US3292231A

US3292231A - Stuffer crimping apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3292231A
Application number: US408832A
Authority: US
Inventors: Epstein Herman
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1964-11-04
Filing date: 1964-11-04
Publication date: 1966-12-20
Anticipated expiration: 1983-12-20

Description

Dec. 20, 1966 H EPSTEM 3,292,231

STUFFER GRI MPING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 4, 1964 4 sheets-sheet 1 INVENTOR HERMAN EPSTEIN Dec. 20, 1966 H. EPSTEIN STUFFER CRIMPING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 5:

Filed Nov. 4, 1964 mmUZDO IUZ. Z mDOKOP ow on 00 OM ON OON 00v 00w 00w OOO 00m. O0: 009 OOm 0Com CONN OON 00mm 00mm 000m 00mm ocvm ATTOR EY.

Dec. 20, 1966 Filed NOV. 4,

TORQUE IN INCH-OUNCES H. EPSTEIN 3,292,231

STUFFER CRIMPING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 3.

TORQUE VS. CONTROL PHASE VOLTAGE LOCKED ROTOR 2800 R.P.M. V

3200 R.P. M.

0 2O 4O 6O 80 I00 I I I I 200 220 240 CONTROL PHASE VOLTAGE INVENTOR HERMAN EPSTEIN ATTORNEY.

Dec. 20, 1966 H EPSTEIN STUFFER CRIMPING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

Filed Nov. 4, 1954 A/A f {viii-lulu?! United States Patent 3,292,231 STUFFER CRIMPIN G APPARATUS Herman Epstein, 548 S. 11th St., Newark, NJ. 07103 Filed Nov. 4, 1964, Ser. No. 408,832 2' Claims. 7 (Cl. 28-1) This invention relates to the texturizing or the crimping of man made filaments and more specifically to apparatus for increasing the uniformity of the crimped material and thereby facilitating subsequent handlingsuch 316,379, filed October 15, 1963, entitled Continuous Crimping of Textile Yarn.

One of the objects of the invention is to increase the uniformity of crimping by controlling the speed of the filament at entry into the crimping or stufling space or chamber in response to the resistance the filaments encounter when entering the chamber.

A further object of the invention is to provide an electric motor drive which under a relatively small decrease of speed due to increasing resistance produces a relatively rapid increase of torque permitting maintaining such speed until the resistance decreases, such decrease in resistance causing an increase of speed until the resistance again increases. This will permit maintaining under the control of the motor an average density in the stuffing chamber.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a torque speed characteristic and having less inclination at higher speed than at lower speed.

Another object of the invention is to provide as a stuffing chamber a Teflon tube having a substantially straight vertical extension extending into a curved section of approximately the same length as the length of the straight section, and reversing the direction of feed.

These and other objects of this invention are more fully apparent from the drawing enclosed herein in which:

FIG. 1 represents the physical arrangement of a speed control system embodying certain principles of the invention;

FIG. 2 indicates a numberof torque speed characteristics for difierent control phase voltage.

FIG. 3 shows torque vs. control phase voltage characteristics at different operating speeds.

FIG. 4 represents schematically but in greater detail, partially in cross section, an 'a'ctua'lcrimping space embodying certain principles of the invention.

FIG. 5, also in cross section, illustrates aportion of this space at a somewhat enlarged scale.

FIG. 1 illustrates one example of an arrangement for producing high bulk in a nylon yarn of 200 denier consisting of 20 filaments and providedwith a twist of half turn per inch.

The producers uncrimped yard 1is fed into a pair of

crimping rollers

12, 13 which are manually set to a starting speed of 3300 r.p.m. with a takeup speed of 300 yards per minute.

Rollers

12, 13 are driven simultaneously through a rigid

coupling including gears

14, 15 and belt 16 by the combination of a variable torque motor 17 and a voltage control device such as resistance 18. This combination is so adjusted, preferably by manually adjusting voltage control device 18, that is automatically responds to changes in feed resistance by a continuous variation in speed throughout a range of say 3150 to 3850 r.p.m. prevailing between start and finish of a takeup package indicated by cone 19 through structural relationship not shown.

