US1886342A - Means for controlling speed of and expanding cloth - Google Patents

Description

NW, 1, 1932. W. J. KOCH 1,286,342-

MEANS FOR CONTROLLING SPEED OF AND EXPANDING CLOTH Filed Sept. 24, 1931 O O O INVENTO,

JlllIlll um I frock llzzzm/ Patented Nov. 1,; 1932 UN STAT I 11 OFFICE WILLIAM J. KOCH, OF MIDLAND PARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO VAN VLAANDEREN MACHINE COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OE NEW JERSEY MEANS FOR CONTROLLING SPEED OF AND EXPING CLOTH Application filed September 24, 1931. Serial No. 564,835.

On the delivery of fabric from a tentering machine, or tenter, it frequently is desired to subject it to a drying and smoothin or other finishing treatment, and this is usual y accomplished by a machine known as a Palmer ut in, any event having a rotary drum (usually heated) around which the goods extends and by whose periphery it is finished by being held in close contact therewith for a time. It

is known that although the tenter may have a constant speed the actual rate of delivery of the cloth to the Palmer is not constant, but varies, according to the conditions inherent in the cloth itself and brought into effect by the act of tentering, and that in consequence the cloth is likely to become transversely creased on the drum "of the Palmer, which if heretofore rotated at variable speed was only so driven by a variable-speed drive manual ly controlled by an attendant. It has been proposed to regulate the speed of the Palmer automatically according to the speed of the cloth itself as by providing spaced guides (between the tenter and the Palmer) bridged by the cloth, and means, normally urged against the bridging portion of the cloth but movable by the cloth in the opposite direction, to control the shifter of means to drive the Palmer at variable speeds. .It has also been proposed to utilize a cloth-expanding roller so that such roller would act to stretch the cloth transversely and thus restore it to the proper width and condition before it attains the Palmer if it should gather transversely" and perhaps tend to crease lengthwise on leaving the tenter. But in the previous embodiment of these features there is room for improvement with a view to simplify the mechanism and attain greater efiiciency, and

y it is the object of this invention to improve the previous mechanism in these respects.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is aside elevation of the Palmer and the adjacent end of the tenter equipped according to this invention; and

Fig. 2 is a plan of the cloth-expanding roller, partly in section.

The Palmer shownis of well known type, 1 being its frame; 2 the mentioned finishing drum journaled therein; 3 a belt whose portion 30 tightly embraces the drum for nearly its w hole circumference (i. e., except at the right) and the remaining portion 36 of which embraces the first portion, said belt extending around appropriately placed rollers 4:, and also around a smaller drum 5, one of said rollers being subject to movement by a screw device 6 for efiecting tightening of the belt with respectto drum 2.

7 is the 'tenter delivering the cloth in the direction of the arrow in Flg. 1; it may be of any well known construction.

The cloth'a is received by the Palmer between the apron portion 3a and drum 2 and" after passing around the drum it is led over the topmost roller 4 shown to a rotary cooling mechanism 9 driven in any way, as by an endless chain 10 and gearing 22 itself driven mission means, 16 being its input shaft driven c at some constant speed by any prime mover,

as an electric motor 18. On the shafts 16 and 17 are splined two pairs of reverse cone pulleys 19 and 20 surrounded by a belt 21. When the shifters are moved on their fu'lcra one way or the other the pulleys of one pair are moved toward each other and the others allowed to move apart, whereby the belt climbs the cones of one pulley'pair and descends those of the other, to afford variable speed of the output shaft. The latter shaft is connected by the mentioned gearing 22 a with the drum 2.

At 23 and 24: are j ournaled rollers forming guides over which the cloth travels after leaving the tentering operation, guide 24 being the cloth-expanding roller.

At 26 is a roller-guide which bears on the cloth between the roller-guides 23 and 24: and

is journaled in a lever 27 whose fulcrum, shaft 28, is between its ends. Roller 26 is journaled in one arm of this lever and the other arm carries a counterweight 26a which may be adjusted along the arm to such position that the guide will exert the proper pressure on the particular cloth being treated.

Shaft 28 is connected by a sprocket-andchain connection 29 with the fulcrum shaft 30 of a lever 31 having oppositely projecting arms respectively connected by links 32 with the levers 15.

