EP0518817B1 - Transporting bobbins or bobbin tubes in spinning machines - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a spinning machine, the spinning stations of which are operated by a spool or tube transport system, which comprises individual spool or tube carriers and are provided with a conveying means along the spinning positions, the conveying means comprising a conveying path which ends between the working positions Carrier and an infeed or outfeed point extends, and a buffer connects to the infeed or outfeed point.

State of the art

• individuelle Spulen- bzw. Hülsenträger
• Mittel, welche die Träger zumindest in ihre jeweiligen Arbeitspositionen gegenüber den Spinnstellen bringen
• Mittel, welche die Gewichte der Träger und ihre Lasten aufnehmen, und
• ein Fördermittel mit einer Förderbahn entlang der bedienten Spinnstellen zum Bewegen der Träger der Bahn entlang, zumindest zwischen ihren jeweiligen Arbeitspositionen, und einer Einschleuse- bzw. Ausschleusestelle oder einer Lade- bzw. Entladestelle.

DOS 40 10 730 and WO 90/03461 show, among other things, writings of a spinning machine, the spinning positions of which by a spool or. Sleeve transport system are operated, which basically has the following features:

• individual coil or sleeve carriers
• Means which bring the carriers at least into their respective working positions in relation to the spinning positions
• Means which absorb the weights of the carriers and their loads, and
• a conveyor with a conveyor track along the operated spinning stations for moving the carriers along the track, at least between their respective working positions, and an infeed or outfeed point or a loading or unloading point.

The spool or sleeve carriers are normally designed as peg trays, also called peg trays, and the weight-absorbing means are mostly formed as support rails, after which the peg slides move as they move slide along the thread path. The position-determining means preferably comprise drivers, each of which can be moved along the path by the conveying means, in order to bring about a corresponding movement of the pin carriage respectively assigned to this driver. A guide can be provided to guide the drivers in their movements along the path. This guide can be provided on the mounting rail or else separately from the mounting rail. The driver can be designed as a gripper which takes up the pin slide and which can have arms of different lengths. (WO 90/03461, Figs. 21 and 22).

The movement of a driver caused by the conveying means preferably always occurs only in one direction along the path. It can e.g. be effected by a traction device which extends along the path.

The trunnion slides can be removed from the track or introduced into the track, or their loads can be exchanged while the trunnion slides themselves do not leave the track.

According to German patent application No. P 41 13 092.8 (published on October 29, 1992), it is planned to sequentially feed the trunnion slides into the carrier's career at the sluice-in point in such a way that a newly slid-in trunnion sled from the next carrier moving past the sluice-in point Is taken along the path and is thereby moved against a shoulder in such a way that the pin slide is pushed into a gripper part of the driver, so that it is subsequently positioned by the gripper part.

The spinning machine or the conveying means delivers the carriers or the coils to a "sink" and receives carriers or sleeves from a "source". The "sink" and the "source" can be formed by a single further processing unit, for example a winding machine. However, they can also be formed by entry or exit points of a transport system that can work automatically, semi-automatically or even manually. The transport system, for example, delivers coils to predetermined or indefinite locations and receives tubes from the same or even different locations. The spinning machine or the conveying means is preferably designed in such a way that it can work together with all these different further processing variants, ie that the machine structure or the machine control does not have to be individually adapted to each individual further use variant.

For the spinning machine or the conveyor or its control, a "sink" is essentially characterized by its "absorption capacity" and a "source" by its "ability to deliver". It is now envisaged to design the spinning machine or the conveying means assigned to the spinning machine for automatic adaptation to the absorption capacity of its sink or to the delivery capacity of its source. The control of the spinning machine or the conveying means can be designed in such a way that it continuously or periodically determines the absorption capacity of the supplied sink or the delivery capacity of the supplying source and carries out or triggers a corresponding adaptation of the controlled system.

The absorption capacity of a sink or the supply capacity of a source will normally be subject to temporal fluctuations. Where the absorption capacity or supply capability is determined periodically, the periodicity of the determination should ideally be selected in relation to the expected periodicity of the fluctuations in such a way that the controlled system can also adapt to fluctuations of a relatively short wavelength. But it will hardly be worth it to track any short-wave fluctuations in the absorption capacity or delivery capacity of the connected sink or source, since individual short-wave fluctuations can be compensated for by smoothing and a longer period of such short-wave fluctuations is more likely to indicate a fault in the connected system, which is at best indicated by an alarm could.

However, the spinning machine or the conveying means is preferably provided with means for determining when the absorption capacity of a sink or the supply capability of a source declines in such a way that there is no space for taking over a carrier from the conveying means or no carrier for transferring to the conveying means . The control system should react to stopping the delivery of bobbins / carriers or taking over of tubes / carriers. Such a system is described in our German patent application No. P 41 13 090.1.

In principle, the absorption capacity could be determined by the sink or the supply capability by the source and passed on to the spinning machine as a suitable signal. The appropriate means in the spinning machine is then a suitable signal receiver (signal input).

However, since the sinks can be very different in the various applications, it is advantageous to provide the spinning machine with its own means, to determine the absorption capacity of the sink or the supply capability of the source. For this purpose, the spinning machine must be provided with at least one buffer so that bobbins or sleeves / carriers are delivered to the sink or removed from the source via this buffer, and the fill level of the buffer is a measure of the absorption capacity of the sink or the over time Supply ability of the source represents.

The size of the buffer is then of great importance for the design of the system. If only a single storage space is provided in the buffer, the conveyor can practically only be driven in stop-go mode. If there are two storage spaces, the conveying means can be driven continuously as long as a storage space for taking over a trunnion slide remains free from the conveying means, which can be determined by a sensor connected to the control. With such a small buffer, however, it will still be necessary to frequently interrupt the operation of the funding. In order to keep the number of stops as small as possible, provision can be made to switch on a conveyor speed reduction after each stop and to increase the conveyor speed after each period of uninterrupted use, as is also provided in DE-P 41 13 090.1.

When using larger buffers, it becomes possible to provide empty spaces in the buffer. The conveying speed could then be controlled as a function of the fill level of the buffer in such a way that a target fill level is maintained on average over time. This could e.g. be realized by determining the occupation / non-occupation of a certain storage space in the buffer. However, a counter could be provided which determines the number of moving coils / carriers or sleeves / carriers per unit of time and triggers a corresponding adjustment of the conveying speed, whereby level fluctuations are not taken into account, at least until the buffer is filled or emptied.

