US3160358A - Automatic yarn-coil winding machine - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 8, 1964 s. FURsT 3,160,358

AUTOMATIC YARN-corr. wINDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 28, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet'l F/GJ /040 /02 f5 2 @a y 10a 5 E i] 704W 92a I 211 /06 ///f' "ff i5* ma l. 49 ,7 i

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AUTOMATIC YARN-COIL WINDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 28, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 8, 1964 s. FURsT 3,160,358

AUTOMATIC YARN-COIL WINDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 28, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Y 3,160,358 AUTOMATIC YARN-con; winnaar; Maar-maa Stefan Frst, Munchen-Gladbach, Germany, assigner to Walter Reiners, Manchen-Gladbach, Germany Filed Sept. 28, 1962, Ser. No. 227,687 l Claims priority, application (Sierrnanay Sept. 30, 1961 3 Claims. (Cl. 242-355) My invention relates to automatic machines for rewinding bobbins, cops and other relatively small yarn coils into larger packages of a desired type and size'such as crosswound coils also called cones and cheeses. In a more particular aspect my invention relates to multi-station winding machines in which a multiplicity of individually operable winding units are provided with a mobile servicing unit or tender whicht travels along a row or group of such stations and automatically performs any needed servicing operation, such as knotting the broken yarn ends from the supply coil and the take-up spool tgether, in order to place a fault-responsively stopped station back to normal operation.

There are automatic winding machines of this type in which rthe individual winding stations are automatically fed with yarn-supply coils, such as cops, whenever a new supply coil is needed, particularly when the previously operative supply coil becomes exhaused. Generally, such automatic feeding operation at the individual stations of the machine is effected from a-magazine or through a con-k veyer belt. Diiliculties of proper timing are involved in ycases where the supply coils are fed to the individual stations of the machine by means of a conveyor belt that receives its supply from a dilierent fabricating location, for example at a spinning machine from which `the completed spinning cops are taken 'm order to be rewound into larger yarn packages at the Winding stations ofthe Winding machine. With such a combination of a winding machine with a spinning machine, the working capacity of the winding machine must be greater than that of the spinning machine in order to reliably prevent clogging on the conveyer which feeds the coils to the Winding machine. Consequently, when such winding machines cooperate with a given number of spinning spindles, it is inevitable that one or the other winding station from time to time is not temporarily provided with supply coils because the spinning machine does not produce a sutlicient number of suchl coils. This has the consequence that the automaticv mechanisms in the winding machine that respond to the absence of yarn in the winding stations are repeatedly raised into futile operation. In multi-station inachines equipped with a servicing tender that travels along the row of winding stations, such temporary lack of coil supply at individual winding stations may have the result that the tender is time and again arrested in front of a winding station to perform a servicing operation which is useless in the absence of the yarn supply, so that the tender during vthe same period of time is prevented from servicing other winding stations that may still be provided with a sufficient yarn supply.

It is an object of my invention to minimize or eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages and to provide an automatic winding machine in which the entire performance of each individual winding station is stoppedV if no yarn-supply coil is furnished from the feeder means of the machine.

Another, more specific object is to prevent, in a multistation winding machine with a mobile tender, the imposition of any control action upon the travelling tender by 3,169,358 Patented Dec. 8, 1964 Mice matic servicing equipment of coil winding machines by avoiding inherently futile knotting attempts and thek like servicing operation; and it is also an object, with respect to mobile-tendermulti-station winding machines, to in` crease the eiiiciency and working capacity of the tender by eliminating the possibility of having the tender called upon to stop and attempt a knotting operation at an in` dividual station not properly provided with a yarn-supply coil from-the feeder means of the machine. i

To achieve these objects, and in accordance with a feature of my invention,in a yarn-packagewindingmachine comprising a multiplicity of winding stations with individual take-up spool drive means andhaving' yarnsupply coil feeder means for the stations, each of V the winding stations is equipped with a control device whose sensing component is responsive to coil depletion of the feeder means in thestation. VThe control device is inV controlling connection with the spool drive means so as to individually control the speed of the winding operation to the rate or frequency of theV c oil supply from the feeder means.

