Patent Publication Number: US-8973219-B2

Title: Detaching roller apparatus in a combing machine

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a detaching roller apparatus in a combing machine. 
     A combing machine includes a nipper device, a top comb, a combing cylinder and pairs of detaching rollers as main components. While the nipper device holds a lap drawn from a lap feed unit, the combing cylinder combs a tuft of the lap thereby to remove short fibers from the lap, thus forming a fleece. 
     While the nipper device is moved forward to move the fleece toward the detaching rollers, the detaching rollers are rotated reversely to pull out the previously drawn fleece so that the front end of the fleece held by the nipper device and the rear end of the previous fleece received by the detaching rollers are overlapped. Subsequently, while the detaching rollers are rotated forward to receive the following fleece from the nipper device with the previous fleece, the top comb combs the rear end of the following fleece. 
     The combing machine usually includes eight combing units. Each combing unit has two pairs of detaching rollers to form two rows of such detaching rollers with one pair forward and the other back. Since the detaching rollers are rotated reversibly to receive the fleece, the driving device that drives the detaching rollers is subjected to an extremely large load. In particular, when the combing machine is speeded up (or when the rotational speed of the combing cylinder is increased to 300 rpm or higher, for example) to improve the productivity, the driving device is required to develop a high torque. 
     Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-1843 discloses a combing machine that is intended to drive at a high speed the detaching rollers requiring a high torque. The combing machine of the Publication includes two detaching rollers. The reversible rotation of the detaching rollers is synchronized with the rocking motion of the nipper frame of the nipper device. Each detaching roller has a shaft at positions adjacent to both ends of which reversible servomotors are provided for driving the shaft. The servomotors are synchronized. The shaft of each detaching roller is driven via gear trains provided between the motor shafts of the servomotors and the shaft. Each gear train has an idler gear. 
     In the Publication wherein the two shafts of the two detaching rollers are driven by the four servomotors, each detaching roller is driven by double torque of the servomotors, so that the detaching rollers are driven at a high speed. 
     In the combing machine disclosed by the Publication, the two servomotors are provided at positions adjacent to both ends of the shaft of the detaching roller to drive the detaching roller by double torque. When the combing machine needs to be speeded up and, therefore, the driving device is required to develop a higher torque, however, there is a need to increase the size of the servomotors located at positions adjacent to both ends of the shaft of each detaching roller. 
     Since the driving device needs to cause the detaching rollers to repeat the alternate forward and reverse rotation, the increase in the size of the servomotors causes an increase of the inertia of the rotating detaching rollers, which calls for a larger torque. Therefore, the combing machine of the Publication cannot meet the speed requirements of the combing machine. 
     The present invention is directed to providing a detaching roller apparatus in a combing machine that increases the driving force for the detaching roller while preventing an increase of the inertia of the driving device. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a detaching roller apparatus in a combing machine that includes a detaching roller and a plurality of electric motors. The detaching roller has a first end and a second end. The electric motors are connected to the detaching roller at positions adjacent to at least one of the first and second ends of the detaching roller for driving the detaching roller reversibly. The electric motors are synchronized. 
     Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention together with objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description of the presently preferred embodiments together with the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a side view showing one of combing units of a combing machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic plan view showing a detaching roller apparatus of the combing machine of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a partial cross-sectional view of the detaching roller apparatus along the line A-A of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is similar to  FIG. 3 , but shows a detaching roller apparatus of a combing machine according to a second embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 5  is similar to  FIG. 3 , but shows a detaching roller apparatus of a combing machine according to a third embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     The following will describe the combing machine according to the first embodiment of the present invention with reference to  FIGS. 1 through 3 . It is noted that the left-hand side and the right-hand side of  FIG. 1  correspond to the front and rear of the combing machine, respectively, and also that the upper side and the lower side of  FIG. 1  correspond to the upper side and the lower side of the combing machine, respectively. Referring to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a combing unit of the combing machine which is designated by reference numeral  1 . The combing machine generally includes eight such combing units  1 . The combing units  1  include nipper devices  2 , combing cylinders  3  and two pairs of detaching rollers  4  and  5  located forward of the combing cylinders  3 . One pair of detaching rollers  4  is located rearward of the other pair of detaching rollers  5 . Each pair of the detaching rollers  4  and  5  has an upper detaching roller and a lower detaching roller. Only one of the two pairs of detaching rollers  4  and  5  may be used in the combing machine. 
