COILER FOR SPINNING MACHINES

Abstract: In an improved coiler for spinning machines, a down­ stream portion of a coiler tube is further bent downward in the vicinity of an outlet for a sliver. An upwardly-extending flange portion is provided on the coiler wheel-side of a coiler plate to thereby form an opening portion of the outlet of the coiler tube between a bottom surface of the coiler wheel and the flange portion. The coiler plate is formed so that it can be stopped and moved for the purpose of setting the relative speed of the inner surface of the flange portion with respect to the coiler tube lower than the travelling speed of the coiler tube.

Description: This invention relates to a coiler device of a spinning machine. Generally, a can is used as means for transferring a sliver to a next process in a spinning factory. To prevent degradation of the quality of the sliver and to accommodate many slivers in the can, the slivers delivered from a calender roller arrive through the coiler tube in a coiler wheel and are coiled by the coiler wheel to fit the sliver into the can. Recently, the spinning speed in a spinning machine such as a card, a drawing frame or the like has been increased to increase production. Also, the variety of the fibers constituting the sliver has increased, so that, for example, a sliver having a different surface frictional characteristic from that of a conventional sliver, or a sliver constituted of fibers having a different stiffness from that of a conventional fiber are used. Therefore, a coiler device wherein a change is made only in the shape of the exit opening of the coiler tube arranged on a bottom face of the coiler wheel, as in a conventional improved coiler device, cannot sufficiently cope with the increased speed of the spinning machine and the variety of the fibers constituting the sliver. Further, a coiler device 6 in which a coiler tube 61 extends in a straight line toward a coiler wheel, as shown in Figure 4, has been widely used as a coiler device of a conventional spinning machine. In this coiler device, there is little possibility of the sliver advancing in a sliver passage in the coiler tube 61 blocking an exit opening of the coiler tube. However, when this coiler device is rotated at a high speed, a force of inertia frequently causes the sliver to overflow from the can. Even if the sliver does not overflow from the can, it is probable that the quality of the sliver will be degraded by abrasion of the sliver against an inner wall of the can. Several attempts have been made to solve the above-mentioned problems. For example, in a coiler device 7 shown in Figure 5, a sliver guiding part 73 extending upward from a coiler wheel 72 and changing the moving direction of a sliver is secured in a top end of a coiler tube 71. Therefore, when the sliver advancing in the coiler tube 71 enters a sliver passage 75, the advancing direction of the sliver is changed to a downward direction by an outside portion of an inner wall 74. By using this coiler device, it is possible to prevent the phenomenon of sliver overflow from the can, and the phenomenon of abrasion of the sliver by the inner wall of the can. However, this coiler device has the following disadvantage. Namely, in this coiler device 7, when the sliver is broken between the calender roller and the exit opening of the coiler tube upon an exchange of cans, a top end of the sliver to be supplied into a new can collides with the outside portion of the inner wall 74, so that the sliver frequently blocks the sliver guiding part 75. Further, since the sliver is folded in the sliver guiding part 75 in an ordinary operation, the folded portion of the sliver comes into contact with the outside portion of the innerwall 74, so that the sliver frequently blocks in the sliver guiding part 75. An example of a prior art coiler device is seen in JP-Y-4631943. This shows a coiler device of a spinning machine comprising a coiler plate, a coiler wheel mounted rotatably in the coiler plate, and a coiler tube arranged on the coiler wheel for guiding a sliver downstream in a downwardly inclined direction toward a bottom opening of the coiler wheel, a sliver guiding member forming a sliver passage being provided between a lower end of the coiler tube and the coiler wheel to further incline the direction of the sliver downwards. An object of the present invention is to alleviate the above-mentioned problems of known coiler devices by providing a coiler device capable of smoothly accommodating a sliver in a coiling state into a can without an overflow of the sliver from a can upon a normal operation of the coiler device and blocking of the sliver in a coiler tube upon a starting operation and during the normal operation of the coiler device. The object of the present invention is achieved by a coiler device of a spinning machine according to claim 1. The coiler device of the present invention has the advantage of better preventing the overflow of the sliver from a can and the device is useful to prevent the blocking of the sliver caused by a folded portion of the sliver. The coiler device is constituted such that relative speed of the inside face of the flange to the coiler tube