EP0048658A1 - Method of introducing a continuous filament into a severing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

The subject of the invention is a method for introducing a continuous wire into a cutting machine composed of an anvil cylinder (20) and a blade cylinder (19).

The method essentially consists in stretching the wire in an area between the planes passing through the sides of the blade cylinder cooperating with an anvil cylinder, the axes of rotation of said cylinders passing through a substantially horizontal plane, in deflecting the wire towards the area cutting to press it on at least a portion of the surface of the cylinder arranged upstream.

It also relates to devices for implementing the method, comprising a movable member (22) capable of applying the wire to the surface of the upstream cylinder. The invention applies in particular to glass fibers.

Description

The present invention relates to the manufacture of wires cut from thermoplastic material, in particular glass wires, and it relates more particularly to a method and a device for feeding a continuous glass wire into a cutting device.

The cutting of wires is obtained by passing the filamentary material between a support cylinder or anvil and a cutting cylinder equipped with blades regularly arranged at its periphery. The cutter is arranged to come into contact under pressure with the circumferential surface of the support cylinder, thus defining a cutting area.

For productivity reasons, the cutting device is most often supplied with glass strands drawn directly from a certain number of dies.

To maintain the profitability of the installations at an acceptable level, it is necessary to interrupt the manufacturing process as often as possible, and in particular to avoid any stoppage during the breakage of one of the wires supplying the cutting device. To reintroduce a wire without stopping this device, several solutions have been proposed:

- French publication FR 2.162.068 describes a cutting machine whose support cylinder is extended by a frustoconical part. The machine is enclosed in a protective box provided with an opening through which protrudes the frustoconical part of the support cylinder, the front face of which is itself masked by a protective plate fixed on said box. Between the plate and the housing is thus formed a lateral opening through which the glass wire is brought manually into contact with the frustoconical part of the support cylinder. The wire is wound up and goes up on the conical surface before being taken again between the cutter and the anvil.

The implementation of such a device requires each restart to reduce the running speed of the wires to a value of approximately 1 to 2 m / sec; this is acceptable when the device is supplied with a wire coming from a single die, but is no longer so in the case of the simultaneous cutting of several wires coming from several die. In fact, any accidental break in one of the wires causes the fiberizing operation to stop on all of the dies, which disrupts their progress, accelerates the wear of the material and significantly reduces the productivity of the installation.

A variant of the previous device is described in the French publication FR 2.204.715. According to this, the cutting machine comprises a support cylinder extended by a truncated cone ending in a vertex of small diameter. A starter roller, made up of a series of discs, has just pressed on a generator of the truncated cone. The cutter / anvil assembly rotates continuously at its normal speed.

During a recovery operation, the wire, first passing through a guide wheel aligned with the cutting zone, is brought in the vicinity of the top of the truncated cone on which it therefore winds at low speed. Because the wire tends to follow a rectilinear trajectory, it is quickly wedged between the starter roller and the surface of the truncated cone, gradually rises on it by undergoing an increasing drawing speed to be finally taken up between the anvil and cutter.

. This arrangement therefore makes it possible to introduce a wire without modifying the speed of rotation of the cutting machine. However, this device is not free from drawbacks.

Indeed, to avoid premature wire breakage, it is necessary for its drawing speed to increase progressively, which implies the adaptation on the anvil of a very long truncated cone which is naturally cantilevered. This situation is aggravated by the pressure exerted on the truncated cone by the series of discs forming the starting roller. Such a device wears out quickly when it is desired to maintain drawing speeds included between 30 and 50 m / sec.

Another type of device, described in French publication FR 2,397,370, also provides for lateral introduction of the wire into the cutting apparatus.

This device comprises an auxiliary support cylinder disposed adjacent to one of the ends of the main support cylinder and axially aligned with the latter, and an auxiliary blade holder cylinder arranged so as to cooperate with the auxiliary support cylinder.

