Abstract:
In a device on a spinning room preparation machine, for example a fibre flock feeder, carding machine, cleaner or the like, for supplying and/or discharging fibre material, a tray-like guide element having a guide surface co-operates with at least one conveyor roll located opposite, the fibre material being guided towards and along the guide surface. In order to provide a simple way of supplying and/or discharging fibre material without undesirable adhesion of fibres, the guide element located opposite the at least one conveyor roll is arranged to be set in vibration by at least one actuator.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    The present application claims priority from German Patent Application No. 10 2011 103 840.3 dated Jun. 1, 2011, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The invention relates to a device on a spinning room preparation machine, for example a fibre flock feeder, carding machine, cleaner or the like, for supplying and/or discharging fibre material, in which a tray-like guide element having a guide surface co-operates with at least one conveyor roll located opposite, the fibre material being guided towards and along the guide surface. 
         [0003]    At the feed tray of the flock feeder of a carding machine it can happen that fibres remain adhering to the tray as a result of high surface roughness. This has the result that a “sausage” of fibres forms at that location and the machine becomes blocked. In order to avoid that kind of blockage, nowadays the trays are laboriously polished. 
         [0004]    In a device for filling spinning cans with the fibre strand (sliver) (DE 29 40 244 A), a fibre strand from a draw frame or carding machine is guided over a ramp that has been set in vibration in order to ensure that the fibre strand slides smoothly. At the same time, as filling of the can progresses, the support is slowly lowered from an upper position to a waiting position. As a result, the pressure of the fibre strand on a rapidly rotating funnel wheel is constant. In that way, a shaking movement brings about compaction of the fibre strand. 
         [0005]    It is an aim of the invention to provide a device of the kind described at the beginning which avoids or mitigates the mentioned disadvantages and which, in particular, provides a simple way of supplying and/or discharging the fibre material without undesirable adhesion of fibres. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    The invention provides a device on a spinning room preparation machine for supplying and/or discharging fibre material, having 
         [0000]    a guide element having a guide surface; and
 
at least one conveyor roll located opposite and co-operating with the guide surface, the fibre material in use being guided towards and along the guide surface;
 
wherein the device further comprises an actuator for causing vibration of said guide element.
 
         [0007]    By the introduction of vibration into the guide element, for example the tray, the friction between the fibres and guide element is advantageously reduced in such a way that nothing remains adhering. That applies both to the fibre material (fibre flocks, fibre web) and to any conditioning agent present. Such conditioning agents (preparations) have in many cases a certain tendency to stick. A particular advantage is that even when the fibre material exerts pressure on or acts on the guide surface—brought about by the at least one rotating conveyor roll—undesirable accumulations on the guide surface are effectively avoided. 
         [0008]    The invention also provides a device on a spinning room preparation machine, for example a fibre flock feeder, carding machine, cleaner or the like, for supplying and/or discharging fibre material, in which a tray-like guide element having a guide surface co-operates with at least one conveyor roll located opposite, the fibre material being guided towards and along the guide surface, wherein the guide element located opposite the at least one conveyor roll is arranged to be set in vibration by at least one actuator. 
         [0009]    Advantageously, the vibrations enable the frictional resistance between the fibre material and the guide surface to be reduced. The vibrations advantageously enable the fibre material to slide smoothly along the guide surface. 
         [0010]    Advantageously, a guide element of the device is provided with a device for generating vibrations. By way of example, only, the vibration-generating device may be a piezo actuator, for example a stack actuator or a ring actuator; an eccentric device; or a shaking device. 
         [0011]    The arrangement is preferably such that the oscillatory behaviour of the guide surface is adjustable. 
         [0012]    In some embodiments the guide element is arranged to be set in vibration by a mechanical device. In other illustrative embodiments, the guide element is arranged to be set in vibration by an electrical device. 
         [0013]    In yet further embodiments, the guide element is arranged to be set in vibration by an electromechanical device, or by electromagnetic means. 
