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The present invention relates to the housing construction for open end
spinning devices, which housing has a portion at the side of the spinning
cup carrying the spinning shaft that is quickly releasable for removal and
replacement of the shaft bearing unit. Such releasable housing portion
holds the shaft bearing unit in place.
In one known type of open-end spinning device, the spinning chamber and the
fiber-resolving device have separate housing units, but the housing unit
for the resolving device forms the cover for the spinning chamber housing,
as shown in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 1,535,005 and No. 1,815,776.
However, the spinning chamber housing also forms the bearing for the
spinning member, so that repair of damaged or worn bearing surfaces
requires that the housing be dismantled. Unfortunately, because the
cooperating resolving device housing forming the cover is connected in a
manner that will not permit substitution of another spinning chamber, the
entire spinning station must be shut down until repair or replacement of
the bearings is completed, resulting in a substantial period of downtime
and significant loss in productivity.
In another device disclosed in East German Pat. No. 67058, the spinning
chamber and fiber-resolving device are housed in a common unit, so that
even the simplest repairs require dismantling of the entire unit,
resulting in excessive loss in maintenance downtime.
There are also spinning devices, such as shown in German
Offenlegungsschrift No. 1,901,454 and No. 1,933,930, in which the spinning
turbine is not enclosed by a housing unit. Such structures are
particularly unsuited for easy maintenance, because the bearings cannot be
readily removed and the low pressure conditions required for spinning must
be created by especially high-speed rotation of the spinning turbine
itself, rather than by evacuation of an enclosing housing.
It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a spinning
turbine housing which enables the turbine bearing to be readily removed
and replaced, or another bearing to be substituted, for prompt resumption
of spinning.
Another important object is to provide readily replaceable bearing units
for spinning devices having different forms of drive mechanism.
A further object is to be able to remove the bearing unit without
disturbing the fiber-resolving and yarn drawoff fittings serving the
spinning station.
An additional object is to provide a bushing adapter to permit use of
different sizes of bearing sleeves in a particular housing.
The foregoing objects can be accomplished by a fixed housing portion
enclosing a spinning cup having a cover pivotally mounted on the housing
end adjacent to the spinning cup mouth, resiliently urged toward the
housing and carrying fittings for fiber-resolving and yarn drawoff
mechanism. The opposite housing end is open to permit insertion and
removal of a sleeve having bearings for the spinning cup shaft. Such
sleeve-receiving housing portion also carries clamping means to hold the
bearing sleeve against both rotational and axial movement relative to the
housing, which clamping means are quickly releasable for removing the
bearing sleeve by sliding it axially out of the housing open end.
The spinning shaft may be driven by belt means engageable directly with
such shaft or by an individual commutatorless direct current motor which
is removable as a unit with the bearing sleeve. Bearing sleeves with
different outside diameters may be substituted in a particular housing by
provision of a resilient adapter bushing having an axial slit through its
wall to cooperate with a correspondingly slit housing portion. Nut and
bolt means spanning the housing slit clamp the housing around the bearing
sleeve or its bushing. The use of an adapter bushing having a flange on
its end remote from the spinning cup provides a mounting for an electronic
control box for a commutatorless direct current motor. The bearing sleeve,
bushing, motor and control box can be replaced as a unit to minimize
resetting of the finely synchronized motor circuit. The control box is
attached to the adapter bushing flange at a plurality of locations, all on
one side of a diameter passing through the bushing slit, so that the
bushing expandability and contractability is not substantially reduced.
FIG. 1 is a top perspective of a spinning station having an open end
spinning device according to the present invention, parts being broken
away.
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective of a portion of the spinning turbine
housing showing modified clamping structures.
FIG. 3 is an axial section through a modified clamping housing and
alternative drive means showing the spinning turbine in elevation.
FIG. 4 is an axial section through the spinning turbine housing showing
alternative clamping means and modified drive means.
FIG. 5 is a top perspective of an adapter bushing for use with the present
invention, and FIG. 6 is a top perspective showing one application of the
adapter bushing to a spinning turbine driven by an
electronically-controlled direct current motor.
Because of the high productivity of each spinning station in an open end
spinning machine, any malfunctioning which cannot be immediately detected
and corrected results in substantial production losses. Although it would
be desirable to substitute replacement parts, this can be accomplished in
conventional spinning devices only with difficulty and with relatively
long periods of downtime, because disturbance of any components to make a
substitution upsets fine adjustments of several interrelated parts of the
apparatus. In order to reduce downtime to a minimum and thereby avoid such
production losses, the end of housing 1 adjacent to the fiber-receiving
spinning cup 3 is closed by a cover 10 and its opposite end 11 adjacent to
the spinning shaft 37 is open. The bearings for shaft 37 are situated in a
bearing sleeve 2, which is inactuable by axial movement into the housing
open end 11. After bearing sleeve 2 is in place, it is clamped by clamping
means carried on housing 1 to prevent relative movement between the
housing and the sleeve, either axially or rotationally.
