Abstract:
A carding machine includes a main carding cylinder, a travelling flats assembly having a plurality of flat bars provided with a clothing cooperating with the clothing of the main carding cylinder; an endless flat bar driving element trained about end sprockets and circulating the flat bars in an endless path; a flat cleaning device supported at a location above the flat bar driving element and including a rotatably supported flat brush roller. A gearing is provided which has an input shaft connected to a power drive, a first output shaft connected to one of the end sprockets for circulating the flat bar driving element and a second output shaft connected to the flat brush roller for rotating the same. The first and second output shafts have a constant distance from one another.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the priority of German Application No. 198 44 790.6 filed Sep. 30, 1998, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a driving device for a carding machine having a travelling flats assembly and a flat brush roller (flat cleaning device) operatively connected to the flat bars which are circulated by an endless drive element supported on two end sprockets. 
     In a known driving device the two drives, that is, the drive for one of the end sprockets and the drive for the flat brush are derived by belts from the motor-driven main carding cylinder drive. In such an arrangement a special gearing is provided which has two worm gears, a bevel gear and several deflecting rollers. It is a disadvantage of the outlined conventional driving device that for each maintenance work the toothed belt drive has to be released and subsequently re-tensioned and further, it involves substantial technological outlay. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the invention to provide an improved driving device of the above-outlined type, from which the discussed disadvantages are eliminated, which is structurally simple and which makes a simplified maintenance possible. 
     This object and others to become apparent as the specification progresses, are accomplished by the invention, according to which, briefly stated, the carding machine includes a main carding cylinder, a travelling flats assembly having a plurality of flat bars provided with a clothing cooperating with the clothing of the main carding cylinder, an endless flat bar driving element trained about end sprockets and circulating the flat bars in an endless path, a flat cleaning device supported at a location above the flat bar driving element and including a rotatably supported flat brush roller. A gearing is provided which has an input shaft connected to a power drive, a first output shaft connected to one of the end sprockets for circulating the flat bar driving element and a second output shaft connected to the flat brush roller for rotating the same. The first and second output shafts have a constant distance from one another. 
     The invention provides for a significant structural simplification since, in particular, the toothed belt drive together with several deflecting rollers is dispensed with, whereby a more economical manufacture and assembly is achieved. It is a further advantage of the invention that for maintenance work the toothed belt no longer needs to be released and re-tensioned to a new, predetermined precise value. Apart from these, simplifications a substantial reduction of the maintenance times and thus an increase of the productive periods are achieved. 
     The invention has the following additional advantageous features: 
     The gearing is axially rotatable about the axis of one of the end sprockets of the traveling flats assembly. 
     The gearing is insertable on the shaft of the end sprocket. 
     The traveling flats move slowly, about 200 mm/min and the flat brush rotates with an rpm of about 4-8. 
     A drive motor is coupled to the input of the gearing which is accommodated in a housing which, in turn, is rotatable about the axis of the end sprocket. 
     The housing of the flat cleaning device and the drive housing of the traveling flats are combined into a single housing. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevational view of a carding machine adapted to incoporate the invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a schematic side elevational view of the flat cleaning device including a flat brush roller and a brush cleaning roller in the region of one of the end sprockets of the travelling flats assembly. 
     FIG. 3 a  is a schematic front elevational view of an insertable drive with drive motor and two output shafts coupled to an end sprocket of the travelling flats assembly and the flat brush roller. 
     FIG. 3 b  is a side elevational view seen in the direction of the arrow IIIb of FIG. 3 a.    
     FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of a separate housing for the flat cleaning device, having a rotary axis in alignment with the rotary axis of an end sprocket of the travelling flats assembly. 
     FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of a combined housing for the drives of the flat cleaning device and the travelling flats assembly. 
     FIG. 6 a  is a side elevational view similar to FIG. 2, showing an embodiment in which the flat brush roller is stationary and the flat bar driving belt is, with the flat bars movable towards and away from the flat brush, wherein the flat brush roller is shown out of engagement with the flat bar clothings. 