Alternatively control resistance 18 can be set manually 3,292,231 Patented Dec. 20, 1966 at a certain value by visually observing a position of the core of yarn accumulating in the resistance area of storage tube 10 which in this case can be made translucent or transparent and preferably consists of Teflon. v

- Storage tube 10 is a continuation of the stuffer chamber proper indicated at 11, which consists of a Teflon lined metal tube of approximately 9" length and which is surrounded by heating coil 12. In stutter tube 11 the yarn becomes crirnped and reduced in yardage and is also thermoset, forming a core of about diameter. The core travels upward through storage tube 10 which extends into a straight section for a length of about 15"., and is then curved for a length of about 30" forming an arc of about 270.

This path provides conditions for resistance, storage and further heat setting and cooling of the yarn to further insure permanency of the crimp.

In the initial part of the storage tube 10, the core reaches its high point of resistance which controls the response of torque motor 17 and produces the desired speed correction. It is apparent that the curvature of the tube 10 should be at least 180 from the straight section attached to the crimping chamber in order to assist the feed of the crimped material by gravity.

In accordance with this invention, therefore, motor 17 is caused to respond to the various resistances created by the progressive increase of takeup speed .as well as by the variation of density of core 13.

In another embodiment of the invention the high density yarn core is allowed to pass the high point area and push into the gravity cont-rolled storage and cooling area of the curved section of the storage tube 10 so as to form there a resistance area which could be utilized automatically control the motor response directly, or a visual control area used for manual correction.

Such manual correction can be applied by flattening the Teflon tube 10 with a metal clip as indicated at 14 and allowing only a single end of the crimped. yarn to be pulled out from the end of tube 10 under control of the takeup mechanism schematically indicated at 15. This permits any yarn entanglements, so called slubs, created in crimping or in core formation to be disentangled or pulled out rapidly. The translucency of Teflon tube 10 also furnishes visual means for observing this response in that area. This, in turn, indicates whether or not any manual increase or decrease of resistance was necessary if torque control motor 17 failed to synchronize the movement of yarn core with the takeup mechanism 15by progressively increasing speed as the package cone 9 grows in size and weight.

As a result of the invention there are no rapid stops and starts of crimp movement but a relatively continuous process of crimping at only relatively slight variations in the speed of

rollers

12, 13. The packing of the yarn core in tube 10 is constantly varying in density, resulting in resistance variations however, which are only slight.

Torque motor 17 responds with corrected higher and lower speeds varying by approximately r.p.m. The finished pack-age of yarn is found to be even in character of crimp formation and high in bulk and permanency of crimp.

FIG. 2 shows a number of torque speed characteristics for various control phase voltages. It is apparent from FIG. 2 that in the operating range of the motor around 3000 r.p.m. relatively smaller changes of speed will be accompanied by relatively large changes of torque thus demonstrating the sensitivity, efiiciency and rapidity of control in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 4 shows the torque as a function of the changes in control phase voltage at various operating speeds.

FIG. 4 shows the principal elements of a crimping apparatus in which a multi-filament nylon fiber bundle of rather heavy denier, such as 1200, schematically, indicated at 21 is frictionally transported by and between a pair of steel rollers 22, 22' into a crimping space or area schematically indicated at 23. This crimping area may, have and desired configuration or dimension, in accordance with the structure of the material, the speed of crimping, the configuration of the crimp eventually desired, and other data.

In the embodiment shown, the crimping area is of substantially cylindrical configuration in the form of a hollow steel tube 24, press-fitted into another steel tube indicated at 25,'the latter tube being connected through a nut attachment 26 to output tube 27 feeding the crimped material in the direction of arrow 28 to the spooling arrnagement or to any other processing phase for the crimped fiber.

'The invention, however, is not limited to the rotary shape of crimping area 23, but this area may have any desired configuration in accordance with the structure of the fiber and the crimping configuration desired.

In fact, from experiments underlying the invention, it appears that an important factor in the crimping process is the pushing or pressing of the fiber first in a direction parallel to and against a hard surface and eventually contacting it at an angle with respectto that surface causing the filament through the impact to be predeterminedly knicked or otherwise deformed'in accordance with the configuration'of the crimp as desired.

