US3176351A - Apparatus for producing composite yarn - Google Patents

Description

April 6, 1965 w. R.'KEEN APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING COMPOSITE YARN 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 6, 1963 mam/2W2; 152811, BY

Gila @J April 6, 1965 w. R. KEEN 3,176,351

ARATUS FOR PRODUCING COMPO Filed Sept. 6, 1963 s Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

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April 1965 w. R. KEEN 3,176,351

FOR P D Filed Sept. 6, 1963 '3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTO BY 62A: 62A) APPARATUS FUR PRODUCING COMPUSITE YARN Wiiliain Rollin Keen, Media, Pm, assignor to Coiiins an Aikmau Corporation, New York, N321, a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 6, 1963, Ser. No. 307,232 7 Claims. (Cl. 19-236) This invention relates to apparatus for producing a composite yarn.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide means for producing a composite yarn in which alternate lengthwise sections of the yarn consist of fibers having diiferent characteristics from those of the other alternate sections.

Another object of my invention is to provide apparatus for producing a continuous yarn of which a first section includes fibers having a first characteristic followed by a section of yarn which includes fibers having a second characteristic, followed in turn by a section of yarn which includes fibers of the first type, and so on alternatingly. At the junctions of the sections, an overlap condition exists and the yarn includes fibers of both characteristics.

The fibers of the successive sections of the composite yarn may be different in their natural characteristics, or they may be merely diiferent in that they have been predyed to different colors or to different shades of the same color. The fibers of one series of alternate sections may, for example, be natural, such as cotton, and the fibers of the other alternate sections may be synthetic, such as cut or broken acetate rayon staple. Or, the fibers of both series of sections may be synthetic. For example, one

series of alternate sections may be nylon staple and the succeeding series of alternate sections may be Orion staple. Or, the different sections may be different blends of fibers. In brief, the present invention is not limited by any specific fibers or combination of fibers normally used in making spun yarn.

My invention will be clear from a consideration of the following detailed description, taken together with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective illustration of apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the gate rollers employed in the apparatus of the present invention;

FIGS. 3-6 are diagrammatic perspective illustrations, partly broken away, showing successive actions of the gate rollers;

FIGS. 7-12 are diagrammatic side elevations showing successive actions of the gate rollers;

FIGS. 13 and 14 are greatly enlarged diagrammatic illustrations of the junction points identified in FIGS. 4 and 6, respectively, by the circles XIII and XIV;

FIGS. 15 and 1 6 are greatly enlarged diagrams to illustrate the merging of the fibers at the junction points identified in FIG. 1 by the circles XV and XVI, respectively;

FIG. 17 is a perspective illustrationof a modification of the apparatus of FIG. 1, and;

FIGS. 18 and 19 are diagrammatic top views looking down along the lines XVIII and XIX of FIGS. 1 and 17, respectively.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the reference numerals 21 and 22 identify two supply bobbins of twisted roving or sliver the fibers of which differ from each other in some way. For convenience in explaining the present invention, the fibers of bobbin 21 will be assumed to have been pro-dyed black and the fibers of bobbin 22 will be United States Patent 3,176,351 Patented Apr. 6, 1965 assumed to be white. In actual practice, in many instances, the fibers of bobbin 21 will be of one type, such as cotton, while the fibers of bobbin 22 will be of another type, for example, cut or broken synthetic staple, such as acetate or nylon or Dacron. It will be understood that, so far as the present invention is concerned, the only requirement is that the fibers of the two bobbins 21 and 22 be different in some significant characteristic.

In FIG. 1, the black sliver 23 and the white sliver 24 are shown to be passed over a guide bar 25 and then in converging manner between upper and lower gate rollers 25 and 27 into a converging device represented in FIG. 1 as a trumpet 28. The output of the trumpet 28 is a composite sliver 34 which is fed to a conventional drafting stage comprising a pair of feed-in rolls 29 and 30 followed by a pair of delivery rolls 31 and 32. A conventional apron 4-3 and tension roller 44 may be provided in the drafting stage between the feed-in rolls29, 3t) and the delivery rolls 31, 32. The drafted composite sliver 34 delivered from the delivery rolls 31, 32 is passed through an eye 35 and thence to a roving frame, or a drafting frame, or to a spinning frame as represented in FIG. 1 by the bobbin 36.

