US 4,790,136 AGranted

Method and apparatus for the manufacture of glass fiber strand roving

AssigneeOwens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation

InventorsHellmut I. Glaser, William L. Streicher

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Abstract

A glass fiber bulk strand roving that is made up of a multiplicity of strands, each of which is made up of a plurality of individual fibers, for example, 200 of such fibers. Each strand of the roving has a multiplicity of rather long, axially extending loops, for example, axially extending loops with a calculated length of at least 6 inches, and a multiplicity of shorter, unbroken, cross-axially extending loops that are formed in the axially extending loops of such strands. The axially extending loops and the cross-axially extending loops interengage and intertwine with one another for form a composite entangled structure. The roving of the present invention is made by a process that uses a finger wheel to form axially extending loops in strands and a co-axial spinner with an inlet that is positioned above or below the finger wheel. The looped strands from the finger wheel pass through a relatively unrestricted passage in the spinner which imparts a twist to such a looped strand, and then through a relatively restricted outlet orifice that is downstream of the outlet of the spinner. A back-up or puddling of the looped strands occurs in the spinner near the outlet thereof, due to the axial length of the loops in the strands and the restriction in the outlet of the spinner in the form of the outlet orifice, and this back-up or puddling of the looped strands in the spinner, in conjunction with the spinning thereof, results in the formation of the cross-axial loops in the axial loops of the strands. The positions of the finger wheel and the spinner relative to one another are variable to permit variation in the characteristics of the bulk strand roving that is produced thereby.

Claims6

Dependent claims

In a method of forming a roving from a plurality of fibers, the roving having axially extending loops and a relatively large number of unbroken cross-axially extending loops formed in the axially extending loops and at least partly extending outwardly from the axially extending loops, the axially extending loops and the cross-axially extending loops being interengaged and intertwined with one another, the roving having a relatively high bulk, said method comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of fibers;
combining said plurality of fibers into a plurality of strands, each of said strands comprising more than one of said fibers;
providing a spinner having an inside surface defining a passage with an inlet, an outlet and a central axis extending between said inlet and said outlet;
providing a wheel with a plurality of fingers projecting outwardly therefrom and a central axis, each of said fingers having a tip;
rotating said wheel about said cental axis;
advancing said plurality of strands in a direction that extends axially of said plurality of strands toward and between the fingers of said wheel as said wheel rotates about said central axis;
providing an orifice adjacent said outlet of said passage of said spinner, said orifice having an axis that is generally parallel to said axis of said passage of said spinner, the size of said orifice in a plane extending transversely of said axis of said orifice being very small relative to the size of said passage in a plane extending transversely of said passage;
rotating said spinner about said central axis of said passage;
advancing said plurality of strands with said plurality of loops through said passage of said spinner from the tips of said plurality of fingers to said outlet to thereby twist said plurality of strands with said plurality of loops and form a mass of said plurality of strands with said plurality of loops in said spinner adjacent said outlet of said passage, said mass having no appreciable velocity in a direction extending axially of said plurality of strands with said plurality of loops to form a second plurality of loops in said plurality of strands with said plurality of loops, said second plurality of loops extending crosswise of said plurality of strands with said plurality of loops to interengage and intertwine with said plurality of strands with said plurality of loops and other loops in said second plurality of loops;
and
withdrawing said plurality of strands with said plurality of loops and said second plurality of loops from said mass in said spinner through said orifice;
the improvement wherein the tip of said each of said plurality of fingers is positioned within said passage of said spinner between said inlet and said outlet.

9 more elements

In apparatus for forming a roving from a plurality of fibers, the roving having generally axially extending loops, a relatively large number of unbroken, cross-axially extending loops formed in the axially extending loops and at least partly extending outwardly from the axially extending loops, the axially extending loops and the cross-axially extending loops being interengaged and intertwined with one another, the roving having a relatively high bulk, said apparatus comprising, in combination:

means for providing a plurality of fibers;
means for combining said plurality of fibers into a plurality of strands, each of said strands comprising more than one of said fibers, the number of strands in said plurality of strands being less than the number of fibers in said plurality of fibers;
a spinner having an inside surface defining a passage having an inlet, an outlet, and a central axis extending between said inlet and said outlet;
a wheel having a plurality of fingers projecting outwardly therefrom and a central axis, each of said plurality of fingers having a tip;
means for rotating said spinner and said plurality of fingers about said central axis;
means for advancing said plurality of strands in a direction that extends axially of said plurality of strands and between said fingers of said wheel as said wheel rotates about said central axis to form a plurality of axially extending loops in said plurality of strands in said passage of said spinner;
orifice means defining an orifice, said orifice means being disposed adjacent said outlet of said passage of said spinner, said orifice means having an axis that is generally parallel to said axis of said interior passage of said spinner, the size of said orifice of said orifice means in a plane extending transversely of said axis of said orifice being very small relative to the size of said passage in a plane extending transversely of said passage;
and
means for rotating said spinner;
the improvement wherein each of said plurality of fingers define a closed geometric figure which is capable of being positioned within said spinner between said inlet and said outlet.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.