Bale opener

Abstract

A bale opener for the take-off of fiber tufts from fiber bales includes a take-off tower, which is arranged on a horizontal drive or a rotating frame, and a take-off arm. The take-off arm is held on the take-off tower in a guide so as to be vertically adjustable. A single lifting spindle having a longitudinal axis in the movement direction of the take-off arm is provided for the vertical adjustment of the take-off tower. The lifting spindle is fastened on the take-off tower and the take-off arm is connected to the lifting spindle via a nut.

Claims

1. A bale opener for take-off of fiber tufts from fiber bales, comprising: a take-off tower arranged on a horizontal drive or a rotating frame; a take-off arm held on the take-off tower in a guide so as to be vertically adjustable along the take-off tower; a single lifting spindle fastened on the take-off tower for vertical adjustment of the take-off arm, the lifting spindle having a longitudinal axis in the movement direction of the take-off arm; the lifting spindle fastened on the take-off tower at an upper end of the lifting spindle, wherein a lower end of the lifting spindle is not held in the take-off tower; the take-off arm connected to the lifting spindle via a recirculating ball nut; and the nut provided with the drive and the lifting spindle held in a rotationally locked manner.

2. The bale opener according to claim 1, wherein the take-off arm is engaged with the guide such that the lifting spindle is loaded with forces only in a direction of the longitudinal axis of the lifting spindle.

3. The bale opener according to claim 1, wherein the guide comprises at least two mutually spaced guide rails fastened on the take-off tower in a direction of the longitudinal axis of the lifting spindle, the guide rails comprising opposite parallel legs and a closed end.

4. The bale opener according to claim 1, wherein the lifting spindle is located on the take-off arm at a position to generate a predetermined tilt on the take-off arm.

5. The bale opener according to claim 1, further comprising rollers or gliding elements installed on the take-off arm and engaged against the guide in the take-off tower to provide play-free guidance of the take-off arm.

6. The bale opener according to claim 1, wherein the drive is a synchronous servo-motor.

7. The bale opener according to claim 6, wherein the drive comprises sensors that determine the vertical position of the take-off arm and are used to perform a defined vertical adjustment of the take-off arm as a function of sensed revolutions of the nut.

8. The bale opener according to claim 1, wherein the lifting spindle is fastened on the take-off tower via a load cell at an upper end of the lifting spindle.

9. The bale opener according to claim 1, wherein the guide comprises at least two mutually spaced guide rails fastened on the take-off tower in a direction of the longitudinal axis of the lifting spindle, and a plurality of transverse and longitudinal combination rollers engaged against the guide rails, the guide rails comprising opposite parallel legs and a closed end.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention shall be described in greater detail in the following by means of an exemplary embodiment and by reference to drawings.

(2) FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of a top view of a bale opener.

(3) FIG. 2 shows a schematic illustration of a view of a bale opener.

(4) FIG. 3 shows a schematic sectional illustration A-A according to FIG. 2.

(5) FIG. 4 shows a schematic illustration of a top view according to FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(6) Reference will now be made to embodiments of the invention, one or more examples of which are shown in the drawings. Each embodiment is provided by way of explanation of the invention, and not as a limitation of the invention. For example features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment can be combined with another embodiment to yield still another embodiment. It is intended that the present invention include these and other modifications and variations to the embodiments described herein.

(7) FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show a schematic illustration of a bale opener 1 for the take-off of fiber tufts from fiber bales 2. FIG. 1 shows the bale opener 1 in a top view and FIG. 2 shows this in a side view. The bale opener 1 substantially consists of a take-off tower 3 and a take-off arm 5. The take-off arm 5 is fastened on the take-off tower 3 on one side and is arranged so as to overhang freely over the fiber bales 2. The take-off tower 3 is equipped with a horizontal drive 4. The take-off tower 3 is moved on rails along the fiber bales 2 by means of the driving mechanism 4. The take-off arm 5 mounted on the take-off tower 3 is guided over the surface of the fiber bales 2 by means of this movement 13. A take-off unit, usually one or more take-off rollers 15, is arranged in the take-off arm 5. The take-off roller 15 extracts fiber tufts 16 from the fiber bales 2. The fiber tufts 16 are transported through the take-off arm 5 and the take-off tower 3 and to a pneumatic fiber tuft transport system 17. The fiber tuft transport system 17 and, therefore, the transport path from the take-off roller 15 to the fiber tuft transport system 17, have a certain underpressure, which serves to pneumatically convey the fiber tufts from the take-off roller 15 through the fiber tuft transport system 17.

(8) The fastening of the take-off arm 5 on the take-off tower 3 is designed to be vertically adjustable such that the fiber bales 2 can be continuously opened. The movement 14 of the take-off tower 5 is used ensure a uniform take-off of the fiber tufts 16 from the surface of the fiber bales 2.

