JPH0340825A - Working-robot using method for operating fine spinning machine and working-robot used for this method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To automatically operate a spinning frame by making a robot automatically perform piecing operation only once without stopping the feed of a roving after detecting yarn breakage and automatically operating a roving stop device when the piecing operation fails. CONSTITUTION: When each robot 68 automatically tries piecing operation only once without stopping the movement of a roving to a drafting mechanism 22 and the trial fails after yarn breakage is detected in one spinning station 16, the robot 68 capable of automatically operating a roving stop device installed in the spinning station 16 where the yarn breakage occurs and thereby operating so as to restore the yarn breakage as much as possible is employed to operate a ring spinning frame 10.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides a system in which, when a yarn breakage is discovered in the spinning station, the roving drafted by the draft mechanism can be wound up into a cot by the spinning station again. The present invention relates in particular to a robot operating to repair the same, and more particularly to a method of operating a ring spinning machine using a working robot, and a robot implementing this method. A method of this kind and a corresponding robot are disclosed in German Patent Publication DB-033524073.

[Conventional technology]

This document relates to a method for automatically detecting yarn breaks in a spinning machine with multiple spinning stations and automatically repairing them using a piecing machine. Before the actual splicing is carried out at the spinning station concerned, a check is made as to whether there are any defects that would make splicing impossible at the spinning station and if such defects are found. No thread splicing operation is performed. This defect check is performed by a piecing machine.

- For example, a separate yarn breakage sensor is provided at each spinning station. In another example, the yarn breakage sensor is located on the piecing machine. When the yarn splicing machine reaches a spinning station where a yarn breakage occurs during yarn breakage detection, the yarn breakage is detected by the yarn breakage sensor, and the yarn splicing machine is stopped at a predetermined location in this spinning station. A command is issued. When the splicing machine stops, another sensor first detects whether there are defects that would make splicing impossible, such as the presence of roving, the presence or absence of wrapping around the delivery roller of the draft mechanism, or the presence of a ring traveler. Checks are made to see if there is any scattering.

If at least one defect is found, this fact is communicated to the evaluation device, which commands the splicing machine to perform another operation without performing the splicing operation. emanate. If, on the other hand, no such defects are found, the evaluation device communicates this to the control device, which causes the splicing operation to be carried out by means of a device equipped on the splicing machine. In this conventional method, if the yarns are not connected by the first splicing operation, one or more additional splicing operations are performed. If splicing is still not possible after a predetermined number of operations, the splicing machine is moved and the spinning station is registered as faulty.

In this known method and in the known ring spinning machine, each spinning station is provided with a roving stop. If the aforementioned sensor detects that there is no traveler or that the delivery roller is wrapped,
This roving stop device is activated by a piecing machine.

It can be seen from the above-mentioned invention that when searching for a yarn break, the splicing machine runs along the ring spinning machine, and when a yarn break is discovered, it is first determined whether splicing is possible. If it is determined that it is possible, the piecing machine immediately tries to break the thread before searching for the next break. That is, the presence or absence of yarn breakage is checked at each spinning station, and at the same time, a splicing operation is performed if possible.

Furthermore, it is necessary to activate the roving stop device by means of a ring traveler or a sensor that detects the presence or absence of wraps. In one example where each spinning station is provided with one yarn breakage sensor, the roving stop device is activated at the same time as this sensor detects a yarn breakage.

In the conventional method, when an irreparable defect is detected by the splicing machine, the splicing machine continues to move to the next spinning station without stopping, wasting time on unnecessary splicing operations. It is configured so that it does not. The purpose of this is to efficiently utilize the splicing machine's ability to repair yarn breaks.

Conversely, if a repairable yarn break is discovered, the splicing machine immediately stops and attempts a splicing operation.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Despite these configurations, splicing machines result in complex and expensive designs, which also result in complex and slow operating sequences.

An object of the present invention is to relate to a method of operating a ring spinning machine using a robot, and also to a robot used for the same, which method simplifies the structure of the robot and allows it to be manufactured at low cost. do.

And although we do not intend to equip this robot, it is widely applicable to existing ring spinning machines that can be easily modified for this purpose.

[Means to solve the problem]

To achieve this objective, according to the method of the invention, after detecting a yarn breakage, the supply of roving to the drafting mechanism is not stopped, and the robot automatically attempts the yarn splicing operation only once, which In case of failure, the robot automatically activates the roving stop installed at the spinning station where the yarn broke.

According to this method, it is possible to discontinue the use of several sensors for detecting special types of defects, and
Since a single yarn breakage sensor can be used as a general sensor, it is possible to greatly simplify the mechanism of the robot. This means that - thread splicing operations are carried out, and after this operation, a thread breakage sensor checks whether it was successful or not, and if it fails, it is determined that the thread breakage cannot be repaired by the robot. This means evaluating the information as such and calling the operator's attention.

. In this way, the aforementioned German Patent Application Publication DB
- Compared to OS 3524073, it not only saves three expensive sensors, but also reduces the cost and complexity of both hardware and software of the robot.

According to the present invention, since the roving stop device is activated only when the yarn splicing operation fails, there is an advantage that the roving is continuous during the yarn splicing operation, and the yarn splicing operation can be simplified. In addition, the robot itself can have a simple configuration.

The method of the invention provides that during yarn breakage repair, the robot unwinds the end of the already spun yarn wound on the spun from the drafting mechanism, preferably in the area of the drafted roving, preferably on the exit side of the drafting mechanism. The yarn is conveyed to the front of the delivery roller in the running direction of the yarn. In this method, the yarn ends are picked up by a drafting mechanism and heated together with the fiber stream running through the drafting mechanism to successfully perform the splicing operation. This method of operation improves the reliability of the splicing process, i.e. the means that participate in the splicing, and also limits the splicing operation to one time, which saves time and allows the robot to operate economically. I can do it.

If the roving stop device is activated, this fact is preferably made known or made available to the operator. For this purpose, the same signals used to activate the roving stop device are used, which allows for even simpler construction of the robot.

According to another aspect of the invention, when using a robot that travels along a row of spinning stations, on the first run along the row of spinning stations, the robot stores information about the spinning station at which yarn breakage has occurred. However, during the next run, the robot first performs an operation to repair this thread breakage.

After performing this operation, the robot should preferably check whether this was successful.

If unsuccessful, the robot determines that the thread break is irreparable and either notifies the operator of this fact or
Or make it possible to know.

This operation may be used separately or in conjunction with the previously described operations. Each time the robot travels along a row of spinning stations, it detects yarn breaks that have occurred since the previous run. However, the yarn splicing operation is performed only on previously detected yarn breaks that were not determined to be unrepairable.

This method is useful for robot design and also for the speed and therefore economy of carrying out the method.

In the prior art disclosed in the German patent publication,
The alignment between the automatic splicing machine and each spinning station is as follows:
Each bin is done. After thread breakage is detected,
This pin is first displaced by the drive means from a standby position to a position for locking the automatic splicing machine.

In another known automatic splicing machine, three spaced-apart light barriers are used, which are positioned on the outside towards the near side with respect to the running direction of the splicing machine when the splicing machine approaches the spinning station. The connecting barrier emits a signal, by means of which the splicing machine is braked, and its precise alignment with the corresponding spinning station is effected by means of a central light barrier. In both of these known examples, only very short paths can be taken for applying the brake, and the running speed of the piecing machine is thus limited.

Furthermore, mechanical locks are prone to settling, while the method of using three light barriers is undesirable because they are expensive, resulting in a significant increase in cost.

These problems can be solved by the method of the invention described above, in which yarn breaks are detected on each run along the spinning station and repaired on the next run.

This is because since the spinning station where yarn breakage occurs is known, it is possible for the robot to calculate and predict the braking distance, allowing the robot to run at high speed and operate with a long braking distance. It is from.

Moreover, many expensive light barriers are not required to position the robot with respect to each spinning station, and this operation is carried out in the manner described in our separate application "Positioning Means".

The resulting increased operating speed and reduced electronic and mechanical complexity make the robot cheaper to manufacture and more economical to operate.

The robot automatically detects thread breakage, so only one thread breakage sensor is required. However, the robot of the invention can also be used in a ring spinning machine with a yarn breakage sensor at each spinning station. In this case communication between each spinning station and the robot is required. However, such an approach is not very desirable. This is because there are many thread breakage sensors (currently one per ring spinning machine).
This is because installing a thread breakage sensor (200 spindles) not only requires considerable cost, but also the thread breakage sensor itself is prone to failure and often causes errors. In the case of a robot that automatically detects thread breakage, it is sufficient to check whether one thread breakage sensor is operating normally.