Thus, according as the portion of the cloth which bridges the guides 23 and 24 tends to tauten or extend, the guide 26 rises or falls, acting through the train of parts connecting it with the shifters 15 to move the latter in opposite directions around their fulcra so that the variable transmission of which they form a part respectively reduces or increases the speed of the drum. (Any other variable drive means may be resorted to). Moreover, if one of the three guides 23, 24 and 26 is a cloth-expanding roller it will act to expand the cloth transversely while it is travelling. Thus, while transverse wrinkling of the cloth is prevented by controlling the speed of the drum 2 from the cloth itself, narrowing or lengthwise wrinkling of the cloth is prevented by the cloth-expanding roller.

In the mentioned previous construction the guide which formed the cloth-expanding roller was movable as a part of the speed-control means, wherefore its movement in this respect made it uncertain and irregular in its clothexpanding action. In the present construction this guide (24) occupies a fixed position between the guide (26) which now is the one movable with the speed-control means, and the drum 2, so that its expanding action is uniform and occurs immediately before the cloth passes to the drum.

Rollers for expanding cloth transversely and travelling in tractive peripheral contact with them are of divers well known kinds and any suchmay be used. Describing the roller shown (by way of example merely, and see Patent No. 1,799,603) by Fig. 2: An axial support 33 extends axially through a revoluble cage comprisin collars 34 journaled on the support at 33 one near each end and one or more between) and these are rigidly connected by the parallel rods 35 arranged around said support. To the intermediate collar (or collars) are alflxed longitudinal slats 36. Confined by the rods to only sliding movement lengthwise thereof are other longitudinal slats 37 in two sets, with the set 36 between them and forming therewith a cylindrical shell. These areengaged at 38a with the grooves of cams 38 (only one appearing) fixed on and thus in effect forming parts of the axial support 33. When the roller is in operation and is tractively engaged by the moving cloth each set of end slats alternately moves toward and from the cloth by contact with the drum periphery,

wherefore I refer to the Palmer as a machine for setting the cloth.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim is:

1. Apparatus for expanding cloth comprising a tenter and a machine for setting the cloth delivered by the tenter having a revoluble cloth-setting element around and in tractive engagement with which the thusdelivered cloth extends, said apparatus including spaced guides bridged by the cloth between said tenter and machine, means to drive said element at variable speed having a shifter movable in one direction to accelerate and in the opposite direction toretard the output speed of said means, a lever having a cloth-guide and normally urged to hold the cloth-guide a ainst the bridging portion of the cloth, an means, connecting said lever and shifter, for moving the shifter in its first direction when said portion of the cloth slackens and in its second direction when said portion tautens.

2. Apparatus for expanding cloth comprising a tenter and a machine for setting the cloth delivered by the tenter having a revoluble cloth-setting element around and in tractive engagement with which the thus-delivered cloth extends, said apparatus including spaced guides bridged by the cloth between said tenter and machine, means to drive said element at variable speed having a shifter movable in one direction to accelerate and in the opposite direction to retard the output speed of said means, a lever having a cloth guide to bear against the bridging portion of the cloth, means, adjustable along the lever, to cause it to yieldingly hold said clothguide under variable pressure against the bridging portion of the cloth, and means, connectlng said lever and shifter, for moving the shifter in its first direction when said portion of the cloth slackens and in its second direction when said portion tautens.

3. Apparatus for expanding cloth comprising a tenter and a machine for setting the cloth delivered by the tenter having a revoluble cloth-setting element around an in tractive engagement with which the thus-delivered cloth extends, said apparatus including spaced guides bridged by the cloth between said tenter and machine, means to drive said element at variable speed having a shiftor movable in one direction to accelerate and i in the opposite direction to retard the output speed of said means, a lever having a clothguide and normally urged to hold the clothguide'against the bridging portion of the cloth, and means connecting said lever and shifter, for moving the shifter in its first direction when said portion of the cloth slackens and in its second direction when said portion tautens, that one of the first two guides which is between said element and the third guide being a cloth-expanding roller.

In testimony whereof I afix my signature.

WELIAM J. KOCH.

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