It is particularlyadvantageous, however, to design the above-mentioned control device as a switching apparatus whichautomatically 'stops the Winder drive of the winding station in response to absence of a yarn-supply'coil at the feeding location of the station, and which apparatus automatically starts the drive uponresumption of the coil supply from the feeder ymeans ofA the machine tothe station.

According to another, preferred feature of my inven-V tion, the same control deviceis also provided with means for blocking and releasing the other working devices of the winding station that serve to eliminate yam faults vand resulting stoppage as may be due to yarn breakage or depletion of a yarn-supply coil. As a result, the control or switching device that responds to depletion of coil supply from the feeder means at the individual Winding station not only stops and re-starts the Winder drive in the station but-simultaneously prevents.k the operation of the auxiliary automatic knotting and related servicing devices at the time the Winder drive is stopped, while again releasing such servicing devices for operation when the Winder drive is re-started, Without affecting the corresponding automatic operations in any of the other winding stations. Y

The above-mentioned and more specific objects, advantages and features of my invention, said features being set forth with particularity in the claims annexed hereto;

will be apparent from the following in conjunction with the embodiments of'winding machines according to the invention illustrated by Way of example on Y ing drawings in which: f

FIG. l is a cross-sectional side view of a multi-station winding machine, the apper-taining mobile tender, Vbeing known as `such and not modiied lby the invention proper, being represented only by a fragmentary and partly sec tional view. f

FIGS. 2 and 3 are similar cross-sectional `side views of respectively different machines, modified in comparison with that of FIG. 1, and the mobile tender being omitted.

FIG. 4 is a schematic and fragmentary front View of the winding machine according to FIG. l, the same view being also applicable to the machine accordingto FIG. 2 or'FIG. 3. Y

The same reference characters are usedin all illustrationsffor denoting respectively similar components.

In the drawings,.the invention is shown applied to aV multi-station winding machine of the type and fundamental design known, for example, from my United' States Patent No. 3,035,478,v assigned to the assignee of the present invention. Design details of such machines, including those of the appertaining mobile tender, are

also known from the machines available under the tradethe accompany f 3 mark .Autoconer from the American Schlafhorst'Corporation, Charlot-te, North Carolina, described in the book entitled Autoconer Manual published in 1962, of which a copy is available in the Patent OiiiceV library.

However, the design and operation of such a machine' wil-l be described below to .the extent neces-sary'or helpful lfrom beam 2 forward and downward.- The lower end of the arm structure 5 carries a tubular sleeved which is joined with the beam 3 by a bracket 7.

A control shaft S, which during operation of the machine continuously turns a given angle forward and back, extends parallel to the top beam 2- between the lateral frame structures of the machine. Aside from being journalled at its ends, the oscillating shaft 8 may alsobe supported in bearings between the individual winding stations, such as at 1a (FIG. 2), depending upon the length of the shaft. Firmly mounted on shaft 8 in each winding station is an entrainer 9 which is joined by a spring 10 with a swing arm 11 rotatably seated on the shaft 8 and normally held by a spring against a stopf9a ofthe sides of the guide rail 4 thus maintaining the tender in proper position dur-ing its travel.V During operation of the machine, the tender 13 travels along the individual winding stations and is temporarily arrested in front of any one winding station that may require servicing at the time. The means for driving the tender 13 along the track beam :are not illustrated and described herein because they are not essential to theV prent invention proper and may be identical withzthose illustrated and described in the co-pending application of S. Frst and M. Rhl, Serial No. 796,049, filed February 27, 1959, now Patent No. 3,061,216. Y

The travel of the tender 13 is automatically stopped in the proper servicing position relative to a winding station where the yarn-end seizing devices of the tender 13, pre-ferably consisting ,of airy suction nozzles as shown at 13C v and 13d in FIG. 2, can operate to suctionally entrain thev yarn end of the take-up spool and the yarn end of the supply coil and to place both into the action range Yof a knotting device 13e which ties both ends together. For

further details of the tender and its operation, not essential to the present invention and known as such, reference may be had to my United States Patent No. 3,033,478 assigned-to the assignee of the present invention.

