Patent Grant
9926650
This patent application is the national phase of PCT/EP2014/060979 filed May 27, 2014, which claims the benefit of European Patent Application No. 13169340.0 filed May 27, 2013.
The invention relates to a clothing wire for a roller of a carding machine. The clothing wire is disposed to produce a so-called all-steel card clothing for a clothing roller.
Carding machines or scribblers are used to open (separate) or align, homogenize (in the production of fleece) and/or parallelize (in the production of yarns) fibers of a fiber material, for example, wool, cotton or even synthetic fibers or a fiber mixture. By means of the carding process it is possible to produce a fiber web from a fiber material. The fiber web consists of a loose structure of ordered individual fibers. For example, it is possible to produce a fleece from such a fiber web. The fiber web is formed during the carding process in that the fibers are taken up and combined by a large clothing roller referred to as the drum of the card with the aid of a removal means.
The carding machine may comprise different clothing rollers. Each clothing roller is provided with radially outward pointing teeth, serrations, tips or the like. The number and/or the size or the density of the teeth, serrations or tips, their shape and configuration may vary.
Usually, the clothing rollers are provided with all-steel card clothings. The latter consist of a profiled clothing wire that is wound under tension onto the respective clothing roller. The clothing wire has a base segment and a leaf segment. The base segment may have a rectangular or square cross-section, for example. The base segment extends away from the leaf segment, i.e., in operative position, approximately transversely relative to the generated surface of the clothing roller. A sawtooth profile is provided on the leaf segment in order to form the teeth or serrations. The clothing wire is wound around the generated surface of the clothing roller while being tensioned in longitudinal direction, and the two ends are fastened to the clothing roller.
The all-steel card clothing should display the longest possible useful life. It must not or only insignificantly damage the fibers and should allow an optimal homogenization or parallelization of the fibers during the production of the fiber web.
Clothing wires that have leaf segments provided with structures have been known from prior art.
For example, the clothing wire known from publication DE 40 38 352 A1 has a base segment and a leaf segment with a sawtooth profile. Both lateral surfaces of the leaf segment are provided with a profile. The profile may be convoluted or serrated. Also, a similar clothing wire is known from publication DE 42 40 026 C2.
Publication DE 39 40 714 A1 shows a clothing wire that has a non-symmetrical projection on the wire lateral surface in the region of the tooth base.
Publication EP 0 322 474 A1 introduces a clothing wire, wherein the tooth tips a laterally bent. However, there are no elevations on the tooth tips.
Publication EP 1 408 142 A1 describes a clothing wire with a base segment and a leaf segment having lateral surfaces potentially displaying differently configured profiles. For example, one lateral surface may have a convexly elevated profile, whereas the respectively other lateral surface is provided with a profile having concave recesses.
Referring to the clothing wire known from publication U.S. Pat. No. 3,391,429 A (or U.S. Pat. No. 6,185,789 B1), at least one lateral surface of the leaf segment—viewed in cross-section of the wire—is corrugated or serrated (or convoluted).
Publication WO 2011/138322 A1 describes a clothing wire, wherein the leaf segment may be configured with a flat lateral surface and with a profiled lateral surface. As the profile—viewed in cross-section—there are two semi-circular convex elevations on the lateral surface of the leaf segment.
Publication WO 94/05837 A1 (or JP 61006320 A) suggests the provision of a clothing wire having a surface that can be coated for increasing the friction (or for increasing the abrasion resistance and the corrosion resistance).
Publication EP 2 508 658 A shows a clothing wire, wherein it is not the lateral surfaces but the faces of the teeth that are structured by means of projections having a nose-like profile.
Considering these known clothing wires, the object of the present invention may be viewed as being the provision of an improved clothing wire. In particular, an improved homogenization and parallelization of the fibers is to be achieved and their damage is to be reduced. The wear of the clothing wire is to be kept as minimal as possible.
