US3032960A - Device for coiling twined threads - Google Patents

Description

y 1962 s. KARTMANN 3,032,960

DEVICE FOR COILING TWINED THREADS Filed Oct. 2, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 24b FIG. 7

77 79 l x A F l J 19 'K ii i 5 5 W i 13 2 T l 74 6/ We 23 i i n 76 -21 i 75 )m I n -12 INVE NTOR:

DEVICE FOR COILING TWINED THREADS Filed Oct. 2, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Siegfried Kortmonn I NVENTOR.

May 8, 1962 s. KARTMANN DEVICE FOR COILING TWINED THREADS 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 2, 1961 INVENTOR:

May 8, 1962 s. KARTMANN 3,032,960

' DEVICE FOR COILING TWINED THREADS Filed 001:. 2, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 May 8, 1962 Filed Oct. 2, 1961 5. KARTMANN 3,032,960

DEVICE FOR COILING TWINED THREADS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.

m H BY WWW Siegfried Kunmunn Unite rates My present invention relates to a device for coiling twined threads in the spinning or twisting of fibers, particularly in ring spinning with the aid of a traveler which controls the winding of the thread into a roving on a suitable spool carried by a rotating spindle.

In devices of this type, in which the thread is prevented from forming a balloon, there is generally provided a guiding orifice above the spindle head, the thread upon traversing this orifice coiling itself around the spindle head before passing through the traveler. Since the degree of twist imparted to the thread depends on the mbility of the traveler on its ring track, it is desirable to keep the tension of the thread both above and below the spindle head as low as possible in order to prevent rupture ofthe untwisted upper thread portion and to minimize the frictional resistance encountered by the traveler. It is equally important, for uniformity of output, to maintain this tension substantially constant throughout the coiling operation; I

My invention has as one of its principal objects the provision of means for realizing both these desiderata in an extremely simple and convenient manner.

Another important object of this invention is to provide means for imparting an initial twist to the thread substantially at its point of first contact with the spindle head, thereby strengthening the thread and reducing the risk of undesirable loop formation.

A further object of the present invention is to provide means for controlling the tension of a thread in such device while enabling the coiling operation to be carried out indifferently in either a clockwise or a counterclockwise sense.

Still another object of my instant invention is to provide a device of the character referred to which is particularly adapted to be used with spool formers of cylindrical configuration, capable of bein mass-produced by simple means, in contradistinction to the conical shapes conventionally utilized to compensate for large initial thread tensions.

It is also an object of the invention to provide, in a device satisfying the aforestated requirements, threadguiding means free from flyers and other eccentric rotating members which are dangerous to the operator and whose presence on a spindle head prevents the removal of the spool without prior disassembly.

I have found, in accordance with the present invention, that the foregoing objects can be realized to a surprising extent by the provision of a generally cylindrical spindle head facing the guiding orifice, this head being provided with a substantially cylindrical surface having peripheral flutes, oriented preferably in axial direction, which define a set of radial teeth extending over at least the major part of that surface; the ends of the flutes proximal to the orifice are open at an annular transverse cylinder face, the distal end of the cylindrical surface merging into a transition surface of progressively decreasing diameter approaching that of the spindle shaft, e.g. of conical shape, while the flutes terminate at or ahead of the junction of the two surfaces in a transverse end Wall or in a fairing gradually approaching the cylinder diameter. A narrow continuous annular zone may be provided between the aforementioned junction and the distal ends of the flutes.

While it will generally be most convenient to fashion the spindle head according to this invention by milling the flutes into the cylindrical body so as to form the teeth integrally therewith, it will of course also be possible to affix the teeth to an inner core so as to define the flutes. The teeth may, in either case, have various profiles, including those encountered in conventional spur gears, and their shapes may be modified in accordance with the type of filament to be processed; in many instances it will be desirable to make the maximum depth of the flutes greater than their spacing in order to provide a relatively wide tooth flank against which the thread will come to rest upon being lodged in one of the flutes, the thread thereupon traveling along this flank toward the open (normally upper) end of the flute whence it drops into the next flute where it contacts a more remote (i.e. downward) point of its tooth flank for a repetition of the cycle. I have found that only negligible changes in filament tension occur during passage of the thread from one flute to the next, the mean value of this tension being so low that it is possible to provide the teeth with fairly sharp edges without damaging the thread. As the latter moves upwardly toward the open end of each flute, it experiences a rolling motion which imparts to it a preliminary twist, up to of its final twist. This effect is particularly marked if the tooth flanks are provided with ridges increasing their effective surface area, e.g. by the use of undercut flutes in at least the upper, part of the cylinder. Otherwise, the flanks may be flat or, if desired, concave or convex. A further softening of the thread passage from one flute to the next can be realized if the thread-contacting flanks of the flutes are positioned skew to the cylinder and spindle axis, with an inclination opposite that of the thread during coiling, e.g. if the flutes increase in width toward the open end, this solution being equally applicable to both senses of rotation.

