Title of Invention

COMBING MACHINE WITH AN OSCILLATING NIPPER AGGREGATE

Abstract

The present invention concerns a combing machine with an oscillating nipper aggregate (6, 8, 9, 10), connected to a drive, mechanism, and comprising a lower nipper plate frame (6) and upper nipper plate arms (10) pivotably connected to it, which are linked each to a spring leg (12) pivotable about an axle (A). In practical use devices are known in which modulation of the movement of the upper nipper plate is effected by means of an additional electric motor. This arrangement proves relatively expensive and requires application of additional sensor devices in order to ensure a synchronous sequence of movements of the elements. It is the objective of the present invention to propose a simple and cost-efficient solution also fulfilling the criteria requested. According to the present invention it is proposed that to the axle (A) to which the spring legs (12) are linked at least one gear arrangement (20) with out-of- round gear wheels (16, 19) is co-ordinated for shifting this axle (A).

Full Text

The present invention concerns a combing machine with an oscillating nipper aggregate connected to a drive mechanism, comprising a lower nipper plate frame and upper nipper plate arms pivotably connected to the latter, which are linked each to a spring leg pivotably supported on an axle. This arrangement ensures that the upper nipper plate, in a front position of the nipper aggregate, is lifted off the bottom nipper plate during the detaching pro¬cess. As the nipper mechanism has reached a back position the upper nipper plate is pressed under the spring force exerted by the spring legs against the orifice line of the bottom nipper plate and in this position clamps the lap layer which passes through this zone. In this clamped position the fibre fringe pro¬truding from the nipper mechanism is combed by the combing segment of a circular comb arranged below the nipper mechanism. In this process it is most important that the clamping force is acts as gently as possible onto the fibre material to be processed in order to avoid damages. Furthermore sufficient clamping force is to be exerted in such a manner that the fibre mass, seen across the width of the nipper arrangement, can be clamped uniformly. In combing machines known thus far (Combing Machine E7/6 by the Rieter Machlneworks Ltd.) one end of the spring leg was supported on an eccentric shaft the drive shaft of which was driven via a gear arrangement by the dis-continuously moving drive shaft of the nipper crankshaft. Using this arrange¬ment the desired clamping forces as well as the desired opened position of the nipper mechanism could be obtained. Due to the high combing oscillation frequencies (e.g. 350 combing cycles per minute) very high accelerations and loads are exerted onto the bearings as the nipper arrangement is opened and closed. Thus the requirement arises, espe- daily if still higher combing cycle frequencies are to be achieved, that also the movements of the upper nipper plate be adapted correspondingly in such a manner that the acceleration forces are kept to a minimum. This requirement, however, can be fulfilled only under great efforts if the arrangement described is applied. Considering these requirements, in an earlier patent application (DE-A1 42 16 485) by the same applicant, it was proposed that the up to now mechanical drive arrangement of the eccentric shaft be replaced by an electric drive ar¬rangement. Using the proposed arrangement it now was possible to establish, or to control respectively, various curves of movement of the upper nipper plate by influencing the drive motor correspondingly. Using this arrangement furthermore an adaptation in the setting of the detaching distance of the nipper aggregate movement could be off-set. In order to ensure synchronisation of the drive motor with the nipper movement using a sensor the angle of rotation of the circular comb shaft was scanned and the corresponding signal was transmitted to the control unit of the motor. Using the arrangement described it was possible to achieve all the setting possibilities for the movements of the upper nipper plate required in practical use. This equipment, however, proved relatively expensive and required pre¬cise scanning for monitoring the rotation angle of the circular comb shaft. Fur¬thermore the whole system depends on the reliability and the life span of the scanning sensor. It thus is the objective of the present invention to create an apparatus pre¬senting the advantages of the apparatus according to DE-A1 42 16 485 but being less expensive and