EP4624400A1

EP4624400A1 - Traverse device and yarn winding apparatus

Info

Publication number: EP4624400A1
Application number: EP25157884.5A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Masashi Kawai; Keisuke Okada
Original assignee: TMT Machinery Inc
Current assignee: TMT Machinery Inc
Priority date: 2024-03-26
Filing date: 2025-02-14
Publication date: 2025-10-01
Also published as: JP2025149190A; TW202600441A; CN120698296A

Abstract

An object of the present invention is (i) to make it possible to determine an origin position of the traverse guide and (ii) to prevent the traverse guide from dropping off from a driving belt, with a simple structure.

A traverse device 30 includes a traverse guide 22, an endless belt 35, a traverse motor 32, a first regulating member 37a, and a drop prevention portion 53. The traverse motor 32 is able to change a reciprocal area where the traverse guide 22 reciprocates as long as the reciprocal area is within a movable area TRm, and to move the traverse guide 22 to an attachment-and-detachment position where the traverse guide 22 is attachable to and detachable from the endless belt 35. The first regulating member 37a is arranged to be opposite to the attachment-and-detachment position over a production area TRn in a traverse direction. The drop prevention portion 53 is configured to prevent the traverse guide 22 in contact with the first regulating member 37a from dropping off from the endless belt 35.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a traverse device and a yarn winding apparatus including this traverse device.
Patent Literature 1 ( Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-189359 ) discloses a traverse device configured to traverse a yarn which is a material of a package. To be more specific, the traverse device includes a traverse motor (driving source), a driving belt, and a traverse guide. As the traverse motor causes the driving belt to reciprocate, the traverse guide attached to the driving belt reciprocates within a predetermined area in a predetermined traverse direction. The traverse device further includes two movement regulating members (origin indicating members) used for determining an origin position of reciprocal movement of the traverse guide. These two origin indicating members are placed outside both sides of a normal area where traversing of the yarn in a normal state (i.e., at the time of production of the package) is performed. The origin position is calculated based on location information of the traverse guide in contact with the first origin indicating member and that of the traverse guide in contact with the second origin indicating member.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Although not illustrated in Patent Literature 1, a position near each of the above-described two origin indicating members is an attachment-and-detachment position where the traverse guide is attachable to or detachable from the driving belt. For example, in maintenance, the traverse guide at the attachment-and-detachment position is easily detached from the driving belt. With this arrangement, however, when the traverse guide makes contact with one origin indicating member in order to determine the origin position, the traverse guide may be unintentionally detached from the driving belt by accident. To solve this problem, for example, a lock mechanism may be provided in the traverse guide in order to prevent the traverse guide from dropping off from the driving belt. However, this arrangement causes another problem such as the complex mechanism of the traverse guide, the increase in inertial mass of the traverse guide, etc.
An object of the present invention is (i) to make it possible to determine an origin position of the traverse guide and (ii) to prevent the traverse guide from dropping off from a driving belt, with a simple structure.
According to a first aspect of the invention, a traverse device is configured to traverse a yarn and comprises: a traverse guide configured to guide the yarn; a driving belt to which the traverse guide is attached; a driving source which is able to cause the driving belt to reciprocate in a predetermined traverse direction, which is able to change a reciprocal area where the traverse guide reciprocates in the traverse direction as long as the reciprocal area is within a predetermined movable area, and which is able to move the traverse guide to an attachment-and-detachment position which is outside a production area and where the traverse guide is attachable to and detachable from the driving belt, the production area being the reciprocal area smaller than the movable area; an origin indicating member which is provided for determining an origin position of the traverse guide and which is positioned at a position which is opposite to the attachment-and-detachment position over the production area in the traverse direction and where the origin indicating member can make contact with the traverse guide; and a drop prevention portion configured to prevent the traverse guide in contact with the origin indicating member from dropping off from the driving belt.
According to this aspect, the origin indicating member is arranged to be opposite to the attachment-and-detachment position over the production area in the traverse direction. Typically, the length of the movable area in the traverse direction (movable length) is known in advance based on design information. Therefore, the center position (i.e., the origin) of an area where the traverse guide moves is determined in detail by acquiring information of the position of the traverse guide in contact with the origin indicating member (contact position) by any means. To be more specific, the position of the origin is determined by using information of the contact position and that of the movable length. In this structure, when the traverse guide is brought into contact with the origin indicating member, the traverse guide does not need to move toward the attachment-and-detachment position side. According to this aspect, when the traverse guide is in contact with the origin indicating member, the drop prevention portion prevents the traverse guide from dropping off from the driving belt. These arrangements (i) make it possible to determine the origin position of the traverse guide and (ii) prevent the traverse guide from dropping off from the driving belt, with a simple structure.
According to a second aspect of the invention, the traverse device of the first aspect is arranged such that the drop prevention portion extends at least along the entire length of the production area in the traverse direction.
According to this aspect, the traverse guide is prevented from dropping off from the driving belt not only when the origin position is determined, but also when the traverse guide reciprocates within the production area.
According to a third aspect of the invention, the traverse device of the first or second aspect is arranged such that the driving source includes a servo motor which is able to detect location information regarding the position of the traverse guide in the traverse direction.
According to this aspect, the origin position is determined by using the location information detected by the servo motor. To be more specific, it is determined that the traverse guide makes contact with the origin indicating member when a signal for driving the servo motor is not in consistency with the location information (i.e., when a step-out occurs in the servo motor). It is therefore possible to easily and finely determine the origin position.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, the traverse device of any one of the first to third aspects further comprises a guide rail which is provided at least within the production area in the traverse direction and which is configured to guide the traverse guide. In this regard, the drop prevention portion and the guide rail are integrally formed.
According to this aspect, the guide rail makes it possible to provide a stable track of reciprocal movement of the traverse guide within the production area. With a simple structure, the traverse guide is prevented from dropping off at the time of determination of the origin position, and a stable track of the traverse guide is provided in the production area.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, a yarn winding apparatus comprises: a bobbin holder which extends in a predetermined axial direction and which supports bobbins onto which yarns are respectively wound and which are aligned in the axial direction; and traverse devices which are aligned in the axial direction to correspond to the respective yarns and each of which is the traverse device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects. In this regard, the traverse devices are arranged so that the traverse devices are approachable from one side in a predetermined intersecting direction intersecting with the axial direction, one of the traverse devices is a first traverse device whose end portion on the attachment-and-detachment position side in the traverse direction is provided as a first end portion, another of the traverse devices is a second traverse device which is adjacent to the first traverse device in the traverse direction and whose end portion on the side opposite to the attachment-and-detachment position in the traverse direction is provided as a second end portion, the first end portion is arranged to overlap with the second end portion in the axial direction, and the first end portion is provided on the one side of the second end portion in the intersecting direction.
When (i) the first end portion overlaps with the second end portion in the axial direction and (ii) the first end portion is provided on the other side of the second end portion in the intersecting direction, the second end portion makes it difficult to detach the traverse guide at the attachment-and-detachment position. In this case, when the traverse guide is detached from a traverse device in maintenance, the traverse device needs to be detached from the yarn winding apparatus. According to this aspect, the first end portion is provided on the one side of the second end portion in the intersecting direction, i.e., positioned at a position where an operator can easily approach. With this arrangement, the traverse guide is easily detachable from the traverse device in maintenance without detaching the traverse device from the yarn winding apparatus.
According to a sixth aspect of the invention, the yarn winding apparatus of the fifth aspect further comprises a controller and is arranged such that the driving source includes the servo motor which is able to detect the location information regarding the position of the traverse guide in the traverse direction. The controller is configured to: control the servo motor to move the traverse guide toward a contact position where the traverse guide makes contact with the origin indicating member; determine whether the traverse guide makes contact with the origin indicating member, by using the location information; and by using the location information indicating the contact position and information of length of the movable area given in advance, set a position which is distanced from the contact position by a distance of a predetermined percentage of the length of the movable area in the traverse direction as the origin position.
According to this aspect, the origin position is easily and finely set by the controller.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a profile of a spun yarn take-up machine including each traverse device of an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a part of a yarn winding apparatus.
FIGs. 3(a) and 3(b) show the structure of the traverse device.
FIG. 4(a) is a perspective view of an enlarged end portion of the traverse device on one side in a traverse direction, and FIG. 4(b) shows a main body of a traverse guide.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an enlarged end portion of the traverse device on the other side in the traverse direction.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a determination method of an origin position.
FIGs. 7(a) and 7(b) show a position of the traverse guide at the time of determination of the origin position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following will describe an embodiment of the present invention. For the convenience of explanation, directions shown in FIG. 1 are defined as an up-down direction and a front-rear direction. The up-down direction (up-down direction on the sheet of FIG. 1) is a vertical direction in which the gravity acts. The front-rear direction (left-right direction on the sheet of FIG. 1) is a predetermined direction orthogonal to the up-down direction. The front-rear direction is equivalent to an axial direction of the present invention. A direction orthogonal to both the up-down direction and the front-rear direction (a direction perpendicular to the sheet of FIG. 1) is defined as a left-right direction.

