Drive system for a spindle frame

The drive system is used for spinning, twisting or false-twisting machines. The spindles are driven by a tangential drive belt which is tensioned between a drive roll and a tensioning roll. The tensioning roll is mounted by a lever to pivot about a fixed axis. In addition, a rotatable axle is mounted about the fixed axis in order to drive additional working elements of the machine. The tangential belt is maintained under constant tension by a biasing means which biases the lever about the fixed axis.

This invention relates to a drive system for a spindle frame. More 
particularly, this invention relates to a drive system for a spinning, 
twisting or false-twisting machine. 
In the following, the term "spinning machine" is understood to designate, 
for simplicity, spinning machines as well as twisting or false-twisting 
machines or similar machines. 
Heretofore, spinning machines have been known, for example as described in 
British Pat. No. 1,129,054, to drive a multiplicity of spindles by a 
tangential drive belt. In such a machine, the drive belt is disposed about 
a drive shaft and a tensioning roll. In addition, a shaft which is 
arranged on a fixed axis relative to the machine is driven via a second 
drive belt by the tensioning roll. In this case, the tensioning roll is 
slidably supported on a sliding support member and is used for driving a 
drafting system. As the distance between the axis of the driving 
tensioning roll and the shaft on the fixed axis is variable due to the 
movability of the tensioning roll, the second drive belt is tensioned by 
two spring loaded tensioning rolls which tension both legs of the belt. 
However, these known arrangements have a disadvantage in that the 
tensioning roll of the tangential drive belt effects a translatory 
movement along a sliding member. Thus, all the problems which are 
generated by the use of a sliding support occur, such as lubrication 
problems, the danger of jamming if the sliding surface is contaminated and 
the like. 
A further and very substantial disadvantage of this arrangement also 
resides in the fact that only a very limited longitudinal elongation of 
the tangential drive belt is permitted. This is of concern since the drive 
belt may be up to 40 meters long and moves at high speed. Thus, the full 
longitudinal elongation of the drive belt must be taken up by the 
tensioning device of the second belt, the length of which is only about 1 
meter. The adaptability of this second belt, however, is very limited 
according to its length in comparison to the tangential drive belt which 
is many times longer. The tangential drive belt thus can be elongated only 
by very small amounts before requiring replacement as the belt cannot be 
tensioned any further. 
A further disadvantage of this arrangement resides in the necessity of 
providing a second tensioning device for the second belt. This renders the 
construction of the machine complicated and expensive and demands more 
maintenance attention. 
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a drive system for 
a spindle frame in which the elongation of a tangential drive belt can be 
easily accommodated. 
It is another object of the invention to provide a drive system which 
permits large longitudinal elongations of a tangential belt drive to be 
taken up. 
It is another object of the invention to provide a drive system for a 
plurality of spindles of a spindle frame which can be used to drive 
further working elements of a spinning machine. 
It is another object of the invention to eliminate the need for any 
tensioning device in an auxiliary drive means for driving working elements 
of a spindle frame from a tensioning roll. 
Briefly, the invention provides a drive system for a spindle frame having a 
plurality of spindles arranged in a row. The spindle frame is one which is 
incorporated in a spinning machine and is useful in spinning, twisting or 
false-twisting machines. 
The drive system comprises a drive roll, a tensioning roll, a tangential 
drive belt which is tensioned between the drive roll and the tensioning 
roll for engaging and driving the spindles, and a first axle secured to 
the tensioning roll for rotation therewith about a first axis. In 
addition, a second axle is rotatably mounted about a fixed second axis and 
a lever is journalled on both axles. Also, a means is secured to the lever 
for biasing the lever to pivot about the fixed second axis in a plane 
parallel to the tangential drive of the belt. Also, a drive transmitting 
means is disposed between the two axles for rotatingthe second axle off 
the first axle while a drive means is interconnected to the second axle 
for driving additional working elements of the spindle frame. 
In one embodiment, the tangential drive belt is used for rotating two rows 
of spindles while the lever is pivotal relative to the fixed axle over a 
pivoting angle of from 0.degree. to 135.degree.. 
In another embodiment, the spinning machine may be provided with a separate 
drive system for each one of a plurality of rows of spindles. In such a 
case, the levers on which the tensioning rolls are mounted may be disposed 
in mirror-symmetric relation. Alternatively, the drive systems may use a 
common axle on a fixed axis for mounting the levers of the respective 
drive systems. In such a case, the drive transmitting means may be 
disposed between the common axle and only one of the tensioning roll axles 
in order to drive the additional working elements of the spinning machine. 
The means for biasing the lever or levers may be in the form of a spring or 
a torque bar. For example, the spring may be a tension spring which 
continously biases the lever against the force of the tangential belt so 
as to tension the belt at all times. In another embodiment, the biasing 
means may be in the form of a cylinder and piston unit of pneumatic or 
hydraulic type.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a two-sided spinning machine has a frame formed 
by a drive headstock 1 on which a drive 2 is mounted, a tailstock 3 and 
two spindle rails 4 which connect the headstock 1 and the tailstock 3. A 
plurality of textile spindles 5 are mounted in rows on each of the spindle 
rails 4 and function to impart twist to the yarn or thread, only a few 
spindles are indicated for simplicity. The spindles 5 are arranged in two 
rows and are driven by a drive system which employs an endless tangential 
drive belt 6. As shown, the drive belt 6 engages and drives the spindles 
5, via whorls 7, substantially tangentially, the wrapping angle being very 
small. 
