Abstract:
A flat bar assembly is provided for use with a carding machine having a carding cylinder, the carding cylinder having clothing. The assembly has a flat bar, flat bar clothing attached to the flat bar, and an equalizing layer between the flat bar and the flat bar clothing. The flat bar clothing is for positioning opposite the carding cylinder clothing, and the equalizing layer fills a space between the flat bar and the flat bar clothing to compensate for distance differences between the flat bar clothing and the flat bar and to locate the flat bar clothing at a predetermined position relative to the flat bar.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
         [0001]    This application claims the priority of German Patent Application No. 101 40 304.6 filed on Aug. 16, 2001, the disclosure of which is being incorporated herein by reference.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The invention relates to a device on a carding machine for cotton, synthetic fibers and the like. More particularly, the invention relates to flat bars with clothing, wherein the flat bars are positioned opposite clothing mounted on a roller, such as, for example, a main carding cylinder.  
           [0003]    The flat bar of the device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,151,362 has a back piece and a support body with an underside. A clothing strip is attached to the underside and extends in a longitudinal direction of the flat bar. The clothing strip has a support element with several textile layers having a plurality of wire hooks embedded therein. The clothing strip is attached with at least two clamps extending over the longitudinal sides of the support body. With one end, the clamps encircle the edge regions of the clothing strip in the longitudinal direction while they engage with the other end in recesses of the support body. In practical operations, the clamps are fashioned from sheet-metal strips, one longitudinal edge of which is pushed into the textile material. During assembly, the textile material of the clothing strip is attached with considerable tension and form-fitted to the support body of the flat bar. In the process, the clamps exert tensile forces, such that the textile material is spherically deformed away from the flat bar underside. This results in the clothing wire points being arranged in an undesirable manner pointing outward on a convex enveloping curve. A set of such flat bars has a height fluctuation of, for example, 0.05 mm when not in use. When in use, however, the height differences can increase to approximately 0.2 mm. Re-sharpening the clothing point on the machine only results in an insignificant improvement of the accuracy. Following a throughput of approximately 400 tons of fiber material, the flat bar clothing is worn out to the point that it must be replaced. To dismantle the sheet metal straps, the flat bar is clamped down and the form-fitting connection is reversed with the aid of a lever and pliers. The considerable forces required during the assembly and dismantling negatively affect the dimensional stability of the flat bar. Undesirable production tolerances for the flat bar body compound these dimensional inaccuracies. As a result of the aforementioned disadvantages, the clothing wire points of the clothed flat bar must be leveled by grinding them down.  
           [0004]    Modern flat bars are made of aluminum and are extruded. During practical operations, the extruded flat bar is then cut to size and is leveled, for example to within 0.05 mm of flat. Support pins are subsequently glued into openings on the side of the support body, over a partial region in a tolerance-free plane. Height fluctuations for the glued-in pins result due to the extrusion process and the leveling operation. To keep the height difference for a flat bar set to within 0.05 mm of each other, the bars are sorted according to their height following pin gluing. This operation is time consuming. The clothing strip is then mounted to the underside of the flat bar in the above-described manner. The total height difference when adding the tolerances of the flat bar, the flat bar clothing, the offset during assembly, and the deformation caused by tensioning when mounting the clothing is significant. As a result, the previously described leveling grinding is carried out across all the flat bars after assembly. In the process, up to 0.15 mm is ground off, thus reducing the technological effectiveness of the ground-down, clothing wire points. During the grinding-down operation, the actual operational precision in the region of the wire points is removed from the clothing wire. The addition of the tolerances during the assembly of the flat bar clothing, the technologically damaging leveling grinding, and wear during use represent particular disadvantages in these machines.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    Thus, it is an object of particular embodiments of the invention to create a device of the aforementioned type that avoids the above-mentioned disadvantages and, in particular, allows for an easy production of an inherently stable flat bar with clothing.  
