Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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sackground of the_Invention
In carding cotton fiber a good deal of both heavy
and fine trash particles as well as undesirable short fiber
and dust particles are characteristically present in the
feed stock. The modern trend toward high-speed carding
has substantially increased the difficulties encountered in
cleaning the feed stock of such waste content in the course
of carding, while the currently increasing use of open end
spinning has made effective cleaning particularly important
in preparing sliver for such spinning.
The present invention modifies conventional
lickerin operating practice materially to improve waste
cleaning results exceptionally during high-speed carding
operation.
Summary of the Invention
The improved carding results provided according
to the present invention are obtained by increasing the
lickerin operating speed so that it falls within the
range of about 1400 to 2000 r.p.m. and operating the main
cylinder in such relation that the lickerin surface
speed is in the order of 90% of the cylinder surface speed,
while employing the increased centrifugal force available
at such lickerin speeds to remove any heavy trash particles
from the feed stock below the lickerin and controlling
the air currents generated by lickerin and cylinder opera-
tion at these points above the lickerin so that the stock
being fed for carding is predominantly freed of undesirable
short fiber together with any fine trash and dust particles
present but so that usable fiber contained in the feed stock
is predominantly retained on the lickerin and cylinder roll
surfaces.
Heavy trash is removed below the lickerin by a
stripper bar set with a nose thereof facing opposite the
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direction of lickerin rotation and positioned in the range
of about 30 to 45 from the point of fiber release at the
J feed plate, and with the stripper bar nose set at about .olO"
to .022" from the lickerin surface and tapering forwardly
to a clearing of about .110" from the lickerin surface.
Additionally, a lickerin screen is mounted below the lickerin
with a nose facing in the same direction and positioned at
about 90 from the point of fiber release at the feed plate
and set at about .010" from the lickerin surface to remove
somewhat lighter trash that may pass the stripper bar. The
air currents about the lickerin are controlled by means such
as is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3,737,952.
Carding operation according to the present inven-
tion can be conducted equally well with either cotton or
synthetic fiber feed stock. Successful representative
operation with cotton feed stock has been conducted with a
,~ 50" maln cylinder running at 306 r.p.m. in relation to a
9- lickerin operated at 1570 r.p.m. with a resulting lickerin
surface~speed corresponding to 92.4% of the cylinder surface
speed. Production under these conditions was at the rate
of 120 lbs./hr. with waste removal at approximately 4% and
a sllver fiber array of average mean length equal to, or in
excess of, the average means fiber length in the feed stock,
while maintaining an operating efficiency of 95% or better
and producing sliver of excellent evenness and containing waste
at a level of about 0.6%.
~he carding operating arrangement employed is as
described in further detail below in connection with the
accompanying drawings that correspond to the following descrip-
tion.
Description of the Drawings
Fig. 1 is a more or less diagrammatic side elevation
indicating the lickerin and main cylinder arrangement employed
according to the present invention;
Fig. 2 is an enlarged generally corresponding side
elevation showing the lickerin undercasing arrangement more
in detail;
Fig. 3 is a plan detail of the lickerin screen;
and
Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation of
the lickerin and related elements.
Detailed Description of the Invention
Fig. 1 indicates the card feed plate at 10 over the
front nose of which feed stock is delivered by the action of a
feed roll 12 thereat to present the leading edge or fringe
of the feed stock to the lickerin 14 for combing fiber there-
from and transferring it to the main cylinder 16 at which
the lickerin 14 runs tangent. Beneath lickerin 14 a stripper
bar 18 is arranged as shown in spaced advance of a lickerin
screen structure 20. At the high lickerin operating speed
employed both the stripper bar 18 and the screen 20, par-
ticularly the noses thereof, act successively by reason of
the corresponding high centrifugal force available to remove
heavy trash particles from the feed stock with great effec-
tiveness.
Beyond the tangency point at main cylinder 16 respec-
tive lickerin and cylinder cover plates 22 and 24 are installed
in diverging relation with an air strip 26 lodged between
their adjacent portions to block escape of air thereat so that
the air currents generated by the high speed lickerin and
cylinder operation are initially confined beneath these cover
plates 22 and 24 to travel at the lickerin and cylinder
surfaces and act to seat fiber carried at these surfaces in
the clothing thereat.
A rear baffle member 28 is additionally disposed in
lickerin covering relation at a spacing from the rear edge of
cover plate 22 ahead of feed roll 12 and is formed with a nose
portion 28 extending to overlap this rear edge also at a
spacing. A front baffle member 30 is similarly disposed at
cylinder 16 at a spacing beyond the top edge of cover plate
24 ahead of the card flats, indicated in Fig. 1 at 32, and
is likewise formed with a spaced overlapping nose portion 30'.
Above lickerin 14 a hood structure 34 is arranged with a
suction fitting at 36 so that extraction air currents
are induced within hood structure 34 as indicated by the
arrows in Fig. 1. This arrangement functions in the manner
disclosed and claimed in U.S. Patent No. 3,737,952 to
relieve this lickerin and cylinder air currents against "blow
out" tendencies while reversing the direction in which the
relief takes place so that objectionable short fiber together
with smàll trash and dust particles are entrained and removed
to an exceptionally advantageous extent from the seated fiber
going forward on the lickerin and cylinder surfaces.
Figs. 2 and 3 show the lickerin undercasing
arrangement in greater detail. As shown, the stripper bar 18
is supported by an adjustable bracket structure 38 spaced
vertically rearward of a front baffle 40 that reaches
upwardly behind the nose portion of lickerin screen structure
20. The screen 20 is of the bar type and is suitably fitted
with a center brace 42 and end support pieces 44 arranged
for adjustable mounting. Additionally, a rear baffle 46
is arranged vertically below the nose of feed plate 10.
Representative settings at the points indicated in
Fig. 1 to provide the improved cleaning advantage obtainable
according to the present invention are as follows:
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Dimension
setting In Inches Elements Involved
A .022 Front baffle to wire
B 0-.250 Hood to front baffle
C .107 Cylinder cover plate to wire
D . 625 Front baffle overlap space
E . 250 Front baffle overlap extent
F 1.00 Front baffle slot spacing
G .125 Lickerin cover plate to wire
H .125 Rear baffle slot spacing
I .218 Rear baffle overlap extent
J ,437 Rear baffle overlap extent
K .017 Rear baffle to wire
L .010-.022 Stripper bar nose to wire
M .010-.125 Screen nose to wire
Fig. 4 shows the lickerin 14 and related elements
on an enlarged scale. The feed roll is shown at 12 and the
feed plate at 10, while the stripper bar 18 is indicated as
being available in various widths as represented in the range
between 18 and 18' with the respective noses thereof posi-
tioned in the range from about 30 (Rl) to 45 (R2) from the
point of fiber release at the feed plate 10, while the Gap 1
setting corresponds to L (i.e., about .010 to .022) in the
foregoing table and Gap 2 setting being about .110 as afore-
said. The lickerin screen nose setting (Gap 3) corresponds
to M (i.e., about .010 to .125) in the foregoing table and
is positioned at about 90 from the point of fiber release
at the feed plate 10, so as to remove somewhat lighter trash
which takes longer to leave the lickerin 14 centrifugally.
The present invention has been described in detail
above for purposes of illustration only and is not intended to
be limited by this description or otherwise to exclude any
variation or equivalent arrangement that would be apparent
- from or reasonably suggested by the foregoing disclosure to
the skill of the art.
