US2506887A - Apparatus for indicating location of metallic particles in fibrous bodies - Google Patents

Description

MW 9, 950 K. L. @RSE-R 2,506,887

APPARATUS FOR INDICATING LOCATION 0F METALLIC PARTICLES IN FIBROUS BODIES Filed June 29, 1945 .D -SW1 N.

SWG? @Sh UMKMQ QF HIS ATTORNEYS llocation yof such Patented May 9, 1950 f 'I' OF F I CE APPARATUS FOR INDICATING LOCATION 0F METALLIC PARTICLCLS IN FIBROUS Keith L. Orser, Auburn, N. Y., assignor to Columhian Rope Company, Aubarn, N. Y., a corpora- -tion of New York Application .inne .29, 1945, Serial No. 602,382

(Cl. 15w-183) 2 -Claiins 1 This inventionrelates` to improvements in indicator n'iechanisrns` andlarticularly to a mechanism for indicating the presence and location oi metallicy particles `in bodiesoi materials such as reinforcingA 0r iiller-materialior moldableplas- ,tics compositions.

As is well known in the. present day art of high pressure plastics molding itisthe Ygeneral practice .to combine with the plastics, commonly called lthat have been used isVegetable fibers andto facilitatehandling such filler material it has been ythe practice in someinstances to prepare comparatively long iibers in the form of a bat or web and. pass thesame vthrough a, standard textile nee- 4dling machinewhichresults in the formation of small tufts or groups oi .bers throughout the web to more or less loosely interlace the bers `and substantially stabilize the web. .Such ,preparation of the bcrs forplastics compositions is more fully shownand described in United -States Letters Patent No.2, 24A9,V88,8, dated. July 22, i941. vIt frequently occurs, however, that the needles of the needling machine break .off and becomeemvkbedded intheneedled bat of fibers sothatthere Iis great danger ofthe highly iinished surfaces of the mold usedvin molding a composition y,being ,scratohedor damaged vand renderedpractically worthless. For thisreason itis highly desirable to detect and remorebrcken needles or other ,metallic bodies that .may become embedded in the web of bers andthe primary object of the invention `is to'iacilitate the removal of 'these metal particlesby providingia which will automatically mark or denote on `the web the metallic particles embedded therein.

A further object `is to provide an indicating mechanism wherein-the web oi :filler bers is fed a continuousllength past a normally inoperative markingdevicewhich is adapted yto be rendered operative by the closing of the electrical Ycircuitfor -anelectricmotor which actuates the Ameans for .feeding the web past thel marking dev1ce.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain details of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts, all as will hereinafter be more fully described and the novel features thereof particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figur-e l is a side elevational view oi an apparatus embodying thepresent inventiomthe electrical equipment which forms nopart of the invention being vshown schematically;

Fig. 2 is a detailplan lview of thedriving connections between the web feeding means and the motor for driving the latter;

Fig. 3 is a wiring diagram fortheapparatus illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 isa diagram of a modiiied arrangement which will permit thermarking deviceto berendered operative without interrupting the web feeding mechanism; and

Fig. 5 is a more or less diagrammatical illustration of a modified form of marking device.

in theapparatus illustrated in Fig. 1, the web of ber filler material lili-s fed through an electrical device capable of detecting the presence of metallic particles inthe web. This so-called metal detector per se may be purchased in the onen market and, of course, is not claimed herein, Hence it has been illustrated only schematically and may be briey described as comprising an oscillator head Il and a detector head l2 between which the web Il] is passed. As is well understood in the art of electronics, the oscillator head has two coils, or components, so arranged with respect to each other that. the electromagnetic iields produced by currents flowing in the two coils exactly oppose or balance one another so that the effect in the area around the head is the same as if no iield were being produced. Thus, under such conditions, no current lis induced in the coil of the detector head. The coil of the detector head is Yin a circuit which contains ampliiier tubes and a thyratron or :so-called nigger tube which, in turn, all as is well known, comprises a cathode and plate and, if the balance between the two coils or components of the oscillator head is disturbed. as for instance, by the presence of a piece of metal in the web being fed through the detector, a current will be induced in the detector head coil and this current amplified by the amplier tubes will result in a current iiowing from the cathode to the plate of the thyratron or trigger tube. Thus, by incorporating in the plate circuit of the triggeim tube, a sensitive relay capable of closing proper operating circuits, the action of the detector mechanism can be utilized for controlling the feeding and the marking of the web of fibers to denote the location of metallic objects therein.