(9) FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of the take-off arm 5 in a sectional illustration A-A according to FIG. 2. The take-off arm 5 is illustrated schematically and only partially, and without the take-off roller. The lifting mechanism for the movement 14 of the take-off arm 5 is shown in an embodiment presented as an example. A recirculating ball nut 9 is fastened on the take-off arm 5. The recirculating ball nut 9 surrounds a lifting spindle 6. The recirculating ball nut 9 is held, via the housing thereof, on the take-off arm 5 in a rotationally locked manner. The recirculating ball nut 9 is set into rotation by a drive (not shown), whereby said recirculating ball nut, together with the take-off arm 5, moves along the lifting spindle 6. The lifting spindle 6 is held, via the upper end thereof, on the take-off tower 3 in a rotationally locked manner by means of a fastening 18. The lifting spindle 6 is suspended in the fastening 18 such that the lifting spindle 6 does not need to be secured at the lower end. The lifting spindle 6 is surrounded by a bellows 19 both above and below the recirculating ball nut 9. The bellows 19 automatically adapts to the particular length of the section of the lifting spindle 6 and prevents interference with the ball screw drive by contaminations of the thread grooves of the lifting spindle 6.

(10) The guide 7 of the take-off arm 5 is also held in the take-off tower 3. The guide is composed of two opposing, U-shaped (i.e., parallel legs and a closed end) guide rails 8 and the transverse rollers 20 and the longitudinal rollers 21 provided on the take-off arm 5. The transverse rollers 20 and the longitudinal rollers 21 are arranged in pairs on each side of the guide 7 and engage into guide rail 8. The transverse rollers 20 touch the U-shaped guide rail 8 in the rear flange thereof, which is fastened on the take-off tower 3. The take-off arm is guided in the transverse direction by the transverse rollers 20. In addition, the transverse rollers 20 prevent the take-off arm 5 from rotating about the longitudinal axis 22 thereof. The longitudinal rollers 21 are arranged so as to be offset relative to one another and said longitudinal rollers touch the U-shaped guide rails 8 in the webs protruding from the rear flange. The longitudinal rollers 21 are used to position the take-off arm 5 in the longitudinal axis 22 of the take-off arm 5 and to thereby hold said take-off arm horizontal, and are used simultaneously to prevent the take-off arm from rotating about the longitudinal axis 8 of the lifting spindle 6. The directions of rotation indicated with arrows in the longitudinal rollers 21 and the transverse rollers 20 result in the case of an upward movement 14 of the take-off arm 5. Instead of the use of the individual transverse rollers 20 and the longitudinal rollers 21, it is possible to combine one transverse roller 20 and one longitudinal roller 21 in each case to form a combination roller having a common pivot pin.

(11) FIG. 4 shows a schematic top view of the take-off arm 5 according to FIG. 2. The take-off arm 5 is held, via the guide 7, on the take-off tower 3 so as to overhang freely. The guide 7 comprises two opposing, U-shaped guide rails 8, which are fastened on the take-off tower 3, and transverse rollers 20 and longitudinal rollers 21, which are arranged in pairs and are held on the take-off arm 5. Only two opposing pairs of transverse and longitudinal rollers 20, 21 are shown in the illustration according to FIG. 4. However, two pairs of transverse and longitudinal rollers 20, 21, which are arranged one on top of the other, are also located on both sides (see FIG. 3). The lifting spindle 6, which is surrounded by the recirculating ball nut 9, extends through the take-off arm 5. It is also conceivable to locate the lifting spindle 6 outside of the take-off arm 5, since the lifting spindle only needs to support forces in the longitudinal axis thereof and the location therefore plays a subordinate role.

(12) The recirculating ball nut 9 is connected to a drive 10, which is fastened in the take-off arm. The recirculating ball nut 9 is set into rotation by the drive 10, which results in a lifting or lowering of the take-off arm 5, depending on the direction of rotation. The transverse rollers 20 and the longitudinal rollers 21 are thereby moved about their axes in the guide rails 8 and hold the take-off arm 5 on the trajectory predefined by the guide rails 8. Instead of the transverse and longitudinal rollers 20, 21, it is also possible to use gliding elements having corresponding dimensions.

(13) Modifications and variations can be made to the embodiments illustrated or described herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

LEGEND

(14) 1 bale opener 2 fiber bales 3 take-off tower 4 horizontal drive 5 take-off arm 6 lifting spindle 7 guide 8 longitudinal axis of the lifting spindle 9 recirculating ball nut 10 drive 11 guide rail 13 movement of the take-off tower 14 movement of the take-off arm 15 take-off roller 16 fiber tufts 17 fiber tuft transport system 18 fastening 19 bellows 20 transverse roller 21 longitudinal roller 22 longitudinal axis of the take-off arm