GB2048324A - Opening rollers - Google Patents

Abstract

An open-end spinning machine has one or more apertures 35 provided in a housing for the opening roller to enable air to be drawn into the housing due to rotation of the roller, the location of the or each aperture being such that an air flow is set up within the housing around the roller towards a fibre opening or combing area 13, thus minimising the build-up of fly or other particles in undesirable locations around the roller. The or each aperture may be provided either in the housing itself and/or in the cover plate 9 and if desired, one or more further apertures 27 may be provided in the roller having any one or more orientations such that an air flow is set up from the front to the rear face of the roller or vice-versa depending upon the air flow into the housing. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements relating to open-ended spinning machines This invention relates to open-ended spinning machines.

In an open-ended spinning machine, sliver is fed to a rotating opening roller which opens the sliver into separate fibres and conveys them to the entrance of a fibre feed duct. At this point the fibres are removed from the opening roller and conveyed by means of an air stream down the duct to a rotating spinning rotor. Obviously, the opening roller rotates at high speed and a proportion of the separated fibres and fluff (or fly) can penetrate down the sides of the roller between its side faces and housing or cover plate, eventually causing clogging of the machine in the vicinity of the roller bearing with a subsequent breaking of the roller and a possible danger of fire.

Fly, whether between the opening roller and housing or between the roller and cover plate, causes many problems, some connected with the previous!y mentioned heat build-up, some connected with wear to the roller, particularly if it is plastic filled, and some connected with damage to the bearings if foreign matters enters them. The present invention is useful to keep fly out of the front or back of the roller to minimise the chances of the above problems occurring.

According to the present invention, we provide in an open-ended spinning machine in which fibres are opened from a sliver and advanced to a spinning station by an opening roller located in a housing, one or more apertures in the housing to enable air to be drawn from exteriorly of the housing into its interior by rotation of the roller, the location and orientation of the apertures being such that an air flow is set up in the housing moving towards a fibre opening or combing area, thus discouraging the movement of fly away from the combing area and into undesired locations between the housing and the roller.

In one construction, the housing Includes a cover plate which can be removed to enable a roller to be replaced and the air flow can be achieved by providing one or more apertures in the cover plate.

Alternatively, or additionally, one or more apertures may be formed in the back plate of the housing, i.e. in the housing itself, so that as the roller rotates air is drawn through the housing and through these apertures. Additionally, air passages may be provided in the opening roller or beater so that an air flow is generated both at the front and at the rear of the beater.

The primary intention of this invention, however, is to prevent fly from entering into the spaces between the roller and the housing or cover plate. To achieve this, an air flow is required either to the front or rear face (or both) of the roller. Preferably, the air should come from a filtered and possibly pressurised source. It is better to feed it from longitudinal galleries in the housing, e.g. in the spinning frame, rather than run the risk of further airborne fly being drawn in through holes in the cover plate. Filtered pressurised air is not always supplied in openended spinning frames but it is usually fairly simple to supply this from mill service sources.

If holes are provided in the roller or beater, these may be so located and aligned that they contribute to an air pumping effect to set up an air stream away from the rotational axis of the beater.

This can be achieved by arranging the air inlet nearer the rotational axis than the outlet so as to give a centrifugal effect. Alternatively, or additionally, the inlet may be rotationally ahead of the air outlet to assist with pumping in the correct direction.

In order to improve the final pumping effect, the beater or roller preferably has features machined into its surface to act as turbines or wind vanes.

The invention is now described by way of example with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings, in which: FIGURE 1 is a side view, partly in section, of a portion of opening roller, to an enlarged scale: FIGURE 2 is a diametral section through an opening roller located in a housing, and FIGURE 3 is a view, similar to Figure 2, showing an alternative construction.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a pinned opening roller having a boss 1 with a central bore 3 about the longitudinal axis 5 of which the roller is rotatable within a housing 7.