The clothing wire extending in a wire longitudinal direction is particularly suitable for the takeup and working rollers of carding machines. The clothing wire has a base segment with a base surface that is disposed for being supported by the generated surface of the roller of a carding machine. Preferably, the base segment has either an approximately rectangular cross-section, or the cross-section of the base segment has—as is common in clothing wires with base segments wider than 0.8 mm—an elevation (e.g., triangular profile-shaped) on one side and a geometrically matching recess on the opposite side, as a result of which it is achieved that—in operative position—the elevations/recesses of the base segments of adjacent clothing wires come into engagement with each other and consequently mesh in a positive-locking manner.
A leaf segment extends away from the base segment approximately at a right angle relative to the base surface (i.e., approximately in a height direction perpendicular to the base surface of the base segment). The leaf segment has a first and a second (i.e., two) leaf segment lateral surfaces that are connected by a tooth face side on the side facing a way from the base segment. On their one side, the leaf segment lateral surfaces adjoin the base segment; on the side facing way from the base segment, the two leaf segment lateral surfaces are delimited by serratedly extending outside edges that are formed due to the contiguousness of respectively one of the leaf segment lateral surfaces with the tooth face. In so doing, the leaf segment is imparted with its serrated contour and forms teeth.
In order to produce this serrated contour recesses are provided, usually at regular distances, in the leaf segment of a tubular profile—preferably in the leaf segment lateral surfaces of the leaf segment of a tubular profile of which the clothing wire is made. The tubular profile may also be referred to as the blank or starting profile. The recesses begin at the end of the leaf segment that is opposite the base segment of the tubular profile. This end of the leaf segment that is opposite the base segment corresponds preferably to the point having the greatest height of the tubular profile of the leaf segment. On this end, the recesses are the largest or have the greatest expansion in longitudinal direction, as a rule. With decreasing height, i.e., with increasing distance from this end opposite the base segment and with the approach toward the base segment, the dimension or expansion of the recesses decreases in longitudinal direction. Preferably, the recess ends within the leaf segment. The dimension or expansion of the recesses in longitudinal direction becomes zero, before the end of the leaf segment lateral surfaces is reached. As a result of this, teeth are formed that are separated from one another by intermediate spaces formed by the recesses.
At least one projection exists on at least one of the two leaf segment lateral surfaces. The at least one projection has a dimension or extension in the direction of the width of the clothing wire (namely, in transverse direction or in the direction perpendicular to the wire longitudinal direction and perpendicular to the height direction) and extends in the wire longitudinal direction along the leaf segment lateral surface along the teeth, i.e., completely between two intermediate spaces or recesses delimiting one tooth in wire longitudinal direction.
In other words: The projection originally formed on the tubular profile would be continuous and, in order to create a delimitation relative to the projections on the clothing wire, would be referred to as tubular profile projection. Due to the intermediate spaces provided in the tubular profile, the leaf segment and hence also the tubular profile projection in the clothing wire are virtually always interrupted in a regular sequence. Consequently, there is no projection in the region of the intermediate spaces. Therefore, a projection is formed on each tooth of the clothing wire, said projection representing a segment of the tubular profile projection.
The projection surface of the projection provided on each tooth in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction corresponds to the cross-sectional profile of the continuous tubular profile projection on the tubular profile, said tubular profile projection being interrupted by the recesses in the clothing wire and hence forming said projections.
Hereinafter, whenever reference is made to the cross-sectional profile of the projection, this is understood to mean the projection surface of the projection in the plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction that corresponds to the cross-sectional profile of the tubular profile projection.
It is advantageous if the geometry of the cross-sectional profile of the projection or projection segments on the leaf lateral surfaces in wire longitudinal direction does not change, i.e., the projection surfaces of all the projections on the teeth are the same.
Consistent with the invention, the at least one projection is located on that half of the leaf segment lateral surface which is remote from or arranged at a distance from (in the “upper half”, as it were) the base segment relative to the height direction. The at least one projection has an asymmetrical cross-sectional profile or an asymmetrical projection surface, i.e., the cross-sectional profile exhibits neither an axial nor a point symmetry. Preferably, the respective axis may be a vertical that is perpendicular to a flat segment of the respective leaf segment lateral surface and extends through the vertex of the respective projection.
