DESC:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the textile spinning preparatory machine like card. More particularly the invention relates to the cleaning arrangement for doffer in a textile carding machine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Carding is the most important and primary process in the textile yarn spinning both with respect to quality and productivity. In addition to the primary functions of removing the trash, neps and non-useful short fibers, the Card converts the physical form of the textile material from that of a wide thick feed sheet to that of a thin rope, called Sliver. The linear density of the feed sheet is reduced from about 300-800 grams/meter to about 3-8 grams/meter of delivery sliver. The rollers of various diameters from about 100 mm to 1250 mm and of different surface characteristics of plain to toothed wire covered, run at various speeds and in very close proximity with each other. In many places, it is as close as a fraction of a millimetre. The rate of sliver delivery varies from about 40 to 400 meters per minute.
Carding machine is provided with a feed arrangement, in which the fibre lap from the chute is pushed into the working zone of the feed roller to licker-in area, to open the fibre tufts and the fibres are transferred from the licker-in to main cylinder. Then fibres are transferred to cylinder-revolving flat zone and opened up into individual fibers. Said cylinder-flat zone is provided with wire points in face to face arrangement to remove the neps. The said revolving flat assembly comprises 80-116 individual carding flat bars combined into a belt moving on an endless path and with 30-50 flats always active to the main cylinder. The fibres come out of carding region in the form of a very thin web. The weight of carding web depends upon the setting of flats v/s cylinder, carding speed, type of wire clothing used on both cylinder and flats. The formed web is stripped from the main cylinder by another roller called doffer. Said doffer roller rotates at a very low surface speed when compared to the main cylinder. Thus the opened fibers are condensed at the doffer to form a web, which is then transferred to the redirecting roller with a workable draft. The web is then passed through a pair of squeezing or crushing rolls before it is finally stored in the form of fibre stand or sliver form in sliver can.
In the context of the above, one of the most important functions is the transfer of fibers from Cylinder to Doffer. The process of fiber transfer from main cylinder surface to doffer surface involves transferring of some fibers at a given time and at the same time, retaining and returning of a larger percentage of fibers back along with the main cylinder. The aforesaid exercise of transferring the fibers is influenced and facilitated by factors like the fibre accumulation on the doffer surface, clothing of cylinder and doffer roller, their surface speeds, the gauge or gap between these surfaces, centrifugal forces and the air current, in addition to the physical quality parameters of the fibers. Therefore, the fiber transfer at any given point of time is not completed in one full revolution of the main cylinder.
In the above said context, one of the important factor influencing the transfer of fibers from the cylinder to the doffer is the accumulation of the fibers on the wire surfaces of the doffer. Said accumulation of the fibers on the doffer surface is caused due to return of the fiber material from the redirecting roller to the doffer. The return of fiber material from the redirecting roller is caused by the improper cleaning of the redirecting roller brush and also due to the accumulation of the waste materials like fiber seed particles, fiber tufts, micro dust on the surfaces of the redirecting roller and doffer. Further ineffective suction systems above the doffer and the redirecting roller brush roller also causes the accumulation of fibers on the surface of the doffer. The improper fiber material feed to the feeding zone of the carding machine can also cause problems related to the accumulation of the fibers on the surface of the doffer.
The accumulation of fibers and waste materials on the doffer surface affects the quality of the fiber material processed, and results in frequent machine breakdowns, due to lapping of doffer and also results in elimination of the good fibers along with the trash content. To remove those accumulated fibers on the surface of the doffer, the carding machine is stopped in a regular interval to clean the doffer surface manually by machine operator, hence a manual attention is always required to clean the surface of the doffer. Nowadays, the carding machines are available with more than 1500mm working width to increase the production. Hence the machine operators find it more difficult to access and clean the doffer area inside the carding machine.
The said problems associated with the accumulation of the fibers on the doffer creates major problems in both quality of the fiber material being processed and affects the productivity of the machine, due to frequent machine break downs due to manual cleaning of the doffer surface.
Therefore, there remains a need for a mechanism for removal of the accumulated waste fiber materials from the doffer surface to avoid manual intervention and to simplify the process for the high production carding machine that would overcome the disadvantages present in the existing machines.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
The main object of the present invention is to provide an automatic cleaning arrangement for the doffer of the carding machine for better output sliver quality level for longer period.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic actuating means for the cleaning arrangement of the doffer of the carding machine for higher production.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism to avoid manual intervention and to simplify the cleaning process in a carding machine.