The open end of the housing is closed by a cover plate 9. The roller has a circumferential working face 13. The lateral boundaries of the face 13 may be defined by two upstanding flanges 1 5 and 17.

A plurality of pins 19 project from and are secured in the face 13 in known manner, and the rear ends of the pins 1 9 are surrounded by a plastics material 21 which is poured into the space defined by walls 1 1, 12 and boss 1, the outer face of material 12 being machined flush with the outer face of flange 1 7 as shown at 23.

As shown in Figure 1, at least one passageway 25 extends axially through the roller from the front to its rear face, on which wind vanes (not shown) may be provided. Instead of extending parallel to axis 5, the passageway may extend along a line similar to that shown at 27, wherein an outlet on the rear face of the roller is located radially outwardly of the inlet to achieve a centrifugal effect on air in the passageway. Alternatively, or additionally, the passageway or air duct may have its inlet and outlet at the same radial pitch, but with the outlet trailing the inlet (in the rotational sense), as shown at 29.

In fact, the outlet of the passageway can really be located at any location between the location of the outlet of the passageways 27 and 29, a locus of this location being identified by the broken lines 31 in Figure 1. Furthermore, the precise location of the inlet for the passageway need not be as shown in Figure 1. It can of course be located at any position around the roller at the radius illustrated, or it could be radially spaced further from the rotational axis 5 of the roller. Several passageways such as those described above may be provided in the roller. These may all be of the same disposition or of different dispositions.

It should also be noted that different displacements of inlet relative to outlet in the roller are possible. The inlet can be either on the inner face or on the outer face of the roller, depending upon whether exterior air is fed to the space between the roller housing and the roller itself through the housing 7 or through the cover plate 9. In the construction shown in Figure 2, one central passageway 35 is provided in the coverplate 9. Thus, the main air feed is through the cover plate and it is therefore preferred that the inlets of the air passageways lead the outlets and are located radially inwardly of the outlets to obtain the maximum air pumping effect.

However, in the alternative construction shown in Figure 3, a passageway 33 is provided in the housing 7 (and no passageway in the cover plate 9) and a passageway 27a in the roller is so inclined as to pump air to the outer face of the roller from the passageway 33.

While the invention has been specifically described with reference to a pinned plastics filled roller, it will be appreciated that it is applicable to all types of rollers for open-ended spinning machines, including solid rollers provided with carding wire or pinned rings on their working surface.

Claims (9)

1. An open-ended spinning machine in which fibres are opened from a sliver and advanced to a spinning station by an opening roller located in a housing, wherein at least one aperture is provided in the housing to enable air to be drawn from exteriorly of the housing into its interior by rotation of the roller, the location and orientation of the aperture being such that an air flow is set up in the housing, which air flow moves towards a fibre opening or combing area, thus discouraging the flow of fly away from the combing area and into undesired locations between the housing and the roller.

2. An open-ended spinning machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the housing includes a cover plate and wherein a central aperture is provided in the cover plate.

3. An open-ended spinning machine as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein at least one aperture is formed in the housing itself.

4. An open-ended spinning machine as claimed in any one of claims 1-3 wherein one or more air passages is/are provided in the roller.

5. An operr-ended spinning machine as claimed in claim 4 wherein the or each aperture in the roller extends generally radially, the inlet being radially spaced inwardly from the outlet.

6. An open-ended spinning machine as claimed in any one of claims 1-4 wherein the or each aperture in the roller has an inlet which is ahead of the outlet with respect to the rotational direction of the roller.

7. An open-ended spinning machine as claimed in claim 6 wherein the outlet is spaced radially from the axis of the rotation of the roller by the same amount as the radial spacing from the axis of the inlet.

8. An open-ended spinning machine as claimed in claim 6 wherein the outlet is radially spaced from the rotational axis of the roller by an amount greater than the radial spacing of the inlet from said axis.

9. An open-ended spinning machine substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.