(Spun Yarn Take-Up Machine)

The following will describe a spun yarn take-up machine 1 including traverse devices 30 (described later) of the present embodiment, with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a profile of the spun yarn take-up machine 1.
The spun yarn take-up machine 1 is configured to take up yarns Y spun out from a spinning apparatus 2 and to wind the yarns Y onto the respective bobbins B, so as to form packages P. The spinning apparatus 2 is configured to discharge, e.g., molten polymer which is a material of the yarns Y. The material of the yarns Y is a polyester material such as PET, etc. However, the disclosure is not limited to this. Each yarn Y is, e.g., a mono-filament yarn formed of a single filament. However, the disclosure is not limited to this.
As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the spun yarn take-up machine 1 includes a first godet roller 11, a second godet roller 12, and a yarn winding apparatus 13.
The first godet roller 11 is a roller with an axis substantially parallel to the left-right direction. The first godet roller 11 is provided below, e.g., the spinning apparatus 2. The yarns Y aligned in the left-right direction are wound onto the first godet roller 11. The first godet roller 11 is rotationally driven by an unillustrated motor. With this arrangement, the first godet roller 11 is configured to send the yarns Y to the downstream side in a yarn running direction.
The second godet roller 12 is a roller with an axis substantially parallel to the left-right direction. The second godet roller 12 is placed downstream of the first godet roller 11 in the yarn running direction. The second godet roller 12 is provided above and behind the first godet roller 11. The second godet roller 12 is rotationally driven by an unillustrated motor. With this arrangement, the second godet roller 12 is configured to send the yarns Y to the downstream side in the yarn running direction.
The yarn winding apparatus 13 is able to perform a winding operation in which the packages P are formed by winding the yarns Y onto the respective bobbins B. The yarn winding apparatus 13 is placed downstream of the second godet roller 12 in the yarn running direction. The yarn winding apparatus 13 is provided below the second godet roller 12.

