness 10 in the sheet of waste 8, causes the
displacement only of those troughs 3 which correspond to the width
of the excess thickness, whilst the other troughs continue to
operate normally throughout the width of the machine. Consequently,
the independent mounting and loading of the troughs 3, enables
local irregularities in the thickness of the material being fed
through the machine to be accommodated.
For the purpose of carrying material into the machine, there is an
endless feed belt 11, a pressing roller 12, which lies over the
exit end of the belt 11, and a plain surfaced roller 13 below the
path of material as it leaves the belt 11. The pressing roller 12,
and the plain surfaced roller 13 co-operate to feed the material as
shown in FIG. 1 towards the zone of co-operation between the fluted
feed roller 2 and the troughs 3.
Turning now to the construction of the cylinder 1, this essentially
comprises a skeleton drum, formed by a steel shaft 16, two end
plates or discs 17, and a series of axially spaced intermediate
plates or discs 18. All the discs 17 and 18 are fixed on to the
central shaft 16, and they are of the same outside diameters. This
construction is clearly shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 of the drawings. On
the discs 17 and 18 are mounted a number of longitudinal tubes 19,
these tubes being welded into recesses formed in the peripheries of
the discs 17 and 18, so that the outer portions of the tubes 19 lie
in the circumferential plane of the cylinder. Each tube 19 is
formed with a longitudinally extending slot 20, which extends
throughout the width of the cylinder. These tubes 19 provide
mountings for removable toothed assemblies, one of which will now
be more particularly described.
Each toothed assembly (see FIGS. 6 and 7) comprises a rod 27 on to
which are threaded alternately toothed members formed by bosses 22
with teeth 23, and tubular spacers 26. The outside diameter of the
bosses 22 of the toothed members, and the outside diameters of the
spacers 26 are such, that the bosses and spacers can fit easily
into the bore of a corresponding tube 19 of the cylinder. Each
tooth 23 is joined to its corresponding boss 22 by means of a stem
21, which is able to pass through the slot 20 formed in the tube
19. Furthermore, each tooth 23 is profiled in the shape of a sickle
(see FIG. 7), that is to say it has a concave cutting edge 24 and a
point 25.
The bosses 22 and tubular spacers 26 form a stack on the rod 27,
and the spacing between the teeth 23 can be predetermined by
selecting an appropriate width 37 of the spacers 22. The ends of
the rod 27 are screw threaded, to receive locking nuts 28, and this
rod not only serves to apply a compressive force to the toothed
members and spacers for the purpose of locking them together, but
it also provides extensions 27a which pass through end caps 19a on
the tube 19, for the purpose of locating the assembly of teeth 23
axially relatively to the cylinder 1. Locking nuts 28a are fitted
on to the rod extensions 27a, for the purpose of securing the rod
in the correct lateral displacement.
By virtue of the special assembly of the teeth 23 in a stack on the
rod 27, the number of teeth can be regulated according to working
requirements, since it is possible to fit assemblies of teeth into
only selected ones of the tubes 19, or alternatively as shown in
FIG. 5, such sets of teeth may be fitted into every one of the
tubes 19. Furthermore, it is possible to select the number of teeth
to be mounted in each tube, by fitting spacers of variable
thickness.
The invention has the added advantage of allowing the preparation
of spare sets of teeth for the breaking cylinder 1, in advance of
requirements. In fact, it is sufficient for the user to prepare in
advance, assemblies of rods 27 and teeth 23 according to the
projected use of the machine, and the type of textile material to
be worked.
The action of disintegrating the fabric, or opening the fibrous
material is carried out by the cylinder 1 rotating in a clockwise
direction as seen in FIG. 1, and tearing the material whilst it is
held between the feed roller 2, and the feed troughs 3.
It is to be understood, that the invention is not restricted to
details of construction described with reference to the drawings.
For example, the particular resilient means 5 illustrated in FIG.
1, could be replaced by any other method of applying a loading
force to the individual troughs 3, urging them towards the feed
roller 2. For this purpose, mechanical, hydraulic or pneumatic
return means could be used.
Further with regard to the positioning of the teeth 23 on the rod
27 inside each slotted tube 19, it will be appreciated that these
tubes 19 could be replaced by any other mechanical positioning
system, for example by rigid bars formed with T slots. It will be
observed however that once an assembly of teeth has been placed in
position in the cylinder 1, it can only be removed therefrom by
sliding out axially from one end.
* * * * *