It is particularly advantageous to embody the clothing wires in such a manner that a transition point between the leaf segment lateral surface and the projection is directly adjacent to the end opposite the base segment of the leaf segment lateral surface (adjacent the upper or free end, as it were). However, this transition point between the leaf segment lateral surface and the projection may also be arranged only in the immediate vicinity of this end, i.e., only at a distance of a few 1/10 mm—e.g., 1/10 mm to 1.0 mm—from said projection.
In a preferred embodiment the cross-sectional profile of the projection has a—preferably rounded—ridge from which extend a first flank and a second flank, each toward a transition point of the projection on the leaf segment lateral surface. The two overhang points are arranged in height direction on the opposite sides of the ridge in height direction. Therefore, each of the two flanks has extension components extending opposite the ridge, oriented away from the ridge. In contrast, the components of the transverse direction of the two flanks usually extend in the same direction (otherwise no projection would be formed).
The second flank is arranged closer to the base segment than the first flank. Therefore, the first flank is at a greater distance from the base segment. If—preferred—the first flank of the projection begins or ends directly on the upper end of the tooth, the end of the first flank facing away from the ridge coincides with the upper edge or outside edge of the associate leaf segment lateral surface.
To accomplish the inventive function of the clothing wire it is essential that the length of the second flank be shorter than the length of the first flank; the length of the second flank may amount to 10% to 20%, preferably 15% to 25%, of the total length of the projection, which corresponds to the sum of the lengths of the first and the second flanks. In so doing, it is achieved that, at least on average, the first flank is flatter than the second flank relative to the associate leaf segment lateral surface, i.e., the cross-sectional contour of the tubular profile projection or the projection surface of the projections arranged on each tooth extends in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction in an approximately triangular or nose-shaped form.
As a result, the projection always has an asymmetrical cross-sectional profile, i.e., the cross-sectional profile displays neither an axial nor a point symmetry. In contrast, the cross-sectional profiles of the projections of so far used conventional clothing wires display at least an axial symmetry. Preferably, the respective axis could be a vertical that stands on a flat segment of the respective leaf segment lateral surface and extends through the vertex point of the respective projection.
The two flanks and, accordingly, also the entire projection are curved—at least in the region of the rounded ridge.
In order to be able to easily determine the length of the first flank, the second flank and the total length of the projection, in particular when the flanks are greatly bent, these lengths should always be determined as the projections on one of the two leaf segment lateral surfaces. If one of the leaf segment lateral surfaces extends, at least in some regions, in one plane, the lengths are related (projected) with respect to this plane. If both leaf segment lateral surfaces are flat in at least some regions, the reference/projection plane selected is that plane that is steeper relative to the base surface, i.e., exhibits the smaller angle of inclination relative to the height direction.
In most of the cases at least one of the leaf segment lateral surfaces will be virtually completely flat and be positioned perpendicularly to the base surface. The respective lengths then correspond to the lengths of the projections on at least one vertical lateral surface.
Preferably, the width of the clothing wire in the region of the highest point of the projection, i.e., at the point of the projection at which the clothing wire has the maximum width, corresponds to 20% to 50%, preferably 25% to 35%, of the width of the base segment.
As a result of the fact that the at least one projection is arranged on the at least one lateral surface of the clothing wire and due to its special geometry (nose shape) it is achieved that, during the carding process, the fibers can penetrate more easily in the clothing alleys formed by the inventive clothing wires (than in the case of card clothings that are produced with the use of conventional clothing wires with symmetrical projections) on the one hand, and the fibers that are already located in the card clothing alleys experience a greater retaining force on the other hand. Due to the increased retaining force, it is further prevented that—particular smooth (e.g., siliconized) fibers exit too soon from the card clothing alleys due to gravitational and/or centrifugal forces, i.e., an optional portion of the fibers will enter or exit in the respectively assigned region of the respective roller in the card clothing alleys.
The dwell times of the fibers in the card clothing alleys is critical in determining the parallelization and homogenization of the fibers during the carding process. Consequently, the material flow and the degree of efficacy of the carding process are improved by the use of the inventive clothing wire. The fibers are damaged less (frequently and strongly), and the wear of the clothing wire is reduced over a long time, which is advantageous, in particular when processing dulled fibers (e.g., with the use of titanium dioxide) that basically are the cause of strong wear.
