Patent GB-190909204-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in and relating to Machines for Hackling Flax, Jute, and the like.
Inventor: STEWART WILLIAM JOHN
IPC: D01B5/00
Filed: 1909-04-19
Granted: 1909-10-14
Abstract: 9204. Stewart, W. J. April 19. Heckling - machines; holders for flax etc.; feeding and transferring flax &c. - Relates to automatic heckling- machines in which the strick of raw flax &c. is automatically secured in the holder, inserted into the machine, heckled completely throughout its length, withdrawn from the machine, and released from the .holder. A number of sheets of heckles, each mounted and arranged as shown in Fig. 3, are carried by endless chains 5, which travel in the direction indicated by the arrows on the chain 21, that is to say, upwards in the centre, the paths of the heckle sheets being indicated by the dotted lines 6. Fig. 1 shows each chain 5 as carrying 20 sheets of heckles, a gap being arranged between the first and last. They are preferably graduated in fineness, the coarsest being those which operate first on the fibre, and are driven at different speeds by double chains 35, suitably guided, one side of the chain engaging with the spring - supported driving-wheel 39, while the other engages with the chain-wheels 24 ... 33 of different sizes according to the speed required. The heckles are cleaned by brushes 44, carried by endless belts, doffer-rolls 50, and reciprocating knives 55, the tow being collected in a box 58 from which it may be removed by a screw or endless chain arrangement &c. Rotary cleaning-brushes carried by the chains 5 may be substituted for the brushes 44, and, in place of the doffer-roll 50, an endless toothed band may be used; or the heckles may be cleaned by other heckles, the teeth of which pass between them. Between the central portions of the series of heckle sheets are two " permanent " holders, 60, 62, Fig. 5, in which the material is held during the heckling operation, the material being introduced into, and removed from the machine, and reversed in the holders, so that it may be heckled throughout its length by means of " temporary " or secondary holders, which, when in the machine, occupy the various positions E, A, B, C, D, and a pair of grippers 128, 129 which are opened and closed by cams &c. The plate 60 of each permanent holder is fixed; and the plate 62 is carried by links from right and left handed screws 64, which are rotated in a suitable direction at the proper times by means of reversible bevel-gearing. The secondary holders are each formed of two plates 77, 79, of which one is provided with lugs 78, and the other carries cams 81 for engaging with them, so that, by rotating the cams, the fibre that has been placed between the plates of the holders may be secured or released. The shaft of the cams 81 is provided with a wormwheel 82, which may engage with a worm 83 near the feed-table of the machine, or with worms 123, 122, which respectively cause the release of the strick for drawing through and reversing, and for securing the holder after reversal of the strick, the proper directions of rotation being obtained in each case by reversible gearing controlled by cams. The secondary holders are inserted into the machine and removed therefrom by an oscillating arm 90, which is operated at the proper times by reversible bevel-gearing and cams, and engages with one of the plates of the holder by means of a T-shaped projection and slot arrangement, the arm 90 being given at the proper times a longitudinal movement on the shaft 91 to effect its engagement and disengagement with the holder. A holder is transferred from the filling- table to the position E, and deposited on arms such as 104, 103 which are carried by quickthreaded screws and arranged so that they can be turned to one side, or, by rotating the screws, to be raised and lowered as desired. The first portion of the strick is heckled with the secondary holder in the position A. This holder is then raised to the position B, while another holder, which has been lowered to the position C, is further lowered into position A to have the lower portion of the flax heckled. The flax is now reversed in the holder at B, the unheckled portion being gripped by the bars 128, 129, while the holder is unscrewed and lowered to the position D, where the holder is again screwed up and turned through . 180 degrees by means of the wheels 137, 169, after which it is raised to the position E, where the second half of the strick is heckled. When the heckling operation in the position E is completed, the permanent holder is opened, and the secondary holder engaged by the end of the arm 90, and returned to the filling-table. At the filling-table, the plate 77 of the holder is released, and, by means of a pair of reciprocating slides 147, 148, the released plate 77 with the heckled flax thereon is moved to the right, while another plate 77, on which a strick of raw flax has been placed, is moved into position beneath the plate 79 to be secured thereto by the rotation of the cams 81. At the next movement of the arm 90, the plate 77 with the heckled flax thereon is moved by the table 148 to the left into position to have the finished flax removed and replaced by raw flax. The whole of the heckling-mechanism is enclosed in a dust-proof casing 170, Fig. 7, provided with a door 171 which is normally closed by a weighted and slotted lever 174, but is opened automatically for the insertion and removal of the holders by reason of a projection 172 on the lever engaging with a slot or projection 173 on the lever 174. A modification is described, in which the shaft 91 of the arm 90 is brought nearer the filling-table and the centre of the machine than in the arrangement described above. An alternative arrangement of the machine is described, in which the holders are inserted and withdrawn horizontally instead of vertically. In this arrangement, a holder is employed in which the plates 184, 185, Fig. 13, are drawn together or separated by three or more sets of worm gear 186. The worm-wheel 186 is mounted to slide on a stud 187, which passes through the plate 184 and screws into a nut 188 fixed in the plate 185, both holder plates being provided with projections 205, 206, which rest upon angle-irons during the heckling operation. The sequence of operations is analogous to that above described, the variations in the mechanism corresponding generally with the requirements of the horizontal feed and delivery.