A winder drive shaft 15V (FIGS. l, 2), continuouslyV rotating during operation of the machine, extendsabove arm structure 5 in parallel relation to the axis-of the top to that of the shaft 15. The shaft 17 carries a frictionV roller 18 in each winding station. The two shafts 15 and 1'7 are journalled in the lateral'lframe structures ofthe machine independently ofthe carrier arms 5. If necessary, the shafts 15 and 17 may also be Vsupported by bearings on other locations, for example at 1a between two winding stations. y

A frame 2) is pivotally mounted at 20a on the arm 5 and yforms a journal yat 2Gb for the take-up spool 21 of lthe winding station. Also journalledlon the arm 5 is a yarn guiding drum: 22 with a drum shaft 22a. A threearmed-lever 23 is pivoted at 23a to the carrier arm 5 and `is connected byv a link 24 with an intermediate friction roller 25. When-the lever 23 is turned clockwise from the position shown in FIG. 1, the intermediate roller 25 is lifted and then couples the -friction roller 16 on the shaft 15 with the guiding drum 22. The take-up spool 21,

gravity biased against the periphery of the drum 22, is then -entrained in the winding-up direction, and the guiding groove 22b (FIG. '2) extending about the periphery of the guiding drum and `forming a loop closed upon itself, reciprocates the incoming yarn back and forth along the take-up spool, thus producing the desired cross-wound yarn package.

When the lever 23 is turned counterclockwise about its pivot23a (FIG. 1), the intermediate roller l25 is placed yproper winding conditions.

in coupling engagement with the reversely driven roller 18 so that now the guiding drum 22 and the entrained takeup spool 21 rotate inthe unwinding direction. This is done only temporarily'whenever it is necessary to unwind a certain length of yarn from the take-up spool for the purpose of tying the yarn together with that coming from the supply coil.

The arm structure Y5 further carries la main control lever 31 which is biased by a spring 49 for clockwise motion about a pivoty 32. Also mounted'on the arm structure 5 is 'a pivoted latch member 33 biased by a spring 34 for engagement vof its latch arm 35 with a catch recess 36 of the control level 31.

' Pivoted at 37a to the lower end of the arm structure 5 is a yarn Vguard 37 which is normally biased into feeling engagement with the yarn F coming from the supply coil C and passing over the guiding drum 22vonto the take-up spool 21. In the event of yarn breakage or when the supply coil C is exhausted,'the guard 37 responds to the absence of yarn by turning clockwise from the position shown in FIG. l. As will beffurther explained below, such deflection of the yarn guard has vthe effect of stopping thewinding operation of the winding station and,

normally, causes the tender 13, upon itsnext passage, to be arrested at the winding station for reestablishing The tube 6 attached to the lower end of the arm structurev 5, carries at its bottom a holder 38 for accommodating :the above-mentioned yarn-supply coil C, vsuch as a' spinning cop. The removal of a depleted coil C and the substitution of a full coil 'are effected automatically, for example, by control devices as describedand illustrated in my co-pending applications, Serial No. 704,983, tiled December 24, 1957 (now abandoned), and Serial No.

728,139, filed April 4, V1959, now Patent No. 3,077,311,

both assigned to the assignee of the present invention.

A horizontal pusher rod 41 links one arm of the drive control member 23 with the main control lever 31. Pivoted tothe lower end of the main control lever31 is a bell-crank lever 45 to which a reciprocating movement is v imparted by a linking rod 46. This reciprocating motion is transmitted from the oscillating control shaft 8 and the sensing .arm 11 onto a lug at the lower end of the rod 46 and takes place whenever, and as long as, the swing arm 11 is free to participate in the oscillation of the entrainer 9, this being theA case when the tender 13 is not Alocated at:

,the winding station. The oscillatory motion of the swing; arm 11, rod 46 and bell-crank lever 45 ceases when al wheel 11 on the approaching tender forces the swing lever 11 counterclockwise out of engagement with theentrainer stopv 9a, this condition being shown in FIG. l. The right arm 47 of the bell-crank lever 45Y forms. at.'

