Improvements in Drawing-mechanism for Treating Fibres.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Oct., 1893-Accepted, 4th Nov., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Drawing-mechanism for Treating Fibres.
I, FRANCIS HENRY RICHARDS, of 112 Edwards Street, Hartford, in the County
of Hartford, and State of Connecticut, one of the United States of America,
Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :-
This improvement in drawing-mechanism for reducing slivers of fibre preparatory
to the twisting and spinning thereof, consists chiefly in the use of two ribbed rolls
revolubly supported so that their ribs will engage, one with the other, and in the
use of a yielding connection, or tension device, intermediate to one of the rolls
and its support, whereby, in the operation of drawing the fibre, the rolls will
automatically accommodate themselves to the varying sizes of slivers substantially
as hereinafter described.
It also consists in the special construction, and in the combination and arrange-
ment of the several parts constituting the drawing-mechanism, substantially as
bereinafter described and shown in the drawing accompanying this Specification.
In the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this Specification,
Fig. 1 is a plan view of a pair of drawing-rolls embodying my present
improvements.
Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partially in section, of the drawing-rolls.
Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the same, drawn in projection with Fig. 2.
Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line a-a, Fig. 2, and showing the
construction of the rolls more in detail.
Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, but showing one roll in a different position
relative to the other.
Fig. 6 is a plan view of the spring in its preferred form.
Fig. 7 is a vertical longitudinal section of a drawing-roll of modified con-
struction.
Similar characters designate like parts in all the figures.
The lower drawing-roll, B, is fixed upon a driving-shaft, 2, which is carried by
bearings formed in the two uprights, 3 and 5, respectively, of the frame F. Said
lower roll is longitudinally grooved after the ordinary manner of constructing
drawing-rolls, to form the series of V-shaped ribs, or teeth, 6, which should be
slightly rounded at their outer edges to prevent any cutting or unnecessary
abrasion of the fibre.
The lower roll is positively rotated, through its shaft 2, by the usual means, as,
for instance, a wheel or gear (not shown) fixed upon the end 8 of said shaft.
The "top-roll," C, is carried by an upper shaft, 4, which may be supported in
the removable bearings 10 and 12; which bearings are set in suitable notches or
recesses, formed substantially as shown in the upper ends of the aforesaid
uprights 3 and 5, and are retained therein by the ordinary segmentally-flanged
holding-screws 7 and 9, respectively. On turning the holding-screws to loosen the
same and bring the flat sides 71 and 9¹ of the flanges thereof adjacent to the
removable bearings 10 and 12, these bearings may be lifted out of their seats in a
well-known manner. The two rolls are revolubly supported to engage or mesh the
ribs of one roll with those of the other roll for a portion only of the height of
the ribs.
The top-roll C is, in a general way, similar to the roll B, it having a
corresponding series of V-shaped ribs, or teeth, 6', similar to the aforesaid ribs 6
of said roll B. But said ton-roll C unlike the roll B is fitted freely on its shaft.

page_text: and is provided with a tension-device intermediate to it and said shaft. For the
purpose of co-acting with said tension-device, the roll C has formed therein a
key-way, or groove, 20, for receiving some suitable spring, as 22, whose ends are
fixed in holes, formed at 25 and 26, in the shaft 4, as shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 5.
Said spring 22 acts after the manner of a key through which power is transmitted
to the roll C from the shaft 4. The spring-key 22 being curved as shown in
Fig. 6, the rounded side 22¹ thereof bears against the side 20' of the key-way 20,
(Figs. 4 and 5).
