Patent GB-554394-A (GB)
Title: Improvements relating to apparatus for forming rolls of sliver of flax, hemp, jute and other fibres
IPC: D01G15/62
Filed: 1942-03-06
Abstract: 554,394. Lap-forming apparatus; clutches; shaft couplings. MACKIE & SONS, Ltd., J., and MACKIE, J. P. March 6, 1942, Nos. 2986/42 and 3687/43. [Class 120 (i)] [Also in Group XXIV] In a machine in which sliver rolls of flax &c. are formed between lower supporting rollers and a top forming or pressing roller all of which are driven normally at the same superficial speed, the completed roll is ejected without stopping any of the forming and supporting rollers by speeding up the drive of the roll momentarily at the front near the bottom thereof so that it overruns the supporting rollers sufficiently to carry it past the plane containing the axes of the top pressing roller and first supporting roller, the continued rotation of these rollers then ejecting the roll: the speeding up of the roll may be attained by supplying an overdrive to the front supporting roller for a brief period or by driving it temporarily by a member moving at a faster speed than that of the front supporting roller. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3 the drive for the top pressing roller 12 is taken by chain gearing and links 17, 18 from the front supporting roller 10 which is geared through a clutch 105 to the other supporting roller 11 carried by the driven shaft 9 and as the roll 13 nears completion a projection 21, on the sliding carriage 16 supporting the roller 12, engages an adjustable collar 22 on a vertical rod 23 which is lifted and releases a weighted lever 25 which shifts the clutch so that the roller 10 is driven at an increased speed and moves the roll over the line of the centres of the rollers so that it is ejected; as the roll is ejected it depresses a bar 37 in a pivoted lever 38 so that a projection 98 on the lever depresses the arm 29 of the lever 25, re-engaging the latter with the rod 23 and returning the clutch to its normal position to drive the roller 10 at its roll-forming speed. The depressions of the lever 38 also depresses a pivoted lever 45, fixed to the same shaft 43 as the lever 38 and carrying a foot-piece 46 engaging over the end of a lever 47 pivoted at 48 on the base 15, and having a bent end 49 supporting levers 51, 52, the lever 51 being pivoted to a lever 54 which is rocked continuously from a crank 56 driven from the shaft 9 and the lever 52 being pivoted to a support 50 on the base 15. The depression of the lever 45 raises the end 49 and lifts the levers 51, 52 so that hooks thereon are disengaged from a bracket 53, 94 carrying the starting arbor fork 82, a weighted lever 64 then moving the bracket and fork towards the rollers with the prongs of the fork engaging one above and one below the sliver and as the fork engages the sliver fully, a slide 70 in the forked upper part 94 of the bracket drops over the end of a guide plate 74 and brings a driving roller 81 on the fork into contact with discs 75, 76 on the shafts of the supporting rollers so that the fork is rotated, breaking the sliver from the ejected roll, and starting the winding of a new roll under the action of the rollers 10, 11, 12 until a latch 77 on the carriage 16 engage a lever 42 to disengage its end, against the action of a spring 92, from the lever 38 which is then moved upwards by a spring 39 and causes the levers 51, 52 to be lowered so that the hooked end of the lever 51 engages the part 53 of the bracket and pulls it back to its initial position and disengages the fork from the roll being wound. In a modification, Fig. 6, a slipper member 113, partly embracing the roller 10 and freely mounted on the shaft 112 thereof, is formed with one part of a dog clutch the other part being carried by a gear 27 slidable on the shaft and moved to engage the clutch part on the slipper to rotate the latter when the rod 23 is raised, the slipper then moving to engage the formed roll and start its ejection; the drive is disconnected by the depression of the lever 38 and a stop may be provided to bring the slipper to rest. The slidable gear 127 is driven by a wide gear 128 on a stub shaft 114 between the rollers and driven from the roller 10, through a gear 125, the gears 125, 128 being interconnected by lugs 131 on the gear 125 and lugs 132 on the gear 128 with interposed springs 133 to cushion the drive as the clutch is thrown into and out of action; a similar spring transmission may be used in the front lower roller drive of the clutch 105. The clutch 105 comprises a member 108, Fig. 4, slidable in the shaft 101 of the roller 10 by the lever 25 and carrying a pair of keys 103 extending from spring arms 104 fixed in the end of the member 108 and projecting through slots 111 in the shaft; the gear wheel 31 by which the roller is normally driven and the gear wheel 33 which drives it at the increased speed to eject' the completed roll are freely rotatable on the shaft 101 between collars 105 and are separated by a ring 106 over which the keys ride as the member 108 is moved to engage the keys with ways in the gear 31 or the gear 33. Specification 485,278 is referred to.