US3166883A - Spindle control mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 26, 1965 E. D. MEADOWS 3,165,883

SPINDLE CONTROL MECHANISM Original Filed Nov. 19, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS Jan. 26, 1965 E. D. MEADOWS 3,166,883 SPINDLE CONTROL MECHANISM Original Filed Nov. 19; 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 fi BY ATTO R N EYS Jan. 26, 1965 E. D. MEADOWS SPINDLE CONTROL MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed Nov. 19, 1962 ATTORNEYS Jan. 26, 1965 E. D. MEADOWS 3,166,883

SPINDLE CONTROL MECHANISM Original Filed Nov. 19, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 f4 7 NW .HI 3 .1 2

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I /Z 1 I w l HVW ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,166,883 SSPINDLE CGNTROL MEQHANISM Ernest D. Meadows, Atlanta, Ga, assignor to Meadows Manufacturing Company, Atlanta, Ga., a corporation of Georgia Original application Nov. 19, 1962, Ser. No. 240,194, now Patent No. 3,116,590, dated Jan. 7, 1964. Divided and this application Apr. 4, 1963, Ser. No. 273,258

, 6 Claims. (Cl. 57-88) The invention, generally, relates to mechanisms for control of twister spindles such as used in the textile industry and, more particularly, to a control mechanism which includes a clutch and brake for a spindle. This application is a division of application Serial No. 240,194, filed November 19, 1962, now Patent No. 3,116,590, issued January 7, 1964, which in turn is a continuation in part of my prior application Serial No. 31,131, filed May 23, 1960, now abandoned.

It is customary in the textile industry, to drive several spindles from a common power source, and therefore, problems arise when it is desired to start and stop selected one or ones of the spindles without affecting the others. In addition to individual control, it is particularly desirable to be able to stop any spindle selectively in the shortest possible time. For example, when several strands are twisted and wound on a common bobbin, a breakage in any one strand must be detected and repaired at the break to prevent loss of the entire bobbin of yarn as waste or at least to prevent what is known as dropply (or seconds). In running expensive, or highquality fibers, the waste from dropped ply can be extensive.

There are known arrangements which permit continued rotation of the driving members of a stopped bobbin, but such devices require a divided wharve with a driving part coupled frictionally with a part secured to the spindle. Frictional couplings, however, are complicated structurally, more expensive, require larger forces for this operation, and have a relatively short life.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a spindle control mechanism which overcomes the above disadvantages.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel spindle structure which includes a minimum number of parts and is economical to manufacture and to operate.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a structural arrangement for a spindle which is adaptable for accurate control in starting and stopping.

A further object of the invention is to provide a spindle control mechanism which effectively stops all threads being Wound on a common spindle when one thread breaks as well as stops the rotation of the spindle without affecting the driving means.

- It is also an object of the invention to provide a control mechanism which is susceptible to long life and admits to ready maintenance.

Another object is to provide a novel spindle structure and clutch in which false brinnelling of supporting races of ball bearings is substantially reduced or eliminated.

Briefly, the invention includes a shaft and a driving means supported on the shaft by an antifriction hearing. A clutch is positioned to couple the driving means to the shaft through a release linkage so that the clutch is disengaged automatically when any one of possibly several threads break.

Coincident with the disengaging of the clutch, the release linkage applies a brake to stop rotation of the shaft, permitting the driving means to continue rotating due to the antifriction bearing support. A feeding means for the several threads is interrupted also by the release linkage so that a broken thread can be repaired with an utmost in elficiency before operation is continued.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred form thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of a spindle constructed in accordance with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation, partly in section, of the spindle shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view in elevation, partly in section, showing a release linkage arrangement in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the release linkage arrangement shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a reinforcement metal plate which is combined with the clutch-brake material;

FIG. 6 is a view in elevation, partly in section, of the ring shown in FIG. 5 after a crimp has been formed in opposite sides thereof;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of an alternative embodiment of my invention; and

FIG. 8 is an exploded view showing the construction of the spindle of FIG. 7.

Referring now to one form of the spindle construction as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the numeral 10 identifies the spindle generally, and the numeral 11 identifies a suitable support therefor. Extending substantially vertically through an aperture 12 in the support 11 is a shaft 13 which is fixedly mounted on the support 11 by tightening a nut 14 against a base flange 15.

The flange 15 is fixedly attached to or formed integrally with a base (or bolster) 16, and the shaft 13 is supported in a substantially vertical position within this base or bolster 16 by means of a suitable antifriction bearing 17 so that the shaft 13 may turn freely.

