Title of Invention

FLEECE GUIDE WITH LATERAL GUIDANCE IN ENTRY REGION

Abstract

ABSTRACT (1453/MAS/96) "A fleece guide and a method for the laterally guided introduction of sliver" The invention relates to a fleece guide in a machine processing textile fibre, especially in a drawframe having downstream calender rollers or calender discs, and to a sliver funnel for the fleece guide. The fleece guide is characterized in that the front-end of the insert (30) has, on both sides of the front-end sliver-duct orifice (31a), guide portions (32, 33), the mid-plane (34) of which runs essentially perpendicularly to the said connecting plane (90).

Full Text

The technical field of the invention is the fleece guide in a machine processing textile fibre, especially in a drawframe having a downstream calender. The invention in this case also refers to the exchange part of the sliver funnel, the said exchange part being a component of the fleece guide and being arranged, especially exchangeably, directly in front of the calender discs. Finally, a method is proposed, by which the sliver is introduced into the nip in the said fleece guide in a laterally guided manner, without adaptations of the calender discs to different fibre types or fleece qualities becoming necessary. For an explanation of a conventional fleece guide in a machine processing textile fibre, reference is made by way of example to EP 593,884 Al. This shows that a sliver funnel is provided near the calender discs or rollers, the said sliver funnel having a fleece axis which is inclined relative to the connecting plane of the axes of rotation of the calender discs. A relatively long sliver tube opens into the rear mouth region of the sliver funnel, the said sliver tube often being slit in order to allow air to escape. The (collected) fibre supplied through the sliver tube is introduced into the narrowing funnel region of the sliver funnel, is compressed there and is directed at the front end towards one of the rotating calender discs, in order to supply the sliver to the nip of the calender discs, where it is calendered. In this conventional design, it is current practice for the sliver funnel to be made exchangeable and for the width of the calender discs to be adapted to the textile fibre. In order to acquire a guide in the case of especially fine textile fibres, the sliver funnel 5 is assigned, at its front end, laterally mounted legs which reach past the nip over the calender discs. Since the width of the calender discs can be varied, the width of the said legs must be made adaptable to the width of the calender discs, this being achieved by means of an adjusting disc between the legs (beaks) in order to adapt their spacing to the width of the calender discs and none the less fix them and orient them in their direction (perpendicular to the abovementioned connecting plane between the axes of rotation). The invention therefore originates from the object of reducing the outlay in terms of adjustment and of facilitating or even dispensing completely with the adjustment work which is involved whenever different fibre material is used. This is achieved, by means of the invention, when the fleece guide is provided with the said funnel insert, but the latter has lateral guide portions at its front end on both sides of the front-end orifice (Claim 1). The guide portions have a mid-plane which runs essentially perpendicularly to the said connecting plane between the two axes of rotation of the calender discs, in order to give the sliver a direction exactly towards the nip K and to guide the sliver thereto laterally between the calender discs, in the entry region of the calender discs. The guide is further improved if the guide portions are designed as prongs which are adapted to the shape of the calender discs in the entry region (Claim 2, Claim 3). With this fleece guide, it is no longer necessary for lateral guide portions to project past the calender discs (Claim 8) , and the calender discs can remain unchanged, irrespective of the calendered sliver type and quality (Claim 8, alternative (a)). The sliver fuiuiel (Claim 9) which is used in the fleece guide has the mechanical guide portions at its front end, where the sliver duct opens, and the mid-plane of the guide portions is inclined relative to the axis of the sliver duct (Claim 9) . The inclination is plain (Claim 10); it can be between 30 and 60°. Each of the prongs performs with its inner wall (Claim 11) a mechanical guide function in the entry y region of the calender discs as far as the nip. In this case, each of the prongs is provided with sheet-like regions which are each aligned with a calender disc and are adapted to its shape (Claim 11). Since a prong is provided on each side of the sliver-duct outlet, the width (in the direction of the nip) of each of these prongs is smaller than half the width of the calender discs (Claim 12). The sliver duct leads centrally between the calender discs with its orifice, in the region of which mechanical lateral guidance