its end a lug 48 which, when the yarn guard 37 is in position of normal operation, can catch behind the top of the yarn guard whenever, during the above-mentioned oscillating movement of the lever 45, the arm 47 is in lowermost position. However, when the yarn guard 37 is deflected clockwise due to breakage or absence of yarn, the lug 48, during its clockwise stroke will Yplace itself upon the top of the yarn guard 37. This has the result that during the oscillating motion imparted to lever 45 by the rod 46, a pushing force is exerted by the lever arm 47 upon the lower end of the main control lever 31 with the effect of turning the control lever 31 counterclockwise in Opposition to the biasing spring 49. This releases the latch member 33 from the catch recess 36 of the control lever 31. Consequently, the control lever 31 remains deected in the counterclockwise direction until, at a later time, the control lever 31 is pushed back to the original position. v

The just-mentioned counterclockwise motion of the main control lever 31 from the illustrated to the relieved position is imparted through the linking rod 41 to the drive control lever 23 which now moves the intermediate friction roller 25 away from the forward driving roller 16 to the positionshown in FIG. l and the drum 22 now stops. During subsequent counterclockwise motion of the drive control lever 23, the coupling roller 25 is placed into engagement with the-reversing roller 18. This causes the guiding drum 22 to rotate in the unwinding direction in order to expose a sutlicient length of yarn from the take-up spool as required for the seizing and knotting of the yarn ends. The just-mentioned further motion of the lever 23, however, cornes about by operation of the tender 13 as will be explained.

The tender 13, when passing by an individual winding station, must check whether the winding operation in that station is still in good order. For the purpose of such checking, a horizontal tappet 50 (FIG. l) is linked to the latch member 33 and cams an extension 51. If, due to breakage or absence of yarn inthe Winding station, the latch member 33 is turned clockwise about its pivot 33a in the manner described above, the tappet 50 moves toward the right and enters into the travelling range of a switch arm 52 which is pivotally mounted on the housing structure of the tender 13 and is normally in the illustrated upright position. When the tender 13 approaches a winding station in which the tappet 50 has previously shifted to the right, the switchlarm 52 is engaged by the protruding end of the tappet and is turned in one or the other direction depending uponvwhether the tender 13 arrives from the left or right (relating to FIG. 2). The deflecting motion of the switch arm 52 is transmitted by a shaft 52a to the internal mechanisms (not shown) of the tender 13 which cause it to stopv and to operate its yarn-end seeking and knotting devices. During such Voperation, a tappet (not shown) protruding out of the tender 13 pushes against the drive control lever 23 and thereby engages the coupling roller 25 with thereverse driving roller 1S for a short interval of time. yDuring that interval the yarn guiding drum 22 is turned in the unwinding direction so that a certain length of yarn is available to be seized by the yarn seeking and knotting devices 13e,

13d, 13e (FIG. 2) which form part of the tender and are y not further described herein because they may correspond to those illustrated and described in my above-mentioned co-pending applications, Serial No. 704,983, iiled December 24, 1957 (now abandoned), and Serial No. 728,139, filed April 14, 1958 both assigned to the assignee of the present invention.l i

While in the event of yarn breakage the lever 47 entrains the main control lever 31 over a relatively large range of turningmotiorn, the entrainnient is only short when the yarn is present because then the arm of lever 47 rather than its end 48 abuts upon the top of the yarn guard 37. This short entrainment, however, suiiices in order to temporarily eliminate the driving connection between the intermediate roller 25 with 15 and the Yyarn guiding drum 22.