The drive system includes a drive roll or pulley 8 which is mounted on the 
vertically arranged shaft of the drive motor 2 and a plurality of 
deflecting rolls 9, 10, 11 and 18, of which the roll 11 acts as a 
tensioning roll. The tangential drive belt 6 is tensioned between the 
drive roll 8 and tensioning roll 11. A rotational axle 13 (FIG. 3) is 
rigidly secured at one end to the tensioning roll 11 for rotation with the 
tensioning roll about a vertical axis. The axle 13 is also journalled in a 
lever 12 at an intermediate point. The lever 12, in turn, is journalled on 
a second vertical axle 15 which is rotatably mounted about a fixed axis. 
The lever 12 allows the tensioning roll to pivot about the axle 15 for 
tensioning of the tangential drive belt 6. In addition, a means is secured 
to the lever 12 for biasing the lever 12 to pivot about the axis of the 
axle 15 in a plane parallel to the drive belt 6. This means is in the form 
of a tension spring 16, one end of which acts via a flexible force 
transmitting element 16" placed around a pivoting segment 16' rigidly 
connected on the lever 12 and the other end of which is connected with a 
member 17 fixed relative to the machine frame. The tension spring 16 thus 
generates a torque momentum which acts clockwise, as viewed, on the lever 
12 and maintains the tangential drive belt 6 under constant tension. 
In FIGS. 1 and 3, the initial position of the tensioning elements is shown 
with solid lines whereas the extreme pivoted out position of the 
tensioning elements is indicated with broken lines. An additional 
deflecting roll 18 ensures that the tangential drive belt 6 remains in 
contact with all spindles 5 to be driven even if the tensioning roll 11 is 
in its pivoted-out position. 
The tensioning range of this arrangement, i.e. the maximum elongation of 
the tangential drive belt 6 which can be taken up by the tensioning roll 
11, depends on the pivoting angle .alpha. of the lever 12, which angle 
.alpha. in the system described can reach a value of approximately 
135.degree.. 
Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the spinning machine furthermore comprises 
additional working elements, the drive of which is derived from the 
tensioning roll 11 of the tangential drive drive belt 6. These working 
elements consist, e.g. of a shaft 19 which can be part of a drafting 
arrangement of the spindle machine, which arrangement is not shown in more 
detail. The shaft 19 can, of course, also drive additional working 
elements of the spinning machine. Also, the driven working elements need 
not contain a rotating longitudinal shaft 19. Also, these additional 
working elements can be of any shape imaginable and can include other 
elements such as e.g. gear arrangements, belt drive and the like. 
In order to drive these additional working elements, the axle 15 is 
rotatably supported in two support members 20, 21 which are fixed relative 
to the machine frame and drives the longitudinal shaft 19 via a suitable 
drive means such as a bevel gear arrangement 22, 23 which interconnects 
the axle 15 and shaft 19. In order to rotate the axle 15, a drive 
transmitting means is disposed between the axles 13, 15 for rotating the 
axle 15 off the axle 13. This drive transmitting means is in the form of a 
belt pulley 14 which is rigidly connected on the axle 13, a belt pulley 24 
which is rigidly connected to the axle 15 in the same plane as the belt 
pulley 14 and an endless belt 25. Upon rotation of the tensioning roll 11, 
the belt pulley 14 likewise rotates and the rotational movement of the 
belt pulley 14 is transmitted to the belt pulley 24 via the endless belt 
25. As the distance between the axle 13 of the belt pulley 14 and the 
pivoting and rotating axle 15 of the belt pulley 24 remains constant at 
all times, as both are unshiftably connected to the lever 12, no 
tensioning device is required for tensioning the endless belt 25. If 
desired, however, a deflection roll (not shown) may be rotatably supported 
by and unshiftably connected to the lever 12 for deflecting the belt 25. 
The endless belt 25 can be constructed as flat belt, a v-belt, or as a 
slippage-free toothed belt. The function of the spinning machine described 
does not require further explanation. 