One more object of the present invention is to automatically remove the accumulated fibers and wastes in the doffer, which increases the efficiency of the carding machine.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The following disclosure presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the present invention. It is not intended to identify the key/critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concept of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description of the invention presented later.
One aspect of present invention is to provide a doffer cleaning arrangement for a textile carding machine to remove accumulated fibers and wastes on the surface of the doffer, comprising
a cleaning roller arrangement comprising a cleaning roller mounted on a cleaning roller fixing bracket; a cleaning roller housing provided with journal bearings for accommodating the cleaning roller end shafts; and the cleaning roller fixing bracket mounted on the frame of the doffer; and
an actuator for modifying the operative position of said cleaning roller;
wherein, when said actuator is actuated, the said cleaning roller contacts the doffer roller surface in an intermittent manner to remove the accumulated fibers and wastes on the surface of the doffer.
According to one embodiment of present invention, said actuator is selected from a pneumatic or electric or an electro mechanical actuator or a rotary actuator.
In another embodiment of present invention, said cleaning roller is provided with full or partial bristles on the outer surface.
In yet another embodiment, the cleaning roller is driven by a drive means, preferably an electric motor.
In a further embodiment, said motor is fixed on the frame of the doffer by using suitable mounting arrangement, such as brackets and bolts.
According to another embodiment, the cleaning roller arrangement is provided with at least one sensor configured to sense the accumulation of the fibers and wastes on the surface of the doffer and send signals to the actuator to initiate cleaning cycle, whenever the fibers and waste materials accumulation surpasses the threshold limit on the surface of the doffer.
In a further embodiment, said actuator is connected to a cam in such a way that the cam is rotated when the actuator is extended and retracted; and wherein said cam is coupled to a setting bolt provided on the cleaning roller arrangement, adapted to lift and lower the cleaning roller housing over the doffer roller surface, to remove the accumulated fibers and wastes on the surface of the doffer.
Since the fibers and wastes accumulated on the doffer surface is cleaned in a regular interval, the quality of the fibers being processed is increased and better fiber transfer between cylinder and doffer is achieved, thereby overcoming the limitations in the existing technology.
Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be more apparent in the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure - 1 illustrates a textile carding machine according to the present invention.
Figure - 2 illustrates the cleaning roller arrangement according to the present invention.
Figure - 3 shows the drive arrangement of the cleaning roller arrangement according to the present invention.
Figure - 4 illustrates the actuating mechanism of the cleaning roller arrangement according to the present invention.
Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and may not have been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of various embodiments of the present disclosure as defined by the claims and their equivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding, but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the various embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.
The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of various embodiments of the present disclosure is provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
It is to be understood that the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, a reference to "a component surface" includes a reference to one or more of such surfaces.
All terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which various embodiments belong. Further, the meaning of terms or words used in the specification and the claims should not be limited to the literal or commonly employed sense, but should be construed in accordance with the spirit of the disclosure to most properly describe the present disclosure.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular various embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of various embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising" used herein specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, members, components, and/or groups thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, members, components, and/or groups thereof. Also, Expressions such as "at least one of," when preceding a list of elements, modify the entire list of elements and do not modify the individual elements of the list.
The present invention relates to a doffer cleaning arrangement for a textile carding machine to remove accumulated fibers and wastes on the surface of the doffer, comprising
a cleaning roller arrangement comprising a cleaning roller mounted on a cleaning roller fixing bracket; a cleaning roller housing provided with journal bearings for accommodating the cleaning roller end shafts; and the cleaning roller fixing bracket mounted on the frame of the doffer; and
an actuator for modifying the operative position of said cleaning roller;
wherein, when said actuator is actuated, the said cleaning roller contacts the doffer roller surface in an intermittent manner to remove the accumulated fibers and wastes on the surface of the doffer.
According to one embodiment of present invention, said actuator is selected from a pneumatic or electric or an electro mechanical actuator or a rotary actuator.
In another embodiment of present invention, said cleaning roller is provided with full or partial bristles on the outer surface.
In yet another embodiment, the cleaning roller is driven by a drive means, preferably an electric motor.
In a further embodiment, said motor is fixed on the frame of the doffer by using suitable mounting arrangement, such as brackets and bolts.
