Apparatus and method for forming staple fibers and feeding the same to a picker
AssigneesAlfred Proctor Aldrich, Jr., Aldrich Machine Works, Lummus Industries, Inc.
InventorWilliam D. Wornall
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus and method wherein a tow of continuous filaments is fed to a tow cutter and severed into fibrous material of predetermined staple length while the fibrous material delivered from the tow cutter is fed to and through at least one textile picker. The fibrous material may be formed into laps at the picker for being subsequently processed through cards, or the fibrous material may be fed in loose fibrous form from the picker to a bank of cards. Means are provided for automatically controlling operation of the tow cutter and pickers and for controlling feeding of the fibrous material to the pickers.
Claims21
Apparatus for processing preformed continuous filament tow positioned in a container comprising a tow cutter for receiving the continuous filament tow from the container and for severing the same into fibrous material of predetermined staple length, and means positioned ahead of said tow cutter for guiding the preformed continuous filament tow from the container to said tow cutter and for aiding in the removal of any folds or entanglements present in the tow upon its removal from the container, a picker having a hopper for receiving the fibrous material from said tow cutter and also having evening means for obtaining a substantially uniform weight of delivery of the fibrous material processed therethrough, means operatively connected to said tow cutter and to the hopper of said picker for feeding the fibrous material from said tow cutter to said picker, and wherein said hopper is provided with means for stopping operation of said tow cutter in response to a predetermined high level of fibrous material being present in said hopper to thereby avoid overfilling said hopper.
Appparatus for processing continuous filament tow comprising a tow cutter for receiving continuous filament tow and for serving the same into fibrous material of predetermined staple length, a picker associated with said tow cutter and including first and second hoppers for receiving the fibrous material from said tow cutter, means operatively connected to said tow cutter and to the first hopper of said picker for feeding the fibrous material from said tow cutter to said picker, said first hopper of said picker including means for stopping operation of the tow cutter in response to a predetermined high level of fibrous material being present in said first hopper and also including means for feeding the fibrous material forwardly therefrom, said second hopper being positioned forwardly of said first hopper for receiving the fibrous material from said first hopper and including means for stopping the feeding of fibrous material from said first hopper to said second hopper in response to a predetermined high level of fibrous material being present in said second hopper to facilitate obtaining a more uniform weight of delivery of fibrous material from said picker, a bank of cards operatively connected to said picker with each card having transitory storage means for receiving the fibrous material from said picker and for directing the same into the card, and means for receiving the fibrous material at the delivery end of the picker and for feeding the same to the respective transitory storage means of said bank of cards.
Apparatus for processing preformed continuous filament tow positioned in a container comprising a tow cutter for receiving the continuous filament tow from the container and for severing the same into fibrous material of predetermined staple length, and means positioned ahead of said tow cutter for guiding the preformed continuous filament tow from the container to said tow cutter and for aiding in the removal of any folds or entanglements present in the tow upon its removal from the container, a plurality of pickers associated with said tow cutter with each of said pickers having a hopper for receiving the fibrous material from said tow cutter and having evening means for obtaining a substantially uniform weight of delivery of fibrous material processed therethrough, and with each of said pickers also being provided with lap forming means at the delivery end thereof for forming the fibrous material into laps for being subsequently processed through cards, means operatively connected to said tow cutter and to the respective hoppers of each of said pickers for feeding the fibrous material from said tow cutter to each of said pickers and wherein the respective hoppers of the pickers are provided with means for stopping operation of said tow cutter in response to a predetermined high level of fibrous material being present in said hoppers to thereby avoid overfilling the hoppers.
Apparatus for processing continuous filament tow comprising a tow cutter for receiving continuous filament tow and for severing the same into fibrous material of predetermined staple length, a plurality of pickers associated with said tow cutter with each of said pickers having a hopper for receiving the fibrous material from said tow cutter and having evening means for obtaining a substantially uniform weight of delivery of fibrous material processed therethrough, means operatively connected to said tow cutter and to the respective hoppers of each of said pickers for feeding the fibrous material from said tow cutter to each of said pickers, a bank of cards operatively connected to said pickers with each card having transitory storage means for receiving the fibrous material from said pickers and for directing the same into the card, and means for receiving the fibrous material at the delivery end of said pickers and for feeding the same to the respective transitory storage means of said bank of cards.
A method of processing preformed continuous filament tow comprising guiding the preformed tow from a supply container through a predetermined path of travel to a tow cutter while removing any folds or entanglements present in the tow and while severing the tow into fibrous material of predetermined staple length and while feeding the fibrous material as it is delivered from the tow cutter to a hopper of a picker and through the picker to obtain a substantially uniform weight of fibrous material therefrom, and stopping operation of the tow cutter in response to a predetermined high level of fibrous material being present in the hopper.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.