Viewed from the spinning machine, the absorption capacity of a sink can be expressed as a delivery frequency of the coils and carriers delivered to the sink, which does not lead to an overload of the sink. The control can accordingly be provided with means to determine an overload of the sink, the Dispensing speed can be increased to a maximum value specified by the funding, provided that no overload is determined, and can be reduced if an overload occurs or continues. The overload can be defined as the full occupation of the buffer, the reaching of a predetermined filling level of the buffer or the delivery of a predetermined maximum number of coils and carriers per unit of time.

Viewed from the spinning machine, the supply capability of a source can be expressed as a delivery frequency of the sleeves and carriers delivered to the spinning machine, which does not lead to any empty spaces on the conveyor. As soon as the further operation of the funding would result in an empty space, a stop must be activated. The control can accordingly be provided with means for determining an understaffing of the import buffer, wherein the conveying speed can be increased up to the maximum value specified by the conveying means if no understaffing is determined. The understaffing can be defined as the emptying of the buffer, the decrease in the fill level below a predetermined level or the decrease in the delivery below a predetermined number of sleeves and carriers per unit of time.

It would be conceivable to provide the machine only with means for monitoring the absorption capacity of the sink or only with means for monitoring the delivery capacity of the source, for example if the sink can safely accommodate everything but the delivery capacity of the source is uncertain or variable. Normally, however, both parameters are monitored and the question then arises how the controller should behave if it receives contradicting messages from the two monitors.

It is a condition for the spinning machine that there are no empty spaces when infeed. If this is not guaranteed, the spinning machine will not place any sleeves on the spindles during doffing, which would at least lead to a malfunction, but probably a serious breakdown. Accordingly, the demand for cops can only be satisfied if there is a sufficient supply of empty tubes at the same time. The control system is accordingly programmed in such a way that, in the event of contradicting tendencies at the discharge and entry point, priority is given to the request to insert the empty sleeves. If this requirement is met, the control reacts to the absorption capacity of the sink as already described.

The aim of the invention is to provide a method and a device in which the above-mentioned disadvantages are avoided. Starting from the method or the device according to WO-A-90/03461, this object is achieved by the features of the characterizing part of claims 1 and 7, respectively.

• die Peg-Trays gleiten auf einer ununterbrochenen Gleitfläche oder mehreren sich aneinander anschliessenden Flächen
• auf Seitenführungen kann wenigstens teilweise verzichtet werden, da jeder Peg-Tray durch einen eigenen gabelförmigen Greifer aufgenommen und geführt wird
• mindestens einige der Greifer sind mit je einem eigenen Gleitschuh verbunden, der auf einem Führungsprofil z.B. unterhalb der Gleitfläche der Maschinenseite läuft
• jeder Greifer kann auch einen Zwischenablagezapfen tragen, der eine Leerhülse während des Doffvorganges aufnimmt und dadurch eine Zwischenablage in der Maschine selbst überflüssig macht
• der Greifer, Zapfen und Gleitschuh bilden zusammen eine Mitnehmereinheit, die modular aus diesen drei oder wenigstens zwei getrennt geformten Elementen gebaut wird, um dabei eine kostengünstige Anpassung an verschiedene Anwendungsvarianten zu gewährleisten
• die Gleitschuhe sind in vorbestimmten Abständen an einem Fördermittel, z.B. an einem hochkant stehenden Förderband befestigt, das seinerseits um z.B. vier Umlenkwalzen geführt wird, um eine endlose Förderbahn zu bilden, die die Spinnmaschine umfährt
• mindestens einer Umlenkwalze kann ein Antriebsmotor zugeordnet sein, der das Band in einer beliebigen Förderrichtung treibt
• die Peg-Trays können an jeder beliebigen Stelle der Maschine durch eine Führungskufe aus ihren Greifern in eine Pufferstrecke gelenkt werden
• aus der Entladepufferstrecke können die Peg-Trays sequentiell an verschiedene Aufnehmer abgegeben werden, z.B. an eine Spulmaschine, einen Peg-Tray-Wagen, eine weitere Förderbahn
• die leeren Greifer werden an einer Einschleusestelle aus einer Ladepufferstrecke mit Peg-Trays geladen, wobei ein Peg-Tray ungehindert aus der Pufferstrecke in die Einschleusestelle weiterlaufen kann, sobald das ihm vorangehende Peg-Tray von einem Greifer aufgenommen und der Förderbahn entlang weiterbewegt wird.
• die Uebernahme eines Peg-Trays an der Einschleusestelle erfolgt selbsttätig durch das Vorbeibewegen eines Greifers durch die besondere Gestaltung des Greifers und der Führungskufen an der Einschleusestelle.
• die Sensorik an den Pufferstrecken sichert ab, dass kein Peg-Tray abgegeben wird, wenn die Entladestrecke voll ist, und dass beim Laden kein Greifer leergelassen wird, wozu wenn notwendig Förderstopps eingeschaltet werden
• der Bandantrieb ist z.B. frequenzgesteuert, um eine variable Fördergeschwindigkeit zu ermöglichen. In Abhängigkeit von den Pufferzuständen kann die Fördergeschwindigkeit angepasst werden, um Stopps möglichst zu vermeiden. Mit Vorteil kann auch ein Inverterantrieb für das Fördermittel eingesetzt werden.