proposing a drive arrangement which ensures reli¬able synchronisation of the movement of the upper nipper plate in co-ordina¬tion with the bottom nipper plate, and with the circular comb respectively. This objective is met in that to the axle about which the corresponding spring leg pivots at least one gear arrangement with out-of-round gear wheels is co¬ordinated for shifting this axle. Advantageously it is proposed that the spring legs each are supported pivota-bly on an eccentric shaft driven by a drive shaft supported in the machine frame in which arrangement at least one out-of-round gear wheel of the gear arrangement described is fixed on the drive shaft and secured against rotation relative to the shaft. Using this proposed lay-out of a gear arrangement with out-of-round gears, i.e. gears with teeth arranged non-concentric with respect to the rotational axis, an optimised curve of movement of the upper nipper plate can be achieved de¬pending on the lay-out of the gear wheel shape. It also can be considered that this gear arrangement with out-of-round gears could be exchanged against a different pair of also out-of-round gears in order to adapt the nipper movement to changed conditions in case the fibre material to be processed is changed. Furthermore it is proposed that the gear arrangement with out-of-round gears be coupled to the drive shaft of the circular comb via a further gear arrange¬ment (e.g. with round gears). In this arrangement synchronisation of the movements of the upper nipper plate with the movements of the rest of the nipper aggregate as well as with the rotating movement of the circular comb is ensured as the drive of the nipper shaft and the drive of the circular comb axle are coupled mechanically. A further embodiment of the present invention is proposed in which the gear arrangement with out-of-round gears is to be driven via a further gear ar¬rangement connected to the main gear arrangement which in turn is driven by a main motor. Using this apparatus the gear arrangements can be driven, other than in the solution proposed above, at constant rotational speed. It is proposed furthermore that the out-of-round input gear of the gear ar¬rangement and the output gear of the further gear arrangement be mounted on a common shaft secured against rotation relative to the shaft. In order to off-set changes in the detaching distance of the nipper aggregate it is proposed that at least one gear of the further gear arrangement be con¬nected to the corresponding drive shaft via a disconnectable connection. Using this arrangement the changed end position of the nipper aggregate also can e taken into account in the movement of the upper nipper plate. Further advantages of the present invention are described in the following with reference to illustrated design examples. It is shown in the: Fig. 1 a schematic vertical section of parts of a combing unit of a combing ma¬chine, Fig. 2 a schematic view of various positions of the main elements shown in the Fig. 1, Fig. 3 a diagrammatic illustration of the degree of opening of a nipper aggre¬gate plotted against the position of said nipper aggregate, Fig. 4 a simplified view according to the Fig,1 shown at a smaller scale with additional drive elements for the nipper aggregate, Fig. 5 an enlarged view of the input gear wheel of the further gear arrange¬ment according to the Fig, 4 with a disconnectable connection, Fig. 6 a cross-sectional side view according to the Fig. 5. The combing unit, parts of which are shown in the Figures 1, 2 and 4, com¬prises a continually rotating circular comb shaft 1, two detaching rolls 2 and 3 and an oscillatingly rotating nipper drive shaft 4, all of which are supported in a machine housing (not shown). The nipper drive shaft 4 supports crank arms 5 to which the back end of a lower nipper plate frame 6 is linked. The front end of the lower nipper plate frame 6 is linked to front support members 7 which are supported pivotable about of the circular comb shaft 1. The lower nipper frame 6 supports a lower nipper plate 8 with which an upper nipper plate 9 co¬operates. The upper nipper plate 9 is supported on upper nipper plate arms 10 which are connected to the lower nipper frame 6 and pivotable about an axle 11. The upper nipper plate arms 10 furthermore are linked each to a spring loaded spring leg 12 which is arranged pivotable about an axle A. Owing to the oscillating rotational movement of the nipper drive shaft 4 the lower nipper plate frame 6 is moved to and fro between a front end position shown in the Fig. 1 and a back end position. In the Fig. 2 said front end position is shown schematically with solid lines the back end position being indicated with thinner lines. In the back end position the spring loaded spring legs 12 hold the nipper aggregate closed, i.e. via the upper nipper plate arms 10 they press the lower edge of the upper nipper plate 9 against the front edge of the lower nipper plate 8, Between these edges a fibre fringe (not shown) of a lap layer to be combed is clamped and is combed by a circular comb segment 13 mounted on a circular comb roll 14 supported on the circular comb shaft 1 In its front end position the nipper aggregate 6, 8. 