         [0014]    The guide element may in accordance with the invention be in any spinning room machine in which a tray-like guide element co-operates with a slowly rotating intake or feed roll, for example opener machines or cleaning machines in spinning room preparation or the intake device upstream of the opening roll of an OE spinning machine. For example, the guide element may be provided on a fibre flock feeder. In another illustrative example the guide element is an intake tray opposite an intake roll. In a further embodiment, the guide element is an intake tray upstream of an opener roll. In other embodiments, the guide element may be a feed tray opposite a feed roll at the inlet of a carding machine. In yet other embodiments, the guide element is provided for taking off and condensing a fibre web at the outlet of a carding machine. Advantageously, the guide element is provided on a fibre opening machine or cleaning machine. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]      FIG. 1  is a diagrammatic side view of a carding machine having a flock feeder with a first embodiment of the device according to the invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 2   a  is a side view of a feed tray and feed roll and an opening roll of the flock feeder in accordance with  FIG. 1  with the first embodiment of the device according to the invention at the feed tray with a stack actuator; 
           [0017]      FIG. 2   b  is an enlarged view of a detail of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 2   a;    
           [0018]      FIG. 3   a ,  3   b  show a further embodiment of the device according to the invention at a feed tray with a ring actuator, and 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  is a side view, partly in section, of another embodiment of the invention in which the delivery mechanism at the outlet of a carding machine in accordance with  FIG. 1  includes a means for generating vibrations assigned to the guide element. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION 
       [0020]    With reference to  FIG. 1 , a carding machine, for example a flat card TC made by Trützschler GmbH &amp; Co. KG of Monchengladbach, Germany, has a feed roll  1 , feed table  2 , lickers—in  3   a ,  3   b ,  3   c , cylinder  4 , doffer  5 , stripper roll  6 , nip rolls  7 ,  8 , web guide element  9 , web funnel  10 , delivery rolls  11 ,  12 , revolving flat top  13  with flat guide rollers  13   a ,  13   b  and flat bars  14 , can  15  and coiler  16 . The directions of rotation of the rolls are indicated by curved arrows. Reference letter M denotes the centre point (axis) of the cylinder  4 . Reference numeral  4   a  denotes the clothing and reference numeral  4   b  denotes the direction of rotation of the cylinder  4 . Reference letter B denotes the direction of rotation of the revolving flat top  13  in the carding position and reference letter C denotes the return transport direction of the flat bars  14 , with reference numerals  17 ′,  17 ″ denoting functional elements and reference numerals  13   a  and  13   b  denoting flat guide rollers. The arrow A denotes the working direction. 
         [0021]    A flock feeder F, for example a DIRECTFEED (trademark) feeder made by Trützschler GmbH &amp; Co. KG, is an integral part of the flat card TC. The flock feeder F has a vertical reserve shaft  20  to which finely opened fibre material is fed from above. The fibre material may be fed, for example, by way of a condenser through a feed and distribution line  21 . The upper region of the reserve shaft  2  is provided with air-outlet openings through which the transporting air emerges after separation of the fibre flocks and enters an extraction device. The lower end of the reserve shaft  20  is closd by an intake roll  22  which co-operates with an intake tray  23 . The intake roll  22  supplies the fibre material from the reserve shaft  20  to a high-speed opener roll  24 , located below the reserve shaft, which is provided with pins or sawtooth wire and is in communication over part of its circumference with a lower feed shaft  25 . The opener roll  24  rotating in the direction of the arrow conveys the fibre material it collects to the feed shaft  25 . The feed shaft  25  has at its lower end a delivery roll which rotates as indicated by the arrow in the drawing and supplies the fibre material to the flat card K. The intake roll  23  rotates slowly in the clockwise direction (arrow  27   a ) and the roll  24  rotates in the anti-clockwise direction (arrow  24   b ), so that the rolls rotate in opposite directions (see  FIG. 2   a ). 
