GB2287965A

GB2287965A - Method and apparatus for filling sliver cans of elongate cross-section

Info

Publication number: GB2287965A
Application number: GB9506619A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ferdinand Leifeld
Original assignee: Truetzschler GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: Truetzschler GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 1994-04-02
Filing date: 1995-03-31
Publication date: 1995-10-04
Anticipated expiration: 2015-03-31
Also published as: GB9506619D0; GB2287965B

Abstract

In an apparatus for filling sliver cans (8) of elongate cross-section, e.g. at a drawing frame, the sliver is delivered in coils from a rotating head (7) and the can (8) performs a backward and forward movement in its longitudinal direction during the filling process under the action of a displacement means (9, 10). To produce an apparatus which is simple as regards its layout and construction, and allows production speed to be increased, the displacement means (9, 10) is also adapted to displace the can between the filling position and a position adjacent a store (12) of empty and filled cans to enable changeover of the cans. A loading/unloading device (15) effects changeover. The displacement means comprises a conveyor with or without a carriage (9) and is driven by a motor which is speed-controlled. The motor control device responds to can displacement and filling level sensors. <IMAGE>

Description

Method and apparatus for filling cans of elongate cross-section The invention relates to a method and apparatus for filling cans of elongate cross-section (rectangular cans) on a spinning works machine, for example, a drawing frame, with fibre sliver, for example of cotton or synthetic fibres. The invention is concerned particularly with cans of oblong cross-section (flat cans). The reference to an oblong cross-section is to be understood as including not only cans of rectangular cross-section (when viewed in plan) but also cans of oval and other elongate rounded cross-sections.

In a known apparatus fibre sliver is delivered from a rotating head and deposited in coils and the can performs a backward and forward movement in its longitudinal direction during the filling operation.

There is a conveying or transport path between the filling position and, for example, a store for empty and full cans, the can being arranged to be moved back and forward in the filling position and to be moved on the conveying or transport path in a direction away from or towards the filling position.

In a known method, (WO 91/18135), a store for empty cans and a store for full cans are arranged one behind the other. Each of the two can stores has a can transporter in the form of belt conveyors or chains which are guided by means of pulleys immediately adjacent to a further belt conveyor or a further chain conveyor.

The belt conveyor or chain conveyor extends from the can store right up to the area around the filling head of the drawing frame, and is guided around pulleys. The chain conveyor drives a driver member which acts on the rectangular can and transports this right up to the filling head where two arms of a can shifting means in the form of a traversing device take hold of the rectangular can. The arms can be swivelled backwards away from the vicinity of the rectangular can, so that the rectangular can can be brought by the belt conveyor into the traversing region of the drawing frame; they can also be moved relative to one another and form a gripping means so that they are able to clamp the rectangular can firmly between them. A traversing device is required because, compared to depositing fibre sliver in round cans, the fibre sliver cannot be uniformly distributed in the rectangular can solely by virtue of the movement of the delivery head of the drawing frame. So that the traversing movement, which is necessary for filling a rectangular can, is not impaired, the chain conveyor is taken back out of the traversing region of the drawing frame into the basic position in which the driver member is located on the side of the can store remote from the drawing frame. A further chain conveyor with a driver member is provided, which is guided by pulleys. The pulleys are arranged so that the driver member can be brought from the side of the can store remote from the drawing frame into the immediate vicinity of the filling head to receive a rectangular can, so that the arms can then take hold of the rectangular can. The pulleys of the chain conveyor are arranged so that the rectangular can can be brought by the driver member, which is initially located on the side remote from the can store, right back into the can store. In that case, the chain conveyors are arranged parallel to one another over a certain longitudinal distance so that their operating ranges overlap. The two chain conveyors together form a can shifting means for delivering and removing a rectangular can. This device is complex as regards its layout and construction. The fact that the can shifting means is constructed in two parts is a particular disadvantage, requiring two separate displacement arrangements for the rectangular can. A further drawback is that the separate displacement arrangements are separately driven and the control system for that has to be additionally complex. Finally, a time delay occurs in operation as a result of changing from one to the other displacement arrangement.

The invention is based on the problem of providing an apparatus and method for filling cans which avoids or mitigates the disadvantages mentioned, and which can in particular be simple as regards its structure and layout and allows production speed to be increased.

According to the invention there is provided an apparatus for filling cans of oblong cross-section with fibre sliver, the apparatus including a filling station at which fibre sliver is in use delivered into a can and a drive arrangement which is able in a first mode to displace the can backwards and forwards at the filling station during filling of the can and is also able in a second mode to displace a can beyond the range of the backwards and forwards displacement of the can in the first mode for facilitating change-over of cans.