Another advantage of projections arranged on the leaf segment lateral surfaces is their simple manufacture. In the manufacture of clothing wires that usually occurs by means of rollers, the projections can thus be formed during the rolling process without great expense.
If projections having a similar form (nose shape) were arranged on the front sides or the tooth breasts or on the rear sides of the teeth, they would have a completely different effect. Such projections arranged on the tooth breasts would only achieve that the fibers adhere better to the roller and would not fall as frequently off the underside of the roller. In contrast with the fibers that fall off, the fibers which do not fall off can still enter the card clothing alleys during the continued progress of the process where a parallelization/homogenization of the respective fibers is possible. In this case, an improvement of the parallelization/homogenization is achieved only indirectly, which is different from the clothing wire according to the invention. Consequently, the achievable process improvement is comparatively minimal.
In addition, it is disadvantageous that the production of such projections in prior art must usually take place by stamping (or by similar separating or cutting processes), which—in the case of the manufacture of clothing wires—involves considerable manufacturing expenses.
In order to ensure a gentle processing of the fibers the projection may be formed without offsets and edges, i.e., in addition to the ridge, also all the remaining transitions are rounded.
In a preferred embodiment the at least one projection is arranged only on the second leaf segment lateral surface; preferably, a projection is provided exactly there. However, it is also possible to arrange a projection on the first leaf segment lateral surface.
In principle, the leaf segment lateral surfaces may be bent as desired. However (for reasons of costs alone) it is intended that—in the regions in which there is no projection—the leaf segment lateral surfaces are flat, i.e., the first leaf segment lateral surface extends in the regions without projection in a first plane and the second leaf segment lateral surface—accordingly—in a second plane.
In a preferred embodiment the first flank, as well as the second flank, of the at least one projection have linear regions. In so doing, it is advantageous if the size of the angle included by the tangent of the linear region of the first flank and the first or second plane of the respective leaf segment lateral surface adjoining the at least one projection is smaller than the size of the angle included by the tangent of the linear region of the second flank and the respective plane.
However, it also conceivable that the flanks are not linear at any point, i.e., that they are completely rounded.
In one advantageous embodiment, the first leaf segment lateral surface is oriented at a right angle with respect to the base surface of the base segment, and the plane of the second leaf segment lateral surface is inclined with respect to the first leaf segment lateral surface by, e.g., approximately 8°, i.e., the second leaf segment lateral surface is at an angle of inclination of approximately 8°. If the teeth of the clothing wire—as is generally usual—are produced by stamping, the (semi-finished) clothing wire can be guided in an uncomplicated manner (lower production costs) because the first leaf segment lateral surface is arranged at a right angle with respect to the base surface.
Alternatively, it is possible for the first leaf segment lateral surface and the second leaf segment lateral surface to be inclined toward each other, in which case, e.g., the size of the angle included by the first leaf segment lateral surface and the base surface of the base segment and the size of the angle that is included by the second leaf segment lateral surface and the base surface are equal, i.e., the leaf segment lateral surface is inclined mirror-symmetrically (to the plane through the height and wire longitudinal direction). Especially if the base segment is also mirror-symmetrical in configuration, it should be possible to roll all these clothing wires in a less complicated manner.
In operative position, the card clothing alley is formed between two adjacent windings of the clothing wire wound on the generated surface of a wire roller and, in particular, between the two leaf segments of directly adjacent windings. Due to the at least one projection on at least one leaf segment lateral surface, the width of this card clothing alley reduced.
One lateral surface each is provided on the base segment on opposite sides adjacent the base surface. In so doing, the one lateral surface may transition—without steps and/or offsets and/or edges—into the first leaf segment lateral surface of the leaf segment. Preferably, an offset is formed between the other lateral surface and the second leaf segment lateral surface, said offset (in the bottom region) defining the width of the card clothing alley between two adjacent wire length segments or two adjacent leaf segments when the clothing wire is wound on the clothing roller.
In operative position, the lateral surfaces of the base segment act as contact surfaces. Two directly adjacent windings of the clothing wire are then in contact with each other along their associate lateral surfaces of their base segments.