The preferred form of clamping means is shown in FIG. 1, in which the
housing has a front portion 1 mounted on the machine frame adjacent to the
cover 10 and a rear portion 1' having an axial slit 12 through its wall.
Clamping means 13 for drawing the slit edges together around bearing
sleeve 2 includes an upper lug 70 on housing portion 1' above slit 12 and
a lower lug 70' on such housing portion below the slit. Such lugs have
bores therethrough aligned for receiving a bolt 7. The bore of lug 70' may
be tapped for belt 7, as that rotation of the belt in one direction or the
other will loosen or tighten the housing portion 1', respectively, around
sleeve 2 without completely removing the belt.
In FIG. 2, an alternative construction for clamping split housing portion
1' is shown. Instead of lugs 70 and 70', an upper plate 72 and a lower
plate 72' have slots in their edges for receiving a belt 71 carrying a
lock nut 74. The belt can be set into the slots by radial movement, and
then tightened, so that clamping of the housing portion 1' can be effected
with a single wrench, for example, to simplify the clamping operation and
minimize the danger of dropping a loose nut. Clamping plates 72 and 72'
are spaced from the slit 12, and a pair of trapezoidal struts 73 and 73'
are provided for stiffening each plate on opposite sides of the
belt-receiving slots.
Apart from the split housing and the removable bearing sleeve 2, the
spinning apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is largely conventional. A spinning cup
5 having a shaft 4 is enclosed by the housing portion 1. Individual fibers
are received by a resolving device 50 from a sliver 51 and supplied to the
spinning cup through a fiber supply tube 52. The supply tube extends from
the resolving device 50 through cover 10 to project tangentially of the
fiber-collection surface of the spinning cup 3. A conduit 15 extends
through the side of solid ring housing portion 2 by which the spinning
chamber formed by the closed housing can be evacuated to provide the low
pressure necessary to effect transport of fibers into the spinning cup. In
a conventional manner, spun yarn 33 is removed from the spinning chamber
through a drawoff tube extending concentrically through cover 10 by
drawoff rollers not shown.
The sliver-supply roll 8 of the resolving device 30 is driven by a belt 80
connecting a sheave on the supply roll and a drive shaft 83. The resolving
roller within the housing 50 is driven by a belt 82 connected to drive
shaft 83. A sheave 9 on the end of spinning turbine shaft 4 is driven by a
belt 90 from a remote drive motor (not shown).
If the bearings in bearing sleeve 2 become worn or must be removed for any
other reason, the sleeve can be pulled axially from the housing opening 11
as a unit with shaft 37 and spinning cup 3 after the stretch of drive belt
90 engaging sheave 9, normally spring-pressed into the position shown in
FIG. 1, is lifted by a roller on lever 91. Such lever is swung to raise
the roller by pulling on a line 92 attached to the lever at the side of
its pivot opposite the belt-engaging roller by grasping a ring 93 attached
to the end of line 92 extending through machine frame member 14 at the
front of the machine. Lever arm 91 will be held with the roller in its
raised position by placing ring 93 on hook 17 fastened to frame member 14
and spaced from the frame aperture for line 92 a distance corresponding to
the maximum swung position of lever 91.
If a yarn break had not occurred before the spinning turbine drive belt was
disengaged, such disengagement will create such a break, and further fiber
supply should be interrupted. A yarn tension sensing device 35 shown in
FIG. 1 is responsive to a thread break and transmits a signal through
amplifying means to energize an electromagnet 84 connected to a sliver
clamp 85 by a plunger rod 86 to clamp the sliver and thereby prevent
further sliver feed to the resolving roller. Consequently, by simply
pulling ring 93 located at the front of the machine frame, the particular
spinning station and its fiber supply are automatically stopped without
affecting operation of other spinning stations operated by the same drive
belt 90.
In stopping the spinning station, the drive belt 90 is automatically lifted
out of the way, so that bolt 7 can be loosened to release bearing sleeve
2, enabling such sleeve to be slid axially rearwardly through the open
housing end 11 without interference by belt 90. A substitute bearing
sleeve can then be slid axially into the housing, bolt 7 tightened, and
ring 93 released from hook 17, lowering belt 90 to resume rotation of
spinning shaft 4. The split ring housing construction of FIGS. 1 and 2
provides a very effective radial clamp for sleeve 2. Alternatively, as
shown in FIG. 3, the bearing sleeve can be held in place by clamping means
13 consisting of a solid ring housing 1 having a bore through its side
near the opening 11 through which a setscrew 75 projects to bear on the
side of bearing sleeve 2. This construction again permits bearing-clamping
engagement and release simply by turning a screw, as in the clamping
devices of FIGS. 1 and 2, although in the preferred forms of those figures
the clamping pressure is uniformly distributed around the circumference of
the sleeve.
If desired, the sleeve can be held positively against axial movement by the
clamping means shown in FIG. 4. The housing portion 1 includes an internal
annular rib 16 forming a shoulder against which the end of bearing sleeve
2' abuts. Such sleeve has an external flange 20 which is located close to
the end 11 of the housing when the sleeve bears against internal rib 16.
