US2662767A - Mechanism for maintaining alignment of an apron in a textile machine - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 15, 1953 T. A. DOURDEVILLE 2,662,767

MECHANISM FOR MAINTAINING ALIGNMENT OF AN APRON IN A TEXTILE MACHINE Filed April 4, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

I20 THEODORE A. DOURDEVILLE;

34 BY I 35 HgBa fi Dec. 15, 1953 T A. DOURDEVILLE 2,662,767

MECHANISM FOR MAINTAINING ALIGNMENT OF AN APRON IN A TEXTILE MACHINE Filed April 4, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

THEODORE A DOURDEVILLE.

Patented Dec. 15, 1953 MECHANISM FOR MAINTAINING ALIGN- MENT OF AN APRON IN A TEXTILE MACHINE Theodore A. Dourdeville, Holden, Mass., assig'nor to David Gessner Company, Worcester, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application April 4, 1951, Serial N 0. 219,235

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to mechanism for maintaining alignment of an apron in a. textile machine and more particularly in a cloth finishing machine. In such machines, the cloth to be treated is wound onto a large cylinder or drum, in conjunction with an apron which may be several hundred feet in length.

It has been found dimcult to make this apron travel in a straight line, and great care and constant attention are necessary to prevent the apron from shifting its path of travel axially of the drum, and particularly as the diameter of the roll of fabric increases. Frequently, also, the selvage portions of such an apron are purposely woven soft and flexible for better sealing of the cloth during a steaming operation, and these soft and flexible selvages increase the difficulty of accurately guiding the apron.

It is the general object of my invention to provide simplified mechanism for maintaining apron travel in a desired alignment and for preventing substantial axial deviation therefrom.

To the attainment of this general object, I have provided a movably mounted guide-roll, together With an improved feeler device and automatic means to change the angular position of the guide-roll in accordance with any substantial transverse deviation of the apron from the desired path of travel.

My invention further relates to arrangements and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

A preferred form of the invention is shown in the drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a partial side elevation of a cloth finishing machine embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional end view, taken along the line 22 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the shifting of the guide-roll axis and as it would appear when looking in the direction of the arrow 3 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3a is a detail view to be described;

Fig. 4. is a perspective view of the feeler device and associated parts;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation thereof, looking substantially in the direction of the arrow 5 in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a perspective View of the supporting bearing for the opposite end of the guide-roll and also showing means for raising and lowering the bearing; and

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view of the operating connections between the feeler switch and the hydraulic devices for raising and lowering the roll bearing.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, I have shown my invention as embodied in a cloth finishing machine having a large perforated cylinder or steam drum H), a hydraulic motor II for rotating the drum, and a storage roll I2 adapted to be rotated by a chain l4 and sprocket 15 from any usual source of power.

An apron A is drawn from this storage roll I2 and is wound on the drum 10 after passing over a guide-bar 85, approaching a guide-roll 20 substantially horizontally, passing under said guideroll 20 (Fig. 1) and around a pressure roll 22 which is mounted in the upper ends of swinging arms 24 and which may be pressed against the apron and. fabric as it is wound on the drum, such pressure being applied by a hydraulic cylinder and piston indicated generally at 26.

The cloth C is guided to the drum It around tension bars 30 and over the roll 22, so that the cloth and apron are wound simultaneously on the drum I0 and in superposed layers. The angular disposition of the bars 30 may be shifted to vary the cloth tension.

Steam supply and drainage connections 32 and 33 (Fig. 2) provide for preheating the cylinder or drum [0 and removing condensation therefrom.

My present invention relates particularly to the means provided for supporting the guide-roll 20 and for vertically shifting the angular position of the axis of the roll in accordance with apron deviation.

At its right-hand end, as viewed in Fig. 2, the shaft 34 of the roll 20 is loosely mounted in a fixed bearing 35 (Fig. 3a) on a bottom frame member 36 of the machine. The roll shaft 34 has a slightly loose fit in the bearing 35, so that the opposite end of the roll and shaft can be slightly raised or lowered without causing the shaft 34 to bind in its bearing 35.

At the opposite or left-hand end of the roll 2b as viewed in Fig. 2, the roll shaft 34 (Fig. 6) is supported in a bearing 40 mounted in an arm 42 pivoted on a stud 43 fixed in a bracket 44 mounted on a bottom frame member 45. The bearing 48 is preferably of an antifriction type which will permit raising and lowering of the arm 12 without binding the roll shaft 34.

Stop screws '46 and M are threaded in lugs 43 and 49 on the arm 42 and may be adjusted to limit the upward or downward swinging movement of the arm 42, check nuts being provided to maintain the adjustment.

