US2751320A

US2751320A - Method of continuous production of rods, tubes, and the like

Info

Publication number: US2751320A
Application number: US336984A
Authority: US
Inventors: Clifton N Jacobs; George H Hopkins
Original assignee: Taylor Fibre Co
Current assignee: Taylor Fibre Co
Priority date: 1953-02-16
Filing date: 1953-02-16
Publication date: 1956-06-19
Anticipated expiration: 1973-06-19

Description

June 19, 1956 c. N. JACOBS ET AL METHOD OF CONTINU OF RODS, TUBE 2,751,320 005 PRODUCTION AND THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 16, 1953 FIG. 39

INVENTO CLIFTON N. JACOBS 8: GEORGE H. HOPKINS FIG. 2.

ATTORNEY Jun 19. 1956 c. N. JACOBS ET AL 2,751,320

METHOD OF CONTINUOUS PRODUCTION OF RODS, TUBE AND THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 16, 1953 INVENTORS. JACOBS FIG. 3.

CLIFTON N. S-SEORGE H. HOPKINS M Wk ATTORNEYS METHOD OF CONTINUOUS PRODUCTION OF RODS, TUBES, AND THE LIKE Clifton N. Jacobs, Norristown, and George H. Hopkins, Phoenixville, Pa., assignors to Taylor Fibre Co., Norristown, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Application February 16, 1953, Serial No. 336,984 Claims. (Cl. 154-91) This invention relates to a method of continuous production of rods, tubes, fiat or curved sheets or other sections formed of a multiplicity of strands of material which have been bonded together. The strands of material may be in various forms. For example, they may be in the form of single fibers or filaments or may be in the form of threads composed of groups of fibers or filaments spun or in mat form. The strands may also be in the form of woven or knitted strands forming fabrics, tapes, tubes or the like.

It is an object of the invention to provide a method whereby a plurality of strands of material as noted above are impregnated and/or coated with a resinous or other suitable type of binding material and then brought together through a forming orifice or a succession of forming orifices and suitably shaped and sized in their passage through the orifices to produce a resultant composite member of desired section which thereafter solidifies at a suitable temperature. The shape of the section produced will be dependent upon the contour of the forming orifice or orifices through which the grouped impregnated and/or coated strands are drawn.

This and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is an elevation partly in section showing one form of apparatus employing the present invention;

Figure 2 is a transverse section taken on the trace 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary showing of an alternate form of apparatus employing the present invention; and.

Figure 4 is a top view of the apparatus shown in Figure 3.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2 there is shown an apparatus for carrying out the present invention. The apparatus includes a suitable mounting plate or support member 2 in which there is rotatably mounted a shaft 4. The shaft 4 extends downwardly out of the mounting plate 2 and supports a horizontal plate 6. Suspended from the horizontal plate 6 are frame members 8. A reservoir 10 is supported by the lower ends of the frame members 8. The entire assembly is rotated by means of a motor 14 which is adapted to drive a pulley 16 connected by means of a belt 18 to a pulley 20 rigidly mounted on the shaft 4.

Supported below the rotatable plate 6 are a plurality of spools 22 each of which is wound with strands of material which are to be brought together to form a solid member 34. The strands 24 are drawn from the spools 22 and are each passed through a suitably formed orifice member 26. Each of the orifice members contains a bore 26' of suitable size and shape to permit the passage therethrough of the strands and a coating on the strands of the liquid material 12 contained within the reservoir 10 of such thickness as may be desired.

It will be evident from Figure 2 that a multiplicity of strands are employed in forming the finished member. In Figure 1 there is shown only one row of the orifice members 26 and the strands extending therethrough in order to avoid unduly complicating the showing,

nited States Patent The strands27 being drawn out of the orifice members are passed through a succession of forming

dies

28 and 30 which serve to compress the strands together causing the coatings thereon to become intimately engaged with one another and to form the solid member 34. The rod 34 is drawn under continuous tension in the direction indicated by the arrow 36 by means of drawing apparatus indicated by the block 39. This apparatus may be in the form of driving rollers or of. a member which is adapted to be clamped to the rod 34 and moved therewith. Numerous types of apparatus are well known to the art as being adapted to be employed for this purpose.

The formed section 34 being drawn out of the forming

dies

28 and 39 by the drawing apparatus 39 passes through heating apparatus indicated at 38' immediately upon its passage through the last forming die. There are numerous types of heating apparatus well known in the art suitable for the purpose required. For example, banks of heating lamps may be employed or, alternately, a steam heated chamber may be employed. In some instances, electrical heating elements could provide in eifect a heated oven through which the formed strands may be drawn. The heat required would be that to cause solidification or polymerization of the particular binding material employed and the length. of the oven would be dependent upon the rate at which the formed material were drawn through the oven and the time required for hardening or polymerization to occur.