(Yarn Winding Apparatus)

The following will describe the structure of the yarn winding apparatus 13 with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a part of the yarn winding apparatus 13. As shown in FIG. 1, the yarn winding apparatus 13 includes a frame 20, fulcrum guides 21, traverse guides 22, a turret 23, two bobbin holders 24, a contact roller 25, and a controller 26.
The frame 20 is a member to which components of the yarn winding apparatus 13 are attached or in which those are accommodated. The frame 20 includes, e.g., a first frame 20a and a second frame 20b. The first frame 20a extends in, e.g., the up-down direction. The first frame 20a is provided at a rear end portion of the yarn winding apparatus 13. The second frame 20b extends in, e.g., the front-rear direction. The second frame 20b is fixed to, e.g., a front end of an upper end portion of the first frame 20a. For example, a front surface cover 20c (see FIG. 2) is attached to a front end of the second frame 20b.
The fulcrum guides 21 function as fulcrums when the running yarns Y are traversed by the respective traverse guides 22. Each fulcrum guide 21 is configured to guide a yarn Y to the downstream side in the yarn running direction. As shown in FIG. 1, the fulcrum guides 21 are provided for the respective yarns Y. The fulcrum guides 21 are aligned in the front-rear direction.
The traverse guides 22 are provided for the respective yarns Y. The traverse guides 22 are aligned in the front-rear direction. Each traverse guide 22 is configured to reciprocate at least in the front-rear direction. With this arrangement, the yarns Y threaded to the traverse guides 22 are traversed about the fulcrum guides 21. A moving direction of each traverse guide 22 may be tilted with respect to the front-rear direction.
The traverse guides 22 are included in, e.g., the respective traverse devices 30 (see FIG. 3(a)). The traverse devices 30 are aligned in the front-rear direction. The traverse devices 30 are accommodated in, e.g., the second frame 20b. The traverse devices 30 which are adjacent to each other in the front-rear direction may be arranged to partially overlap with each other in the front-rear direction (see FIG. 2). The structure of each traverse device 30 will be detailed later.
The turret 23 is, e.g., a disc-shaped member with an axis substantially parallel to the front-rear direction. The turret 23 is rotationally driven by, e.g., a turret motor 101 (see FIG. 1).
The two bobbin holders 24 (see FIG. 1) are rotatably supported by the turret 23. When viewed in the front-rear direction, the two bobbin holders 24 are arranged to be, e.g., point symmetric about the center of a rotational axis of the turret 23. The axial direction of each bobbin holder 24 is substantially parallel to the front-rear direction (see FIG. 1). Each bobbin holder 24 supports bobbins B aligned in the front-rear direction. In the present embodiment, each bobbin holder 24 supports, e.g., six bobbins B. The number of bobbins B which can be supported by each bobbin holder 24 is not limited to this. Each of the two bobbin holders 24 is rotationally driven by an individual winding motor 102 (see FIG. 1). The yarns Y are simultaneously wound onto the bobbins B attached to one bobbin holder 24. In this regard, the one bobbin holder 24 is provided above the other bobbin holder 24. Furthermore, the one bobbin holder 24 may be referred to as an upper bobbin holder 24 for the convenience of explanation.
The contact roller 25 is provided immediately above the upper bobbin holder 24. The axial direction of the contact roller 25 is substantially parallel to the front-rear direction. The contact roller 25 is configured to make contact with the surfaces of the packages P, which is supported by the upper bobbin holder 24, so as to apply contact pressure to the surfaces of the packages P. As a result, the shape of each package P is adjusted.
The controller 26 includes an unillustrated CPU, ROM, RAM, etc. The controller 26 is electrically connected to each section of the yarn winding apparatus 13. The controller 26 is able to control the operation of each section of the yarn winding apparatus 13.
In the yarn winding apparatus 13 structured as described above, as the upper bobbin holder 24 is rotationally driven, the yarns Y traversed by the traverse guides 22 are wound onto the bobbins B so as to form the packages P. When the formation of the packages P is completed, the turret 23 is rotated so as to switch over the upper and lower positions of the two bobbin holders 24. Because of this, the bobbin holder 24 having been at the lower position is accordingly moved to the upper position. The yarns Y are wound onto the respective bobbins B attached to the upper bobbin holder 24, so as to form the packages P. In this regard, the bobbin holder 24 to which the completed packages P are attached is moved to the lower position. Furthermore, the completed packages P are collected by, e.g., an unillustrated package collector.

(Traverse Device)

