Cloth-plaiting machine

Application filed February 23, 1921. Serial No. 447,032.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Henry E. Elrod, a citizen ' of the United States, and a resident of the city of Dallas, county of Dallas, and 5 State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cloth-Plaiting Machines, of which the following is a specification. .::

My invention relates to cloth plaiting mall) chines and more ; particularly to machines adapted: to plaiting cloth ' longitudinally thereof or the length of the roll of cloth. ,

In carrying out my invention, the plaited : cloth is passed between two rubber rolls un15. der pressure, thereby imparting to. the plaits in the cloth the final creasing. These · pres. sure rolls are driven at a? constant; speed and act as feeding or pulling rolls for’ driving the cloth through the machine. It is 20 essential, therefore, that each, longitudinal or warp thread be under the same tension in order that the cloth will be pulled through the machine evenly. ?

_: Therefore, One of . the essential features ²⁵ of my improved machine is that of providing means : for conveying, the' cloth through, the machine evenly? and with a uniform? longitudinal tension. In consequence of this the plaiting of the. cloth is accom³⁰ plished uniformly and the plaits are dis·' ’ posed evenly the entire width of the cloth and parallel throughout its length.

In carrying out'my invention, I provide a. frame upon which, are mounted in longi³⁵ tudinal alignment two guide boards through which the. cloth to. be plaited is adapted to pass. Connecting the two guide boards are a multiplicity . of supporting wires which engage the cloth and preliminarily fold the ⁴⁰ same. _Λ As the cloth leaves the second guide board it is engaged by two sets of intermeshing discs which:.compact the folds formed by the guide boards. From these discs the cloth is conducted between the ⁴⁵ pressure rollers which in addition to feeding / the cloth through the machine, impart to the folds the final creasing operation, thereby forming permanent plaits in the cloth.

The various features of my invention and 50 the details of structure will be made more apparent in the accompanying specification and drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a machine constructed in accordance with my invention, 55 Fig. 2 is a-top plan view of the structure ? illustrated in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a detailed sectional view taken •on line 3—3 of: Fig. 2, .

lig. 4 is a similar sectional· view taken on

..,line.4—4 of Fig, 2, somewhat enlarged. . 60 , , Fig. 5 is a: section taken on; line 5—5 of Fig. 2,

Fig. (> is a section on line 6—6 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. ,7 is a section taken On line 7—7 of 65 Fig,, 2.

: The frame of the machine is provided with suitable support, 10, supporting mem- _:bers 11 and a base 12. Disposed vertically of the frame and at one end thereof are a 70 pair of shafts 13 journaled upon the frame 10 and base 12. The upper end of the shafts 13 project above the table for a purpose to be more fully hereinafter described. One of the shafts carries a pulley 14 which 75 is engaged by a belt 15 and through which connection is made with a motor 16 supported on the: base 12. The shafts 13 .are each provided with a pinion gear 17 which intermesh, thereby causing, the two shafts 80 13 to be rotated at the same ratio arid in opposite directions.. For supporting· the shafts 13 intermediate their length, I provide: a bracket member 18 secured at one of its ends to a vertically disposed support 85 19 and at its other end to one of the legs 11.

Disposed transversely of the supportingframe 10 and at one end thereof are a pair of supporting drums 20 journaled in suitable bearings 21. These drums 20 : are 90 adapted to support a roll of cloth 22 to be plaited.

Disposed immediately adjacent the supporting drums? 20 is a pair of creasing rolls 2 and 3, the upper roll 2 being provided 95 with V-shaped ribs 4, while the bottom roll 3 has formed therein correspondingly shaped grooves 5. The rolls are mounted : in brackets 6, the upper portion of one of the brackets being hinged as indicated at 100 7 to permit the upper roll to be swung away from the lower roll to facilitate the thread- . ing. of the cloth through these rolls. The remaining bracket is provided with any suitable type of fastening means 8 for: locking 105 the upper and lower sections of the bracket together.

Also disposed transversely of the supporting frame 10 and spaced apart, are guide boards A and B. The .details of the 110 guide' board A. will be described first and attention is directed particularly to Figs.

1,402,584 to 3. This guide board is formed in sections 23 and 24 hinged at one end as indicated at 24' and supported in a vertical position upon the frame 10 by suitable brackets 5 25 disposed at the edge of the supporting frame. The ends of the sections opposite from the hinge are provided with a suitable locking means 25' for securing the sections in closed position. Any suitable type of 10 locking means may be provided, such for instance, as indicated at 8 for the. creasing rolls. The adjacent edges of the sections 23 and 24 of the guide board A are shaped as illustrated clearly in Fig. 3 and when in ¹⁵ position, form a serpentine or irregular passage-way or slot 26 between the two through which the., cloth 22 is adapted to pass.

