US3402432A - Carding apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Sept- 24, 1968 i F. KALWAITES 3,402,432

Y CARDING APPARATUS Filed May l5, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet l BY l ,l

ATTORNEY Sept. 24, 1968 F. KALwArrES 3,402,432

Filed May 13, 1966 CARDING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 i 7 *l 45 40 l 3 9 43h; Fi 22 M; f5/ 2,0 46%- INVENTQR FPA/wr Mum/75s TTO N'EY United States Patent O 3,402,432 CARDING APPARATUS Frank Kalwaites, Somerville, NJ., assignor to Johnson & Johnson, a corporation of New Jersey Filed May 13, 1966, Ser. No. 549,896 4 Claims. (Cl. 19-104) ABSTRACT 0F THE DISCLOSURE A carding apparatus comprising feed means, a rotatable cleaning surface, a rotatable carding surface and a stationary resilient carding surface comprising a pile fabric in contact with a portion of the circumference of the rotatable carding surface for carrying out the carding operation.

The present invention relates to an improved method of carding and machines for carrying out this method, and more particularly, to a carding machine which is especially adapted for the carding of cotton and synthetic fibers.

Probably the most common carding machine used today for carding cotton and synthetic fibers is a revolving fiattop card. This card consists essentially of a feed roll and feed plate, a licker-in cylinder, a main cylinder, a set of revolving flats adjacent a portion of the circumference of the main cylinder, and a dofiing cylinder.

In operation, a lap of fibers is fed between the feed roll and feed plate to the licker-in. The licker-in pulls tufts of fibers from the lap, and deposits these tufts of fibers onto the main cylinder of the card. The main cylinder of the card has needle-point teeth over its entire circumference. The revolving ats also have teeth on their surface cooperating with the teeth on the main cylinder. The cylinder rotates at a relatively fast rate of speed while the flats virtually stand still, and as the fibers on the teeth of the cylinder pass between, they are acted on by the teeth of the flats. The fibers are carded, i.e., somewhat aligned and parallelized. The main cylinder then presents the carded fibers to the doffing cylinder, and the dofling cylinder removes these carded fibers from the main cylinder in the form of a web.

Some of the drawbacks of such a carding technique have been the limitation of the carding action due to the number of points per area that can be placed on the flats, and hence work on the individual fibers. Also the fact that the short loose fibers tend to be blown out from between the main cylinder and the flats. Still another drawback has been that the points on the ats and on the main cylinder of the card must be spaced apart so as not to damage the points, thus also reducing the carding action of these points, and in some instances, allowing trash or neps or other foreign particles to pass between the flats and the main cylinder.

One technique for overcoming some of these disadvantages has been to replace the flats with what is known as a granular plate. This is a solid plate which fits about a portion of the circumference of the maincylinder, the surface of the plate is either emery cloth or some other abrasive or granular type of surface. Such a device allows for complete coverage of the card thus reducing the fly waste blown out between the top and the main cylinder. It also in some instances increases the number of points per area acting on the fibers and hence may improve carding action; however, it still has numerous disadvantages in that there still must be a spacing between the granular top and the points of the card, thus allowing for trash or neps to pass between this area and appear in the final web.

I have now discovered a carding apparatus which has none of these aforementioned disadvantages. In the card- CIK ICC

ing apparatus of my invention, I am able to present to the main cylinder of the card many more points per unit area to improve the carding action. Also I am able to place these points in contact with the points on the main cylinder to improve the efficiency of the carding action and reduce the neps or trash which is allowed to pass between the main cylinder of the card and the carding top. Furthermore in accordance with my carding apparatus, I am able to 4continually present any neps or tufts of unopened fibers to the main cylinder before they are acted on by the carding top and to continually present them until they are opened into the individual fiber form s0 that they may be carded by my improved carding top.

In its broadest aspect the method of the present invention comprises placing fibrous material to be carded onto a rotatable carding surface and contacting the rotatable carding surface with the fibers thereon with a resilient surface to card the fibers. In a preferred method a lap of fibrous material is fed to a rotatable cleaning surface having teeth thereon traveling at a peripheral surface linear speed very much greater than the speed lat which the lap is fed to the rotatable cleaning surface. The fibrous material on the rotatable cleaning surface is transferred to a rotatable carding surface traveling at a peripheral surface linear speed very much greater than that of the rotatable cleaning surface. A portion of the fibrous material from the rotatable carding surface is transferred to a rotatable doffing surface traveling at a peripheral surface linear speed sufficiently less than that of the rotatable carding surface. The portion transferred to the rotatable dofiing surface is returned to the feed lap and again presented to the rotatable cleaning surface for additional processing. The portion of fibrous material on the carding surface not removed by the rotatable dofiing surface is then presented to a stationary resilient surface in contact with the rotatable carding surface to be carded, and the carded portion is then transferred to a second rotatable doffing surface from which it may be removed in the form of a fibrous web.