The rollers 26 and 27 are referred to herein as gate rollers since these rollers function as a gate in that they determine whether or not the slivers 23, 24 presented thereto pass therethrough. The lower roller 27 is a conventional one-piece cylindrical roller, but the upper roller 26 is a two-part roller having complementary parts 26a and 26]; which form, with lower roller 27, a dual gate, the one gate being open when the other is closed, and vice versa. For additional clarity, the two-part upper roller 26 is shown by itself in perspective in FIG. 2.

Each of the roller parts 26aand 26b of rollerJ26 has an angular sector which is of full diameter;the remainder of each roller part 26:: and 26b is of reduced diameter. The full-diameter sector may occupy about of the total periphery. As already indicated, the fulldiameter sectors of the two parts 26a and 26b are complementary. This is seen clearly in FIGS. 7-12 where FIGS. 7, 9 and 11 are diagrammatic elevational views showing roller part 26a in three angular positions, and FIGS. 8, l0 and 12 are corresponding views of roller part 26b. For example, when part 2611 is in the angular position shown in FIG. 7, part 26b is in the angular position shown in FIG. 8. The same relationship applies to FIGS. 9 and 10; also to-FIGS. l1 and 12.

As clearly illustrated in FIGS. 7-12, the two-partvupper gate roller 26 is so spaced above the lower roller 27 that when the roller 26 is driven rotationally to the angular position shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the full diameter potrion of part 26a will engage the peripheral surface, of the lower roller 27, whereas the reduced diameter portion of part 26b will be above and will clear the peripheral surface of the roller 27, leaving a space therebetween. Similarly, when the upper roller 26 is in the angular position shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the full diameter portion of part 26b will engage the lower roller 27- while/the reduced diameter portion of part 26a will clear roller .27.

The distance between the nip of the gate rollers .26 and 27 and the nip of thefeed-in rolls 29 and 34) may be varied, similar to the manner in which the ratch between the feed-in rolls and delivery rolls may be varied, as is well known in the art. Although not essential to the present invention, the distance between thenip of the gate rolls and the nip of the feed-in rolls may preferably be adjusted to be slightly greater than the expected maximum fiber length of the fibers in the sliver. For example, if the fibers in the slivers 23 and 24 have an expected maximum length of two inches, then the distance between the nip of the gate rolls and the nip of fibers at'the extreme end. i

the feedrolls may preferablyibe made slightly greater than two inches. This allows the sliver 23 or 24" to be pulled apart, as will be described, without actually breaking the individual fibers, or at least breaking only those relatively few fibers which exceed the expected maximum length. I

The upi fir two-part gate roller 26 is driven intermittently by any suitable'means, at intervals which are controlled according to the section lengths desired for the successive sections of the composite continuous yarn to Solely for the purpose of illustratingone form of suitable intermittent drive, thejshafts of thergate rollers 26' and 27 are shown to be connected together by the meshed spur gears 46 and 47', and the upper roller as is shown to be driven intermittently by a chain drive 37 having In FIG. 1, the chain lug 38 is shown to be approaching, I

but not in driving engagement-with, the lug 39, and, ac

.cordingly, the gate rollers 26 and 27 are stationaryh The angular position of the upper roller 26 atithis moment is l feed-in rolls 29, or at least suifieiently into the trumpet so that the fibers at the trailing tapered end of the white sliver will carry the black fibers into the nip of the feed-in'rolls. V a a At the conclusion of 180 'of counter-clockwise rota- 7 tion of rollers 26, 2'7, from the position indicated in FIGS.

'6 and 7, the lug 3-8 of drivefchain 37' discontinues its engagement with the lug39 of roller 26, and the rotation of the gate rollers 26 and 27 then terminates leaving the roller parts 26a and 26b infthe angular positions shown in FIGS. 4,11 and 12. The white'sliver 24 is now pinched by the pressure of the stopped rollers 26b and 27. As

the feed-in rolls 29 and 36 continue to rotate, they continue to draw the white sliver forward, and this sliver, being stop-pinched at the nip of the gate rollers, becomes so stretched and strained that it .seversbetween the pinch point and the nip of the rolls 29, 3t), as indicated in i -4. As already mentioned, this desired result may expected length of the fibers in the sliver.