When, during Winding operation, the yarn package on the take-up spool 21 has reached a predetermined diameter, and the journalling frame20 is lifted a correspondn f ing distance, a rod 102 is likewise lifted. A shoulder disc 103 on the rody 102 then permits a lever 104, pivoted at 104e, to turn counterclockwise under the biasing force ofa spring 1041; to a position in which a segment 105,

likewise pivoted at 104e, is entrained to follow the pivotal movement in the clockwise direction. The segment105 is connected with the lever 104 by a'biasing spring and has a slot traversed by a stop pinof lever 104. A'lever 106 pivoted at 106e to the arm structure 5 and biased by a spring 10611 for counterclockwise motion, normally rests against the circular periphery of the segment 105. However, when the segment 105 is entrained by theV lever 104 and reaches the position illustrated in FIG. l, the lever 106 is released and snaps counterclockwise to the illustrated position of PIG. l. Thiscauses a push button 128 to protrude out of the arm structure 5, thus signalling to the attendantv that the yarn package on the take-up spool 21 is completed.

When, due to lifting ofthe journalling frame 20, the lever 106 snaps to the illustrated position of FIG. l, a lug 109 formed by an extension 107 of the lever 106 catches behind the bell-crank lever 45 and locks it in position. Now the lug 4S of the lever arm 47 is held arrested so that the connecting rod 46 is kept in lifted position and no longer continues to follow the reciprocating motion of the swing lever 11. This stops the reciprocating motion of the horizontal connecting rod* 41 and of the, drive control lever 23. The 'intermediate coupling roller 24 is thus kept in the inactive position shown in FiG. 1. Consequently, the Winder drive in the winding station is stopped; In this position of the rod 46, the

control lever- 31 also remains in the illustrated position. f

, spool core, the attendant depresses the push button 128.

This returns the lever 105 into engagement with the periphery of segment 105 so that the above-described stopping and locking actions are terminated. The lug 109 is thus Withdrawn from the `bell-crank lever 45. The rod 102 drops togetherwith the journalling frame 20, and the lWinding operation is resumed.

The coil holder 38 fastenedjto the lower end of the y tube 6 carries a peg 67 for receiving the supply coils C.

The peg 67 is pivotally mounted 'so that the peg can be turned to the unwinding position shown in FIG. 1 or to a downward position in which. it can receive 'a eoilffromy j v the feeder means. Also mounted on the lower part of' tube 6 .is a doifer 63 for removing the empty coil cores.

The doffer is actuatedby ya Bowden wire whose active end protrudes from the tender 13. Details of the mechae. nism for the Bowden wire 65 and for another BowdenV t wire y66 shown only schematically in FIG. 1,'are not relevant tothe present invention and may he identical with those apparent from the above-mentioned copending application Serial No. 728,139, assigned to the assignee of the present invention. The Bowden wire 66 serves for e turning the peg 67 counterclockwise when itis to receive n a new supply coil that glides downward on a glideway 201.

The glideway 201 forms part of the yarn-supply feeder means of the machine and has just enough space to store one spare coil which normally is held in position by a latch lever 203Y rotatable about a pivot 202. The spare' the driving roller 7 Bowden wire 66 is active to operate the latch lever 2%, whereupon the spare coil glides downwardly onto the peg 67, Whereafter the peg 67 turns upward to the illustrated unwinding position. Thel supply of new coils to vthe glideway 2%1 can be eiected in any desired manner, for example by means of a conveyor belt that passes along the row of winding stations in accordance with the machine illustrated and describedV in the copending application Serial No. 153,244 of Reiners et al., tiled November 17, 1961, now Patent No. 3,111,280, assigned-to the assignee of the present invention.

The devices `and components of the multi-station machine described so tar, have been explained for the purpose of conveying an understanding of. the invention proper now to be described. With respect to the devices and components mentioned above, the three embodiments illustrated in FIGS. l, 2 and 3 are identical.

Turning now to the invention proper, it is essentialthat the machine is provided in each individual winding station with a control or switching device which acts upon the Winder drive in the station in response to the conditionof the supply-coil feed means. The control device comprises a lever arm- 21@ (FIGS. l, 2, 3) which can rotate about the same pivot 106a as the above-mentioned control lever 106 but is not connected with the lever 106. That is, the parts 166 and 214? can perform rotational motion independently of each other. Linked to lthe lever arm 21Go is a drive control member which operates in response to the feed of supply coils and which in the illustrated embodiments consists of the armature 211 of an electromagnet or solenoid 212 energized from a current source neet in the control circuit ofthe electromagnet 212, in

lieu of the above-mentioned time-delay member 217, another feeler cont-act which senses the `amount of yarn still contained on thefyarn coil being unwound. This principle otl control'is embodied in the machine illustrated in FIG. 2.Y

The machine is provided with the Vabove-mentioned feeler214 for determining whether a spare coil is located in ready position on the glideway structure 2M and which closes its contacts 215 and thereby energizes the control magnet 212when a coil is absent vfrom the ready position.

