US3287889A

US3287889A - Bobbin doffing mechanism

Info

Publication number: US3287889A
Application number: US344498A
Authority: US
Inventors: Leo L Chabot
Original assignee: Draper Corp
Current assignee: Draper Corp
Priority date: 1964-02-12
Filing date: 1964-02-12
Publication date: 1966-11-29
Anticipated expiration: 1983-11-29

Description

Nov. 29, 1966 L. 1.. CHABOT 3,287,889

BOBBIN DOFFING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 12, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

LEO L. CHHBOT.

BMW" QMM A TTORNEY Nov. 29, 1966 1.. L. CHABOT BOBBIN DOFFING MECHANISM 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 12, 1964 INVENTOR.

LEO L.CHABOT.

A TTORNE Y NOV. 29, 1966 L, CHABOT BOBBIN DOFFING MECHANISM 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 12, 1964 INVENTOR.

LEO LCHFIBOT.

A TTORNE Y United States Patent 3,287,889 BOBBIN DOFFING MECHANISM Leo L. Chabot, Cumberland, R.I., assignor to Draper Corporation, Hopedale, Mass., a corporation of Maine Filed Feb. 12, 1964, Ser. No. 344,498 Claims. (Cl. 5753) This invention pertains to mechanism for removing wound bobbins from the spindles of spinning or twisting machines or the like and, more particularly, to the portable type of mechanism suitable for moving to and passing along the forward rail of a plurality of such machines.

It is a general object of the invention to provide a novel doffing device in which the bobbin removal operation has been greatly simplified over those presently known.

It is a further object of the invention to realize an increase in the speed of doffing through the simplicity of action in the disclosed device.

A further object is that of effecting a reduction in cost of operation by providing a dofling mechanism with fewer moving parts than were previously required.

It is a still further object of this invention, through the compactness of design, to make it possible to doif all of the bobbins on a frame including those at the starting and finishing ends.

It is a further object to provide a simple means for adjusting the lifting tension of the doffing unit and to sever effectively the strand of yarn extending between the wound bobbin and the spinning ring on a wider range of yarn counts than has been heretofore possible.

These and other objects of the invention will become disclosed in United States Patent No. 3,070,949 to Du Buis et al.

In mechanical dolfers of the prior art, generally two basic methods for removing the bobbin have been developed. The first involves steeply inclined cams up which the butt of the bobbin is forced to a point where it would topple over the end of the spindle. The second method presents a popoff means whereby the bobbin is released and raised rapidly by various revolving devices by which tension is exerted beneath the bobbin butt sufiicient to throw it upwardly from the spindle. The first method requires high pressure angles which result in fairly rapid wear and added expense. It was also necessary to extend the raising cams over a greater width than was desirable which made dofling of the end bobbins on the frame difficult if not impossible. The second-mentioned method has also not been entirely satisfactory due in part to the excessive cost of the many accurately machined parts involved, and here, also, the pressure angles for triggering the lifting units have been great and have caused considerable wear.

The simplicity of the preferred modification of the instant invention has resulted in the overcoming of the numerous undesirable features previously pointed out. The number of parts necessary for operation has been reduced which has lowered the cost per unit. Wear has been cut to a minimum because of fewer movable parts, and by compacting the lifting area it is presently possible to doff even the first and last bobbin in the row on a spinning frame. An unexpected and advantageous result has been ,in the increased allowable dofiing speed made possible with this simplified unit, and even with greater speed skips and other malfunctions do not occur.

A further advantage is obtained by the accessible means for tension adjustment whereby the lifting force may be regulated to insure the severing of the loose end on all except the lower counts of yarn.

It will be readily seen that variations in design and mechanical details are possible without departing from the intent of the instant invention and the disclosed embodiment is not intended to be restrictive. The invention will appear more clearly from the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevation showing that side of the invention which faces the spinning frame when in dofling position and illustrates in phantom the relative position of two wound bobbins with the spindles omitted;

FIG. 2 is an elevation of the doffing unit partially in section as seen from the forward side;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 1 showing the ejecting leverand the auxiliary lever in their two operative positions;

FIG. 4 is a rear elevation of the mechanism shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an elevation of the mechanism shown in FIG. 4 with the auxiliary lever in the extreme safety and de celerating position; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 66 in FIG. 3.

Now referring to FIG. 2 a portion of a spinning frame is depicted by a ring rail 11, a spinning ring 12 with a spindle 13 and a wound bobbin B extending upwardly through the ring. A supporting rail 14 is carried by the frame 15 and extends the full length of the frame parallel to the row of spindles.