It should be noted that while a solid member is indicated in Figure 1 as being drawn in the form of a rod it will be evident that by properly shaping the forming

dies

28 and 30 almost any section can be produced. As noted above this section may be in the form of flat or curved sheets or of wedge shaped sheets, or any other desirable section. If the section being formed is, for example, a flat sheet, the reservoir will be held stationary and the pattern of strands passing through the reservoir will be selected with regard to the pattern of strands ultimately desired to be passing through the forming dies.

It should be noted that while the strands shown in Figures 1 and 2 are generally circular and the bores 26 in the orifice members are also circular these strands and bores may be variously shaped to accommodate various shapes and sizes of strands such as indicated above as being employable. It isadditionally noted that while a reservoir and orifice members are shown in the drawings as a means for impregnating and/or coating the strands with a plastic material, numerous other methods of impregnating and/or coating may be used. For example, the strands could be carried over rollers and dipped into the tank. Alternately, the binding material could be sprayed onto the strands in some instances as the strands approach the first forming die. It will be evident that the invention should not be limited to the specific arrangement shown for impregnating and/ or coating the strands,

An alternate application of the invention is shown in Figures 3 and 4 in which there are employed

annular reservoirs

40 and 42 in concentric arrangement. The reservoirs each contain a bath 43 of resinous or other suitable material which is to act as a binding material for the finished article. The lower surfaces of the reservoirs 4i) and 42 are provided with

orifice members

44 and 46, respectively. The shape and size of these orifice members are selected to be such as to provide on the strands drawn therethrough the desired thickness of binding material. The concentric

annular reservoirs

40 and 42 are provided with suitable mounting means, not shown, and conventional driving means to provide for rotation of the

reservoirs

40 and 42 in the directions as indicated by the arrows 49 and 5 1 in Figure 4. In this application of the invention there is also provided a central rod 48. This rod may be rotatable but is preferably held stationary while the annular reservoirs rotate therearound.

Individual strands 50 are fed through the reservoir 40 and the orifice members 44 thereof. Individual strands 52 are fed through the reservoir 42 and the orifice members 46 thereof. These strands are drawn through the orifice members as indicated at 54 and 56, respectively, and are drawn through the successive forming

dies

58 and 60 which serve to compact or compress the coated and/or impregnated strands in order to form the tube 66. The strands which are moving in annular paths as they are drawn through the orifice members are deposited in generally spiral form over the stationary rod 48. It will be evident that the outer fibers 54 will be spiralling in the opposite direction from the spiral of the inner fibers 56. When the spiralled threads are drawn through the second forming die 60, they will be sufficiently compacted and of suitable form that the supporting rod 48 may be terminated as indicated at 64. It will be evident, however, that the length of the extension of the rod 48 into the finished tube may be arbitrarily selected depending upon the rate of solidification of the binding material.

After the finished article is drawn through the forming dies shown in Figure 3, it may be subjected to heat treatment in the same manner as the member described in connection with Figure l in order to provide for setting or polymerization of the binding material. The formed member will be drawn through the dies and through the heating means by suitable drawing apparatus similar to that described in connection with Figure 1.

In this latter form of the invention as well as in the former form of the invention, the wall thickness of the finished product will depend upon the thickness of the individual strands, the number of strands employed, the thickness of the coating of binding material permitted to remain on the strands when in final form and the degree of spiraling etfected among the strands in the finished product. This amount or degree of spiralling of the strands in the final product will, of course, be dependent upon the relative rate of rotation of the reservoir or reservoirs and the rate of travel of the finished article, the rod or the tube in the illustrations shown.

While the apparatus described is suitable for producing either a solid or a hollow round section, numerous other sections may be produced by the invention set forth. As noted above, the strands in any particular section desired may be either individual fibers or pluralities of individual fibers spun and/ or knitted or woven which may be either merely coated with a suitable binding material or may be impregnated with the binding material. The binding material may be liquid resins or other materials suitably employed for their adhesive or cohesive properties with respect to the particular composition of the strands employed. Thermosetting resins may be applied with the application of heat after shaping to efiect setting, or resinous or other materials may be applied dissolved or suspended in volatile liquids which may be evaporated by the application of heat after completion of shaping. It will be evident that the resins used may vary widely and that the invention is of broad applicability. Forming dies may be selected to produce any desired final external form and various internal shaping members may be substituted in place of the round rod 48 shown in Figure 3.

