GB2316098A

GB2316098A - Winding continuously-delivered yarns

Info

Publication number: GB2316098A
Application number: GB9714291A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Alberto Comoli
Original assignee: COMOLI FERMO Srl
Current assignee: COMOLI FERMO Srl
Priority date: 1996-07-18
Filing date: 1997-07-07
Publication date: 1998-02-18
Anticipated expiration: 2017-07-07
Also published as: GB9714291D0; IT1284683B1; DE19730721A1; ITTO960627A0; ITTO960627A1; GB2316098B

Abstract

In a turret winder, for traverse-winding cops from continuously- delivered yarn, each cop 28 is supported adjacent a threaded region 38 or 40 which draws yarn, extending to a wound package when indexed to the unloading station, towards the empty cop 28.

Description

2316098

DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a machine and to a method for collecting yarns, particularly synthetic yarns, in reels.

Conventional winding machines comprise two or more rotary winders carried by a rotatable support which can adopt two operative positions offset from one another by 180'. Whilst one of the two winders is in a reel- forming station, the other winder is in a full-reel unloading station in which, after the full reels have been removed from the winder, one or more empty cops, on which respective reels will subsequently be wound, are placed on the winder.

In the reelforming station, the yarn is guided by a movable yarn guide having a straight reciprocating motion parallel to the axis of the reel being formed. The rotation of the winder is imparted by a drive drum which is pressed against the outer surface of the reel and ensures a constant peripheral velocity of the reel regardless of the change in diameter which occurs during the formation of the reel. When the f ormation of the reel or reels on a first winder is complete, the first winder is brought to the full-reel unloading station 2 and, at the same time, the second winder with the empty cop or cops is brought to the reel-forming station. At this stage it is necessary to break the yarn which extends from the or each completed reel and to anchor the end of the yarn to a new cop.

In some conventional machines, this operation is carried out manually. An operator breaks the yarn and engages the end of the yarn in a V-shaped notch in an edge of the cop, or by other manual systems.

Devices which break the yarn and anchor an end of the yarn to a new cop have already been proposed. The main problem in known devices is that they are excessively complex and expensive and/or are not very reliable.

The object of the present invention is to provide a simple system which can carry out the operation of breaking and engaging the yarns with a better guarantee of reliability and effectiveness.

According to the present invention, this object is achieved essentially by virtue of the fact that each winder has, adjacent each cop, a threaded region with a particular pitch and dimensions for engagement by the portion of yarn extending from the 3 full reel situated in the unloading station. The threaded portion is oriented so as to draw the portion of yarn engaged in the threaded region towards the cop as a result of the rotation of the winder.

The threaded region of the winder enables the yarn to be drawn underneath the new cop. The yarn is thus anchored securely in the V-shaped notch in the edge of the cop. The yarn is broken by the rotation of the winder after the yarn has been anchored firmly in the groove.

The system according to the present invention has the advantage that it is extremely simple and cheap and that it tompletely eliminates the risk of breakage of the yarn before it has been engaged on the new cop. With the system according to the invention, the yarn is sure to be engaged in the base of the notch and, with multi-filament yarns, the risk of breakage of only some of the filaments making up the yarn is eliminated. A particularly advantageous aspect of the system according to the invention is that it operates with conventional, known cops and does not require reel supports dedicated to a particular type of machine.

4 Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become clear in the course of the following detailed description, given purely by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic, elevational view of a machine according to the invention, Figures 2-6 are schematic, perspective views showing the reel-switching sequence according to the invention, and Figure 7 is a partial axial section through a winder, taken on the line VIIVII of Figure 2.

With reference to Figure 1, a winding machine, indicated 10, comprises a stationary base 12 carrying a pair of winders 14 and 16. The two winders 14, 16 are carried by a rotatable support 18 which can adopt two operative positions offset from one another by 180'. In a first of these operative positions, shown in Figure 1, the first winder 14 is positioned in a reel-forming station 20 and the second winder 16 is positioned in a full-reel unloading station 22. By rotating the support 18 clockwise through 180' it is possible to bring the second winder 16 to the reel-forming station 20 and the first winder 14 to the full-reel unloading station 22.

