The document describes an improved can packing mechanism for textile drawing frames. The mechanism uses vertical cylinders attached to the base of the machine, with rods inside that carry packing heads. Chains connect the rods to wheels on a shaft, allowing the rods and heads to move up and down periodically to pack sliver into cans. This design eliminates extending levers and allows for close spacing of cans compared to previous mechanisms.

1. * GB780041 (A)
Description: GB780041 (A) ? 1957-07-31
Improvements in sliver can packing mechanisms for textile machines
Description of GB780041 (A)
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
Improvements in Sliver Can Packing Mechanisms for Textile
Machines
We, FAIRBAIRN LAWSONCOMBE BARBOUR
LIMITED, a IBritislh 'Company, of Wellington .IFoundm Leers, 1, in the
'County lof York, do hereby declare the invention, for 'which we
pray that a patent may be .granted to us, and
the method by which it is to be performed,
to be particularly described in and by the fol-
lowing statement:
Our invention relates to drawing frames
for textile fibres, and more particularly to
such frames in which sliver isl delivered and
packed into cans The object of the invention
is the provision of an improved form of can packing mechanism.
in specification No. 3591ss/d54 Seriali No.
7716,2i83) a drawing frame of compact form
is described, and the invention is particularly applicable to this
machine, though not limited
necessarily thereto. In previous machines, can
packing devices have consisted in the main of
vertical pillars located between the can turn
ing tables, the said pillars bearing slides which
in turn carry packing heads which during
operation of the machine move up and down
to pack the sliver into the cans. The drive for such padking heads is
known to be applied
by levers extending from the body of the
machine in the direction of the packing heads,
and operating on the slides leither direetly or through lifting

2. members.
The said operating levers consitute a disadvantage in that they
prevent close disposal
of the sliver cans. We have therefore devised
a mechanism for can packing of an improved
character, having no levers extending from
the mechanism of the machine to the packing heads.
In an embodiment of our invention, the
cans for a sliver drawing frame are .stood on rotatable tables which
are located substantally level with the floor on which the
machine is fixed. A channel or cavity is pro
vided below Boor level in which the can turn
ing mechanism is located. At each end of the
machine, and/or at suitable points between the can positions, a
vertical hollow cylinder fastened to the base of the machine is
provided, each cylinder having a rod slidable therein. The said rod
carries ,a! V" or shaped top at its upper tend, the top bearing one or
more weighted sliver packing heads.
The said packing heads are located suitably relative to the cans into
which sliver is to be packed.
Each rod is normally held in its uppermost position by means of a
spring also contained in the cylinder, and the lower end of each rod
is connected by means. of a chain to a toothed wheel fixed to a shaft
running across the front of the machine and beneath the can turning
tables. The toothed wheel at one end of rhe shaft also carries a
further chain which passes at right angles to the shaft to the end of
a lever which is osciiated sbout its upper end by means of an
eccentric cam driven at a suitable speed, the cam and lever being
situated in the base lor pillar of the machine.
When the machine is operated, the cam, by rotation, causes the lower
end of the lever to move backwards and forwards at an appropriate
rate, the chain between the lever and the toothed wheel on the cam
packing shaft causing or allowing the latter to. rotate to a limited
degree first in one direction and then in the other. Chains from the
various toothed wheels on the said shaft pull down the rods located in
the various vertical cylinders against their spring tensions, and
cause the packing heads to operate on the sliver in the cans. during
the reverse direction of motion of the shaft, the packing heads are
pushed upwards by the springs in the cylinders,. so that a periodic
packing or tramping action is provided. Alternatively some heads may
move up while others move down, so that a balnntc- ing action is
obtained. An arrangement of the type described possesses the
advantages both of simplicity and of occupying little space in the
actual section lof the machine in which the cans are located, so that