Preferably, the web of fibers is supported on a non-metallic or insulated surface I3 and is fed along said surface between the oscillator and detector heads by friction rolls it, I5, one of which is driven by a sprocket chain i6 from a sprocket I1 on shaft I8 which, in turn, is driven by the electric motor I9. l'n order that the operator may interrupt the feeding of the web without cutting olf the motor, rotary motion is transmitted from the armature shaft 29 of the motor through a worm 2l to a Worm gear 22 on shaft I8, and the latter is provided with a clutch mechanism 23, including a clutch lever 24, at a point intermediate gear 22 and sprocket I1 whereby the latter may be manually rendered inoperative by the operator Vdisengaging the clutch Ving fluid from reservoir 21 to nozzle 25 Yis controlled by a solenoid valve 29 in supply line 26,

ksaid valve being actuated asfwill now be described in connection with the explanation of the wiring diagram of Fig. 3. If it is desired to automatically interrupt the feeding of the web before the marking uid is applied to the web through nozzle 25, the various instrumentalities are connected electrically as illustrated in Fig. 3. The main feed lines ,30, 3l, inwhich there is interposed a main switch 32, areconnected by lines 33,31% to the oscillator and detector heads. The motor circuit consists of lines 35, 36, connected Vto lines 33, 34, respectively, and to the 4motor I9 through the contactorsV of'a relay 31 in lines Y35 andt.- The coil Yof relay! is indicated at 31a-in the control circuit .which consists of line 323 connected between lines 33, 3A and having therein,in addition to coil 31a, a manually operable, normally open control switch 39, coil its of a relay with contacts 4i! in the solenoid circuit, coil @la of a relay with contacts IBI in a line 42 for short-circuiting the control switch 33, and the contacts ofrelay 43, the coil of which is in `the plate circuit of the thyratron or trigger tube of the detector mechanism previously described. The solenoid circuit is formed by a line 44 connected between lines 33, 34, and preferably includes a manually operable'switch 45 in addition to thesolenoid- 29 and relay contacts-443. The control switch 39 is of the push type normally yieldingly held open by` av spring A(not shown) while the switch i5 must be opened and closed manually.

V-Assuming the control switch 39 `to be open, contacts of relays 3h49 and-M to be open, and the contacts of relay e3 to be normally closed, Vthe operation of the apparatus is as follows: When the main switch 32 is closed the solenoid and detector circuits are'energized and when control-switchv V39 is closed the coils 40a, Maand 31a will be energized to actuate the corresponding relays with the result that the motor circuit is closed by relay contacts 31; relay contacts 40 in the solenoid circuit close and relay contacts 4I in line i2 also close. The operator may then immediately release the push button switch 39, and the detector circuit and motor will remain energized through lines 3B, 42 and 3|, as relay acts as a holding circuit to energize relay coil 31a and hold its contacts closed. However, the contacts 49 will open as a result of coil lilla being deenergized, it being remembered that relay 43 is normally closed. Upon the motor I9 being energized, the ber web starts moving between the oscillator and detector heads and, at this moment, the manual switch l5 should be closed, thus permitting completion of the solenoid circuit whenever relay de is subsequently energized. Under these conditions, if a fragment of metal in the web passes between the detector and oscillator heads the former will operate to initiate flow of current in the trigger tube, as previously described, and as the coil of relay t3 is in this circuit its contacts will open. Upon relay 43 being thus opened the control circuit is thus broken so that the coil 31P- of the relay 31 in the motor circuit is deenergized and the motor I9 rendered inoperative. The relay lil is also deenergized so that holding circuit is opened. Thus, the movement of the ber web between the oscillator and detector heads is interrupted and will not be resumed until the control switch 39 is again depressed. When thisV is done the coil 49a of relay 40 will be energized with the result that the contacts of relay it will be closed and switch 45 having previously been closed the solenoid valve 29 will be energized to open the valve thus permitting an increment of marking iiuid to be ejected from nozzle 25 onto the surface of the web. By properly positioning the nozzle above the web with regard to the momentum or the rate of movement of the web after motor i9 has been re-energized, it is possible to substantially mark the exact location, longitudinally of the web, of the piece of metal in the web which caused the interruption in the movementof the web. That is, the fragment of metal will be found to be located within a very short distance, probably less than a half inch, of a line extending transversely of the web through the mark applied by the marking device. The discharge of the markingviiuid from the nozzle will continue only so long as the operator retains the control switch 39 closed because the moment this switch is released it returns to its open position so that relay 49 is deenergized. However, the holding circuit of relay 4I keeps relay 31 energized so power is supplied to the motor until relay contacts i3 are again opened. Thus, there is what might be described as a more or less instantaneous application of the marking fiuid to the surface of the web. It will also be appreciated that once the apparatus is set in motion the solenoid valve is opened each subsequent time that the control switch is closed..