Preferably, the method of the invention is carried out in such a way that the robot services or patrols only one side of the ring spinning frame, and possibly only part of it. This is done in consideration of the fact that the yarn splicing operation by a robot requires a certain amount of time of 20 seconds or less. If the ring spinning machine has a reasonable number of yarn breaks per hour and patrols are carried out at the fastest possible speed, the robot can service about 500 to 600 spindles. In these operating conditions, a patrol movement along the spinning frame takes on average about 10 minutes. That is, in the most favorable case, the maximum time until the yarn break is repaired or the roving stop is activated and the spinning station is stopped turns out to be about the same (10 minutes). Experience has shown that at the normal spinning speed of a ring spinning machine, the winding that occurs on the delivery roller of the draft mechanism does not become so large during this time that it does not damage the draft mechanism. For this reason, a wrap sensor is not required. This is because the diameter increases due to winding at the latest within this time (1
This is because it is known that the process will be interrupted within 0 minutes).

To further reduce this risk, especially during night shifts where work is carried out fully automatically without an operator present, under certain conditions it is possible to use two robots on the same side of the spinning machine, as detailed below. That's preferable.

In a preferred embodiment of the method of the invention, in the splicing operation, the robot first wraps one end of the auxiliary yarn around the spinning tip, rather than attaching it to the broken yarn end, and subsequently wraps the other end of the auxiliary yarn around the spun tip. is connected to the fleece being spun from the outlet of the draft mechanism.

For this purpose, the robot is equipped with a supply spool of auxiliary thread, which, when repairing a thread break, sucks a predetermined length of auxiliary thread from the supply spool by means of a suction flow into a supply tube connected to a suction pistol. , upon leaving the supply spool, one end of the auxiliary yarn is held by a movable winder around the spinning tip, the auxiliary yarn is cut between said winder and the supply spool, and the associated spindle is removed from its drive means. The winder is separated so that it can rotate freely, and the winder is moved around the tip, and the friction between the auxiliary yarn and the tip causes the tip to rotate together with the winder, and the auxiliary yarn is pulled out from the supply spool and wound around the tip. The winding coil of the auxiliary thread is fixed by the cross-winding coil by holding the coil, then holding the tip and actuating the suction pistol to perform a vertical displacement in the area of the winding coil, and then the winding coil of the auxiliary thread is , by the winder or by parts engaging it by lowering the winder or parts associated therewith, and by placing the auxiliary yarn in an inclined position downwards from the point of contact with the spinning ring. into the driven ring traveler, then by the movement of the suction pistol the auxiliary yarn is introduced into the anti-balloon ring and the yarn guide, and finally by the movement of the suction pistol the auxiliary yarn is conveyed to the exit area of the drafting mechanism, The tip is driven again and the auxiliary yarn is conveyed into the path of the drafted roving to carry out each step of heating together with the roving.

To connect the yarn end to the spun fleece from the drafting mechanism, the yarn end held in the suction pistol is conveyed laterally along the delivery roller pair of the drafting mechanism by the movement of the suction pistol and then The yarn end is moved in the axial direction of the delivery roller pair without bringing the yarn into contact with the fiber stream flowing between the delivery roller pair, thereby connecting the yarn end to the auxiliary yarn.

Tests have shown that this method leads to a high success rate during splicing operations and increases the accuracy of information about the presence of defects that cannot be repaired by the robot based on failed splicing operations. The operation can be limited to only one time, which improves the robot's working speed and improves economic efficiency.

According to a preferred embodiment, the robot knows the end of its working range and stops there until it is given permission by the ring spinning machine to carry out its next patrol.

Stopping the robot at the end of the working area, preferably at the gear end of the ring spinning frame, provides two important advantages.

1. When a doffing operation is expected, the robot can be kept on standby at the gear end of the spinning machine, that is, at the end of the work area until the doffing operation is completed. This results in
Collision between the robot and the sofa can be avoided. According to the present invention, the time that has passed since the robot went out on patrol is detected, and if the robot does not return to the edge of the work area within a predetermined time, an alarm is issued or a ring is automatically activated. It is also possible to stop the spinning machine.

When the predetermined time is exceeded, it is concluded that the robot did not function properly or that some kind of failure occurred.

2. The time is set such that the spinning speed does not result in a large amount of wrapping of the fleece that would damage the draft mechanism. This practice is important when the operator is not available, especially during late night operations. This is because it is better to reduce the production of the ring spinning frame during late night operations than to damage the draft mechanism in the absence of the operator.

The patrol movement is preferably a reciprocating movement along one side of the ring M spinning machine, and when two robots are used on one side, it is preferably a reciprocating movement along a part of the ring M spinning machine. Although it is possible to have the robot move around the entire circumference of the ring spinning machine in a loop, this is not economically ideal. Furthermore, in the case of loop-like motion, the robot has to travel around narrow bends at both ends of the ring spinning machine;
This is usually difficult due to lack of space and the size of the robot.

In a preferred embodiment, when the robot is mounted on a ring spinning frame or when the ring spinning frame is switched on, it moves along a row of spinning stations until it reaches the end of the working area or a discernible turning point. First it travels in one direction, and in the latter case it goes around and travels further to reach the end of the working area; after being released by the ring spinning machine, it makes a first movement along the working area and breaks the yarn. The system is programmed to remember spinning stations that are experiencing problems that are at least initially determined to be repairable.

This procedure has two advantages. The robot is not designed to be a special ring spinning machine in terms of electronics, and with a few mechanical modifications it can be adapted to any existing ring spinning machine. The robot recognizes the length of the working area and the number of spinning stations to be serviced while traveling to the end of the working area or to a point of rotation. Therefore, if you give a corresponding program to a microprocessor,
No electronic modifications are required. If the power is turned off and then turned on again, the robot will reconfigure its working area according to its own program! 2 things to know. The fact that the robot requires only one electronic device means it can be manufactured cheaply in small steps. Stockpiling of spare parts may also be small. In specialized textile mills, robots can be easily transferred from machine to machine and, as far as management is concerned, can be used during night shifts.
It may be advantageous to use two robots for one spinning machine.

When using two robots on one spinning frame, the method of the invention is to mount the two robots on one side of the ring spinning frame, with each robot at the edge of the ring spinning frame corresponding to the edge of the working area. At the end there is a position at which the robot should stop, e.g. during doffing operations; each robot is detected by the other as soon as it approaches, and the spinning station which the robot had reached at the time of said detection. is characterized by being a turning point.

When using two robots, these robots are
They run in opposite directions along the ring spinning frame until they approach each other. When the two robots detect each other, such as by a V-shaped light barrier cooperating with a reflector mounted on the other robot, this signal is electronically evaluated as a reversal position, and the two robots Reverse direction.

The two working areas of the robots are thus determined elastically, as it were, and their lengths are determined only by the mutually close position of the two robots.

Since yarn breaks are usually not evenly distributed over the length of the ring spinning machine, the positions where the robots approach each other are
It is not usually the center of a ring spinning machine.

Furthermore, this position changes with each patrol movement.

However, this does not pose any obstacles to the robot of the invention. This is because, according to the present invention, the robot updates its work area every time it patrols. However, among the thread breaks that the robot memorized during its previous patrol, it has not forgotten any that need to be spliced.

Since there are still unserviced spinning stations between the two robots in the reversal position, the robot coming from one side will immediately reverse, and the robot coming from the other side will additionally serve a certain number of spinning stations. Preferably, it is programmed to continue traveling in the same direction until it passes, and then reverse. It is not difficult to do this; when using a single robot, simply place a mark on the rail that indicates the reversal position of the robot, and after the robot detects this position it still passes a certain number of spinning stations. Continue moving until
After that, you can program it to actually reverse the direction of movement. When two robots are used on one side of a spinning machine, the double-ended bots operate at their maximum splicing capacity, and have the advantage of automatically allocating work between them according to their respective capacities.

When one ring spinning machine is equipped with two robots, the two robots in use are placed at the edge of the predetermined work area (usually The doffing operation (both ends of the ring spinning machine) is started, executed, and stopped until it is finished.

In this case, the ring spinning machine must be able to communicate with the robots located at both ends of the machine, as described for a single robot.

Preferably, each robot is designed to store detected yarn breaks in connection with its spinning station, and also at least temporarily store successfully repaired yarn breaks and unsuccessfully repaired yarn breaks. At intervals or while stopped at the edge of the working area, the robot transmits the stored information to the ring spinning machine or to a system that processes this information.

This signal transmission may occur via a power rail that provides power to drive the robot along the ring spinning machine.

The robot remembers yarn breaks that have occurred and yarn breaks that cannot be repaired until the associated spinning station is repaired by an operator or a repair robot.