Various types of materials may be employed to provide the strands. These may be materials such as glass, synthetic fibers, vegetable fibers, animal fibers and others. Flexible tubing and other sections may be produced if the resin used is formulated for flexibility.

It will further be evident that a final rod or tubing may he arrived at in successive steps. For example, a thin walled tube may be first formed as in Figure 3, then such tube may be fed through a second similar apparatus in the position of the central rod 48 to have wound thereon an additional layer of coated strands, and so on. In this fashion a composite rod or tube may be produced having difierent resins or strands incorporated in annular layers.

It will be evident that extended lengths of numerous sections may be produced by the method disclosed. The sections may be drawn to a desired length and then cut by suitable means such as shears and cutting wheels or other means well known to the art. It will also be evident that various modifications may be made to the embodiment of the invention described herein without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. The method of producing an extended member comprising applying binding material to a plurality of strands of material, drawing the strands carrying applied material through a forming die to form the strands into a member of desired shape composed of the material of the strands and binding material, solidifying the binding material in the member to retain the strands in the form in which they are arranged in their passage through the forming die, and providing a relative rotation between the portion of the plurality of strands to which the bind ing material is being applied and the member leaving the drawing die.

2. The method of producing an extended member comprising applying binding material to two concentrically arranged groups of strands of material, drawing the strands carrying the applied material through a forming die and around a member disposed within the forming die and fixed against longitudinal movement through the die with the strands being formed to form the strands into a hollow member of desired shape composed of the material of the strands and the binding material, solidifying the binding material in the hollow member to retain the strands in the form in which they are arranged in their passage through the forming die, and providing relative rotation between the two concentrically arranged groups of strands as they approach the forming die.

3. The method of producing an extended member comprising drawing a plurality of strands of material through two concentrically arranged annular baths of binding material, drawing the strands through a forming die after they leave the baths and around a member disposed within the forming die and fixed against longitudinal movement through the die with the strands being formed to form the strands into a hollow member of desired shape composed of the material of the strands and binding material carried out of the bath therewith, solidifying the binding material in the hollow member to retain the strands in the form in which they are arranged in their passage through the forming die, and providing relative rotation between the strands being drawn through each of the two concentrically arranged annular baths.

4. The method of producing an extended member comprising drawing a plurality of individual strands of material under continuous tension successively through a bath of binding material, out of the bath and thereafter through a forming die while bringing the strands together in a gaseous medium to form the strands into a member of desired shape composed of the material of the strands and binding material carried out of the bath therewith, and through means inducing solidification of the binding material in the formed member to retain the strands in the form in which they are arranged as they are drawn through the forming die, the formed member being drawn with substantially no deflection after it leaves the forming die until after the binding material has solidified.

5. The method of producing an extended member comprising applying binding material to a plurality of strands of material, drawing the strands carrying the applied material through a forming die and around a member disposed within the forming die and fixed against longitudinal movement through the die with the strands being formed to form the strands into a hollow member of desired shape composed of the material of the strands and the binding material, and solidifying the binding material in the hollow member to retain the strands in the form in which they are arranged in their passage through FOREIGN PATENTS the forming die and around the fixed member- 92 11 France Mar. 29 1944 References Cited in the file of this patent 627255 Great Bntam 1949 UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 2,159,091 Kopitke May 23, 1939 2,571,717 Howald et a1 Oct. 16, 1951 2,680,469 Ahier et a1. June 8, 1954

Claims

5. THE METHOD OF PRODUCING AN EXTENDED MEMBER COMPRISING APPLYING BINDING MATERIAL TO A PLURALITY OF STRANDS OF MATERIAL, DRAWING THE STRANDS CARRYING THE APPLIED MATERIAL THROUGH A FORMING DIE AND AROUND A MEMBER DISPOSED WITHIN THE FORMING DIE AND FIXED AGAINST LONGITUDINAL MOVEMENT THROUGH THE DIE WITH THE STRANDS BEING FORMED TO FORM THE STRANDS INTO A HOLLOW MEMBER OF DESIRED SHAPE COMPOSED OF THE MATERIAL OF THE STRANDS AND THE BINDING MATERIAL, AND SOLIDIFYING THE BINDING MATERIAL IN THE HOLLOW MEMBER TO RETAIN THE STRANDS IN THE FORM IN WHICH THEY ARE ARRANGED IN THEIR PASSAGE THROUGH THE FORMING DIE AND AROUND THE FIXED MEMBER.