Elastic cleaning lip, support element, and cleaning unit

Abstract

An elastic cleaning lip for cleaning a rotating roller of a drafting system of a textile machine includes a wiping edge configured at one longitudinal side of the cleaning lip. A mounting element is at an opposite longitudinal side of the cleaning lip and is configured to mount to a support element. The cleaning lip has a Y-shaped cross section having a stem and two essentially parallel legs, wherein the wiping edge is arranged at an end of the stem and the two legs form the mounting element for a form-locking mounting of the cleaning lip to the support element. The support element includes retainers at opposite longitudinal ends thereof and a mounting strip having lateral faces and top and bottom end faces arranged between the retainers. The lateral faces and the top end face are configured for the form-locking mounting with the cleaning lip.

Claims

1. An elastic cleaning lip for cleaning a rotating roller of a drafting system of a textile machine, comprising: a wiping edge configured at a longitudinal side of the cleaning lip; a mounting element at an opposite longitudinal side of the cleaning lip configured to mount to a support element; the cleaning lip configured into a Y-shaped structure comprising a stem and two essentially parallel legs that are laterally outward of the stem and the wiping edge, wherein the two legs are connected to each other with a plurality of webs, and wherein adjacent webs are slanted in a diametrically opposed manner with respect to one another; wherein the wiping edge is arranged at an end of the stem and the two legs form the mounting element for a form-locking mounting of the cleaning lip to the support element; wherein the cleaning lip including the wiping edge, the mounting element, and the plurality of webs is formed of a same material; and a groove defined along a longitudinal side of the stem at an end of the stem adjacent to the two legs, the groove defining a reduced thickness section of the stem laterally inward of the two legs.

2. The elastic cleaning lip according to claim 1, wherein each web of the plurality of webs, as viewed from an open end of the two legs, has at least one undercut.

3. The elastic cleaning lip according to claim 1, wherein each web of the plurality of webs is slanted with respect to the longitudinal side of the cleaning lip at an angle () between 60 and 85.

4. The elastic cleaning lip according to claim 1, comprising at least one additional groove disposed in the stem and extending transversely to a longitudinal direction of the stem.

5. The elastic cleaning lip according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning lip is formed from one of: polyurethane, hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber, or silicone.

6. The elastic cleaning lip according to claim 1, wherein the two legs extend along an entirety of the cleaning lip.

7. The elastic cleaning lip according to claim 1, wherein the groove extends along an entirety of the cleaning lip.

8. The elastic cleaning lip according to claim 1, wherein the same material comprises an elastic material.

9. A cleaning unit for cleaning a rotating roller of a drafting system of a textile machine, comprising: the elastic cleaning lip according to claim 1; a support element, the cleaning lip mountable onto the support element, the support element further comprising; retainers at opposite longitudinal ends thereof; a mounting strip having lateral faces and top and bottom end faces arranged between the retainers; and wherein the lateral faces and the top end face are configured for a form-locking mounting of the cleaning lip.

10. The cleaning unit according to claim 9, wherein the mounting strip comprises at least one recess in the top end face configured to accommodate the plurality of webs of the elastic cleaning lip.

11. The cleaning unit according to claim 10, wherein the at least one recess is slanted with respect to the top end face at an angle () between 60 and 85.

12. The cleaning unit according to claim 10, comprising a plurality of recesses, wherein adjacent recesses are slanted in a diametrically opposed manner with respect to one another.

13. The cleaning unit according to claim 9, wherein the support element is made of plastic or of metal.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Further advantages of the invention are described in the following exemplary embodiments, wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a schematically represented drafting system in a side view;

(3) FIG. 2 shows a side view of a cleaning unit having a support element and a cleaning lip, represented in cross section, arranged thereon;

(4) FIG. 3 shows a cross section of a cleaning unit;

(5) FIG. 4 shows a perspective representation of a cleaning lip; and

(6) FIG. 5 shows a perspective representation of a support element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(7) 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.

(8) In the following description of the alternative exemplary embodiments represented in the figures, the same reference numbers are utilized for features that are identical and/or at least comparable to the previously described exemplary embodiments in terms of their design and/or mode of operation. Provided the features are not described in detail again, their design and/or mode of operation correspond/corresponds to the design and mode of operation of the above-described features. For the sake of clarity, not all identical parts are provided with reference numbers, although they are identically drawn.

