US3545058A - Stuffer crimper with cooling fluid wretreatment means - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 8, 1970 r R. K STANLEY I -3,

STUFFER CRIMPER WITH COOLING FLUID PRETREATMENT MEANS Filed Jan. 22, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 w 2,??? Q 0 F. 1 l5, [5 I /7 Arrow [u Dec. 8, 1970 R. K. STANLEY STUFFER CRIMPER WITH COOLING FLUID PRETREA'IMENT MEANS Filed Jan. 22. 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet z awn/me 06597 K STA/v1.5)

United States Patent 3,545,058 STUFFER CRIMPER WITH COOLING FLUID PRETREATMENT MEANS Robert K. Stanley, Media, Pa., assignor to Techniservice Corporation, Kennett Square, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Continuation-impart of applications Ser. No. 650,762, July 3, 1967, and Ser. No. 675,919, Oct. 17, 1967. This application Jan. 22, 1968, Ser. No. 703,221

Int. Cl. D02g 1/12 U.S. Cl. 28-1.6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention provides for fluid cooling of the contacting surfaces of the feed rolls of stulfer crimpers, thereby enabling preheated material to be stuffer crimped without further raising the temperature thereof, and provides for guiding and maintaining a textile strand in a central position along the axes of the feed rolls by fluid means, thereby preventing snagging of the strand at the entrance to the stufling chamber of the crimper.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS My US. Pat. 3,348,283 and my patent applications Ser. Nos. 650,762, filed July 3, 1967, now abandoned, and 675,919, filedOct. 17, 1967, now US. Pat. No. 3,491,420 granted Jan. 27, 1970, respectively, of which this application is a continuation-in-part and the specifications of which are incorporated herein by reference, describe and illustrate a process and apparatus for stuffer crimping textile strands under adiabatic or constant-temperature conditions, and for improving the desired control of temperature or of heat exchange between the strand and its surroundings. The present invention improves the guiding of textile strand from the nip of the feed rolls into the crimping apparatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The forcible stuifing of textile material into a chamber wherein it is crimped under compression tends to increase its temperature, and such localized temperature increase may be deleterious to the strand composition or may impair the crimping process or crimped product. Such forcihle stuffing of a heated strand in a laterally unsupported condition into the entrance of a stufler crimper subjects the strand to bending forces which cause that portion of the strand moving between its point of exit from the nip of the nip rolls to the chamber entrance to distort and in some cases to adhere momentarily to one or the other of the roll surfaces before entering the crimper. This manner of contact between the strand and the roll surfaces causes the strand to track slightly from side to side at the entrance of the crimper. Ordinarily, under carefully controlled temperature conditions, and dependent on the denier of the strand and the force of impedance encountered in the crimper, the strand moves smoothly into the crimper, where it is crimped. However, if the strand becomes overheated either before or after it enters the feed rolls, the strand becomes more flexible than desirable and it will bend more readily as well as become more subject to adhesion to the surfaces of the feed rolls. When this happens, the strand loses its somewhat wiry characteristics and tends to snag against and around the crimper entrance. It then can even begin to wrap itself around the rolls instead of entering the crimper. The present invention relates to a means and method for preventing such disruptive action in the feeding of the strand into the crimper.

Description of the prior art One method of forced feeding of the strand into the crimper is to stuff the strand into a crimper wherein one of the walls in the form of a grooved wheel surface is continuously movable, the crimped strand being moved downwardly by the turning of the wheel, as described in US. Pat. 3,146,512. Another method and apparatus are described in US. Pat. 2,914,810 wherein the crimped strand is drawn off laterally. In each of the patented methods and apparatuses the problem to which the present application is directed can arise, but no solution for the problem is described in the patents. Usually the strand is forced into an elongated fixed chamber having an exit from which it eventually exits. The customary feeding means in all these arrangements is a pair of nip rolls as already suggested.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is an improvement closely related to the method and apparatus particularly disclosed and claimed in my patent application Ser. No. 675,919, above. In the present improvement invention, part of the fluid used to cool the feed rolls is conducted from the main conduit from Which a main stream of fluid is being supplied to the surfaces of the rolls into a pair of opposed tubes, or branch conduits, having their outlets located directly opposite each other adjacent to the strand emerging from the nip of the feed rolls. The outlets of the tubes are aligned with their longitudinal axes lying in a line in the same plane, so that the flows of fluid impinge directly at each other. Each tube directs a stream of fluid parallel to the nip of the rolls and against opposite sides of the strand. The strand thus is subjected to two opposing streams of fluid. The force of each stream is controlled to balance the force of the opposing stream. By means of this balance of fluid forces, the strand path is maintained substantially perpendicular to the nip of the rolls and is prevented from tracking traversely on either roll. Additionally, the temperature of the fluid is controlled in the same way as that of the main stream of the fluid to maintain the strand and roll surfaces at the desired constant temperature preferred for practice of the parent invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The above and other objects of this invention, together with means and methods for attaining the various objects, will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying diagrams. I