According to another embodiment, the cleaning roller arrangement is provided with at least one sensor configured to sense the accumulation of the fibers and wastes on the surface of the doffer and send signals to the actuator to initiate cleaning cycle, whenever the fibers and waste materials accumulation surpasses the threshold limit on the surface of the doffer.
In a further embodiment, said actuator is connected to a cam in such a way that the cam is rotated when the actuator is extended and retracted; and wherein said cam is coupled to a setting bolt provided on the cleaning roller arrangement, adapted to lift and lower the cleaning roller housing over the doffer roller surface, to remove the accumulated fibers and wastes on the surface of the doffer.
According to the present invention as shown in the Figure-1, a spinning preparatory machine in which the fibre web from the blow room is fed to the carding machine by means of chute assembly (1). The fed fibre webs are individualized, parallelised and cleaned in the said carding machine (2). Initially the fed fibre web is passed through the feed plate area (3) and then to licker-in area (4). Further the said fibre web passes between the main cylinder (5) and revolving flat assembly (6) where carding action takes place. A doffer roller (7) is arranged downstream direction to the main cylinder (5), which receives the opened fibre web from the main cylinder (5) and passes the fibre web through redirecting roller (8) and web guide plate (not shown). The said fibre web is guided through pair of crush rollers (9), further the web is collected by calender rollers and conveyor assembly which is then condensed into a sliver form by passing it through the condenser. Further the condensed sliver is stored in the sliver can by means of a coiler arrangement. During this process, residual fibres are stuck on the redirecting roller (8), which is then stripped away by means of brush roller (10). The said waste is directed towards the suction duct (11), and further removed by means of a negative pressure. Upon machine operation, over a period of time, return fibers and waste materials are accumulated on the surface of the doffer roller (7). In order to remove those accumulated fibers and wastes on the surface of the doffer (7), at least a cleaning roller arrangement is provided over the top of the doffer (7) and it is operated automatically at a regular interval without stopping the machine.
According to the present invention as shown in Figure 2, the accumulated fibers and wastes on surface of the doffer (7) is scrapped automatically by a cleaning roller arrangement (12). The said cleaning roller arrangement (12) is periodically operated in a regular interval by an actuator (13) as shown in Figure 4. The said actuator (13) can be a pneumatic or electric or an electro mechanical actuator. This actuator (13) lifts and lowers the cleaning roller assembly to strip the accumulated fibers and waste on the surface of the doffer (7). The suction arrangement with a suction duct (11) is provided over the doffer cleaning roller (12) to remove the fibers and wastes cleaned by the said cleaning roller (12).
The cleaning roller assembly is provided in such a manner that the ends of the cleaning roller (12) are enclosed inside the cleaning roller housing (14). The said cleaning roller (12) is provided with bristles on the outer surface. Said cleaning roller housing (14) is provided with journal bearings for accommodating the cleaning roller end shafts. Said cleaning roller (12) is mounted on the cleaning roller fixing bracket (15) in such a way that the cleaning roller housing (14) can be lifted and lowered inside the cleaning roller fixing bracket (15). The said cleaning roller fixing bracket (15) is mounted on the frame of the doffer roller. The cleaning roller (12) is driven by a drive means which is preferably an electric motor (16). The said motor (16) is also fixed on the frame of the doffer (7) by using suitable mounting arrangement. The motor (16) in addition to driving the cleaning roller (12), also drives the brush roller (10) of the redirecting roller (8) by means of a belt (17) as shown in Figure 3.
The actuating means according to the present invention as shown in Figure 4, comprises actuator (13) connected to a cam (18) in such a way that the cam is rotated when the actuator is extended and retracted. The said cam (18) is coupled to the setting bolt (19) provided on the cleaning roller arrangement (12). The said setting bolt (19) lifts and lowers the cleaning roller housing (14) when rotated. So when the actuator (13) is actuated, the cam (18) rotates the setting bolt (19) to lift and lower the said cleaning housing (14) over the doffer roller surface (7). Thus the said lifting and lowering of the cleaning roller (12) cleans the accumulated fibers and waste materials over the surface of the doffer. The actuator (13) is operated automatically in a regular interval of the predetermined time period to remove the accumulated fibers and waste materials. The predetermined distance between the cleaning roller (12) and doffer (7) can be set in HMI display (not shown) to change the intensity of cleaning. The said actuator actuates the cleaning roller housing, in such a way that the intensity of the cleaning can be varied during the normal running and during maintenance. The said intensity of the cleaning can also be changed based on different types of fibers being processed on the carding machine.