The clamping means 13' includes a plurality of equidistantly
circumferentially spaced leaf springs 76, each having one end connected to
ears on the housing exterior by pivots 77. The opposite end of each leaf
spring has a hook 78 engaging the flange 20. To release bearing sleeve 2',
the hooks 78 of spring clips 76 can be pulled off flange 20.
Greater substitution flexibility can be achieved by providing an adapter
bushing to permit use of bearing sleeves having a smaller outside diameter
than the inside diameter of housing 1. Such an adapter is shown in FIG. 5,
which is especially suitable for use with the split ring housing
construction shown in FIG. 1. The bushing body 40 is a cylindrical tube
having an axial slit 41 through its circumference. Such an adapter bushing
can be more positively positioned and can be used for mounting auxiliary
parts, as described further below, if it is provided with an external
flange 42 on one end, which flange is also slit at 43 in extension of the
body slit 41. Such a split ring adapter will coincidentally expand and
contract in response to loosening or tightening, respectively, of the
clamping means 13 shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2.
As described previously, the spinning shafts of individual spinning
stations can be driven by a common drive belt 90. In FIGS. 3 and 4, each
spinning station is shown as having its own commutatorless direct current
motor 5. In FIG. 3, such motor is contained in a housing sleeve 50 which
is connected directly to bearing sleeve 2 to eliminate expensive
couplings. In the construction shown in FIG. 3, the ends of sleeves 2 and
50 are complementally flanged to form an axial lop joint. A more compact
arrangement is shown in FIG. 4, in which the motor 5 is located within
sleeve 2' concentrically encircling shaft 37, so that the motor shaft is
the spinning shaft.
The direct current motor 5 is driven by an electronic control requiring a
plurality of connections for the motor stator. The loads for such
connections can be conveniently gathered into a cable 51. To avoid the
necessity of individually connecting each load during exchange of bearing
sleeves, it is preferred that a multiple-prong plug 52 be provided for
connection with a complemental jack on the electronic control beard.
In order to avoid dissipation of high frequency current in the leads, they
should be kept as short as possible. Also, if the bearing sleeve 2 or 2'
and the motor 5 are disconnected during exchange of the bearing sleeves,
the electronic connections must be readjusted. This readjustment can be
done away from the machine if the bearing sleeve 2, motor 5 and the
electronic control 6 for the motor can be removed from, and inserted into,
the spinning station as a single unit. For this purpose, an adapter
bushing of the type shown in FIG. 5 can be used, in which the flange 42 of
the bushing provides a mounting for the control box 60. Such control box
contains the entire electronic control, which includes a multiple-prong
plug 53 for connection to the current supply. To prevent loss of
resilience of the adaptor by connection of the control box mounting collar
60' with flange 42, the connection is made at a plurality of locations on
one side of a diametral line E, passing through the slit 41, 43.
Consequently, two tapped holes 44 in flange 42 are shown in FIG. 5, with
one hole located diametrically opposite the slit 43, and the other located
in the semicircular portion above diameter line E, but spaced more than
90.degree. from the first hole to provide maximum resistance to twisting
of the box 60. Control box collar 60' has holes corresponding to adapter
holes 44 to receive connecting screws 61.
It is preferred that the cover 10 be hingedly connected to housing 1,
rather than completely removable, to minimize readjustment of the fiber
feed and yarn drawoff means, for example, after the cover has been opened,
such as for cleaning the spinning chamber and cup. A particularly suitable
hinge connection for this purpose is shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. As shown in
FIG. 1, the hinge joint 18 includes two spaced ears projecting from cover
10 embracing a central ear projecting from housing 1. A hinge pin 36 is
fixed in the housing ear, so that such pin cannot turn relative to the
housing. A spiral spring 19 has one end connected to the upper ear of
swingable cover 10 and the other end connected to the stationary pin 36,
so that the cover is normally held in its closed position.
To open the cover, drawoff tube 34 may serve as a handle for swinging the
door to the left, as seen in FIG. 1. Such a hinged cover permits access to
the inner end of bearing sleeve 2 or 2', if, after release of the clamp
13, frictional engagement of the housing and sleeve is sufficient to
require an additional push to remove the sleeve from the rear of the
housing. In addition, the interior of the spinning housing is readily
accessible for cleaning during any temporary stoppage of the station, or
to remedy other spinning problems when it is unnecessary to remove the
bearing sleeve 2 or 2' for repair or replacement.
As seen in FIG. 1, cover 20 swings about an axis perpendicular to the cover
of resolving device 30, so that the outer end of supply tube 32 can simply
slide along such cover out of alignment with the fiber supply opening in
such cover. When cover 20 is again closed, tube 32 will slide back into
alignment with the fiber supply opening for channeling fiber into the
spinning chamber. For this purpose, it is both undesirable and unnecessary
for the resolving device 30 and the adjacent end of tube 32 to be
connected to each other in any manner.
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