William Harold Mcneill

US Patent:

40830918, Apr 11, 1978

Filed:

Mar 15, 1977

Appl. No.:

5/777771

Inventors:

William Allen McNeill - Gastonia NC

Assignee:

Akzona Incorporated - Asheville NC

International Classification:

D02G 100

US Classification:

28281

Abstract:

A strand of synthetic textile yarn is fed continuously in a relaxed condition downwardly through a bulking chamber having a series of vertically spaced successive baffle plates with adjacent baffle plates extending from opposite sides of the chamber and at opposite downward inclinations in the path of the downwardly feeding yarn for haphazard curling of the yarn at the plates and progressively greater accumulation of yarn at each successive plate. Steam is applied to the yarn accumulation at the lowermost baffle plate and suction means above the chamber imposes an upward draft to the steam, with the steam acting on the relaxed and accumulated yarn for substantially complete development of bulk therein. The bulked yarn falls between and from the baffle plates onto a reciprocating plate that acts to loosen the bulked yarn and minimize entanglements. The yarn is allowed to fall from the reciprocating plate in a free condition without substantial loss of the developed bulk and is collected in a container in free-falling condition with the container being portable to allow subsequent treating of the bulked yarn therein without further direct handling of the yarn.

US Patent:

39389529, Feb 17, 1976

Filed:

Aug 20, 1974

Appl. No.:

5/498961

Inventors:

William Allen McNeill - Gastonia NC

Assignee:

Akzona Incorporated - Asheville NC

International Classification:

D06F 1702

US Classification:

8149

Abstract:

A method and means for multi-color dyeing textile yarn wherein yarn is present in perforate cylindrical cans for dyeing, with the yarn being in a maze of tortuously extending coils progressing axially within the can as occurs when yarn is collected in an upright can from a crimping or bulking operation. The cans are first positioned on movable J-shaped cradles with their cylindrical axes horizontal and are then immersed sequentially in a plurality of dye baths in which the cans are only partially immersed. Between immersions in sequential dye baths the cans are reoriented by rotating them about their cylindrical horizontal axes to cause dyeing of at least partially different portions of the maze of yarn in the cans in the different dye baths so that the resulting yarn strand, which extends randomly in the maze throughout differently dyed portions, will be unpredictably randomly dyed in different colors and lengths of color.

US Patent:

56198493, Apr 15, 1997

Filed:

Aug 26, 1994

Appl. No.:

8/297252

Inventors:

William A. McNeill - Gastonia NC

Assignee:

Caress Yarns, Inc. - Charlotte NC

International Classification:

D01H 500
D01H 746

US Classification:

57333

Abstract:

A method and apparatus for producing randomly variegated multiple strand yarn in twisting together two or more yarns at a plurality of yarn twisting stations. At each station a pneumatic twisting head is disposed in which randomly turbulent air currents are created in a chamber in the twisting head by compressed air flowing into the chamber from a manifold through bores in the twisting head, thereby randomly twisting together two or more yarns in the chamber. The yarns which have been twisted together are taken up over a plurality of traversing drums commonly mounted on a shaft which is driven by an alternating electric current motor controlled by a control device which operates to start and restart the motor on a predetermined cycle including a variation of the electrical input sufficient to result in randomly unpredictable inertia resistance of the traversing drums to rotational speed variation, thereby creating randomly unpredictable take-up of the yarns to produce non-uniform random twist in the yarns. The yarn produced has various lengths of opposite twist with varying degrees of twist and sections of no twist, and the fabric produced with the yarn is randomly variegated with no repeating pattern.

US Patent:

56735499, Oct 7, 1997

Filed:

Feb 12, 1996

Appl. No.:

8/599801

Inventors:

William A. McNeill - Gastonia NC

Assignee:

Caress Yarns, Inc. - Charlotte NC

International Classification:

D01H 124
D01H 746

US Classification:

57333

Abstract:

A method and apparatus for producing randomly variegated multiple strand wrapped yarn in twisting together two or more yarns at a plurality of yarn twisting stations. At each station a pneumatic twisting head is disposed in which randomly turbulent air currents are created in a chamber in the twisting head by compressed air flowing into the chamber from a manifold through bores in the twisting head, thereby randomly twisting together two or more yarns in the chamber. The yarns which have been twisted together are wrapped with a binder yarn and then taken up over a plurality of traversing drums commonly mounted on a shaft which is driven by an alternating electric current motor controlled by a control device which operates to start and restart the motor on a predetermined cycle including a variation of the electrical input sufficient to result in randomly unpredictable inertia resistance of the traversing drums to rotational speed variation, thereby creating randomly unpredictable take-up of the yarns to produce non-uniform random twist in the yarns. The yarn produced has various lengths of opposite twist with varying degrees of twist and sections of no twist and sections of varying wrap, and the fabric produced with the yarn is randomly variegated with no repeating pattern.

US Patent:

59015446, May 11, 1999

Filed:

Feb 12, 1997

Appl. No.:

8/798107

Inventors:

William A. McNeill - Gastonia NC

Assignee:

Caress Yarns, Inc. - Charlotte NC

International Classification:

D01H1/24

US Classification:

57341

Abstract:

A method and apparatus for producing randomly variegated multiple strand wrapped yarn in twisting together two or more yarns at a plurality of yarn twisting stations. At each station a pneumatic twisting head is disposed in which randomly turbulent air currents are created in a chamber in the twisting head by compressed air flowing into the chamber from a manifold through bores in the twisting head, thereby randomly twisting together two or more yarns in the chamber. The yarns which have been twisted together are wrapped with a binder yarn and then taken up over a plurality of traversing drums commonly mounted on a shaft which is driven by an alternating electric current motor controlled by a control device which operates to start and restart the motor on a predetermined cycle including a variation of the electrical input sufficient to result in randomly unpredictable inertia resistance of the traversing drums to rotational speed variation, thereby creating randomly unpredictable take-up of the yarns to produce non-uniform random twist in the yarns. The yarn produced has various lengths of opposite twist with varying degrees of twist and sections of no twist and sections of varying wrap, and the fabric produced with the yarn is randomly variegated with no repeating pattern.

US Patent:

40770974, Mar 7, 1978

Filed:

May 17, 1976

Appl. No.:

5/687031

Inventors:

William Allen McNeill - Gastonia NC

Assignee:

Akzona Incorporated - Asheville NC

International Classification:

D02G 116

US Classification:

28281

Abstract:

A strand of synthetic textile yarn is fed continuously in a relaxed condition downwardly through a bulking chamber having a series of vertically spaced successive baffle plates with adjacent baffle plates extending from opposite sides of the chamber and at opposite downward inclinations in the path of the downwardly feeding yarn for haphazard curling of the yarn at the plates and progressively greater accumulation of yarn at each successive plate. Steam is applied to the yarn accumulation at the lowermost baffle plate and suction means above the chamber imposes an upward draft to the steam, with the steam acting on the relaxed and accumulated yarn for substantially complete development of bulk therein. The bulked yarn falls between and from the baffle plates onto a reciprocating plate that acts to loosen the bulked yarn and minimize entanglements. The yarn is allowed to fall from the reciprocating plate in a free condition without substantial loss of the developed bulk and is collected in a container in free-falling condition with the container being portable to allow subsequent treating of the bulked yarn therein without further direct handling of the yarn.