Two bearings 18 and 19, preferably ball bearings are positioned one over the other and press fitted onto the shaft 13 against a shoulder 20, and a whorl 21 is pressed over the outer rings of the bearings 18 and 19. A split ring 22 is inserted in a recess at the upper end of the whorl 21 to prevent the whorl 21 from sliding further downwardly over the bearings 18 and 19 once positioned correctly. As is known, a whorl is of suflicient mass to function as a flywheel in driving the shaft 13 and provides a driving means for the device by means of a suitable belt (not shown) placed about the whorl 21 between the spaced apart annular flanges 23 and 24. g

It will be noted that the two bearings 18 and 19 positioned adjacent the upper end of the whorl 21 provide the sole means of support for the whorl 21 on the shaft 13 and permit the whorl 21 to turn freely about the shaft 13. This structure is preferred in that it admits of ease' and economy in manufacture, although a modification may be made in this arrangement by inserting a sleeve (not shown) between the bearing 18 and the whorl 21 to extend downwardly so that the bearing 19 then would be placed between the lower end of such a sleeve and the lower end of the whorl 21. This arrangement, of course, is slightly more expensive to manufacture, but is included within the scope of the invention.

Also pressed onto the shaft 13 is an annular toothed disc 25 having teeth which mesh with an annular ring 26 pressed into-or formed integrally with a clutch-brake part 27. By this arrangement, the part 27 is fixed rotatably to the shaft 13 but is slidable axially relative thereto.

The clutch-brake part 27 is shaped somewhat like an inverted cup with the inner surface 28 adjacent the lower rim 29 being inclined at a small angle, for example, approximately ten degrees. The upper, peripheral 3 surface 3% of the whorl 21 is inclined to match the surface 28 of the clutch-brake part 27, as seen in FIG. 1.

A flange 31 extends outwardly around the clutch-brake part 27 and reacts with a ring 32 to serve as a brake when the part 27 is raised vertically from the position as viewed in FIG. 1. The braking action between the flanges 31 and 32 will be described in greater detail presently.

The clutch-brake part 27 may be formed of any suitable material. However, it has been found that metal is not a particularly desirable material from which to form the part 27 since the whorl 21 is customarily metallic and metal-to-metal contact has a tendency to stick. A better material from which to form the part 27 is believed to be a plastic such as a phenolic resin with a proper filler, preferably asbestos although other filler materials may be used if desired. Also, the filler material may be only the lower portion of the part 27 or only in the rim 29 and fiange 31 portions of the part 27 since it is these portions that encounter the most wear. Of course, the filler material may be dispersed uniformly through the entire part if it is so desired.

The upper edge 33 of the part 27 is subject to sharp blows by, for example, the dropping of a bobbin about the upper end of the shaft 13 or a lateral blow against the edge 34. Therefore, the upper edge 33 of the part 27 preferably is reinforced by a metal ring 35 (FIGS. and 6) As best seen in FIG. 5 the ring is formed flat initially and is somewhat eliptical in shape. However, a raised, substantially U-shaped part 36 is formed in the ring 35, as by a crimping action in diametrically opposite positions indicated generally by the dotted lines 36a in FIG. 5. The crimp 36 will appear in cross section as seen in FIG. 6 of the drawings, and the formation of this crimp 36 serves to draw the eliptical shape of the ring 35 into a substantially circular configuration.

In the manufacture of the clutch-brake part 27, a ring 35 having two crimps 36 already formed therein is inverted with the crimps 36 extending downwardly and is placed in a suitable mold. The plastic material to form the part 27 then is poured into the mold and flows into the apertures 37 forming an intimate bond with the ring 35. Since there is no aperture in the end 33 of each crimp 36, the end 38 will present a metallic sur face against which a bobbin would hear when slipped over the. shaft '13.

The brake flange 32 is metallic, preferably and is an integral part of a housing 39 which fits over the device 10. The housing 39 includes two parts, a lower part 4!? and a cover part 41. The lower part 40 is U-shaped and is gripped between the base flange 15 and the nut 1 The cover 41, on the other hand, is provided with outwardly turned books 42 and 43, and a trunk-type latch 44 having a loose link 45 is provided to detachably secure the cover 41 on the base 40. The latch 44 is pivotable about an axis 46 fixed to the base 4%, and the loose link 45 is pivotable about an axis 47 adjacent the outer end 48 of the latch 44 so that when the end 48 is pivoted outwardly and upwardly about the axis 46, the axis 47 is raised to permit the upper end 49 to engage the book 42. This having been accomplished, the end 45 is rotated back toward the base 4-0 to secure the cover 41 firmly in place. A latch 50 constructed simi larly to that just described above is positioned to cooperate with the hook 43 in the same manner also.