A dofiing carriage generally designated 16 is supported for movement along the rail 14 in a manner more completely outlined in United States Patent Nos. 3,070,949 and 3,077,725 and it is not deemed necessary to elaborate here. The movement of the carriage in the preferred modification is from right to left as viewed from in front of a spinning frame. In this specification the words forward and rearward refer to the direction of travel and forward is toward the left when facing the spinning frame.

A retractible facing plate 17, the operation of which has been clearly explained in the two above-cited patents, carries fastened to its lower rearward corner a boxlike casing member 18 secured by screws 19 (FIGS. 1 and 2). Fastened to plate 17 at the lower forward corner is a unitary bobbing lifting member 20 which has at the forward end a first camming edge 21 which is set at a small inclination to the horizontal. As the carriage 16 is moved forward along the spinning frame, the camming edge 21 moves beneath the outer edge of each bobbin butt consecutively and the inclined cam surface will break the drive contact between each bobbin and its respective spindle.

A second camming edge 22 is in continuation of the first camming edge 21 and is at a somewhat increased inclination (FIG. 1). Each bobbin will follow the two cam edges and will be raised to a firing height which is just sufiicient to be received by an ejecting means to be subsequently explained. The height to which each bob-bin is raised by the two cams is small relative to the length of the spindle from which it is to be removed. This allows pressure angles of a minor degree which produce an eflicient means for breaking the drive contact and raising the bobbin.

Casing member 18 holds a horizontal shaft 23 rotatable in two

anti-friction bearings

24 and 25 which are supported by the two vertical side walls of the casing member 18 (FIG. 6). The shaft 23 extends outwardly at both ends from the casing 18 and upon the end facing the row of spindles is fixed, as by welding, an ejection lever 26 for pivotal motion when the shaft 23 is oscillated (FIG. 3). The ejection lever 26 has a generally T- shaped cross section with the vertical portion 27 fabricated to add as little weight as possible, thus the holes 28 are made to remove a portion of the volume. The top of the T-section is a bobbin supporting surface 29 which is adapted to slide beneath the bobbin butt to where the bobbin is finally ejected as will be fully explained below.

The surface 29 drops away at the rearward end to a smooth curve forming a bobbin firing end surface 30 which will slip under the bobbin as it is ejected from the spindle.

An auxiliary lever 31 is keyed to the opposing end of the shaft 23 and is adapted to pivot therewith and which in turn will pivot the ejection lever 26 (FIG. 4). An auxiliary lever outer end 32 is pivotally fastened to the lever 31 by a bolt 33. The bolt 33 is loosely applied and permits upward angular flexing of the lever 31 and end 32, but a flat key surface 34 prohibits downward angular flexing (FIGS. 4 and Two

studs

35 and 36 are inserted into the lever 31 and lever end 32, respectively, vertically to the upper surface of each. A coil spring '37 is hooked over the upper ends of the

studs

35 and 36 and holds the auxiliary lever 31 and the lever end 32 under tension in the straight condition shown in FIG. 4. A bumper 38 of rubber or like material envelopes the rearward extended surface of the lever end 32. A ten sion spring 39 is connected to the lever end 32 by a bolt 40 and to the facing plate 17 by a stud 41. The spring 39 furnishes the lifting force for the ejection of bobbins in a manner to be further explained. The stud 41 is tightened in a vertical slot 42 for adjusting the tension of the spring 39 (FIG. 1).

A restraining plate 43 is fastened in a horizontal plane to the casing 18 by suitable means as by screws 44. The plate 43 is of a generally L-shaped form and is fixed above the lever end 32 to stop the upward movement of that lever. A slot with turned-up prongs 45 is adapted to receive the stud 36 (FIG. 5). In FIG. 4 the auxiliary lever 31 is shown in the extreme downward position which will rotate the shaft 23 so that the ejection lever 26 will be generally level or in a bobbin supporting position. In the dotted line illustration the lever end 32 has struck and been stopped by the plate 43 while the ejection lever has assumed a bobbin firing position (also shown in FIG. 3). The spring 39 is a tensioning means for urging the ejection lever 26 toward the firing position.

As the ejection lever is caused to fire by each spindle in order to eject the bobbin thereon, and as the force exerted by the spring 39 must be suflicient to raise and discard a wound bobbin, it will be seen that the repeated shock against the plate 43 would cause rapid wear and breakage. To release a large portion of the shock of inertia and to decelerate the ejection lever 26 and auxiliary lever 31 gently, the lever end 32 is arranged to flex upwardly as shown in FIG. 5. When the bumper 38 first strikes the restraining plate 43, instead of abruptly stopping the rotation of the shaft 23, it allows an overrun against the yielding tension of the spring 37. This produces less shock and results in reduced fatigue failure and savings in a repair parts costs.

