BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic side view of a flat card having flats, clothing supports and clothing strips in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 2 shows flats of a revolving card top and part of the first slideway of a two-sided slideway;
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section through part of a clothing support;
FIGS. 4
a, 4b are a longitudinal section (FIG. 4a) and a transverse section (FIG. 4b) through part of a clothing strip (clothing support and clothing);
FIG. 4
c is a top view of part of a reinforcing fabric with clothing wires held in mesh interstices; and
FIG. 5 is an exploded view of a card flat, consisting of a card flat carrier body and a clothing strip.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
With reference to FIG. 1, a flat card, for example a TC 03 flat card made by Trützschler GmbH & Co. KG of Mönchengladbach, Germany, has a feed roller 1, feed table 2, lickers-in 3a, 3b, 3c, cylinder 4, doffer 5, stripper roller 6, nip rollers 7, 8, web-guiding element 9, web funnel 10, delivery rollers 11, 12, revolving card top 13 having card top guide rollers 13a, 13b and flats 14, can 18 and can coiler 19. The directions of rotation of the rollers are indicated by curved arrows. Reference letter M denotes the centre (axis) of the cylinder 4. Reference numeral 4a denotes the clothing and reference numeral 4b denotes the direction of rotation of the cylinder 4. The arrow A indicates the working direction. Arrow B denotes the running direction of the flats 14 in the carding location and arrow C denotes the return transport direction of the flats 14. The curved arrows drawn inside the rollers denote the directions of rotation of the rollers.
In accordance with FIG. 2, on each side of the flat card, a flexible bend 17 having several adjustment screws is fixed laterally to the frame of the machine using screws. The flexible bend 17 has a convex outer surface 17a and an underside 17b. On top of the flexible bend 17 there is a first slideway 20, for example made of low-friction plastics material, which has a convex outer surface 20a and a concave inner surface 20b. The second slideway (on the other side of the machine) is not shown. The concave inner surface 20b rests on top of the convex outer surface 17a. The card flats 14 have, at each of their two ends, a card flat head, in which there are mounted in an axial direction two steel pins 14a, 14b, which slide on the convex outer surface 20a of the slideway 20 in the direction of arrow B. The card flat clothing 16 is mounted on the underside of the carrier member 15. Reference numeral 21 denotes the circle of tips at the closest position of the card flat clothings 16. The cylinder 4 has on its circumference a cylinder clothing 4a, for example a sawtooth clothing. Reference numeral 22 denotes the circle of the tips of the cylinder clothing 4a. The spacing between the circle of tips 21 and the circle of tips 22 is denoted by reference letter a and is, for example, 0.20 mm. The spacing between the convex outer surface 20a and the circle of tips 22 is denoted by reference letter b. The radius of the convex outer surface 20a is denoted by reference letter r1 and the radius of the circle of tips 22 is denoted by reference letter r2. The radii r1 and r2 intersect at the centre point M (see FIG. 1) of the cylinder 4. At least some and preferably all of the card flats of the revolving card top of FIGS. 1 and 2 incorporate a clothing support according to the present invention.
An illustrative embodiment of the clothing support of the invention is shown in FIG. 3. The clothing support 16a shown in FIG. 3 has three layers 23, 25, 24, which are arranged one above another and connected to one another. Between a first, bottom, layer 23 and a second, top, layer 24 there is located a third, middle layer 25. Arranged on the top layer is a thin coating 26. In the bottom layer 23 there are provided, parallel to one another, two reinforcing fabrics 27a, 27b (tension-carrying fabrics) of low thickness. It is possible to produce the layers 23, 24, 25 using a very great variety of thickness values in order to match them to particular requirements.
The structure of one clothing support according to the invention is given hereinbelow by way of example only, but the invention is not to be limited thereto.
- Bottom layer 23: Latex-impregnated polyester nonwoven with 2 layers of polyester tension-carrying fabrics 6/2
- Middle layer 25: Polyvinyl chloride, about 0.8 mm thick, Shore A about 66
- Top layer 24: Polyvinyl chloride, about 0.2 mm thick, Shore A about 60
- Coating 26: Surface-coating composition having a low coefficient of friction—about 0.18 against steel
The thickness c of the clothing support 16a is variable, for example as a result of varying the thickness d of the bottom layer 23 (nonwoven layer) or modifying the thickness f of the middle layer 25 or the thickness e of the top layer 24. The thickness of more than one, or all, of the layers may be varied. The thickness c can be, for example, 3.2 mm. However, for example in the case of clothings 16b of lower height, it can also be produced in a thickness of less than 3.2 mm, in order, for example, to reduce the costs for the clothing support 16a (card flat material).