Referring to FIG. 4, the drive system may be used with a double sided 
machine, each side of which is provided with an individual tangential 
drive belt 28, 29. In this system, each machine side is equipped with a 
row of spindles 26, 27, respectively, which in turn are driven by a 
tangential drive belt 28, 29 respectively. Each tangential drive belt 28, 
29 is tensioned between a drive pulley 30, 31 respectively, which are 
driven separately or jointly by motors (not shown) and a tensioning roll 
30, 33 respectively. Furthermore, in this system two deflecting rolls 34, 
35 and 36, 37, repectively, are provided at each respective tangential 
drive belt 28, 29. These deflecting rolls 34-37 ensure that both legs of 
the tangential drive belts 28, 29 maintain their correct position while 
the tensioning rolls 32, 33 pivot. Each tensioning roll 32, 33, in the 
same manner as in the system described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, is 
mounted on a pivoting axle 38, 39 which is disposed on a fixed axis 
relative to the machine frame via a pivotable lever 40, 41 and is biased 
under the influence of a pressure spring 42, 43 along an arc in such a 
manner that the tangential drive belts 28, 29 are tensioned. Both pivoting 
axles 38, 39 in this drive system can be used for driving additional 
working elements of the spinning machine. For this purpose, in this 
system, as in the system described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, a drive 
transmitting means is provided between the axles of each tensioning roll 
32, 33, and each pivoting axle 38, 39 of the levers 40, 41. These latter 
drive transmitting means consist of belt pulleys 44, 45 and 46, 47 and an 
endless belt 48, 49 respectively. 
This alternative construction shows how to provide a double sided 
mirror-symmetrically arranged spinning machine with an arrangement of the 
drive elements according to the invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the 
tensioning roll of the lower tangential drive belt 28 is shown with solid 
lines in its initial position and shown with broken lines in a pivoted-out 
position. The pivoting angle .alpha. in this system can reach values of up 
to about 90.degree.. 
A centrally-symmetrical arrangement of the two tangential belt drives 
instead of the mirror-symmetrical arrangement of course can be considered 
also. 
Referring to FIG. 5, a one-sided drive system for a spinning machine 
differs from the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 substantially only in that the 
spinning machine is laid out with only one side. This permits a larger 
pivoting angle .alpha. to be used. In this alternative system, which is 
laid out for maximum compensation of length elongation of the tangential 
drive belt, the pivoting angle .alpha. can reach values of up to 
180.degree.. Other than in the system according to FIG. 4, the biasing 
means acting on the pivoting lever 53 consists of a cylinder 50 and piston 
51 unit which, via a force transmitting element 52 placed around a 
pivoting segment 52' rigidly connected to the lever 53, exerts a pivoting 
momentum on the lever 53. In this arrangement also, the lever 52 is 
rotatably supported on the tensioning roll for tensioning the tangential 
drive belt. The piston 51 is supplied with a pressurized hydraulic or 
pneumatic fluid via a valve 54 and a supply duct 55. This alternative 
construction of the biasing means has an advantage in that the tension 
force of the tangential drive belt, owing to the fact that the biasing 
force acting on the lever 53 is constant, is maintained constant 
independently of the position of the pivoting lever 53 at all times. 
Referring to FIG. 6, the spinning machine is laid out double-sided, each 
machine side being equipped with a tangential drive belt 56, 57 
respectively. The arrangement differs from the one shown in FIG. 4 in that 
both pivoting levers 58, 59 no longer are pivotal about two separate 
pivoting axes, but are pivotally supported about one common pivoting axle 
60. The axle 60 is also used for driving additional working elements of 
the spinning machine, the drive being derived from one of the two 
tensioning rolls of the two tangential drive belts 56, 57. For this 
purpose, a gear train consisting of gears 61, 62 and 63 is provided in 
this system. The gear 61 is rigidly connected with the rotational axle of 
the tensioning roll 64 of the tangential drive belt, whereas the gear 63 
is rigidly connected with the pivoting axle 60. The intermediate gear 62 
is rotatably but unshiftably mounted on the lever 58 and meshes with both 
gears 61 and 63. In this alternative system, both tangential drive belts 
56, 57 are jointly driven via an endless belt 67 by a drive pulley 68. The 
torque momentum required for tensioning the tangential drive belts 56 and 
57 is exerted by tension springs 65, 66 which act on the respective levers 
58, 59. 
Instead of using tension springs, torsion springs or torque bars could be a 
very suitable means for exerting a torque momentum on the levers 12, 40, 
41, 53, 58 and 59. Because of the pivotal arrangement of the tensioning 
roll, a large elongation of the tangential drive belt can be compensated 
in a space saving arrangement. That is, the tangential drive belt, 
particularly in the arrangements in which the belt contactingly surrounds 
the tensioning roll over an arc of about 180.degree., can be tensioned by 
being angled off with respect to the longitudinal direction of the 
spinning machine. The space required in the longitudinal direction of the 
spinning machine thus depends only on the small distance of the outermost 
point of the tangential drive belt. 
A further advantage resides in the fact that no slide path with a sliding 
support is required for the tensioning roll. Instead, a much simpler 
antifriction bearing support for a pivoting motion can be provided. Thus, 
maintenance of the spinning machine is simplified as no dust contamination 
of open sliding guides, and accordingly, no jamming of the tensioning 
device are possible. 
A further advantage resides in that no tensioning device is needed for the 
drive transmitting means since the distance is fixed between the axes of 
rotation of the pivot axle and the tensioning roll from which the drive of 
additional working elements of the machine is derived. Thus, the 
tangential belt drive of the invention is simpler and less expensive and, 
mainly, more favorable with respect to maintenance in comparison to the 
known drive arrangements of such type, which respect a tensioning device.