• Après un étirage manuel, le fil est introduit entre les cylindres auxiliaires à faible vitesse, et maintenu dans cette position par une poulie à gorge.

When a wire accidentally breaks, it can be reintroduced into the cutting machine, without stopping the latter, as follows:

• After manual stretching, the wire is introduced between the auxiliary cylinders at low speed, and held in this position by a grooved pulley.

The speed of the two auxiliary cylinders, which act as the cutting machine, is gradually increased until the wire reaches its normal drawing speed. By moving the grooved pulley, the wire is then brought into the main cutting area.

This device constitutes an interesting solution to the difficulties linked to the introduction of a wire into a cutting machine rotating at high speed. However, whenever it is necessary to change the main cutting machine, it is necessary to dismantle and reassemble the auxiliary cylinders, which is not without presenting some drawback in a continuous production which requires the minimum of idle time. .

One of the aims of the present invention is to provide a simple method of introducing a continuous wire into a cutting machine, and which avoids the drawbacks described above.

The method according to the invention essentially consists of stretching the wire in an area between the planes passing through the sides of the blade cylinder cooperating with an anvil cylinder, the axes of rotation of said cylinders passing in a substantially horizontal plane, then deviating the wire thus stretched towards the cutting zone defined by the contact zone between the anvil cylinder and the blade cylinder, to press it on at least a portion of the surface of the cylinder disposed upstream, said surface portion being substantially adjacent to the cutting area.

• - un organe pour dévier le fil et le plaquer sur les cylindres enclume et/ou porte-lames,
• - un moyen pour actionner cet organe de manière que l'une de ses parties Vienne s'appliquer contre la surface du cylindre disposé en amont.

The present invention also relates to devices for implementing said method, comprising:

• - a member for deflecting the wire and pressing it onto the anvil and / or blade holder cylinders,
• - A means for actuating this member so that one of its Vienna parts is applied against the surface of the cylinder arranged upstream.

• - Les Figures 1A et 1B représentent les phases schématisées du procédé selon l'invention,
• - La Figure 2 représente une vue générale de l'implantation d'un premier dispositif de mise en oeuvre du procédé, dans la chaine de fabrication,
• - La Figure 3 est une vue schématique de face du dispositif d'introduction de fil représenté Figure 2,
• - La Figure 4 représente une coupe partielle du dispositif précédent selon un plan perpendiculaire aux axes de rotation des cylindres enclume et porte-lames,
• - La Figure 5 représente une vue schématique en perspective d'un second mode de mise en oeuvre du procédé selon l'invention.

Other characteristics of the present invention will appear during the following detailed description, accompanied by drawings given by way of non-limiting examples and according to which:

• - Figures 1A and 1B show the schematic phases of the process according to the invention,
• FIG. 2 represents a general view of the installation of a first device for implementing the method, in the production line,
• - Figure 3 is a schematic front view of the wire introduction device shown in Figure 2,
• FIG. 4 represents a partial section of the previous device along a plane perpendicular to the axes of rotation of the anvil and blade-holder cylinders,
• - Figure 5 shows a schematic perspective view of a second embodiment of the method according to the invention.

The method of restarting a wire in a cutting machine comprising an anvil cylinder and a blade holder cylinder is implemented in accordance with the schematic representations given in Figures 1A and 1B.

According to FIG. 1A, a wire 15a, coming from a die disposed upstream of the cutting machine, is firstly stretched along the path shown in dotted lines by a drawing device called launcher disposed downstream of said machine. The launcher is arranged so that the wire is stretched in an area between the planes passing through the sides of the blade cylinder 19. Furthermore, the path of the wire 15a is such that during this drawing operation the wire remains free from any contact with said cylinders.

On the wire thus drawn, a force F is then exerted, materialized by an arrow. Under the action of this force the wire, which then follows the solid line path, is pressed at the same time on surface portions of the blade holder 19 and the anvil 20, the said portions of surface being adjacent to the cutting area proper. The wire is kept in this position until it is drawn into the cutting area.

