Earl Robert Quay

6601412, Aug 5, 2003

Aug 21, 2002

10/225226

Earl Robert Quay - Orangeburg SC
Donald Charles Fosselman - Easley SC

Mayer Industries, Inc. - Orangeburg SC

D04B 1588

66152, 66149 R

A takedown unit includes a set of takedown rollers arranged around tubular fabric hanging downward from a needle cylinder of a circular knitting machine. The takedown rollers rotate to draw down the hanging tubular fabric, and a floating guide mechanism is within and encircled by the hanging tubular fabric, so that the low-friction guide mechanism interacts with the high-friction takedown rollers to facilitate the drawing down of the fabric. A set of cams extends at least partially around the hanging fabric, and the cams and the takedown rollers are mounted to allow relative rotation therebetween, with the relative rotation being around the hanging fabric. Actuators are positioned for interacting with the cams in response to the relative rotation, so that the cams actuate the actuators which in turn rotate the takedown rollers.

42703697, Jun 2, 1981

Jan 22, 1980

6/114233

Earl R. Quay - Orangeburg SC
Gerhard Jauch - West Lawn PA

Mayer, Rothkopf Industries, Inc. - Orangeburg SC

D04B 3510

66157

Device for a knitting machine operative to detect knitting needles having broken heads and to actuate a stop motion to shut down the machine. The device includes a needle sensing unit connected electrically to the stop motion and having a retractable sensor element for sensing broken needles, and a needle deflecting roller for deflecting unbroken needles away from the needle sensor element. An adjustable support bracket mounts the needle sensing unit and needle deflecting roller on a knitting machine to locate the needle deflecting roller in the needle path to contact the hooks of unbroken needles and to locate the needle sensor element in the needle path to contact the stems of broken needles. Needles having broken heads are not deflected by the needle deflecting roller, but are sensed by the needle sensing unit to activate the stop motion.

45327807, Aug 6, 1985

Sep 5, 1984

6/647632

Alan L. Tilson - Orangeburg SC
Earl R. Quay - Orangeburg SC
John C. Knight - North SC

Mayer, Wildman Industries, Inc. - Orangeburg SC

D04B 914
D01G 1540

66 9B

Apparatus and method for removing excess fibers from the doffer of a sliver high pile fabric knitting machine and returning the fibers to the main cylinder for refeeding to the doffer. Upon the return of the fibers to the main cylinder, they are combed and aligned into a uniform layer of parallel fibers for uniform redistribution on the main cylinder and uniform mixture with fresh, incoming fibers fed by the sliver feed elements. The invention includes pneumatic suction for drawing fibers from the doffer into a substantially closed suction chamber, a rotatable filter roll within the chamber, which separates the air and the fibers and discharges the fibers from the chamber, and a sealing roll permitting the fibers to be discharged from the chamber without impairing the integrity of the vacuum therein. Fiber feeding elements composed of a rotatable wire-covered fiber return feed roll and a cooperating fiber feed plate return the recovered fibers to the main cylinder.

45107734, Apr 16, 1985

May 31, 1984

6/615801

Earl R. Quay - Orangeburg SC
Alan L. Tilson - Orangeburg SC

Mayer, Rothkopf Industries, Inc. - Orangeburg SC

D01G 1540
D01G 1584
D04B 912

66 9B

A fiber transfer system for feeding fibers to the needles of a sliver high pile fabric circular knitting machine, in which the width of the fiber transfer path from the feed rolls to the needle line at the doffer is constant. Adjustable sliver entrance guides accurately direct the roving into the feed rolls and determine the location and width of the fiber transfer path. A continuous film of fibers of selected width and uniform density is transferred from the feed rolls via the main cylinder and doffer to the knitting machine needles. The main cylinder preferably is of a greater axial width than the doffer. It is covered by a narrow, elongated strip of wire-covered clothing wrapped helically around its periphery. The doffer is enveloped by straight wound card clothing, preferably constituted of a rectangular segment of wire-covered clothing having its opposite ends abutting on the doffer. The invention maximizes utilization of the fiber transfer area available to the knitting machine.