The present invention also provides an apparatus for filling cans of elongate cross-section (rectangular cans) on a spinning works machine, for example, a drawing frame, with fibre sliver, for example of cotton or synthetic fibres, in which the fibre sliver is delivered from a fixed rotating plate and deposited in coils and the can performs a back and forward movement in its longitudinal direction during the filling process, and in which a means of conveyance or transport between the filling position and, for example, a store for the empty and full cans is provided, the can being displaceable back and forward in the filling position and being displaceable in the direction away from and towards the filling position on the means of conveyance or transport, characterized in that a displacement arrangement is provided which is able to displace the can back and forward on the filling path and to displace the can on the conveying or transporting path in the direction away from or towards the filling position.

Because a single displacement arrangement is provided for both can movements, that is, for the traversing movement in the filling position and the conveying or transporting movement from and to the can store, the apparatus according to the invention is considerably simpler as regards construction and layout.

A further advantage is that the change-over between the two movement sequences is effected within a short time, thus allowing increased production speed. The two movements can merge directly, even fluidly, into one another. Furthermore, adaptation to different speeds during the two movement sequences is facilitated.

Change-over between the two movement sequences can be realised within the same control device in a simple manner.

The displacement arrangement is preferably associated with the spinning works machine, for example, a drawing frame, and a can store. The displacement arrangement is preferably arranged beneath or laterally with respect to the can. The displacement arrangement preferably moves a sliding carriage, car or similar means together with the can. The displacement arrangement advantageously moves the can on a conveying device, for example a roller table. The displacement arrangement preferably includes a continuously revolving drive element, for example a toothed belt. The displacement arrangement preferably includes a drive means, for example, an electric motor. The electric motor is preferably a reversing motor. The electric motor is advantageously speed controlled. The electric motor is expediently a d.c. motor or an a.c. servo motor. An electronic control and regulating means, for example a microcomputer, is preferably provided, to which the drive motor for the can displacement arrangement is connected.

A sensor for the filling level of the can is preferably connected to the control and regulating means. A displacement sensor, for example, an incremental displacement sensor, for the location of the can on the filling path and on the conveying and transporting path is advantageously connected to the control and regulating means. The drive motor is expediently able to switch between the drive for the filling path and the drive for the conveying and transporting path.

The present invention further provides a method of filling cans with fibre sliver delivered from a textile machine in which fibre sliver is delivered into cans of oblong cross-section at a filling station and a can to which sliver is being delivered is driven backwards and forwards at the filling station by a drive arrangement operating in a first mode, wherein the drive arrangement also operates in a second mode at the beginning and/or end of filling of the can to convey the can to and/or from the filling station from and/or to a remote position beyond the range of displacement of the can in the first mode.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. la is a diagrammatic plan view of a drawing frame for filling flat cans, with a can conveying device and a can store, Fig. lb is a front view of the drawing frame as shown in Fig. la, Fig. lc is a side view of the can store as shown in Fig la, Fig. ld is a plan view of a can loading and unloading arrangement of the apparatus, Fig. 2 is a perspective fragmentary view of a can displacement arrangement, Fig. 3 shows a sliding arrangement for a can in section, Fig. 4 is a block circuit diagram of an electronic control and regulating means for the apparatus, and Figs 5a and 5b show the variation of speed of movement of the can on the filling path a.

Fig. la shows a drawing frame 1, for example, a high-performance drawing frame such as that sold by Trutzschler GmbH & Co. KG as the HS 900, to the sliver guide table 2 of which eight cans 3 are supplied from a carding machine (not illustrated). In the example illustrated, a drawing head 4 is supplied with eight fibre slivers 5 which are removed from the cans 3. The thickness of the delivered fibre sliver corresponds here to the thickness of the individual fibre slivers supplied. The fibre slivers are guided above a sliver guide table 2. The newly formed fibre sliver 6 (see Fig. lb) is introduced through a filling head 7, which is part of the drawing frame 1, into a can 8, which, once it has been filled, is moved away from the drawing head 7.

The can 8 is then conveyed by way of a can store 12 and a can transport car to an open-end spinning machine (not illustrated).