The carding apparatus of the present invention comprises a main cylinder with card clothing covering the surface of the main cylinder. In contact with the cylinder covering all of its width and a portion of its circumference is a stationary cover having a resilient surface, i.e., a pile fabric surface, preferably a velvet or plush fabric surface having a great number of fine points per inch in contact with the points of the card clothing. Adjacent the circumference of the cylinder at a point before the stationary cover is a licker-in cylinder for feeding tufts of fibers to the main cylinder. Spaced between the licker-in cylinder and the stationary cover and also adjacent the main cylinder is a first dofiing cylinder which travels at a peripheral surface linear speed less than that of the main cylinder for withdrawing a portion of the fibrous material from the main cylinder and returning it to the licker-in. Also adjacent the circumference of the main cylinder but after the stationary cover is a second dofiing cylinder for removing the fibers from the main cylinder in the form of a fibrous web.

Other aspects of the present invention as well as variations, advantages, benefits thereof will become apparent from the following description which is to be construed with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE l is a side elevational View showing a carding apparatus according to the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional View at the side and top of a card showing the main cylinder of the card and how the improved carding top is connected to the main cylinder; and 1 FIGURE 3 is a View taken along line 3-3 of FIG- URE 2.

Referring to the drawings, in FIGURE 1 there is shown a carding machine according to the present invention. The carding machine comprises suitable framing as is used in conventional carding apparatus for supporting all of the various cylinders, drives, etc. A supply roll 11 of a lap of fibers (picker-lap) L is mounted on an axle 12 rotatably supported from the framing. The lap of fibers is continually fed to the carding machine by the rotatable feed roll 13 and the feed plate 14. The feed plate is stationary, and generally the feed roll is steel or similar hard metal. The feed roll rotates very slowly at a constant speed of about 1 to about 12/3 revolutions per minute. It is approximately 2% inches in diameter, and hence has a surface linear speed of from about .5 to 1 foot per minute. The feed roll and plate feed the lap of fibers to the licker-in 15.

The licker-in is mounted on shaft 18 rotatably mounted in bearings mounted in the card frame. The licker-n is usually about 9 inches in diameter and rotates with a speed of from about 300 to about 800 revolutions per minute or from about 700 to 1870 feet per minute, pulls clumps and tufts of fibers from the picker-lap. The ratio of the linear speed increase of the licker-in to the feed roll is in the range of from about 1000:1 to about 160011, but more normally is in the range of from about 1200:1 to about 1400:1. The licker-in is covered with teeth over its entire surface to pull the fibers from the picker-lap. Positioned beneath the licker-in are mote knives 16 and a fiber screen 17. These mechanisms allow for some trash and waste material to drop out and be removed from the fibers.

The licker-in is spaced about .010 to about .02 inch from the feed plate, and the teeth of the wire on the licker-in continually penetrate the picker-lap to grab clumps or tufts of fibers and carry them on the surface of the licker-in. These opened-up bers pass the mote knives and screen where the dirt and debris is removed, and the fibers are then fed to the main cylinder 20 of the card.

The main cylinder is conventional and is approximately 50 inches in outside diameter and about 40 to 45 inches in width. It is mounted on a shaft 21 journaled in bearings in the card frame. The main cylinder has a surface linear speed of from about 165 revolutions per minute up to about 250 or 350 revolutions per minute, or from about 2160 up to 4000 feet per minute. The main cylinder of the card is covered with standard card clothing 22, either fillet or metallic, with the teeth of the clothing disposed in a direction so that the fibers are readily transferred from the licker-in to the surface of the main cylinder and are carried forwardly by the main cylinder in conventional manner. Any clumps, tufts or knots of fibers which are not completely opened by the licker-in are usually carried right at the ends of the surface of the teeth of the main cylinder, whereas the individualized fibers are carried slightly down in these teeth.