Preferably, the clothing wire is manufactured by a rolling process. The teeth on the leaf segment can subsequently be formed by stamping or another separating process. The at least one projection on at least one leaf segment lateral surface is already produced during the rolling process.
Advantageous embodiments of the invention can be inferred from the dependent patent claims, as well as from the description. The description is restricted to essential features of the invention. The drawings are to be used for supplementary reference. Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained in greater detail with the use of drawings. They show in
The carding machine is disposed to produce a fiber web of loose fibers. The fibers in the fiber web are parallelized or homogenized by the carding machine. To accomplish this, the fibers are taken up by the all-steel card clothing on a clothing roller 10.
The all-steel card clothing 11 consists of a clothing wire 13 wound in several windings 12 on the generated surface of the clothing roller 10. The clothing wire 13 is—as it were—wound helically onto the wire roller 10 while being tensioned, as is schematically depicted in
The configuration of the clothing wire 13 can be seen particularly well in
The clothing wire 13 extends in a wire longitudinal direction l. At the base segment 14, the clothing wire 13 has a base surface 16. In its operative position, the base surface 16 of the clothing wire 13 is supported by the generated surface of the clothing roller 10. The leaf segment 15 extends approximately at a right angle relative to the base surface 16 away from the base segment 14, i.e., said leaf segment extends approximately in the height direction h that extends perpendicularly to the base surface 16.
Adjacent the base surface 16, the clothing wire 13 has a first lateral surface 14a and a second lateral surface 14b on its base segment 14. In the exemplary embodiment, a first leaf segment lateral surface 15a of the leaf segment 15 adjoins the first lateral surface 14a of the base segment 14 without steps, offsets and edges. In one exemplary embodiment (
The base segment 14 is adjoined by a second leaf segment lateral surface 15b of the leaf segment 15 on the side opposite the first leaf segment lateral surface 15a. The second leaf segment lateral surface 15b extends at least into a center segment 17 in a second plane E2. The second plane E2 is inclined with respect to the first plane E1 and includes—with the latter—an acute angle. As a result of this, the width of the leaf segment 15 decreases in the center segment 17 of the leaf segment 15 in a direction away from the base segment 14.
The center segment 17 of the second leaf segment lateral surface 15b is offset relative to the second lateral surface 14b of the base segment 14, transversely with respect to the wire longitudinal direction l, as a result of which an offset 18 having an offset surface 19 is formed in the transition region between the base segment 14 and the leaf segment 15. The offset surface 19 faces away from the base surface 16 and may be oriented so as to be parallel to the base surface 16 or be oriented slightly inclined relative to the base surface 16.
In the region of the free end of the leaf segment 15 remote from the base segment 14 and adjoining the center section 17, there is a projection 24 on the second leaf segment lateral surface 15b, said projection being depicted enlarged in
The function of this projection 24 can be inferred from the schematics of
The leaf segment 15 has two outside edges 26 that are formed by the contiguousness of respectively one leaf segment lateral surface 15a, 15b and the tooth face side 27. The outside edges 26 are serrated opposite the base surface 16 or the base segment 14, so that, as a result of this, teeth 28 are formed on the leaf segment 15. The teeth 28 are shown in
Respectively one projection 24 is provided on each tooth 28 on the second leaf segment lateral surface 15b. In the production of the clothing wire 13, a blank profile having a tubular profile projection that is continuous in wire longitudinal direction l is initially produced. Subsequently, the outside edges 26 are produced, in which case, for the formation of the teeth 28, intermediate spaces 29 are formed by stamping or another separating process. As a result of this, a projection 24 is formed on each tooth 28, in which case the projections 24 are at a distance from each other due to the intermediate spaces 29 in wire longitudinal direction l. Each projection 24 extends upward in transverse direction q—extending perpendicularly to the wire longitudinal direction l as well as in height direction h—from the associate second leaf segment lateral surface 15b. The shapes of the projections 24 on each tooth 28 are identical. Each projection 24 has a projection surface projected in a plane perpendicular to the wire longitudinal direction l, said projection surface corresponding to the cross-sectional surface of the tubular profile projection on the original tubular profile. This projection surface is referred to as the cross-sectional profile P and corresponds to the contour of a cross-section of the projection 24 in a cross-sectional plane that extends completely outside the intermediate spaces 29 perpendicular to the wire longitudinal direction l.