However, another pair of contacts 2 21 is connected in the.

same'control circuit in series with` the'feeler contacts 21S andis actuable by a feeler lever 226 which engages the yarn-coil being unwound. When/the amount of yarn on the coil becomes depleted to a given extent, the feeler lever 224i closes its contacts 221 and when at the same time no new supply coil is located in ready position on the glideway lstructure 261, the feeler 214 also closes its ...are opened so that the magnet 212 is deenergized. This 213. The energizing circuit of the magnetV 212 is controlled by a feeler 214 which responds to presence .and absence of a supply coil in the ready position on the glideway 291. When there is no supply coil in this ready position, so that the feed of yarn supply is interrupted, the feeler 214 closes a pair of electric contacts 215 which effect closing of the energizing circuit so that the magnet 212 is excited. The armature'211 is then pulled toward the left and turns "the lever arm 210 counterclockwise. During such turning motion, a lug 210b of arm 210 1s placed beneath the bell-crank lever 45 in the same manner as is described above for the lug m9 of the lever 167. Consequently, when the magnet 212 responds to absence of a supply coil in the'feeder glideway, the winding operation of the station is likewise discontinued by disconnecting the transmission from the dnive roller 16 through the intermediate roller A25 to the yarn-guiding drum 22, and a turning motion of the yarn guard 37, as well as a displacement of the tappet 5G are vagain prevented. Consequently, when a sparesupply of yarn'isy eliminates the stopping and blocking conditions in the winding station and the winding operation is continued.

In the embodiment described above with FIGS. l and 2, the winding station becomes stopped before the yarnl supply coil on the holder peg 67 is completely depleted of yarn. In some'cases, however, it is desirable to stop the Awinding station only whenvthe supply coil is entirely exhausted, because then the travelling tender can be imlmediately called upon to perform the yarn-Mend seeldngand Y supply coil and the yarn-clamping location along the sof missing in a-winding station, the station-is stopped but4 the otherwise occurring automatic: servicing operations are not released andthe servicing tender is not caused to stop at the station and to attempt yputting it back into operative condition. l,

`In order to prevent the magnet 212V from responding each time a depleted coil is substituted by a full yarnsupply coil, a time-delay member 217 'is interposed be'- tween the feeler contacts 215 Iand the control circuit of the magnet. The timing period of the delay member 217 is adapted to the period of time required for completely unwinding a'yarn-supply coil. minimum time needed for depleting a supply coil is 4 minutes,ithe time-delay member 217 may be set for aV timing period of 3 and one-half minutes.

For example, when thev Vopened by theufeeler v214i.

yarn path from the supply coil to the yarn-guiding drum. Thus, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, a yarn guard 231' is pivotally mounted between the location of the supply coil on peg 67 andthe yarn tensioner T and normally rests againsttheV yarn between the tensioner T and a xed yarn guide such as a yarn cleaner 231b. When the supply coil C isexhausted, the yarn guard V231 turns counterclockwise so that an arm 231a closes a pair of contacts V230. Iffuatythis moment no new supply coil has arrived in the ready position on the glideway structure 201, the contacts 215 are also closed so that the magnet 212 becomes energized. For preventing the yarn guard 57 from turningto contactfclosing position before the vbell-crank leverr45- is blocked by the lug 2Mb, another v2*'7 in the illustrated positionof FIG. 3.