           [0006]    Embodiments of the invention include a flat bar assembly for use with a carding machine having a carding cylinder, the carding cylinder having clothing. The assembly has a flat bar, flat bar clothing attached to the flat bar, and an equalizing layer between the flat bar and the flat bar clothing. The flat bar clothing is for positioning opposite the carding cylinder clothing, and the equalizing layer fills a space between the flat bar and the flat bar clothing to compensate for distance differences between the flat bar clothing and the flat bar and to locate the flat bar clothing at a predetermined position relative to the flat bar.  
           [0007]    An inherently stable flat bar can be produced easily by arranging an equalizing layer between the flat bar and the flat bar clothing to compensate for differences in the distance between the two. All production tolerances of the flat bar, the clothing and those occurring during the assembly (including the dismantling) are compensated for. The clothed flat bar according to the invention advantageously avoids the addition of tolerances resulting from the assembly and dismantling of the flat bar clothing, the technologically damaging leveling grinding and uneven wear during use.  
           [0008]    The equalizing layer advantageously equalizes the distance differences between the rear surface of the clothing and the underside of the flat bar. The equalizing layer can preferably locally equalize distance differences between the rear surface and the underside. The flat bar forms a component of a set of traveling flats and is locally secured. A flexible clothing is provided and preferably comprises a support and clothing wire points, wires, hooks or the like. The support is strip-shaped and the clothing preferably consists of sawtooth wire strips, e.g. all-steel clothing. The clothing is attached in the region of the flat bar underside and is preferably glued to the flat bar. The equalizing layer preferably consists of a synthetic material or the like. This equalizing material can be a synthetic resin, such as epoxy resin. Polyester or a similar material is preferred for the equalizing material. The synthetic material, the synthetic resin, or the like should harden and should preferably be pourable. It is furthermore useful if the synthetic material, the synthetic resin, or the like, is adhering and preferably adheres more to the clothing support than to the underside of the flat bar. An adhesive layer can be provided between the equalizing layer and the underside of the flat bar, preferably in the form of an adhesive foil. It is useful if at least one side of the adhesive foil is sticky. The equalizing layer or the adhesive can be detachable and should preferably be water-soluble. A soluble lacquer or the like is preferably provided for the equalizing layer and the adhesive. Preferably, the equalizing layer and the adhesive can be removed without residue from the underside of the flat bar. The underside of the flat bar is preferably provided with an equalizing step. The flat bar and the flat bar clothing can be aligned to the same reference plane, preferably a plane across the tips of the flat bar clothing. It is useful if the flat bar is an extruded profile made of a lightweight metal, e.g. aluminum, and is preferably a hollow profile. The correct length of the flat bar is cut and then preferably leveled. Two end parts (flat bar heads) are preferably aligned at the ends to the support body. These two end parts are preferably pins, made of hardened steel or a similar material, which are fastened in recesses of the support body. The support element (textile material) and the equalizing layer are preferably arranged in a recess on the underside of the flat bar and/or on the support body. The recess can be delimited by at least two ridges along the longitudinal sides of the support body. The support body preferably has inlet openings, e.g. through bores, for filling in the equalizing layer material. It is advantageous if the distance between sliding surfaces of the flat bar heads and a curve defined by the flat bar clothing wire points is the same.  
