Lewis A Smart

US Patent:

52595625, Nov 9, 1993

Filed:

Mar 9, 1992

Appl. No.:

7/848367

Inventors:

Lewis A. Smart - Taylors SC
Donald R. Price - Cross Hill SC

Assignee:

Smart-Price International, Inc. - Cross Hill SC

International Classification:

B65H 1810
B65H 6308

US Classification:

242 62

Abstract:

A cloth winding machine has a winding shaft supported in ball bearings at the end of plural support braces positioned in different directions to reduce vibration of the winding shaft and increase its stability while winding at relatively high speeds non-symmetrical packages such as flat bolts of cloth. A cloth measuring wheel shaft encoder is connected through an electronic counter to an inverter motor control system for driving an AC electric motor so that electronic counting and motor control improves measured accuracy of the cloth segments wound onto each package, even at higher speeds. In the package mounting arrangement, the winding shaft is held in a fixed axial position and an extended shaft segment is provided with integral keyways which receive keys. The keys in turn are received in corresponding grooves on a spring mounted package support member so that the package support is rotatably received on the winding shaft in movable axial alignment therewith to permit mounting and subsequent removal of packages. The inverter motor control accelerates the AC drive motor to a predetermined speed in a predetermined acceleration time period.

US Patent:

52457605, Sep 21, 1993

Filed:

Feb 27, 1992

Appl. No.:

7/842554

Inventors:

Lewis A. Smart - Taylors SC
Donald R. Price - Cross Hill SC

Assignee:

Smart-Price International, Inc. - Cross Hill SC

International Classification:

G01B 504

US Classification:

33735

Abstract:

Apparatus is provided for the lineal measurement of continuous or stranded materials, such as cloth, otherwise transported past such apparatus. A gravity operated contact wheel is used to bias the materials into engagement with a measuring wheel, the rotation of which generates incremental distance pulses which are summed in a counter. An electric eye is used to detect the presence of materials to be measured so that a measurement count is held as a trailing edge of such materials departs from between the measuring roll and contact roll. The entire device may be supported on a support base which is in turn adapted to fit into a preformed opening or slot in the top surface of a work area such as a cloth cutting table. In such instance, the measuring device operates to measure cloth drawn across the table and in between the measuring and contact rolls. A display is provided to show the amount of cloth transported between the two rolls, with the entire device being bidirectional so that a user may advance or retract the cloth so as to obtain a selected or given length of cloth to be cut or otherwise processed.