In some instances, particularly with very delicate filaments, it Will be advantageous to provide a buffer member adapted to equalize even the small residual variations in tension produced by the gear-type spindle head described above. sleeve, preferably of upwardly converging conical configuration, freely rotatable about a portion of the spindleshaft adjacent the transition surface of the spindle head with interposition of suitable anti-friction bearings. The top and bottom diameters of this sleeve should equal the. adjoining diameters of the spindle head and the spindle shaft, respectively.

A large variety of yarns, cords, fibers and other filaments can be processed with a system according to my invention. Large-size rovings with axial lengths upward of 50 or 60 cm. can be readily produced thereby. The head may be made from different materials, e.g. metals, plastics or ceramics, and may be constnlcted as a unitary body or as an assembly of several pairs.

The invention will be described in greater detail with reference to theaccompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view (partly in section) of a spindle head embodying the invention, in combination with other elements of the system;

'FIG. 2 is an elevational view (parts broken away) of a system similar to that shown in FIG. 1, showing a modified spindle head;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view generally similar to FIG. 1 illustrating a further modification;

. FIG. 4 is yet another perspective view (parts broken away), showing a still further embodiment;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are fragmentary sectional views respectively taken on the lines V--V and VIVI of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is an elevational view, generally similar to FIG. 2, of still another modification; and

FIG. 8 is an elevational view of a final embodiment of Such buffer member may take the form of a.

3 a spindle head according to the invention, in combination with additional elements of a thread-coiling assembly (parts broken away).

Reference will first be made to FIG. 8 for a description of the overall organization of the type of coiling device to which my invention relates. It comprises, essentially, a spindle shaft 112 which is rotated, by any convenient driving mechanism not shown, about its axis as indicated by the arrow 100. The lower, cylindrical part of shaft 112 carries a cylindrical tube 101 of cardboard, fiberboard sheet or other conventional materials, serving as a spool former, which is frictionally fitted on the shaft or otherwise entrained by it for joint rotation. An annular socket 102 carries a ring 103 forming a track for a traveler 104 which is traversed by a thread 125 to be wound into a cop or roving 155; this thread, delivered in its entirety or as individual filaments from one or more supply reels, bobbins or the like, not shown, passes between a pair of feed rollers 124a, 12 1b around a deflecting roller 106 and thence through an orifice 155 in a guide plate 154 toward the head 113 of the spindle shaft; head 113 is representative of any one of the several spindle heads described in detail hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 1-7.

An auxiliary thread guide 161, here shown as an L- shaped arm having a threaded extremity secured by screws 163, 164 to plate 154, is formed with a slot 162 vertically aligned with orifice 155 along the spindle axis in order to limit any lateral excursions of thread 125. The latter is coiled in a few turns about spindle head 113 and shaft 112 before passing through traveler 104. It will be observed that the shaft 112 has a tapered intermediate portion 111 whose conicity is such that the tube 101 on the adjoining lower shaft portion can be upwardly removed therefrom without diificulty, with guide plate 154 swung out of the way, since its inner diameter is larger than the outer diameter of head 113. Traveler 104 and its support 102, 103 are mounted on an arm 107 forming part of a conventional mechanism, not further illustrated, for reciprocating this assembly vertically as indicated by arrow 108. The use of a deflecting roller 106 affords increased flexibility in the positioning of the feed rollers and the filament supply.

FIG. 1 shows a spindle head 13, carried on the frustoconical portion 11 of shaft 12, which comprises a cylindrical top portion 14 and a conical bottom portion 15 with downwardly decreasing diameter, the latter portion forming a transition surface 16 between the peripheries of cylinder 14 and shaft portion 11. Head 13 is removably secured to shaft 12 by a screw 18 whose head 17 bears upon the bottom of a recess 34 in the upper transverse face 22 of cylinder 14.