The ring spinning machine thus comprises a peg tray conveyor system with the following features:

• the peg trays slide on an uninterrupted sliding surface or several adjoining surfaces
• side guides can be dispensed with at least partially, since each peg tray is picked up and guided by its own fork-shaped gripper
• at least some of the grippers are each connected to their own sliding shoe, which runs on a guide profile, for example below the sliding surface of the machine side
• each gripper can also carry a clipboard spigot, which takes up an empty tube during the doffing process and thereby eliminates the need for a clipboard in the machine itself
• the gripper, pin and sliding block together form a driver unit which is built modularly from these three or at least two separately shaped elements, in order to ensure an inexpensive adaptation to different application variants
• the slide shoes are attached at predetermined intervals to a conveyor, for example on an upright conveyor belt, which in turn is guided, for example, around four deflecting rollers, in order to form an endless conveyor track which bypasses the spinning machine
• At least one deflection roller can be assigned a drive motor which drives the belt in any direction of conveyance
• The peg trays can be steered from their grippers into a buffer section at any point on the machine using a guide skid
• The peg trays can be delivered sequentially from the unloading buffer line to various pickups, for example to a winding machine, a peg tray carriage, or a further conveyor track
• the empty grippers are loaded with peg trays from a loading buffer section at a sluice point, a peg tray being able to continue unimpeded from the buffer line into the sluice point as soon as the peg tray preceding it is picked up by a gripper and moved along the conveyor track.
• A peg tray is automatically taken over at the entry point by moving one Gripper due to the special design of the gripper and the guide runners at the entry point.
• The sensors on the buffer sections ensure that no peg tray is released when the unloading section is full, and that no gripper is left empty during loading, which is why conveyor stops are activated if necessary
• the belt drive is frequency controlled, for example, to enable a variable conveying speed. Depending on the buffer conditions, the conveying speed can be adjusted in order to avoid stops as far as possible. An inverter drive can also advantageously be used for the conveying means.

Fig. 1

eine schematische Draufsicht einer mit einer Spulmaschine kombinierten Ringspinnmaschine mit einem um zwei auf unterschiedlichen Maschinenseiten angeordneten Spinnstellengruppen herumgeführten Endlosförderer in Form eines vertikal angeordneten flexiblen Stahlbandes nach der deutschen Patentanmeldung 40 10 730,

Fig. 2

einen vergrösserten Schnitt senkrecht zur Maschinenlängsrichtung durch die Ringspinnmaschine nach Fig. 1 im Bereich des Förderbandes und der Tragschiene für die Zapfenschlitten,

Fig. 3

eine schematische Darstellung ähnlich Fig. 1, und zwar gemäss der deutschen Patentanmeldung 4113092.8,

Fig. 7

eine schematische Darstellung eines Endteils einer Maschine zur Erklärung der Pufferanordnungen und der den Puffern zugeordneten Sensorik, wobei Fig. 7A ein Detail zeigt, und

Fig. 8, 9 und 10

schematische Darstellungen zur Erklärung von verschiedenen Weiterentwicklungen einer Anordnung nach Fig. 7 und 7A.

Show it

Fig. 1

1 shows a schematic plan view of a ring spinning machine combined with a winding machine with an endless conveyor in the form of a vertically arranged flexible steel belt, which is guided around two spinning station groups arranged on different machine sides, according to German patent application 40 10 730,

Fig. 2

2 shows an enlarged section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the machine through the ring spinning machine according to FIG. 1 in the region of the conveyor belt and the support rail for the trunnion slide,

Fig. 3

2 shows a schematic illustration similar to FIG. 1, namely according to German patent application 4113092.8,

Fig. 7

a schematic representation of an end part of a Machine for explaining the buffer arrangements and the sensor system associated with the buffers, FIG. 7A showing a detail, and

8, 9 and 10

schematic representations for explaining various further developments of an arrangement according to FIGS. 7 and 7A.

According to FIG. 1, a ring spinning machine 27 has, on opposite machine sides, spinning station groups 12a and 12b running parallel to each other, each of which consists of spinning stations 11a, 11b, 11c, 11d, 11e, 11f, 11g, 11h and 11i, 11k, 11l, only indicated schematically. 11m, 11n, 11o, 11p and 11q exist. The same possible distance between spinning positions is designated by 24. Further details of the ring spinning machine 27, in particular the machine heads, are not shown because the arrangements in question are customary and known.

An endless conveyor 17 in the form of a vertically extending steel belt is guided around the two spinning unit groups 12a, 12b and is placed around the deflecting rollers 39, 40, 41, 42 with a vertical axis at the two ends of the spinning unit groups 12a, 12b running parallel and in alignment with one another. There are therefore two long debris extending along a spinning group 12a or 12b and two short debris of the endless conveyor 17 connecting the two spinning unit groups 12a, 12b at the ends.

On the conveyor 17, which is designed as a vertical steel belt, are aligned with the individual spinning positions 11a to 11q which extend outward from the endless conveyor 17, each having a carrier finger 19 'which extends perpendicularly to the conveying direction and has carriers 19a, 19b, 19c, 19d, 19e, 19f, 19g , 19h or 19i, 19k, 19l, 19m, 19n, 19o, 19p and 19q attached. Immediately next to and below the endless conveyor 17 extends in the region of the spinning unit groups 12a, 12b a horizontal support rail 22 which is also guided around the left end of the ring spinning machine 27 parallel to the endless conveyor 17 in order to establish a transport connection between the two sides of the ring spinning machine.

On the mounting rail 22 are arranged one behind the other at a distance in contact with the driver fingers 19 'of the driver 19a to 19h or 19i to 19q trunnion slide 18, which according to FIG. 2 consist of a circular disc-shaped sliding body 44 and a sleeve pin 13 arranged vertically thereon, which consist of Plastic are preferably made in one piece, and preferably in the region of a widened foot 13 'arranged between the sleeve pin 13 and the sliding body 44' are engaged by the drivers 19.

On both sides of the machine are shown in Fig. 1 dashed sleeve exchange devices 14, which can be designed as in classic doffers and are used to remove 11 full sleeves (cops) from the spindles of the spinning stations and instead place empty sleeves 16 on the spindles, which by means of the Endless conveyor 17 have been brought up to the individual spinning stations 11.

The deflecting rollers 41, 42 are connected to one another by a tensioning beam 47 which is movable in the direction of the double arrows in the longitudinal direction of the machine and which is set by a tensioning device 48, which is supported on the machine frame, under a pre-tensioning tensioning the endless conveyor 17.

At a suitable point, for example between the deflecting rollers 39, 40, a cleaning station with blowing or suction nozzles and / or brushes can be provided in a manner not shown in order to clean the carriers 19 and the conveyor belt 17 of fiber fly.

Furthermore, a cleaning element, for example in the form of a cleaning disk, can be fastened at any point on the endless conveyor 17, which is not already occupied by drivers 19, which slides along the carrier rail 22 when the endless conveyor 17 rotates and thereby cleans it. Such a cleaning element can be provided in all embodiments of the invention.

