GB2041029A

GB2041029A - Loading Device for Stranding Machines with Coaxially Arranged Pay-off Spools

Info

Publication number: GB2041029A
Application number: GB7942024A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Schwermaschinenbau Kombinat Ernst Thalmann VEB
Current assignee: Schwermaschinenbau Kombinat Ernst Thalmann VEB
Priority date: 1979-02-07
Filing date: 1979-12-05
Publication date: 1980-09-03
Also published as: GB2041029B; DD141179A1; DE2946499A1; IT7928456A0; FR2448498A1; FR2448498B3

Abstract

The invention relates to a loading device for stranding machines 38, Fig. 2, with coaxially arranged pay-off spools 37 in which the supply spools 13 for charging the non- interchangeable pay-off spools 37 which have run empty are transported backwards and forwards from the storage means 1,2 to the stranding machine 38, the loading device comprises an endless conveyor track 5, Fig. 1, arranged over the stranding machine complex with spool carriers 15 movable thereon and cable charging units are arranged in front of the pay-off spools 37 of the stranding machine 38, and in which spool transfer mechanisms 3,4 are associated with the storage means 1, 2, the transfer mechanisms 3,4 and storage means 1,2 being provided with inclined spool rolling paths 31. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Loading Device for Stranding Machines with Coaxially Arranged Pay-off Spools The invention relates to a loading device for stranding machines with coaxially arranged payoff spools in which the supply spools for loading the non-interchangeable pay-off spools which have run empty are conveyed backwards and forwards from the storage means to the stranding machine.

Loading devices for conventional stranding machines are generally known. East German Patent 79237 discloses a charging device for basket stranding machines in which a loading car which moves longitudinally along said stranding machine lifts the empty spools out of the machine and lifts the full spools into it. In this basket stranding machine the pay-off spools are arranged tangentially around the machine axis.

This charging device cannot be used for the present purpose.

Another known loading device for high-speed stranding machines known from East German Patent 89560 comprises an overhead conveyor on which move grabs which can also be raised and lowered. These charging devices serve for the rapid charging of high-speed stranding machines.

They have not proved satisfactory in actual use and the expected time savings were not achieved.

This charging device is also unsuitable for the intended purpose. In the case of a stranding machine with spools arranged coaxially on the stranding shaft it has already been proposed to integrate the supply spools into the stranding machine for which purpose a free space was created in the lower part of the latter and the said spools were mounted in pay-off frames. The necessary transportation of the supply spools is by means of a crane runway located above the stranding machine, but in front of the latter at the operating side. The gripping tongs generally hang in threes on a cross-member, which is suspended on the crane runway and can be moved backwards and forwards between the storage means and the machine along the latter. The moving in and out of supply spools takes place at floor level with the aid of a spool carriage operated by operating cylinders.

It is disadvantageous in this known loading device that the space in front of the stranding machine is greatly restricted by the transportation of the spools and it is made more difficult to operate the machine due to the raised stranding section. In addition, the transfer process from the supply spool to the pay-off spool is rather complicated and constricted.

The present invention provides apparatus to load the stranding machine with supply spools in such a way that the operation of the machine is not impeded, the stoppage times are reduced to a minimum and the space required for the complete machine complex is considerably reduced.

The invention provides a loading device in which the spool storage means, spool conveying and device for loading the pay-off spools form a closed system.

According to the present invention there is provided a loading device for a stranding machine having coaxially arranged pay-off spools, in which the supply spools for charging the empty pay-off spools are conveyed backwards and forwards from a storage means to the stranding machine, said loading device comprising an endless conveyor track arranged over the stranding machine, spool carriers movable along said track, cable charging units arranged in front of the payoff spools of the stranding machine, and transfer mechanisms associated with the storage means, there being between the transfer mechanisms and the storage means spool rolling paths which are inclined relative to the horizontal.

The conveyor track is preferably formed by an I-section beam arranged in the form of an endless loop and carried by cross-members carried by support means and whose lower flange carries the runners of the spool carriers. Preferably the spool carriers take up three spools and are interconnected and driven by a conveyor chain.

Preferably the cable loading unit is arranged above the stranding machine and parallel to the conveyor belt and comprises a member fixed by means of vertical fastenings to the upper cross members and in said cross-member and extending at right angles to the longitudinal direction thereof is provided one flyer per spool which is rotatable about the centre axis thereof, and homologously to the inner flyer roller is a guide pulley mounted on the cross-member and the extension of the centre axis of the spool touches the abutting sides of the two rollers.