commences. In order to guide the sliver funnel close to the calender nip, the said funnel has, in its middle region, a recess in the form of a cylinder segment, so as to provide space for the rotational movement of one of the calender discs and to mount the sliver fiinnel in the tilted position relative to the connecting plane between the axes of rotation of the calender discs, in particular to mount it exchangeably, since, as a wearing part, it experiences pronounced wear. Surprisingly, the abovementioned mechanical lateral guidance of the sliver on sides of the sliver funnel affords the possibility that the calender discs no longer alone perform the guide function and their width is also no longer critical per se, since mechanical gTiidance is performed by the sliver fvmnel exactly as the diameter of the front-end outlet of the guide duct predetermines. The method in which the sliver, guided mechanically from four sides, is aligned with the nip is therefore implemented, commencing from the outlet (Claim 14) ; two of these sides are taken over by the rotating calender discs, the other two sides perpendicular thereto being taken over by the mechanical lateral guides, namely the prongs (Claim 14). In view of the good mechanical guidance by sides of the sliver funnel, it becomes possible, according to the invention, to use only one type of calender disc. The sliver guided to the calender nevertheless acquires better guidance upstream of the nip and into the nip. The connection of air can be reduced, irrespective of the width of the calender discs. At the same time, the lateral escape of sliver in the region of the calender is blocked. The use of close adaptation of the mechanical lateral guide to the shape of the calender discs is particularly advantageous here (Claim 16). An independent idea within the terms of the mechanical lateral guide (Claim 14) is to use the calender discs as tracer rollers and to design one of these discs so as to be stationary (only rotatable) and the other disc so as to be rotatable and movable relative to the stationary disc. In this way, the thickness of the sliver in the calender is sensed and can be converted into an electrical signal based on the distance of the movable calender roller from the stationary calender disc. According to this idea, it is no longer necessary to use side legs for mechanical guidance and it is also no longer necessary for the calender discs to be at a fixed distance from one another, since mechanical lateral guidance is provided largely automatically by the prongs which are positioned fixedly on sides of the sliver funnel. The prongs can be designed in one piece with the sliver funnel. The invention avoids the situation where the legs reaching laterally beyond the calender discs are still required, and they therefore also do not have to be varied in their spacing and adapted to particular calender discs. Mechanical guidance is ensured in the entry region and is independent of the width of the calender discs; the width of the mechanical guide can nevertheless be adapted to the width of a specific type of calender discs (Claim 6), although this would have to be considered rather as a special case. Accordingly, the present invention provides a fleece guide in a machine processing textile fibre, especially in a drawframe having downstream calender rollers or discs, in which an exchangeable funnel insert with a forwardly narrowing and opening sliver duct, the axis of which is inclined relative to the connecting plane of the axes of rotation of the calender discs, compacts the sliver and introduces it into the nip between the calender discs; characterized in that the front end of the insert has, on both sides of the front-end sliver-duct orifice, guide portions, the mid-plane of which runs essentially perpendicularly to the said connecting plane. Accordingly, the present invention also provides a method for the laterally guided introduction of sliver between calender discs which have especially a variable spacing during operation, in which method the sliver, after exit from the sliver duct, is guided from four sides as far as the nip of the discs by mechanical contact. The invention is explained and supplemented below by reference to several exemplary embodiments. Figure 1 shows the front end of a sliver run, the sliver tube not being shown. What is shown is the sliver funnel 30 which projects with a prong region 32 between the calender discs 100a, 100b, defining between them the nip K, in which the sliver is calendered. Figure 2a and Figure 2b show two side views of the sliver funnel 30 of Figure 1. Figure 3 and Figure 4 show two perspective views of the sliver funnel 30 according to Figures 2a and 2b or Figure 1. Figure 1 shows the sliver funnel 3 0 as the front end of the fleece guide, the said sliver funnel being fed via a sliver guide tube which is usually provided with an air escape slit and which is not shown here. The said tube is of conventional design. The sliver funnel 3 0 has a rear portion 3Oh (back), a middle portion 3 0m (centre) and a front region 30v (front) which also become clear from Figure 2a and Figure 2b. The rear portion is designed cylindrically and possesses a plurality of cylindrical steps, so that it can be inserted into a corresponding moxonting and easily removed. An inserted sliver ftmnel 30 is fixed in its position above the calender discs 100a, 100b by means of clamping screws. The clamping screws press on to one of the cylindrical portions 3Oh. The axis 34a of the sliver funnel, the said axis being the mid-axis of an orifice 31 narrowing in a funnel-shaped manner, defines the contracting convergence of the entering sliver. The said convergence is usually selected with regard to a specific fibre type and fibre quality, that is to say predetermined technologically. The axis 34a of the sliver funnel 30 is inclined relative to the plane 90 which connects the two axes 101a and 101b of the calender discs 100a and 100b. This plane 1 is usually oriented horizontally, and in Figure 1 it is shown slightly inclined. Also located in the plane 90 is the nip K, through which the sliver has to be guided in the direction of the drawn straight line 34 while it is being calendered (compacted) by the calender discs 100a, 100b. The entry region 99 of the calender is defined between the nip K and the front-end orifice 31a of the conically tapering sliver-funnel orifice 31. The silver is introduced along the axis 34a into the conically narrowing orifice 31, when the calender apparatus is in operation, and leaves the sliver funnel 30 at the front orifice 31a which is also evident in Figure 2a, in Figure 2b and in Figure 3. The sliver at the same time rxins towards one of the calender discs, is deflected there by the rotational movements of these discs 10 0b and is guided in the direction of the nip K. The entry region 99, which is circumscribed here, narrows in conformity with the cylindrical shape of the rollers 100a, 100b. The fleece guide direction is aimed along the straight line 34, as illustrated in Figure 1. In addition to guidance by the calender discs, there is also lateral guidance which is illustrated in Ficfure 1 by means of a wedge-shaped prong 32 and which can be seen more clearly in a perspective view by reference to Figures 3 and 4. The two prongs 32 and 3 3 are two guide portions tapering essentially in a wedge- shaped manner and each possessing an inner wall 32a, 32b which start on both sides of the outlet orifice 31a of the duct 31. By mechanical contact, they guide the sliver in the entry region 9 9 to the nip K, without the width of the calender discs 100a, 100b being of any significance and without lateral guide aids or barriers which reach beyond the calender discs 100a, 100b. This results in the lateral guide 32a, 32b in the entry region 99. ) The prongs 32, 33 tapering in a wedge-shaped manner have sheet-like regions 32b, 32c and 33b, 33c, as emerges from Figure 2a and Figure 2b as well as from Figure 3 and Figure 4. These sheet-like regions are matched to the shape of the calender rollers, so that as 5 close a mutual relationship as possible can be brought about, without the sliver funnel 30 touching the calender discs. The wedge-shaped prongs 32, 3 3 are designed linearly in the front region, and the corresponding linear portions 32e, 33e can be seen most clearly in Figure 4. Proceeding from these lines 32e, 33e which are as close as possible in front of the nip K, the prongs widen rearwards relative to the orifice 31a in the outer region in a curved manner 32d, 33d, and the curvature can be made dependent on the cylindrical part 3 3m from which the middle region of the sliver funnel 3 0 has been produced. A rearwardly oriented, approximately semicircular plateau region 35 commences at an edge 3 5a which rxins parallel to the nip K and which is level with the outlet orifice 31a of the guide duct 31 of the sliver funnel 30. The said edge limits the rear end of the prong-shaped guide portions 32, 33 and marks the coimnencement of an approximately rectangular face 31b (evident in Figure 3) which carries the oval outlet 31a of the duct, the said outlet being defined by the oblique position of this face in a direction approximately parallel to the connecting plane 90 of the axes of rotation 101a and 101b of the calender discs. The width of this oblique face 31b corresponds approximately to the spacing of the inner faces 32a, 33a, of the prongs 32, 33 from one another, in order to achieve the best possible mechanical guidance of the emerging sliver. The front straight edge 32e, 33e of the guide portions 32, 33 (prongs) is represented in Figure 2a in such a way that it continues rearwards at its outer end with two different radii of curvature 32d, in order to cause the prongs 32, 33 to become larger in the rear region than in the region located near the nip K. If the prongs taper too acutely, there is a greater risk of fracture in the front region, and consequently, during practical use, it should be ensured that, although the front linear