9, 10 is held open by the spring legs 12, i.e. the spring legs 12 via the upper nipper support arms 10 which keep the upper nipper plate 9 lifted off the lower nipper plate 8. The combed fibre fringe thereupon is detached by the detaching rolls 2, 3 from the lap layer resting on the lower nipper plate 8. A feed roll 15 (Fig. 1, Fig. 4) supported in the lower nipper plate frame 6 serves for advancing the lap layer to be combed over a certain distance each time the nipper plates open up. Rotation of the feed roll can be effected in the usual manner with the pivoting motion of the upper nipper plate arms 10 relative to the lower nipper plate frame 6 while the nipper aggregate 6, 8, 9, 10 is being opened and/or closed, i.e. during the forward movement and/or the backward movement of the lower nipper plate frame 6. The pivoting motion of the upper nipper plate arms 10 is transmitted e.g. via a ratchet wheel arrangement, a free-wheel device or a slide curve arrangement (not shown) to the feed roll15. To the pivoting axle A (Fig. 1) a gear arrangement 20 is co¬ordinated with out-of-round gear wheels 16, 19 for displacing this axle. In this arrangement the axle A is the axle of an eccentric part 17 placed on a shaft 18 which is supported in the machine frame and on which the gear wheel 16 of the gear arrangement 20 is mounted secured against rotation relative to the shaft. The spring legs 12 are pivotably supported on the eccentric part 17. On the input shaft 21 of the gear arrangement 20 a gear wheel 22 is mounted secured against rotation relative to the shaft and meshing with a further gear wheel 24. This gear arrangement with the gear wheels 22 and 24 represents a further gear arrangement 23. In the Fig. 1 the teeth of the meshing out-of-round gears are shown partially and schematically only. In the Fig. 1 two possible drive arrangements are indicated for the gear wheel 24 of the gear arrangement 23. The dash-dotted dive line V is meant to indi¬cate that the input drive shaft 4a and the drive shaft 4 of the nipper aggregate could coincide, i.e. the drive gear 24 is mounted coaxially onto the shaft 4 of the nipper aggregate. As the shaft 4 does not complete a full revolution but effects a discontinuous movement (forward and backward movement) the gear wheel 24 can be designed as a gear part segment merely for transmitting the discontinuous movement to the drive gear wheel 22, The second possible drive arrangement for the gear wheel 24 is indicated with dashed lines in which arrangement the drive shaft 4a via a drive connection 30 is co-ordinated to a main drive motor 27. This second drive arrangement pres¬ents the advantage that the drive gear wheels 16, 19, 22 and 24 perform a continuous rotating movement which beneficially influences the life of the gear wheels. In this arrangement with a continuous movement the position of the drive shaft 18 relative to the eccentric part 17 is to be adapted correspondingly in such a manner that desired curve of movement (Fig. 3) of the movement of the upper nipper plate 9 is achieved. In the Fig. 4 a crank drive mechanism is shown at a reduced scale which ef¬fects the to and fro motion of the drive shaft 4 of the crank shaft 5 of the nipper aggregate. This crank drive mechanism substantially consists of a crank disk 42 rotating about a drive axle 41. To the crank disk 42 via a crank pin 44 a plunger rod 43 is linked which protrudes into a guide element 45 which is mounted onto the shaft 4 secured against rotation relative to the shaft. For adapting the system to the processing requirements for different fibre lengths (staple) the distance between the nip point of the detaching rolls 2, 3 and the nip point between the feed roll and the lower nipper plate 8, the nipper aggregate being located in its frontmost position, is to be varied accordingly. This distance is called detaching distance. This distance also determines the frontmost position of the lower nipper plate 8 relative to the nip point of the detaching rolls 2 and 3. This is indicated schematically with the reference letter E and