Figure 1B shows a variant of the method according to the invention. According to the latter, the wire 15a, deflected by a pulley 17, is partially wound on the upstream cylinder (anvil 20) before following the dotted path imposed by the launcher. There again the wire is drawn in an area between the planes passing through the sides of the blade cylinder 19.

Dn then exerts a force F on the wire 15a so as to apply it only to the surface portion of the upstream cylinder adjacent to the cutting zone. The wire then follows the solid line path and is maintained in this position until it is drawn into the cutting zone.

The process illustrated schematically in Figure 1A can be implemented in a production line as shown in Figure 2 comprising a series of dies, designated by the reference 10 which deliver several glass son, an assembly 11 housing a machine cut and downstream of the chain a device 12 for drawing said glass strands.

The dies 10 are supplied from molten glass or glass beads delivered by a supply device not shown. These channels, generally in rhodium-plated platinum, are heated by the Joule effect; they are provided at their lower part with a plurality of orifices from which a plurality of filaments 13 can be drawn mechanically. These filaments 13 are in the form of sheets and are coated with a lubricating sizing product, commonly called sizing, by passing over a coating device 14. They are then joined together in the form of wires 15 by assembly rollers 16. The wires 15 thus formed are brought after passing over the pulleys 17 to a guide device 18, for example a comb, before being introduced into the cutting machine composed of a blade-holding drum 19 and a support drum 20, the axes of rotation of which pass through a horizontal plane.

The assembly 11 housing the cutting machine comprises a frame 21 supporting a device 22 for introducing the wire into the cutting zone; this device 22 is placed above the cutting machine consisting of a blade drum 19 and a support drum 20 and surrounded by a cover shown diagrammatically at 23. The whole rests on a floor referenced 24.

Above the cutting area and below the floor 24, a device for receiving and transferring the cut fibers is symbolized at 25.

Downstream is shown a launcher 12, shown diagrammatically by two cylinders 26 and 27 cooperating to stretch a wire 15a, emanating from one of the dies 10, wire then recovered in a chute 28.

Launching can also be ensured by a cutting machine, or by a drive wheel fitted with a wire ejection device as described in patent US-A-3,285,721, and generally by any known means capable of stretching a wire up to speeds of up to 50 meters per second.

Figures 3 and 4 show respectively front and sectional views of the device 22 for introducing the wire into the cutting zone. This device essentially comprises a jack 30 whose rod 41 is provided at its end with a pusher assembly 31 and on which is fixed very rigidly a hollow rod 32 parallel to the rod of the jack 30. This rod 32 passes through a hole or eye 33 formed in a plate extending outwardly from the base of the jack 30. The purpose of this rod is in particular to precisely maintain the orientation of the pusher by preventing the rod of the jack from turning on itself when the said jack is put into service.

The pusher itself consists of a rigid piece 34, preferably metallic, and a part 35, made of a flexible material, partially embedded in the previous one.

The part 34 has at its lower part a thinning which makes it possible to deeply penetrate the wire between the anvil and the blade holder at the time of its recovery. One of the large sections of the part 34 comprises a housing having a vertical face and a face inclined along the slope imparted by the thinning of the part to its lower part.

Part 35 consists of a plate closely fitting the housing described above. The upper part of the plate corresponding to the vertical face of the housing is fixed tightly to the latter (by gluing, for example). The lower part corresponding to the inclined face of the housing is free relative to the latter. The upper and lower parts of the plate 35 are delimited by a horizontal groove 36 deeply cutting the external face of said plate over its entire width. The width of the plate 35 is substantially equal to the width of the active cutting zone defined by the length of the cutting blades.

Figure 4, which shows a partial section of the pusher 31, shows its internal structure.

The hollow rod 32 is connected directly to an internal conduit 37 which connects it to a tubular chamber 38; this chamber 38 extends horizontally over a distance substantially equal to the width of the plate 35. The chamber 38 communicates with the outside by a slot 39 (or by a series of conduits) which opens facing the lower part of plate 35.