region tapers to a point, in order to provide mechanical lateral guidance of the sliver as close as possible to the nip K, nevertheless the extent of the said lines 32e, 33e should not be made too short, in order to keep the prongs similar to a line in the front region and not make them similar to the tip of an arrow. A cylindrical recess 3 0a forms the continuation of the prongs 32, 33 on one side of the sliver funnel 30. The sliver funnel can consequently be brought into the immediate vicinity of the nip by "straddling" it without contact on one of the calender discs 100a. A sliver funnel 30 so arranged defines a guide axis 34a which is inclined relative to the plane 90, as becomes most clear in Figure 1 with an angle of approximately 45°. The mid-plane 34 of the guide portions 23, 33, which in turn is inclined relative to the guide axis 34a, runs tangentially to the calender discs in the nip K and therefore perpendicularly to the connecting plane 90 of the axis of rotation 100a, 100b of the calender discs. The fully circtunferential guidance of the sliver in the funnel region 31 is therefore provided from the exit of the sliver out of the orifice 31a only as far as a two-sided gruide 32a, 33a on the inside of the prongs and, in order to form an essentially closed guide in the entry region 99, the other two lateral guides are provided by the calender discs. In this way, the sliver, although leaving fully circumferential guidance in the guide duct 31, continues to remain specifically guided mechanically, until it arrives at the calender nip K and passes through it. Mechanical cfuidance makes it possible to select the width of the calender discs, irrespective of the type and quality of the sliver, and therefore the calender discs no longer have to be exchanged, but at most the ) sliver funnel 30 is exchanged as a part which is adapted by modular plug-in design to the particular sliver to be processed. Mechanical lateral guidance in the entry region 9 9 to the nip K makes it possible to set the positional 3 relationship of the calender discs 100a, 100b and make one of these discs, the disc 100b in the exeunple of Figure 1, variable in position, which can be carried out by means of a lever arm 102 which is prestressed in a spring-loaded manner and which, when sliver enters the nip K, pivots out, together with the disc lOOd, about S. With lateral guidance by the prongs 32, 33 continuing to be defined, the pivoting-out movement constitutes a measure of the thickness d(t) and therefore of the mass m(t) of the sliver running through the calender nip K. The said movement is represented in Figure 1 by the angle a, through which the axis of rotation 101b of the calender disc 100b is displaced, in a first approximation in a direction of movement V which lies in the connecting plane 90. However, the angle a can also contain components, at least one of which should run in the direction V, whilst another component can be oriented in a direction perpendicular to V, that is to say in the direction of the axis 34. The calender discs 100a, 100b thus become transducers which make it possible to determine the thickness and mass of the calendered sliver directly, without the need for an additional measuring mechanism or additional tracer rollers in the exit region; downstream of the calendered discs, the sliver can be deposited directly in a store or container, yet its thickness or mass has been measured beforehand. The devices, by means of which the movements of the second calender disc 100b relative to the first calender disc 100a can be measured, are conventional devices, and usually a movable target is used for this purpose, the said target changing its position relative to an inductively measuring displacement transducer, with the result that the distance of the target from the displacement transducer and therefore the distance of the movable calender disc 100b from the calender disc 100a immovable in the plane 90 are measured. WE CLAIM; 1. A fleece guide in a machine processing textile fibre, especially in a drawframe having downstream calender rollers or discs (100a, 100b), in which (a) an exchangeable funnel insert (30) with a forwardly narrowing and opening (31a) sliver duct (31), the axis (34a) of which is inclined relative to the connecting plane (90) of the axis of rotation (101a, 101b) of the calender discs (100a, 100b), compacts the sliver and introduces it into the nip (K) between the calender discs; characterized (b) in that the front end of the insert (30) has, on both sides of the front-end sliver-duct orifice (31a), guide portions (32, 33), the mid-plane (34) of which runs essentially perpendicularly to the said connecting plane (90). 2. The fleece guide as claimed in claim 1, in which the guide portions are designed as prongs (32, 33) which project into the entry region (99) of the calender discs (100a, 100b), the said entry region narrowing in an (inwardly) convexly curved manner. 