At the end of the spinning unit groups 12a, 12b facing away from the tensioning beam 47, buffer sections 28, 29 formed by conveyor belts 34, 35 are provided in alignment with the sections of the support rails 22 running along the spinning units 11, to which a winding machine 26 with guide rails 30, which is only schematically indicated, is attached and winding units 31 connects. The number of winding units 31 is at least one order of magnitude smaller than the number of spinning units 11.

In the area of the transition from the upper support rail 22 in FIG. 1 to the conveyor belt 34 directly adjoining the support rail 22, a deflector 36 is provided, which grasps the pin slides 18 in the region of the deflection roller 39 and separates them from the drivers 19 guided around the deflection roller 39 , so that they reach the conveyor belt 34 beginning in the region of the deflection roller 39.

In front of the lower deflection roller 40 in FIG. 1, a conveyor belt 35 is likewise arranged, which first leads to the slide carriage 18 equipped with empty sleeves 16 to a stop 37, which is briefly withdrawn by means of a drive device 50 controlled by a light barrier 49 to release the foremost journal slide 18 can. The conveyor belts 34, 35 are driven in a controlled manner at times or continuously during a sleeve changing process.

At the front end of the conveyor belt 35, the support rail 22 associated with the spinning station group 12a is connected, so that the pin carriage 18, released from the holding stop 37 and equipped with empty sleeves 16, is pushed from the conveyor belt 35 onto the stationary support rail 22 and gripped there by the driver finger 45 of a driver 19 can be.

At the beginning and end of each conveyor belt 34, 35, light barriers 51, 52, 53, 54 are provided, which serve to determine the presence or absence of trunnion slides 18 at the relevant point and accordingly the mode of operation of the transport devices of the ring spinning machine 27 and the Control winding machine 26.

At the front end of the conveyor belt 34, a further mechanically retractable and extendable stop 55 is provided, which is temporarily withdrawn when the winding machine 26 has a corresponding full-sleeve requirement in order to allow a predetermined number of full-sleeves 15 to pass to the winding machine 26.

The described combination of a ring spinning machine with a winding machine works as follows:
In the position shown in FIG. 1, in front of each spinning station 11 there is a journal slide 18 equipped with an empty sleeve 16. As soon as the sleeves arranged on the spindles of the spinning stations 11 are fully spooled with yarn, the empty sleeves 16 located on the individual journal carriages 18 are replaced by the The sleeve changing device 14 is lifted off the support pin 13, and the full sleeves (cops) 15 located on the spindles of the spinning positions are lifted off and exchanged for the empty sleeves 16. The full sleeves 15 arrive on the support pin 13 of the associated pin slide 18. Required for the sleeve replacement Intermediate pins are not shown in FIG. 1 for the sake of clarity.

The positioning of the trunnion carriage or trunnion relative to the sleeve changing device is achieved during the cop / sleeve changing process by moving the drivers back and forth by means of the conveying means.

As soon as the exchange of full sleeves 15 and empty sleeves 16 has taken place, the spinning process on the ring spinning machine 27 is resumed, and the endless conveyor 17 is started in the direction of the arrow, whereupon the full sleeves 15 are successively pushed onto the conveyor belt 34 of the buffer zone by the deflector 36 28 are handed over. At the other end of the conveyor belt 34, the winding machine 30 calls up the required number of full tubes 15 in order to produce the large bobbin at the winding stations 31.

From the guide rail 30 of the winding machine 26, the empty-wound empty tubes with the journal carriages 18 carrying them are placed on the conveyor belt 35 of the buffer line 29, wherein they are successively conveyed to the stop 37. In this way, as well as on the conveyor belt 34, a series of pin carriages 18 lying directly against one another is created, which represent a reserve for the transfer to the endless conveyor 17.

As soon as a driver 19 with driver finger 19 'comes into the position shown in dashed lines in FIG. 1 directly in front of the deflection roller 40, the light barrier 49 via the control line 49' indicated by dashed lines and the drive device 50 clears the way for the foremost journal slide 18 by the Holding stop 37 is briefly withdrawn. Thereupon, the conveyor belt 35 displaces this peg carriage into the one indicated by dashed lines in FIG. 1 Position 18 ′. Here the pin carriage is already on the stationary support rail 22. It now waits until the driver finger 19 'of the driver 19 grasps it and conveys it along the support rail 22 to the associated spinning position of the spinning stations 11a to 11h or 11i to 11q.

The support rail 22 also has a lateral guide 56 in order to avoid lateral deflection of the pin slides 18.

Since the drivers 19 are positioned on the endless conveyor 17 exactly in relation to the individual spinning stations 11 in the sleeve change position shown in FIG. 1, the journal carriages 18 carried by them and thus the supporting journals 13 attached to the journal carriages 18 also align exactly with the individual spinning stations 11 aligned. The initially non-existent alignment is produced at the transition from conveyor belt 35 to carrier rail 22, while it is deliberately abandoned again at the transition of the full sleeves 15 from upper carrier rail 22 to conveyor belt 34, since the cycle of winder 26 is now changed again.

According to FIG. 2, a guide rail 121 with two lower surfaces 107, 108 is arranged on the machine frame 104 within an upper recess 111, which engages with a holding projection 106 under a guide rail 105 of the machine frame 104 and is pressed into the holding recess at 109 by a clamping strip 110 becomes where it is set in a precisely defined position relative to the machine frame 104. The terminal block 110 is fixed to the machine frame by means of screws 112.

The guide rail 121, which is designed as a hollow profile, furthermore has a guide projection 97 which extends backwards and has curved upper and lower guide surfaces 95, 96 which are formed on vertically spaced guide beads 98, 99 which extend in the longitudinal direction of the machine, and is structurally combined with the mounting rail 22 which slopes downwards at an angle on the top and on which a pin carriage 18 is shown, which is shown in dash-dot lines and which is between the pin 13 and the sliding body 44 still has a slightly wider than the pin 13 foot 13 ', which is engaged by a driver finger 19'. The driver finger 19 'is connected via a holding arm 95 to the block-shaped driver 19 which is fastened with fastening means 113 to the vertical conveyor belt 17. From the opposite side, the foot 13 'is acted upon by a jaw 90 which is fastened via a leaf spring 91 to the holding arm 95 or directly to the driver 119; as a result, the pin slides 18 are also guided laterally, and the side guide 56 (FIG. 1) is not required.