           [0009]    An apparatus to assist the assembly of the flat bar assemblies has a flat plate and a bearing element. The plate is preferably a magnetic plate. The flat bar heads rest on a reference plane, and the plate and the reference plane are preferably attached to the bearing element. Two reference planes are oriented parallel to each other and the distance between these reference planes should be adjustable. It is advantageous if the flat bar clothing points rest on one reference plane, the flat bar heads on the other reference plane and the intermediate layer is inserted between the support body and the clothing strip. An adhesive strip is preferably inserted between the intermediate layer and the underside of the support body. The adhesive strip is preferably sticky on two sides. The support element preferably has at least one fastening plate, for example of metal, which is attached with a screw or the like to the flat bar. The adhesive strip preferably has a shackle or the like. The width of the adhesive strip and the adhesive equalizing layer is preferably wider than the width of the support body, the equalizing layer and/or the support element. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]    The invention is explained further in the following description with the aid of exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings, wherein like reference numbers denote like elements, and wherein:  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevation view of a carding machine provided with a device according to the invention;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 shows clothed flat bars in accordance with the invention;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 3 a  is a side elevation view of a flat bar with a portion of the back piece, the support body and the pins in the flat bar heads;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 b  is a side elevation view through a clothing strip;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 c  is a side elevation view of a flat bar and a clothing strip according to FIGS. 3 a  and  3   b,  assembled and including an equalizing layer;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 shows a device with two reference planes for orienting the flat bar to install the equalizing layer;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 5 shows a self-gluing equalizing layer;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 6 shows an adhesive strip between the support body and the equalizing layer;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 7 a  is a side elevation view of another embodiment of the invention;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 7 b  is a partial front elevation view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 a;    
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of the invention with a fastening plate; and  
         [0022]    [0022]FIGS. 9 and 10 show an embodiment of the invention with an extended adhesive strip.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0023]    [0023]FIG. 1 shows a carding machine, for example a high performance carding machine DK 903 by the company Trützschler, Mönchengladbach, Germany. The carding machine has feed roller  1 , feed table  2 , licker-ins  3   a,    3   b,    3   c,  main carding cylinder  4 , doffer  5 , stripping roller  6 , crushing rollers  7 ,  8 , sliver guide element  9 , web trumpet  10 , withdrawing rollers  11 ,  12 , traveling flats  13  with clothed flat bars  14 , can  15 , and can holder  16 . Curved arrows indicate the rotational directions for the rollers while the arrow A refers to the operating direction. The fixed carding elements  33  and  34  are arranged opposite the main carding cylinder clothing  4   a.    
         [0024]    According to FIG. 2, a flexible bend  17 , provided with several adjustment screws (not shown), is mounted on each side of the carding machine on the side of the machine frame. The flexible bend  17  has a convex outer surface  17   a  and a bottom surface  17   b.  A sliding guide  20 , made, for example, of a sliding plastic, with convex outer surface  20   a  and concave inner surface  20   b,  is located above the flexible bend  17 . The concave inner surface  20   b  rests on the convex outer surface  17   a  and can glide on this surface in the direction of arrows B, C. Each flat bar  14 , for example shaped as disclosed in European Patent 0 567 747 Al, has a back piece  14   a  and a support body  14   b.  As shown in FIG. 3 a,  the support body  14   b  has a bottom surface  14   c,  two side surfaces  14   d,    14   e,  and two upper surfaces  14   f,    14   g  (see FIG. 3 a ). Each flat bar  14  is provided with one flat bar head  14 ′,  14 ″ on each end (see FIG. 7 b ). Flat bar head  14 ′ has two steel pins  14   1 ,  14   2  and flat bar head  14 ″ has two steel pins  14   3 ,  14   4 . A portion of each pin is fastened (for example, glued) in an axial direction (along length  1  in FIG. 7 b ) in recesses  33   a,    33   b  of the support body  14   b  (see FIG. 7 b ). The sections of steel pins  14   1 ,  14   2  (see FIG. 7 b ) that project over the frontal surfaces of support body  14   b  slide along the convex outer surface  20   a  of the sliding guide  20  in the direction of arrow D (see FIG. 2). The clothing strip  18  is attached to the underside of the support body  14   b.  