The following will describe the structure of each traverse device 30 with reference to FIG. 3(a) to FIG. 5. FIGs. 3(a) and 3(b) show the structure of the traverse device 30. To be more specific, FIG. 3(a) shows the traverse device 30 viewed from the other side in a later-described belt width direction. FIG. 3(b) shows the traverse device 30 viewed from one side in the belt width direction. For the convenience of explanation, a direction in which a traverse guide 22 reciprocates will be referred to as a traverse direction. The right side on the sheet of FIG. 3(a) is defined as one side in the traverse direction, and the left side on the sheet is defined as the other side in the traverse direction. It should be noted that the left side on the sheet of FIG. 3(b) is one side in the traverse direction while the right side on the sheet is the other side in the traverse direction. FIG. 4(a) is a perspective view of an enlarged end portion of the traverse device 30 on one side in the traverse direction (i.e., which is not a front end portion but a rear end portion of the traverse device 30 attached to the yarn winding apparatus 13). FIG. 4(b) shows a main body 41 (described later) of the traverse guide 22 viewed in the traverse direction. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an enlarged end portion of the traverse device 30 on the other side in the traverse direction (i.e., which is not a rear end portion but a front end portion of the traverse device 30 attached to the yarn winding apparatus 13).
As shown in FIG. 3(a), for example, the traverse device 30 includes a base member 31, a traverse motor 32, a driving pulley 33, two driven pulleys 34, an endless belt 35, a guide rail unit 36, two regulating members 37, and the above-described traverse guide 22.
The base member 31 is a member to which, e.g., the traverse motor 32, etc. is attached. The base member 31 is, e.g., a substantially flat plate-shaped member. The base member 31 is long and extends in the traverse direction (e.g., in a direction which is slightly tilted with respect to the front-rear direction in the present embodiment).
The traverse motor 32 (a driving source of the present invention) is a driving source used for moving the traverse guide 22. The traverse motor 32 is attached to, e.g., the base member 31. The traverse motor 32 has an unillustrated rotational shaft. The rotational shaft is rotatable in a predetermined positive direction. The rotational shaft is rotatable in a direction opposite to the positive direction. The traverse motor 32 is controlled by, e.g., the controller 26. The controller 26 is able to output, e.g., a predetermined pulse signal. When the above-described pulse signal is input from the controller 26, the traverse motor 32 rotates its rotational shaft by a predetermined angle.
To be more specific, the traverse motor 32 is, e.g., a known servo motor. The traverse motor 32 is able to detect location information regarding the position of the traverse guide 22 in the traverse direction. To be more specific, the traverse motor 32 includes a rotary encoder 32a (see FIG. 3(a)). The rotary encoder 32a may be, e.g., a known increment-type device which is able to detect information of a variation amount of an angular position of one rotational shaft. Alternatively, the rotary encoder 32a may be, e.g., a known absolute-type device which is able to detect information of the angular position of the rotational shaft itself. Hereinafter, both the information of a variation amount of the angular position and that of the angular position itself will be referred to as angular position information. The angular position information corresponds to location information of the traverse guide 22 in the traverse direction. The position of the traverse guide 22 in the traverse direction can be calculated based on, e.g., (i) a predetermined calculation formula and (ii) the angular position information acquired by the rotary encoder 32a. The determination of whether the rotational shaft of the traverse motor 32 properly rotates can be performed by using the angular position information and information of a pulse signal output from the controller 26. In the present embodiment, the controller 26 is able to perform this determination.
The driving pulley 33 is a pully onto which the endless belt 35 is wound. The driving pulley 33 is rotationally driven by the traverse motor 32 in the positive direction and the direction opposite to the positive direction.
The two driven pulleys 34 are pulleys onto which the endless belt 35 is wound in the same manner as the driving pulley 33. The two driven pulleys 34 are rotated by the movement of the endless belt 35. A direction of a rotational shaft of each driven pulley 34 is substantially parallel to the direction of a rotational shaft of the driving pulley 33. As shown in FIG. 3(a), the two driven pulleys 34 include (i) a driven pulley 34a provided at one end portion of the traverse device 30 on one side in the traverse direction and (ii) a driven pulley 34b provided at the other end portion of the traverse device 30 on the other side in the traverse direction. A line segment (not illustrated) connecting the center of the rotational shaft of the driven pulley 34a to the center of the rotational shaft of the driven pulley 34b may be tilted with respect to the front-rear direction. The driven pulley 34b (i.e., the front end portion) of one traverse device 30 may be arranged to at least partially overlap with the driven pulley 34a (i.e., the rear end portion) of another traverse device 30 provided in front of the one traverse device 30 in, e.g., the front-rear direction (see FIG. 2).
The endless belt 35 (a driving belt of the present invention) is wound onto the driving pulley 33 and the two driven pulleys 34. The traverse guide 22 is attached to a substantially linear part of the endless belt 35, which is positioned between the two driven pulleys 34. As the traverse motor 32 rotationally drives the driving pulley 33, the endless belt 35 reciprocates so that the traverse guide 22 also reciprocates in the traverse direction. For the convenience of explanation, a width direction of the endless belt 35 will be referred to as the belt width direction (see FIG. 4(a) to FIG. 5). The belt width direction is a direction (i.e., a direction perpendicular to the sheet of FIG. 3(a)) substantially parallel to the direction of the rotational shafts of the driving pulley 33 and two driven pulleys 34. For the convenience of explanation, a direction orthogonal to both the traverse direction and the belt width direction will be referred to as an orthogonal direction (see FIG. 3(a) to FIG. 5).
In the above-described structure, the traverse guide 22 can be positioned at any position within a predetermined area (a movable area TRm shown in FIG. 3(a)) in the traverse direction in accordance with the angular position of the rotational shaft of the traverse motor 32. That is, an area (reciprocal area) in which the traverse motor 32 causes the traverse guide 22 to reciprocate can be changed at will by, e.g., the controller 26 as long as the area is within the movable area TRm. For the convenience of explanation, the length of the movable area TRm in the traverse direction may be referred to as movable length. For example, during the winding operation, the traverse guide 22 reciprocates within a production area TRn (see FIG. 3(a)) provided for forming a package P. The production area TRn is smaller than the movable area TRm in the traverse direction. In other words, the length of the production area TRn in the traverse direction is shorter than the movable length. For example, the length of the production area TRn in the traverse direction can be changed during the winding operation. That is, the length of reciprocal movement of the traverse guide 22 in the front-rear direction may be changed during the winding operation. With this arrangement, for example, the package P can be formed by taper winding (see FIG. 1). The traverse guide 22 is movable to a position which is inside the movable area TRm and outside the production area TRn in the traverse direction.
The guide rail unit 36 (a guide rail of the present invention) is configured to guide the traverse guide 22 in the traverse direction. The guide rail unit 36 extends in the traverse direction. The guide rail unit 36 is provided at least within the production area TRn in the traverse direction. The guide rail unit 36 will be detailed later.
The two regulating members 37 are used for restricting the movement of the traverse guide 22 in the traverse direction. The two regulating members 37 are provided inside the respective two driven pulleys 34 in the traverse direction. The traverse guide 22 is movable within an area provided between the two regulating members 37 in the traverse direction. That is, the above-described movable area TRm is defined by the two regulating members 37. One of the two regulating members 37 is used also for determining the position of an origin (hereinafter, the origin position) of movement of the traverse guide 22 in the traverse direction as described later. The origin position can be determined based on angular position information of the rotational shaft of the traverse motor 32 when the traverse guide 22 is in contact with the regulating member 37. The details will be given later.
In a traditional traverse device (not illustrated), a position near the regulating member 37 is an attachment-and-detachment position where the traverse guide 22 is attachable to and detachable from the endless belt 35. For example, in maintenance, the traverse guide 22 at the attachment-and-detachment position is easily detached from the driving belt 35. With this arrangement, however, when the traverse guide 22 makes contact with the regulating member 37 in order to determine the origin position, the traverse guide 22 may be unintentionally detached from the endless belt 35 by accident. To solve this problem, for example, a lock mechanism (not illustrated) may be provided in the traverse guide 22 in order to prevent the traverse guide 22 from dropping off from the endless belt 35. However, this arrangement causes another problem such as the complex mechanism of the traverse guide 22, the increase in inertial mass of the traverse guide 22, etc. For example, if the inertial mass of the traverse guide 22 increases, the acceleration of the traverse guide 22 may decrease. The traverse device 30 is therefore structured as described below in order to prevent the traverse guide 22, which is caused to make contact with the regulating member 37, from dropping off from the endless belt 35 with a simple structure.