Under these circumstances, a crimping surface may not only be circula r but also flat or have any desired curvature in accordance with the results to be obtained.

Further in accordance with the invention, the upper portion of crimping surface itself is made in the form of a Teflon coating or a Teflon tube schematically indicated at 29' and forming an insert'in steel tubing 24. The Teflon tube 29 has been found to act not only as a coupling reducing the impact of the nylon fiber agglomerated in crimping area 23, after it has been pushed against steel tube 24, but it also acts as self lubricating means reducing damage to the fiber structure as well as wear and tear of the crimping surface 29 itself to a minimum.

At the same time, Teflon tube 29' also forms a good heat' conductor permitting the heat produced in the crimping area by the continuous impact of the fibrous agglomeraftion against tube 29' to be carried through the wall of tube 29' to

steel walls

24 and 25.

At the same time, in accordance with a further feature of -the invention, and when required, crimping is otherwise accelerated or improved by heating crimping area 23 additionally as shown in FIG. 4 schematically by surrounding

steel tubes

24 and 25 with electric heating elements 30, the heat produced by elements 30 being and effectivelycarried and applied to crimping areas 23 through

steel tubes

24, 25 andTeflon tube 29"-with a minimum of loss or temperature gradient.

' The crimping space or area 23, itself, may consist as shown in FIG. 4 of two sections following each other,'a smaller section schematically indicated at 23, and a slightly larger section schematically indicated at 23", both sections being provided with plastic coupling coatings in the, form of two

separate Teflon tubes

29 and 29", respectively, the upper tube 29" having a slightly larger diameter,for example, .285 inch and the lower tube 29 having a diameter of say .275 inch. 7

As further apparent from FIG. 4, lower tube 29' is held in place at one end by a projection-31 on steel tube 24, and at its upper end by a steel washer 32, which also serves as a base for upper Teflon tube 29", tube ,29" in turn, at its upper end is formed with an outer rim 33 (FIG. yvhichis held in place by nut 26 which is welded to output'tube 27. j

All or any of these steel tubes may be replaced by other preferably good heat conducting material, such as aluminum, without departing from the scope of this invention.

As further apparent from FIG. 5, heat conduction is increased at the bottom of crimping area 23, r and more 1 particularly at the point of filament bundle 21 emerging from feeding rollers 22, 22'.

This improved heat conduction, or a corresponding,

temperature reduction, is achieved by increasing heat transfer by causing the heat produced by feeding rollers 22, 22' to be effectively carried away at least partially or predeterminedly.

In one specific embodiment of this improved heat con-1 duction, filament bundle 21 is impregnated as schemati-1 I cally indicated by wick 34 fed from container 35, prior to reaching the bottom of crimping area 23"with a non-1 reactive but evaporable agent such as alcohol, which when passing rollers 22, .22 is quickly evaporated thereby at least temporarily reducing the temperature at this point, and preventing the filament, especially one of low F denier structure, of becoming damaged subjected to deformation when emerging from the feeding rollers 22,

22' and pushing or being pushed against any, filament agglomeration in crimping area 23', or throughsuch agglomeration against crimping wall 29'.

As a further embodiment of the invention, such improved heat conduction or temperature reduction can. be 1 .also or additionally achieved by providing feed rollers 22, 22' preferably, with radial cooling vanes, schematically indicated in FIG. 5 at 36, which not only increase 1 the surface of material carrying heat off rollers 22, 22'

but also by their configuration and intimate contact with 1 surrounding air, when rotating, produce an air current preferably in axial direction, further increasingthe efli-l ciency of heat transfer from

rollers

22, 22'. 7

As a further advantage of the invention, such tem-.

perature reduction can be readily controlled, in the case 1 of the addition of an evaporant such as alcohol to the 1 filament, by adjusting the amount of alcohol impregnation. i

In the case of providing vanes attached tothe rollers,

the number of vanes, their shape, and especially their: angle of action can be adjusted to cause a predetermined 1 temperature reduction in the ycrimping area 23', and especially at its bottom end.