• On rassemble tous les filaments 13, issus d'une filière 10 en un fil 15a étiré à faible vitesse par un tire-fil 29 disposé généralement au-dessous du plancher 24. Lorsque la filière est thermiquement stable, le fil 15a est repris-manuellement et, après passage sur une poulie de renvoi 17, est amené dans le lanceur 12 tournant à faible vitesse (vitesse linéraire de l'ordre de 1 mètre par seconde). La vitesse de rotation du lanceur est alors augmentée progressivement pour égaliser les vitesses d'étirage des fils 15 et 15a.

The implementation of the method according to the invention, by the device described above, is as follows:

• All the filaments 13 from a die 10 are brought together into a thread 15a drawn at low speed by a thread puller 29 generally disposed below the floor 24. When the die is thermally stable, the thread 15a is taken up manually and, after passing over a return pulley 17, is brought into the launcher 12 rotating at low speed (linear speed of the order of 1 meter per second). The speed of rotation of the launcher is then gradually increased to equalize the drawing speeds of the wires 15 and 15a.

As soon as this equalization is obtained, the wire introduction device, referenced 22 in Figure 2 and as illustrated by Figures 3 and 4, is actuated.

The displacement of the pusher, caused by a conventional device such as a pneumatic cylinder (not shown) controlling a distributor 40, is triggered automatically as soon as the launcher reaches the chosen drawing speed.

In its rectilinear movement, the pusher 31 meets the wire 15a, gradually drives it and at the end of the stroke, introduces it deeply between the blade cylinder 19 and the anvil cylinder 20 (Figure 4). This action has the effect of bringing the wire 15a into contact with a portion of the surface of the blade holder and of the anvil, said portions being adjacent to the cutting zone.

When the rod 41 of the jack 30 has reached the end of the stroke, a flow of pressurized air arriving through the hollow rod 32, the conduit 37 and the chamber 38 exits through the slot 39; this has the effect of taking off the lower part of the plate 35, which pivots around the area thinned by the presence of the groove 36 and comes press against the surface of the upstream cylinder (cylinder 19).

Under the combined effect of the adhesion entrainment of the wire 15a on the rotating surface of the cylinder 19, of its pinching between the lower part of the plate 35 and the surface of the cylinder 19, and of the air escaping to at the base of the pusher 31, said wire is caught up in the cutting zone.

The pusher 31 returns to its rest position and the downstream end of the wire 15a is evacuated by the launcher 12.

In the operating example described above and illustrated in Figure 4, the lower end of the pusher is applied to the surface of the blade cylinder.

Indeed, the device described above is particularly suitable when the surface of the cylinder arranged upstream is discontinuous. This is the case for example of the blade-holder cylinders, the structure of which is such that the cutting edge of the blades only protrudes into the cutting zone.

These cylinders mounted upstream are generally powered and simultaneously assume the drawing of the wires and the drive of the anvil by cooperation of the surfaces in contact in the cutting zone.

It is obvious that this device can be validly used when the upstream cylinder is the anvil. However in the latter case it is possible to use a simpler device than the previous one.

The latter device is shown schematically in Figure 5 illustrating the method of introducing the wire according to Figure 1B.

The device 50 comprises an arm 51 pivoting about an axis 52 and provided at its free end with a roller 53 mounted idly on its axis, parallel to the axes of rotation of the anvil 20 and the blade holder 19. The arm 51 is mounted set back from the cutting machine and the roller 53 has a length sufficient to apply over the entire width of the cylinder 20. For the clarity of the figure, a single wire is shown.

The die is restarted as described above, but the wire 15a drawn by the launcher is then partially wound on the surface of the anvil 20 in rotation after passing over a pulley 17, the device 50 being in the rest position shown in dotted lines.