(9) FIG. 1 schematically shows three roller pairs of a drafting system 1, namely the input roller pair 4, 5, the middle roller pair 6, 7, and the output or delivery-roller pair 8, 9. Additionally, a top deflection roller 10 is arranged at the output of the drafting system 1. The directions of rotation of the individual rollers are represented by arrows. The top rollers 4, 6, 8, 10 each have an elastic roller cot. A sliver or slivers 2 is/are drafted in the running direction 11 in the drafting system 1, in that the consecutive roller pairs 4-10 rotate at an increasing circumferential speed.

(10) Moreover, cleaning lips 14 are present for cleaning the metallic bottom rollers 5, 7, 9, which rest against the particular outer surface of the roller under bending stress and, on the one hand, scrape off fiber and trash material from the outer surface of the roller and, on the other hand, allow a portion of the fibers and also trash to pass through, with deceleration. The portion of the material transported through essentially loses its static friction with the particular bottom roller 5, 7, 9 and can drop downward. An air flow carries away the scraped-off material as well as the material conveyed through, under the cleaning lip, in a downward direction. Further cleaning lips 15 are provided for cleaning the top rollers 4, 6, 8, and 10. These cleaning lips 15 are generally shorter than the cleaning lips 14, since the top rollers 4, 6, 8, and 10 are shorter than the bottom rollers 5, 7, 9.

(11) The cleaning lips 14 and 15 are part of a cleaning unit 16 and 17, respectively, which are identically designed, in principle. Each cleaning unit 16 and 17 includes a support element 18 and 19, respectively, and a cleaning lip 14 and 15, respectively, arranged thereon. One difference is merely that the cleaning lips 14 for the bottom rollers 5, 7, 9 are longer than the cleaning lips 15 for the top rollers 4, 6, 8, and 10. A corresponding length difference can also be provided in the support elements 18 and 19. This is due to the design of the bottom rollers 5, 7, 9, which are longer metal cylinders and the design of the top rollers 4, 6, 8, and 10, which are shorter rollers coated with a rubber coating.

(12) Moreover, the cleaning units 16 and 17 are arranged essentially in parallel to the roller longitudinal axis of the bottom rollers 5, 7, 9 and of the top rollers 4, 6, 8, and 10. It is clear from FIG. 1 that the cleaning lips 14 and 15 are arranged more or less offset in the sliver-running direction with respect to the vertical plane extending through a roller longitudinal axis. As a result, a defined inclination of the elastic portion of the cleaning lip 14, 15 with respect to the roller 4-10 is ensured.

(13) Each of the cleaning units 16 and 17 includes essentially one support element 18 and 19, respectively, and one elastic cleaning lip 14 and 15, respectively. The support element 18 and 19 can be, for example, a bar, a tube, or a flat strip. The elastic cleaning lip 14 and 15 is form-lockingly mounted on the support element 18 and 19, as described in greater detail in the following.

(14) Each cleaning lip 14 and 15 is designed in the shape of a Y. A wiping edge 21 is arranged at the end of a stem 20. The wiping edge 21 contacts the particular roller 4-10 and drags on its surface when the particular roller 4-10 rotates. In the process, the surface of the particular roller 4-10 is cleaned. The Y of the cleaning lip 14 or 15 has, following the end of the stem 20 facing away from the wiping edge 21, two legs 22, which are aligned essentially in parallel to one another. The two legs 22 encompass the support element 18 and 19, thereby ensuring a fixed, form-locking connection between the cleaning lip 14 and 15 and the support element 18 and 19, respectively.

(15) FIG. 2 shows a side view of a cleaning unit 16 having a support element 18 and a cleaning lip 14, represented in cross section, arranged thereon. The support element 18 includes a mounting strip 24 and, at each of its two ends, a retainer 25, which is bent with respect to the mounting strip 24. The cleaning unit 16 can be mounted in the textile machine by means of the retainers 25. The cleaning lip 14 is mounted on the mounting strip 24. The mounting strip has lateral faces 12 and end faces 13. The lateral faces 12 and at least one of the end faces 13 are provided for the form-locking mounting of the cleaning lip 14, 15.

(16) Additionally to the lateral legs 22 represented in FIG. 1, the cleaning lip 14 according to FIG. 2 also includes webs 23, which connect the legs 22 to one another. The webs 23 protrude into recesses 26 of the mounting strip 24. The recesses 26 are open at the end face 13 of the mounting strip 24. Therefore, it is already ensured that the cleaning lip 14 cannot be displaced in the longitudinal direction on the mounting strip 24. In order to additionally obtain a good mounting perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the mounting strip 24, a plurality of webs 23 and recesses 26 is provided, which are designed to be slanted with respect to the longitudinal direction of the cleaning unit 16.