Where it is desired to apply the marking to the web without cutting out the motor the wiring arrangement is such as that illustrated in Fig. 4. In this instance, the main line wires 39, I3I, having the main switch I32 therein, are adapted to be connected to the oscillator and detector heads as before and the circuit for motor 199 comprises the line 35 which is connected to the main line wires and has incorporated therein a motor control switch |39 which is manually closed and opened so that it will remain closed until opened by the operator. The marker mechanism control circuit indicated by line |40 comprises the solenoid |29 for actuating the marking mechanism and the normally open relay |43 whose coil is included in the plate circuit of the thyratron or trigger tube. With this arrangement after the main switch |32 has been closed and a suiiicient time interval allowed for the filaments of the oscillator and detector heads to become heated the motor circuit is energized by closing the motor control switch |39. So long as the web of material being fed between the detector and oscillator heads contains no metal the relay |43 will remain open but if a piece of metal passes between those detector elements the consequent flow of current from the cathode to the plate of the trigger" tube will result in relay |43 being closed and thus energizing the solenoid |29 whereupon the marking will be applied to the web. As will be apparent, this closing of the I solenoid circuit |40 has no eiTect upon the motor circuit and hence the web will continue feeding past or through the detector head so that the marker mechanism will be operative only for an instant, or until the piece of metal in the web passes beyond the sensitive zone of the detector mechanism.

In lieu of applying a liquid marker to the web, the marking may be done by imprinting it upon the surface of the web by an arrangement such as is diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 5. That is, the solenoid 229 may be utilized to actuate a lever 230 carrying a printing or marking head 23| so that as the solenoid is energized the printing or marking head 23| will be moved into contact with the surface of the web.

While the present apparatus has been described in connection with the marking of a web of vegetable fibers to be used as filler material for plastics compositions it will be appreciated that the apparatus can be used for similarly marking any web of non-metallic material regardless of the use to be made of the latter.

What is claimed is:

1. An indicating attachment for a detector apparatus comprising electronic devices having balanced electromagnetic iields responsive to the presence of metallic bodies in the filler material oi' a plastics molding composition positioned in proximity to said iields, said attachment having, in combination, means for conveying said material in proximity to said ilelds, means operable by said electronic devices to render said conveying means inoperative and arrest actuation of said conveyor means upon detection oi a metallic body in said iiller material, manually controlled means for rendering said conveyor means operative, holding means actuated by said manually controlled means for holding said conveyor means in operative condition upon release of said manually controlled means, and normally inoperative marking means for applying a marking to said filler material for denoting the location of a metallic body in the filler material, said normally inoperative marking means being rendered operative by the actuation of said manually controlled means to render said conveyor means operative.

2. Apparatus for denoting the location of metallic bodies concealed in a brous web comprising a normally inoperative marking device for applying an indicating mark to said web, mechanism for feeding said web past said marking device, power means for driving said feeding mechanism, a motor control circuit for said power means, a manually operable starting switch for actuating said motor control circuit to render said power means operative to drive said feeding mechanism, a holding circuit actuated by said starting switch for holding said motor control circuit in actuated condition after release of said starting switch, a marking control circuit for operating said marking device, said marking control circuit being actuated by operation of said starting switch and rendered inoperative upon release of said switch, and means responsive to the presence of a metallic body in said web for rendering said holding circuit inoperative and thereby stopping said feeding mechanism.

KEITH L. ORSER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,890,063 McBean Dec. 6, 1932 1,906,820 Shaw May 2, 1933 1,933,351 Suits et al Oct. 31, 1933 2,036,814 La Pierre et al. Apr. 7, 1936 2,087,783 Savage July 20, 1937 2,228,294 Wurzbach Jan. 14, 1941 2,237,254 Broekhuysen Apr. 1, 1941

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