A ring 51, preferably metal, is positioned about the clutch-brake part 27 beneath the flange 31 and is pro vided with outwardly extending projections 52 and 53. The central opening 54 of the ring 51 is larger than the periphery of the part 27 so that it fits loosely thereabout and, thus, will rest upon a U-shaped member 55. The projections 52 and 53 extend through slotted openings 56 and 57, respectively, to prevent rotation of the disc 51.

A lever 58 extends outwardly through the opening and is pivotable at a point indicated by the numeral 59.

Thus, when the lever 58 is pivoted counterclockwise about the point 553 the U-shaped member 55 presses the ring 51 upwardly against the flange 31 to disengage the clutch surfaces 28, 3t and a continuation of this upward movement presses the flange 31 against a brake ring 32. Therefore, it may be seen that the ring 51, being nonrotating, prevents wear on the ends 60 of the U-shaped member 55, all wear being between the flange 31 and the ring 51.

Since the clutch-brake part 27 is formed of a plastic material or at least a material which is softer than the material of which the whorl 21 and the brake ring 32 are formed, the part 27 will receive most of the wear. This is an advantage in accordance with the invention since the part 27 is easily replaced and is the least expensive part when compared with the whorl 21 and the brake surface 32.

To replace a worn clutch-brake part 27, the trunktype latches are released by a flick of the finger (requiring no tools or other instruments) and the cover 41 is lifted off. The part 27, then, is completely exposed and is removed by simply raising it upwardly over the shaft 33. Before replacing the part 27 with a new part, it should be noted that the bearings 18 and 19 now are exposed so that they may be oiled readily or otherwise serviced. With a new part 27 slipped over the shaft 13 and the tooth members 25 and 26 in mesh, the cover 41 is replaced and the trunk-type latches 44 and 50 are hooked to complete the renewal operation.

In the operation of the spindle it the whorl 21 functions as the driving means with a suitable belt (not shown) in frictional engagement therewith between the flange 23 and 24. With the lever 58 rotated clockwise, as viewed in FIG. 1, about the pivot point 5?, the clutch surfaces 28 and 30 will be engaged so that the whorl 21 which rotates freely about the shaft 13 due to the bearings 18 and 19 will drive the shaft 13 through the part 27 which is fixed to the shaft 13 by the tooth members 25 and 26.

When it is desired to stop rotation of the shaft 13, the lever 58 is rotated counterclockwise about the point 59', the ends 6% of the U-shaped part 55 press the ring 51 upwardly against the under side of the flange 31 moving the part 27 upwardly and disengaging the clutch surfaces 28 and 30. With the surfaces 28 and 30 disengaged, the whorl 21 is free to continue rotation, and other spindles driven by the same belt as that which drives the whorl 21 will continue rotation without interruption. Braking is achieved by moving the flange 31 upwardly further to engage the brake ring 32 and the rotation of the shaft 13 is stopped thereby.

It is important, therefore, that the lever 58 be operated in the appropriate manner to control the action of the shaft 13, either to cause rotation by clutching with the whorl driving means 21 or by stopping rotation by braking against brake ring 32. Since the present invention contemplates not only the stopping of rotation of shaft 13, but also at the same time stopping the feeding of threads to a bobbin (not shown) supported on the shaft 13, a release linkage is provided to coordinate these two braking actions.

A release linkage is indicated generally by the numeral 7t; in FIG. 3 of the drawings. A vertical rod 71 (FIGS. 1 and 3) is attached at its lower end to a pin 72 through the outer end of the lever 58 of the spindle mechanism It". The rod 71 extends upwardly through an elongated opening 73 (FIG. 3} in a flange 74 which forms a portion of the base of the machine, A coil compression spring '75 is inserted about the rod 71 between the flange 74 and a ring 76 to urge the rod 71 downwardly. Tension on the spring may be adjusted by loosening a screw 77 and altering the position of the ring 76. In this manner the rod 71 is continuously urged downwardly.

The upper end of the rod 71 as viewed in FIG. 3, is attached by means of a pin 73 to one end of a lever 79.