In its front area, the driver 19, which is preferably made of plastic, has a guide recess 103 which extends in the longitudinal direction of the machine and which is delimited at the top and bottom by mating surfaces 101, 102 which engage on correspondingly curved resilient tongues 93, 94 are formed. The guide surfaces 95, 96 are complementary to the counter surfaces 101, 102 in the manner shown in FIG. 2 rounded.

In this way, the driver 19 is aligned relative to the machine frame 104 precisely and securely and can only be displaced in the sliding fit in the longitudinal direction of the machine, which is perpendicular to the plane of the drawing in FIG. 2. When the conveyor belt 17, which itself is not guided except on the deflection rollers, perpendicular to the plane of the drawing in FIG. 2, the driver 19 becomes corresponding displaced and slides in the longitudinal direction of the machine on the guide rail 121. The driver finger 19 'takes the pin carriage 18, which slides along the support rail 22. The jaw 90 prevents slipping off the flat mounting rail 22.

Due to the guidance of the driver 19 on the guide rail 121, the conveyor belt 17 is also appropriately guided by the latter, for which no special guide means engaging directly on it are provided.

It is particularly advantageous that the guide projection 97 with the guide surfaces 95, 96 is located below the mounting rail 22 next to the fastening points 105, 106, 107, 109. It is also expedient for the guide projection 97 to be approximately at the same height as the conveyor belt 17, so that there is only a comparatively thin material block of the driver 119 in between.

Another advantage is that the conveyor belt 17 and the surfaces 95, 96, 101, 102 are protected from fiber fly and contamination and are not touched by the traveling blower.

3 now schematically shows a first simplification of the arrangement shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, specifically at the entry point 33 (FIG. 1). The new arrangement comprises two guide runners 150, 152, which each cover an edge part of the conveyor belt 35 (see also FIG. 1), but leave an insertion channel 154 between them, which receives the pin feet 13 '(FIG. 2) while the sliding bodies 44 lie on the conveyor belt.

At point 33, the insertion channel 154 opens into the carrier's path, of which two grippers 156, 158 schematically are indicated. The arrow P shows the direction of movement of the drivers (grippers). The endless conveyor 17 (FIG. 1) is unchanged and is therefore not shown in FIG. 3. The gripper 158 at the entry point is only indicated by dashed lines in order to allow the redesign of the arrangement to appear more clearly at this point.

An L-shaped part 160 is fastened to the spinning machine in such a way that when the carrier enters the raceway, the sliding body 44 of the journal slide abuts against both legs 162, 164 of part 160 and is prevented from slipping prematurely by a retaining lug 166 on leg 164 the direction of conveyance is maintained. The leg 164 serves here as a stop which limits the penetration of the trunnion into the raceway of the drivers.

The grippers 156, 158 shown are both fork-shaped, each with a shorter finger 168 and a longer finger 170 preceding in the direction of movement. The point defined by the stop 164 (the "standby point") of the newly entered pin slide is such as compared to the raceway Carrier chosen that the shorter finger 168 is guided past when moving the sluice point above the sliding body 44 and at the pin foot 13 'of the available pin slide. The subsequent longer finger 170, on the other hand, abuts the pin foot 13 'and pushes the pin slide in the conveying direction onto the mounting rail 22 (see also FIG. 1).

The extension of the guide skid 150 prevents the journal slide from sliding away on the curve of the mounting rail 22. On the straight section of the mounting rail 22, however, no lateral guide is provided for the trunnion slide, but each trunnion slide is to be gripped by the gripper assigned to it and held in such a way that it can be positioned along the mounting rail with respect to its spinning position by positioning its gripper. Each pair of fingers 168, 170 therefore forms a receiving pocket 174 for the cone 13 'of the cone to be conveyed, the fingers 168, 170 having to be spread slightly to allow access of the cone 13' to this pocket 174. The gripper must accordingly be elastically deformable.

A snap-in link 176 is fixed on the runner extension 172, the position of this link 176 relative to the carrier's career can be adjusted. The sliding body 44 of a newly inserted pin slide abuts against this backdrop, which tapers the movement space of the pin slide in such a way that the pin slide can only continue to the straight distance of the mounting rail 22 when its pin foot 13 'spreads the finger 168, 170 and into the pocket 174 reached. Thereafter, the pin base 13 'is held in this pocket 174 until the pin slide is pushed out of the raceway again by the deflector 36 (FIG. 1). The driving force exerted by the belt 17 on the driver is sufficient to effect the required spreading of the fingers of the gripper.

It can be seen from the description (FIG. 3) that the holding stop 37 (FIG. 1) is now superfluous and is preferably omitted. When a peg sled is in the standby position, it blocks the mouth of the canal for subsequent peg sleds, which then line up along the canal. Since a peg slide can only be carried by the longer finger 170 in the standby position and is initially held back by the retaining lug 166 against premature further movement, a peg slide cannot get between two drivers.

The invention relates to the control of the drive for the trolley carriage system. A ring spinning machine can have more than a thousand spinning positions. Accordingly, the conveyor system has to clear more than a thousand heads and replace them with empty tubes in a given period of time, namely from the completion of a doffing process to the initiation of the next doffing process.

Due to friction between the sliding body 44 and the mounting rail 22, the conveyor system comes to a standstill as soon as the driving force is interrupted. It is therefore not necessary to brake the system when stopping. However, energy is therefore all the more necessary to set the conveyor system in motion, and this acceleration energy must be transmitted via belt 17. The belt tensioning device 48 must be arranged in such a way that the spring load indicated in FIG. 1 takes effect when the system is set to a predetermined tension, but that the spring load no longer acts on the belt during operation. Otherwise the spring action will change each time the conveying speed is changed.

After the conveyor system has started up, it is undesirable to switch on a stop or even accept major speed changes before clearing is finished. Under certain circumstances, a stop is still unavoidable, in particular if continuing to drive would result in a pocket 174 (FIG. 3) not being occupied due to the lack of a peg slide in the standby position. A suitable sensor system, which will be described in more detail below, must cause the gripper to stop while the still unoccupied gripper is in front of the entry point, so that the newly inserted trolley carriage is picked up by the next unoccupied gripper when it is restarted.

Any non-continuous feeding of the spinning machine with trunnion slides therefore leads to intermittent operation with a corresponding load on the elements of this system. The buffer section 29 (FIG. 1) in the inlet should compensate or smooth at least one uneven supply in order to avoid interruptions as far as possible.