3. The fleece guide as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the sheet-like contour (32b, 33b, 32c, 33c) of the prongs (32, 33) is adapted to that of the calender discs in the entry region (99). 4. The fleece guide as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the front-end edge contour (32d, 33d) of the prongs (32, 33) runs in an arcuately tapering manner and then in a straight line (32e, 33e) parallel to the nip (K). 5. The fleece guide as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the insides (32a, 33a) of the prongs, the said insides being provided laterally of the sliver exit (31a), are tapered in a wedge-shaped manner. 6. The fleece guide as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the prongs (32, 33) have, level with the orifice (31a) of the sliver duct (31), a maximum width which corresponds to somewhat less than half of the width of the calender discs. 7. The fleece guide as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which one of the two calender rollers (100a, 100b) is deflectable relative to the other calender roller (100a) approximately in the direction of the said connecting plane (90), in order to encompass the thickness of the sliver in the nip (K), whilst the lateral guide portions (32, 33) guide the sliver mechanically between the calender roller upstream of the nip and align it with the nip (K) having a variable nip width. 8. The fleece guide as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, with the exception of claim 6, in which (a) the width of the calender discs is independent of the type and quality of the sliver; and/or (b) the funnel insert (30) together with the guide portions (32, 33) has no legs extending laterally past the calender discs, in particular no legs of variable spacing. 9. A sliver funnel (30) for a fleece guide as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which, a the front end (31a) of its sliver duct (31) passing through it longitudinally, mechanical guide portions (32, 33) are provided on both sides of the duct end (31a), the mid-plane (34) of the guide portions being inclined relative to the axis (34a) of the sliver duct (31). 10. The sliver funnel as claimed in claim 9, in which the mid-plane (34) is plainly inclined, particularly between 30 and 60°. 11. The sliver funnel as claimed in any one of claims 9 or 10, in which the portions (32, 33) are of prong-shaped design, (a) their inwardly facing wall (32a, 33a) being plane and having edges curving relative to the mid-plane (34); (b) the front edge (32e, 33e) of each prong (32, 33) being straight; and/or (c) those faces (32b, 33b; 32c, 33c) of the prongs which face the calender discs being curved relative to the mid-plane (34) in adaptation to the cylindrical curvature of the calender discs (100a, 100b) in the entry region (99). 12. The sliver funnel as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 11, in which (a) the prongs (32, 33) have a width which decreases towards the front end and which, in the region in which the sliver duct (31) opens (31a), is smaller than half the width of the calender discs (100a, 100b); and/or (b) the spacing of the inwardly facing walls (32a, 33a) of the guide portions (32, 33) is smaller than the width of the calender discs (100a, 100b) and smaller than the width of each individual guide portion. 13. The sliver funnel as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 12, the middle region (30m) of which is designed largely cylindrically and has a recess (30a) in the form of a cylinder segment, which reaches from the front end (32e, 33e) of the guide portions (32, 33) to a rear cylindrical insertion portion (30h) of the sliver funnel (30). 14. A method for the laterally guided introduction of sliver between calender discs which have especially a variable spacing during operation, in which method the sliver, after exit from the sliver duct (31a, 31), is guided from four sides as far as the nip (K) of the discs (100a, 100b) by mechanical contact (32a, 33a). 15. The method as claimed in claim 14, in which two sides (32, 33) of the mechanical guide are mounted fixedly on sides of the sliver feed (30) and two sides of the mechanical guide are formed by the entry region (99) of the calender discs (100a, 100b). 16. The method as claimed in claim 14 or 15, in which the mechanical guide on the sliver feed side reaches into the entry region (99) of the calender discs (100a, 100b), in particular is adapted preferably closely to the cylindrically curved entry region (99) of the calender discs. 17. A fleece guide substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 18. A method for the laterally guided introduction of sliver between calender discs substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Documents:

1453-mas-1996 abstract.pdf

1453-mas-1996 claims.pdf

1453-mas-1996 correspondence -others.pdf

1453-mas-1996 correspondence -po.pdf

1453-mas-1996 description (complete).pdf

1453-mas-1996 form-2.pdf

1453-mas-1996 form-26.pdf

1453-mas-1996 form-4.pdf

1453-mas-1996 form-6.pdf

1453-mas-1996 others.pdf

1453-mas-1996 petition.pdf