3. very close spacing of the latter is permissible. In addition, all the
operative machinery with the exception of the cylinders and rods, is
below floor level.
According therefore to our invention a can packing mechanism for a
textile drawing frame comprises one or more cylinders or supports
fastened to the base of the machine, a rod slidable in each cylinder
and moved up or down therein by means of a chain, a top carried by the
rod and bearing one or more weighted packing heads and means for
imparting a to and fro motion to the chain.
Reference should now be made to the accompanying drawings in which the
figures are alternative embodiments of our invention.
Figure 1 shows sliver cans 1 standing on their rotating tables 2
located in the bed of the machine 3. The tables are preferably level
with the floor so that the cans can be removed without trouble. A
channel or cavity 4 is provided below floor level to take the tables,
and accommodate the drive to the can packing mechanism. The latter
consists of a slidable rod 5 carried in collar bearings 6, 7, fixed in
a vertical cylinder or support (not shown). The said rod carries a "V"
or shaped top 8 at its upper end, the top bearing one or more weighted
sliver packing heads 9.
The said packing heads are located suitably relative to the cans into
which sliver is to be packed.
The lower end of the rod is connected to a chain 10 running over a
toothed wheel 11, tension in the chain being arranged to move the rod
upwards. The lower end of the chain is fastened to a toothed wheel 12
fixed to a shaft running transversely across the front of the machine
and below the level of the can turning tables. The said wheel, or
another wheel fixed to the same shaft at the end of the machine,
carries a further chain 13 which passes at right angles to the shaft
to the lower end of the lever 14 which is oscillated by means of an
eccentric cam 15 fastened to a shaft 16 which is driven at a suitable
speed, the cam lever being located in the side pillar or end of the
machine 26. When the machine is operated the cam, by rotation, causes
the lower end of the lever to move backwards and forwards at an
appropriate rate, the chain 13 rotating the wheel 12 to a limited
degree in one direction and then allowing it to rotate in the other.
This causes chain 10 to move the rod 5 up and then down the latter
under the influence of gravity, together with the top s and the
packing heads 9. Similar chains to chain 10 may be provided on the
same shaft as that bearing the wheel 12, acting upon further rods
similar to 5 located across the front of the machine.
An alternative arrangement is shown in figure 2. Portions of this
figure similar to portions of figure 1 are similarly numbered, the
main difference being that in this case the rod 5 carries a spring 17

4. which impels the rod and the heads 9 to an upper position.
The chain 18 provided individually for each rod 5 now pulls the rod
down against the action of the spring 17, and passes over a wheel 20
carried by a lever 21, the chain being fastened to a further wheel 12.
Another chain fastened to wheel 12 leads to lever 14 operated upon as
previously by a cam 15.
The lever 21 carries a weight 22 normally held against a stop 23 by
tension in the chain 19 which is produced by the action of the spring
17. If for any reason the movement of the heads upwards is prevented,
tension in the chains 18 and 19 is reduced, and the weight 22 causes
the lever 21 to rotate in a clockwise direction, to take up the slack
in chain 18 during movement of the lower end of the lever 14 to the
left. Dimensions of the various parts are such that even with the rods
in their highest positions the chain 18 cannot be broken by impact
between the weight 22 and the stop 23. Alternatively the lever 21 may
be spring loaded instead of weight loaded.
It will be seen that arrangements of the type shown possess the
advantage of simplicity and of occupying little space in the actual
portion of the machine in which the cans are located, so that very
dose spacing of the latter is permissible. In addition, all the
operative machinery with the exception of the cylinders and rods, and
the operating levers, is below floor level, or is included in the end
pillar of the machine.
What we claim is: -
1. A can packing mechanism for a textile drawing frame comprising one
or more cylinders or supports fastened to the base of the machine, a
rod slidable in each cylinder or support and moved up or down therein
by a chain, a top carried by the rod and bearing one or more weighted
packing heads, and means for imparting a to and fro motion to the
chain.
2. A can packing mechanism according to claim 1 in which each rod is
pulled upwards by its chain, its downward movement being produced by
the weight of the packing heads and its own weight.
3. A can packing mechanism according to claim 1 in which each rod is
provided with a spring urging it in an upward direction together with
its packing heads, downward movement of the rod being produced by
means of the chain.
4. A can packing mechanism according to any one of the preceding
claims in which each of the chains is fastened to a wheel carried by a
shaft passing across the front of the drawing frame or machine on
which the can packing mechanism is fitted, rotation of the said shalft
to and fro to a limited extent being controlled by means of a further
chain acted upon by means of an oscillating lever.
5. A can packing mechanism according to