EP0457145A2 - Dropper handling device for warp threading machines - Google Patents

Abstract

The device contains magazines (16) for receiving lamella stacks (LA) and transport means for feeding them to a separating station, to which the lamellae are separated. The transport means contain a first path (11) for feeding the full magazines (16) to the separating station and a second path (21) for returning the empty magazines (16) from the separating station. In addition, means (22, 33) are provided for transferring the empty magazines from the first to the second path. This device enables largely automatic loading of the warp threading machine with lamellae. <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to a device for handling slats for warp threading machines, and means for storing the slats and with transport means for feeding them to a separating station, at which the slats are separated for the purpose of making them available for the warp threading.

In the USTER DELTA (USTER - registered trademark of Zellweger Uster AG), known from US-A-3 681 815, the slats are handled in such a way that one end of them is inserted into a profile rail and then closed with a type of screw clamp can be clamped together in a compact package. These packages are then lined up on the mounting rails of the pull-in carriage carrying the warp beam and the stretched warp thread layer, which is moved past the pulling-in machine and thereby acts as a means of transport for the slats. Since the packages are only of a relatively short length, it is necessary to refill new packages when the thread count is high, which is always associated with an undesired shutdown of the drawing machine.

The invention is now to provide a device for handling slats for warp threading machines, which enables an uninterrupted automatic loading of the warp threading machine with slats.

This object is achieved according to the invention in that the means for storing the lamella magazines for receiving lamella stacks and the transport means have a first path for feeding the full magazines to the separation station and a second path for returning the empty magazines from the separation station, and that means are provided for the transfer of the empty magazines from the first to the second path.

In the device according to the invention, therefore, only the full magazines need to be transferred to the first path and the empty magazines removed from the second path; the entire processing of the slats takes place fully automatically.

In a preferred embodiment, the first path contains a feed rail sloping down towards the separating station and the second path contains a return rail sloping downwards away from the separating station, and the manual magazines are guided in a rolling or sliding manner in the feed and return rail. According to a preferred development, two pairs of feed and return rails are provided, each of these pairs being assigned a means for transferring the empty magazines.

The use of two pairs of feed and return rails opens up the possibility of processing two different types of slats, for example thick and thin slats, which is required for certain fabrics (e.g. pinstripes), but was previously not possible with automatic drawing machines. This is a very significant advantage over all previously known automatic drawing machines.

Fig. 1

eine perspektivische Gesamtdarstellung einer Kettfadeneinziehmaschine,

Fig. 2a, 2b

eine Seitenansicht einer erfindungsgemässen Vorrichtung zur Handhabung von Lamellen,

Fig. 3

eine Ansicht in Richtung des Pfeiles III von Fig. 2a,

Fig. 4,5

ein erstes Detail der Vorrichtung von Fig. 2a, 2b in zwei Ansichten,

Fig. 6

ein weiteres Detail von Fig. 2a; und

Fig. 7

eine Ansicht in Richtung des Pfeiles VII von Fig. 6.

The invention is explained in more detail below using an exemplary embodiment and the drawings; show it:

Fig. 1

an overall perspective view of a warp threading machine,

2a, 2b

2 shows a side view of an inventive device for handling lamellae,

Fig. 3

a view in the direction of arrow III of Fig. 2a,

Fig. 4.5

a first detail of the device of Fig. 2a, 2b in two views,

Fig. 6

another detail of Fig. 2a; and

Fig. 7

a view in the direction of arrow VII of Fig. 6th

1, the drawing-in machine consists of a base frame 1 and of various assemblies arranged in it, each of which forms a functional module. A warp beam carriage 2 with a warp beam 3 arranged on it can be seen in front of the base frame 1. The warp beam trolley 3 also contains a lifting device 4 for holding a frame 5, on which the warp threads KF are stretched. This clamping takes place before the actual pulling-in and at a location separate from the drawing-in machine, the frame 5 being positioned at the lower end of the lifting device 4 in the immediate vicinity of the warp beam 3. For pulling in, the warp beam carriage 2 with the warp beam 3 and lifting device 4 is moved to the so-called upgrade side of the pulling-in machine and the frame 5 is lifted up by the lifting device 4 and then assumes the position shown.

The frame 5 and the warp beam 3 are moved in the longitudinal direction of the base frame 1. During this shifting, the warp threads KF are guided past a thread separation group 6 and are separated and divided in the process. After division, the warp threads KF are cut off and presented to a pull-in needle 7, which forms part of the so-called pull-in module. The sectioning device used in the USTER TOPMATIC warp knitting machine (USTER - registered trademark of Zellweger Uster AG), for example, can be used for dividing the warp threads.