(Detail of Traverse Device)

The following will detail the structure of each traverse device 30 with reference to FIG. 2 to FIG. 5. To begin with, the traverse guide 22 will be detailed. As shown in FIG. 3(a) to FIG. 4 (a), the traverse guide 22 includes the main body 41 and a guide member 42.
The main body 41 (see FIG. 3(a) to FIG. 5) is attached to the endless belt 35. The main body 41 is long and extends in, e.g., the traverse direction as compared to the belt width direction and the orthogonal direction. Roughly speaking, the main body 41 is substantially L-shaped (see FIG. 4(b)) when viewed in the traverse direction. As shown in FIG. 4(a) to FIG. 5, the main body 41 includes an attached portion 43, a first protrusion 44, a second protrusion 45, and a third protrusion 46.
The attached portion 43 (see FIG. 4(a) to FIG. 5) is attached to the endless belt 35. The attached portion 43 is hatched and highlighted in FIG. 4(b). The attached portion 43 is, e.g., a substantially rectangular-parallelepiped portion. The attached portion 43 includes, e.g., a groove 43a (see FIG. 5). The groove 43a is formed along the entire length of the main body 41 in the traverse direction. When viewed in the traverse direction, the groove 43a is open to one side in the belt width direction. The groove 43a is formed so that the endless belt 35 can be relatively inserted into the groove 43a in the belt width direction. To be more specific, the endless belt 35 is, e.g., a known toothed belt. For example, engagement holes 43b (see FIG. 5) which are engageable with the respective teeth (not illustrated) of the toothed belt are formed at intermediate parts of the groove 43a in the traverse direction. With this arrangement of the attached portion 43, the main body 41 is attached to the endless belt 35.
The first protrusion 44 and the second protrusion 45 are provided for restricting the movement of the main body 41 in an unintentional direction, by means of the guide rail unit 36. The first protrusion 44 protrudes from an end of the attached portion 43 on the base member 31 side (one side) toward the base member side 31 (see FIG. 4(a)) in, e.g., the orthogonal direction. The second protrusion 45 is, e.g., a part of the attached portion 43 in the belt width direction. The second protrusion 45 is provided on, e.g., one end portion of the attached portion 43 on one side in the belt width direction (see FIG. 4(a) to FIG. 5).
The third protrusion 46 is a portion to which the guide member 42 is fixed (see FIG. 4(a)). The third protrusion 46 protrudes from the other end of the attached portion 43 on the other side in, e.g., the orthogonal direction toward the other side in the orthogonal direction (i.e., away from the base member 31).
The guide member 42 is configured to guide a running yarn Y (see FIG. 1). The guide member 42 is fixed to the third protrusion 46 of the main body 41.

(Guide Rail Unit)

