GB2068424A - Automatic winding machine for winding skeins - Google Patents

Abstract

An automatic skein winding machine comprises a thread guide (40) which moves along an endless path to wind a skein on a stationary indexable reel (3). The thread guide (40) is mounted on a guide arm (11) attached to a frame (10) connected by knuckle joints (35, 36) to chains running on chain wheels (23, 24) so as to maintain the attachment of the frame (11) as it passes along the rectangular path prescribed by the chains. The frame (10) is also movable laterally by movement of the chain wheel assembly on a carriage (8) to wind separate skeins on reel 3. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECiFICATION Automatic winding machine to make skeins from reel-wound yarns The present invention relates to automatic winding machines to make skeins from reelwound yarns.

Such yarns can be made of natural fibres or synthetic fibres, deriving from spinning, extrusion or other manufacturing process.

In particular the invention applies to all such cases where it is necessary to obtain skeins of yarns from reels, preferably of large dimensions, for further treatments. For example, in the manufacture of nylon and other synthetic fibres wound on reels by which term a rectangular plateshaped supporting means will be hereinafter denoted on which the yarn is wound to obtain skeins of well aligned yarns which will be successively heat treated in suitable furnaces in order to provide the necessary stiffening to produce the so-called synthetic bristles.

At present, the known machines to wind yarns on reels, or reeling frames, comprise a thread guide element actuated by the extruder and a rotating reel on which yarns are wound to form the skein. Possibly, on the reel of the above mentioned type various grooves are provided to accommodate the yarn during the winding operation. The thread guide element provides the possibility of shifting the yarn laterally to align it with the following groove pair to continue the winding on these once a skein has been completed.

The disadvantages of these known machines are various and significant.

First of all they provide for the rotation of a tool of substantially rectangular shape (the reel) with respect to a transverse axis and the skeins being formed are roughly rectangular, i.e. not symmetrical with respect to the rotating and winding axis. This requires the use of motors having a power greater than might otherwise be required because the irregularity of winding, even though high rotating speeds are not reached. The windings then undergo inclinations with respect to the longitudinal axis causing adverse effects on the regular disposition of yarns. Besides the reel mass, even though it is made of light material, for example aluminium, is not negligible as to the required power.

From the safety point of view a great disadvantage is represented by the rotation of a metai body which cannot be protected and is often of considerable height (even higher than 1.5 m.) and constitutes a danger for the operator controlling the winding especially when he must change the skein or the reel.

Particularly, the substitution of the reel after the winding has been completed is difficult as it requires either the stopping of the reel or the attachment of the yarn to the next reel during the movement. In the former instance the continuous production of yarn creates stocking problems of the continuously supplied yarn and in addition does not allow the complete automation of the operations to be achieved whereas in the latter instance complex and not always reliable devices must be used.

The known reeling frames, if on the one hand are of a relatively simple construction, requiring only the rotation of the reel, present on the other hand disadvantages and defects limiting their use, the possibility of automation and the product quality, in addition to the dangers relating to the movement of exposed metal parts of considerable dimensions.

The object of the present invention is to provide a machine for winding yarns on reels which completely obviates the above mentioned disadvantages.

More precisely the automatic winding machine according to the invention is characterized in that it comprises a thread guide arm adapted to be moved along an endless path, around a stationary reel and means to accomplish the movement of such thread guide arm.

It is thus possible to arrange the reels on appropriate supporting means which facilitate and speed up the reel changing at the end of each winding, reduce the times required by the various changing operations so that the whole cycle can be automated, and the danger afforded by the moving reel mass is eliminated.

To this end the winding machine according to the present invention provides a particular device to cause the thread guide to move along a rectangular endless path around the axis by means of a frame moved by a train of gears. Said frame in fact is fixed by means of knuckle joints to chains which are actuated by the rotation of the gears and moves along a rectangular path always maintaining its attitude constant.

To achieve a continuous automatic operation six or more reels are placed on an indexing platform i.e. rotating according to a revolver-type system, which enables the immediate exchange of a wound reel for a new one.

To better explain the present invention the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof is given by way of example only and therefore not intended in a limiting sense, in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a schematic plan view of the machine; Figure 2 schematically shows a thread guide moving device; and Figures 3 and 4 show a longitudinal section and a side view respectively of a reel on which skeins are wound.

In the plan view of Figure 1, the main parts of the machine according to the invention are schematically shown.

On a base 1 , there are mounted a pillar 2 on which reels 3 are radially applied and a carriage 8, movable on a slide guide 9 and provided with a frame 10 supporting a thread guide arm 11. Pillar 2, which is mounted on an indexing platform, supports five or more reels (more particularly illustrated in Figures 3 and 4). The platform and the pillar can rotate around its axis under control of a cylinder 40 actuated when all skeins have been wound on the reel facing the thread guide arm. The reel 3 comprises a main rectangular body having increasing in section towards the centreline, and on the periphery of which the yarns forming the skeins are wound.

The carriage 8 is movable along the guide 9 to enable the thread guide arm to be moved after a winding is completed. In the position illustrated in Figure 1 the carriage is located at the beginning of the operating cycle relative to each reel, i.e. in such a position as to cause the yarn to be disposed on the outermost portion of the reel to form the first skein by means of the movement of the arm 11.

The device for moving the yarn comprises (Figure 2) a pillar 21 provided with upper reinforcement elements 22 which supports 4 pairs of wheels or pulleys, two upper wheel pairs 23 and 24 and two lower wheel pairs 25 and 26 respectively. Due to the symmetry of the device, only the front part of same will be illustrated.