In addition to the pull-in needle 7, a monitor 8 can be seen, which belongs to an operating station and is used to display machine functions and machine malfunctions and for data input. The operator station, which forms part of a so-called programming module, also contains an input stage for the manual entry of certain functions, such as creeper, start / stop, repetition of processes, and the like. The drawing-in machine is controlled by a control module containing a control computer, which is arranged in a control box 9. In addition to the control computer, this control box contains a module computer for each so-called main module, the individual module computers being controlled and monitored by the control computer. The main modules of the drawing machine are, in addition to the modules already mentioned, drawing module, yarn module, control module and programming module, the strand, the lamella and the sheet module.

The thread separation group 6, which presents the warp threads KF to be drawn in to the pull-in needle 7, and the path of movement of the pull-in needle 7, which runs vertically to the plane of the stretched warp threads KF, determine a plane in the region of a support 10 forming part of the base frame 1, which supports the already mentioned upgrade side separates from the so-called disassembly side of the drawing machine. The warp threads and the individual elements in which the warp threads are to be fed are fed in on the upgrade side, and the so-called dishes (strands, lamellae and sheets) with the drawn-in warp threads can be removed on the tear-down side. During the pulling-in, the frame 5 with the warp threads KF and the warp beam carriage 2 with the warp beam 3 are moved past the thread separating group 6 to the right, the pull-in needle 7 successively taking out the warp threads KF stretched on the frame 5.

When all the warp threads KF have been drawn in and the frame 5 is empty, the latter is together with the warp beam carriage 2, the warp beam 3 and the lifting device 4 on the dismantling side.

Immediately behind the plane of the warp threads KF are the warp thread monitor slats LA, behind them the healds LI and even further behind the reed. The lamellae LA are stacked in hand magazines, and the full hand magazines are hung in inclined feed rails 11, on which they are transported to the right, towards the pull-in needle 7. There they are separated and brought into the feed position. After pulling in, the lamellae LA arrive on lamella support rails 12 on the dismantling side.

The strands LI are lined up on rails 13 and manually or automatically shifted to a separation stage on them. Then the healds LI are individually brought into their retracted position and, after they have been drawn in, are distributed to the corresponding heald frames 14 on the dismantling side. The reed is also moved past the retracting needle 7 step by step, the corresponding gap in the sheet being opened for the retraction. After being drawn in, the sheet is also on the dismantling side. To the right of the heald frames 14 is a part of the reed WB. This representation is to be understood purely for illustrative purposes, because the reed is different from the one shown The position of the frame 5 is of course on the upgrade page.

As can be seen from the figure, a so-called crockery trolley 15 is provided on the dismantling side. This is inserted together with the slat support rails 12, heald frames 14 and a holder for the reed attached to the base frame 1 in the position shown and carries the dishes with the drawn-in warp threads KF after being drawn in. At this point in time, the warp beam carriage 2 with the warp beam 3 is located directly in front of the harness carriage 15. Now, using the lifting device 4, the dishes are reloaded from the harness carriage 15 onto the warp beam carriage 2, which then carries the warp beam 3 and the pulled-in dishes and to the relevant weaving machine or can be moved to an interim storage facility.

The functions described are distributed over several modules, which represent practically autonomous machines that are controlled by the common control computer. The cross-connections between the individual modules run via this higher-level control computer and there are no direct cross-connections between the individual modules. The main modules of the drawing-in machine which have already been mentioned are themselves modular again and generally consist of sub-modules. This modular structure is described in Swiss Patent Application No. 03 633 / 89-1, to the disclosure of which reference is hereby expressly made.

The slat magazine sub-module of the slat module will now be described below: FIGS. 2a, 2b and 3 show an overall view of this partial module in a side view (FIGS. 2a, 2b) and in a front view (FIG. 3) in the direction of arrow III of FIG 2a. The side view is divided into two sheets, wherein FIGS. 2a and 2b are to be thought of as abutting along the line A-A drawn on the far right in FIG. 2a and on the left in FIG. 2b.

As can be seen from the figures, the slat magazine sub-module essentially consists of a movable elongated frame GE, in which the feed rails 11 for the hand magazines with the slats LA (FIG. 1) are mounted. With reference to FIG. 1, the sub-module in FIGS. 2a and 2b is rotated through 180 °; its total length is about 3 meters. The feed rails 11 are formed by profile rails with a C-shaped cross section, into which elongated hand magazines 16 are hung. 4 and 5, these consist of a rail 18 carrying transport rollers 17, a handle 19 connected to the rail 18 and a slat rod 20 connected to the handle 19, on which the slats LA are lined up . The feed rails 11 run from the loading side of the submodule its unloading side, that is the separating station at which the lamellae LA are separated, obliquely downwards, so that the hand magazines 16 loaded with lamellae LA automatically roll to the separating station which is located at the left end of the submodule in FIG. 2a.