         [0022]    Various actuators can be used for generating vibration, for example motors with imbalance or piezo actuators. Illustrative examples of piezo actuators that maybe used include, for example, a stack actuator ( FIG. 2   b ) or a ring actuator ( FIG. 3   a ,  3   b ). 
         [0023]    In the arrangement of  FIGS. 2   a  &amp;  2   b  there is used a piezo actuator. With reference to  FIG. 2   b , the piezo actuator  27  is screwed onto the angled portion  29  of the feed tray  23  by means of a sheet metal bracket  26 , guided through a bore in that angled portion  29  and then brought to abut against the sheet metal tray element  23   a.    
         [0024]    The end face of the piezo actuator  27  is in contact with the surface of the sheet metal tray element  23   a  remote from the intake roller  22 . The piezo actuator  27  can be a stack actuator having a displacement path of 45 μm. When an electronic voltage is applied to the actuator  27 , the actuator expands and exerts pressure on the sheet metal tray element  23   a . In the voltage-free state, the actuator contracts again. That cycle is repeated rapidly in succession in order to generate vibration. A frequency of, for example, between 10 and 2000 Hz is possible. 
         [0025]    In the exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 3   a ,  3   b , a ring piezo actuator  28  is assigned to the sheet metal tray element  23   a  of the feed tray  23 . As  FIG. 3   b  shows, a front plate  29  (holding element) made of metal is adhesively bonded or welded to the surface of the sheet metal tray element  23   a  remote from the intake roll  22 . The front plate  29  has a through-opening having an internal thread which is engaged by the external thread of a fixing screw  20 . The fixing screw  30  passes through the internal hollow cylinder of a hollow-cylindrical piezo ring sensor  28 . In addition, the fixing screw  30  passes through a through-opening in a metal disc  31  which serves as gyrating mass. The piezo ring sensor  28  is supported by one circular end face on the front plate  29  and by its other circular end face on the metal disc  31 , in each case in abutting contact. When an electrical voltage is applied to the ring actuator  28 , the latter expands and in so doing presses the front plate  29  and the gyrating mass  31  apart and accordingly elongates the fixing screw  30 . In the voltage-free state, the actuator  28  and the screw  30  contract again. Rapid repetition of that cycle in succession brings about the desired vibration, caused by the gyrating mass  31  being set in motion. In this case too, frequencies in the range of from 10 to 2000 Hz are possible. 
         [0026]      FIG. 4  shows an enlarged view of the delivery mechanism at the outlet of the flat card K in accordance with  FIG. 1  incorporating a further illustrative embodiment of the invention. The web guide element  9  has a guide surface  9   a  which is in the form of a sheet metal element. The guide surface  9   a  collects the fibre web (not shown) emerging from the nip rolls  7 ,  8  and guides it through the opening  14  in the direction towards the web funnel  10 . Reference numeral  19  denotes a guide body which helps to guide the fibre web into the opening  18 . The side of the guide surface  9   a  remote from the nip rolls  7 ,  8  is assigned a piezo ring sensor  28 , which is of generally similar constriction to the piezo ring sensor  28  described above in connection with  FIG. 3   a ,  3   b.    
         [0027]    In other illustrative embodiments, it is possible for an actuator  27  or  28  to be assigned to the sheet metal tray element  2   a  of the feed table  2  of the flat card K, the actuator co-operating with the feed roll  1 . The feed table  2  has a sheet metal tray element  2   a  (not shown). 
         [0028]    The invention has been explained using by way of illustration the example of a flock feeder F for a flat card K and with reference to a flat card K. The device according to the invention is equally suitable for use on all spinning room machines in which a tray-like guide element co-operates with a slowly rotating intake or feed roll, for example opener machines or cleaning machines in spinning room preparation or the intake device upstream of the opening roll of an OE spinning machine. 
         [0029]    Although the foregoing invention has been described in detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of understanding, it will be obvious that changes and modifications may be practised within the scope of the appended claims.