US2411326A - Making reinforced slivers - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 19, 19.46. J McMlLLlN ETAL 2,411,326

MAKING REINFORCED SLIVERS Filed Nov. 27, .1942

gvwcm bow JRMMilZin w @Hllake, ja a 1 W Patented Nov. 19,1946

MAKING REINFORCED SLIVERS James R. McMillin and Stanley H. Lake, Newark, Ohio, assignors to Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation, ,Toledo, Ohio, a, corporation of Delaware Application November 27, 1942, Serial No. 467,278

, 7 Claims. 1 l v This invention relates to a fibrous product and to an improved me'thodland apparatus for manufacturing such a product.

In the manufacture of certain types of fibrous products such, for example, as glass or other thermoplastic materialsit has been customary to collect attenuatdi glass fibers onthe periphery of a drum and to pullthe'depo'sited fibers off the drum to form a sliver of glass fibers. This method is disclosed and claiiridYin theTucker and lllaiilnan Patent No. 2,264,345, dated December 2,

Although slivers of the character disclosed in the above patent have'.proved very satisfactory in practice, nevertheless, iii the manufacture of certain products, it is desirablettcincrease the tensile strength of the sliver. With this in view the present invention contemplates reinforcing the sliver with a continuous strand which may be a single filament or may be a yarn of desired material, preferably glass. 1

Heretofore reinforced asbestos slivers have been produced by feeding a reinforcing thread and an asbestos sliver together between the usual rubbing aprons or belts for condensing the sliver, and folding the sliver around thethread by the action of the belts. This process is not satisfactory in the treatment of glass fibers, however, because the use of rubbing aprons would represent an added, otherwise unnecessary step in the production of the slivers.

It is an object of the present invention to produce a reinforced glass sliver without increasing the number of steps or operations over those needed to produce an ordinary glass sliver.

More particularly this invention contemplates distributing glass fibers in tangled relation about a continuous strand of material as the fibers are produced, the strand being advanced along a predetermined path of travel coinciding with the movement of the sliver asit is formed, and, if desired, applying an adhesive to the strand prior to distributing the fibers about the strand so that Figure 1 is a diagrammatic sideelevational view partly in section of apparatus constructed in accordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Figure l; and t Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view of the sliver of this invention showing the reinforcing core or The foregoing, as well as other objects, will strand. 7

Although this invention concerns itself more particularly with the manufacture of slivers formed of glass, nevertheless, other materials having similar characteristics may be employed. Several examples of materials which may be used in connection with the present invention, are artificial silk commonly known as nylon, vinyl acetate, cellulose acetate, resin, sugar, and vinylidene chloride resin.

With the above in view reference is now made to the drawing wherein it will be noted that the reference character 10 indicates a container or melter adapted to contain a supply ll of molten thermoplastic material such'as glass. A bushing I2 is suitably supported at the bottom of the container in communication with the supply ll of molten glass and comprises a pluraltiy of nipples or relatively small orifices l3.

The orifices l3 are designed to enable a glass stream to be drawn through each orifice by a blower l4 supported below the bushing l2 and having the further function of forming attenuated fibers from the glass streams. In detail, the blower 14 comprises complementary sections l5 and I6 respectively positioned at opposite sides of the glass streams issuing from the bushing l2. Thesection I6 is provided with a chamber 11 communicating with a source of fluid under pressure,;such as-a steam or air, by means of a conduit 18 and also communicating at one end with the adjacent end of a chamber I9 formed in the section 15. It will also be noted from Fi ure 1 that the sections of the blower 14 are respectively formed with discharge orifices arranged to discharge fluid under pressure in a downward direction toward opposite sides of the glass streams. The pressure of the fluid is sufficient to apply the pulling force on the glass streams required to draw the same from their respective In accordance with conventional practice the pe-' riphery of the drum is perforated and sufficient suction is created in the drum by means not shown the drum.

to collect the periphery of i The web of fibers collected or disposed-on the;

- periphery of the drumis pulled off of the, drum by a member 22 supported for rotation at the front side of the drum 2| in spacedielat-ion to the latter; As the web of fibers is pulled off of the drum it is drafted to the form of a sliver 23 and the latter is wound around the rotatable member 22. The fibers produced by the process just described are usually known as staple glass fibers.

be waXJresln, or any similar adhesive capable of securing the fibers to the continuous strand as the latter is drawn through the fiber deposition ""zoneon the drum by the rotatable member 22.