Wheels 24 and 26 are connected by means of a chain 27 whereas wheels 25 and 27 are connected by means of a chain 28. The lower wheels are driving wheels and are driven by means of a chain 30 connected to a motor 31 and to the wheel 25 and by means of which a chain 32 which connects the lower wheels to each other.

Frame 10 is connected to the chains, outside the wheels, by means of knuckle joints 35 and 36 which enable the frame itself to be kept in horizontal attitude independently from the position of the chains.

For the sake of simplicity in Figure 2 only the dovetail guide 9 and the portion of carriage 8 which slides on same are shown, omitting the supports for.the axles of the lower wheels. Details of the devices required for the various sequential operations, such as limit switches, stop elements, electrovalves, pistons, devices necessary for the automatic operation of the machine but not essentiai for the purpose of the present invention and anyway provided according to conventional engineering, are also omitted from the figures, The operation of the machine is the following.

From the rest position illustrated in Figure 1 wherein the thread guide element is located under the reel and at the outermost position the winding of the first skein starts following the movement of the frame 10, carried by chains 27 and 29, runs along an endless path of rectangular shape around the device illustrated in Figure 2. A similar movement but in.a different direction and more precisely around the reel is accomplished by the arm 11 through the ends 40 and 41 of which the yarn F coming from the extrusion presses. The yarn is thus wound around the reel to form the first skein and, after a predetermined number of turns the advancement by a step will be controlled by the carriage 8, thereby starting the winding of the second skein on the reel.

In order to obtain a continuous automatic operation, 5 or more reels are placed on an indexing platform i.e. a platform rotating according to a revolver-type system so as when the yarn has completed the windings on a reel, the platform advances automatically a fifth of a turn and the yarn starts winding on the following reel which is now in an operating position.

When the reel is wound the rotation of the platform and the pillar as well as the withdrawal of the carriage 8 to the initial position will be accomplished and thereafter the cycle restarts for winding the yarn on the new reel. A shear 50 with jaws 51 actuated by a cylinder 52 provides under control to cut the yarn at the end of each skein.

Instead of withdrawing completely the carriage to the initial position when a new reel is positioned, it is possible to start the winding from the position nearest to the pillar. In this case the return of the carriage will take place, step by step, during the winding of the second reel. All changing operations (skein or reel) occur at the lowest position of the frame, so as the thread guide does not interfere with the movements of carriage 8 or pillar 2 respectively.

During such changes the frame is stopped for the time strictly necessary for the above mentioned operations and the excess of yarn coming from the extrusion is stocked by means of known devices, for example by means of a series of rollers mounted on pillars which can slide on the latter under the action of weights when the yarn tension decreases. There are thus obtained temporary lengthenings of the yarn path which are taken up when the frame restarts its movement resetting the yarn in tension. However, it is evident that such dead times are much shorter than those of the conventional machines wherein the reel is rotating.

The complete cycle is programmable in advance and can thus be completely automated by means of electromechanical or electronic controls which count the predetermined turns and provide the starting of the various automatic operations (electrovalves, pistons, limit switches, etc.) required to operate the machine.

In order to obtain a more uniform distribution of the skeins it is possible to impart to the thread guide movement device a small stepwise movement during the winding of the skein. This operation is preferably carried out by means of a small auxiliary motor (not illustrated) which makes the carriage accomplish a slow translation enabling the so-called zig-zag winding of the skein. Also this operation is rendered much easier in the machine according to the present invention in that it is not necessary to act as in the known machines, on the rotating reel.

A device 54 gives an acoustic and visible signal of the positioning of the last reel not wound in the portion of the machine immediately preceding the operating area. In this way the stopping of the machine (particularly in the case of more machines operating at the same time) is avoided when the substitution of the wound reels for the new ones is accomplished (3 in the case of the illustrated machine).

Although the invention has been described with particular reference to an embodiment thereof, it is not to be intended as limited thereto and all changes and modifications which will be apparent to those skilled in the art can be made without departing from its scope, provided the winding of the skein occurs around a stationary reel by means of a thread guide element movable around the stationary reel along an endless path and with automatic change of the wound reel.

Claims (8)

1. Automatic winding machine to make skeins from yarns wound on reels on a revolver-type continuous automatic cycle characterized in that it comprises a thread guide arm movable along an endless path around a stationary reel and means to cause the movement of such thread guide element.

2. Automatic winding machine to make skeins from yarns wound on reels in a revolver-type continuous automatic cycle, characterized in that means for operating a thread guide element comprise a supporting frame for a thread guide arm, said frame being adapted to be moved along an endless path by means of at least two chains connected to at least two pairs of gears, and a supporting pillar for the reels and on which said reels are radially mounted, said pillar being mounted on an indexing platform.

3. Winding machine as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the supporting frame for the thread guide arm is always moved parallel to itself by means of four chains each of which is connected to a pair of gears rotated by means of at least one further chain connected to an outside motor.

4. Winding machine as claimed in claim 2 or 3, characterized in that means to move the frame are mounted on a carriage sliding on guides to'enable the positioning of the thread guide element at predetermined grooves of the reel.

5. Winding machine as claimed in claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the frame is mounted on the chains in an outer position with respect to the wheels by means of knuckle joints which maintain the attitude constant during the movement.

6. Winding machine as claimed in any of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that it also comprises means to stock the yarn during the operation of changing the reel groove or the reel.

7. Winding machine as claimed in any of claims 2 to 6, characterized in that it comprises an auxiliary motor to impart a slow translation movement to the frame during the winding of single skeins.

8. Automatic winding machine to make skeins from yarns wound on reels in a revolver type automatic continuous cycle substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.