     Each nipper device  2  has a nipper shaft  6  located rearward of the corresponding combing cylinder  3  and a nipper frame  7  located above the combing cylinder  3 . The nipper shaft  6  is driven to rotate reversibly by a main motor (not shown). The nipper frame  7  is connected to a drive arm  8  fixed on the nipper shaft  6  through a shaft  9  so that the nipper frame  7  is movable back and forth by the reversible rotation of the nipper shaft  6 . 
     A pair of lap rollers  10  is located above the nipper frame  7 , and a lap L is placed on the pair of lap rollers  10  to form a lap feed unit. A feed roller  11  is located forward of the nipper frame  7  for feeding the lap L to the detaching rollers  4  and  5 . A bottom nipper  12  is fixed to and extends forward from the nipper frame  7 . A nipper arm  14  is pivotally mounted on the shaft  13  of the nipper frame  7 , and a top nipper  15  is fixed to the distal end of the nipper arm  14 . 
     The top nipper  15  is movable at a predetermined time in synchronization with the back-and-forth movement of the nipper frame  7  thereby to hold in conjunction with the bottom nipper  12  the lap L drawn from the lap feed unit. A top comb  16  is mounted to the nipper frame  7  at a position that is forward of the bottom nipper  12  and operable to move up and down in synchronization with the back-and-forth movement of the nipper frame  7 . The detaching rollers  4  and  5  are driven to rotate reversibly by a driving device  17  (refer to  FIGS. 2 and 3 ) having dedicated motors. The detaching rollers  4 ,  5  and the driving device  17  cooperate to form the detaching roller apparatus of the present invention. 
     In the combing unit  1 , the lap L fed from the lap roll by the lap rollers  10  is held at a retreated position of the nipper device  2  by the bottom nipper  12  and the top nipper  15 . A tuft of the lap L is combed by the combing cylinder  3  for removal of short fibers from the lap L, thus a fleece being formed at the end of the lap L. The fleece is moved toward the detaching rollers  4  and  5  by the rocking motion of the nipper device  2 . In synchronization with the rocking motion of the nipper device  2 , the detaching rollers  4  and  5  are driven to rotate reversely, which moves toward the nipper device  2  the rear end of the fleece that is previously received by the detaching rollers  4  and  5 . 
     When the forward end of the fleece held by the nipper device  2  and the rear end of the previous fleece are overlapped, the detaching rollers  4  and  5  are driven to rotate forward to receive the fleece from the nipper device  2 . Thus, the fleece is moved forward with the rear end of the previous fleece being pieced to the forward end of the following fleece. The tuft of the following fleece that is moved forward is combed by the top comb  16  for removal of short fibers. The combing machine repeats the above-described combing actions. That is, the detaching rollers  4  and  5  repeat the alternate forward and reverse rotation for moving the fleece forward and reversely. 
     The following will describe the detaching roller apparatus with reference to  FIGS. 2 and 3 . The upper detaching roller  4  has gears  18 A and  18 B fixed at the respective first and second ends thereof. Similarly, the upper detaching roller  5  has gears  19 A and  19 B fixed at the respective first and second ends thereof. 