'thestrained sliver becomes completely severed, few if any of thefibers of the sliver" are actually broken. The

shown in perspective, partly broken away,,in FIG. 6,, V

and is shown'in elevationin FIGS. 7zand 8 in which FIG. .7 shows theroller part 26a and FIG, 8 shows the roller part 26b. As seen in FIGS. 6 and 7, the full-diameter portion of the upper roller part 26a is in engagement with the peripher al'surface of the lower roller 27. Since the- rollers 26 and 27. arenot' rotating, the black sliver 23 is pinched between the roller part 26a and'theroller 2'7, and as thefeed-in rolls 29, 3t). continue'to rotate, the

pinched blackv sliver 23 becomes stretched and strained, and then severs or parts completely between the pinch .point and the feed-in rollers v29$, 3t), with theoretically one-half of the fibers extending forwardly of the pinch" point for varying lengths, forming a terminal portion I which tapers from full size at-the pinch point to butia few i V r the now severed white sliver 24 forward through the conpoint forward.

be facilitated by locating the gate rollers 26 and 2'7 ahead of the feed-in rolls 29 and 3t? by such distance that the sliver distance between the nips of these two pairs of rolls 26,27 and 29, 39 is slightly greater than the maximum Thus, while longitudinal tension on the sliver merely pulls the sliver apart. Those fibers whose forward end is caught in the 'nip of the feed-in rolls 2?, 3% but whose trailing end is beyond the nip of the gaterollers 26, 27 are pulled away from the other fibers of the sliverwhose forward end has not yet reached the nip of the feed-in rolls but whose rearward portion is caught in the nip of the now stopped gate rollers. Thus, the total number of fibers in the cross section of the. trailing portion of the severed sliver decreases from the full number. at the trip of the rolls 29, 36, to, but a very few fibers at'the extreme end,

and the trailing portion maybe said to be tapered. Similarly, the leading end portion of thesevered sliver, which is nowpinched bythe pressure of the now stopped gaterollers, has a decreasing number of fibers in its cross section, and may also be said to be taperedfrorn the pinch In the present discussion, as the feed-in rolls 29, 3t) draw V the tapered forward end-of sliver 23 which have been tween the roller part 26b and the lower roller 27 through Y which the White 29, 30. 7

Referring again to FIG. 1, when of chain 37 contacts the upstanding lug 39 of roller part sliver 24 is drawn by the feed-in rolls the depending lug 38.

pushed into the apex region of the trumpet by the 180 rotation of the gate rollers. The aperture of the trumpet is so sized as to merge the tapered portion of the trailing endof the severed white sliver 23 with the tapered forward 26c, the-upper roller 264s driven counterclockwise, as"

viewed in the drawing, and the lower roller 27 is driven clockwise,,through the meshed gears 46, 47. When this described'above, is now pushed forwardly by the pressure applred-thereto by-the rotating roller part. 26a and roller tapered forward end-of the black sliver 23,. which had occurs, the black sliver 23, which had been stop-pinchedas protruded forwardly of the pinch 'point, is now pushed into the forward part or apex of the trumpet 28 which may preferably extend forward almost to the nip of the feed-in rolls 29, 30 as indicated in-FIGS. 7-12, and l8,

19. These fibers of the black sliver are carried along through the-apex of the trumpet into the nip of the feedin rolls 2 9, 30 by the fibers'of the white sliver 24 which is being drawn through the confining aperture. in the emthe gateroller part 260.

, end of the black sliver 24. a

The black sliver 23' now is exclusively drawn by the feed-in rolls 29, 30 until such time as the next lug 38 of drive chain-37 encounters the now upstanding lug 4410f When this occurs, the gate rollers 26 and 27 are again driven'through 180" of rotation, as indicated in FIG. 5, 'and the't-apered'end of the White ,sliver 124, which had been pinch-stopped by the part 26b, .-is now pushed forwardly into the apertured apex region of the. trumpet 28, At the conclusion of 180 of rotation, theupper gate roller 26 is' in' the angular position depicted in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, and the'roller drive ceases. The black sliver'23 isnow stop-pinchedby the .pa-rt 26a, and as the feed-in rolls 29, 30 continue to rotate and to draw theblack sliver, the black sliver 23 comes apart between the pinch point and the rolls 29,