     FIG. 6 b  is a view similar to FIG. 6 a , showing the flat brush roller in engagement with the flat bar clothings. 
     FIG. 7 a  is a side elevational view of a preferred embodiment of the invention, wherein the flat brush roller is pivotal toward and away from the flat bars, illustrated in an operative, engagement position. 
     FIG. 7 b  is a view similar to FIG. 7 a , showing the flat brush roller in an inoperative position in which it is out of engagement with the flat bars. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Turning to FIGS. 1 and 2, a carding machine CM is shown which may be an EXACTACARD DK 803 model manufactured by Trützschler GmbH &amp; Co. KG, Mönchengladbach, Germany. The carding machine CM has a feed roll  1 , a feed table  2 , licker-ins  3   a ,  3   b ,  3   c , a main carding cylinder  4 , a doffer  5 , a stripping roll  6 , crushing rolls  7 ,  8 , a web guiding element  9 , a sliver trumpet  10 , calender rolls  11 ,  12 , a travelling flats assembly  13  having flat bars  14 , a coiler can  15  and a sliver coiler  16 . The direction of rotation of the various rotary elements is indicated with curved arrows drawn therein. The rotary axis of the carding cylinder  4  is designated at M. The direction of rotation A, B of the frontal and rearward end sprockets  13   a  and  13   b  of the travelling flats assembly  13  is opposite to the rotary direction E of the carding cylinder  4 . The flat bars  14  are drawn over a slide guide, in a forward direction as indicated by the arrow D, by an endless toothed driving belt  23  trained about the end sprockets  13   a  and  13   b . The end sprockets  13   a  and  13   b  support the belt  23  for positioning the lower flight of the belt  23  adjacent a circumferential portion of the main carding cylinder  4  along a working zone of the flat bars  14  and for positioning an upper flight of the belt  23  above the lower flight along a return zone of the flat bars  14 . On the upper side of the travelling flats assembly  13 , opposite the slide guide, that is, along the return zone, the flat bars  14  are supported on the top face of returning flight (upper flight) of the toothed belt  23  and travel in the reverse direction as indicated by the arrow C. 
     With the clothings of the flat bars  14  a slowly rotating flat brush roller  17  is associated whose clothing is in contact with a rapidly rotating brush cleaning roller  18 . The end sprocket  13   a  of the travelling flats and the flat brush roller  17  are driven by the output shafts of a joint drive whose input shaft is coupled with a drive motor. 
     A bracket  21  secured to the frame  20  of the carding machine supports the end sprocket  13   a . A similar support is provided for the sprocket  13   b  at the opposite end of the travelling flats. The toothed belt  23  is trained about the two end sprockets  13   a  and  13   b  and conventionally entrains the flat bars  14  in an endless path. Removal of the flat strip from the flat bars  14   a  is effected by the flat brush roller  17  which has a clothing  17   a  formed of small hooks. At a flat bar velocity of, for example, 200 mm/min the flat brush roller  17  has an rpm of 6 (which corresponds to a circumferential speed of 2,564 mm/min for a brush roller diameter of 136 mm). The rotary brush cleaning roller  18  cleans the flat brush roller  17 ; the brush cleaning roller  18  has a clothing  18   a  situated at a small distance from the clothing of the flat brush roller  17 . The brush cleaning roller  18  has an rpm of 1350 (which corresponds to a circumferential speed of 466.5 m/min for a roll diameter of 110 mm). Between the brush cleaning roller  18  and the flat bar clothings  14  a guard plate  42  is provided to prevent the dirt from being thrown on or between the flat bars  14 . The brush cleaning roller  18  throws the removed dirt into a suction device  22 . 
