GB1259031A - - Google Patents

Abstract

1,259,031. Converting tow to sliver; apparatus. O-M Ltd. 17 Sept., 1969 [21 Sept., 1968; 26 May, 1969; 27 May, 1969], No. 45743/69. Heading D1F. Apparatus for converting a tow to a sliver comprises heat stretching means 1 having upper and lower hot plates 8, 9 moving up and down toward and away from each other and being temporarily stopped toward the end of the approaching stroke, breaking means 2 having a preparatory breaking zone divided into several stages for a series of breaking, a zone for breaking the tow into the required fibre length and a subsequent zone having the same roller gauge as the preceding zone and serving to break unbroken fibre, each zone comprising several sets of draft rollers with adjustable roller gauges, a sliver receiving means 4 whereby sliver 7 delivered from a crimping means 3 following the breaking means 2 is received in cans 84a, 84c without being severed, the breaking means 2 being provided with means detecting the tow over the entire width thereof, and cooling means for emitting wet, cold air directed to the breaking rollers. A can surface is provided to impart the up and down movement to the hot plates 8, 9. The roller stands 43, 44 for the required fibre length breaking zone and the subsequent breaking zone are mounted on relatively slidable plates, 56, 57 to adjust the roller gauge in these zones. The detecting means comprises a series of pivoted levers 63 extending across the width of the tow and maintained in balance by the contact with the tow. In the absence of tow due to coiling around a roller or misplacement, the lever 63 pivots and either blocks the light to a photoelectric cell or closes an electrical contact to stop the apparatus. The cans 84a, 84c in the receiving means 4 are held in position by two cruciform arms mounted on a rotary shaft 91 which is intermittently rotated to move the cans through 90‹. A coiler trumpet is positioned above one of the cans adjacent the periphery thereof so that the sliver 7 is annularly placed in the cans. The sliver is placed in a group of cans without severing. The rollers in the breaking means 2 are cooled by cold air being drawn into a chamber 72 by means of a fan 77, the cold air being mixed with water mist from a spray 81. The cold, wet air is directed to the rollers by ducts 73 each of which is provided with an adjustable damper 74 so that the cooling can be controlled relative to the rollers. Some of the cold wet air may be directed to the crimping means to set the crimp in the sliver. In a preferred embodiment, the broken tow is led into a stuffer-box crimper by means of calender rolls 53. In a preferred embodiment, the preparatory breaking zone is divided into three or more stages each having a draft factor of 20 or less.