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the stuffer crimping of textile material, with which the present invention is useful;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of apparatus useful according to this invention;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the apparatus of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of associated apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary front elevation on an enlarged scale, of a portion of the apparatus of the preceding views;

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of part of the same apparatus, taken at VIVI on FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a front sectional elevation, taken at VII-VII on FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a side sectional elevation, taken at VIIIVIII on FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a detail sectional plan, taken at IXIX on FIG. 7; and

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary schematic representation of the portion of the apparatus below the crimper entrance and wherein the strand is shown being guided by the opposing streams of fluid.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In general, the objects of the present invention are accomplished, in a stutfer crimper for a strand of textile material, having a stuffing chamber with an entrance and an exit and having a pair of nip rolls juxtaposed to the chamber entrance to feed thereinto textile material to be crimped, by means forming a main conduit for conducting a cooling fluid into contact with the cylindrical surface of at least one, preferably both, of the feed rolls and by at least one pair of subsidiary branch conduits which are opposed for conducting said fluid into contact with opposite sides of the strand above the nip of said rolls and below said entrance.

FIG. 1 shows, schematically, strand unwinding from conical package 11 to pass through guide 12 and successive pairs of rolls 13, 13' and 15, 15' with heater bar 14 for the strand intervening between the respective pairs of rolls. Pair of nip rolls 17, 17' for feeding the strand into stutfing chamber 18 follow immediately after temperature controller 16, which contains conventional sensing and heating means for ascertaining and, if desired, increasing the strand temperature close to the roll nip. Crimped strand 10' is wound up from the exit of the chamber onto cylindrical package 20 by grooved traversing drive roll 19.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show, in plan and side elevation, respectively, stuffer crimping apparatus according to this invention in more detail than in the preceding view. The strand is shown in FIG. 3 but is omitted from FIG. 2 in the interest of clarity. Stufling chamber 18 and associated parts are supported by inverted U-frarne 22. Axles 27, 27 for rolls 17, 17' are journaled in opposite legs of the frame and carry at their opposite end gears 37, 37' in mesh with one another, and axle 27' carries driven pulley 29 also. Drive pulley 33, which is interconnected to the driven pulley by belt 34, is on drive shaft 32 of motor 31 mounted on the frame. Tubes 38, 38' enter the external wall of chamber 18 at the left and right, respectively, above rolls 17, 17'. Front and rear flanges 18a, 18b extend downward from the bottom of the chamber to cover the adjacent faces of the respective rolls somewhat further than the nip. Tubes 60, enter the flanges 18a, 18b, respectively, above the nip 67 of rolls 17, 17'.

FIG. 4 shows schematically means for the supply of cooling fluid via tubes 38, 38, 60, and 60', which join at line 39. Each tube is preferably provided with an adjustable fluid control valve 61, 62, 63 and 63, respectively. Housing 41, with which line 39 communicates, is supplied with cooling fluid through the tube 42 from pump 43. Gages 44 and 46 in the upstream and downstream portions of line 39, with respect to intervening regulating valve 45, indicate the pressure in housing 41 and in line 39, respectively. Inside the housing is baflie 49 (indicated in broken lines) to assist in preventing entry of moisture or contaminants into line 39, and the housing has bleed valves 47, 47' at the bottom. Also indicated in broken lines inside the housing is cooling coil 51, which connects externally to compressor 52, forming part of a conventional heat exchanger not otherwise illustrated.