The lever 79 in turn is pivot-able about an axis 80, and the opposite end of the lever '79 from the pin 78 is provided with a handle 81. Therefore, the normal tendency is for the lever 79 to be urged in a counterclockwise position from that shown in FIG. 3 by the pulling on rod 71 due to the spring 75, which action tends to raise the handle 81.

However, rotation of the lever 79 is prevented by a hooked surface 82 engaged with a matching surface 83. Therefore, it may be seen that to engage the clutch surfaces 28 and 30 (FIG. 2), the handle 81 (FIG. 3) is pulled downwardly pivoting the lever 79 about the pin 80 raising the rod 71 upwardly and pivoting the lever 58 clockwise about the point 59. The linkages are maintained in this position by the hooked surfaces 82 and 83.

The surface 82 is formed at one end of a linkage 84 which is pivoted about a pin 85, and the opposite end of the linkage 84 from the hooked surface 82 is attached to a block 86 by a pin 87. Furthermore, a tension spring 88 is attached between an .arm 89 extending from the linkage 84 and a screw 90 on the base of the machine so that the linkage 84 is customarily urged .in a counterclockwise direction.

An arm 91 is fixedly attached to a continuously oscillating shaft 92 so that the end 93 moves from the position shown in solid lines in FIG. 3 of the drawings to the dotted position indicated by the numeral 93. With the block 86 in its vertical position as shown in FIG. 3, a projection 94 on the oscillating arm 91 will miss the block 86 at the upper extent of its stroke and, therefore, no releasing action of the hooked surfaces 82 and 83 is accomplished.

However, a guide arm 95 extends from the upper end thereof. The upper end of the block 86 is provided with a weight 98 attached thereto to urge the block 86 in rotation clockwise about the pin 87 so that a breakage occurring in the thread 96 permits the block 86 to pivot clock- Wise moving the lower end thereof into the path of the projection 94.

When the projection 94 strikes the lower end of the block 86, the linkage 84 is pivoted clockwise about the pin 85, and the hooked surface 82 is moved from under the hooked surface 83 thereby permitting the coil spring 75 to snap the rod 71 downwardly. The outer surface 98' of the hook 82 is elongated so that the surface 99 of the hook 83 comes to rest t'hereagainst.

A feed means for a thread 96 is obtained by passing the thread 96 around a portion of the periphery of a roller 100 and up over an idler roller 101. The roller 100 is driven by a suitable power source (not shown) connected to the shaft 183.

Since the thread 96 passes .about only a small portion of the periphery of the drive roller 100, insufiicient force is obtained by this contact alone to feed the thread 96 to a bobbin (not shown) on the shaft 13. The driving force for the thread 96, therefore, is obtained by pressing the thread 96 against the drive roller 100 at point 105 by the.

weight of the idler roller 101. 7

Upon release of the hooked surface 83 and the pivot of the linkage 79 counterclockwise, the handle 81 is raised thereby raising idler roller 101 to release the thread at the point 105. The driving force, therefore, being removed, movement of the thread 96 stops instantly, and this stoppage is coordinated efiectively with the disengaging of the clutch surfaces 28 and 30 and the engaging of the flange 31 with the brake ring 32.

As best seen in FIG. 4 of the drawings, a plurality of guide loops 97, 97' 97 are-positioned to guide individual threads to pass through a common guide loop 107 so that all of the threads pass about the idler roller 101. Since the hooked surfaces 82 and 83 are common to all of the threads, the raising of the idler roller 101 will stop the feed of all threads at the same time. Therefore, breakage of one thread stops the feed of all threads which are being twisted to form a strand.

Occasionally the bobbin does not rotate uniformly about the longtiudinal axis and vertical vibrations occur which cause frictional movement or ultrasonic vibration between the balls and the ball races which support the 5 whorl. The vertical vibrations are applied by the balls to the ball races and result in eccentric wear or false brinnelling of the races. I believe that such eccentric wear takes place because the complete bearings are turning as a unit with the whorl, meaning that the balls are not changing position in the ball races except when the spindle is braked to a stop.

The alternative and preferred embodiment of FIGS. 7-8 substantially eliminates such eccentric wear. Referring to FIG. 7, the entire mechanism is similar to that of FIG. 2 with like numerals corresponding to identical parts,

as will be apparent as this description proceeds.

The support 11 (FIG. 2) carries a central cylindrical spindle blade 110 (FIG. 7). A hollow spindle sleeve 111 surrounds the spindle blade over substantially the entire length thereof. The spindle sleeve 111 is integrally and securely joined to the upper clutch brake part by means of a splined connection or by the annular toothed disc 25, allowing vertical movement as previously described.

