GB965166A - Doffing device - Google Patents

Abstract

965,166. Doffing apparatus. WILLCOX & GIBBS SEWING MACHINE CO. Dec. 28, 1962 [Feb. 23, 1962 ], No. 48764/62. Heading D1D. A device for doffing bobbins from a row of spindles comprises doffing means mounted to travel along the row and having an ejector adapted to be held below the bobbin to be doffed against the action of means urging it upwardly, and means controlled by the spindle to be doffed for releasing the holding means for the ejector to move rapidly upward and shift the bobbin off the spindle. As described, the doffing means comprises an ejector unit having three ejectors 39, Fig. 3 spaced apart at 120 degrees and each consisting of a forked member. Each ejector is carried by a slide 36 running in guides 37 bolted to a sleeve 32 rotatably mounted on a shaft 33. Each slide 36 is urged upwardly by a spring 40 fixed at its upper end to the sleeve and has a follower 47 running in a track 46 on the shaft 33. As the unit moves along the row, a star wheel 55 fixed to the sleeve is rotated by engaging the spindle to be doffed and the followers are forced down the cam-track tensioning the springs 40 until the lowermost one corresponding to the ejector 39 which now embraces the spindle slips over the bottom edge of the track and frees the ejector to be pulled upward by the spring. To adjust the point at which the ejectors are released, the effective height of the shaft 33 is adjustable relatively to the sleeve by rotating a plate 34 on a threaded end of the shaft, the plate being secured to a fixed part by bolts 34a in arcuate slots in the plate. To prevent counter-rotation of the sleeve by the pressure of the follower 47 against the cam surface of the shaft 33 under the influence of the springs 40, the sleeve is connected to the shaft through a clutch which allows the sleeve to be rotated one way comprising a spring 51 mapped around a collar 52 fastened to the shaft and a collar 53 rotatable on the shaft and fastened to the sleeve. Resilient stops 45 cushion the upward travel of the ejector-slides. Two ejector units are provided to operate on alternate spindles to reduce wear on the parts, the star wheels having twice as many notches as there are ejectors associated with it the ejector units are mounted on a carriage running on rails on the spinning- frame which has driving means and a guide and a shoot associated with each unit to conduct doffed bobbins to a receptacle in the carriage. To move each unit between operative and retracted positions, it is carried by a part 27 movable in fixed guides by rack-and-pinion mechanism operated hydraulically under the control of cams on the spinning-frame rails.