FIGS. 5 to 9 show on an enlarged scale portions of the apparatus of this invention in the vicinity of the junction of tubes 38, 38' to stufling chamber 18, and of tubes 60, "60 to the entrance of the chamber 18, in successive front elevation, side elevation, front sectional elevation, side sectional elevation, and sectional plan views. Vents 58a, 58a are visible in front flange 18a, while like vents 58b, 58b are indicated in rear flange 18b. The vents interconnect ventilating passages 59, 59', which receive coolant fluid through tubes 38, 38', to the exterior near the edge of the cylindrical roll surfaces betwe n which the 4 strand is nipped to be stuffed into chamber 18. The respective vents are spaced about one radian of rotation past the roll nip 67. The ventilating passages are only a few degrees wide in the circumferential direction along the cylindrical surfaces of the rolls and extend the entire width thereof to terminate slightly beyond the edges. The ventilating passages are lined with suitable heat-insulating material to preclude affecting the temperature of the stufling chamber or the strand therein, which may be controlled as in my aforementioned patent applications.

Tube 60 is visible entering front flange 18a, and tube 60' is visible entering rear flange 18b. Tubes 60, 60 form passages 64, 64' through flanges 18a, 18b of the stulfing chamber housing and conduct opposing streams of cooling fluid from line 39 along the rolling surfaces of rolls 17, 17' parallel to the axes and nip of the rolls. As may be seen by reference to FIG. 8 in conjunction with FIG. 10, the opposing streams of cooling fluid from tubes 60, 60' impinge against heated strand 10 as it emerges from the nip between rolls 17, 17. The opposing streams cause strand 10 to stay in a substantially straight path from the nip of rolls 17, 17' directly into the entrance 65 of the stufling chamber 18, shown broken away in FIG. 8 for purposes of clarity. As soon as the incoming portion of strand 1t) enters the entrance 65, the strand impinges against the accumulated wad of crimped strand in the chamber 18 and is itself crimped. The cooling fluid from tubes 60, 60' serves also to remove heat from the strand 10 and rolls 17, 17', particularly in the region immediately adjacent to the point at which the strand emerges from between the rolls, i.e., at the nip. The strand and roll surfaces are controlled at a temperature which will maintain the strand and rolls under nonadhering conditions, but adequate for crimping conditions. The cooling fluid from around strand 10 is swept, for the most part, by the rotation of the rolls 17, 17' upwardly into ventilating passages 59, 59 and mixes there with the cooling fluid from tubes 38, 38' and the mixture escapes through vents 58a, 58a, 58b, and 58b.

The flow of cooling fluid from line 39 to tubes 38, 38', 60, and 60', respectively is preferably apportioned among the tubes by means of control valves 61, 62, 63, and 63, respectively. Flow gages, e.g., rotameters, not shown, also preferably are mounted in each tube between the valve and the outlet of the tube. The flow rates of cooling fluid flowing to the outlets of tubes 60, 60' are readily determined and are set within operating ranges which will be adequate to hold strand 10 in a non-traversing position between the two outlets. These flow rates must be great enough to create a fluid pressure at least adequate to keep the heated strand 10 from collapsing under lengthwise forces and preferably suflicient to overcome adhesion of the strand to the roll surfaces in the event the strand surface should become tacky from overheating. The flow rates, or defined in another way, the fluid forces, from tubes 60, 60' will be adequately set for practice of the invention at the flow rates, or fluid forces or pressures, which maintain the moving strand 10 in a snag-free condition and in a straight path between rolls 17, 17 and chamber entrance 65.

The flow rates of cooling fluid to tubes 38, 38' may then readily be set at rates at least adequate to perform such additional cooling as is required to maintain rolls 17, 17' under controlled temperature conditions.

While in the preferred embodiment described above, the flow rates from the outlets of tubes 38, 38, 60, and 60' are controlled by means of valves and flow meters, it will be clear to one skilled in the art that the flow rates also can be controlled under fixed conditions without instrumentation by selecting suitable tube diameters and flow nozzles for tubes 60, 60' and tubes 38, 38, respec tively, to obtain desired ratios of flow rates between the first and second sets of tubes and equal flow rates in tubes 60, 60.

The flow nozzles for tubes 60, 60' are preferably a V jet type of nozzle which projects a relatively narrow, fanshaped fluid stream against the strand 10. The nozzles preferably are aligned with their V notches parallel to each other and perpendicular to the nip of rolls 17, 17.

While the tubes 60, 60 are shown extending only to the sides of rolls 17, 17', it will be advantageous in some cases to extend the outlets of the tubes 60, 60' inwardly parallel to the axes and above the nip of the rolls into closer proximity to the strand 10.