As the fibrous material passes upwardly, it passes immediately adjacent a metering or dofling roll 25 mounted on a shaft 26 rotatably mounted in bearings in the frame. The length of the metering roll is approximately the same as that of the main cylinder, but its diameter is considerably smaller and is in the range of from about 3 inches to about 5 inches. The surface linear speed of this roll is considerably slower than the surface linear speed of the main cylinder and must have a linear speed reduction ratio with respect thereto of at least 1:10. Normally the linear speed reduction ratio is considerably less than that value and is normally in the range of from about 1:50 and even as low as 1:100. This of course results in a substantial reduction in the surface linear speed of the fibrous material. The metering roll is carefully and accurately positioned with a clearance from about .02 inch to about .08 inch with respect to the surface of the main cylinder. The metering roll has a toothed surface with the teeth so disposed as to remove the fibrous material from the main cylinder. By the clearance mentioned above and the positioning of the metering roll, the preponderance or bulk of the individualized fibers pass freely onwardly on the surface of the main cylinder; however, the clumps, tufts and knots which are present and which protrude off the surface of the main cylinder to a greater degree are contacted by the teeth of the metering roll and removed from the main cylinder by the slowly moving metering roll. As these clumps and tufts are removed and deposited on the metering roll, the slowness of this roll is such that the clumps and tufts are condensed or brought together substantially into a self-contained fibrous web or sheet. This web is advanced around the periphery of the roll and removed therefrom by a retracting roll 30 mounted from the shaft 31 journalled in bearings in the frame. The retracting roll is of a smaller diameter but approximately the same length as the metering roll and rotates with even a slower speed. The ratio of the speed of the retracting roll to the metering roll should be about as low as about 1:10 but normally may range to as low as about 1:60 or even as low as about 1:100. In this way the web or sheet is even further compacted or condensed and becomes more uniform in fiber distribution and weight. The linear speed of the fibrous web is now considerably reduced because of the successive linear speed reductions during the web transfer from the main cylinder to the metering roll and then to the retracting roll. Although the individual ratios of the linear speed reductions may extend over relatively wide ranges, the combination or the sum of the two reductions must be such that the linear speed of the fibrous web as it is carried on the surface of the retracting roll should be equal to or less than the linear speed of the lap as it is advanced -between the feed roll and plate. The compacted web R is removed from the retracting roll by a pair of rotating dofiing rolls 32 and 33 mounted on shafts 34 and 35, respectively, journaled in bearings in the card frame. These dofiing rolls or other similar mechanisms for removing fibrous webs from cylinders remove the web and allow it to be re-fed between the feed plate and feed roll. These clumps and tufts, etc., are returned to the licker-in to be further individualized.

The individualized fibers on the main cylinder of the card pass by the metering roll and are acted on, that is, carded, by the stationary top 37. The open area of the main cylinder between the licker-in and the top is covered by plates 27 and 28 in order to prevent air currents from disrupting the fibers and to control iiy and lint. The stationary top 37 consists of an aluminum frame or other suitable metal frame 38 fastened by means of bolts and lugs to the side frame of the main cylinder. The top is adjustably fastened to the main cylinder as is more clearly shown in FIGURES 2 and 3. The underside of this top, that is, the side facing the clothing on the main cylinder, comprises a cut pile fabric adhesively secured to the top. The cut pile fabric may be either a plush or velvet fabric made from coarse denier fiber having rigidity such as polyolefin fiber, nylon fiber o1 similar fiber. Though the individual fiber has rigidity, the entire surface is resilient. The cut pile fabrics used in accordance with the present invention will have a minimum of 500,000 fiber ends per square foot contacting the points of the clothing of the card and may have as many as `two to three million or more points per square foot acting to card fibers on the main cylinder of the card. The revolving liats of a standard card have from about 60,000 to 80,000 points per square foot whereas my new top has approximately ten times or more the number of points which unlike the standard card are in contact with the points of the main cylinder to provide very eicient carding of bers. The points of the cut pile fabric are in contact with the points on the main cylinder of the card so that no fibers are allowed to float between the main cylinder and the carding top as is normally the case wherein the top must be spaced a dist-ance from these points so as not to cause damage to the points on the main cylinder of the card. As is shown, the top may be in a series of sections which fit close together. The cut pile fabric on the top is resilient and fiexible so that if a clump or tuft of fiber does ride with the points on the main cylinder, the top will be resilient enough to accept this clump or tuft without damaging the points of the main cylinder. The light contact between the top and the main cylinder provides positive excellent carding action on all of the fibers and opens any of the smaller clumps or tufts of fibers and individualizes them.

As more clearly shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, the carding top has an overlapping portion 4f) which extends down beyond the frame of the main cylinder in close relationship therewith, On the main cylinder frame 41 of the card, there is an angle bracket 42 having a hole therein. In line with this bracket is a bracket 43 fixed to the top also having a hole therein aligned with the hole in the angle bracket. A bolt 45 extends through these two holes. A nut 46 positions the bolt tightly in the angle bracket and the nuts 47 and 48 adjust the position of the top with respect to the main cylinder of the card and the points of the card. The overlapping portion of the top prevents the fly and dust from escaping from the card and of course reduces waste. The tops may be readily removed simply by removing the bolt 48 and lifting the top from the card. It is preferable that the tops be ribbed or reinforced to make them light-weight and easily removable. The top may be removed without altering or changing the adjustment of the top so that the card may be cleaned or worked upon and the top replaced to the correct adjustment simply by removing the bolt 48.