As a result of the above, a sliver of the type shown in Figure 3 of the drawing is produced having a core in the form of a strand such, for example, as a length of glass yarn and having -lon g or theoretically continuous glass fibers interlaced about the core so that the latter acts to effectively reinforce the sliver. It will also be They are-substantially continuous in length when The present inyention provides a sliver of this understood from the foregoing that the glass fibers are distributed about the strand by advancing the latter through the zone of fiber deposition on the drumor other fiber collecting surface and, consequently, the relatively long fibers also extend in the general direction of length of the strand but are intertangled to an extent providing integrity in the body of fibers about the type reinforced with a strand of glass or other fibers. The strand is'incorporated in the sliver in such a way that the original fiufiy nature of the sliver is not altered as-it would be if the strand and the sliver were intertwisted or if the sliver was folded about the strand. Retention of the original fiufllness isespecially desirable where the sliver is to be served onto a wire to form a layer of fibrous insulation.

To obtain maximum strength in the reinforced sliver it has been found preferable to employ as the reinforcing core a strand or yarn oi continuious glass filaments. Glass filaments of the continuous type are made by continuously attenuating streams of molten glass, gatheringthe fibers thus formed into. grglip s -or strandsand winding the strands upon a drum-or'spooli, The finished strands containa: large number-'offilaments that: r

are substantially continuous in'length throughout Y the-needed dielectric r sistance.

the length of the strand The way in which the sliver liisreinforced with a strand of material, preferably glass, and either in-the form of a strand of glass filaments or in the form of a yarn, will now be described in de tail.

is unwound from the spool by'the rotatable" member: 2-2 previously described as operable to RUH-thjzflbBISOfl the periphery of the collecting drum-2|. As shown in Figure l, the strand is p ssed upwardly through an eye or guide 28 sultably supported above the package and is excore. This arrangement of the fibers around the strand provides a sliver having very high tensile strength and one which will not break during subsequent weaving or knittin operations. Also, by depositing the fibers in tangled relation about the reinforcing strand, the fibers-become interlaced about the strand to such an extent that the strand is separated from the body of fibers only with great difficulty, demonstrating lthe degree of integrity ofthe product of the present invention.

For some applications of the reinforced sliver it has been found advantageous to employ as a reinforcing core a strandmade up of one or more filaments of a thermoplastic resinous material suchas Vinylite, polystyrene, Seran, and simitended downwardly around a pad 21 to the rotatable member 22. The locations'of the pad 21 and ber 22 and the strand is felted with the fibers.

In accordance with this invention the fibers are,

secured to the strand by coating the strand with a suitable adhesive prior to moving the strand with an adhesive material by the pad 21 and this material is supplied to the pad by a suitable reservoir 28. The adhesive material employed may across the drum 2 In detail, the strand is coated means for applying radially lar resins. This is particularly valuble where the sliver is to be served onto a wire to form a layer of insulating material thereover.

The sliver is heat treated after it is served on-the wire to soften the thermoplastic material of the reinforcing core. to an extent causing it to fiow and thoroughly' impregnate the fibrous insulating layer to pro- The thermoplastic core may also be employed where the sliver is to be used forother purposes and wherever it is desired to reinforce the silver until it has been twisted, woven, knitted, or pros-- essed in some other manner, but where the reinforcing is not required after processing but is advlzimtageously replaced by" impregnation of the s ver:

and within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

'1. Apparatus for forming a reinforced sliver comprising a drum supported for rotation in a position to collect a web of intertangled fibers as his formed, a package comprising a strand of continuous glass fibers supported at one side of thedrum, a rotatable member supported at the opposite side of the drum for pulling the deposited fibers oi! the periphery of the drum in the direction of rotation of the drum to form a sliver and for also unwinding the package by pulling the strand across the periphery of the drum through the zone of fiber deposition on the drum whereby said fibers are drawn substantially parallel with said strand, means supported adjacent the package in a position to engage the strand to apply an adhesive, on the strand to cause the fibers to adhere to the strand as the latter is pulled across the periphery of the drum, and inward forces against saidfibersaround said strand.