The periphery 19 of the cylinder 14 is provided with a series of vertical flutes 20 which form teeth 21 between them, thereby giving the portion 14 of the head 13 the appearance of a spur gear. The thread 25, continuously advancing between the feed rollers 24a and 24b, of which the former may be driven as indicated by its arrow, passes through an orifice 26 which is formed as an eye on a thread-guiding rod 27. The flutes 20, open at the top, are closed at the bottom by a wall 23 forming the upper boundary of portion 15. The upper part of the thread includes an angle X with the edge K of a tooth 21 bounding the flute 20 in which it is received, the thread contacting the edge K at point B where it is bent onto a helicoidal path hugging the lower part of head 13 and the shaft portion 11. Edge K constitutes the outer boundary of a tooth flank A against which the part of thread received in flute 20 comes to rest during the continuing counterclockwise rotation (as viewed from above in FIG. 1) of the spindle shaft, the contact point B traveling upwardly on edge K until it reaches the annular face 22 whereupon the thread falls into the next-following flute. ,It will be apparent that the angle X progressively increases during this upward travel of the contact point; the speed of such travel depends of course on the difference between the feed rate of the rollers 124a, 124b and the peripheral velocity of tube 101, this difference in turn determining the lag of the traveler 104 behind the rotation of the tube. The tension in filament 25 has a very low value which can be adjusted by varying the elevation of orifice 26.

FIG. 2, in which elements having counterparts in FIG. 1 have been designated by corresponding reference numerals followed by a prime, the head 13' is generally similar to head 13 of the preceding embodiment so that it and its components need not be further described. Shaft 12' differs from shafts 12 and 112 in that its upper portion 11' adjacent head 13' is of reduced cylindrical configuration, this portion being surrounded by a sleeve 28 whose .outer surface is of substantially the same frustoconical shape as the shaft portions 11 and 111. Sleeve 28 is supported on shaft portion 11' through the intermediary of ball bearings 29 which enable it to rotate independently of the shaft, in particular to lag behind it for equalizing the slight variations in thread tension occurring as the filament or cord 25 skips from one flute 20" to the next.

The spindle top shown in FIG. 3 is substantially the same as that illustrated in FIG. 8, hence the same reference numerals have been used as far as applicable; elements having counterparts in FIG. 1 bear analogous numerals supplemented by a 1 as a hundreds digit. The flutes terminate short of the junction 31 between the cylindrical surface 119 and the frustoconical surface 116 so that a continuous annular zone 32 is formed above that junction. These flutes are bounded by slightly concave flanks A of adjacent teeth 121 whose edges K are successively contacted by the thread 125 at points B. The flanks A are of generally triangular configuration, with the apex of the triangle pointing downwardly, the lower ends of the flutes being faired into the cylindrical surface 32. Moreover, the flutes 120 converge toward the bottom, the edges K thus extending generally skew to the axis of shaft 112. Head 113 is formed with a depending collar 35 embracing the top of frustoconical shaft portion 111.

FIGS. 46, in which double primes have been used to designate elements having counterparts in preceding figures, show a spindle head 13 which is generally similar to head 113 but differs from it in the shape of its flutes 20". These flutes, as best seen in FIG. 5, are undercut in their upper reaches by lateral grooves 41 whereby the flanks A" of teeth 21" are divided by ridges A into inner zones A and outer zones A The lower parts of the grooves are of simple trapezoidal cross-section and bounded by flat flank surfaces A as seen in FIG. 6. Horizontal lines T (FIG. 5) tangent to the surfaces A converge in radially outward direction whereas similar tangents T (FIG. 5) and T (FIG. 6) to surfaces A and A diverge outwardly. This configuration results in intensified pretwisting of the thread 25 as it rolls upwardly along the flanks of the teeth 21". The spindle axis has been indicated at SIQA.

In FIG. 7, which again shows the aforedescribed head 113 on its spindle shaft 112, the plate 154 of FIG. 8 has been supplemented by a further plate 153, positioned therebelow above the spindle head, which has a circular aperture 152 penetrated by a cylindrical stud 151 rising from the recess 134 where it replaces the bolt heads 17, 17, 117 of preceding embodiments. Thus, there is formed between the periphery of aperture 152 and stud 151 an annular slot traversed by the thread 125, the upper edge 156 of stud 151 and the lower edge 157 of aperture 152 being respectively positioned outside a cone of which a thread stretched taut between orifice and a flute 120 forms a generatrix. By this means the thread 125 is bent twice, for more positive guidance, as it passes through the plates 154 and 153. Aperture 152 and orifice 155 communicate with the outer peripheries of their plates via respective slots 158, 159 which are inclined at an angle other than that normally assumed by the thread 125 and facilitate the introduction of the thread into these openings.

