GB1598508A - Device for feeding a ring traveller onto the ring of a ring spinning frame - Google Patents

Abstract

The ring travellers (20) lined up on a stacking magazine (18) pass to an attachment gap (28) and there are held by a permanent magnet (32) in a position suitable for attachment. The width of the adjustable attachment gap (28) necessary in each case is determined by a ring traveller (42) of the same thickness clamped in a reference gap (40) and serving as a specimen. The particular foremost ring traveller (20') is attached to the ring by a driver (46) movable in the direction of the arrow (48). Such an arrangement guarantees that the ring traveller on the one hand is held reliably in the attachment gap (28) until attachment takes place, but on the other hand cannot jam when being extracted for attachment. <IMAGE>

Description

(54) DEVICE FOR FEEDING A RING TRAVELLER ONTO THE RING OF A RING SPINNING FRAME (71) We BRACKER AG, a Swiss Body Corporate of Obermattstrasse, 8330 Pfaffikon, Switzerland, do hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The invention relates to a device for feeding a ring traveller onto the ring of a ring spinning frame.

Devices of this type have a magazine for stacking ring travellers leading to a feeding gap of adjustable width and a movable mechanism for displacing a ring traveller from the feeding gap onto the ring. The devices are actuated manually. the ring traveller which is to be placed is taken out of the feeding gap by the movable mechanism and positioned on the ring against which the device is located. Each successive ring traveller passes from the stacking magazine into the feeding gap in which it must retain its position until it is placed on the ring.

In one known device, a stop plate which defines one side of the feeding gap is spring urged against a ring traveller to hold it in the gap. The feeding gap is adjustable to the thickness of the particular ring travellers used, and, when no ring traveller is present, is a little less wide than the thickness of the ring traveller. In this way. a ring traveller can be firmly held in the feeding gap, but a frictional resistance must be overcome when it is taken out of the gap during placement. Thus when ring travellers, in particular those of thin wire, are placed on, there is thus a risk of them being deformed or even broken. This risk is increased if the ring travellers are not entirely planar. It can also happen that ring travellers jam in the feeding gap and thus block the supply.

According to the present invention there is provided a device for feeding a ring traveller onto the ring of a ring spinning frame, the device including a magazine for stacking ring travellers, a stop plate adjustable through a range of positions in which it can be retained, a feeding gap between the magazine and the adjustable stop plate, the range of positions of the adjustable stop plate being such that the width of the feeding gap is adjustable so that in use it can be maintained wider than the thickness of one ring traveller being fed but less wide than the thickness of two ring travellers, a mechanism for displacing a ring traveller from the feeding gap onto the ring and a magnet for holding a ring traveller in the feeding gap prior to such displacement.

With this arrangement, the width of the feeding gap can be adjusted to the ring travellers being fed and then held constant. The ring travellers are held magnetically so that jamming and damage to the ring travellers is reduced, and they can readily be removed from the feeding gap for feeding onto a ring. Since, in an embodiment of the invention, the feeding gap is oversized relative to the ring traveller, ring travellers which are not entirely planar can also be taken out of the feeding gap without difficulty. Jamming of the ring travellers in the feeding gap and damage, especially to thin ring travellers, is virtually impossible. The constant width of the feeding gap also eliminates the need to select a suitable spring tension, as is required in the case of springloaded stop plates.

The magnet can ensure that each successive ring traveller passes from the magazine into the feeding gap, without it being necessary to exert a special pressure from the magazine onto the stack of ring travellers.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description which is given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a device according to the invention partially in section and transversely of a feeding gap; and Figure 2 shows the head of the device in a side view.

Figure 1 shows a section of a baseplate 10 to which a bolt 12 projecting on either side is fixed. On one end of the bolt 12, a plate 14 is mounted, to which a stacking magazine 18 consisting of a rod is fastened by means of a further bolt 16. A stack of king travellers 20 is strung on the magazine rod 18. The end 22 of the magazine rod 18, shown broken, leads to a top end which is not shown and which points upwards in operation and is arranged for recharging the magazine rod 18 with ring travellers 20.

The baseplate 10 has an aperture 24. through which the end 26 of the magazine rod 18 leads into a feeding gap 28. The feeding gap 28 is bounded on one side by the end 26 of the magazine rod 18 as well as by a surface 10' of the baseplate 10 and, on the other side, by a surface 30' on a stop plate 30. A permanent magnet 32 is located in the stop plate 30 opposite the aperture 24.