The following will detail the guide rail unit 36. As shown in FIG. 3(a) to FIG. 4(a) and FIG. 5, the guide rail unit 36 includes, e.g., a first guider 51 and a second guider 52.
The first guider 51 (see FIG. 3(a) to FIG. 4(a) and FIG. 5) extends along, e.g., the entire length of the movable area TRm in the traverse direction. The first guider 51 is fixed to the base member 31 by, e.g., an unillustrated fastener. The first guider 51 is provided on the base member 31 side in the orthogonal direction as compared to the traverse guide 22. The first guider 51 includes a guide surface 51a and a guide groove 51b. The guide surface 51a and the guide groove 51b extend in the traverse direction, and are configured to guide the main body 41 of the traverse guide 22 in the traverse direction. The guide surface 51a is oriented to, e.g., the attached portion 43 side of the main body 41 in the orthogonal direction. The guide surface 51a is configured to restrict the movement of the attached portion 43 toward the base member 31 side in the orthogonal direction. The guide groove 51b is configured to guide the first protrusion 44 of the main body 41 in the traverse direction. For example, the guide groove 51b is configured to restrict the movement of the first protrusion 44 toward both sides in the belt width direction. As described above, the first guider 51 is configured (i) to restrict the movement of the traverse guide 22 toward one side (the base member 31 side) in the orthogonal direction and toward both sides in the belt width direction and (ii) to guide the traverse guide 22 in the traverse direction.
The second guider 52 (see FIG. 3(a) to FIG. 4(a) and FIG. 5) extends from one end of the movable area TRm to a position near the other end of the movable area TRm in the traverse direction. The second guider 52 is fixed to the base member 31 by, e.g., an unillustrated fastener. The second guider 52 is provided on one side of the traverse guide 22 in the belt width direction. The second guider 52 includes a guide surface 52a configured to guide the second protrusion 45 in the traverse direction. The guide surface 52a is arranged to be opposite to the guide surface 51a of the first guider 51 over the second protrusion 45 in the orthogonal direction. The guide surface 52a is oriented to the second protrusion 45 side in the orthogonal direction. The guide surface 52a is configured to restrict the movement of the second protrusion 45 toward the other side (away from the base member 31) in the orthogonal direction.
The second guider 52 is not provided at the other end portion of the movable area TRm in the traverse direction (see FIG. 3(a), FIG. 3(b), and FIG. 5). An end portion of the guide surface 52a of the second guider 52 may be cut out on the other side in the traverse direction. With this arrangement, when the traverse guide 22 is positioned at the other end portion of the movable area TRm on the other side in the traverse direction, the restriction on the movement of the traverse guide 22 toward the other side in the orthogonal direction is released. Because of this, the traverse guide 22 is detachable from the endless belt 35. To be more specific, for example, an operator can move the traverse guide 22 away from the endless belt 35 (indicated by two-dot chain lines in FIG. 5) by moving the traverse guide 22 toward the other side in the orthogonal direction and moving it further to the other side in the belt width direction. When the traverse guide 22 is detachable from the endless belt 35, a position of the traverse guide 22 in the traverse direction will be referred to as an attachment-and-detachment position for the convenience of explanation. The traverse guide 22 at the attachment-and-detachment position is attachable to and detachable from the endless belt 35 (indicated by arrows in FIG. 5).
The attachment-and-detachment positions of the traverse devices 30 are preferably provided at positions where the operator can easily approach (access). To be more specific, for example, the yarn winding apparatus 13 (see FIG. 2) is arranged so that the operator can approach (access) the traverse device 30 from a position above the frame 20. With this arrangement, a front end portion (first end portion) of one traverse device 30 is arranged to overlap with, in the front-rear direction, a rear end portion (second end portion) of another traverse device 30 which is adjacent to and in front of the one traverse device 30 Furthermore, the first end portion is provided above the second end portion (see FIG. 2). In this regard, one traverse device 30 is equivalent to a first traverse device of the present invention. Furthermore, another traverse device 30 which is adjacent to and in front of the one traverse device 30 is equivalent to a second traverse device of the present invention. In this case, the attachment-and-detachment position is preferably provided at the front end portion of each traverse device 30. For example, when the attachment-and-detachment position is provided at the rear end portion of each traverse device 30 (i.e., when each first end portion is provided below a corresponding second end portion), each traverse device 30 may need to be detached from the yarn winding apparatus 13 in order to detach a corresponding traverse guide 22. With the above-described preferable arrangement of the present embodiment, each traverse guide 22 is easily detachable from a corresponding traverse device 30 in maintenance. To be more specific, the traverse guide 22 is detachable from the traverse device 30 in maintenance without detaching the traverse device 30 from the yarn winding apparatus 13. The up-down direction orthogonal to (intersecting with) the front-rear direction is equivalent to an intersecting direction of the present invention. The upper side in the up-down direction is equivalent to one side in the intersecting direction.
Both the first guider 51 and the second guider 52 are provided at a part of the guide rail unit 36 in the traverse direction, and this part of the guide rail 36 will be referred to as a drop prevention portion 53 (see FIG. 3(b)) for the convenience of explanation. That is, the drop prevention portion 53 and the guide rail unit 36 are integrally formed. The drop prevention portion 53 extends along the entire length of the production area TRn (see FIG. 3(a)) in the traverse direction. The drop prevention portion 53 is configured to restrict (i) the movement of the traverse guide 22 toward both sides in the belt width direction and (ii) the movement of the traverse guide 22 toward both sides in the orthogonal direction. When the traverse guide 22 is positioned at a position which is not the attachment-and-detachment position, the drop prevention portion 53 prevents the traverse guide 22 from dropping off from the endless belt 35.
One of the two regulating members 37 is a first regulating member 37a defining one end of the movable area TRm in the traverse direction, and the other of the two regulating members 37 is a second regulating member 37b defining the other end of the movable area TRm in the traverse direction. The first regulating member 37a is equivalent to an origin indicating member of the present invention. The first regulating member 37a is positioned at a position opposite to the attachment-and-detachment position over the production area TRn in the traverse direction so that the first regulating member 37a can make contact with the traverse guide 22. The drop prevention portion 53 extends to a position immediately near the first regulating member 37a in the traverse direction. That is, the drop prevention portion 53 is arranged to prevent the traverse guide 22 in contact with the first regulating member 37a from dropping off from the endless belt 35.
In the traverse device 30 structured as described above, the traverse guide 22 is prevented from dropping off from the endless belt 35 when the origin position (described later) is determined.