is lower than a moving speed of the coiler tube, the relative arrangement of the coiler plate and the coiler wheel can be optionally selected. Preferably, a top end of a sliver leading groove arranged adjacent to the exit opening of the coiler tube extends in a moving direction of the sliver in the bottom face of the coiler wheel. If the sliver leading groove having the top end thereof extended in the bottom face of the coiler wheel is provided, since the sliver exhausted from the coiler tube advances through the sliver leading groove, ingress of the sliver between the coiler wheel and the inside face of the flange can be prevented. The coiler plate and the coiler wheel move relative to each other, and in this situation, the fibers of the sliver could be inserted in a gap between the coiler plate and the coiler wheel by an air current passing through this gap. Therefore, preferably an intercepting portion extending from the flange or the top end of the coiler tube to the opposite portion thereof is provided to close the gap. This intercepting portion may be formed as one body associated with the top end of the downstream portion of the coiler tube or one body associated with the flange of the coiler plate. Since the coiler device in accordance with the present invention has the constitution described hereinbefore, it is possible to prevent overflowing of the sliver from the can caused during high speed rotation of the coiler device and the blocking of the sliver in the coiler tube upon a starting operation or during a normal operation of the coiler device, by using the coiler device in accordance with the present invention, and further, it is possible to apply a smooth coiling motion to the sliver. By way of example, embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference-to the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view illustrating an embodiment of a coiler device in accordance with the present-invention, which coiler device is arranged on a drawing frame; Figure 2 is a partially sectional view illustrating a lower portion of the coiler device shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a sectional view of the coiler device taken along the line II-II of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view illustrating a lower portion of a conventional known coiler device; Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view illustrating a lower portion of another conventional known coiler device. An embodiment of a coiler device in accordance with the present invention, which coiler device is arranged on a drawing frame, is shown in Figure 1. As shown in Figure 1, a coiler device 1 is comprised of a coiler wheel 3 and a coiler plate 5 arranged on an outside of the coiler wheel 3. The coiler plate 5 in this embodiment is fixed to a frame 14 of the drawing frame. A coiler tube 2 is connected to an upper portion of the coiler wheel 3. An upper portion of the coiler tube 2 is rotatably mounted on the frame 14 of the drawing frame by means of a bearing 17 and is fixed with a pulley 15 to be driven. The coiler wheel 3 is rotated by rotating the pulley 15 by a driving belt 16. A sliver (not shown) delivered from a drafting zone 10 of the drawing frame is supplied through a gatherer 11 and a trumpet 12 to a calender roller 13, the sliver delivered from the calender roller 13 is supplied to the coiler tube 2 of the coiler device, and the coiler tube 2 rotates with the coiler wheel 3. The sliver is withdrawn from the coiler tube 2 by rotation of a can 18 arranged below the coiler device to accommodate the sliver in a coiler state into the can 18. Since the above-mentioned mechanisms are well-known, a detailed description thereof is omitted. In the embodiment of the coiler device 1 in accordance with the present invention and shown in Figure 2, a sliver guiding member 4 is provided on a downstream end of the coiler tube 2. This sliver guiding member 4 is integrated as one body with the coiler wheel 3. An upper inside wall 41 of the sliver guiding member is formed such that inclination of a circular inside wall 21 of the coiler tube 2 is further inclined in the downward direction in a place where the sliver guiding member is arranged, while a lower inside wall 42 of the sliver guiding member is formed with an inclination similar to the inclination of the circular inside wall 21 of the coiler tube 2 or with a slightly more downward inclination than that of the circular inside wall 21 of the coiler tube 2. A flange 51 is provided on a coiler wheel side of the coiler plate 5. Further, a lower end of an upper inside wall of the sliver guiding member extends toward an inside face near to the coiler wheel 3 of the flange 51, i.e. an outer circumferential wall 52, as shown in Figure 2. Therefore, an exit opening of the tube wheel 2 is formed from a bottom face 31 of the coiler wheel to the flange 51 of the coiler plate 5. Since the coiler device in accordance with the present invention is provided with the sliver guiding member 4, the inclination of the sliver moving from an upstream position to a downstream position in a sliver passage 44 is moved downward by the upper inside wall 41 and further moved in a substantially