In addition to the feed rails 11 for feeding the full hand magazines 16 to the separating station, return rails 21 are provided in the frame GE for returning the empty hand magazines from the separating station to the loading side. These run obliquely downwards away from the separating station, so that the empty hand magazines 16 roll back by themselves. Immediately before the separating station, the empty hand magazines are transferred to the return rails 21, which will be described later with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. For this purpose, the foremost part of the feed and return rails 11 and 21, which adjoins the separating station, is designed as a pivot rail 22 which can be pivoted optionally into the feed path or into the return path and whose length corresponds to the length of a hand magazine 16. It is therefore only ever located in the hand magazine 16 in the swivel rail 22, its entry and exit into and from the swivel rail being detected by sensors 23 and 28.

In the version shown, two pairs of feed and return rails 11 and 21 are provided, but it is of course possible to use only one pair. Two couples but offer the possibility of processing two types of slats, and this is a significant advantage over all previously known automatic drawing machines.

The hand magazine 16 in the swivel station 22 abuts a stop with the tip of its rail 18 (FIG. 4) and is thereby fixed in the swivel rail. The individual lamellae LA are transferred to the separating station by moving the lamella stack lined up on the lamella rod 20 against the free end of the lamella rod. This displacement is carried out by a pneumatic cylinder 24, which drives a plunger 26 guided in a C-profile 25. This plunger is provided on its front part pressing against the stack of lamellae with a hinge-like driver finger 27. The driver finger is held in its working position by spring force, in which it stands at right angles from the plunger 26 and presses against the lamellae LA. When a stack of lamellas has been processed and the relevant hand magazine 16 has been emptied, the linear cylinder 24 is fully extended and the plunger 26 with the driving finger 27 is in its foremost position.

Now the swivel rail 22 is swiveled into the return path, whereby the empty hand magazine 16 is transferred to the return rail 21 and rolls back to the right against the loading side of the lamella module. This movement is made by one Sensor 28 monitored on the return rail 21. As soon as this detects the rolling of a hand magazine 16, the swivel rail 22 is swiveled into the feed path, so that a new full hand magazine 16 can roll into the swivel rail 22. The plunger 26 with the driver finger 27 is still in its foremost position. After the sensor 23 has detected the presence of a new hand magazine 16 in the swivel rail 22, the pneumatic cylinder 24 is retracted. The driver finger 27 abuts against the lamellae LA and, because of its hinge-like attachment to the plunger 26, is pushed aside to the extent that it can slide along the lamellae.

As can be seen from FIGS. 2a, 2b and 3, the frame GE has a central longitudinal rail 29, on which electrical connections 30 for the various sensors and pneumatic connections 31 for the various pneumatically driven adjusting elements are arranged. In addition, 29 supports 32 for the C-profiles 25 are attached to the central longitudinal rail 29. Each swivel rail 22 is articulated on its end face adjacent to the separating station to the central longitudinal rail 29 and is adjustable via a pneumatically driven lever 33 which is fastened to the frame GE.

3 shows the different positions of the two swivel rails 22, the swivel positions being drawn approximately in the region of the sensor 23, that is to say at the location of the maximum deflection of the swivel rails 22, for a clearer illustration. This is the place where the respective end of the swivel rails 22 is aligned with the associated feed or return rail 11 or 21. In the left half of the figure, the swivel rail 22 is in the fully extended position in the feed path, the position shown in broken lines corresponds to the return path. In the right half of FIG. 3, the swivel rail 22 is in the fully extended position in the return path, the position shown in broken lines corresponds to the feed path. Correspondingly, the left half shows a full hand magazine 16 with lamellae LA, which are pushed against the viewer by the pneumatic cylinder 24 via plunger 26 and driver 27. The right half shows an empty hand magazine 16, the slats of which have already been processed.

The frame GE is provided with wheels 34 which run in corresponding rails 35. As a result, the frame GE and thus the entire lamella module are mobile on the one hand, that is to say they can be moved into and out of the drawing-in machine, and on the other hand can be fixed in the drawing-in machine in its working position.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show the connection between the feed and return rails 11 and 21 on the one hand and the swivel rail 22 on the other hand, FIG. 6 being an enlarged detail from FIG. 2a and thus a side view and FIG. 7 a plan view in the direction of the arrow VII of Fig. 6 shows.

As shown, a pivotable stop flap 36 for the hand magazines 16 is arranged on the end of the feed rails 11 facing the swivel rail 22. An arcuate groove 37 is milled into this stop flap, into which a locking bolt 38 engages, and which has a step 39 recessed at its upper end with respect to the base of the groove. The locking bolt 38 is arranged on one end face of a cylinder 40 which is resiliently mounted in a bore in the central longitudinal rail 29 and its length corresponds to the depth of the groove 38 plus step 39.