A broken spinning station stored by the robot is erased from the robot's memory when it is successfully repaired and when this is communicated to the control of the spinning machine and/or to the subsequent processing plant. However, this may also be determined automatically by the robot, such as via a light barrier that detects whether the roving stop device has been activated. This aspect, after the fault has been successfully repaired,
The operator restarts the roving supply and the robot splices the yarn. As is customary in ring spinning machines, the roving drafted by the drafting mechanism is suctioned in the event of a yarn break.

The method of the present invention is characterized in that the robot is equipped with an automatic yarn splicing unit that follows the vertical movement of the ring rail during spinning of a ring spinning frame, and after being installed on the spinning frame or after starting the spinning frame. It is desirable that the robot first detects the upper and lower limits of the vertical movement range of the automatic splicing unit. In this way, the robot can know not only the length of its working area but also its height, which simplifies robot programming and makes it universally applicable.

The invention also includes a robot carrying out a variant of the method described above, which is described in detail in claims 22-49.

For the sake of a short explanation, the advantages of each embodiment of the robot are not described in detail here. However, this will be well understood by those skilled in the art based on the extensive description above.

〔Example〕

The invention will be explained in detail below with reference to examples and drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a ring spinning frame 10 having a gear end 12 and an outend 14. gear end 1
2 and the outend 14, rows of individual spinning stations are provided on both sides of the ring spinning frame 10 (only one of which is visible in FIG. 1).

). Nowadays, 500 to 600 spinning stations are typically provided.

However, only seven such spinning stations are shown in FIG. 1 for illustrative purposes. In reality, the spacing between gear end 12 and outend 14 is much larger than the spacing shown.

At each spinning station, for example spinning station 16, a roving or roving 20 is drafted from the winding 18 into a drafting mechanism 22, and the drafted yarn is wound onto a spinning bobbin 26 by a traveler 24.

As a result, the yarn package 28 is wound up from its bottom onto the spinning bobbin 26 in a known manner, so that a so-called spinning stub is formed.

For this purpose, the spinning bobbin 26 is driven in rotation by a spindle 30. The drafted roving passes through a yarn guide 32 and a so-called anti-bar ring 34 to reach the traveler 24. As a result of the rotation of the spinning tip, the traveler 24 is caused to rotate on the ring 36. As a result, the drafted rovings 20 are twisted, and the twisting increases the strength of the rovings 20.

The spindle groups 30 are driven in pairs for rotational movement by a circulating band or drive belt 38 moving in the direction of arrow 40. The spindle group 30 is rotatably mounted in a longitudinal beam 42 of the ring spinning frame IO. The ring 36 is, in contrast, a so-called ring rail 44
It is located above. While the spinning spun is being formed, the ring rail 44 is continuously moved upward in a known manner with superimposed side-to-side zigzag movements.

At each spinning station, the roving 20 passes through a corresponding funnel 46 mounted on a rail 48 to enter the draft mechanism 22 . This rail 48 has a swiveling motion that moves from side to side in the direction indicated by the two-way arrow 50.

The roving 20 then passes through a so-called roving stop 52 . Such roving stop devices 52, also referred to as pre-yarn stop devices, are well known and are intended to be activated to interrupt the roving 20 and stop the supply of material to the corresponding draft mechanism 22. be.

The draft mechanism 22, which is also very well known and can be seen in the side view shown in FIG.
It is driven by three drive shafts 54, 56 and 58.

These drive shafts 54, 56 and 58 are connected to the ring spinning frame 10.
It extends the entire length of the shaft and cannot be twisted excessively.
It is typically driven at both ends to make this possible. There is a suction nozzle 60 under each draft mechanism 22, and this suction nozzle 60 sucks away the yarn produced by the draft mechanism 22 when a yarn breakage occurs. Therefore, the ring spinning machine 10 is kept clean, and the draft mechanism 22
The formation of undesirable thread coils on the individual rollers is avoided. For illustrative purposes only, it is shown that a yarn break occurs at the left spinning station on the right-hand side of the ring spinning frame IO, and the drafted roving is sucked into the corresponding suction nozzle 60.

As usual, the shin wrap 18 is arranged on a rail in a creel above the ring spinning frame 10, so that the shin wrap 18 can be replaced, for example. The roving 20 coming from Shinomaki 18 is funnel 46
Before moving inward, it is bent, for example by deflection rails 62.

Ring spinning machines up to the extent mentioned are known per se in practice.

Two rails are mounted on this ring spinning frame 10, namely an upper guide rail 64 and a lower guide positioning rail 66. The upper guide rail 64 and the lower guide positioning rail 66 extend over at least almost the entire length of the ring spinning frame 10, and are designed to allow accurate positioning of the working robot (hereinafter referred to as robot) 68.
8 and guides it. Although more details will be described later, the robot 68 has a frame 72 of the robot 68.
It is movable in the direction indicated by the two-way arrow 70 by a motor 74 attached to the flange of the machine. As seen in FIG. 2, this motor 74 drives a wheel 76 which is adapted to position the lower guide and roll over the wheel 66.

Power supply to the drive motor 74 and other electrical and electronic components of the robot 68 takes place via electrical wires 75,77. These wires 75,77 contact current track strips 78,81 in the lower guide positioning rail 66 via sliding contacts (not shown).

In addition to the driven wheel 76, another wheel spaced from this wheel 76 is placed on the lower guide positioning rail 66 to prevent the robot 68 from tilting laterally in the plane of FIG. Frame 72 of robot 68
Another guide roller 78 is arranged at the upper end of. The guide rollers 78 run within the upper guide rail 64 having an inverted U-shape, and prevent the working robot 68 from tilting laterally within the plane of FIG. 2.

An automatic yarn splicing unit 80 is provided on the frame 72 of the working robot 68. This automatic yarn splicing unit 80 is movable in the vertical direction indicated by a two-way arrow 83. To do this, the automatic splicing unit 80 is guided on two vertically extending bars 82 and 84.

Bar 82 is purely a guide bar, but bar 84 is formed as a threaded spindle and can be driven by a motor 86. Threaded spindle 84
passes inside a pole nut attached to the automatic splicing unit 80, thus forming a drive mechanism for vertically moving the automatic splicing unit 80. A first optical barrier 88 is mounted on the automatic splicing unit 80 .

A first optical barrier 88 detects the edge of the ring rail 44 and drives a control signal via a computer built into the frame 72 so that the automatic splicing unit 80 always follows the movement of the ring rail 44. The signal is transmitted to the motor 86.

Limit switches 90 and 92 are further mounted on the frame 72 of the robot 68 at its upper and lower ends. These limit switches 90 and 92 are connected to the automatic yarn splicing unit) 8.
Determine the upper and lower limits of the movement path of 0.

The automatic splicing unit 80 also has a further optical barrier 94 . Optical barrier 94 detects the yarn at the exit of draft mechanism 22 and thus determines whether a yarn break is present. If desired, other known yarn breakage detection monitors, for example of the inductive or capacitive or piezoelectric type, can be used.

The automatic splicing unit 80 also carries a supply spool 96 of auxiliary yarn 98 for the splicing process described below. Auxiliary thread 98
is introduced from the supply spool 96 into an auxiliary thread holding chamber 100 in which a cutting knife 102 is provided. Note that the supply spool 96 may be any desired spinning tip. A winding section 104 is arranged above the auxiliary yarn holding chamber 100. The winding section 104 can be moved in the direction indicated by the double arrow 106 until its U-shaped forward end 108 engages around the spinning tip.

An enlarged plan view of the front portion of the winding section 104 is shown in FIG. 4, and an enlarged side view is shown in FIG. 5.

The winding part 10 is placed inside the U-shaped opening of the winding part 104.
A ring 11 with a slit rotatably guided by 4
0 is placed. In the winding section 14, the slit ring 110 has two mutually spaced binions 11.
2. In Figure 4, two binions 11
Only one of the two is shown. The purpose of these two binions 112 is to ensure that the slit ring 110 is always driven by at least one binion 112. In order to keep these two binions 112 in synchronization, both of the two binions 112 mesh with intermediate gears (not shown). To simplify the illustration, the drive motor for the pinion 112 is not shown.

A pin 114 having a button-shaped head 116 is supported within the slit ring 110 . Pin 114 can be pushed down in the direction indicated by arrow 122 by lever 118 and electromagnet 120 so that head 116 can be moved away from the underside of slit ring 110. In this way, as described below,
The auxiliary thread 98 can be held between the head n116 and the lower surface of the slit ring 110.

A holding member 124 is arranged below the winding section 104.