44083718, Oct 11, 1983

Aug 24, 1981

6/295731

Earl R. Quay - Orangeburg SC

Mayer, Rothkopf Industries, Inc. - Orangeburg SC

D01G 1584

19114

Doffer wire for the card clothing of rotatable doffers used in carding heads for delivering fibers to the needles of a sliver high pile fabric knitting machine having improved fiber release characteristics. The doffer wires are constituted of a shank portion, which is embedded in cantilevered fashion in the card clothing, distal portions which are raked by the knitting machine needles to remove fibers therefrom, and bent or knee portions which connect the shank portions of the doffer wires to the distal portions thereof. The knee portions are formed with an angle greater than 130 degrees and less than 180 degrees, the preferred angle being on the order of 155 degrees.

44083700, Oct 11, 1983

May 21, 1982

6/380532

Earl R. Quay - Orangeburg SC

Mayer, Rothkopf Industries, Inc. - Orangeburg SC

D01G 1540
D01G 1584
D04B 912

19105

A fiber feeding system for feeding relatively short sliver fibers--less than one inch in length--to a sliver high pile fabric knitting machine. The system includes the usual basic elements of a carding head comprising the sliver feeding components, such as a pair of rotatable sliver feed rolls, a rotatable wire-covered doffer and a rotatable wire-covered main cylinder interposed between the sliver feeding components and the doffer. By utilizing a sliver feed plate as one of the sliver feeding components, together with one or more sliver feed rolls, the fiber pinch point may be advanced close to the periphery of the main cylinder. Where one or more pairs of sliver feed rolls are utilized without a sliver feed plate, each roll has a circumference not exceeding four times the minimum length of the sliver fibers. The peripheries of the main cylinder and doffer are provided with wire coverings whereof the individual wires have novel configurations designed to prevent excessive fiber build up, while permitting the fibers to be transferred by the main cylinder to the doffer in sheet form having a relatively thick and relatively narrow cross-sectional configuration. The invention contemplates the elimination of the main cylinder, whereby the sliver feeding components may feed sliver directly to the doffer.

45162921, May 14, 1985

Oct 3, 1983

6/538142

Earl R. Quay - Orangeburg SC

Mayer, Rothkopf Industries, Inc. - Orangeburg SC

D01G 1514

19112

A wire-covered doffer for feeding fibers to the needles of a sliver high pile fabric knitting machine, in which the card clothing is of generally rectangular configuration and envelops the doffer roll so that the longitudinally spaced ends of the segment are disposed in tight abutting relationship to each other on the roll. A pair of circumferentially spaced clamps mounted on the doffer roll tightly secure the segment of card clothing to the periphery of the roll, stretching the segment slightly to impart a slight tension thereto. Each clamp supports a row of spaced points for impalement and retention of the segment of card clothing. Each row of points extends transversely relative to the periphery of the doffer roll, and penetrates the segment of card clothing at a location spaced a short distance inwardly from one of the two abutting ends of the segment. Threaded connectors affix the clamps to the doffer roll.

61519200, Nov 28, 2000

Nov 3, 1999

9/432504

Hartmut Schindler - Albstadt, DE
Earl Robert Quay - Orangeburg SC
Xuejian Zhu - Orangeburg SC
Aiken Anderson Still - North SC

Sipra Patententwicklungs- u. Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH - Albstadt

D04B 914

66 9R

A circular knitting machine for the production of knitwear formed of yarns and fibers tied into these yarns is described. The circular knitting machine contains a needle cylinder (1) with knitting needles (2), a sinker ring (15) which is rotatable about an axis of rotation jointly with the needle cylinder (1) and has sinkers (16), a stationary cylinder cam and sinker cam means which is associated with the knitting needles and sinkers, respectively, yarn and fiber feed units, an air guiding unit (45) provided with at least one suction nozzle and/or blowing nozzle, and a control cam (85) for acting upon the inserted fiber tufts. The arrangement is carried out in such a way that initially loops are formed from the yarn and the fiber tufts, wherein the fiber tufts are directed essentially toward the axis of rotation, that the direction of the fiber tufts is then substantially reversed by the air guiding unit (45), and that the reversed fiber tufts (44a) are laid over adjacent sinkers by the control cam so that they can take part at least once in a loop forming process. According to the invention, the air guiding unit (45) has a free space (69) arranged on the front side (55) of the knitting needles (2) and above the sinkers (16), which free space (69), considered in the rotating direction of the needle cylinder (1), extends essentially from a location (49) at which the raising of the knitting needles (2) starts up to the beginning of the control cam (85) and in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation until close to the upper edges (70) of the sinkers (16).