(17) According to the present exemplary embodiment, adjacent webs 23 and recesses 26 are directed toward each other in the shape of a V. The webs 23 and the recesses 26 each have, for example, an angle of 80 degrees. With such an angle , on the one hand, a sufficient interlock of the cleaning lip 14 in the mounting strip 24 is ensured. On the other hand, however, it is also ensured, due to the elasticity of the cleaning lip 14, that the cleaning lip 14 can be pulled off the mounting strip 24 with a level of force that is higher than is to be expected during normal operation in the textile machine. The undercuts, which are formed by the angle , reliably hold the cleaning lip 14 on the mounting strip 24, without the need to use other mechanical clamping devices or force-locked connection means, such as adhesives.

(18) The cleaning lip 14 represented in FIG. 2 also includes a horizontal groove 27 and a vertical groove 28. The horizontal groove 27 extends in the longitudinal direction of the cleaning lip 14 and ensures a slight folding of the stem 20 with respect to the legs 22 and the support element 18. It also ensures that the legs 22 of the cleaning lip 14 cannot be bent up to an excessive extent and, as a result, the retention of the cleaning lip 14 at the mounting strip 24 would be weakened.

(19) The vertical groove 28 acts as a marking. If the cleaning lip 14 is to be used in a shorter length than the cleaning lip 15, for example, as a cleaning unit 17 for shorter top rollers 4,6, 8, or 10, it can be trimmed at this point of the vertical groove 28. These types of vertical grooves 28 can also mark the longer length of the cleaning lip 14 represented in FIG. 2. This is advantageous, in particular, for the case in which the cleaning lip 14, 15 is manufactured and distributed as yard goods and is to be trimmed to the necessary length, for example, at the machine itself.

(20) FIG. 3 shows a cross section of the cleaning unit 16. Therein, the rectangular cross section of the mounting strip 24 with two lateral faces 12 and two end faces 13 is apparent. The mounting strip 24 is laterally encompassed by the two legs 22 of the cleaning lip 14. The two legs 22 are also connected to each other with the web 23. The web 23 is located in the recess 26 of the mounting strip 24. The horizontal groove 27 is arranged at the stem 20 of the cleaning lip 14, which weakens the stem 20, and so it can more easily fold. The wiping edge 21 is provided at the end of the stem 20 facing away from the two legs 22. In the representation from FIG. 3, the Y-shaped cross-sectional design of the cleaning lip 14, which is represented upside down here, is very clearly apparent.

(21) FIG. 4 shows a perspective representation of a cleaning lip 14. The wiping edge 21 is arranged at one end of the stem 20. The horizontal groove 27 is located at the other end of the stem 20, at which the two legs 22 are arranged. The two legs 22 are partially connected to each other with a web 23, and so a sufficient dimensional stability of the two legs 22 is ensured and a bending-up of the legs 22 is largely avoided.

(22) While the cleaning lip 14 is made of an elastic material, for example, polyurethane or HNBR or silicone, the support element 18 according to the perspective representation from FIG. 5 is made of a rigid plastic or of metal. The support element 18 has the retainers 25 at its two ends. The mounting strip 24 is located between the two retainers. The slanted recesses 26 are apparent on the end face 13 of the mounting strip 24, which are slanted toward one another in pairs in the shape of a V. As a result, a fixed interlock is made possible between the support element 18 and a cleaning lip 14 situatable thereon. Due to the elasticity of the cleaning lip 14, however, the cleaning lip 14 is to be removed from the support element 18, preferably nondestructively, with an appropriate level of force and a new cleaning lip 14 can be inserted into the recesses 26. The support element 18 can therefore be reused with the new cleaning lip 14, even though the previous cleaning lip 14 is worn.

(23) The present invention is not limited to the represented and described exemplary embodiments. Modifications within the scope of the claims are also possible, as is any combination of the features, even if they are represented and described in different exemplary embodiments.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

(24) 1 drafting system 2 sliver 4 top roller 5 bottom roller 6 top roller 7 bottom roller 8 top roller 9 bottom roller 10 top deflection roller 11 running direction 12 lateral face 13 end face 14 cleaning lip 15 cleaning lip 16 cleaning unit 17 cleaning unit 18 support element 19 support element 20 stem 21 wiping edge 22 leg 23 web 24 mounting strip 25 retainer 26 recess 27 horizontal groove 28 vertical groove angle