This holding member 124 is connected to the arrow 106 similarly to the winding section 104.
Although the holding member 124 can be adjusted in the direction shown by, in order to position the auxiliary thread 98, the holding member 124 can be moved by its own drive system, which is independent of the winding section 104. A brush 111 attached to the slit ring 110 is arranged below the slit ring 110. An arm device including a shoulder member 123 , an upper arm 126 , a lower arm 128 , and a hand 130 is installed above the winding section 104 . The hand 130 carries a suction pistol 132 □. Shafts 134, 135 and 136 allow for planned movement of suction pistol 132, as will be described in more detail below.

Separate motors are provided for each of the shafts 134, 135 and 136. These motors are not shown for simplicity. These motors enable planned movement of the shoulder member 123, upper arm 126, lower arm 128 and hand 130 of the arm device about their respective axes.

A suction tube 140 is provided at the end of the suction pistol 132 remote from the winding section 104 . This suction tube 1
40 is bent into a generally U-shape and is connected to a suction source 142 at the end remote from the suction pistol 132. An optical barrier 144 is provided within the suction source 142.

A brake device is mounted on the frame 72 below the automatic splicing unit 80, and this brake device has a brake arm 146. This brake arm 146
serves to disconnect the spindles 30 from the drive belt 38 and to brake the individual spindles 30. However, the movement mechanism for the brake arm 146 is not shown here to simplify the illustration. Brake arm 146 is controlled and driven to allow the following movements. First, the brake arm 146 has an upwardly facing brake shoe at its front end. Although this brake shoe is not shown in FIG. 2, it is located between the spindle pair 30 and inside the loop formed by the drive belt 38. This brake shoe is oriented vertically upward in FIG. The brake arm 146 can be pulled in the direction indicated by the arrow 148 and at the same time pivoted to the left or right in FIG. Via the rear side facing 68 it is possible to lift the drive belt 38 away from the cooperating spindle 30. In this state, the spindle 30 is considered to be freely rotating. As a result of being supported by ball bearings within the hollow beam 24, there is little friction.

The brake arm 146 can also be advanced in the direction shown by the arrow 150 so that the upwardly projecting fins press the brake lining provided on the front part against the spindle 30, so that this brake The lining makes it possible to hold and/or brake the spindle 30.

In order to clarify the function of the automatic yarn splicing unit 80,
Repair of thread breaks discovered in advance will be explained below.

The suction pistol 132 is moved from the position shown in FIG. 2 to the exit hole 152 of the auxiliary thread holding chamber 100. This causes the auxiliary thread 98 to be drawn into the suction pistol 132 and then into the suction tube 140 by suction air from the suction source 142 until the end of the auxiliary thread 98 is detected by the optical barrier 144 . In this state, the auxiliary thread 98 can be stopped (but not yet cut), for example by a delivery mechanism that draws the auxiliary thread 98 from the supply spool 96.

At this time, a predetermined length of auxiliary thread 98 is present in the suction tube 140, and this auxiliary thread 98 is held in a stretched state by the suction air flow. The suction pistol 132 then moves from the auxiliary yarn holding chamber 100 to the other side around the front side of the winding section 104. This action brings the auxiliary thread 98 into the area of the head 116.

At this time, the head 116 is connected to the electromagnet 120 and the lever 118.
It is pushed down by the As soon as the auxiliary thread 98 contacts the shaft of the pin 114, the electromagnet 120 is deenergized. As a result, the pin 114 is moved upward again by the spring force of a built-in spring (not shown), and the end of the auxiliary thread 98 adjacent to the auxiliary thread holding chamber 100 is held by the pin 114. Next, auxiliary thread 9
8 from the supply spool 96
is activated. The drive belt 38 then connects to the spindle 30
The brake arm 146 is actuated so as to be uncoupled from the brake arm 146. In this state, the winding section 104 is moved upward to a position further above the upper end position of the ring rail 44. The winding section 104 is then moved forward until the spinning tip is located within the U-shaped opening of the winding section 104. The slit ring 110 is then driven via the pinion 112 to rotate about the axis of the slit ring 110 . This results in
Auxiliary yarn 98 is pulled by pin 114 and placed over a spinning tip mounted on freely rotatable spindle 30. The frictional force generated at this time is large enough to eventually rotate the spindle 30. The auxiliary yarn 98 is thus pulled out of the suction tube 140 and a coil is formed on the spinning tip.

After a plurality of turns, e.g. four turns, of the coil is formed around the spinning tip, a predetermined movement of the arm device causes a cross-turn and then a further plurality of turns, e.g. four turns of the coil, are formed around the spinning tip. The suction pistol 132 is moved so as to move.

The suction pistol 132 then moves upwards again.

At this stage, one end of the auxiliary yarn 98 is wound around the spinning tip. Next, the traveler 24 is connected to the auxiliary thread 98.
In order to prepare for threading into the holding member 12
4 is pushed forward, ie to the right in FIG. At the same time, brake arm 1 is used to stop spindle 30.
46 is pushed forward. The suction pistol 132 is moved to a position such that the auxiliary thread 98, which still partially remains within the suction tube 140, extends diagonally downward and tangentially to the ring 36. Traveler 24 is then rotated over ring 36 by brush 111. In this way, the traveler 24 moves on the auxiliary thread 98, and the auxiliary thread 98
is threaded into the traveler 24. At this stage the retaining member 124 is retracted and the suction pistol 132 is raised up to the anti-balloon ring 34 by changing the configuration of the arm means. Next, the auxiliary thread 9
The auxiliary thread 98 is attached to the suction pistol 132 such that the thread 8 is threaded through the entrance slit 154 of the anti-balloon ring 34
(This movement of the suction pistol 132 is caused by a planned movement of the arm means). Then, the automatic splicing unit 80 moves further upwards, and the suction pistol 132 is controlled again so that the auxiliary thread 98 is threaded into the threading slit 156 of the thread guide 32.

Next, the automatic yarn splicing unit 80 is moved further upwards,
The tip of the suction pistol 132 is at the position 13 shown in FIG.
The arm means is extended to take 2.1. At this time,
The auxiliary yarn 98 comes to be located on the end face of the upper roller 158 of this roller pair on the inlet side of the roller pair.

The spindle 30 and therefore the spinning tip 26 are then started to be driven. At the same time, a planned movement of the suction pistol 132 takes place in the axial direction of the delivery cylinder. As a result, the auxiliary yarn 98 engages with the drafted roving 20 undergoing a traversing motion, and the auxiliary yarn 98 is drafted such that a bond occurs between the auxiliary yarn 98 and the drafted roving 20. The rovings 20 are twisted together with the rovings 20. The newly spun yarn is then passed through the auxiliary yarn 98 to the spinning tip 26 in the usual manner.
rolled on top. This completes the yarn break repair process, that is, the yarn splicing process. Optical barrier 94 then tests whether the thread and traveler 24 are operating properly. If the yarn and traveler 24 are not operating properly, it is clear that some other type of failure has occurred that cannot be repaired by the present working robot 68. In this case, the roving stop device 52 is actuated by the working robot 68, for example using jets or pulses of compressed air in a known manner, so that the roving 20 is not fed further into the drafting mechanism 22. Simultaneously, a lever 160 of the roving stop 52 is swung up and the reflective end 162 of this lever 160 can be seen by the operator as an indication of a faulty spinning station 16 and the necessary corrective action can therefore be taken. .

Robot 68 also carries another optical barrier 164. This optical barrier 164 prevents the lever 1 from moving during the movement of the robot 68 through the spinning stations 16.
This is for determining whether or not 60 is being swung upward. If the robot 68 finds that the lever 160 is swung upwards at a particular spinning station 16, it is determined that the yarn breakage cannot be repaired by the robot 68.

It is not absolutely essential to provide an optical barrier 164 of this type. It is possible and preferred to store the signal for starting the jet of compressed air together with the position information of the corresponding spinning station 16 in the microcomputer for the robot 68, so that this information is already known to the robot 68. .

During the circular movement along the ring spinning frame 10, the automatic splicing unit 80 connects the ring rail 4 by means of an optical barrier 88.
4 and is always held at a height position corresponding to the upper end position of the ring rail 44. However, during thread break repair, the automatic splicing unit 80 is mostly held at a constant height position while forming the coil on the spinning tip. However, in order to form a cross-wound on the bobbin, the automatic thread splicing unit 80 is moved slightly upward (approximately 5 mm).
)Moving.

The automatic splicing unit 80 moves downward together with the holding member 124 so that the holding member 124 comes close to the ring rail 36 only while threading the auxiliary yarn 98 through the traveler 24. Note that at this time, the holding member 124 does not contact the ring rail 36. This downward movement is also controlled by optical barrier 88 and starts from a pre-position corresponding to the top position of ring rail 44 .