According to another feature of the invention each of the transfer mechanisms comprise a frame which can be moved up and down vertical guide rods by means of rollers, the frame having two parallel juxtaposed supporting arms per spool of each of which is mounted an axially displaceable sleeve and both sleeves of a supporting arm pair are interconnected by means of a transverse member, the transverse member of each pair of sleeves is coupled to the piston rod of a piston and cylinder device for effecting the axial displacement of the spool carried by the pair of sleeves.

According to another feature of the invention the ends of the spool rolling paths leading to the storage means have recesses for receiving the sleeves and/or supporting arms.

According to another feature of the invention a guidance member is carried by the support means parallel to the conveyor track and engaged with said guidance path is a guide roller of each spool carrier.

The advantages of the invention are essentially that the complete operating area of the stranding machine is free and readily accessible, no additional space is required for the loading device and loading can itself take place rapidly, reliably and continuously. It is also advantageous that the cable loading unit forms an integral component of the loading device.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of an example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of the entire loading device, stranding machine and additional units, Figure 2 is a section taken along the line A-A shown in Figure 1, i.e. at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the loading device and the stranding machine, Figure 3 is a side view of the loading device taken in the direction of arrow Z shown in Figure Figure 4 is a side view of the transfer mechanism taken in the direction of arrow Y shown in Figure 1, Figure 5 is an end view of the transfer mechanism taken in the direction of arrow X shown in Figure 4, and Figure 6 is a plan view of the transfer mechanism taken in the direction of arrow W shown in Figure 4.

The loading device shown in the drawings comprises an endless conveyor track 5 arranged over the stranding machine complex with spool carriers 1 5 movable along the track and the cable loading unit 1 9 arranged in front of the pay-off spools 13 of the stranding machine 38, as well as the transfer mechanisms 3, 4 and the storage means 1, 2 for the full and empty spools. The drive 8 for a conveyor chain 1 8 connected to the spool carriers 1 5 also forms part thereof. The conveyor track 5 is an I-section beam, which bridges the area of the stranding machine 38 in the form of an endless loop and is fixed to cross members 7, the latter being carried by support means 9.An individual spool carrier 15, as shown on a larger scale in Figure 5, comprises a part bent at right angles and onto whose horizontal portion are fixed supporting arms 1 6 which carry runners 1 7. The supporting arms 1 6 are constructed in such a way that the runners 1 7 run on the top of the lower flange of the I-section beam on each side of the central web of the beam forming the track conveyor 5.

A horizontally extending mandrel 14 for receiving a spool 1 3 is provided on the vertical part of the spool carrier 15. The free end of the mandrel 1 4 can be provided with a spool locking means. A guidance member 6 is fixed to the support means 9 along which runs a guide pulley 20 carried by the spool carrier 1 5 parallel to the conveyor track 5. All the spool carriers 1 5 are connected with an endless conveyor chain 1 8 (shown as the axis in Figure 2). The drive 8 is provided on the conveyor track 5 for effecting the movement of the conveyor chain 1 8.The cable loading unit 1 9 comprises a horizontally suspended member 11 which is connected by means of vertical members 1 2 to the cross member 7 and is positioned above the stranding machine 38 and when viewed from the operating side of the latter in front of the conveyor belt 5.

For each spool carrier 1 5 a flyer 10 is mounted in readily rotatable manner in cross-member 11 for removing the stranded material from spool 13.

The rotation axis of the flyer 10 is located on the straight line of the centre axis of the spool 1 3 on spool carrier 1 5 in the loading position. On the other side of cross-member 11 and homologously to the inner flyer roller is provided a guide pulley 35 arranged in such a way that its rotation axis is at right angles to the rotation axis of flyer 10 and on the periphery is tangent to the rotation axis of flyer 10. By means of a further guide pulley 36 arranged on the casing of the stranding machine 38 the stranded material passes by means of the laying device 39 onto the pay-off spool 37 of the machine. The complete cable loading unit 19 is screened by a protective device 21 fixed to the cross-member 7.The transfer mechanisms 3, 4 belonging to the loading device individually comprise a stable frame 24 located in a horizontal position and which can be raised and lowered on vertically positioned guide rods 30 by means of a cable drum 27 with guide pulley 26 and cable 25.