     The upper detaching roller  4  has at a position adjacent to the first end thereof three servomotors  20 A,  20 B,  20 C and at a position adjacent to the second end thereof three servomotors  21 A,  21 B,  21 C. The servomotors  20 A,  20 B,  20 C have gears  22 A,  22 B,  22 C fixed on the respective shafts thereof. A common idler gear  23  is meshed with the gears  22 A,  22 B,  22 C and the gear  18 A of the upper detaching roller  4 . It is noted that the servomotors  20 A,  20 B,  20 C,  21 A,  21 B,  21 C are mounted in a frame (not shown) and the common idler gear  23  is rotatably supported in the frame (not shown). 
     The servomotors  21 A,  21 B,  21 C have gears  24 A,  24 B,  24 C fixed on the respective shafts thereof. A common idler gear  25  is meshed with the gears  24 A,  24 B,  24 C and the gear  18 B of the upper detaching roller  4 . Therefore, the upper detaching roller  4  is driven by the six servomotors  20 A,  20 B,  20 C,  21 A,  21 B,  21 C. 
     The servomotors  20 A,  20 B,  20 C are electrically connected to a servo-amplifier  26  to receive therefrom identical drive command signals. The servomotor  20 B has an encoder  27  that detects the speed of the servomotor  20 B and is electrically connected to the servo-amplifier  26 . The encoder  27  directly detects the speed of the servomotor  20 B and the detected speed represents the speed of the servomotors  20 A and  20 C. The encoder  27  sends the data on the speed of the servomotor  20 B to the servo-amplifier  26  for feedback control. The servo-amplifier  26  sends identical drive command signals to the servomotors  20 A,  20 B,  20 C according to the feedback signal from the encoder  27 , thereby to control the rotation of the servomotors  20 A,  20 B,  20 C. 
     Similarly, the servomotors  21 A,  21 B,  21 C are electrically connected to a servo-amplifier  28  to receive therefrom identical drive command signals. The servomotor  21 B has an encoder  29  that detects the speed of the servomotor  21 B and is electrically connected to the servo-amplifier  28 . The encoder  29  directly detects the speed of the servomotor  21 B and the detected speed represents the speed of the servomotors  21 A and  21 C. The encoder  29  sends the data on the speed of the servomotor  21 B to the servo-amplifier  28  for feedback control. The servo-amplifier  28  sends identical drive command signals to the servomotors  21 A,  21 B,  21 C according to the feedback signal from the encoder  29 , thereby to control the rotation of the servomotors  21 A,  21 B,  21 C. 
     The servo-amplifiers  26  and  28  are electrically connected to a central control unit  30  located in the combing machine so as to receive therefrom synchronizing signal and forward or reverse rotation drive command signal and send drive command signals to the servomotors  20 A,  20 B,  20 C,  21 A,  21 B,  21 C. Thus, the upper detaching roller  4  is driven at both ends thereof to rotate forward or reversely by the servomotors  20 A,  20 B,  20 C,  21 A,  21 B,  21 C. 
     The upper detaching roller  5  has the driving mechanism that is substantially identical to the driving mechanism of the upper detaching roller  4 . The upper detaching roller  5  has at a position adjacent to the first end thereof three servomotors  31 A,  31 B,  31 C and gears  32 A,  32 B,  32 C and a common idler gear  33 . The gears  32 A,  32 B,  32 C are fixed on the respective shafts of the servomotors  31 A,  31 B,  31 C. The common idler gear  33  is meshed with the gears  32 A,  32 B,  32 C and the gear  19 A of the upper detaching roller  5 . The servomotors  31 A,  31 B,  31 C are electrically connected to a servo-amplifier  34 . An encoder  35  is connected to the servomotor  31 B for detecting the speed of the servomotors  31 A and  31 C, as well as the servomotor  31 B. The encoder  35  is electrically connected to the servo-amplifier  34 . 