The long limb of the lower guide positioning rail 66 has two hole groups 166, 16 aligned with the spinning station group 16.
It has 7. These holes 166 and 167 are detected by two correspondingly placed inductive sensors 170 and 172 to ensure accurate positioning of the robot 68. The upper short leg of the lower guide positioning rail 66 has long slits 174 and 176 at each end thereof. To detect these long slits 174 and 176, frame 72
has another inductive sensor 177. long slit 174
Or when the long slit 176 is detected, it is known that the robot 68 is at the end of its working range in the gearhead 12 or in a reversal position at the outend 14, respectively. Accordingly, an appropriate braking process is initiated for the robot 68 so that the robot 68 comes to a timely stop at each end of the lower guide positioning rail 66.

Three holes 178, 180 and 182 in the gear end 12 allow the robot 68 to sense when it is at the end of its working range in the gear end 12.

The holes 178, 180 have the same spacing as the holes 166, 167. However, hole 182 is placed closer to hole 180 so that the output signal of inductive sensor 170172 is modulated accordingly.

In the reversing position at the left end of the ring spinning frame 10, i.e. at the out end 14, another long slit 18 is provided.
Only 4 are provided. Similarly, this long slit 184 is
It is recognized by the microprocessor control for the robot 68 via corresponding modulation of the output signals of the two inductive sensors 170, 172. This causes the robot 68 to reverse its direction of movement.

Through the two holes 178, 180 in the gear end 12 of the ring spinning frame 10, the robot 68 is also always accurately positioned relative to the gear end 12 at the end of its working range. Therefore, information can be transmitted from the robot 68 to the gear end 12 and/or from the gear end 12 to the robot 68.

This positioning means is described in a concurrently filed German patent application entitled "Positioning means" (Attorney file number R27).
43) in more detail.

Here each inductive sensor forms part of an oscillator circuit,
It is stated that the arrangement of these holes results in a change in the inductive nature of the oscillator circuit, which results in a change in the amplitude of the vibrations used to generate positioning signals or derive the precise position of the actuating robot 68. That is enough.

As shown in FIG. 3, two closely matched robots 68 can operate on the same side of the ring spinning frame. In this case, the slightly modified rail 6
6.1 is used, the holes at the left end of the rail are arranged symmetrically to the arrangement of the holes at the right end of the rail, and the ends of these two rails are the ends of each working area of the two working robots. I'm trying to decide. That is, the robot 68 on the left
stops at the end of the robot's working area at the machine out-end, whereas the right-hand robot 68 stops at the end of the robot's working area at the gear end 12 of the machine.

Each robot has its own light barrier on the right and left - 186°1
88, left and right light barriers on one robot-1
86 and 188 are displaced relative to each other in a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. Two back-reflectors 190.degree. 192 are arranged on mutually opposite sides of the robot 68, these back-reflectors also being displaced relative to each other in a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG.

Thus, in FIG. 3, the right light barrier 188 of the left robot faces the back-reflector 192. Similarly, the rear reflector 190 of the left robot 68 in FIG.
is a light barrier 186 facing the left side of the right robot 68.
located at the rear of the When the two robots come close to each other, each robot is recognized by the other robot, since the back-reflectors are located in the overlapping region of the V-light barrier. This corresponding recognition signal is used to determine the point of robot reversal.

In addition to the light barriers 186, 188, the robot can also carry light barriers on both sides, which serve as operator protection. For example, it may happen that the particular position is modified by the operator as the robot approaches. The robot then recognizes the operator with this added light barrier and turns around, thereby preventing a collision between the robot and the operator. Such a light barrier is also useful because the operator can cause the robot to change its direction of movement at any time by placing the operator's hand in the area of the operator-protecting light barrier.

The sequence of operations of the operator 68 on the ring spinning frame of FIG. 1 is summarized.

First of all, the robot is put into operation, and the robot is actually placed in a desired position on the ring spinning frame and switched on. The robot then moves in the desired direction, preferably to the right, thereby avoiding repairing the thread break. The robot also does not discern the presence of any thread breaks during this initial movement.

If the robot then reaches an elongated opening, such as long slit 164 in FIG. 1, then the robot knows that it is at the end of its work area.

If the robot is forced to move in the opposite direction during this first movement, for example as a result of an operator protection light barrier, then the robot moves into a reversal position at the machine out-end of the ring spinning machine, where it cuts the long slit. 176 and reverses its direction of motion until the robot finally reaches the end of the robot's working area at the mechanical gear end.

In this position the robot transmits an indication to the mechanical gear end of the ring spinning frame that it is in this position at the end of its working area. As a variant, the mechanical gear end of the ring spinning machine can itself recognize the presence of the robot, for example by means of a light barrier that is directed to a specific back-reflector on the robot.

The ring spinning machine itself now gives the robot a release signal which assumes that no doffing work is expected immediately and that there are no other obstacles. After receiving this release signal, the working robot first informs itself of the operating status of the spinning station in the first path along the ring spinning frame. That is, the robot knows which spinning stations have no yarn breakage, which spinning stations have yarn breaks, and which spinning stations have finally started operating, which can be recognized from the lever of the roving stop device. This robot creates an association between yarn breaks and individual spinning stations with the same positioning means signals passing through the spinning stations, i.e. the robot starts from the end of its working area and follows the positioning means signals. The resulting number of spinning stations of the ring spinning frame is counted and these numbers are stored together with relevant information regarding the operating status of the individual spinning stations.

After reaching the reversal position of Isoshiro Out End, the robot changes its direction of motion.

The frontage bot on its return trip repairs yarn breaks found in the first pass on the ring spinning frame and at the same time determines the spinning station where a yarn break has newly occurred since its first trip. After the end of this return stroke and after repairing the thread breakage that has occurred, the robot again reaches the end of its working area. The robot then repositions itself to its starting position and informs the ring spinning frame of the number of existing yarn breaks, of the yarn breaks that the robot has repaired, and of the yarn breaks that the robot has not repaired, i.e. the spinning station where the robot stopped. The robot transmits the information it has accumulated.

This corresponding data is indicated to the operator so that the operator can take the necessary action. At the same time, this total information is collected for operational statistics.

The robot then waits again at the starting position at the end of the robot's working area for a release signal from the spinning machine. As soon as the robot receives the corresponding release signal, it moves again in the direction towards its reversal point, repairing the thread breakage it found in its previous stroke and at the same time detecting the thread breakage that occurred in the meantime.

At this point of reversal, the robot again moves in the opposite direction and the cycle just described is repeated until the spinning tip is exhausted, requiring a doffing action. In this case, the robot is stopped by the ring spinning machine at the starting position and this doffing action takes place, in which the full tip is transformed into an empty tip, but when the robot is in progress, That work will not be done.

The transmission of information between the robot and the mechanical gear end, which means a kind of mutual communication, will not be described in detail here. In the prior art, various proposals have already been made regarding how to realize communication. It will also become clear that this is ultimately the type of transmission of information that is encountered today in the most diverse technical fields and that can easily occur, for example, by optical signals or by radio waves or indeed by wires. In the simplest case, it would be most conceivable to provide a plug on the robot that enters into a socket at the end of the robot's working area and forms an electrically conductive connection.

When using two robots on the same side of the machine, the method is performed essentially as described above, but the unfixed reversal point is determined electronically during each stroke of the robot, and in fact the two robots determined by where they meet.

It should be emphasized that the robot only intends to repair the thread break once. Since the splicing process already described works so reliably, the present invention makes it possible to conclude that when a splicing attempt fails, it is necessary to worry about a defective spinning station that requires repair by the operator. drawn out. For example, ring travelers may become worn or lost, roving breaks may occur, or other mechanical failures of the type may occur.

Finally, it should be pointed out that the light barrier, positioning motor, positioning means, etc. are all connected to a microprocessor programmed so that the robot performs the continuous movements described above. Certain mechanical changes are required to install the robot on different ring spinning machines, but the electronics are always the same. The robot thus learns its own environmental situation as a result of its programming, ie the robot determines the spinning station on which it has to work from the signals defining the edges of its working area and the reversal position.

The robot also learns the vertical displacement area of the robot each time it starts anew, and in fact the automatic splicing unit 80 is first moved downwards by the motor 86 until the end switch 92 is actuated and then The end switch 90 is moved upward until it is actuated, and then the necessary adjustment for the vertical movement of this automatic splicing unit is obtained from the rotational speed of the motor 86 and the switching signals of the two end switches. Make it.

In the ring spinning machines of the Rieter company, the vertical position and the mutual spacing of the anti-balooning ring 34, the thread guide 156 and the drafting mechanism are the same for all conventional types, which corresponds to the fact that To be able to be introduced into the robot's microprocessor program. Another possibility after installing the robot on the ring spinning machine is to enable the corresponding movements of the suction pistol and the automatic splicing unit to be carried out by the operator's hands, the program of the microprocessor It is now possible to learn the exercise to be performed from the exercise of . It is also possible to load these movements into the microprocessor in the form of a program specific to a certain type of ring spinning machine, or to provide this microprocessor with information in the form of corresponding program modules.