The reel-forming station 20 comprises a motor-driven drive drum 24 which is pressed against the lateral surface of the reel or reels being formed on the winder which is in the station 20 at the time in question. The drive drum 24 is carried by a carriage 27 movable transversely relative to its own axis of rotation in order to adjust the interaxial spacing between the drum and the associated winder as the diameter of the reel being formed gradually increases.

In Figure 1, a full reel, indicated 26, is disposed on the winder 16 in the full-reel unloading station 22. An operator removes the full reels 26 and positions on the winder 16 one or more cardboard cops 28 which constitute the supports on which the yarn is wound.

Figure 2 shows an operative stage in which the winder 16 positioned in the unloading station 22 carries an empty cop 28. A plurality of cops may be disposed on the same winder 16, a respective reel being f ormed on each cop. The cops are of a 6 standardized type for collecting reels of synthetic yarns and each has, in one of its edges, a V-shaped notch 30 which serves for the anchorage of one end of the yarn to be wound on the cop. An identical cop 28 is carried by the winder 14 which is positioned in the reel-forming station 20. A reel 26 is formed on this cop 28 by the winding of a yarn 32 which is guided by a conventional movable yarnguide 34 having a straight reciprocating motion in the directions indicated by the double arrow 36. The cops 28 are restrained on the respective winders 14, 16 by means of an expansion mechanism of known type.

Still with reference to Figure 2, the winders 14 and 16 have respective special threaded regions 38, 40 adjacent the edge of the cop 28 bearing the V-shaped notch 30.

Figure 7 shows three cops 28a, 28b, 28c disposed on the same winder 16. The cops are spaced apart axially and, in the region separating two adjacent cops, there are threaded regions 40b, 40c. A further threaded region (not shown) is provided adjacent the left-hand edge of the cop 28a. Each thread 40b, 40c is formed by a groove of a size such that it can house and guide a yarn, and of a helical 7 shape oriented so as to draw the portion of yarn engaging the threaded region towards the respective cop as a result of the rotary movement of the winder 14 or 16.

As can be seen in Figure 7, the threaded regions 40b and 40c extend underneath the respective cops 28b, 28c so as to draw the yarn beneath the edges of the cops and to ensure that the yarn is engaged by the V- shaped notches in the edges 42b, 42c of the cops 28b, 28c.

With reference again to Figure 2, when the reel 26 being f ormed on the winder 14 reaches a predetermined size, a control unit of the machine detects the angular velocity of rotation of the winder 14 and drives a pair of electric motors (not shown), associated with the winders 14 and 16, at the same velocity. At the same time, the carriage 27 carrying the drive drum which imparted the rotary movement to the winder 14 during the reel-forming stage is moved away. The rotary support 18 carrying the winders 14 and 16 is then rotated through 180' whilst the winders continue to rotate, driven by the respective motors. Upon completion of the rotation of the support 18, the two winders 14 and 16 are in the configuration shown in Figure 3: the first 8 winder 14 carrying the full reel 26 is positioned in the reel-unloading station 22 and the second winder 16 carrying the empty cop 28 is positioned in the reel-forming station 20.

At the same time, a pair of guide elements 44 is moved parallel to the axis of rotation of the winder 14 in the direction indicated by the arrow 46. The two guide elements 44 are arranged one above and the other below the winder 16 and have respective guide grooves 48 which catch the portion of yarn 50 extending from the full reel 26 during the movement of the elements 44 in the direction indicated by the arrow 46.

Figure 3 shows the positions of the guide elements 44 at the end of their travel in the direction 46. In this position, the portion of yarn 50 which extends between the grooves 48 of the guide elements 44 is taught and is positioned adjacent the threaded region 40 of the winder 16. The portion of yarn 50 which extends between the two guide grooves 48 is thus forced to engage a turn of the threaded portion 40.