down direction by the outer circumferential wall 52, so that the sliver does not overflow from the can. Further, since the coiler device is constituted such that the rotational speed of a center of the exit opening of the coiler tube of the coiler wheel is faster than the outer circumferential wall 51, the sliver striking the outer circumferential wall 52 is affected by frictional action applied from the outer circumferential wall 52 and/or the action caused by an air current accompanying the outer circumferential wall 52 such that the advancing speed of the sliver becomes slower than that of the coiler wheel 3, whereby the sliver is positively withdrawn from the coiler tube 2, so that blocking of sliver in the coiler tube is prevented. A sectional view of the coiler device taken along the line II-II of Figure 2 is shown in Figure 3. In Figure 3, A indicates a rotational direction of the coiler wheel 3. As shown in Figure 3, a sliver leading groove 46 is provided facing the direction opposite to a rotation direction of the coiler wheel 3, i.e. in the moving direction of the sliver against the coiler wheel 3, in the bottom face 31 of the coiler wheel 3. Therefore, the sliver advancing in the sliver passage 44 is led to the sliver leading groove 46, so that there is no possibility of the sliver entering the gap between the outer side face 43 of the sliver guiding member 4 and the inside face 52 of the flange 51 (a lower portion of which constitutes the above-mentioned outer circumferential wall for the sliver). When the gap between the outer side face 43 of the sliver guiding member 4 and the inside face 52 of the flange 5 is 0.3 mm or more, the coiling state becomes good. If the gap is extremely narrow, fibers in the sliver enter the gap and are cut. If there is a suitable gap, fibers having a tendency to be inserted between the gap are also withdrawn without disarray of the sliver, by movement of the sliver. To prevent air leaks from the gap to an atmosphere, an intercepting portion 45 extends from the sliver guiding member 4 to a place over the flange 51. This intercepting portion may be constituted such that the intercepting portion extends from the flange 51 to a place over the sliver guiding member 4. By arranging the intercepting portion as described hereinbefore, the fibers constituting the sliver are prevented from entering the gap and flys in the atmosphere are prevented from entering the coiler device. In the embodiment shown in Figure 2, the sliver guiding member 4 is formed as a separate member from the coiler tube 2 and is connected to the coiler tube 2. However, the coiler tube 2 and the sliver guiding member 4 may be made as one continuous body. Further, the flange 51 of the coiler wheel 5 in the embodiment shown in Figure 2 is provided inha vertical position, but a direction of the outer circumferential wall 52 of the flange 51 is not limited to the vertical direction and the flange having the outer circumferential wall inclined toward an inner side or an outer side may be provided.

Claims: A coiler device of a spinning machine comprising a coiler plate (5), a coiler wheel (3) mounted rotatably in the coiler plate, and a coiler tube (2) arranged on the coiler wheel for guiding a sliver downstream in a downwardly inclined direction toward a bottom opening of the coiler wheel, a sliver guiding member (4) forming a sliver passage (44) being provided between a lower end of the coiler tube and the coiler wheel to further incline the direction of the sliver downwards, and an upwardly extending flange (51) is arranged on the coiler wheel side of the coiler plate (5), a part opposite the flange (51) of said sliver guiding member (4) being cut whereby an exit opening of the sliver passage (44) is formed from the bottom opening of the coiler wheel (3) to the flange (51), characterised in that an inside face (52) of the flange 51 forms an outside circumferential wall of the exit opening of this sliver passage (44), and the coiler plate (5) is constituted such that the relative speed of the inside face (52) of the flange (51) to that of the coiler tube (2) is lower than the moving speed of the coiler tube (2), which speed is substantially defined as the rotational speed of the centre of the exit opening of the coiler tube (2), and the inclination of the sliver, moved downwardly by the sliver passage (44), is inclined further downwardly by the inside face (52) of the flange (51). The coiler device according to claim 1, characterized in that a sliver leading groove (46) is provided adjacent to the exit opening of the sliver passage (44) extending in the moving direction of the sliver in the bottom face of the coiler wheel (3). The coiler device according to claim 1 characterized in that an intercepting portion (45) for closing the gap formed between the flange (51) of the coiler plate (5) and the sliver guiding member (4) extending substantially in vertical direction extends from the flange (51) or the sliver guiding member to the opposite portion thereof.

Inventors: MORI KANAME, MORI, KANAME
Applicants: HARA SHOKKI SEISAKUSHO KK, KABUSHIKIKAISHA HARA SHOKKI SEISAKUSHO
Application year: 1986
Main classification: B65H54
IPC codes: B65H54