El The distance E is changed too E1 by releasing and rotating the guide element 45 relative to the nipper shaft 4 about a determined angle a. After this rotation the guide element 45 again is secured against rotation rela-tive to the shaft 4. Due to this adaptation also the movement of the upper nip¬per plate 9, which is influenced by the movement of the lower nipper plate, is changed. In order to re-establish the original relations of the movements be¬tween the lower nipper plate 8 and the upper nipper plate 9 it is proposed (Fig. 5) that the drive gear wheel 24 be rotated relative to the drive shaft 4a. As can be seen in particular from the Fig. 6 a ring 33 is mounted fixedly and secured against rotation on the shaft 4a. The ring 33 is provided with a flange 34 and supports the gear wheel 24. In the gear wheel 24 three slots 36 are provided through each of which a screw 35 protrudes and which is screwed into a threaded bore 40 provided in the flange 334 of the ring 33. This means that using the screws 35 the gear wheel is secured against rotation relative to the ring 33 and thus is connected with the shaft 4a. In order to off-set the adjust¬ment of the guide element 45 over an angle a the screws 35 are released and an adjustment is effected according to a predetermined scale 48. The amount of the adjustment is chosen with reference to predetermined lists in which the adjustment required on the scale 48 is plotted against the angle of adjustment a. The angle of adjustment is shown here just in the sense of a mere example; as a rule the adjustment of the guide element 45 is effected also according to a similar scale as indicated e.g. with the reference number 48. The idea of compensating for an adjustment of the detaching distance of the nipper aggregate by rotating the angle position of a drive gear wheel relative to the shaft on which it is supported is applicable also in design examples in which no out-of-round gear wheels are applied. Owing to the arrangement described an apparatus is obtained which permits cost efficient and reliable adjustment of the sequence of movements of the up¬per nipper plate 9. 25.06.1998 FRH/nm-2759P Patent Claims 1. Combing machine with an oscillating nipper aggregate (6, 8, 9,10), con¬nected to a drive mechanism, and comprising a lower nipper plate frame (6) and upper nipper plate arms (10) pivotably connected thereto, which are linked each to a spring leg (12) pivotable about an axle (A), characterized in that to the axle (A) at least one gear arrangement (20) with out-of-round gearwheels (16, 19) is co-ordinated, for shifting this axle (A). 2. Combing machine according to the claim 1, characterized in that the spring legs (12) each are pivotably supported on an eccentric part (17) which is driven via a drive shaft (18) supported in the machine frame in which ar¬rangement on the drive shaft (18) at least one out-of-round gear wheel is supported secured against rotation relative to the shaft. 3. Combing machine according to one of the claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the gear arrangement (20) is coupled to the drive shaft (4) of the nipper aggregate (6, 8, 9, 10) via a further gear arrangement (23). 4. Combing machine according to one of the claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the gear arrangement (20) is drivingly coupled to the main gear ar¬rangement (26) which is driven by a main motor (27) via a further gear ar¬rangement. 5. Combing machine according to one of the claims 3 or 4, characterized in that the out of round input gear wheel (19) of the gear arrangement (20) and the output gear wheel (22) of the further gear arrangement (23) are mounted on a common shaft (21) and secured against rotation relative to the shaft. 6. Combing machine according to one of the claims 3 through 5, characterized in that at least one gear wheel (22, 24) of the further gear arrangement (23) is connected via a disconnectable connection (35) with the corresponding drive shaft (4a, 21), 7. A combing machine with an oscillating nipper aggregate connected to a drive mechanism substantially as described hereinabove and illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated this 23rd day of June 1999

Documents:

671-mas-1999-abstract.pdf

671-mas-1999-claims filed.pdf

671-mas-1999-claims granted.pdf

671-mas-1999-correspondnece-others.pdf

671-mas-1999-correspondnece-po.pdf

671-mas-1999-description(complete)filed.pdf

671-mas-1999-description(complete)granted.pdf

671-mas-1999-drawings.pdf

671-mas-1999-form 1.pdf

671-mas-1999-form 26.pdf

671-mas-1999-form 3.pdf

671-mas-1999-form 5.pdf

671-mas-1999-other documents.pdf