Carder

Abstract

A carder includes a machine frame, a controller, and a drum provided with a clothing on an outer surface thereof. Working elements are disposed relative to the outer surface of the drum. The drum includes two stub axles or a continuous axial along a longitudinal axis thereof, the continuous axle having a first end and an opposite second end and each of the stub axles having an outer end face. An acceleration sensor that measures structure-borne sound is mounted on the end face of at least one of the stub axles or on the first end of the continuous axle.

Claims

1. A carder, comprising: a machine frame; a controller; a drum provided with a clothing on an outer surface thereof; working elements disposed relative to the outer surface of the drum; the drum comprising two stub axles or a continuous axial along a longitudinal axis thereof, the continuous axle comprising a first end face and an opposite second end face and each of the stub axles having an outer end face; and an acceleration sensor that measures structure-borne sound mounted on the outer end face of at least one of the stub axles or on the first end face of the continuous axle so as to rotate with the at least one stub axle or the continuous axle.

2. The carder according to claim 1, comprising an additional acceleration sensor mounted on the outer end face of the other stub axle or on the second end face of the continuous axle.

3. The carder according to claim 1, wherein the acceleration sensor comprises a measurement range from 10 KHz to 500 KHz.

4. The carder according to claim 1, further comprising an evaluation unit in communication with the acceleration sensor and configured to provide a visual display when a specific sound level is exceeded and to forward a signal to the controller.

5. The carder according to claim 4, wherein the evaluation unit controller provides an evaluation in a range of 10 KHz to 300 KHz.

6. The carder according to claim 4, wherein the evaluation unit is positionally and rotationally fixed to the machine frame.

7. The carder according to claim 4, wherein the evaluation units is in wireless communication with the acceleration sensor.

8. The carder according to claim 4, further comprising an inductive energy supply to the acceleration sensor and the evaluation unit.

9. The carder according to claim 1, wherein the working elements comprise one or more of: blades, guide plates, carding elements, revolving flats, or clothed rollers.

10. The carder according to claim 1, further comprising an input device or a detection device in communication with the controller to input or automatically recognize one or more of: a type of the clothing, a surface structure of the working elements, or production-dependent variables.

11. A method for operating the carder according to claim 1, comprising determining and evaluating a sound level from structure-borne sound detected by the acceleration sensor and determining a contact of the clothing with one or more of the working elements based on the sound level.

12. The method according to claim 11, comprising switching off the carder when an upper limit level of the sound level is exceeded or a specified duration of a lower limit level of the sound level is exceeded.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Further advantages of the invention are described in the following exemplary embodiments. In the drawings:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a carder according to the prior art;

(3) FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of a drum according to the invention in a first embodiment;

(4) FIG. 3 shows a schematic representation of a drum according to the invention in a second embodiment, and

(5) FIG. 4 shows a schematic representation of a configuration of the method according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(6) Reference will now be made to embodiments of the invention, one or more examples of which are shown in the drawings.

(7) FIG. 1 shows, in a schematic representation, a carder 1 according to the prior art. After it has passed through various blowroom process stages, fiber material 2 moves into a licker-in 3. The fiber material 2 is opened by the rollers and working elements 12 contained in the licker-in 3, and at the same time is freed of a portion of the impurities contained therein. The last roller of the licker-in 3 transfers the fiber material finally to the drum 4 of the carder 1, which completely separates the fiber material into individual fibers, cleans it, and parallelizes it. For this purpose, the drum 4 cooperates with traveling flats 5 and other various working elements 12. The drum 4 is moved in a direction of rotation 13 and guides the fibers from the licker-in 3 to the doffer 6. In so doing, the fibers are conveyed through a pre-carding zone 9, subsequently past the revolving flats 5, and then via a post-carding zone 10 to the doffer 6. Working elements 12 are used both in the pre-carding zone 9 and in the post-carding zone 10. Among other things, carding elements for parallelizing the fibers and separating elements for separating trash parts and short fibers are used as working elements 12 in the pre-carding zone 9 and the post-carding zone 10. Between the doffer 6 and the licker-in 3, the fiber material remaining on the drum passes through a sub-carding zone 11, as seen in the direction of rotation 13 of the drum 4. Currently, usually no separating elements are used in the sub-carding zone 11. After the fibers have carried out a plurality of revolutions on the drum 4, they are removed from the drum 4 by the doffer 6 in the form of fiber mat, and are reshaped with a sliver forming unit 7 to form a card sliver 8. The card sliver 8 is then placed into a can for further transport (not shown).