My invention is, of course, not limited to the specific structural details described and illustrated; modifications thereof, as well as combinations and substitution of compatible features from different embodiments herein disclosed, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, and are intended to be embraced by the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device for twining threads, comprising a spindle with a spool-receiving shaft portion and a free end, a generally cylindrical head coaxial with said spindle on said free end, first thread-guiding means in line with the spindle axis beyond said free end, and second thread-guiding means at said shaft portion including a traveler ring surrounding said spindle; said head being provided with a substantially cylindrical surface formed with a peripheral array of equispaced flutes extending generally in the axial direction and forming teeth therebetween, said flutes extending over at least the greater part of said cylindrical surface and being closed at their ends facing said shaft portion while being open at their opposite ends facing said first thread-guiding means.

2. A device for twining threads, comprising an upright spindle with a spool-receiving lower shaft portion and a free upper end, a generally cylindrical head coaxial with said spindle on said free end, first thread-guiding means in line with the spindle axis above said free end, and second thread-guiding means at said shaft portion including a traveler ring surrounding said spindle; said head being provided with a substantially cylindrical surface formed with a peripheral array of equispaced flutes extending generally in vertical direction and forming teeth therebetween, said flutes extending over at least the greater part of said cylindrical surface and being closed at their lower ends while being open at their upper ends.

3. A device according to claim 2 wherein said head is provided below said cylindrical surface with an adjoining transition surface having a diameter which decreases progressively from that of said cylindrical surface to substantially the diameter of an adjacent spindle portion supporting said head.

4. A device according to claim 3 wherein said transition surface has an axial extent substantially less than that of said cylindrical surface.

5. A device according to claim 3 wherein said transition surface is substantially conical.

6. A device according to claim 3 wherein said flutes terminate above said transition surface, thereby leaving a continuous annular zone on said cylindrical surface.

7. A device according to claim 3 wherein said head is formed at the lower end of said transition surface with a depending collar embracing said adjacent spindle portion.

8. A device according to claim 2, further comprising fastening means removably securing said head to said free upper end.

9. A device according to claim 2 wherein said spindle has an upper extremity of reduced diameter relative to said lower shaft portion, further comprising a sleeve freely rotatable on said upper extremity, said sleeve having a periphery forming a transition zone between the lower end of said head and the upper end of said lower shaft portion.

10. A device according to claim 9 wherein said sleeve is of upwardly tapering configuration.

11. A device according to claim 2 wherein said lower shaft portion has an outer diameter larger than that of said head.

12. A device according to claim 2 wherein said flutes converge in a downward direction.

13. A device according to claim 2 wherein said flutes become progressively shallower at their lower ends until terminating on said cylindrical surface.

14. A device according to claim 13 wherein said flutes have undercut upper portions formed by substantially vertical lateral grooves in the flanks of adjacent teeth, thereby separating said flanks into inner and outer zones.

15. A device according to claim 14 wherein said flanks diverge radially outwardly along said outer zones.

16. A device according to claim 2 wherein said flutes have a substantially trapezoidal profile.

17. A device according to claim 2 wherein said first thread-guiding means comprises an upper guide element forming an orifice in line with the spindle axis and a lower guide element forming an annular slot, said slot having at least one thread-contacting edge lying outside a cone whose generatrices extend from said orifice to the upper ends of said flutes whereby a thread received in said orifice and in one of said flutes is bent at least once on passing through said slot.

18. A device according to claim 17 wherein at least one of said guide elements is formed with an inclined access slot facilitating insertion of said thread from without in a radial direction.

19. A device according to claim 17 wherein said lower guide element comprises a plate provided with a circular aperture, said head being provided with an upstanding central stud projecting into said aperture and defining said annular slot therein.

20. A device according to claim 2 wherein said first thread-guiding means comprises a lower guide element forming an orifice and an upper guide element adjustably supported on said lower guide element, said upper guide element having a thread-receiving notch aligned with said orifice on the axis of said spindle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,217,371 Kowarick Oct. 8, 1940

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