(Determination Method of Origin Position)

The following will describe an example of a method of determining the position of an origin of positional coordinates of the traverse guide 22 in the traverse direction (hereinafter, this will be simply referred to as the origin position), with reference to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a determination method of the origin position. FIG. 7(a) and FIG. 7(b) show the position of the traverse guide 22 at the time of determination of the origin position. FIG. 7(a) shows the entire traverse device 30. FIG. 7(b) is an enlarged view of a part of FIG. 7(a). To be more specific, FIG. 7(b) shows one end portion of the traverse device 30 on one side in the traverse direction.
In an initial state, the traverse device 30 is attached to the yarn winding apparatus 13. The traverse guide 22 is attached to the endless belt 35. For example, the traverse guide 22 is positioned at any position (indicated by broken lines in FIG. 7(a)) within the movable area TRm in the traverse direction.
The controller 26 performs a process of determining the origin position at the time of, e.g., activation of the yarn winding apparatus 13. To begin with, the controller 26 sends a predetermined pulse signal to the traverse motor 32 and starts moving the traverse guide 22 toward one side in the traverse direction (step S101 shown in FIG. 7(a); indicated by an arrow in FIG. 7 (a)). The controller 26 determines whether the traverse guide 22 is properly moved, based on a signal output from the rotary encoder 32a.
While controlling the operation of the traverse motor 32, the controller 26 determines whether the traverse guide 22 makes contact with the first regulating member 37a (step S102). To be more specific, for example, when step-outs successively occur predetermined times in the traverse motor 32 of the present embodiment, it is determined that the traverse guide 22 makes contact with the first regulating member 37a. A step-out of this case indicates that, when the controller 26 sends a predetermined pulse signal to the traverse motor 32 once, the angular position of the rotational shaft of the traverse motor 32 does not properly change. The predetermined times may be, e.g., ten times. However, the disclosure is not limited to this. The controller 26 keeps sending a pulse signal to the traverse motor 32 until it is determined that the traverse guide 22 makes contact with the first regulating member 37a (NO in S102) .
When the controller 26 has determined that the traverse guide 22 has made contact with the first regulating member 37a (YES in S102), the controller 26 determines the origin position (step S103). In this regard, when the traverse guide 22 has made contact with the first regulating member 37a, the drop prevention portion 53 prevents the traverse guide 22 from dropping off from the endless belt 35. This prevents the traverse guide 22 from, e.g., being lost or caught into the yarn winding apparatus 13.
The following will detail the determination of the origin position. The position of the traverse guide 22 in contact with the first regulating member 37a in the traverse direction will be referred to as a contact position for the convenience of explanation. Information of the length of the movable area TRm in the traverse direction (the above-described movable length) can be acquired in advance based on, e.g., design information or an actually-measured value. For example, the distance between the first regulating member 37a and the second regulating member 37b in the traverse direction can be known in advance based on design information or an actually-measured value. For another example, the length of the traverse guide 22 in the traverse direction can be known in advance based on the design information or an actually-measured value. The movable length is calculated based on these sets of information. The controller 26 determines a position which is distanced from the contact position by, e.g., a distance of a half (i.e., 50%) of the movable length in the traverse direction, as the origin position. In this regard, 50% is equivalent to a predetermined percentage of the present invention. In this way, the position substantially at the center of the movable area TRm in the traverse direction is determined as the origin position. The predetermined percentage may be an appropriate value which is not 50%. The controller 26 causes information of the position of the origin position to be stored in, e.g., the RAM. As described above, the origin position is set.
As described above, the first regulating member 37a is arranged to be opposite to the attachment-and-detachment position over the production area TRn in the traverse direction. As described above, the position of the origin is determined by using information of the contact position and that of the movable length. In this structure, when the traverse guide 22 is brought into contact with the first regulating member 37a, the traverse guide 22 does not need to move toward the attachment-and-detachment position side. In the present embodiment, when the traverse guide 22 is in contact with the first regulating member 37a, the drop prevention portion 53 prevents the traverse guide 22 from dropping off from the endless belt 35. With a simple structure described above, the origin position of the traverse guide 22 is determined, and the traverse guide 22 is prevented from dropping off from the endless belt 35.
The traverse device 30 includes the guide rail unit 36. It is therefore possible to provide a stable track of reciprocal movement of the traverse guide 22 within the production area TRn, by means of guide rail unit 36. The drop prevention portion 53 and the guide rail unit 36 are integrally formed. Therefore, with a simple structure, the traverse guide 22 is prevented from dropping off at the time of determination of the origin position, and a stable track of the traverse guide 22 is provided in the production area TRn.
The drop prevention portion 53 extends at least along the entire length of the production area TRn in the traverse direction. Therefore, the traverse guide 22 is prevented from dropping off from the endless belt 35 not only when the origin position is determined, but also when the traverse guide 22 reciprocates within the production area TRn.
The traverse motor 32 includes a servo motor which is able to detect location information. This makes it possible to determine the origin position by using the location information detected by the rotary encoder 32a of the servo motor. To be more specific, it is determined that the traverse guide 22 makes contact with the first regulating member 37a when a signal for driving the servo motor is not in consistency with the location information (i.e., when a step-out occurs in the servo motor). It is therefore possible to easily and finely determine the origin position.
The first end portion of the first traverse device is arranged to overlap with the second end portion of the second traverse device in the front-rear direction and to be above the second end portion in the up-down direction. When the first end portion is provided below the second end portion, the traverse device 30 may need to be detached from the yarn winding apparatus 13 in order to detach the traverse guide 22. With the above-described preferable arrangement of the present embodiment, the traverse device 30 does not need to be detached from the yarn winding apparatus 13 in order to detach the traverse guide 22. With the above-described preferable arrangement of the present embodiment, the traverse guide 22 is easily detached from the traverse device 30 in maintenance without detaching the traverse device 30 from the yarn winding apparatus 13.
When the traverse guide 22 is unintentionally detached from the traverse device 30, a problem in which the traverse guide 22 is caught into a member forming the yarn winding apparatus 13, etc. may occur so as to obstruct the operation of the yarn winding apparatus 13. In the present embodiment, the traverse guide 22 is prevented from being detached from the traverse device 30 at the time of determination of the origin position. It is therefore possible to effectively suppress the traverse guide 22 from being caught into a member forming the yarn winding apparatus 13.
When the traverse guide 22 is unintentionally detached from the traverse device 30 in the large yarn winding apparatus 13 including the bobbin holders 24 which are long in the front-rear direction, the traverse guide 22 needs to be found within a large area where the yarn winding apparatus 13 is provided or its surroundings. This may cause a lot of work and lost time before the yarn winding apparatus 13 starts to operate. In such a structure, the traverse device 30 of the present embodiment is especially effective.
The controller 26 makes it possible to easily and finely determine the origin position.
The following will describe modifications of the above-described embodiment. The members identical with those in the embodiment above will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and the explanations thereof are not repeated.