     The upper detaching roller  5  has at a position adjacent to the second end thereof three servomotors  36 A,  36 B,  36 C and gears  37 A,  37 B,  37 C and a common idler gear  38 . The gears  37 A,  37 B,  37 C are fixed on the respective shafts of the servomotors  36 A,  36 B,  36 C. The common idler gear  38  is meshed with the gears  37 A,  37 B,  37 C and the gear  19 B of the upper detaching roller  5 . The servomotors  36 A,  36 B,  36 C are electrically connected to a servo-amplifier  39 . An encoder  40  is connected to the servomotor  36 B for detecting the speed of the servomotors  36 A and  36 C, as well as the servomotor  36 B. The encoder  40  is electrically connected to the servo-amplifier  39 . 
     The servo-amplifiers  34  and  39  are electrically connected to the central control unit  30  so as to receive therefrom synchronizing signal and the forward or reverse rotation drive command signal. Thus, the upper detaching roller  5  is driven at both ends thereof by the servomotors  31 A,  31 B,  31 C,  36 A,  36 B,  36 C to rotate forward or reversely in synchronization with the upper detaching roller  4 . 
     In the first embodiment wherein the upper detaching roller  4  has at a position adjacent to the first end thereof three servomotors  20 A,  20 B,  20 C, each of the servomotors  20 A,  20 B,  20 C is reduced in size to about one third as compared to the high-torque and large-size servomotor used in the background art. That is, the first embodiment makes it possible to use a motor having a rotor of a reduced size. In addition, the torques developed by the respective servomotors  20 A,  20 B,  20 C are combined together thereby to provide a relatively large force. Thus, the inertia developed by the rotor of the motor produced when the upper detaching roller  4  is rotated forward and reversely alternately is reduced thereby to considerably reduce the energy necessary for driving the servomotors  20 A,  20 B,  20 C, which contributes substantially to the reduction of power consumption. 
     In the first embodiment wherein the upper detaching roller  4  has not only at a position adjacent to the first end thereof three servomotors  20 A,  20 B,  20 C but also at a position adjacent to the second end thereof three servomotors  21 A,  21 B,  21 C, the upper detaching roller  4  is driven at both ends thereof by six servomotors  20 A,  20 B,  20 C,  21 A,  21 B,  21 C. Thus, the servomotors develop a high torque while solving the problem with the inertia of the servomotors. Therefore, the detaching roller apparatus of the first embodiment can meet the speed requirements of the combing machine. The same functional effects are true of the upper detaching roller  5 . 
     Though not shown specifically in the drawing, each of the servomotors  20 A,  20 B,  20 C,  21 A,  21 B,  21 C,  31 A,  31 B,  31 C,  36 A,  36 B,  36 C uses a liquid-cooled motor to reduce the thermal effects among the servomotors that drive the upper detaching rollers  4  and  5  having large loads. 
     In the first embodiment, one servo-amplifier  26  or  28  ( 34  or  39 ) and one encoder  27  or  29  ( 35  or  40 ) are provided for the three servomotors at each end of the upper detaching rollers  4  ( 5 ). For example, one servo-amplifier  26  and one encoder  27  are provided for the servomotors  20 A,  20 B,  20 C. Such configuration makes it easy to synchronize the servomotors  20 A,  20 B,  20 C and also reduces the number of parts and hence the manufacturing cost. 
       FIG. 4  shows a detaching roller apparatus of the combing machine according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the description of the second embodiment, like reference numerals indicate like parts or elements used in the description of the first embodiment and the detailed description of such parts will be omitted. The gears  22 A,  22 B,  22 C fixed on the shafts of the servomotors  20 A,  20 B,  20 C at a position adjacent to the first end of the upper detaching roller  4  are meshed with individual idler gears  41 A,  41 B,  41 C, respectively. The idler gears  41 A,  41 B,  41 C are meshed with a common idler gear  42  that is in turn meshed with the gear  18 A at the first end of the upper detaching roller  4 . Although not shown in the drawing, an identical driving mechanism is provided at the second end of the same upper detaching roller  4 . 