While the invention has been shown and described by way of specific shapes, materials and arrangements of elements, it is not limited thereto, but it maybe applied 1 in any appropriate manner whatsoever without depart- I ing from the scope of this disclosure.

I claim;

1. In an apparatusfor the crimping of synthetic multifilament fibers, means forming a first substantially cylindrical surface presenting sufficientresistance to said fibers is substantially softer than said first surface; said second surface being followed by means forming a third surface 1 of substantially the same material as that of said second surface, but of a radial extension larger than that of said 1 second surface, fourth means surrounding said third sur-1 i face material with substantially the same material as that 1 of said first surface material, said fourth means extending beyond said third surface material to overlap at least 1 partially said first surface material, said second and third surface materials formed by self-lubricating plastic cylinders of different diameter, one arranged above the other, 1

and said first and fourth surface materials formed b metal cylinders, one overlapping the other. e 1

2. In combination, a crimping chamber of substantially 1 straight configuration, means for feeding the filamentary material to be crimped into said chamber in a direction parallel to its axis, said feeding means including heat conducting means to permit axial convection of the heat produced by said feeding means, and means attached to the.

crimping chamber for storing and guiding crimped filamentary material derived from said chamber over an arcuate path of at least 180, said last named means comprising a self-lubricating plastic tube, means for controlling the exit flow of crimped filamentary material from said tube; and a take-up mechanism for removing crimped filamentary material from said tube; said path providing for subsequent treatment conditions of the crimped filamentary material and assisting the feeding thereof by gravity.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,327,460 8/ 1943 Rugeley 19-66 X 2,488,997 11/1949 Thomburg 62-64 X 6 8/1951 Briscoe et a1 62-64 X 11/1951 Rainard 19-66 X 11/1951 Rainard 19-66 5/1957 Pfau 28-72 X 8/ 1960 Heijnis et a1 28-1 3/ 1962 Scragg 19-66 X 8/ 1962 Trimborn 263-6 7/1963 Rainard et a1. 19-66 X 6/ 1964 Mattson 19-66 X 3/ 1965 Mattingly et a1 278-1 8/1965 Duga et a1 28-72 X FOREIGN PATENTS 3/ 1959 Australia.

ROBERT R. MACKEY, Primary Examiner.

Claims

1. IN AN APPARATUS FOR THE CRIMPING OF SYNETHETIC MULTIFILAMENT FIBERS, MEANS FORMING A FIRST SUBSTANTIALLY CYLINDRICAL SURFACE PRESENTING SUFFICIENT RESISTANCE TO SAID FIBERS WHEN PUSHED AGAINST IT TO CAUSE THEIR DEFORMATION, MEANS FOR FEEDING SAID FIBERS UPWARD IN A DIRECTION SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO SAID SURFACE TO BE DEVIATED FROM SAID DIRECTION AND PUSHED AGAINST SAID SURFACE ANDMEANS FOLLOWING SAID FIRST SURFACE AND FORMING A SECOND SURFACE WHICH IS SUBSTANTIALLY SOFTER THAN SAID FIRST SURFACE; SAID SECOND SURFACE BEING FOLLOWED BY MEANS FORMING A THIRD SURFACE OF SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME MATERIAL AS THAT OF SAID SECOND SURFACE, BUT OF A RADIAL EXTENSION LARGER THAN THAT OF SAID SECOND SURFACE, FOURTH MEANS SURROUNDING SAID THIRD SURFACE MATERIAL WITH SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME MATERIAL AS THAT OF SAID FIRST SURFACE MATERIAL, SAID FOURTH MEANS EXTENDING BEYOND SAID THIRD SURFACE MATERIAL TO OVERLAP AT LEAST PARTIALLY SAID FIRST SURFACE MATERIAL, SAID SECOND AND THIRD SURFACE MATERIALS FORMED BY SELF-LUBRICATING PLASTIC CYLINDERS OF DIFFERENT DIAMETER, ONED ARRANGED ABOVE THE OTHER, AND SAID FIRST AND FOURTH SURFACE MATERIALS FORMED BY METAL CYLINDERS, ONE OVERLAPPING THE OTHER.