The stop plate 30 has a bush 34, by means of which it is mounted on the bolt 12, opposite the magazine rod 18, so that it is displaceable relative to the baseplate 10. Springs 36, 36' which act in the direction of enlarging the feeding gap 28 are located between the stop plate 30 and the baseplate 10. Next to the feeding gap 28 and between the baseplate 10 and the stop plate 30, a reference gap 40 is provided, which is narrower than the feeding gap 28 and which is separated from the feeding gap 28 by a shoulder 38 on the stop plate 30.

A ring traveller 42 which is identical to the ring travellers 20 in the stack strung on the magazine rod 18, can be inserted as a specimen into the reference gap 40. On the threaded end 12' of the bolt 12 is a nut 44 by means of which the stop plate 30, against the force of the springs 36, 36',jams the ring traveller 42 against the baseplate 10.

The ring traveller 42 which is jammed in the reference gap 40 thus serves as a reference size for setting the feeding gap 28 which is accordingly wider than the thickness of a single ring traveller, because of the shoulder 38, but smaller than the thickness of two ring travellers of the particular size used. Due to the tightened nut 44, the width of the reference gap 28 is constant. When ring travellers of different thickness are used, one of these is jammed as a specimen 42 into the reference gap 40. The springs 36, 36' facilitate this jamming since they press the stop plate 30 away from the baseplate 10 when the nut 44 is loosened. The surface 10' of the baseplate 10 is common to the reference gap 40 and the feeding gap 28.Although only the stop plate 30 has a shoulder 38 in the present illustrative embodiment, it is also possible to provide such a shoulder on the baseplate 10 or on both the plates 10 and 30.

The ring traveller 20' present in the feeding gap 28 is ready to be placed onto the ring of a ring spinning frame. The ring travellers 20, 20' have the approximate shape of a C or of an ear so that a dog 46 which extends into the leading ring traveller 20 of the stack on the magazine rod for the purpose of feeding, can pull the ring traveller 20 out of the feeding gap by a movement approximately in the direction of the arrow 48 and feeds it onto the ring which is not shown. During the feeding step, the mouth 24,26 of the magazine rod 18 is blocked by a slider 50, so that the ring travellers 20 do not slip down in an uncontrolled manner from the magazine rod 18 before the dog 46 has retumed into its initial position as shown in Figure 1.

After the ring traveller has been placed onto the ring which is not shown, the slider 50 clears the mouth 24,26 of the magazine rod 18 again during the return of the dog 46, so that the next ring traveller passes into the feeding gap 28 by reason of the ring travellers 20 slipping down due to gravity, and is held there by the magnet 32 until it is in contact with the surface 30 of the stop plate 30 or with the magnet 32. This ensures that the new ring traveller 20' assumes a secure position in the feeding gap 28 and also retains this position.

It can be seen from the side view shown in Figure 2 that the dog 46 is pivotably mounted on a lever 52. The lever 52 forms part of an actuating mechanism which is not shown in more detail and which is accommodated in a handle 54. The dog 46 is pivotable in a fork 52' of the lever 52 about the axis of a screw 56, and it can also yield to the side, that is to say to the left in Figure 1. However, a leaf spring 58, shown only in Figure 1, presses the dog 46 to the right towards the feeding gap 28. The ability of the dog 46 to yield allows it to jump over a ring traveller 20', which is already in the feeding gap 28, when the dog 46 returns after the feeding step into its rest position shown in the drawings.

It can be seen from Figure 2 that the ring travellers 29', 42 have the shape of a c or of an ear. The profile of the magazine rod 18, which is not shown in Figure 2, is adapted to the shape of the ring travellers.

As can be seen from Figure 2, the baseplate 10 has a stop surface 60 with an adjacent indentation, which stop surface and indentation are adapted in profile to the ring, which is not shown, of a ring spinning frame and is intended to make contact with this ring. When the ring traveller 20' is placed onto the ring, the lever 52 is actuated in the direction of the arrow 48, and the ring traveller 20', when it is taken out of the feeding gap 28, is rotated through an angle of about 90" by the dog 46 which pivots down and to the left as viewed in Figure 2. The magnet 32 is positioned so as generally to define an appropriate pivot point and thus facilitates guiding of the ring traveller 20' which is to be fed.

A further guide bolt 62 is fixed in the baseplate 10 in order to guide the stop plate 30 on the baseplate 10 in such a way that it is secured against turning.

For the sake of clarity, the magazine rod 18 shown in Figure 1 and the aperture 24 are not represented in Figure 2. Adjacent to its end 26, the magazine rod 18 can be connected to the baseplate 10 within the aperture 24 by a bridge.

The front face end 26 of the magazine rod 18 is flush with the inner surface 10' of the baseplate 10. Since the feeding gap 28 on the side of the magazine rod 18 is additionally also bounded by the baseplate 10, better guiding of the ring traveller 20' results.