3am indicated in FIGS; 6 and 7. As the feed-in rolls bodiment; shown in FIG. 1, the peripheral dimension of.

sufificient length to accomplish the'desired pushing of the tapered forward end of the black sliver into the nip of the the full diameter sector of roller part :26afshould be of 29, 30'continue to draw the now severed black sliver 23 through the confining aperture of the trumpet 28, the white fibers atthe tapcred'forwa-rd end of the'white sliver 24 are carried along with the black fibers'at the trailing I 11d of 'the'black;sliver 23 'into the. nip of the rolls 29a 9; d, a merg takes place in the confining aperture of the trumpet between the tapered trailing end portion of the black sliver 23 and the tapered forward end portion of the white sliver 24. The actions described above are repeated and a composite sliver 34 is formed having alternate black and white sections. This sliver may be passed through the nip of the delivery rolls 31, 32, then through the fixed guide eye 35, and then through the rotating eye 36a of a spinning frame and wound on to the bobbin 36. As the sliver or yarn is wound about the bobbin 36 by the rotating eye 36a, a slight twist is imparted to the yarn, which isreflected back to the nip of the delivery rolls 31, 32. This twist is indicated diagrammatically in FIGS. 15 and 16 of the drawing, which depict the junctions of the black and white sections at the points indicated in FIG. 1 by the dot-and-dash circles XV and XVI.

While I have shown the composite sliver 34 as being fed to a spinning frame, it will be understood that the composite sliver could be fed to a drafting or a roving frame for further drafting or blending operations before being spun into a final yarn.

It will be seen that by the means disclosed, a continuous yarn may be produced in which for a preselected length the fibers are exclusively of one type, as provided by one supply package, followed by a section of preselected length in which all of the fibers in the yarn are exclusively of another type as supplied by a second supply package, and so on alternatingly. Of course, at the junction of the sections, fibers from both supply packages overlap.

The technique employed may be expanded to include three (or more) different supplies to form a composite sliver having three (or more) series of repeating sections of fibers of different characteristics. In such case, the upper gate roller 26 would be required to have three (or more) parts each adapted to establish a pinching relation with the lower gate roller for a different 120 of peripheral surface.

In FIG. 1, the merging device for bringing the fibers of one sliver into merging relationship with the fibers of the second sliver is represented as being the trumpet 28 having a confining aperture at the apex thereof. In lieu of a trumpet, the merging device could, as illustrated in FIG. 17, preferably be formed from a moving endless belt or apron 51 having mounted thereabove, in proximity there to, an open bottom Y-shaped channel member 52, having a confining throat at the forward end thereof. The apron 51 may be driven by the delivery rolls 29, 30. In this form of merging device, the fibers at the forward end of the sliver which had previously been pinch-stopped by the gate rollers 26, 27, and which are now pushed for ward by the rotation of the gate rollers, are carried into the merging device, into the throat at the forward end thereof, and into the nip of the rolls 29, 30, by the forward movement of the apron. Thus, in this form, the

, peripheral dimensions of the full-diameter sectors of the gate- roller parts 26a and 26b need only be long enough to push the tapered forward end of the sliver on to the apron 51.

. invention that the alternating sections of yarn be of equal length. The intermittent drive may be arranged to provide sections of different lengths;