(1) In the embodiment above, the traverse device 30 includes the two regulating members 37 (the first regulating member 37a and the second regulating member 37b). However, the disclosure is not limited to this. The traverse device 30 may not include the second regulating member 37b. For example, the traverse device 30 may include only the first the regulating member 37a as the regulating member 37.
(2) In the embodiment above, the drop prevention portion 53 extends at least along the entire length of the production area TRn in the traverse direction. However, the disclosure is not limited to this. The drop prevention portion 53 may be positioned at a position where the drop prevention portion 53 can only prevent the traverse guide 22 at the contact position from dropping off from the endless belt 35.
(3) In the embodiment above, the drop prevention portion 53 and the guide rail unit 36 are integrally formed. However, the disclosure is not limited to this. The drop prevention portion 53 may include a member which is not a member forming the guide rail unit 36. Alternatively, the drop prevention portion 53 may be provided independently from the guide rail unit 36. In this case, the guide rail unit 36 may not be provided.
(4) In the embodiment above, the controller 26 is configured to determine the origin position. However, the disclosure is not limited to this. For example, the operator may determine the origin position and input information of the origin position in the controller 26 so as to store the information. To be more specific, for example, the origin position may be calculated by the operator using a means which is not the controller 26 based on the location information detected by the rotary encoder 32a. The location information may be acquired by using a means which is not the rotary encoder 32a.
(5) In the embodiment above, the traverse device 30 is provided in the yarn winding apparatus 13. However, the disclosure is not limited to this. The traverse device 30 may be provided in an apparatus for winding yarns, which is not the yarn winding apparatus 13.

Claims

A traverse device (30) configured to traverse a yarn (Y), comprising:
a traverse guide (22) configured to guide the yarn (Y) ;

a driving belt (35) to which the traverse guide (22) is attached;

a driving source (32) which is able to cause the driving belt (35) to reciprocate in a predetermined traverse direction, which is able to change a reciprocal area where the traverse guide (22) reciprocates in the traverse direction as long as the reciprocal area is within a predetermined movable area (TRm), and which is able to move the traverse guide (22) to an attachment-and-detachment position which is outside a production area (TRn) and where the traverse guide (22) is attachable to and detachable from the driving belt (35), the production area (TRn) being the reciprocal area smaller than the movable area (TRm);

an origin indicating member (37a) which is provided for determining an origin position of the traverse guide (22) and which is positioned at a position which is opposite to the attachment-and-detachment position over the production area (TRn) in the traverse direction and where the origin indicating member (37a) can make contact with the traverse guide (22); and

a drop prevention portion (53) configured to prevent the traverse guide (22) in contact with the origin indicating member (37a) from dropping off from the driving belt (35).
The traverse device (30) according to claim 1, wherein, the drop prevention portion (53) extends at least along the entire length of the production area (TRn) in the traverse direction.
The traverse device (30) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, the driving source (32) includes a servo motor which is able to detect location information regarding the position of the traverse guide (22) in the traverse direction.
The traverse guide (30) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a guide rail (36) which is provided at least within the production area (TRn) in the traverse direction and which is configured to guide the traverse guide (22), wherein,
the drop prevention portion (53) and the guide rail (36) are integrally formed.
A yarn winding apparatus (13) comprising: a bobbin holder (24) which extends in a predetermined axial direction and which supports bobbins (B) onto which yarns (Y) are respectively wound and which are aligned in the axial direction; and
traverse devices (30) which are aligned in the axial direction to correspond to the respective yarns (Y) and each of which is the traverse device (30) according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

the traverse devices (30) being arranged so that the traverse devices (30) are approachable from one side in a predetermined intersecting direction intersecting with the axial direction,

one of the traverse devices (30) being a first traverse device whose end portion on the attachment-and-detachment position side in the traverse direction is provided as a first end portion,

another of the traverse devices (30) being a second traverse device which is adjacent to the first traverse device in the traverse direction and whose end portion on the side opposite to the attachment-and-detachment position in the traverse direction is provided as a second end portion, the first end portion being arranged to overlap with the second end portion in the axial direction, and

the first end portion being provided on the one side of the second end portion in the intersecting direction.
The yarn winding apparatus (13) according to claim 5, further comprising a controller (26), wherein, the driving source (32) includes the servo motor which is able to detect the location information regarding the position of the traverse guide (22) in the traverse direction, and
the controller (26) is configured to:
control the servo motor to move the traverse guide (22) toward a contact position where the traverse guide (22) makes contact with the origin indicating member (37a);

determine whether the traverse guide (22) makes contact with the origin indicating member (37a), by using the location information; and

by using the location information indicating the contact position and information of length of the movable area (TRm) given in advance, set a position which is distanced from the contact position by a distance of a predetermined percentage of the length of the movable area (TRm) in the traverse direction as the origin position.