Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Surface bonding means and/or assembly means therefor – With bending – folding – winding – or wrapping means
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-26
2001-05-22
Aftergut, Jeff H. (Department: 1733)
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Surface bonding means and/or assembly means therefor
With bending, folding, winding, or wrapping means
C156S446000, C156S449000, C156S455000, C156S458000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06234228
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to dye tubes for textiles and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for securing a sheet of filter material around a yarn tube of the type used as a carrier during dyeing or finishing.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Yarn is commonly wound around a supporting tube or carrier in preparation for dyeing or finishing. A plurality of yarn carrying tubes are then positioned onto a spindle and immersed in a dye bath or other treatment bath. The tubes also may be axially compressed on the spindle to permit increased loading and improved uniformity of dye penetration by reducing the tension of the yarn on the package.
Modern dye tubes are normally formed of a molded plastic, such as polypropylene, and have a plurality of peripherally extending ribs and/or rings, often of a circumferential or helical configuration, connected by flexible joining members. The ribs and/or rings and joining members together form an open structure permitting dye or other liquids to enter the yarn from the hollow interior of the dye tube. Such tubes are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,702,433 and 5,445,335, the entire disclosures hereby incorporated by reference.
These perforated dye tubes may be covered with a permeable sleeve or covering to filter the dye bath before the bath contacts the yarn and to help prevent the yarn from being trapped in the compressed tube. Historically, this sleeve was formed of paper. However, since most dye tubes are now recycled after use, the sleeve can of the same general chemical composition as the tube. For example, the tube may be of injection molded polypropylene and the sleeve may be formed of a sheet of spun-bonded, nonwoven polypropylene fibers.
Since dye tubes are subjected to physical stress and high temperatures during use, it is necessary to ensure that the sleeve is securely fastened about the circumference of the dye tube. In addition, the sleeve must by positioned around the tube in an rapid and economical manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,480 to Burchette, Jr., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,508 to Baxley, Jr., are examples of prior art methods and apparatus for wrapping a sleeve around a dye tube, the entire disclosures hereby incorporated by reference. Generally, the technique described in these patents involves feeding tubes positioned end-to-end along an axial pathway while rotating the tubes. A continuous band of covering material is then fed along an angular path to the tubes at a covering station, where the band is wrapped in a spiral about the tubes with the edges of the band being overlapped.
The covering is then adhered to itself and to the tube at the overlap of the sheet edges to form the sleeve. In the Burchette, Jr. patent, the covering material is paper, and the adhesion is achieved with heat and glue, while the covering is the Baxley, Jr. patent is spunbonded, nonwoven polypropylene and the adhesion is with ultrasonic welding without glue. The band is then cut at the joinder of the tubes to form the finished product. Heating and gluing is complicated and ultrasonic welding is expensive but Baxley, Jr specifically taught that heating alone could not be used to provide adequate sealing of the edges of the sheet.
Thus, a need exists for a method and apparatus for securely attaching a covering to the outer surface of a dye tube in a rapid and economical manner while, at the same time, does not require the use of glue or ultrasonic welding and overcomes the problems of using heat to seal the fabric edges.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for covering a dye tube with a permeable covering, and to the resultant product. In the preferred embodiments, the invention includes a mandrel for supporting a dye tube; a sheet feeder positioned to convey a sheet of filter material to a dye tube carried on the mandrel; wrapping means from wrapping the sheet about the circumference of the tube; and sealing means for bonding the sheet to itself and to the tube.
Also, in the preferred embodiments, the sheet is of a rectangular shape with leading and trailing edges spaced at a distance greater than the circumference of the tube, so that the leading and trailing edges of the sheet will overlap when the sheet is wrapped around the tube circumference. During feeding, the sheet is positioned with the leading edge parallel to the axis of the tube. Thus, when the sheet is wrapped around the tube, the overlapping edges of the sheet or seam will be parallel to the axis of the tube.
In order to achieve rapid and economical production the above apparatus may further include a tube feeder for feeding tubes to the mandrel and a tube unloader for removing covered tubes from the mandrel.
The mandrel used to support the dye tube during wrapping includes a continuous air permeable cylindrical wall with a covered distal end. A vacuum means communicates with the mandrel interior to draw air inwardly through the mandrel perforations, and thus the wall of the tube positioned on the mandrel to draw the sheet against the outer circumference of the tube. A drive means is also provided to rotate the mandrel during wrapping.
The invention may also include a turntable having a mandrel support table with a tube loading station, a sheet wrapping station, a sealing station, and a discharge station; at least one hollow, air permeable mandrel supported on the table; table drive means for indexing the mandrel sequentially to each of the stations; and a vacuum chamber extending from the tube wrapping station to the sealing station, the vacuum chamber drawing a vacuum inside the mandrel at and between the wrapping and sealing stations
The apparatus may further include a tube feeder for feeding tubes to the tube loading station; a sheet feeder for feeding sheets of filter material to the wrapping station; and a sealer at the sealing station for sealing the sheet around the circumference of the tube. A mandrel drive means is also provided in one preferred embodiment for rotating the mandrel at the wrapping station to wrap the sheet around the circumference of the tube, and a locking means is provided to prevent the mandrel from rotating when the mandrel is indexed from the wrapping station to the sealing station.
In one of the preferred embodiments, the mandrel support table rotates about a central axis and has four mandrels equally spaced around the periphery of the table and rotatably secured to the table at their inner ends. In another preferred embodiment, four pairs of freely rotatable mandrels are carried on the table. However, a lesser or greater number of mandrels is contemplated by the present invention. Table drive means is provided to sequentially index the table to bring each mandrel to successive stations. Preferably, the table is positioned to rotate in a vertical plane about a horizontal axis, with each mandrel being positioned to extend horizontally from the table.
The tube feeder used to convey tubes to the mandrel includes a tube conveyor, such as an inclined surface, for moving tubes to the tube loading station, and an ejector adapted to eject a tube from the conveyor onto the successive mandrels when the mandrels are indexed to the tube loading station.
The sheet feeder includes a conveyor having a continuous, air permeable, sheet support belt with a discharge end at the tube wrapping station. A vacuum source in located beneath the surface to draw a vacuum through the upper, horizontal belt surface, and thus hold sheets carried thereon in position. The sheet feeder further includes a supply roller for supporting a roll of filter material, a draw roller for continuously withdrawing a band of filter material from the roller, and a cutter for cutting the filter material into sheets or units of the desired size and shape.
The sealing means in one preferred embodiment is adapted to engage the overlap or seam after the seam is wrapped around the tube, and while the sheet is held in position by the vacuum. The sealer in this embodiment includes a sealing bar
Atkinson Leon Eric
Miller Paul Hier
Taylor Joseph Stanley
Aftergut Jeff H.
Rhodes & Mason PLLC
Technimark, Inc.
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