If the swivel rail 22 lies in the return path and is directed against the return rail 21 (FIG. 7, lower half), the locking bolt 38 projects with its entire length into the groove 37 and step 39 and thereby locks the stop flap 36, as a result of which this occurs in the adjacent feed rail 11 in the transport direction, the foremost hand magazine 16 is prevented from rolling further (FIG. 6). If the swivel rail 22 is then swiveled into the feed path and aligned with the feed rail 11 (FIG. 7, upper half), then the swivel rail 22 also hits its side surface facing the central longitudinal rail onto the cylinder 40 and presses it against the force of its spring into its bearing bore, as a result of which the locking bolt 38 is pulled out of the step 39 of the groove 37. The corresponding adjustment path of cylinder 40 and locking bolt 38 is somewhat greater than the depth of the gradation 39, so that the locking bolt 38 no longer protrudes into the gradation and the stop flap 36 is therefore no longer locked. As a result, the stop flap 36 is pressed upwards by the foremost hand magazine 16 and this can roll into the swivel rail 22. As soon as the slats of the hand magazine have been processed and the swivel rail 22 pivots into the return path for transferring the now empty hand magazine to the return rail 21, the pressure of the swivel rail 22 on the cylinder 40 is released and the locking bolt 38 can snap back into the step 39 and lock the stop flap 36.

In its working position, the lamella module is detachably coupled to the drawing-in machine. In this working position, the loading of full magazines and the removal of the empty magazines takes place in the drawing-in machine, from which the lamella carriage is only removed for maintenance or service work.

Claims (16)

Device for handling slats for warp threading machines, with means for storing the slats and with transport means for feeding them to a separating station at which the slats are separated for the purpose of making them available for warp thread insertion, characterized in that the means for storing the slats ( LA) magazines (16) for receiving lamella stacks and the transport means have a first path (11) for feeding the full magazines to the separating station and a second path (21) for returning the empty magazines from the separating station, and that means (22, 23) are provided for transferring the empty magazines from the first to the second path. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the first path contains a feed rail (11) which slopes downwards towards the separating station and the second path contains a return rail (21) which slopes downwards away from the separation station, and that the hand magazines (16) in the feeder and return rail are guided in a rolling or sliding manner. Apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the hand magazines (16) are designed like pistols and a handle (19) and a rail (18) projecting therefrom with transport rollers (17) and a slat rod (20) for receiving the slats (LA) exhibit. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the foremost part of the feed and return rail (11 or 21) adjoining the separating station is designed as a swivel rail (22) which can be pivoted optionally in the first or second path. Apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that the length of the swivel rail (22) corresponds to that of a hand magazine (16). Device according to one of claims 2 to 5, characterized by a mobile frame (GE) which can be coupled to the warp threading machine and in which the feed and return rails (11 or 21) and the swivel rail (22) are arranged, one each from Zu - And return rail existing pair is assigned a swivel rail. Apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that in the region of each swivel rail (22) there is an organ for displacement of the respective lamella stack (LA) is provided against the separation station. Apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that said member has a plunger (26) pushing against the stack of lamella from behind. Apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that the plunger (26) is pneumatically driven and displaceable parallel to the stack of lamella (LA) and carries a driver finger (27) which projects into the path of movement of the lamella and can be swung out of it. Apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that each swivel rail (22) is articulated at one end adjacent to the separating station and is connected at a distance from this end to an adjusting member (33), when activated, the swivel rail is moved so that it is different End either aligned with the feed or with the return rail (11 or 21), so that the swivel rail either assumes the feed or return position. Apparatus according to claim 10, characterized in that the feed rail (11) has at its end facing the swivel rail (22) a holding means which at the Return position of the swivel rail blocked the hand magazines (16). Apparatus according to claim 11, characterized in that the holding means is formed by a stop flap (36) which projects into the path of the hand magazines (16) and which is movable in the feed position when the swivel rail (22) is in the position and blocked in the position in the return position is. Apparatus according to claim 12, characterized by a locking bolt (38) which can be actuated between its two positions when the swivel rail (22) is adjusted and which blocks the stop flap (36) in the return position of the swivel rail and releases it in its feed position. Apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that the frame (GE) has transport wheels (34) which are guided in rails (35). Apparatus according to claim 10, characterized by sensors (23, 28) for monitoring the presence of hand magazines (16) in the swivel rail (22) and in the feed and return rail (11 or 21). Device according to one or more of claims 2 to 15, characterized in that two pairs of feed and return rails (11 and 21) are provided, each of these pairs having a means (22, 23) for transferring the empty magazines (16) assigned.

Images