The whorl 121 is essentially similar to whorl 21 but has an inner part formed as a radially, inwardly extending ring 122 which grips spindle blade 110.

A first ball bearing 125 is positioned external to spindle sleeve 111 at its lower end. When the sleeve 111 is pressed into the central upper whorl cavity 123, the outer race is press fitted and secured to whorl 121.

A second ball bearing 138 is positioned internal to sleeve 111 and has an inner race which is press fitted onto a stud 131 at the top of spindle blade 118. The sleeve 111 is actually slip fitted on the outer race of bearing 131. A

cap 132 having a lubrication hole 134 and felt washer 133 cover the assembly. The cap and the sleeve 111 give the same appearance as a solid spindle blade.

In operation, when clutched, the whorl 121 frictionally engages part 27 which is secured to sleeve 110 by the spline 25. Thus the spindle blade, whorl, and spindle sleeve rotate in unison. During braking, whorl 121 and part 27 are disengaged and the whorl and spindle blade rotate independently of the sleeve 111, which is braked by the action of flange 31 against ring 32. The inner diameter of the sleeve 111 is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the spindle blade 110 to leave sufiicient room for the blade to revolve inside the sleeve.

The ball bearings 125 and 131 serve as an addition to the spindle blade for keeping the bobbin in a vertical position. These bearings carry no vertical, or thrust load at any time since the sleeve and bobbin are free to slide up and down on the tubing when any vertical vibration occurs and, of course, for removing the bobbin from the spindle.

A preferred form of the invention having been described and illustrated, it is understood that modifications and alterations may be made by one skilled in the art in view of this description and illustration, and it is understood that all such modifications and alterations are within the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A spindle mechanism comprising a spindle blade,

means rotatably supporting said spindle blade,

a whorl secured to said blade,

1a spindle sleeve surrounding said blade,

a first ball bearing between said blade and sleeve,

a second ball bearing between said sleeve and said whorl,

clutch disc means secured to said spindle sleeve and mounted for axial movement to engage and disengage said whorl,

braking means, and

means to move said disc means into engagement with said whorl, or out of engagement with said whorl and into engagement with said braking means. 2. The mechanism of claim 1 in which said clutch disc means is annular and is secured to said spindle sleeve by a vertically, movable spline connection.

3. The mechanism of claim 1 in which said clutch disc means has a tapering annular recess, the walls of which are adapted'to engage a part of the outer surface of said whorl.

4. The mechanism of claim 1 in which said clutch dii means includes an inverted, substantially cup-shaped member formed of a non-metallic material,

at least two raised portions spaced apart diametrically at the upper surface of said inverted, cup-shaped member to support a bobbin on said sleeve,

and each ofsaid raised portions being reinforced with a metallic member.

5. The spindle mechanism of claim 1 in which said supporting means includes a base member and a cover member,

said' base member having a substantially fiat portion with an aperture therein to receive said blade,

upright portions extending from said substantially llat portion,

means at the upper end of said upright portions adapted to support said cover member,

and latch means attached to each of said upright portions to releasably attach said two members together.

6. The spindle mechanism of claim 1 in which said 10 first ball bearing is located substantially at the top of said spindle blade and said second ball bearing is located towards the bottom of said spindle blade,

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,780,049 Findlow Feb. 5, 1957 2,940,246 Birkigt June 14, 1960 2,975,584 Makant et al Mar. 21, 196i FOREIGN PATENTS 192,235 Great Britain Feb. 1, 1923 429,232 Great Britain May 27, 1935 864,000 Great Britain Mar. 29, 1961

Claims (1)

1. A SPINDLE MECHANISM COMPRISING A SPINDLE BLADE, MEANS ROTATABLY SUPPORTING SAID SPINDLE BLADE, A WHORL SECURED TO SAID BLADE, A SPINDLE SLEEVE SURROUNDING SAID BLADE, A FIRST BALL BEARING BETWEEN SAID SLEEVE AND SAID A SECOND BALL BEARING BETWEEN SAID SLEEVE AND SAID WHORL, CLUTCH DISC MEANS SECURED TO SAID SPINDLE SLEEVE AND MOUNTED FOR AXIAL MOVEMENT TO ENGAGE AND DISENGAGE SAID WHORL, BRAKING MEANS, AND MEANS TO MOVE SAID DISC MEANS INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID WHORL, OR OUT OF ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID WHORL AND INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID BRAKING MEANS.

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