The fact that the robot learns about newly generated yarn breaks during one stroke and repairs these yarn breaks first during the next stroke allows the robot to cycle along the ring spinning machine at high speeds. It means that. A distance corresponding to twice the mutual spacing of the spinning stations is generally sufficient to brake the robot from a crawling speed to a slow speed.

At this slow speed the robot automatically finds the correct positioning for a particular spinning station, in fact for the two holes as already described.

If the robot travels beyond the precise position, then the robot simply travels back until it reaches the precisely aligned position. Thread breaks are always repaired one after another, but only those found during previous passes of the robot.

It should be mentioned that a robot with a spindle brake device is known from German Patent Application No. 32 09 814. The device has a carrier movable transversely to the direction of travel of the robot, which carrier has an auxiliary belt that contacts the cylindrical surface of the spindle shaft in its extended position and brakes the spindle shaft.

During this time, the drive belt for the spindle slides on the shaft of the spindle. This auxiliary belt is driven by a motor, which causes the spindle to rotate in the opposite direction to the normal direction. This type of spindle brake device is modified to suit the particular way in which the new thread is threaded.

The invention is also based on the object of providing a spindle brake device which can be used widely.

This purpose is based on German Patent Application No. 320981, the preamble of which is
This is achieved by the features of claim 41 taking into account prior art no. 4.

The spindle brake device of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 6 to 11.
It will be described in more detail with reference to the figures.

For ease of illustration, a new numbering scheme starts at 201 for the working robot.

In FIGS. 6 to 11, a part of a working robot 201 for a ring spinning machine is shown.

This ring spinning machine has an arrangement of spinning stations in a row next to each other, only the spindles 202 being shown. Each spindle 202 includes a spindle bearing 203, a spindle shaft 204 supported by the bearing 203, and a spool 205 mounted on the shaft 204.

The bearings 203 are mounted in a row on the spindle rail 206 with equal spacing. Each pair of adjacent axes 204 is axis 2
04 by a common drive belt 207 extending approximately 90° around the cylindrical portion 208. Between these two co-driven axes 204 a belt 207 has a portion 209 extending parallel to the longitudinal length of the rail 206. Above portion 208 spindle 204 has a cylindrical braking surface 210 .

The robot 201 can move in a direction X parallel to the longitudinal length of the rail 206 and the row of spindles on wheels (not shown). This is mark 215 on rail 206
It has a sensor 214 cooperating with the robot 201 for stopping and precisely positioning the robot 201 in front of the spinning station, which is to be activated when a yarn break is observed in this unit. All marks 215 have the same spacing from the axis of the associated spindle.

The spindle brake device 217 of the present invention
It is housed in 1. Two rotating arms 220, 2
A parallelogram-shaped linkage having a connecting link 21 and a connecting link 222 is rotatably mounted on the housing 218 of the robot 201. The movement of this linkage 219 is limited by two stops 223,224. Arm 2
A DC drive motor 225 connected to the link device 2
It functions to rotate 19. Plate-shaped holder 2
28 is moved horizontally from the base position A shown in FIG.

A pivot arm 229 is rotatably supported by a vertical pin 230 proximate the front edge of holder 228 .

The arm 229 has a toothed segment 231 that meshes with a pinion 232 of another DC drive motor 233. The range of rotation of the arm 229 is limited by a pin 234 located in the holder 228 and projecting into an arcuate long slit 235 of the arm 229. arm 229
is locked by an indicator or sensor 236 at the central center position M between the two end positions N, O (FIG. 2).

This indicator 236 detects one edge of the arm 229 and is connected to the motor 233 via a control device (not shown). Stoppers 223, 224° 235 are link devices 219
and arm 229 can be supplemented or replaced by a limit switch to limit the stroke of arm 229 and arm 229.

The carrier 240 has a horizontal axis 2 extending perpendicular to the pin 230.
41 on an arm 229 so as to be rotatable.

The carrier 240 can pivot between a horizontally engaged position E shown in FIG. 8 and a released position F shown in solid lines in FIG. This rotation angle is determined by the zygote 2 which is rigidly connected to the arm 229.
41.242. career 24
An electromagnet 243 acting on the projection 244 of 0 lifts the carrier from position E to position F. At its free end, the carrier 240 has a belt guide member 245 which projects substantially vertically downward and has a half-moon-shaped cross section and a brake shoe 246 convertably mounted on its top surface. There is. This brake shoe 24
6 has a convex cylindrical braking surface 247 intended to engage the braking surface 210 of the spindle shaft 204 of the spinning station to be activated. A roller 248 is rotatably supported on the underside of carrier 240 about a vertical axis 249 proximate the free end of carrier 240 . This roller 248 cooperates with a guide curve 250 fixed to the housing. This curved surface 250 extends in the direction X and is curved convexly with respect to the row of spindles and symmetrically with respect to the central position of the carrier 240 shown in FIGS. 10 and 11.

The above brake device operates as follows.

Robot 201 in direction X along the row of spinning stations
While traveling, the holder 228 is at the base position A shown in FIG. 7, the arm 229 is at the center position M, and the carrier 240 is at the lowered joining position E. The robot detects a sensor 214 in front of the spinning station to be operated.
It will be centered. Whether the arm 229 is now rotated by the motor 233 to one of the end positions N2O depends on whether the spindle 204 to be actuated is located on the left or right side of the belt section 209. In the illustrated example, the left spindle 202
is activated. The carrier 240 is rotated to the release position F by the magnet 243 and the holder 228 is rotated by the motor 225.
is advanced to position B by At this position, the attached guide member 2
The free end of arm 240 having belt portion 209
(indicated by dashed lines in illustrations B and N in FIG. 7). In this position, the carrier 240 is lowered so that the guide member 245 engages the rear side of the belt section 209 and the roller 248 engages the rear side of the guide curve 250. Holder 228 is now retracted until roller 248 contacts curved surface 250 (FIG. 11C,
The arm 229 is then rotated to the center position M (positions C and M in FIG. 11). A continuously circulating belt 207 now slides over the convex surface of the guide member 245. At position C1M, the belt 207 is attached to the shaft 20
4 and the brake surface 2
47 has a spacing from the braking surface 210 of the shaft 204, thereby allowing the shaft 204 to rotate freely. If the brake is applied, the holder 228 is moved to the first position by the motor 225.
The brake surface is moved forward to positions B and M in Figure 0, and the brake surface is 210°2.
The stroke is limited by contact with 47.

Pivoting arm 221 therefore has a small distance from zygote 224.

To connect the thread after thread breakage, a predetermined length of auxiliary thread is stored in the suction tube as already described. The free end of the auxiliary thread has a fourth
．． It is fixed to a ring like 110 in Fig. 5. As this ring 110 rotates, the auxiliary thread is pulled out of the suction tube and 2.3 wraps are formed around the spool 205.

Spool 205 must rotate during this time, so guide member 245 is in position C1M as shown in FIG. After a pair of wraps have been applied to spool 205, spindle 202 is braked (position 8 in FIG. 10).
．． M), the auxiliary thread is threaded and the splicing is carried out in the draft mechanism. At the end of the yarn piecing process, the holder 228 is in position C.
and the arm 229 is rotated to position N,
The spindle shaft is thereby driven again. Since the curved surface 250 is a convex surface, the belt 207 is connected to the arm 229.
During the rotational movement of the belt 207 there is little extra tension and the tensilon rollers for the belt 207 are hardly ever deformed too much.

Finally, holder 228 is advanced to position B, carrier 240 is raised to position F, holder 228 is moved back to base position A, arm 229 is returned to position M, and carrier 240 is returned to position E. It will be done. In this way the starting position is again obtained.

Through the above-described structure of the brake device 217, the spindle shaft 204 of the spinning station to be activated can be selectively braked or rotated freely when separated from the drive belt 207. In this way, an economical and reliable splicing is possible after a yarn break. It is very difficult to bring the end of the auxiliary thread onto the spindle and to wrap the following part overlying this end. Due to the construction of the brake device of the invention, the end of the auxiliary thread can, in contrast, be held on a rotor rotating around the spindle. In this way, a reliable and reliable winding of the end of the auxiliary thread onto the spool is possible.

The free rotation of the spindle 202 is also advantageous for locating the broken thread end on the spool 205 if it is spliced into place on the auxiliary thread mentioned above. In this proposal of German Patent Application No. 32 09 814, the spindle has to be rotated slowly by a separate motor in order to search for the end of the thread.