It will be understood that any appropriate cooling fluid or coolant may be used, which may be simply cool air or may be carbon dioxide, nitrogen, or other fluid that is gaseous and dry at the temperature of the strand so that liquid does not collect in the apparatus. The fluid is cooled to desired temperature, as in housing 41, and dried thereby (or otherwise) if necessary, as after having been pumped thereinto from the atmosphere or other suitable source. It then proceeds via line 39, past gages 44 and 46 and valve 45, through tubes 38, 38 into ventilating passages 59, 59, and through tubes 60, 60 into the area below the stuffing chamber entrance 65, wherein, in each instance, it comes into contact with and cools the cylindrical surfaces of rolls 17, 17, after which it exhausts through vents 58a, 58a, 58b, 5812.

By conventional temperature sensing means (not shown) the temperature and overall flow rate of the cooling fluid can be regulated in accordance with a desired strand temperature, such as a temperature to which the strand was preheated for crimping, so that the strand is neither heated nor cooled by contact with the nip rolls stufling it into the chamber for temporary confinement therein under crimping compression and possibly under a continuation of the same temperature, as prescribed in my aforementioned patent application. Of course, the rolls can be regulated to other temperatures if desired.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, some modifications have been suggested. Additionally, other modifications may be made, as by adding, combining, or subdividing parts or steps or by substituting equivalents, while retaining at least some of the benefits and advantages of the invention.

The claimed invention:

1. In a stutter crimper for textile material having a stufiing chamber including a housing with an entrance and an exit and having a pair of nip rolls juxtaposed to the chamber entrance to feed thereinto textile material to be crimped, and comprising means forming a main conduit for conducting a cooling fluid into contact with the cylindrical surfaces of at least one of the feed rolls, the improvement comprising strand-guiding branch conduit means associated with said main conduit for conducting at least part of said cooling fluid in at least two separate opposed streams of substantially equal forces or flow rates parallel to the nip of said rolls into the region between said chamber entrance and said rolls.

2. Stuifer crimper according to claim 1, wherein the main conduit means is in part integral with the housing of the stufling chamber.

3. Stuffer crimper according to claim 1, wherein the main conduit communicates with the cylindrical roll sur- 6 face over essentially the entire width thereof parallel to the roll axis.

4. Stuifer crimper according to claim 1, wherein the main conduit communicates with the cylindrical roll surface over an acute arcuate portion thereof.

5. Stuffer crimper according to claim 1, wherein the main conduit communicates with the cylindrical roll surface along a locus about one radian of roll rotation past the nip.

6. Stuffer crimper according to claim 1, wherein the main conduit communicates with an adjacent portion of at least one flat surface of the roll as well as with the cylindrical surface thereof.

7. Stulfer crimper according to claim 1, wherein the chamber has flanges extending therefrom overlapping flat surfaces of the rolls to at least the nip, and the main con duit terminates within the flanges and communicates with the surrounding atmosphere at the terminus thereof.

8. Stulfer crimper according to claim 1, wherein said strand guiding branch conduit means comprises at least one pair of branch conduits leading from said main conduit, one branch conduit having its outlet located alongside one end of said rolls and the other branch conduit having its outlet located alongside the other end of said rolls, said outlets being arranged with their longitudinal axes lying in a line in the same plane and facing each other after the nip of said rolls and before the stuffing chamber.

9. Stuffer crimper according to claim 8, wherein said outlets are provided with V jet nozzles, said nozzles being aligned with their V notches parallel to each other and perpendicular to the nip of said rolls.

10. Stuifer crimper according to claim 8, wherein said strand-guiding branch conduit means is in part integral with the housing of the stufling chamber.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,253,314 5/1966 Shattuck 281.7(XR) 3,259,953 7/1966 Baer 2872.14(XR) 3,305,897 2/ 1967 Meibohm 2872.14 3,389,445 6/1968 Schrefller 2872.14(XR) 2,846,729 8/1958 Sonnino 281.6(XR) 2,862,279 12/1958 Pardon et al. 28-1.6 3,160,941 12/1964 Williamson 28-l.6 3,220,083 11/1965 Crawford et al. 28l.6 3,248,770 5/ 1966 Shattuck et al 281.7 3,249,979 5/1966 Stephens et al. 281.6 3,396,443 8/ 1968 Stanley 281.6 3,429,015 2/1969 McClure 281.6

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,452,774 8/1966 France 2872.14

ROBERT R. MACKEY, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

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