Crimping apparatus with heating and cooling cage

Abstract

A stuffer crimper having a closed housing forming a heating chamber and a set of spaced rods supporting the core of crimped yarn and holding the core spaced from the walls of the housing. Choke members engage the sides of said core near the inlet end of said heating chamber to control the back pressure of the core. Steam under low pressure is introduced into the chamber between the walls and the core and is caused to permeate the core and act as a heat transfer agent to facilitate the setting of the crimp.

Description

This application is a reissue of Ser. No. 834,792 filed June 19, 1969, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,587,145, granted June 28, 1971. rods bars 120 may be secured to the bottom wall 114 by suitable means as by soldering and extend upwardly above the top of the chamber 113 to form a cooling zone 122. The rods bars are secured at their top ends to a ring 123 for rigidity.

Vertical grooves 124 are shown as formed in the outer surface of the chamber 113 opposite the ribs bars 120 to provide air pockets for controlling the heat transfer from the heater ring to the chamber walls and thence to the ribs bars.

The inner edges 125 of the ribs 120 form a support for the core of crimped yarn as it advances along the crimping and heating chamber and along the cooling cage above such chamber where the crimp is set in the yarn. Since the ribs bars 120 contact the core of yarn only at spaced points the friction which oppose opposes the advance of the core is reduced to a minimum.

A switch 127 may be mounted on a bracket 123a and actuated by a feeler wire 128 which extends between the bars 120 to rest upon the top of the core in the cooling zone. This switch 127 is connected to control the feed motor or the winder motor for maintaining the core at a constant level as described above in connection with FIGS. 1 to 12. While only so much of the apparatus is shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 as is necessary for an understanding of the invention, it is to be understood that the remainder of the apparatus in this embodiment is similar to that above described.

Claims

1. yarn crimping apparatus comprising walls forming a confined crimping chamber, feed rolls disposed to feed yarn for crimping into one end of said chamber, a housing forming a heating and setting chamber registering with said crimping chamber, a cage having a set of spaced parallel rods disposed around the periphery of said heating chamber with their inner surfaces forming a continuation of the walls of said crimping chamber and extending throughout the length of said heating chamber for confining and guiding the core of crimped yarn therethrough, means securing said rods as a unit to form said cage.

2. yarn crimping apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said cage and said crimping chamber have aligning means for positioning and securing said cage in place.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said cage includes spacing members for spacing the outer surfaces of said rods from said housing so that circulation of air within said housing and around said cage is facilitated.

4. yarn crimping apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said rods are secured in collars having outer surfaces fitting in said housing for the removal of said cage.

5. yarn crimping apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which a cooling cage is disposed in registration with said heater cage, said cooling cage comprising a set of rods registering with said first rods and securing means for holding said last rods in spaced parallel positions for receiving said core of crimped yarn and guiding said core to a discharge point.

6. yarn crimping apparatus as set forth in claim 5 in which said heater cage and said cooling cage are provided with aligning and securing means for holding said cooling cage in position on said heater cage.

7. yarn crimping apparatus as set forth in claim 5 in which yarn sensing means is disposed in said cooling cage, said sensing means comprising a collar adapted to extend around said rods, and having a pair of spaced rollers extending between opposite ends of said collar to rest upon the top of said core, a pivoted member having elements pivotally secured to opposite sides of said collar centrally of its ends, and means actuated by said pivoted arm to vary the relative rates of feed and withdrawal of said yarn in a sense to maintain said core at a substantially constant level in said cooling cage.

8. Apparatus as set forth in claim 7 in which a potentiometer is connected to control said relative rates and said pivoted arm is connected to vary said potentiometer as the level of said core rises and falls in said cage.

9. yarn crimping apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which means is provided for introducing a heating fluid into said housing into contact with said core.

10. A stuffer crimper as set forth in claim 1 in which said housing has walls enclosing said heating chamber, said housing having an outlet opening for the supply of steam into said chamber in the space between said walls and said core, and having means venting said steam to the atmosphere for thereby maintaining said steam under low pressure while in said chamber.

11. A stuffer crimper as set forth in claim 10 in which a steam inlet opening is disposed in said walls and heating means is disposed adjacent said opening to prevent condensation of steam as it enters said chamber.

12. A stuffer crimper as set forth in claim 10 in which said rods are secured in upper and lower collars, fitting within said walls and said steam inlet is disposed above said lower collar.

13. A stuffer crimper as set forth in claim 12 in which vertical passages are formed in said walls and extend past said upper collar to provide a passage for steam to the atmosphere.

14. A stuffer crimper as set forth in claim 12 in which said lower collar closes the space between said walls and said core to prevent condensate from dripping onto said feed rolls.

15. A stuffer crimper as set forth in claim 10 in which heating means is provided to heat said yarn to a temperature sufficient to superheat said steam.

16. crimping apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including a traversing guide adapted to traverse the yarn as it is fed to said feed rolls and displaced from said feed rolls to cause the yarn to engage one of said rolls at a tangent and to extend around at least 45° of the periphery of said roll as it is fed to said bite.

17. crimping apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said rods are in the form of members having radially extending flanges disposed around said chamber with their inner edges spaced to contact and confine said core.

18. crimping apparatus as set forth in claim 17 in which said flanges are formed with peripheral heads disposed in contact with the walls of said chamber and secured thereto.

19. crimping apparatus as set forth in claim 18 in which said walls are grooved to receive said heads.

20. crimping apparatus as set forth in claim 19 in which a heating member surrounds said chamber and the chamber walls are formed with grooves in their outer surface registering with said inner grooves to provide air space for controlling the heat transfer.

21. The method of treating yarn in a stuffer crimper having a crimping chamber through which a compacted core of crimped yarn is passed which comprises maintaining said chamber at substantially atmospheric pressure and introducing steam into said chamber at an elevated temperature and means pressure adapted to cause the steam to become superheated in a dry state when its pressure is reduced to atmospheric in said chamber, and contacting said core with said dry superheated steam with said core for heating the same, and heating said chamber to such an extent as to maintain said superheated steam in the superheated state while in said chamber.

22. The method set forth in claim 21 in which said chamber is maintained at a temperature above the steam temperature.

23. yarn crimping apparatus comprising a confined crimping chamber, feed rolls, disposed to feed yarn for crimping into one end of said chamber to be folded over and crimped against a core of previously crimped yarn in said chamber, a pair of shafts disposed on opposite sides of said core adjacent the lower end of said chamber, yieldable choke members carried by said shafts and disposed to contact the opposite sides of said core, said members having surfaces adapted to register with the chamber walls when in retracted position and being adapted to engage and compact said core when advanced, and means biasing said members into compressive contact with said core for controlling the back pressure of the core in said crimping chamber.

24. crimping apparatus as set forth in claim 23 in which said choke members form a part of the chamber wall when fully retracted.

25. yarn crimping apparatus as set forth in claim 23 in which said shafts are connected to turn in unison and weighted means is provided to yieldably bias said shafts in a direction to bring said members into choking engagement with said core.

26. Apparatus as set forth in claim 23 in which said choke members comprise plates disposed on opposite sides of said core and yieldably are held in contact with said core.

27. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 further comprising choke means positioned to engage said core at a point near the feed roll end thereof for retarding the advance of said core and for controlling the back pressure at the input end of the core.

28. Apparatus as set forth in claim 27 further comprising control means operatively connected to said choke means to vary the back pressure on said crimping chamber.