Wire points  19 ′ of the flat bar clothing  19  (see FIG. 3 b ) define a circle  21  (see FIG. 2). The main carding cylinder  4  is provided with cylinder clothing  4   a,  for example, a sawtooth clothing, along its circumference. The points of the main carding cylinder clothing  4   a  define a circle  22 . A distance a between the circle of points  21  and the circle of points  22  can be, for example, 3/1000′. The distance between the convex outer surface  20   a  and the circle of points  22  is indicated by reference character b, while the distance between the convex outer surface  20   a  and the circle of points  21  is indicated by reference character c. The radius for the convex outer surface  20   a  is r 1  and the radius for the circle of points  22  is r 2 . The radii r 1  and r 2  intersect at the center M of the main carding cylinder  4 .  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 3 a  shows (exaggerated in the drawings) that the vertical distance d 1 , between the sliding point of pin  14   1  and the underside  14   c,  and the vertical distance d 2 , between the sliding point of pin  14   2  and the underside  14   c,  are different. This difference results in the underside  14   c  being arranged at angle α relative to the vertical center line  35  through the support body  14   b.  As shown in FIG. 3 b,  the clothing strip  18  consists of clothing wire points  19 ′ (wire hooks) and a support element  23  of, for example, a textile material. The support element  23  has an upper surface  23 ′, a lower surface  23 ″, and a thickness f. The clothing wires  19  project with one end through the lower surface  23 ″, and are fastened to the support element  23 . The other ends of the clothing wires  19 , the clothing wire points  19 ′, are free. As shown in FIG. 3 c,  an intermediate layer  24 , e.g., consisting of hardened synthetic resin, is arranged between the support body  14   b  and the support element  23 . The top surface  24 ′ of intermediate layer  24  is positioned such that it makes contact with the underside  14   c  of support body  14   b.  Lower surface  24 ″ of intermediate layer  24  is positioned such that it makes contact with the upper surface  23 ′ of the support element  23 . The top surface  24 ′ is also arranged at the angle α relative to the vertical center line  35  through the support body  14   b.  The lower surface  24 ″ is oriented parallel to the connecting line between the sliding points for pins  14   1 ,  14   2  and a tangent of the circle of points  21 . As a result, the distance c between the sliding points for pins  14   1 ,  14   2  (on the sliding surface  20   a ) and the circle of points  21  is the same for both pins  14   1 ,  14   2.  The equalizing layer  24  equalizes the distance differences e 1 , e 2  between the surfaces  14   c  and  23 ′. Thus, despite the undesirable slanted course of the underside  14   c  of support body  14   b,  the important and narrow carding distance a between the circle of points  21  on the flat bar clothing  19  and the circle of points  22  on the main carding cylinder clothing  4   a  remains constant for all locations. A connecting element  14   3  is attached to the pins  14   1 ,  14   2 .  
         [0026]    The equalizing layer  24  also equalizes local irregularities on the underside  14   c  of support body  14   b  and/or the upper surface  23 ′ of support element  23 . The equalizing layer  24  also equalizes deviations in the distances between the circle of points  21  and the upper surface  23 ′ and/or the lower surface  23 ″.  
         [0027]    According to FIG. 4, two ridges  14   h,    14   i  are attached to the support body  14   b  on the side in a longitudinal direction. These can be welded on, for example, so that a recess  14   j  is created in the region of the underside  14   c.  As a result, the flat bar clothing  18  is protected and embedded.  
         [0028]    For the production of clothed flat bar  14 , the flat bar wire points  19 ′ of the clothing strip  18  are placed onto a level surface  25   a  of a metal plate  25 , for example, a magnetic plate. The flat bar heads  14 ′,  14 ″ with pins  14   1 ,  14   2 ,  14   3 ,  14   4  are then placed onto a top surface  27   a  of an adhering holding element  27 , e.g., a flat iron or the like. Following this, the adhering equalizing layer  24  is deposited on the upper surface  23 ′ of support element  23 . Finally, the holding element  27  is lowered (defined in the direction of arrow E) on the bearing element  26  by means of a drive (not shown herein) and onto the equalizing layer  24 . The drive can also raise holding element  27  in the direction of arrow F. In the process, the bottom surface  14   c  is glued to the top surface  24 ′ (see FIG. 3c). If necessary, pressure can additionally be exerted via the bottom surface  14   c  onto the top surface  24 ′ by, for example, exerting pressure onto the support body  14   b  or the back piece  14   a.    