ious modificatl'ons of the present invention rnay be made within thespirit of the invention 2. The method which comprises continuously filaments onto a moving supporting surface and forming on the periphery-of a rotatable member a glass fiber web in which the fibers are haphazardly arranged and interlaced with, each other, advancing el -continuous strand of fglass fibers across thmperi'phery of 7 said member I through the fiber deposition zone. on the member causing them to accumulate in matted form on said. surface with. the filaments extending promiscuously and haphazardly but in directions and inthe direction of its rotation, applying an adhesive'to the strand prior to engaging the web tocaus'e the fibers to adhere thereto, and pulling said web and strand together from-the periphery of the rotatable member in the general direction of movement of the periphery and at a rate sufficiently higher than the rate of movement of the periphery to draw the fibers of the matinto substantial parallelism with the strand. p 3. The method which comprises winding a continuous strand, causing the strand to pass across the periphery of a rotatable member in the direction of its rotation during the winding operation, simultaneously forming and depositing a glass fiber web in which the fibers are haphazardly arranged and interlaced with each other on the periphery of the rotatable member about the strand, and pulling said web and strand together mainly substantially parallel with sald surface, continuously passing a preformed strand along said surface in the direction of movement thereof, and continuously drawing the mat of filaments and the strand from said surface as the mat is formed, at a rate greater than the rate of movement of said surface, whereby the mat of filaments is attenuated as it is drawn together with the strand from said surface, and concentrating themat of filaments to compact sliver form about the strand as it advances beyond said surface.

6. Apparatus for forming a reinforced sliver comprising a drum supported for rotation in a position to collect a web of intertangled fibers as it is formed, means for supporting a package comprising a strand of continuous glass fibers at one side of the drum, a rotatable member supported at the opposite side of the drum for pulling the from the periphery of the rotatable member at a rate sufficiently higher than the rate of movement of the periphery to draw the fibers of the mat into substantial parallelism with the strand.

4. The method of forming a reinforced strand or sliver which comprises projecting fine glass filaments onto a movingsnpporting surface and causing them toaccumulate inmatted form on said surface with the filaments extending promiscuously and haphazardly but in directiofis mainly substantially parallel with said surface, continuously passing apreformed strand along said surfacev in the direction of movement thereof, and

continuously drawing the mat of filaments and "the strand from said surface as the mat is formed at a rate greater than the rate of movement of said surface, and simultaneousl transforming the mat into the form of a rein rced strand or sliver inwhich the filaments are arranged mainly' in substantial parallelism' about said strand. 5. The method of forming a reinforced strand or silver which comprises projecting fine glass deposited fibers off the periphery of the drum in the direction of rotation of the drum to form a silver and for also unwinding the said package by pulling the strand across the periphery of the drum through the zone of fiber deposition on the drum, whereby said fibers are drawn substantially parallel with saidstrand, and means for applying radially inward forces against said fibers around said strand.

7. The method which comprises winding 9. continuous strand of thermoplastic. resinous mate- 4 rial, causing the strand to pass across the periphery of a rotatable member in the direction of its rotation during the winding operation, simulta-- neously forming and depositing a glass fiber web in which the fibers are haphazardly arranged and interlaced with each other on the periphery of the rotatable member about the strand and pulli-ng said web andstrand together from the pe-"' rlphery of the rotatable member at a rate suffi'ciently higherthan the rate of movement of the periphery to draw the'fibers of the mat into substantlal parallelism with the strand.

JAMES R. McMlILIN. STANLEY n. LAKE.

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