This slow rotational movement can be achieved according to the invention by an asymmetrical suction scheme of the broken thread end or by an asymmetrical blowing onto the spool 205.

The device of the invention is therefore suitable for very wide use for automatically operating units.

From the above it can be seen that this working robot has three different driving functions.

- without extra action to obtain a special position, e.g. to move out of the area of the spindle before the doffing process;
A pure running motion, - a control stroke in which the state of the individual spindles is detected and stored, for example at the start of operation of a spinning frame, - from one spindle requiring an action to process the envisioned operating function. Continuous movement to the next spindle. The robot is preferably further arranged to be able to react to one command to move from its working position to the doffing position within a predetermined time interval before starting the doffing action. be done.

Finally, it may be noted that it is necessary to repeat some parts of the splicing process, i.e. not to carry out the entire process only once. For example, if the winding of the yarn on the spindle tip fails, this necessarily means that there is a defective spinning station and the operation will have to be repeated. A failure in winding during the process can be noticed, for example, by the fact that the length of the auxiliary thread does not emerge downwards from the suction tube past the sensor provided there to detect its end. . The signal of this sensor resulting from the disappearance of this auxiliary thread can therefore be used to determine whether the winding during operation was successful.

Communication of information preferably occurs to a machine control device.

The communication path from the robot to the control device leads into the normal case via the gear end of the machine, including but not limited to the function of position indication.