(8) FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of a drum 4 according to the invention in a first embodiment. The drum 4 is designed as a hollow cylinder with a longitudinal axis 14 and an outer surface 17. To support the hollow cylinder, two spokes 22 are introduced into the hollow cylinder, which connect the hollow cylinder to an internal axle 21 that extends through the entire longitudinal axis 14 of the drum 4. A bearing 23 of the drum 4 is provided at both axle ends 15 and 16. In these bearings 23, the drum 4 is held in a machine frame 30 and, during operation, rotates in the direction of rotation 13. A clothing 18 is applied on the outer surface 17 of the drum. Such clothings 18 are usually designed as sawtooth clothings and are wound onto the drum 4 in wire form. An acceleration sensor 24 for measuring structure-borne sound is attached at the end face at the first axle end 15. An evaluation unit 25 held in the machine frame 30 is provided vis--vis the acceleration sensor 24 mounted on the end face on the rotating axle 21. The measurement values from the acceleration sensor 24 are transmitted wirelessly to the evaluation unit 25. At the same time, the energy required for operation is transmitted to the acceleration sensor 24 via an electromagnetic field.

(9) FIG. 3 shows a schematic representation of a drum 4 according to the invention in a second embodiment. The drum 4 is designed as a hollow cylinder with a longitudinal axis 14 and an outer surface 17. In order to support the hollow cylinder, two spokes 22 are introduced into the hollow cylinder, which connects the hollow cylinder to two interior stub axles 19 and 20 arranged in the longitudinal axis 14. A bearing 23 of the drum 4 is provided on both stub axles 19 and 20. In these bearings 23, the drum 4 is held in a machine frame 30 and, during operation, rotates in the direction of rotation 13. A clothing 18 is applied on the outer surface 17 of the drum. On the first stub axle and on the second stub axle 16, one acceleration sensor 24 each is mounted on the end face for measuring a structure-borne sound. An evaluation unit 25 held in the machine frame 30 is respectively provided vis--vis the acceleration sensors 24 mounted on the end faces on the rotating stub axles 19 and 20. The measurement values from the acceleration sensors 24 are transmitted wirelessly to the evaluation units 25. At the same time, the energy required for operation is transmitted to the acceleration sensors 24 via an electromagnetic field.

(10) FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a method configuration according to the invention. The drum 4 is identical, in its design and the configuration of axle 21, bearing 23, acceleration sensor 24, and evaluation unit 25, to the embodiment according to FIG. 2, and reference is therefore made to the description relating to FIG. 2. The acceleration sensor 24 moves together with the drum 4 about the longitudinal axis 14 in the direction of rotation 13. The measurement signals from the acceleration sensor 24 are transmitted wirelessly to the evaluation unit 25 held in a stationary manner in the machine frame 30. The evaluated measurement signals are transmitted from the evaluation unit 25 to a controller 27 by wire, or for example via WiFi.

(11) The controller 27 is connected to a display 26 and to an input device 28. The display 26 is activated by the controller 27 as soon as an unexpected situation results from the evaluation of the acceleration sensor 24. If, for example, a sound level is exceeded because the clothing 18 has contacted a working element 12 situated vis--vis the clothing 18. The target values or limit values of the structure-borne sound measurement stored in the controller 27 can be accessed via an input device 28. In order to achieve an improvement in structure-borne sound measurement, the components used on the drum 4, such as for example the type of the clothing 18 of the drum 4, the surface structure of the vis--vis situated working elements 12, can be transmitted to the controller 27 via the input device 28. Furthermore, it is also possible to input production-dependent variables, in particular the production rate, the type and/or the moisture of the fibers. In the case of a more advanced automation of the carder, a detection device 29, which recognizes the employed components of the drum 4, is linked to the controller 27. For example, via a barcode recognition, when working elements 12 are exchanged, the properties thereof, or also the properties of the fibers to be processed, can be read directly into the controller 27 without the input device 28 having to be used.

(12) The present invention is not limited to the shown and described embodiments. Modifications within the scope of the claims are possible, as well as a combination of the features, even if these are shown and described in different embodiments.

KEY

(13) 1 carder 2 fiber material 3 licker-in 4 drum 5 revolving flat 6 doffer 7 sliver-forming unit 8 fiber sliver 9 pre-carding zone 10 post-carding zone 11 sub-carding zone 12 working element 13 direction of rotation 14 drum longitudinal axis 15 first end of the axle 16 second end of the axle 17 drum surface 18 drum clothing 19 first stub axle 20 second stub axle 21 axle 22 spoke 23 bearing 24 acceleration sensor 25 evaluation unit 26 display 27 controller 28 input device 29 recognition/detection device 30 machine frame