Since each successive ring traveller is drawn by the magnet 32 into the feeding gap 28 and since the top end of the stacking magazine can point upwards in the operating position, an arrangement connected to the magazine rod 18 for feeding further ring travellers 20 is superfluous. The fact that the ring travellers 20 reach the vicinity of the feeding gap 28 by gravity and are there drawn into the gap by the magnet 32, also ensures that all the strung ring travellers can be processed, including the last one present in the stack on the magazine rod 18.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A device for feeding a ring traveller onto the ring of a ring spinning frame, the device including a magazine for stacking ring travellers, a stop plate adjustable through a range of positions in which it can be retained, a feeding gap between the magazine and the adjustable stop plate, the range of positions of the adjustable stop plate being such that the width of the feeding gap is adjustable so that in use it can be maintained wider than the thickness of one ring traveller being fed but less wide than the thickness of two ring travellers, a mechanism for displacing a ring traveller from the feeding gap onto the ring, and a magnet for holding a ring traveller in the feeding gap prior to such displacement.

2. A device according to claim 1, including a baseplate having an aperture through which the magazine leads into the feeding gap, the baseplate having a surface which is opposite the stop plate and is flush with the end of the magazine.

3. A device according to claim 2, including an adjustable reference gap in which a ring traveller can be clamped and which is formed between facing surfaces of the baseplate and the stop plate, at least one of the facing surfaces having a shoulder between the reference gap and the feeding gap so that the feeding gap is wider than the reference gap.

4. A device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the stop plate is displaceable on bolts fixed to the baseplate, at least one of the bolts having a thread and a nut for locking the stop plate and spring means urging the stop plate away from the base plate into contact with the nut.

5. A device according to claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein the magnet is located on the stop plate and is opposite the aperture in the baseplate.

6. A device according to any preceding claim wherein the mechanism for displacing the ring traveller comprises a dog pivoted on a lever and adapted to turn the ring traveller about a notional pivot point when it is taken out of the feeding gap, the magnet being positioned generally to define the pivot point.

7. A device according to any preceding claim wherein the mechanism for displacing the ring traveller includes a slider which blocks the mouth of the magazine during the feeding step.

8. A device according to claim 6 and claim 7 wherein the slider is connected to the lever.

9. A device for feeding a ring traveller onto the ring of a ring spinning frame, such device being constructed and arranged substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (9)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. Since each successive ring traveller is drawn by the magnet 32 into the feeding gap 28 and since the top end of the stacking magazine can point upwards in the operating position, an arrangement connected to the magazine rod 18 for feeding further ring travellers 20 is superfluous. The fact that the ring travellers 20 reach the vicinity of the feeding gap 28 by gravity and are there drawn into the gap by the magnet 32, also ensures that all the strung ring travellers can be processed, including the last one present in the stack on the magazine rod 18. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A device for feeding a ring traveller onto the ring of a ring spinning frame, the device including a magazine for stacking ring travellers, a stop plate adjustable through a range of positions in which it can be retained, a feeding gap between the magazine and the adjustable stop plate, the range of positions of the adjustable stop plate being such that the width of the feeding gap is adjustable so that in use it can be maintained wider than the thickness of one ring traveller being fed but less wide than the thickness of two ring travellers, a mechanism for displacing a ring traveller from the feeding gap onto the ring, and a magnet for holding a ring traveller in the feeding gap prior to such displacement.

2. A device according to claim 1, including a baseplate having an aperture through which the magazine leads into the feeding gap, the baseplate having a surface which is opposite the stop plate and is flush with the end of the magazine.

3. A device according to claim 2, including an adjustable reference gap in which a ring traveller can be clamped and which is formed between facing surfaces of the baseplate and the stop plate, at least one of the facing surfaces having a shoulder between the reference gap and the feeding gap so that the feeding gap is wider than the reference gap.

4. A device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the stop plate is displaceable on bolts fixed to the baseplate, at least one of the bolts having a thread and a nut for locking the stop plate and spring means urging the stop plate away from the base plate into contact with the nut.

5. A device according to claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein the magnet is located on the stop plate and is opposite the aperture in the baseplate.

6. A device according to any preceding claim wherein the mechanism for displacing the ring traveller comprises a dog pivoted on a lever and adapted to turn the ring traveller about a notional pivot point when it is taken out of the feeding gap, the magnet being positioned generally to define the pivot point.

7. A device according to any preceding claim wherein the mechanism for displacing the ring traveller includes a slider which blocks the mouth of the magazine during the feeding step.

8. A device according to claim 6 and claim 7 wherein the slider is connected to the lever.

9. A device for feeding a ring traveller onto the ring of a ring spinning frame, such device being constructed and arranged substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.