1, a further buffer zone 28 is provided in the outlet, the occupation of this buffer zone 28 being influenced by the spinning machine control system via the stop 55. In a machine network (spinning machine-winding machine) according to FIG. 1, such a stop in the spinning machine will prove to be superfluous, since the winding machine will itself control access to its own transport system. In such a case, the controlled stop in the spinning machine is preferably omitted. The same applies to the combination with any other automatic or semi-automatic transport system that includes its own access control. The stop 55 is necessary when the delivery point of the spinning machine remains temporarily unoccupied or unmonitored.

Provided that the spinning machine is supplied with a sufficient number of trunnion slides with empty sleeves to avoid empty spaces on the conveyor system of the spinning machine, it can or must adapt to the demand of the system connected to it. This can also require the conveyor system to be stopped in the spinning machine if the winding machine or the transport system taking over cannot take up any further journal slides and all points of the buffer section 28 are already occupied. It is therefore desirable to keep the number of such stops to a minimum, with the spinning machine possibly not receiving any information regarding the demand from the next system.

In the spinning machine, fluctuations in demand or fluctuations in supply can be compensated for in that there are sufficiently long buffer sections 28, 29 and / or an adaptation of the conveying speed of the trolley carriage conveyor system within the spinning machine, i.e. under the control of the control of the spinning machine or its conveyor system is possible. However, a long buffer section requires a corresponding amount of space, so that the two buffer sections often have to be kept short, which increases the importance of the conveyor speed regulation accordingly.

The size of a buffer can be printed out by the number of memory locations, i.e. the number of trunnion slides that can be stored in the buffer. The theoretically minimum number of storage locations to avoid stops by adapting the conveying speed is thus two, at least in the supply buffer 29. However, it is desirable to provide at least three storage locations in each buffer section 28, 29.

7 now shows schematically a spinning machine with a sensor system that is suitable for use even with buffer sections of the minimum size. The machine comprises a head part 210, foot part 212 and intermediate spinning positions, which are designated by 214. The peg tray or tenon carriage conveyor is designated 216 and it conveys clockwise. The discharge point is designated 218, the entry point 220.

The spinning machine is assigned to an unloading station 222 and a loading station 224. These stations each contain a buffer section, similar to the buffer sections 28, 29 of FIG. 1, but with, for example, only three storage locations per buffer section. The unloading station 222 is an outlet 226, the loading station 224 assigned an input 228. The "sink" that takes trunnion slides at exit 226 and the "source" that delivers trunnion slides at entrance 228 are not shown since they are not essential to the invention.

The unloading station 222 and the loading station 224 each comprise a conveying means, e.g. a conveyor belt 34, 35 (FIG. 1), each with a drive (not shown), which is switched on or off by the machine controller (not shown). When turned on, the drive runs at a predetermined speed that results in a trolley carriage speed that is higher than the maximum speed generated by belt 216.

The sensors include e.g. seven sensors, e.g. Light barriers that deliver their output signals to the machine control, not shown. The sensor S1 indicates whether a peg carriage is ready for discharge at the discharge point. The sensor S2 indicates whether a driver is ready at the entry point for receiving a trunnion slide. The sensor S3 indicates whether the run-out buffer section has a storage space which can take over the next journal slide from the belt 216. This arrangement is described in more detail below with reference to FIG. 7A.

The other sensors S4 to S7 are provided on the inlet buffer section. The sensor S4 indicates whether a trunnion slide is ready in the first storage location, that is to say ready for sluicing into the standby position, which was described in connection with FIG. 3. The standby itself is not considered storage space. It is assumed that if there is a trunnion slide in the first storage location, there must be a trunnion slide when it is taken over by the conveyor system of the machine. The sensor S5 is mounted just above the sensor S4 and indicates whether the trunnion carriage carries an empty sleeve in the first storage space. The absence of an empty sleeve also requires the machine's conveyor system to be stopped, but in this case an alarm must also be triggered so that the malfunction can be remedied by the operator. The absence of the empty tube is therefore more of a defective delivery and not a lack of supply capability.

Sensor S6 indicates whether a middle storage space in the entry buffer is free or occupied, and sensor S7 indicates whether the last storage space in the same buffer is free or occupied. If there are only three memory locations in the run-in buffer, sensor S7 is assigned to the third memory location and sensor S6 can be omitted.

The output signal of the sensor S7 is sent either directly or via the machine control to the "source" in order to temporarily prevent further delivery with trunnion slides. In the case of a larger buffer section (6 to 10 storage spaces), it is worth canceling the interruption in delivery when the middle storage space allocated to sensor S6 becomes free again. In the case of a smaller load buffer (3 or 4 storage locations), this no longer makes sense - delivery will only be resumed when sensor S4 reports that the first storage location in the buffer is no longer occupied.

A buffer monitoring according to FIG. 7 inevitably leads to occasional conveyor stops in the ring spinning machine - the shorter the buffer section, the more frequent the stops will be. 7A schematically shows the conditions at the discharge points 218 for a short buffer section with only three storage locations.

FIG. 7A schematically shows a short conveyor belt 34 (see also FIG. 1) which serves as a run-out buffer with three storage locations, all three locations being occupied by trunnion slides 240, 242, 244 in the illustration. Guide runners (not shown) can be arranged above the belt 34 in order to form an outlet channel, similar to the inlet channel 154 (FIG. 3). The occupancy of the first memory location by the pin carriage 240 is reported to a controller by a light barrier S3.

The next following pin slide 246 is still in its driver gripper 159 (see FIG. 3) and runs to the discharge point in the direction of conveyance P, since the conveyor system has not yet been switched off. The guide skid (the deflector) is indicated by 36 (cf. FIG. 1), which will force the pin slide 246 out of the gripper 159 into the first storage space as the conveyor system continues to run. The light barrier (sensor) S1 reports to the control system the presence of the pin slide 246 with the pin slide 246 assigned to it in its touch field.

When the latter signal is received from sensor S1, the controller uses the signal from sensor S3 to determine that the first storage space is still occupied and accordingly switches off the conveyor system. The sensor S1 is positioned opposite the guide skid 248 and the buffer belt 34 in such a way that the pin carriage 246 cannot be conveyed further than the dashed position due to the reaction or braking time after passing the sensor S1, ie until it touches the pent-up pin carriage 240, without risking a blockage of the conveyor system. The cone carriage 246 is only further conveyed when the sensor S3 reports that the first storage space is free again.