While the preferred embodiment of this invention has been described in some detail, it will be obvious to one skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the invention as hereinafter claimed.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. Apparatus for producing continuous composite textile yarn comprised of a repeating pattern of successive sections of fibers having different characteristics, said apparatus comprising: means for supplying a first sliver of fibers having a first characteristic; means for supplying a second sliver of fibers having a second characteristic; a drafting stage including a pair of back nip rolls; first and second complementary pressure roller gate means disposed rearward of said back nip rolls and forward of said first and second supply means for applying pressure selectively to one or the other of said first and second slivers for controlling the forward movement of said slivers toward said back nip rolls; merging means disposed between said gate means and said back nip rolls and into which the output of said gate means is convergingly fed, said merging means including a confining aperture sized to merge said slivers; and intermittent means for operating said complementary pressure roller gate means at selected intervals to control selectively the feed of said first and second slivers into said merging means; said complementary pressure roller gate means including an upper and a lower roller, the upper one having first and second coaxial portions adjacent to each other, each of said adjacent portions having a full diameter sector and a reduced diameter sector, the full diameter sectors of said adjacent portions being disposed .at different angular positions relative to each other, the full diameter sector of each portion being of a dimension to engage with the peripheral surface of the lower of the pressure gate rollers.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 characterized in that the full diameter sector of each of said adjacent portions is less than 3. Apparatus according to claim 2 characterized in that the means for operating the pressure roller gate means comprises intermittent drive means for rotating the pressure rollers through 180 at selected intervals.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 characterized in that said merging means comprises a V-shaped structure having its Wide end facing the pressure gate rollers and having a confining aperture at its apex through which the sliver is drawn by said back nip rolls.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 further characterized in that the gate rollers are so disposed in front of the back nip rolls that the sliver distance between the nip of the gate rollers and the nip of the back nip rolls is greater than the maximum length of most of the fibers in the sliver.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 further characterized in that said V-shaped structure has an open bottom, and in that an endless conveyor belt is mounted just below said V-shaped structure for carrying the sliver toward said confining aperture.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 further characterized in that the peripheral length of the full diameter sector of each of the complementary gate roller portions is at least as long as the distance between the nip of the gate rollers and said endless belt.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 320,344 6/85 Fuyat et al. 57-383 928,830 7/09 Wood 57-383 928,831 7/09 Wood 57-139 3,082,593 3/63 .Rhyne 57-139 DONALD W. PARKER, Primary Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING CONTINUOUS COMPOSITE TEXTILE YARN COMPRISES OF A REPEATING PATTERN OF SUCCESSIVE SECTIONS OF FIBERS HAVING DIFFERENT CHARACTERISTICS, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING: MEANS FOR SUPPLYING A FIRST SILVERY OF FIBERS HAVING A FIRST CHARACTERISTIC; MEANS FOR SUPPLYING A SECOND SILVER OF FIBERS HAVING A SECOND CHARACTERISTIC; A DRAFTING STAGE INCLUDING A PAIR OF BACK NIP ROLLS; FIRST AND SECOND COMPLEMENTARY PRESSURE ROLLER GATE MEANS DISPOSED REARWARD OF SAID BACK NIP ROLLS AND FORWARD OF SAID FIRST AND SECOND SUPPLY MEANS FOR SUPPLYING PRESSURE SELECTIVELY TO ONE OR THE OTHER OF SAID FIRST AND SECOND SILVERS FOR CONTROLLING THE FORWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID SILVERS TOWARD SAID BACK NIP ROLLS; MERGING MEANS DISPOSED BETWEEN SAID GATE MEANS AND SAID BACK NIP ROLLS AND INTO WHICH THE OUTPUT OF SAID GATE MEANS IS CONVERGINGLY FED, SAID MERGING MEANS INCLUDING A CONFINING APERTURE SIZED TO MERGE SAID SILVERS; AND INTERMITTENT MEANS FOR OPERATING SAID COMPLEMENTARY PRESSURE ROLLER GATE MEANS AT SELECTED INTERVALS TO CONTROL SELECTIVELY THE FEED OF SAID FIRST AND SECOND SILVERS INTO SAID MERGING MEANS; SAID COMPLEMENTARY PRESSURE ROLLS GATE MEANS INCLUDING AN UPPER AND A LOWER ROLLER, THE UPPER ONE HAVING FIRST AND SECOND COAXIAL PORTIONS ADJACENT TO EACH OTHER, EACH OF SAID ADJACENT PORTIONS HAVING A FULL DIAMETER SECTOR AND A REDUCED DIAMETER SECTOR, THE FULL DIAMETER SECTORS OF SAID ADJACENT PORTIONS BEING DISPOSED AT DIFFERENT ANGULAR POSITIONS RELATIVE TO EACH OTHER; THE FULL DIAMETER SECTOR OF EACH PORTION BEING OF A DIMENSION TO ENGAGE WITH THE PERIPHERAL SURFACE OF THE LOWER OF THE PRESSURE GATE ROLLERS.

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