It is clear that, in order to form a twist in the thread, the spindle brake is released in a defined manner before moving the end of the thread in front of the pair of delivery rollers of the drafting mechanism.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a ring spinning machine equipped with a working robot according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a spinning station of the ring spinning machine in which the working robot is used, and FIG. A schematic side view showing the case where the ring spinning machine shown in the figure is equipped with two working robots, Figure 4 is an enlarged plan view showing the winding section in Figure 2, and Figure 5 is the same as Figure 4. The side view of the winding section shown in FIG. 6 is a partially sectioned and enlarged view showing in detail the preferred spindle brake device for part (1) of the ring spinning machine in FIG. The ring rail is removed for clarity. Figure 7 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in Figure 6, and Figures 8 and 9 are in another operating position. 6 and 7, and FIGS. 10 and 11 are enlarged horizontal sectional views of the details of FIGS. 7 and 9 in further operating positions. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Ring spinning machine, 12... Gear end, 14... Out end, 16... Spinning station, 18... Shinomaki, 20... Roving, 2
2...Draft 11 24.) Labeler, 26...
Spinning bobbin, 28... Yarn package, 30... Spindle, 36... Ring, 52... Roving stopping device (pre-yarn stopping device), 68... Work robot, 80... Automatic Thread splicing unit, 96... Supply spool, 98... Auxiliary thread, 10
0... Auxiliary thread holding chamber, 102... Knife, 104
... Winding section, 146... Brake arm,
201... Working robot, 202... Spindle, 203... Spindle bearing, 204... Spindle shaft, 205... Spool, 206... Spindle rail, 207... Belt, 217... Spindle brake device, 218... Housing, 219... Link device, 220, 221.
...Rotating arm, 222...Connection link, 240...Carrier. Fig, 4 Fig, 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. After discovering yarn breakage at one spinning station,
A method for operating a ring spinning frame using a robot that operates to repair yarn breaks as far as possible so that the roving drafted by the drafting mechanism is re-wound onto a cup located at the spinning station.
After detecting a yarn breakage, if the movement of the roving to the drafting mechanism is not stopped, the robot will automatically attempt the splicing operation only once, and if this attempt fails, the robot will move the spinning station where the yarn breakage occurred. A method for operating a spinning machine using a robot, the method comprising automatically operating a roving stop device installed in a spinning machine. 2. During yarn breakage repair, the robot removes the end of the already spun yarn wound on the cup from the area of the drafted roving where it is unwound from the drafting mechanism, preferably on the exit side of the drafting mechanism. 2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the method is carried in front of the delivery rollers in the direction of travel. 3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that if the roving stop device is activated, this fact is made known or made available to the operator. 4. When using a robot that travels along a row of spinning stations, on the first run along the row of spinning stations, the robot memorizes information about the spinning station that is causing the yarn breakage and moves the robot along the row of spinning stations. Claims 1 to 3 characterized in that during the next run, the robot first repairs the thread breakage found during the previous run.
The method described in any one of the preceding paragraphs. 5. After attempting to repair the thread break, check whether the robot succeeded or not, and if not, classify the thread break as unrepairable by the robot;
5. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the fact is notified or made available to the operator. 6. Every time the robot travels along a row of spinning stations, it detects yarn breaks that occurred after the previous trip, and only applies to yarn breaks that were previously detected and were not determined to be irreparable. Claim 4 characterized in that repair is attempted.
Or the method described in 5. 7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the robot automatically detects the thread breakage. 8. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the robot services or patrols only one side of the ring spinning frame, or even only a part thereof. 9. In the splicing operation, the robot first wraps one end of the auxiliary yarn around the spinning cop instead of attaching it to the broken yarn end, and then spins the other end of the auxiliary yarn from the outlet of the draft mechanism. 7. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the method comprises connecting to a released fleece. 10. The robot is equipped with an auxiliary thread supply spool, and when repairing a thread breakage, the robot sucks a predetermined length of auxiliary thread from the supply spool by suction flow into the supply tube connected to the suction pistol, and removes the supply spool. Upon separation, one end of the auxiliary yarn is held by a winder movable around the spinning cop, the auxiliary yarn is cut between said winder and the supply spool, and the associated spindle is separated from its drive means and freed. rotatable, the winder is moved around the cop, the friction between the auxiliary yarn and the cop causes the cop to rotate with the winder, and the auxiliary yarn is pulled from the supply spool and wrapped around the cop to form a wound coil. then hold the cup and actuate the suction pistol to make a vertical displacement in the area of said wound coil to fix said wound coil of said auxiliary thread by means of a cross-wound coil, then the auxiliary thread is removed by means of a winder or a ring driven over the ring by means of a lowering of the winder or parts associated therewith which engages it, and by placing the auxiliary yarn in a downwardly inclined position from the point of contact with the spinning ring; into the traveler, then by the movement of the suction pistol the auxiliary yarn is introduced into the anti-balloon ring and the yarn guide, and finally by the movement of the suction pistol the auxiliary yarn is conveyed to the exit area of the drafting mechanism and the cup is driven again. 10. A method according to claim 9, characterized in that the steps of conveying the auxiliary yarn into the path of the drafted roving and heating it together with the roving are carried out. 11. To connect the yarn end of the auxiliary yarn to the fleece spun from the drafting mechanism, the yarn end held by the suction pistol is conveyed laterally along the delivery roller pair of the drafting mechanism by the movement of the suction pistol. Then, the yarn end is moved in the axial direction of the delivery roller pair while the auxiliary yarn is brought into contact with the fiber flow flowing between the delivery roller pair, thereby connecting the yarn end to the auxiliary yarn. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10. 12. Claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the suction piston is mounted on a carriage of the robot and can be moved relative to the carriage, and the carriage follows the movement of the upper end of the ring rail during the patrol movement of the robot. The method described in any one of the preceding paragraphs. 13. The robot knows the end of its work range,
Claims 1 to 1 further characterized in that the apparatus stops until it receives a release signal that allows it to automatically carry out the patrol movement.
The method described in any one of paragraphs up to 2. 14. The patrol movement is a reciprocating movement along one side of the ring spinning frame, or a back and forth movement along a part of the side, so that the robot preferably remembers the operating state of all the spinning stations on which it works. Claim 13
Method described. 15. When the robot is placed on the ring spinning machine or when the ring spinning machine is switched on, it moves initially in one direction along the row of spinning stations until it reaches the end of the working area or a recognizable turning point. In the latter case, the spinning yarn continues to circle and travel until it reaches the end of the working area, and after being released by the ring spinning machine, it performs the first movement along the working area, and the spinning yarn with the yarn breakage is Claim 1 characterized in that the station is programmed to store at least those that the institution has determined to be repairable.
3 or 14. 16. Two robots are placed on one side of the ring spinning frame, and each robot is placed at the end of the ring spinning frame corresponding to the edge of the working area, where the robot should stop, for example during doffing operations. 16. The spinning station according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that each robot is detected by the other robot as soon as it approaches the latter, and the spinning station that the robot has reached at the time of said detection becomes the turning point. Method. 17. At least temporarily storing yarn breaks detected by the robot in relation to its spinning station, and at least temporarily storing yarn breaks that were successfully repaired and yarn breaks that were unsuccessfully repaired, and at least temporarily storing yarn breaks detected by the robot in relation to the spinning station; 17. Any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that the information stored in the robot is transmitted to the ring spinning machine or to a system for processing this information while the robot is stationary or at the edge of the working area. The method described in section. 18. A method according to claim 17, characterized in that yarn breaks detected by the robot and yarn breaks that could not be repaired are stored until the corresponding spinning station is repaired by an operator or a repair robot. 19. The yarn-broken spinning station memorized by the robot is erased from memory when the yarn break has been successfully repaired, and this fact is communicated to the control and/or data processing device of the spinning machine. 19. The method according to claim 18. 20. The robot is equipped with an automatic splicing unit that follows the vertical movement of the ring rail during spinning of the spinning machine,
16. A method according to claim 15, characterized in that, after being installed on the spinning frame or after starting the spinning frame, the robot first investigates or determines the upper and lower limits of the vertical movement range of the automatic splicing unit. . 21. A robot operating on a ring spinning machine for carrying out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 20, comprising an automatic splicing unit and a microprocessor, wherein the robot is patrolled by the robot. means for recognizing whether there is one or more yarn breaks in a plurality of spinning stations, and means for starting a roving stop device provided at each spinning station, the microprocessor preferably having an EPROM'S a program or program module stored in the microprocessor for causing the automatic splicing unit to attempt to repair the splicing once while the roving is still running;
A robot characterized in that, when this attempt fails, a roving stop device associated with the corresponding spinning station is actuated by said starting means. 22. Robot according to claim 21, characterized in that the automatic splicing unit is arranged such that the unit repairs yarn breaks while using the auxiliary yarn. 23. A microprocessor causes the robot to memorize the spinning stations at which yarn breakage has occurred during the initial movement of the robot along a row having a plurality of spinning stations patrolled by the robot; 23. Robot according to claim 21 or 22, characterized in that the robot comprises a program module which first attempts to repair a previously recognized thread break during a subsequent movement, which is during the next movement. . 24. After an attempt is made to repair a yarn break, a check is made via the yarn breakage sensor to see if the attempt was successful, and if the repair is not successful, the corresponding spinning station is temporarily moved by the robot. 24. Robot according to claim 23, characterized in that a device is switched on which characterizes it as irreparable. 25. The robot according to claim 23 or 24, wherein the robot memorizes spinning stations for which the robot has not successfully repaired yarn breaks. 26. characterized in that the robot has a detector for detecting spinning stations in which the integrated roving stop device is activated, the signal of the detector preventing the robot from attempting to repair yarn breaks at these spinning stations; 24. The robot according to claim 23. 27. The robot has a program part that prevents the robot from repairing yarn breaks that are already determined to be irreparable until the operator puts the corresponding spinning station into operation. The robot described. 28. The robot according to any one of claims 21 to 27, characterized in that the robot has a thread breakage detector. 29. The robot according to claim 21 or 28, characterized in that the robot has an auxiliary yarn supply source. 30. The robot comprises a carriage supporting an automatic splicing unit and movable in the vertical direction, and means for controlling the movement of the carriage to follow the movement of the ring rail, and the means preferably comprises the following: The robot according to any one of claims 21 to 29, characterized in that it is: a) an optical reflective sensor with an analog output; b) similar to a known positioning sensor for an automatic splicing unit. or c) a path transducer mounted on the spinning machine, the output signal of which indicates the position of the ring rail and is transmitted to the robot by means of known transmission means. 31. A robot according to claim 30, characterized in that said means for following the movement of the ring rail comprises a light barrier. 32. A vertically moving carriage is movably disposed on a base frame of the robot, the base frame has limit switches at the upper and lower ends of the carriage's moving range, and is disposed on a ring spinning frame. movement of the carriage such that the carriage first moves towards one limit switch and then towards the other limit switch and automatically determines the range of carriage movement in the vertical direction from these movements. 32. The robot according to claim 21, wherein a program for controlling the robot is built into the microprocessor. 33. A ring spinning machine, in which the robot has means for recognizing the end of its working range, and the microprocessor is programmed to stop the robot at that position when it reaches the end of its working range. 33. A robot according to any one of claims 21 to 32, characterized in that transmission means are provided responsive to contact with the robot to send a release signal to the microprocessor which causes the robot to carry out further patrol movements. 34. When the robot reaches the end of its working range,
The robot has means for transmitting to the machine head of the ring spinning frame the actual situation of thread breaks found by the robot, whether caused, repaired or unrepaired, during its previous patrol movement. The robot according to claim 33, characterized in that: 35. Claims 21 to 34 characterized in that the robot has means for making it possible to disconnect the individual spindles of the individual spinning stations from the combined drive source and means for braking or stopping the individual spindles. any one up to
Equipment described in Section. 36. The robot is equipped with a presence detector that detects whether there are other robots or operators working on the same ring spinning machine, and the presence detector is combined with a microprocessor so that the microprocessor can control the reversing movement of the robot. 36. The device according to claim 21, characterized in that the device is controlled so as to cause such a change. 37. The robot is movably guided at its top and bottom by guide rails mounted on the ring spinning machine;
37. A robot according to any one of claims 21 to 36, characterized in that the robot has its own traveling drive source controlled by a microprocessor. 38.At least one rail for robot
36. Robot according to claim 35, characterized in that it has a main power line, which power line is also optionally used for information transmission via a tuned carrier frequency. 39. Claim 3, characterized in that at least one rail has one mark or marking means recognizable by the robot for each spinning station.
7 or 38. 40. Robot according to any one of claims 31 to 39, characterized in that it comprises a ring spinning frame and a robot combination arranged in cooperation with the robot at the end of the working plate of the robot. 41. Robot for ring spinning machine, especially claims 21 to 4
A spindle brake device for the robot according to any one of items 0 to 0, wherein the ring spinning machine is equipped with a belt (27).
The spinning station comprises a plurality of spinning stations having spindles (202) with shafts (204) driven by a robot, the robot is configured to run in a first direction (X) along the spindle row, and is operated by a robot. It has a sensor (214) and a spindle brake device (217) for aligning the center of the service robot (201) with the front surface of the spinning unit that will be the spinning unit.
217) moves in the second direction (Y) from the base position (A) to the brake position (B) with respect to the housing (217) of the robot (211) traveling in the first direction (X) in the horizontal direction.
a carrier (240) movable to the carrier (240);
0) in the second direction (Y), the spindle axis (2
a brake member (210) engaged with a rotating surface (210) of
246), in which the carrier (240) moves the belt (207) from the spindle shaft (204) of the spinning station on which the belt (207) is to be worked, a release in which the spindle shaft (204) is free to rotate. A spindle brake device characterized in that it is formed so as to be shifted to position (C). 42, the free end of the carrier (240)
46) additionally has a laterally projecting belt guide member (245) and a second stroke element (24).
3) between the engaged position (E) and the released position (F), and furthermore, the third stroke element (2
33) is movable in a first direction (X) relative to the housing (201) between a central position (M) and an end position (N, O), and then the carrier (240) is moved to a first stroke machine. The base position (A) in the second direction (Y) by element (225)
Spindle brake device according to claim 41, characterized in that it is movable into a release position (C) arranged between and a brake position (B). 43, the carrier (240) is the first stroke element (22
5) is formed as a pivot arm which is hinged with a hook joint to a holder (228) which can be repositioned in the second direction (Y) using a second stroke element (233) and a third stroke element (233). 43. Spindle brake device according to claim 42, characterized in that the element (243) is fixed to the holder (248). 44, the free end of the carrier (240) is moved to the central position (
Claim 42 or 4, characterized in that the position can be changed to the respective end positions (N, O) on both sides toward the outside of M).
3. The spindle brake device according to 3. 45, the distance from the center position (M) to the two end positions (N, O) is approximately 1/2 of the distance between adjacent spindles (202)
The spindle brake device according to claim 44, characterized in that it corresponds to. 46. According to one of claims 42 to 45, characterized in that the belt guide device (245) has a half-moon-shaped cross section and is connected to the carrier (240) at its end face. Spindle brake device. 47, a roller (248) rotatable about a vertical axis (249) is journaled onto the carrier (240) on the same side from which the belt guide member (245) projects;
the roller (248) is fixed relative to the housing and limits the stroke of the first stroke element (225) in the direction of the carrier (240) origin position (A);
It cooperates with the guide curve (250) defining the release position (C), and furthermore the roller (248) is connected to the carrier (24).
47. The spindle brake device according to claim 42, wherein the spindle brake device is repositionable in the release position (F) of 0) in a direction perpendicular to the guide curve (250). 48. Spindle brake device according to one of claims 43 to 47, characterized in that the guide curve (250) has a concave curvature facing away from the hook joint of the swivel arm. 49. Spindle brake device according to one of claims 42 to 48, characterized in that the stroke elements (225, 233, 243) are actuated electromechanically.