Patent ID: 8850784

Claim:
An apparatus for converting at least one tow of filaments into a twisted yarn comprising: a feeding section configured to support and feed the at least one tow of filaments; wherein said at least one tow of filaments is a tow of continuous filaments being longitudinally aligned with one another in a generally flat and untwisted form; a drafting section operably coupled to the feeding section, the drafting section comprising; a first pair of rollers having substantially conterminous opposed surfaces rotating at a first speed, said first pair of rollers being configured to receive, transport and grip the filaments from the feeding section; a second pair of rollers being downstream and having substantially conterminous opposed surfaces rotating at a second faster speed configured to receive, transport and grip broken fibers from the first pair of rollers; the first and second pairs of rollers configured to exert a sufficient gripping force upon the filaments and configured to rotate at relative speeds so as to stretch and break the filaments thereby forming a cohesive elongated network of fibers therebetween; and wherein the rotational speed of the downstream pair of rollers is from about 1.25 times to about 100 times the rotational speed of the upstream pair of rollers; a spinning section operably coupled to the drafting section, the spinning section configured to spin and twist the cohesive elongated network of fibers onto a yarn body to form a twisted yarn; and wherein the feeding section, the drafting section and the spinning section being configured in a single pass operation to convert the tow of continuous filaments into twisted yarn.