Fig. lb shows the filling station in which the can 8, which has an elongate cross-section, is located in a filling position. The fibre sliver 6 is conveyed to the can 8 by way of a rotating head and funnel 7. For the sake of clarity, only a short section of the fibre sliver 6 has been shown. The rotating head and funnel 7 is mounted in a frame, not shown specifically, yet is able to rotate about a fixed axis. The fibre sliver 6 is supplied to the rotating head and funnel 7 in known manner by two calender rolls, once it has been delivered from the drawing frame 1 to the calender rolls. The diameter of the rotating head and funnel corresponds approximately to the width of the narrow side of the can 8. The can stands on a sliding carriage 9. During the filling process, a traversing movement in the direction of arrows A and B is transmitted by a displacement arrangement 10 to the sliding carriage 9 carrying the can 8, with the result that the can moves across its entire length beneath the rotating head and funnel 7. The displacement arrangement 10 is provided to transmit this traversing movement. The traversing movement extends across the filling path a (see Fig. lb); in Fig. lb the can 8 is illustrated at one end of the filling path a by a solid line, and at the other end of the filling path a the can 8' is illustrated by a broken line. The displacement arrangement 10 is driven by a speed-controlled electric motor 11. Parallel to the longitudinal axis of the drawing frame 1 (and transverse to the direction of the traversing movement of the carriage 9) there is a can store 12, which comprises an empty can store 12a for empty cans 8a and a full can store 12b for full cans 8b filled with fibre sliver 6.

Viewed in the direction of movement (arrows C, D), there is a space 12c between the last empty can 8a and the first full can 8b. The empty and full cans 8a and 8b stand on a belt conveyor 13 which runs in an endless loop around pulleys 13a, 13b and is driven by an electric motor 14.

In operation, the fibre sliver 6 is delivered from the rotating head and funnel 7 and deposited in coils, and the can 8 performs a back and forward movement during the filling process. Before the filling process, an empty can 8a moves, for example, from the empty can store 12a, into the space 12c between the empty and full can stores 12a, 12b and from there to the filling position; the can 8 is filled in the filling position with fibre sliver 6 and the full can 8 is guided after the filling process from the filling position into the space 12c between the empty and full cans 8a, 8b and from there is moved, for example, into the full can store. In that operation, the displacement arrangement 10 with the sliding carriage 9 is provided as the means of conveyance and transport between the filling position and the empty can and full can stores. The means of conveyance and transport is arranged at right angles to the can store 12. It guides the can 8 from and to the filling head 7. A loading and unloading arrangement 15 is provided to load the empty can 8a, before the filling operation, from the space 12c onto the sliding carriage 9 and to load the full can 8b after the filling process from the means of conveyance or transport into the space 12c. As shown in Fig. lb, in the filling position the can 8 is moved back and forward beneath the rotating head and funnel 7 in the direction of arrows A and B along the filling path a. The conveying or transporting path b is used, either for an empty can 8a to move from the can store 12 into the filling position, or for a full can 8b to move from the filling position into the can store 12.

As shown in Fig lc, the empty can store 12a and the full can store 12b form a common can store 12 as a structural unit. The can store 12 has a common continuous belt conveyor 13 which runs continuously around pulleys 13a, 13b in the direction of arrows E, F.

Carrier ridges 17 (Fig. la) for the cans 8a, 8b are arranged on the belt conveyor 13 transversely to the running direction C, D. The pulley 13b is driven by an electric motor 14. The overall height of the conveying means comprising the conveyor 13 is small.

Fig. ld shows the can loading and unloading arrangement 15 which has a push-and-pull arm 15b which is displaceable by a push-and-pull element 15a in the direction of the arrows I and K. The push-and-pull element 15a is driven, for example, by an electric motor 16. A pneumatic pressure piston can also be used.

The displacement arrangement 10 is shown in more detail in Fig. 2 and comprises a toothed belt 17 on which a mounting plate 18 for the sliding carriage 9 is secured. The drive motor 11, for example, a reversing motor, is connected to a stub axle 19 for driving a toothed belt pulley (not illustrated) which engages the belt 17. The reference numeral 20 denotes a slide rail and the reference numeral 21 denotes a guide on the linear unit.

According to Fig. 3, the rectangular can 8 is placed in a longitudinal direction on the sliding carriage 9; on its underside, the sliding carriage 9 has a sliding guide 22 which engages around a guide bar 23. The guide bar 23 is mounted on a pedestal 24. A further guide bar 23' is in the form of a slide track on which the sliding carriage 9 slides and is guided by means of a guide 25.

As shown in Fig. 4, an electronic control and regulating means, for example, a microcomputer 26, is provided, to which the electric motor 11 is connected by way of a motor controller 27. The electric motor 11, for example a d.c. or a.c. servo motor, is connected by way of a speed sensor 28 to the motor controller 27.

The drive motor 11 is connected by way of a displacement sensor 29, for example, an incremental displacement sensor, to the microcomputer 26; an operator terminal 30, sensors 31 and actuators 32, the drive means 16 for the can loading and unloading arrangement 15, the drive means 14 for the can store 12 and the measurement and actuating members for the control and regulation of the drawing frame 1 are additionally connected to the microcomputer.