The sensors S2, S4 (FIG. 7) perform the corresponding function at the entry point 220 (cf. FIG. 3). The sensor S4 determines whether the storage space in front of the standby position is occupied or not; in FIG. 3 this storage space is free. The sensor S2, not shown in FIG. 3, determines whether a driver is still approaching the entry point.

If sensor S2 reports that another driver is approaching the entry point while sensor S4 is still reporting that the memory location assigned to it is unoccupied, the control system switches on a conveyor stop at a time when the preceding tenon carriage is still moving is in the standby position and blocks access to this point for a subsequent peg slide. Accordingly, FIG. 3 roughly represents the state at the entry point when a conveyor is stopped. The system is only started again when sensor S4 reports that a further peg carriage has arrived and a signal is received from sensor S5 that this peg carriage carries an empty tube.

With a fresh start, after a doffing cycle, no carrier runs past the infeed point because the length of the belt, which is at the end of the machine when doffing, does not carry any carriers. If it should happen that the standby point is still empty when the first driver approaches, a conveyor stop must be activated in such a way that the first arriving trolley can enter the standby point unhindered; the longer finger 170 (FIG. 3) of the first gripper must not block the mouth of the inlet channel when it stops.

A delivery stop triggered by the S7 sensor due to the loading buffer section becoming full means that there is an inhibition of clearing in the connected transport system. If the latter System can occasionally accept such an inhibition, no further action needs to be taken in the ring spinning machine. However, where this is not the case, the conveyor speed of the ring spinning machine should be increased at short notice after the delivery is stopped in order to clear the jam in the connected system, provided that there is no jam in the unloading buffer section. For this reason, it is desirable to provide the trunnion sled conveyor system of the ring spinning machine with a drive that can operate at a variable speed.

However, it is also desirable to adapt the conveying speed to the behavior of the connected system, in order to avoid conveyor stops of the ring spinning machine as much as possible. Behavior here means the demand for spools or the supply of sleeves.

If signals are received from the connected system that contain the required information, then nothing else needs to be done in the ring spinning machine than to control the conveying speed according to the demand / supply signal. In the event that such signals are not available, it is desirable to determine the effective demand or the effective supply from the changes in the states of the unloading or loading buffer sections and to adapt the conveying speed of the ring spinning machine accordingly.

In the case of longer buffer sections, as will be described below with reference to FIG. 8, it is possible to scan the current filling level of the buffer section and to vary the conveying speed in such a way that a target filling state is maintained as far as possible. With shorter buffer sections, it is not possible to work according to FIG. 8. In the latter case, however, it can be concluded, for example, from a stop forced in the discharge station that the current conveying speed is too high, so that a predetermined reduction can be switched on. If, on the other hand, work is carried out over a predetermined period without a stop, it can be concluded that a higher conveying speed is possible, so that the corresponding change can be triggered by the control. At the same time, a timer is set so that it can be checked whether an increase can be triggered again after the specified period because the connected system has not been overloaded and therefore the discharge buffer has not been filled. The period should be selected depending on the buffer size - the smaller the buffer, the shorter the period. A period of 5 to 6 seconds with a nominal capacity of the connected system of 30 coils per minute is suitable for a buffer with only three storage locations. After each doff cycle, either a relatively high or a relatively low predetermined initial speed can be started, after which the system automatically searches for the ideal speed and levels it thereon. A system of this type is described in detail in our German patent application No. P 41 13 090.1.

Fig. 8 shows a further variant, which can only be used with longer buffer sections. The diagram schematically shows an unloading buffer section 230 with twenty storage locations, of which ten storage locations are occupied in the state shown (circles marked with an X) and ten are still free (circles without X), a further journal carriage 232 being delivered and soon being at the rear End of the row. If only the foremost peg carriage 234 is picked up by the connected system up to this point in time, the length of the row remains constant - otherwise the row either becomes shorter (pick-up speed of the "sink" is greater than the delivery speed) of the trolley carriage system) or longer (take-up speed of the "sink" lower than the delivery speed of the trolley carriage system).

The cast e.g. of the tenth storage space can be determined by a sensor Sm and can e.g. be defined as a target fill state of the buffer; another storage location can also be selected as the target filling state, but this should not be close to one end of the buffer section or to the other. A momentary extension or shortening of the row can e.g. can be determined by two further sensors Sgl or Sgk, and the output signals of these sensors can be used to adapt the conveying speed of the tenon carriage transport system within the ring spinning machine.

8 schematically shows another variant which is based on the counting of the peg slides passing by. For this purpose, a counter 236 (shown in dashed lines) e.g. be provided at the end of the buffer line. The counter delivers a signal to the machine control system, which indicates the number of tenon slides delivered per specified unit of time (e.g. 10 to 20 seconds), whereby the controller triggers a corresponding adjustment of the tenon carriage speed in the spinning machine. In this case, no attempt is made to maintain a target fill level, but there are sufficient storage spaces in the buffer to accommodate temporary fluctuations.

In all variants according to FIG. 8, it is also necessary to provide the sensor S3, which switches on a delivery stop if the buffer is filled up despite all these measures.

Fig. 9 shows another solution which can reduce the load on the system driven by the belt 17. The Reference numeral 250 indicates the conveyor belt of the discharge buffer section, which in this case is moved by a frequency-controlled motor 252, which can drive the belt at variable speed in the conveying direction F between the discharge point 218 and delivery point 226. A counter 254 similar to the counter 236 (Fig. 8) is provided at the delivery point 226 and provides a signal to the controller 256 which controls the motor 252 to control the conveying speed within the buffer line.

At a predetermined, constant conveying speed of the belt 17, the distance between adjacent peg carriages on the belt 250 changes when the conveying speed of this belt is changed, as is indicated schematically by dashed peg carriages 258 between the fully extended peg carriages 260. Under certain circumstances, all fluctuations in the intake of the system connected to the delivery point 226 can be compensated for by adjusting the conveying speed in the unloading buffer. However, it is advisable to design the carrier conveyor system with a variable speed drive, so that adjustments can also be made here if the buffer is no longer able to meet a higher demand or to absorb a strong decrease in demand.