FIGS. 4
a, 4b show a clothing strip 16′ incorporating a clothing support according to the invention. In the clothing support 16a a large number of clothing wires 16b are inserted and anchored. The clothing wires 16b pass through the entire clothing support 16a from the rear side, the free ends (tips) projecting out from the top coating layer 26. The clothing wires 16b are held in the mesh interstices of the reinforcing fabrics 27a, 27b (see FIG. 4c).
FIG. 5 shows an exploded view of a card flat including a clothing support according to the invention. The card flat 14 consists of a card flat carrier member 15 and a clothing element 16. The clothing element 16 is releasably (reversibly) fixed to the card flat carrier member 15. The card flat carrier member 15 comprises a profiled card flat member 15′, which consists of a card flat foot 15a and a card flat back 15b. At each of the two ends of the elongate profiled card flat member 15′, for example made of extruded aluminium, compression-moulded plastics material or the like, there is provided a card flat head, each of which—in the embodiment according to FIG. 2—comprises two card flat pins 15* and 15**. On the card flat foot 15a, on the side facing away from the flats 15b, there are arranged two arms 15h, 15i in the longitudinal direction so that a two-stage recess 15d, 15e is present in the region of the card foot surface 15c. The card flat carrier member 15 also comprises a magnet element 15f, for example a magnet band, magnet strip or magnet bar or the like, which is fixed, by its top surface 15f1, to the card foot surface 15c in the upper recess 15d by means of an adhesive layer 15g. The length of the card flat carrier member (seen over the width of the cylinder 4) is, for example, 1 m.
The clothing element 16 comprises a clothing strip 16′, which consists of a strip-shaped clothing support 16a (clothing carrier element) of plastics material and the card flat clothing 16b. The card flat clothing 16b consists of clothing tips (small wire hooks); the small wire hooks are approximately U-shaped and, having been pushed through the surface 16a1, are fixed in the support 16a. The regions where the small wire hooks bend around project out from the surface 16a1. The ends of the small wire hooks—the clothing tips—project out from the surface 16a2 and are free. The small wire hooks are made of steel wire. The clothing element 16 also comprises a top element 16c, for example a sheet steel strip, a steel band or the like, the bottom surface 16c2 of which is fixed to the top surface 16a1 of the clothing support element 16a by way of a connecting intermediate layer 16d, for example an adhesive layer. (As will be apparent from FIG. 5, references to “top” in connection with the clothing support 16a in FIG. 5 are to the bottom of the strip as shown in FIGS. 3, 4a and 4b, the strip having been inverted in FIG. 5). 16d1 denotes the top surface of the intermediate layer 16d, and 16d2 the bottom surface. The clothing element 16, with its parts the clothing strip 16′, the intermediate layer 16d and the top element 16c, is fixed in the recess 15e so that only the card flat clothing 16b projects out beyond the bottom surface of the card flat foot 15a. Fixing is accomplished in such a manner that the top surface 16c1 of the top element 16c (steel strip) is in area-wise contact with the bottom surface 15f2 of the magnet element 15f (mounting plane). The positive connection between the card flat carrier member 15 and clothing element 16 is fixed in operation. The carding forces acting on the card flat clothing 16b are taken up and compensated by the arms 15h, 15i in the card flat foot 15a. The clothing strip 16′ may be as described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4a to 4c, or any other clothing strip according to the invention.
A nonwoven is understood herein especially according to the definition of, for example, DIN 61 210 as a flexible fabric produced by the bonding of fibrous webs. Fibrous webs are textile fabric arrangements made of textile fibres held together, generally, by the fibres' own adhesion. The fibrous webs can, however, also comprise threads or fabric arrangements for the purpose of reinforcement.
Whilst the exemplary embodiments of FIGS. 3, 4a to 4c and 5 may be used on a flat card of the kind illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be appreciated that the carding support of the invention may be used in other cards.
Although the foregoing invention has been described in detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of understanding, it will be obvious that changes and modifications may be practised within the scope of the appended claims.
Patent Application
20070238385