     The gears  32 A,  32 B,  32 C fixed on the shafts of the servomotors  31 A,  31 B,  31 C at a position adjacent to the first end of the upper detaching roller  5  are meshed with individual idler gears  43 A,  43 B,  43 C, respectively. The idler gears  43 A,  43 B,  43 C are meshed with a common idler gear  44  that is meshed with the gear  19 A at the first end of the upper detaching roller  5 . Although not shown in the drawing, an identical driving mechanism is provided at the second end of the same upper detaching roller  5 . 
     The combing machine of the second embodiment has substantially the same functional effects as that of the first embodiment. In the second embodiment wherein a plurality of idler gears with a reduced diameter are used, the inertia of the connecting mechanisms between the servomotors and the upper detaching rollers  4 ,  5  is reduced, which contributes to the reduction of the power consumption. 
       FIG. 5  shows a detaching roller apparatus of the combing machine according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In the description of the third embodiment, like reference numerals indicate like parts or elements used in the description of the first embodiment and the detailed description of such parts will be omitted. A pulley  45  is fixed at the first end of the upper detaching roller  4 . Pulleys  46 A,  46 B,  46 C are fixed on the shafts of the servomotors  20 A,  20 B,  20 C located at positions adjacent to the first end of the upper detaching rollers  4 , respectively. 
     A timing belt  47  is suspended among the pulleys  45 ,  46 A,  46 B,  46 C under tension. Guide pulleys  48 A,  48 B,  48 C are located between the pulleys  45  and  46 A, between the pulleys  45  and  46 C, and between the pulleys  46 B and  46 C, respectively, in contact with the timing belt  47 . The guide pulleys  48 A,  48 B,  48 C are adjustably arranged so that the guide pulleys  48 A,  48 B,  48 C provide a predetermined tension to the timing belt  47 . Although not shown in the drawing, an identical driving mechanism is provided at the second end of the upper detaching roller  4 , so that the upper detaching roller  4  is driven at both ends thereof. The guide pulleys  48 A,  48 B,  48 C are rotatably supported by a frame (not shown). 
     A pulley  49  is fixed at the first end of the upper detaching roller  5 . Pulleys  50 A,  50 B,  50 C are fixed on the shafts of the servomotors  31 A,  31 B,  31 C at positions adjacent to the first end of the upper detaching roller  5 , respectively. A timing belt  50  is suspended among the pulleys  49 ,  50 A,  50 B,  50 C under tension. 
     Guide pulleys  52 A,  52 B,  52 C are located respectively between the pulleys  49  and  50 A, between the pulleys  49  and  50 C, and between the pulleys  50 B and  50 C for providing a predetermined tension to the timing belt  51 . The guide pulleys  52 A,  52 B,  52 C are rotatably supported by a frame (not shown) and the positions of the guide pulleys  52 A,  52 B,  52 C are adjustable to adjust the tension of the timing belt  51 . Although not shown in the drawing, an identical driving mechanism is provided at the second end of the upper detaching roller  5 , so that the upper detaching roller  5  is driven at both ends thereof. 
     The combing machine of the third embodiment has substantially the same functional effects as that of the first embodiment. In the third embodiment wherein connecting mechanisms between the servomotors and the upper detaching rollers  4 ,  5  are formed by the combination of the timing belt and the pulleys, the degree of freedom of layout for arranging the servomotors in the combing machine is increased. 
     The present invention has been described in the context of the above embodiments, but it is not limited to the embodiments. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that the invention may be practiced in various manners as exemplified below. 
     In the detaching roller apparatus, the number of servomotors located at positions adjacent to each end of the detaching roller  4  ( 5 ) is not limited to three as described in the first through third embodiments, but may be two or more than three. 
     In the detaching roller apparatus, the servomotors may be located only at positions adjacent to either one of the first and second ends of the detaching roller  4  ( 5 ). 
     The motors that drive the detaching rollers  4  and  5  are not limited to the servomotors, but may use any other reversible motors.