VAs soon as the conveyor or other feed means supplies a new coil tothe readyposition, the, contacts 215 are This interrupts the entire circuit of the current source 213vso that both magnets 2112 and 232 are deenergized at the same time. As a result,

the lever 21u is'pulled back to the illustra-ted starting position by the action of spring 216, .thus eliminating the blocking of the bell-crank lever 45. Furthermore, the yarn guard 37 can lnow turn counterclockwise because the magnet 232 is no longer excited. Now, the bell-crank 9 lever 45 performs its turning motion, driven by the connecting rod 46, so that the hook end 48 abuts against the top of the yarn guard 37. As a result, the controllever 37 is turned clockwise a considerably greater extent and thereby releases the latching member 33 which now displaces the tappet 50 with a projection 51 toward the right in order to cause the travelling tender, running on the carrier 3 and rail 4, to be stopped and to perform the supply-coil exchange and the subsequent seeking and knotting of the yarn ends.

To those skilled in the art it Will be obvious upon a study of this disclosure that my invention is not limited to the embodiments herein illustrated and described above nor to being employed in conjunction with automatic coilwinding machines of the type described above. The invention is rather also applicable, substantially in the manner described above, in conjunction with other winding machines, particularly any automatically operating yarn-package winding machines of various types and consequently can be given embodiments other than those particularly mentioned herein, without departing from the essential features of my invention and within the scope of the claims annexed hereto.

I claim:

1. A yam-package winding machine comprising a row of winding stations having respective take-up spools and drive means therefor and having respective coil holder means and feeder means for supplying yarn coils to said holder means; a servicing tender movable along said row of winding stations for tying yarn ends coming from a coil on said holder means and from said spool respectively, each of said winding stations having a tender control mechanism for normally controlling said tender to operate at said station in response to absence of yarn, andveach of said stations having a control devicek responsive to coil depletion of said feeder means in said station and in controlling conenotion with said drive means for individually stopping the winding operation of said sta# tion in dependence upon said depletion, said control device being connected with said mechanism for render# ing said mechanism inactive relative to said tender, whereby said station lis prevented from causing said tender to operate during persistence of said depletion.

2. In a Winding machine according to claim 1, said feeder means comprising a coil-conveying member in each of said winding stations, releasable means for holding a yam-supply coil in a given ready position on said member, said control device having a feeler engageable with a coil in said position and electric contacts operable by said feeler in the absence of a coil from said position, and electric control means electrically connected with said contacts and aotuable upon said drive means for stopping the winding operation due to operation of` said contacts UNITED STATES PATENTS Rhoades Aug. 31, 1920 Furst May 8, 1962

Claims (1)

1. A YARN-PACKAGE WINDING MACHINE COMPRISING A ROW OF WINDING STATIONS HAVING RESPECTIVE TAKE-UP SPOOLS AND DRIVE MEANS THEREFOR AND HAVING RESPECTIVE COIL HOLDER MEANS AND FEEDER MEANS FOR SUPPLYING YARN COILS TO SAID HOLDER MEANS; A SERVICING TENDER MOVABLE ALONG SAID ROW OF WINDING STATIONS FOR TYING YARN ENDS COMING FROM A COIL ON SAID HOLDER MEANS AND FROM SAID SPOOL RESPECTIVELY, EACH OF SAID WINDING STATIONS HAVING A TENDER CONTROL MECHANISM FOR NORMALLY CONTROLLING SAID TENDER TO OPERATE AT SAID STATION IN RESPONSE TO ABSENCE OF YARN, AND EACH OF SAID STATIONS HAVING A CONTROL DEVICE RESPONSIVE TO COIL DEPLETION OF SAID FEEDER MEANS IN SAID STATION AND IN CONTROLLING CONNECTION WITH SAID DRIVE MEANS FOR INDIVIDUALLY STOPPING THE WINDING OPERATION OF SAID STATION IN DEPENDENCE UPON SAID DEPLETION, SAID CONTROL DEVICE BEING CONNECTED WITH SAID MECHANISM FOR RENDERING SAID MECHANISM INACTIVE RELATIVE TO SAID TENDER, WHEREBY SAID STATION IS PREVENTED FROM CAUSING SAID TENDER TO OPERATE DURING PERSISTENCE OF SAID DEPLETION.

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