It is a further advantage of a system according to FIG. 9 that the loading route can be carried out similarly but independently, so that the conditions in the unloading route can largely be decoupled from the conditions in the loading route.

A prerequisite for this solution is a sufficiently long buffer section. This can hardly be achieved with an arrangement according to FIG. 7, since the space conditions at the front of the machine are normally narrowly limited (see FIG. 7A).

In Swiss patent application No. 2971/90 dated June 12, 1990, however, a different machine arrangement is shown, according to which the driver conveyor belt is deflected before the machine foot 212, so that the carrier's career extends between the spinning positions 214 and the machine foot 212. Additional conveyor belts extending in the longitudinal direction of the machine and running past the machine foot 212 are provided, which can serve as buffer sections or as partial buffer sections and thereby ensure a sufficient length of each buffer section.

The evaluation of the signals from a counter 254 according to FIG. 9 could possibly cause problems. Instead of counting, the distance between adjacent peg slides could be scanned, but problems could also arise here when piling the peg slides.

Fig. 10 shows another variant that could avoid such problems. In this case, the buffer section is divided into a first section 262, variable conveying speed, and a second section (“accumulation section”) 264 of constant, relatively high conveying speed. It is provided on the storage section 264 that the cone slides supplied by the section 262 accumulate, like the stored cone slides of a variant according to FIG. 8. With a sensor 266 it can now be determined whether a predetermined storage space on the storage section 264 is occupied or not, and the conveyor speed of leg 262 can be changed by controller 256 above variable speed drive 252. The reference numeral 268 indicates a drive motor for the accumulation section 264, which is also controlled by the controller 256, in order to set the conveying speed of the accumulation section so high that the accumulation of the pin slides conveyed here is ensured.

The measures for adapting the conveying speed as a function of the absorption capacity or delivery capability of the connected system are not restricted for use in combination with a conveyor system which comprises an endless traction device with a single direction of movement in the machine. So-called peg tray conveyor systems are known, which are based on a back and forth movement of the drive elements. Such systems are generally subject to a stop-start operation, but by adapting these systems to their "environment" high delivery loads and larger buffer distances can be avoided.

Where both the infeed and the outfeed are monitored and the conditions in both buffers influence an individual conveying speed, the preferred procedure is to adapt the conveying speed to the conditions in the unloading buffer, provided that one or more conditions in the loading buffer are met and that a funding stop is activated if the condition or a condition in the load buffer is no longer fulfilled, e.g. such that an empty space in the funding system would arise if funding continued.

As indicated in FIG. 7, the sensors S4, S5, S6, S7 ... can be connected to a central control ST which, among other things, regulates the speed of the conveying means 17. The sensors S6 or S7 can also be used to determine the flow of the carriers 18 per unit of time.

Claims (12)

1. A method for controlling a spinning machine whose spinning positions (11) are serviced by a a bobbin or bobbin tube conveying system which comprises individual bobbin or tube carriers (18) and which is provided with a conveying means (17) along the spinning positions (11), whereby the conveying means comprises a conveying track (121) which extends between the working positions of the carriers and a feed and a discharge position (33 and 32) and a buffer (28, 29) is provided downstream of each feed and discharge position (33 and 32), characterized in that the filling conditions in at least one buffer (28, 29) with sensors (S4, S5, S6, S7) and the filling and delivery capabilities of a connected system (26 and 27) are determined by means of the control unit (ST) of the spinning machine or the conveying means (17) and that the control unit (ST) is able to adapt in a respective variable way the conveying speed of the conveying means (17) and/or in the respective buffer (28, 29), in particular a loading buffer (29) at the feed position (33) or a discharging buffer (28) at the discharging position (32).
2. A method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that a sensor (S3) determines in a discharge buffer (28) whether the storage place adjacent to the conveying track is engaged or free when a sensor (S1) allocated to the conveying track (121) determines that a carrier (19) approaches the discharging position (32).
3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a sensor (S4) determines in the loading buffer (29) whether the storage place adjacent to the conveying track (121) is engaged or free when a sensor (S2) allocated to the conveying track (121) determines that a carrier (19) approaches the feed position (33).
4. A method as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in a buffer (28, 29) with more than three storage places sensors (S6, S7) determine the engagement or non-engagement of a middle storage place.
5. A method as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that sensors (S6, S7, ST) determine the flow of the carriers (18) per unit of time in a buffer (28, 29).
6. A method as claimed in one of the claims 1 to 56, characterized in that the control unit (ST) reacts to the conditions in the two buffers (28, 29) and makes adjustments to the conveying speed depending on the conditions in the unloading buffer (28), this being under the prerequisite that the predetermined conditions in the loading buffer (29) are met, with a stop in the conveyance being activated when the latter condition is no longer met.
7. A spinning machine whose spinning positions (11) are serviced by a bobbin or bobbin tube conveying system which comprises individual bobbin or tube carriers (18) and is provided with a conveying means (17) along the spinning positions (11), whereby the conveying means comprises a conveying track (121) which extends between the working positions of the carrier and a feed or discharge position (33 or 32) and a buffer (28, 29) is each provided downstream of the feed or discharge position (33 or 32), characterized in that the control unit (ST) of the spinning machine or the conveying means is provided with sensors (S4, S5, S6, S7,) in order to determine the filling or delivery capabilities of a connected system (26 or 27) on the basis of the filling conditions in at least one buffer (28, 29) and that the control unit (ST) is operatively connected to a controllable, particularly frequency-controlled drive of the conveying means (17).
8. A machine as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that each buffer (28, 29) is arranged as a pile-up track and comprises at least three storage places.
9. A machine as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that a sensor (S3) is arranged at a storage place adjacent to the conveying track in an unloading buffer (28) and that a sensor (S1) allocated to the conveying track (121) is present.
10. A machine as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that a sensor (S4) is provided in the loading buffer (29) in order to determine whether the storage place adjacent to the conveying track (121) is engaged or free and that a sensor (S2) is allocated to the conveying track (121) which determines the approach of a carrier (19) towards the feed position (33).
11. A machine as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that each buffer (28, 29) comprises substantially more than three storage places and sensors are present in order to determine the engagement or non-engagement of a middle storage place.
12. A machine as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that each buffer (28, 29) comprises substantially more than three storage places and sensors (S6, S7, ST) are present in order to determine the flow of the carriers (18) per unit of time.

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