In accordance with the invention the projection 24 has an asymmetrical cross-sectional profile P. The projection 24 has a ridge 30. On the ridge 30, the projection 24 is at the greatest distance from the second plane E2 in which extends the center segment 17 of the second leaf segment lateral surface 15b. Starting from the ridge 30, the projection 24 has a first flank 31 and a second flank 32 that extend—starting from the ridge 30—in opposite directions relative to the height direction h. The second flank 32 is closer to the base segment 14 than the first flank 31.
The first flank 31 and the second plane E2 include a first angle of inclination α1. Accordingly, the second flank 32 and the second plane E2 include a second angle of inclination α2. The size of the second angle of inclination α2 is greater than the size of the first angle of inclination α1. Viewed along the second plane E2 toward the base segment 14, the slope of the projection 34 increases gradually along the first flank 31 up to the ridge 30 and then decreases more steeply from the ridge 30 to the center segment 17 along the second flank 32.
In other words: The first length L1 of the projection 24 along the first flank 31 up to the ridge 30 is greater than the second length L2 of the projection 24 along the second flank 32 from the center segment 17 to the ridge 30. In so doing, the two lengths L1, L2 are measured as projections in a common reference plane, for example in the first plane E1 or the second plane E2. In accordance with the example, the lengths measured along the first plane are d, h. The lengths L1, L2 and also the total length Lges of the projection 24 are defined as the projections on a common plane and, in accordance with the example, the first plane E1. Instead of the first and/or second plane E2 it would be possible, for measuring the length of these measured lengths and/or the determination of the angles of inclination, to also use another reference plane that is oriented at a right angle relative to the base surface 16, for example.
Due to this, the cross-sectional profile P of the projection 24 has the shape of a nose, as it were, that slopes upward more gradually via a first flank 31 relative to a reference plane (for example, the second plane E2) than via the other, second flank 32.
The second length L2 of the projection 24 along the second flank 32 is 15% to 25% of the total length Lges (sum of the first length L1 and the second length L2) of the projection 24 along the first flank 31. The length Lges is smaller than 1.5 mm. These dimensions relate to the length measurement along the first plane E1 (see
In accordance with the dimensional marks (dimensioning) shown in
The end of the first flank 31 remote from the ridge 31 coincides with the outside edge 26 of the second leaf segment lateral surface 15b, i.e., the first flank 31 starts and ends, respectively, with the outside edge 26.
Each of the
In the embodiment of
The exemplary embodiment depicted by
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13169340 | May 2013 | EP | regional |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2014/060979 | 5/27/2014 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2014/191422 | 12/4/2014 | WO | A |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 54619 | Smith | May 1866 | A |
| 3231941 | Flynn, Jr. | Feb 1966 | A |
| 3391429 | Watanabe | Jul 1968 | A |
| 4169019 | Motobayashi | Sep 1979 | A |
| 4854012 | Graf | Aug 1989 | A |
| 5428949 | Stahlecker | Jul 1995 | A |
| 6185789 | Hollingsworth | Feb 2001 | B1 |
| 6920671 | Graf | Jul 2005 | B2 |
| 20120255143 | Iten | Oct 2012 | A1 |
| 20130042437 | Vangheluwe | Feb 2013 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 3940714 | Jun 1991 | DE |
| 4038352 | Jun 1992 | DE |
| 4240026 | Oct 2003 | DE |
| 0322474 | Jul 1989 | EP |
| 1408142 | Apr 2004 | EP |
| 2508658 | Oct 2012 | EP |
| S5698875 | Aug 1981 | JP |
| S616320 | Jan 1986 | JP |
| 9405837 | Mar 1994 | WO |
| 2011138322 | Nov 2011 | WO |
| Entry |
|---|
| International Search Report for International Application No. PCT/EP2014/060979, dated Jan. 27, 2015, 6 pages. |
| German Language International Patentability Report in corresponding International Application No. PCT/EP2014/060979, dated Jun. 17, 2015, 17 pages; indicating novelty and inventive step for claims as amended via PCT Article 34. |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20160138201 A1 | May 2016 | US |