A heavy coil spring so tends to swing the arm 42 upward and to raise the adjacent end of the roll 20, while a single-acting hydraulic cylinder 5i and piston 52 act through a piston rod 53 and cross pin 54 to push the arm as downward.

The operating connections for the cylinder 5! are shown in Fig. 7 and comprise a pipe at connected to a three-way valve V which has a supply pipeei for liquid u'nder pressure and an exhaust pipe 6'2. A piston as in the valve V is mounted on a piston rod 85 which is normally pushed downward by a spring 59 but which may be drawn upward by a solenoid 6? when a err: cuit therethrough is completed at a switch 18. The switch to (Figs. 4 and 5) is preferably of the mercury type and is fixed at the upper end of a lever 12 mounted on pivot studs '33 in a bracket M bolted to a fixed upright frame member F of the finishing machine. 7

A block 75 is connected to the lower end of the arm or lever 72 by pivot studs 18, and a feeler rod 89 is adjustably secured in the block i5 by a binding screw 81. The leit-hand endof the feeler rod 86, as viewed in Fig.4, is held in a desired vertical position byfa light flexible cord 82, the upper end of which is connected to an arm or bracket which is clamped on an adjacent fixed cross rod 85. t H

At its free end, the ieeler rod til is bent upward as indicated at $9 and then laterally at SS, and isinclined upwardly at 92. The upright portion 98' is positioned for enga ement with the adjacent selvag'e edge or the apron A, and the disposition of the parts is asshown in Fig. 4, when the apron is travelling slightly to the left of mid position.

if the apron A deviates to the right in Fig. 4, the arm 12 will be turned anti-clockwise, thus closing a circuit from the line ire L (Fig. 7) through the solenoid 6'1 switch it to the line wire L. The solenoid S? then draws the piston rod E55 and piston 54 upward to close off the supply pipe 9i and to connect the upper end of the cylinder 5! to the exhau t pipe e2. Thisallows the spring 56 to swing the arm 42 and the adjacentend of the cylinder 20' upward.

As the apron A always tends t travel to the higher end of the guide-roll 25), the apron will now travel to the left in Fig. 4 until the feeler rod as has returned to the position shown in Fig. 4, thereby breaking the circuit through the switch it.

The spring st will then depress the pistonst and connect the cylinder 5! to the supply pipe 6|. The piston 52 will then actto swing the arm 42 and the adjacent end of the r611 29 downward and the apron will start a return travel to the right. t v

in the ordinary operation of the machine, the roll Ziiis shifted downward or upward, within relatively close limits but does not at any time operate in exactly horizontal position.

The successive operative positions of the axis of the roll 20 are as indicated in Fig. 3, in which the full line a indicates the position of the guideroll axis with the parts as shown in Fig. '7, and the dotted line 1) indicates the position of the guide-roll axis when the circuit has been completed through the switch it and the cylinder 5i is open to exhaust.

Obviously the successive shifting of the roll 20 above or below horizontal position may produce a slight hunting action of the apron but this is too small to be objectionable, and this construction is much simpler than would be re quired to'bri'ng thev apron back to exact mid-position after each transverse deviation.

This mechanism has been thoroughly tested commercially and has been found to be extremely satistactory and reliable when in operation under the rather difficult conditions herein set forth. Y

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof; i'd'o not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claim, but what I claim is:

Ina mechanism for winding a strip of material, feele'r apparatus comprising a pivotally mounted arm, circuit-closing means controlled by said arm, a block swiveled to one end of said arm, a rod mounted in an opening in said block and extending horizontally a substantial distaiice therefrom, means to secure said rod in adjusted axial position in said block, said rod having an offset end port-ion positioned to be engaged by an adjacent edge of said strip of material, a fixed support, and flexible means depending from said support and sustaining the outer end of said rod for free swinging and substantially horizontal movement toward and away from the path or" travel of the edge of said strip of material.

THEODORE A. DOURDEVILLE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 711,139 Warren 1 Oct. 14. 1902 1,822,902 Osborne 1 Sept. 15, 1931 1,842,946 Prins Jan. 26, 1932 1,885,396 Wenzel Nov. 1, 1932 1,945,411 Armstrong 11-- Jan. 30, 1934 2,076,413 Ostertag Apr. 6, 1937 2,199,893 Norton et a1. 1.1"- May 7, 1940 2,274,268 Hercik Feb. 24, 1942 2,366,331 Harless Jan. 2, 1945 2,461,084 Robertson 1 Feb. 8, 1949 2,484,473 Staege Oct. 1 1949 2,530,122 Hornbostel 1 1. Nov. 14, 1950

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