As shown in Figure 4, as a result of the rotation of the winder 16, the yarn portion 50 is drawn along in 9 the direction 52. In fact, as pointed out above, the sense of the thread in the threaded region 40 is such that, as a result of the rotation of the winder 16, the yarn is drawn towards the associated cop 28. This drawing movement brings a portion of the yarn underneath the cop, since the threaded region 40 extends partially beneath the cop.

As soon 0 the V-shaped notch 30 meets the taught portion of yarn 50, the yarn is thus caught in the base of the notch 30 as shown in Figure 5. The subsequent continued rotation of the winder 16 causes the yarn to break in the portion between the notch 30 and the reel 26. The end of the yarn 32 thus remains anchored in the notch 30 of the cop 28 and the yarn 32 starts to be wound on the cop 28. The guide elements 44 are then brought to an inoperative position by a movement in the direction indicated by the arrow 54 in Figure 5.

As a result, as shown in Figure 6, the yarn 32 finds on its path an idle roller 56 with a spiral groove which provides for the formation of a spare tail at one end of the cop 29. The use of the roller 56 is optional. This roller is superfluous if the formation of a spare tail at the side of the reel is not required. The yarn 32 is finally caught by the yarn guide 34 and the formation of the reel begins. In the meantime, the full reel 26 is unloaded from the winder 14 and replaced by an empty cop. The operations described above are repeated when a new reel is completed on the winder 16. If several reels are collected on the same winder, the abovedescribed steps for replacing the reels take place simultaneously and in an identical manner for each reel. In this case, each cop will be associated with a respective yarn guide and the guide elements 44 will have guide grooves 48 corresponding to each threaded portion.

Claims

11 CLAIMS

1. A machine for collecting yarn in reels, comprising:

- a station (20) for the formation of the reels (26), comprising a movable yarn guide having a reciprocating straight motion, a station (22) for the unloading of the completed reels (26), and - a first and a second rotary winder (14, 16) each of which is intended to carry at least one cop (28) on which a reel is formed, the winders (14, 16) being carried by a rotatable support (18) which can adopt a first operative position in which the first winder (14) is positioned in the reel-forming station (20) and the second winder (16) is positioned in the unloading station (22) and a second operative position in which the first winder (14) is positioned in the unloading station (22) and the second winder (16) is positioned in the reelforming station (20), characterized in that, adjacent each cop (28), each winder (14, 16) has a special threaded region (38, 12 40) for engagement by a portion of yarn (50) extending from the completed reel (26) situated in the unloading station (22), the threaded region being arranged in a manner such as to draw the portion of yarn (50) towards a cop (28) as a result of the rotation of the winder (14, 16).

2. A machine according to Claim 1, characterized in that the threaded region (38, 40) extends partially underneath the respective cop (28) in use.

3. A machine aCcording Claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a pair of guide elements (44) having respective grooves (48) for engaging the portion of yarn (50) and positioning it in the threaded region (38, 40).

4. A method of collecting yarns in reels, comprising the steps of:

- winding at least one reel (26) on a cop (28) carried by a first rotary winder (14) positioned in a reel-forming station (20) having at least one yarn guide (34) movable with reciprocating rectilinear motion, - placing at least one empty cop (28) on a second 13 winder (16) positioned in a completed-reel unloading station (22), and - bringing the first winder (14) to the reelunloading station (22) and the second winder (16) to the reel-forming station (20), characterized in that it also comprises the step of engaging a threaded region (38, 40) of the winder (14, 16) situated in the reel-forming station (20) with a portion of yarn (50) extending from the completed reel (26) situated in the unloading station (22) and drawing the said portion of yarn (50) towards a respective cop (28) as a result of the rotation of the winder (14, 16).

5. A method according to Claim 4, characterized in that at least some of the said portion of yarn (50) is drawn underneath the cop (28).

6. A method according to Claim 4, characterized in that the said portion of yarn (50) is guided, in the vicinity of the threaded region (38, 40), by means of a pair of guide elements (44) disposed on opposite sides of the winder (14, 16) positioned in the reel-forming station (20).