Adjacent the front end of the card is a dofiing cylinder 50 which is mounted on an axle 51 journaled in bearings in the card frame. The dofling cylinder extends the width of the main cylinder of the card. Usually the dolng cylinder is about 27 inches in diameter and is clothed in fillet or metallic clothing with the teeth disposed so as to remove fibers from the main cylinder. The dofing cylinder rotates at a speed of from about 5 to 40 r.p.m.s or from about 35 to 280 feet per minute which of course is a much lower speed than the speed of the main cylinder and allows the fibrous materials to be condensed onto the doffng cylinder in the form of a fibrous web. The fibrous web F is removed from the dofiing cylinder by any of the conventional dofng mechanisms, a dofiing comb 52 being shown. Roller doing or nip blade dofling may also be used to remove the fibrous web from the doffing cylinder.

As will be noted from the foregoing, my improved carding apparatus may be enclosed to prevent any fiy or waste from blowing out from the card cylinder. Furthermore, since my card top is stationary there is no waste build-up in this card top. The only waste produced by my card will be that disposed of by the licker-in through the mote knives and fiber screen. The clumps and tufts of fibers will not be present in the final web as the metering roll removes these and forces them to be opened into individualized fibers. The contact of my carding top with the main cylinder of the card provides for a positive carding action so that all fibers are opened and individualized with extremely little waste and few, if any, clumps or neps of lfibers.

It is to be appreciated that the advantages obtained with the present invention will vary and will depend to a' large extent on the grade of liber being processed, production rates, coarseness or size of the yarns being produced, etc.

Although no motors, pulleys, belts, gears or like mechanical means have been illustrated in the drawings or described in the specification for driving the various rotating cylinders and rolls in the desired or required speeds or with the rotation indicated by the direct arrows, it is to be appreciated that such elements have been omitted to keep the description short and to avoid the introduction of matter for which there are well known expedients in the art. The mechanical driving means which are used are conventional and merely involve the application of well-known mechanical driving principles.

Although I have described the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the description is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive as many details may be modified or changed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is to be limited only by the appended claims viewed in light of the prior art.

What is claimed is:

1. Carding apparatus comprising: feed means for feeding fibrous material to be carded, a rotatable cleaning surface adjacent said feed means to receive fibers to be carded from said feed means, a rotatable carding surface adjacent said rotatable cleaning surface to accept the fibers to be carded from said rotatable cleaning surface, a stationary resilient carding surface comprising a cut pile fabric in contact with a portion of the circumference of said rotatable carding surface for individualizing and parallelizing said fibrous material on said rotatable carding surface and a rotatable dotling surface adjacent said rotatable carding surface for removing the fibrous material after it has been carded from said rotatable carding surface in the form of a fibrous web.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said stationary resilient carding surface is a velvet fabric.

3. Carding apparatus comprising: feed means for feeding a lap of fibrous material to be carded, a rotatable cleaning surface adjacent said feed means to remove tufts and clumps of fibrous material from said lap fed by said feed means and present them to a rotatable carding surface, a rotatable carding surface adjacent said rotatable cleaning surface for accepting fibrous material from said rotatable cleaning surface, a rotatable metering surface immediately adjacent said rotatable carding surface and traveling at a peripheral surface linear speed less than that of said rotatable carding surface for withdrawing a portion of said fibrous material from said rotatable carding surface, retracting and condensingl means adjacent said rotatable metering surface for removing said portion of yfibrous material removed from said carding surface and returning said portion to said feed means, a stationary resilient carding surface comprising a cut pile fabric in contact with a portion of the circumference of said rotatable carding surface for individualizing and parallelizing the remaining portion of said fibrous material on said rotatable carding surface and a rotatable dofling surface adjacent said rotatable carding surface for removing said remaining portion of said fibrous material from said rotatable carding surface in the form of a fibrous web.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the stationary resilient carding surface is a velvet fabric.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,848,755 8/1958 Caille 19--114 3,235,910 2/1966 Kalwaites 19-105 3,325,866 6/1967 Caille 19-114 FOREIGN PATENTS 675,867 12/ 1963 Canada.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner. D. NEWTON, Assistant Examiner.

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