The guide board B comprises an upper and lower section 27 and 28 respectively, 20 hingedly connected at one end thereof as indicated at 28', and this guide board . B is supported on the frame by suitable brackets 29. The other ends of the sections are provided with suitable locking means 29', such 25 for instance, as illustrated in Fig; 7¹ for the creasing rolls. An irregular or. serpentine slot is formed by the sections of the guide board B by providing the adjacent edges with a multiplicity of tapering projections ³⁰ 30 and 31 respectively which interengage with one another as clearly illustrated in Fig. 4. The extent of this inter-engagement of the projections 30 and 31 is limited by the straight edges 32 of the sections 27 and 28 ³⁵ which abut to properly position the projections 30 and 31 with respect to each other.

For supporting the cloth 22 between the guide boards A and B and for retaining the folds in the cloth there are provided a ⁴⁰ multiplicity of supporting wires 33 and 34, the ends of these wires are fastened in. the guide boards A and B, the set of wires 33 ¹ having their ends secured in the top sections of the guide boards while the set 34 ⁴⁵ have their ends anchored in the lower sections of the guide boards. These wires are disposed at the points of the guide boards which form the crease or folds in the. cloth and the wires-will therefore converge from ⁵⁰ the guide board A toward the guide board B as will be clearly apparent.

Mounted adjacent the guide board B are two sets of disks 35 and 36 mounted on transversely disposed shafts 37 and 38 re⁵⁵ spectively. These shafts are journaled in suitable supports 39 disposed at each side of the supporting frame. One of the supports is hinged as illustrated at 39' while the other support is provided with suitable lock⁶⁰ ing means 39. A detailed view of these discs is shown in Figure 5, the distance between them, however, being slightly exaggerated for sake of clearness. The sets of discs are so arranged that their peripheries 65 intermesh a distance equal to the width of the plaits. These discs act in the nature of compacting discs for the folds so as to condense the transverse width of the folded fabric.

Mounted upon the upper end of the shafts 70 13 are rubber pressure rollers 40 adapted to engage the cloth 22 after it leaves the compacting discs. One of the purposes of these rollers is to impart to the fabric the final creasing along the lines of the folds so that 7 5 the fabric will be permanently plaited. These rollers also act as feeding rollers and grip the cloth between their adjacent faces and draw it through the parts of the machine. As the cloth emerges from between ⁸⁰these rollers 40, it has formed therein a multiplicity of longitudinally disposed permanent plaits.

The upper ends of the shafts 13 are journaled in brackets 41 which brackets are^: se- ⁸⁵cured to a bracket 42 disposed transversely of the frame 10. The free ends of these brackets 41 are provided.:with a clamping: rod 43 and a nut 44 by which the space between the rollers 40 may be regulated to ⁹⁰vary the tension exerted by these rolls on the cloth.

The method of operating my improved machine is as follows:

The motor 16 is driven from any suitable ⁹⁵source of current and through the medium of the belt 15 and pulley 14 rotates one of the shafts 13. By reason of the pinion gears 17 carried.by the shafts 13, both shafts are rotated at a uniform: speed, but in opposite ¹⁰⁰directions. Cloth 22 from the supply roll is unwound by the rubber rolls 40 because of its engagement with these rotating rolls. As the cloth is unwound from the roll, it is in a flat or uncreased condition. It first ¹⁰⁵passes between creasing rolls 2 and 3 and has imparted to it a: preliminary . creasing. It then passes through the guide board A and has imparted to it a further folding because of the shape of the serpentine slot 26. The ¹¹⁰folds thus imparted to the cloth are retained therein and somewhat 'compacted between the guide board A and the guide board B. owing to the converging sets of wires 33 and 34- stretched between guide board A and ¹¹⁶guide board B. As the cloth passes through guide board B it has been made to assume a more closely confined folded condition.

After passing through the guide board B the cloth is engaged by the sets of compact- ¹²⁰ing discs 35 and 36 which engage the cloth with their peripheries at the lines upon which they are folded. The space between the intermeshing peripheries of the discs 35 and 36 is sufficient only to accommodate the 125 thickness of the cloth-and hence the folds already imparted to the cloth are compacted to a comparatively small transverse dimension. The cloth thus folded is then drawn between the rolls 40 and finally creased, the 130 ί;402,584 amount of pressure of the rolls being governed by the adjustment of the clamping rod'43.

By providing the sets of wires between the 5 guide boards A and· B the cloth is thereby prevented from sagging and the longitudinal tension exerted thereon by the rollers 40 is uniform throughout the warp threads of the cloth. This uniform pressure and the 10 absence of sagging of the cloth insures a uniformity of the plaits and the efficiency of the machine.

Furthermore, the distance between, the guide boards A and B .can therefore be made 15 sufficient so that the increase in the acuteness of the angle of the folds may not be caused too abruptly, but that these folds will be formed easily and naturally by reason of the engagement of the cloth with the converg20 ing supporting wires.

By reason of the hinged connections between the upper and lower sections of the creasing and folding elements the threading of the cloth through the machine is facili25 tated, it being only necessary to swing the upper sections of the folding elements away from the lower section to enable the cloth to be passed through these elements. , Various modifications . of the structure ³⁰ illustrated may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and I particularly reserve this right.