An electric motor 28 drives the cable drum 27.

Supporting arms 22 are arranged horizontally in pairs and are fixed in the frame 24. Sleeves 32 are coaxially mounted on said supporting arms 22 and are also interconnected in pairs by a crossbeam 33 and by means of a piston and a cylinder device 34 can be moved backwards and forwards on the supporting arms 22. Below the transfer mechanisms 3 and 4 are provided storage means 1, 2 for the full and empty spools 13. Storage means 1,2 are really rolling paths 31 for allowing rolling in of the full spools 38 and rolling out of the empty spools 13, so they are at different levels and are inclined to the horizontal. In the vicinity of the transfer mechanisms 3, 4 the rolling paths 31 of storage means 1,2 have recesses 23 into which are introduced the supporting arms 22 of mechanisms 3, 4.Frame 24 is guided on the guide rods 30 by means of rollers 29 mounted on a vertically arranged part of the frame 24.

The loading operation takes place in the following manner. Three full spools 13 are rolled in the direction of transfer mechanism 3 on rolling path 31 from storage means 1. Prior to this transfer mechanism 3 is lowered until the sleeves 32 moved over the rolling path 31 by means of the working cylinder 34 are introduced into the recesses 23. The full spools 13 are individually rolled onto the pairwise arranged sleeves 32 and subsequently the frame 24 is raised into the transfer position. Subsequently the working cylinder 34 is operated and sleeves 32 with spools 13 are moved forwards. The spools 13 then pass onto the mandrels 14 of the spool carriers 1 5 suspended on the conveyor belt 5 and which are in alignment with the spool axis. The transfer mechanism 4 functions with the opposite sequence, i.e. it is initially in the raised position in which the empty spools 13 are removed from the mandrels 14 by means of sleeves 32 and are retracted by means of rolling path 31 to storage means 2. The frame 24 is then lowered until the sleeves 32 are introduced into the recesses 23.

The empty spools 13 now roll via rolling path 31 to storage means 2. The spool carriers 1 5 are now moved along the conveyor track 5 by means of the driven conveyor chain 1 8 to a position in front of the cable loading unit 1 9 where they are fixed. The charging of the empty pay-off spools 37 in the stranding machine 38 can now commence.

Claims

1. A loading device for a stranding machine having coaxially arranged pay-off spools, in which the supply spools for charging the empty pay-off spools are conveyed backwards and forwards from a storage means to the stranding machine, said loading device comprising an endless conveyor track arranged over the stranding machine, spool carriers movable along said track, cable charging units arranged in front of the payoff spools of the stranding machine, and transfer mechanisms associated with the storage means, there being between the transfer mechanisms and the storage means spool rolling paths which are inclined relative to the horizontal.

2. A loading device as claimed in claim 1, in which the conveyor track is formed by an endless I-section beam fixed to cross-members carried by support means and on whose lower flange engage runners of the spool carriers, the spool carriers being interconnected and driven by a conveyor chain.

3. A loading device as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, in which the cable charging units are arranged above the stranding machine and parallel to the conveyor track and each comprises a member fixed by means of vertical fastenings to the upper crossmembers, and in said crossmember and extending at right angles to the longitudinal direction thereof is provided one flyer per spool which is rotatable about the centre axis thereof, and homologously to the inner flyer roller is a guide pulley mounted on the cross-member and the extension of the centre axis of the spool touches the abutting sides of the two rollers.

4. A loading device as claimed in any preceding claim, in which each of the transfer mechanisms comprise a frame which can be moved up and down vertical guide rods by means of rollers, the frame having two parallel juxtaposed supporting arms per spool on each of which is mounted an axially displaceable sleeve, both sleeves of a supporting arm pair being interconnected by means of a transverse member coupled to the piston rod of a piston and cylinder device for effecting the axial displacement of the spool carried by the pair of sleeves.

5. A loading device as claimed in claim 4, in which the ends of the spool rolling paths leading to the storage means have recesses for receiving the sleeves and/or supporting arms.

6. A loading device as claimed in any preceding claim, in which a guidance member is carried by the support means parallel to the conveyor track and engaged with said guidance path is a guide roller of each spool carrier.

7. A loading device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.