According to an alternate embodiment of the present invention, the cleaning roller arrangement is provided with at least one sensor (not shown) to sense the accumulation of the fibers and wastes on the surface of the doffer (7). The said sensor, signals the actuator to initiate cleaning cycle, whenever the fibers and waste materials accumulation surpasses the threshold limit on the surface of the doffer (7). The intensity of the cleaning can also be changed based on signals from the above said sensor.
According to yet another alternate embodiment of the present invention, the cleaning roller arrangement (12) can be directly coupled to the actuator (13) with or without linking mechanisms, cams and setting bolt i.e the cleaning roller arrangement (12) can be directly coupled to the actuator (13) by means of well known temporary mechanical couplings such as connecting screws, clamping plates etc. Hence the actuator (13) can be easily decoupled from cleaning roller arrangement (12) for maintenance purpose.
According to another embodiment of the present invention which is not illustrated in figures, the doffer cleaning roller is a brush roller which has a plurality of segmented area, one of which is a cleaning segment which has plurality of bristles mounted over the area and other is an alternate segment which does not have bristles. The cleaning roller is actuated by means of a rotary actuator. The said cleaning roller assembly is periodically operated or periodically made to rotate and the bristle area penetrate into the doffer roller clothing in a regular interval by an actuating means comprising a rotary actuator. The said actuator actuates the cleaning roller assembly in periodic intervals to strip the accumulated fibers and waste on the surface of the doffer.
Since the fibers and wastes accumulated on the doffer surface is cleaned automatically in a regular interval without stopping the machine, the need of manual attention is not required. The frequent machine stoppages due to cleaning of doffer by manual operator is eliminated. Furthermore, the automatic cleaning of the surface of doffer increases the quality of the fibers being processed and also a better fiber transfer between the cylinder and doffer is achieved, thereby results in increasing the overall production efficiency of the carding machine.
In view of the present disclosure which describes the present invention, all changes, modifications and variations within the meaning and range of equivalency are considered within the scope and spirit of the invention. It is to be understood that the aspects and embodiment of the disclosure described above may be used in any combination with each other. Several of the aspects and embodiment may be combined together to form a further embodiment of the disclosure.
,CLAIMS:1. A doffer cleaning arrangement for a textile carding machine to remove accumulated fibers and wastes on the surface of the doffer (7), comprising
a cleaning roller arrangement comprising a cleaning roller (12) mounted on a cleaning roller fixing bracket (15); a cleaning roller housing (14) provided with journal bearings for accommodating the cleaning roller end shafts; and the cleaning roller fixing bracket (15) mounted on the frame of the doffer (7); and
an actuator (13) for modifying the operative position of said cleaning roller (12);
wherein, when said actuator (13) is actuated, the said cleaning roller (12) contacts the doffer roller surface (7) in an intermittent manner to remove the accumulated fibers and wastes on the surface of the doffer (7).

2. The cleaning arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein said actuator (13) is selected from a pneumatic or electric or an electro mechanical actuator or a rotary actuator.

3. The cleaning arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cleaning roller (12) is provided with full or partial bristles on the outer surface.

4. The cleaning arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cleaning roller (12) is driven by a drive means, preferably an electric motor (16).

5. The cleaning arrangement as claimed in claim 4, wherein said motor (16) is fixed on the frame of the doffer (7) by using suitable mounting arrangement, such as brackets and bolts.

6. The cleaning arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cleaning roller arrangement is provided with at least one sensor configured to sense the accumulation of the fibers and wastes on the surface of the doffer (7) and send signals to the actuator to initiate cleaning cycle, whenever the fibers and waste materials accumulation surpasses the threshold limit on the surface of the doffer (7).

7. The cleaning arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein said actuator (13) is connected to a cam (18) in such a way that the cam (18) is rotated when the actuator (13) is extended and retracted; and wherein said cam (18) is coupled to a setting bolt (19) provided on the cleaning roller arrangement (12), adapted to lift and lower the cleaning roller housing (14) over the doffer roller surface (7), to remove the accumulated fibers and wastes on the surface of the doffer.