The displacement sensor 29 gives a continual report to the microcomputer 26 on the particular location of the can 8 to be filled. The length of the path a over which the can 8 is moved during the filling process is structurally determined, and is pre-programmed into the microcomputer 26 (reversal points, e.g. I = zero and II = 100). Unless the can 8 is completely full, it is moved constantly back and forward at a predetermined speed v between the two end points (I and II) of the path a. As soon as the maximum filling level has been reached, which is detected by a level sensor which is one of the sensors 31, the can 8 is pushed over and beyond the end point II to the point III. From there it is conveyed away by the can loading and unloading arrangement 15 and a new empty can 8a is brought to the point III. This is gripped and moved into the range of the path a. There, the filling process begins again.

The speed v at which the can 8 is moved back and forward between the end points of the path a (I and II) is variable, and can be preset by the microcomputer 26 at the motor controller 27, depending on requirements.

In particular shortly before it reaches the end points, the can 8 can be decelerated corresponding to a programmable function. Once the end point has been reached, the direction of movement is reversed and speed is increased corresponding to a programmable function (compare Figs 5a, 5b). For example, the electric motor 11 can be constantly accelerated or decelerated.

The acceleration or deceleration may also be useful to compensate for overlapping of the sliver coils at the reversal points. The speed v at which the can 8 is moved along the path a during the filling process is dependent on the delivery speed of the machine (drawing frame 1) and is directly (electronically) synchronised with this.

The speed at which the can 8 is moved along the conveying or transport path b can be adapted to the speed of filling the can with fibre sliver 6.

Instead of the sliding carriage 9, the displacement arrangement 10 can also move a car or similar means.

The invention also relates to an embodiment in which the displacement arrangement 10 displaces the can 8 directly, the can being moved on a conveying means, for example, a roller conveyor.

Claims

1. An apparatus for filling cans of oblong crosssection with fibre sliver, the apparatus including a filling station at which fibre sliver is in use delivered into a can and a drive arrangement which is able in a first mode to displace the can backwards and forwards at the filling station during filling of the can and is also able in a second mode to displace a can beyond the range of the backwards and forwards displacement of the can in the first mode for facilitating change-over of cans.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, in which the filling station is part of a drawing frame.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, in which the filling station includes a rotating head for delivering fibre sliver into a can in coils.

4. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, in which there is a can store towards and away from which the can is displaced in the second mode of the displacement arrangement.

5. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, in which the drive arrangement moves a sliding carriage, car or similar means on which a can is supported.

6. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, in which, in use, the drive arrangement drives the can which is supported on a conveying device.

7. An apparatus according to claim 6, in which the conveying device is a roller table.

8. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, in which the drive arrangement includes a continuously revolving drive element, for example, a toothed belt.

9. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, in which the drive arrangement includes an electric motor.

10. An apparatus according to claim 9, in which the electric motor is a reversing motor.

11. An apparatus according to claim 9 or 10, in which the electric motor is speed controlled.

12. An apparatus according to any one of claims 9 to 11, in which the electric motor is a d.c. motor or an a.c. servo motor.

13. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, in which an electronic control means is provided, to which a drive means for the drive arrangement is connected.

14. An apparatus according to claim 13, in which a sensor for sensing the level of filling of a can is connected to the control means.

15. An apparatus according to claim 13 or 14, in which a displacement sensor for sensing the location of a can being driven by the drive arrangement is connected to the control means.

16. An apparatus according to any one of claims 13 to 16, in which the control means is arranged to switch the drive arrangement between the first mode and the second mode.

17. An apparatus according to any preceding claim in which the second mode of displacement of the can is an extension of the first mode and involves a displacement in the same direction as the first mode.

18. An apparatus for filling cans of elongate cross-section (rectangular cans) on a spinning works machine, for example, a drawing frame, with fibre sliver, for example of cotton or synthetic fibres, in which the fibre sliver is delivered from a fixed rotating plate and deposited in coils and the can performs a back and forward movement in its longitudinal direction during the filling process, and in which a means of conveyance or transport between the filling position and, for example, a store for the empty and full cans is provided, the can being displaceable back and forward in the filling position and being displaceable in the direction away from and towards the filling position on the means of conveyance or transport, characterized in that a displacement arrangement is provided which is able to displace the can back and forward on the filling path and to displace the can on the conveying or transporting path in the direction away from or towards the filling position.

19. A method of filling cans with fibre sliver delivered from a textile machine in which fibre sliver is delivered into cans of oblong cross-section at a filling station and a can to which sliver is being delivered is driven backwards and forwards at the filling station by a drive arrangement operating in a first mode, wherein the drive arrangement also operates in a second mode at the beginning and/or end of filling of the can to convey the can to and/or from the filling station from and/or to a remote position beyond the range of displacement of the can in the first mode.