When the wire 15a reaches the desired drawing speed, the available sitif 50 is activated and takes the position shown in solid lines. In this position the roller 53 rests on the surface of the anvil and presses the wire 15a on the surface portion adjacent to the cutting zone, which causes the wire to be drawn into the cutting zone.

The method according to the invention and the implementation devices described above apply to the continuous manufacture of cut fibers obtained either from yarns from several dies, or from yarn (s) from (s) only one sector.

In the latter case, after the breaking of the wire or wires, the cutting machine is no longer supplied with power, and it is possible to envisage reducing its speed of rotation, or even stopping it.

The recovery process can be simplified since it is no longer necessary to use the launcher. The operator manually stretches the wire downstream of the cutting machine, which it starts to rotate slowly, then activates the control of the wire introduction device.

From the above description, it appears that the invention has several advantages over the prior art.

Thus the method and its implementation according to the invention makes it possible to restart a wire very quickly and safely; in fact, the automatic introduction of the wire into the cutting zone eliminates any risk for the operator responsible for restarting the wire.

Furthermore, the device for implementing the method is entirely independent of the cutting machine. As a result, it can be used on any cutting machine. In addition it does not interfere in any way with the disassembly and reassembly of a cutting machine, which is particularly appreciable in the context of continuous manufacturing where stops must be reduced to a minimum.

Claims (12)

1. Method for bringing at least one continuous wire, formed from a plurality of glass filaments drawn directly from at least one die, into a device consisting of a blade cylinder and an anvil cylinder rotating in opposite direction around two parallel axes passing through a substantially horizontal plane, said device being intended to cut said wire into sections of a predetermined length, characterized in that the wire is first stretched in an area between the passing planes by the sides of the cylinder: blade holder, -then the wire thus drawn is deflected towards the cutting zone defined by the contact zone between the two cylinders and the said wire is pressed on at least a portion of the surface of the cylinder disposed upstream, said surface portion being substantially adjacent to the cutting zone. 2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the plane in which the wire is drawn prior to its introduction into the cutting device is such that said wire is free from any contact with the anvil and blade holder cylinders. 3. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the wire is stretched at a gradually increasing speed of approximately one meter per second up to its normal drawing speed, before introducing said wire into the cutting device. 4. Device for bringing at least one continuous wire, formed from a plurality of glass filaments drawn directly from at least one die, into a cutting apparatus consisting of a blade cylinder and a rotating anvil cylinder in the opposite direction around two parallel axes passing through a substantially horizontal plane, said apparatus being intended to cut said wire into sections of a predetermined length, characterized in that it comprises, downstream of the cutting apparatus, a auxiliary drawing device installed so that the wire is drawn in an area between the two planes passing through the sides of the blade cylinder and a wire introducing device, comprising a fast-moving member applying the wire to the at least a portion of the surface of the cylinder disposed upstream, said portion being substantially adjacent to the cutting zone. 5. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that the movable member is a straight rod with rectilinear displacement provided at its free end with a push-piece having a thinned part at its lower part. 6. Device according to Claim 5, characterized in that the push-piece is in the general form of an elongated parallelepiped extending at its lower parts by a prism of triangular section. 7. Device according to claim 6, characterized in that the faces of the parallelepiped, extending parallel to the axes, of rotation of the blade holder and the anvil have a length at least equal to the length of the blades fitted to the door cylinder - blades. 8. Device according to one of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that the pusher is composed of a rigid part and a flexible plate partially embedded in one of the faces of said part extending parallel to the axes of rotation of the anvil and holder cylinders. 9. Device according to claim 8, characterized in that a part of the partially embedded plate is movable relative to the push-piece. 10. Device according to claim 9, characterized in that the movable part of the plate in ^p astrée moves under the action of a gas stream. 11. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that the movable member is an arm rotating about an axis and provided at its free end with a cylinder mounted idly on its axis. 12. Device according to claim 11, characterized in that the length of the cylinder is at least equal to the width of the upstream cylinder on which it is applied.

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