     Turning to FIG. 3 a , the gearing  24  shown therein has an input shaft  25  and two output shafts  26  and  27 . The gearing  24  is enclosed in a housing  29 . The input shaft  25  is rotated by an electric motor  28 . The output shaft  26  is coupled coaxially to the shaft  17   b  of the flat brush roller  17 , while the output shaft  27  is coupled coaxially to the shaft  13   a ′ of the end sprocket  13   a . The distance between the two output shafts  26  and  27  is constant. A portion of the input shaft  25  is formed as a worm gear which meshes with a pinion  30  oriented at 90° to the input shaft  25  and mounted on a shaft  31 . The two end portions of the shaft  31  are formed as worm gears  31   a ,  31   b  which cooperate with respective pinions  32  and  33  which, in turn, are mounted on respective output shafts  26  and  27 . 
     As shown in FIG. 3 b , the end sprocket  13   a  rotates in the direction A with an rpm of n 1  and the flat brush roller  17  rotates in the direction F with an rpm of n 2 . 
     Referring to FIG. 4, the housing  29  which accommodates the gearing  24 , may be turned by a setting device  34  about the shaft  13   a ′ of the sprocket  13   a  in the direction of the arrows G and H. The setting device  34  has two oppositely threaded screws  35   a ,  35   b  meshing with inner threads of a turnbuckle  36 . The outer end of the screw  35   a  is secured to the machine frame while the outer end of the screw  35   b  is jointed to the housing  29 . By rotating the turnbuckle  36  in the one or the other direction, the housing  29  is turned about the axis  13   a ′ so that the flat brush roller  17  is moved towards or away from the flat bars  14 . 
     It is noted that the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4 may also be secured stationarily, that is, without the setting device  34  and without the rotatability of the housing  29  about the axis  13   a′.    
     In the construction shown in FIG. 5, the housing  29  and the housing containing the drive for the flat bars are combined into a single, stationarily supported housing. A belt shifting device  37  is arranged on that side of the toothed belt  23  which is oriented away from the flat bars  14  for locally shifting the toothed belt  23 , together with the flat bars  14 , in the direction of the arrows I, K. The location where such a belt shift takes place is downstream of the sprocket  13   a  as viewed in the direction C of belt travel. Thus, in case the flat brush roller  17  is stationarily (that is, non-shiftably) mounted, the toothed belt  23 , together with the flat bars  14  may be lifted for a desired period of time toward the flat brush roller  17  in such a manner that in the region of the flat brush roller  17  the clothing  17   a  of the flat brush roller  17  is in engagement with the dirt strip (not shown) in the flat bar clothing  14   a.    
     In FIG. 6 a  between the points of the clothings  17   a  of the stationary flat brush roller  17  and the points of the clothings  14   a  of the flat bars  14  a clearance b is present, that is, the clothings  17   a  and  14   a  are out of engagement with one another. In accordance with FIG. 6 b  the toothed belt  23  with the flat bars  14 —as compared to FIG.  6 a—are shifted in the direction I locally to such an extent that the clothings  14   a  and  17   a  are in engagement with one another. In operation, the flat brush roller  17  rotates in the direction F and the upper flight (return flight)  23   a  of the toothed belt  23  travels in the direction C. while the lower flight  23   b  travels in the direction D As a result, the different circumferential portions of the clothings  17   a  of the flat brush roller  17  engage consecutively the clothing  14   a  of consecutive flat bars  14  and remove the dirt therefrom. 
     In FIG. 7 a  the housing  29 , together with the flat brush roller  17 , was turned clockwise in the direction H to such an extent about the axis of the end sprocket  13   a  that the clothings  14   a  of the flat bars  14  engage into the clothing  17   a  of the flat brush roller  17 . The cleaning operation is identical to that described in connection with FIG. 6 b.    
     In FIG. 7 b  the housing  29 , together with the flat brush roller  17 , was turned counterclockwise in the direction G to such an extent about the axis of the end sprocket  13   a  that the clothing  14   a  of the flat bars  14  is at a clearance c from the points of the clothing  17   a.    
     It will be understood that the above description of the present invention is susceptible to various modifications, changes and adaptations, and the same are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the appended claims.