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 5 shows an example of an adhesive equalizing layer  24  made of a voluminous adhesive tape, or the like, which can be compressed differently with respect to its height. The adhesive tape is adhesive on two sides, meaning it adheres to the underside  14   c  of support body  14   b  and the upper surface  23 ′ of support element  23 .  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 6 shows a thinner adhesive tape  28  provided between the support body  14   b  and the equalizing layer  24 . The strip can adhere with one side to the underside  14   c  or with two sides to the underside  14   c  and the top surface  24 ′. The equalizing layer  24  can be fixed to the support element  23 , if necessary, such that it cannot be detached. The advantage of the adhesive strip  28  is that the connection between support body  14   b  and the equalizing layer  24  can be broken easily for replacing the clothing strip  18  by, for example, simply pulling off the adhesive strip  28 . This allows a clothing strip  18 , with worn-out clothing  19 , the support element  23 , the equalizing layer  24 , and the adhesive strip  28 , to be simply discarded and replaced.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 7 a  shows the holding element  27 ′, provided with a small step  29  (of, for example, 0.4 mm) between the pins  14   1 , and  14   2 , designed to balance the so-called rack. FIG. 7 b  shows that a square support element  27   a  with parallel and level surfaces and a height h is arranged between the flat bar pins  14   1 ,  14   2  and the plate  25 . An additional square support element  27   b  with the same height h is arranged between the flat bar pins  14   3 ,  14   4  and the plate  25 . Elements  27   a,    27   b  are fixed locally onto the plate  25 . With this device and additional ridge elements on the side (not shown herein) or the like (e.g. movable limiting surfaces for the equalizing layer  24  and/or the support element  23 ), the clothing wire points  19 ′ of the clothing strip  18  can be positioned on the plate  25 , and the flat bar  14 , with pins  14   1 ,  14   2 ,  14   3 ,  14   4 , can be positioned on the support elements  27   a,    27   b.  The equalizing layer  24  is subsequently inserted between the support body  14   b  and the support element  23 . This layer can be inserted, for example, by pouring it in, injecting it, inserting it, manually applying it, or the like. The equalizing layer  24 , which may have the consistency of dough, spreads through and fills the intermediate space.  
         [0032]    A solid equalizing layer  24 , e.g., a plastic strip, that is initially connected securely to the support element  23  can also be used. With such a solid equalizing layer, the support body  14   b  is placed, if necessary, under pressure, onto the equalizing layer  24 . In the process, the support body can be heated so that the equalizing layer  24  is melted onto the underside  14   c.  The underside  14   c  can be structured, for example, with recesses, raised areas, holes, or the like, for attaching the equalizing layer  24 . The underside  14   c  of the support body  14   b  can be heated up using different methods, e.g., inductively or contact heat.  
         [0033]    According to another embodiment of the invention, as shown in FIG. 8, the flat bar  14  that is provided with side ridges  14   h,    14   i  on the underside is used as a casting mold. For example, casting resin is poured between the flat bar  14  and the clothing strip  18 . The back piece  14   a  of the flat bar  14  is provided with several bores  30  across its length. Screws  31  extend through these bores and engage in threads in fastening plates  32 , made, for example, of metal. The flat bar  14  is provided with a separation means before the resin is poured in, so that that the clothing strip  18  can be replaced once it is worn.  
         [0034]    In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the adhesive strip  28 , which can be reinforced with a textile insert (hardened fiberglass or the like), is extended in at least one of its edge regions to match the width k (see FIG. 7 a ) of support body  14   b,  the equalizing layer  24 , and/or the support element  23 . This forms shackle  28   a.  The shackle  28   a,  the length of which is shown in FIG. 9 as g and in FIG. 10 as i, can be grabbed separately at a later date with the aid of tongs or the like. This facilitates severing the connection between the bottom surface  14   c  and the cooperating surface of the adhesive strip  28 , which permits the adhesive strip  28 , together with the equalizing layer  24  and the clothing strip  18 , to be pulled off or detached from the support body  14   b.    
         [0035]    The invention has been described in detail with respect to preferred embodiments, and it will now be apparent from the foregoing to those skilled in the art, that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects. The invention, therefore, is intended to cover all such changes and modifications that fall within the true spirit of the invention.