The operation of the drawing-rolls is as follows: When the rolls are run idle,
the rearward sides of the teeth 61 of the roll C should touch or bear lightly against
the forward sides of the teeth 6 of the roll B, this roll and the shaft 4 being
revolved by gearing in the directions indicated by the arrows thereon in
Figs. 4 and 5. When a small sliver, S, is passed through the rolls, as indicated,
for instance, in Fig. 4, the teeth of said rolls are separated by a distance, 30,
corresponding to the size of said sliver; which distance 30 corresponds to the
yielding movement of the roll C on its shaft by reason of the elasticity of the
spring 22. In Fig. 5, a larger sliver, S1, is shown passing through the rolls, whose
teeth are here separated by a larger distance, 30¹, corresponding to a further
yielding movement of the said roll C on its shaft. An increase in the size of the
sliver correspondingly increases the distance 30 between the teeth of the rolls, and
also increases the tension of the spring to grasp the longer sliver more firmly,
thus automatically regulating the tension of the rolls to correspond with the power
required to operate on the sliver, whether this is (within certain limits) larger or
smaller.
The upper roll and its shaft is or may be driven from the lower roll by means of
a pair of spur-gears, 13 and 15, fixed on said shafts 2 and 4, respectively. The
position, circumferentially, of the shafts of said rolls and gears should be such as
to bring the V-ribs 6' into proper working position relatively to the V-ribs 6 of
the lower roll. As a means for regulating this relation of the respective ribs, I
make the gears 13 and 15 to have one tooth more or less than the corresponding
roll has ribs. By means of this construction of the gears to have a variant
number of teeth, the relative working positions of the respective roll-ribs may be
modified by slipping one of the gears one tooth forward or back, as the case may
require, thus adjusting the roll by a fractional part of the distance between two
successive ribs corresponding to the number of teeth in the gear. By this means,
the working distance of the V-ribs of one roll may be brought just close enough to
the V-ribs of the other roll to properly grasp the sliver in any particular case.
In Fig. 7 I have illustrated a modified form of the construction of the upper
drawing-roll, and of the tension-device therefor. Said modified roll is designated
by D, and has an internal chamber, or more, 21, formed therein to receive the
coiled spring 23 and one end of a sleeve, 27, which is fixed to the shaft 28 by means
of a set-screw, 29. The spring 23 is coiled about the shaft 28, one end being fixed
in the roll D and the opposite end in the inner end of the sleeve 27. By means of
this construction, the roll D is permitted to turn slightly on its shaft for the
purpose described in connection with the roll C. As a means for limiting said
turning movement, a pair of stop-pins, 32 and 34, are provided, fixed one in the
roll D and the other in the sleeve; the pin 32 engages the pin 34 as a stop, in
the well-known manner indicated in the drawing. The mode of operation of this
form of the roll in the general combination, is the same as described in connection
with the preceding figures.
The spring 22 virtually constitutes a yielding member of the roll-driving
mechanism, and while it is shown in the drawing as intermediate to the roll C and
its supporting-shaft 4, the said roll C being yieldingly connected to the shaft 4 by
said spring, it will be obvious that said roll C might be fixed to said shaft, and the
spring be interposed between said shaft and its driving mechanism, such con-
struction being substantially the equivalent of the construction shown in the
drawing, although the construction described is preferable.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. In a drawing-mechanism, the use of a plurality of intermeshing ribbed rolls,
in combination with roll-driving mechanism connecting the rolls and having a
yielding member, for automatically regulating the tension and relative movements
of the rolls, substantially as described.
2. In a drawing-mechanism, the use of two ribbed rolls geared together and
revolubly supported to engage the ribs of one roll with those of the other roll, in
combination with a yielding connection intermediate to the rolls, substantially as
and for the purpose herein described.
3. The herein-described drawing-mechanism, consisting of a pair of ribbed rolls
supported upon geared shafts and with the ribs of one roll in engagement with the
ribs of the other roll, in combination with a tension-device intermediate to one of
the rolls and its shaft, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.
4. The herein-described organization in a drawing-mechanism, comprising one
fluted or ribbed roll with a gear carried thereby, a shaft having a gear meshing
with the gear of the first-mentioned roll, a ribbed roll loosely mounted upon
said shaft and meshing with said first ribbed roll, and a roll-actuating spring
intermediate to the loosely-mounted roll and its shaft, substantially as and for the
purpose described.
L T1
1000
FRANCIS HENRY RICHARDS.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.