The ejection triggering means, whereby the ejection lever 26 is loaded under tension and then released, will now be explained. A bevel gear 46 is centrally keyed to the shaft 23 within the casing 13 (FIG. 6). A second cooperating bevel gear 47 is in mesh with gear 46 and rotatably held on a stud 48 by bearings 49. A studded collar 50 (FIG. 3) supports the gear 47 and oscillates therewith upon antifriction bearings 51 (FIG. 6). Extending outwardly from andforming a part of the collar 50 is a trigger member 52 whose generally horizontal arm 53 will be in position for being contacted by each spindle as the dofiing mechanism is propelled along the rail 14. The reciprocal gearing action of

gears

46 and 47 interconnect the trigger 52 with both the ejection lever 26 and auxiliary lever 31. As viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2, the movement of carriage 16 in the direction indicated by the arrow will cause each spindle to turn the arm 53 toward the left and, through the gearing, draw the ejection lever 26 downward to the bobbin supporting position and the auxiliary lever down to the extreme position shown in the solid line drawing. As the arm 53 loses contact with each spindle, the tension spring 39 takes control of the mechanism and the auxiliary lever 31 and ejection lever 26 snap violently upward to the firing position whereby the bobbin is ejected into a chute and receptacle (not shown) arranged for that purpose. As will be readily seen, the actuation of the firing trigger is through contact with the base of each spindle so that variations in spindle gauge or even missing spindles or bobbins will not affect the operation of this doffing mechanism.

In the'modification disclosed herein the dofiing mechanism is intended to be moved in a forward direction as shown by the arrow in FIG. 1; however, if, inadvertently, the dofling carriage is moved rearwardly before finishing a doff, no damage will result. When moving in the direction opposite to that of normal operation, the trigger arm 53 will strike the last doifed spindle and,'without the built-in safety feature, will break the arm or other associated parts. But instead the arm 53, by moving in reverse, will rotate the shaft 23 (FIG. 5) in a counterclockwise direction and through the-knee-action of the auxiliary lever 31 allow passage of one orrnore spindles in reverse without damage.

In operation, referring to FIG. 1, the bobbin drive between the spindle and bobbin is broken by the cam edge 21 and the bobbin is raised higher by following the edge 22. As the bobbin nears the highest point on the edge 22, the arm 53 strikes the spindle and, through the gearing, will draw the ejector lever 26 and the auxiliary lever 31 downward against the spring 39 tension. The bobbin is then supported along the horizontal plane of the surface 29 to nearly the curved end 30 at which point the holding effect of the spindle is passed and the trigger 52 is released which causes the ejecting lever to fire the bobbin upward from the spindle. The inertia of the rapidly fired parts is absorbed by the flexing knee-action of the auxiliary lever 31 together with the rubber bumper 38 when striking the restraining plate 43.

While one embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it is to be understood that the inventive concept may be carried out in a number of ways. The invention is, therefore, not to be limited to the precise details described,- but is intended to embrace all variations and modifications thereof falling within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. A mechanism for dofiing wound bobbins from a row of spindles supported on a textile machine which ineludes a unitary bobbin lifting member, said lifting member comprising a bobbin drive breaking cam surface and a bobbin lifting cam surface, a bobbin ejecting means being mounted in following adjacent relationship to said lifting member, said ejecting means including a pivotally mounted bobbing ejection lever, and an ejection trigger member being adapted for loading and releasing said ejection lever through successive contacts with each of said spindles.

2. A mechanism for dotting wound bobbins from a row of spindles supported on a textile machine which includes a unitary bobbin lifting member, said lifting member com-prising a first camming edge disposed at an inclination to the horizontal and a second carniming edge in continuation of said first camrning edge and disposed at an increased inclination to said first edge, a bobbin ejecting means being mounted in following adjacent relationship to said lifting member for removing individual bobbins consecutively from said spindles, said ejecting means including a spring tensioned ejection lever, and an ejection trigger member for loading and releasing said ejection lever, said ejection trigger member being actuated successively through contact with each of said spindles.

3. A mechanism for dotiing wound bobbins from a row of spindles supported on a textile machine which includes a unitary bobbin lifting member, said lifting member comprising a first camming edge disposed at an inclination to the horizontal and a second camming edge in continuation of said first camming edge and disposed at an increased inclination to said first edge, a bobbin ejecting means being mounted in following adjacent relationship to said lifting member for removing individual bobbins consecutively from said spindles, said ejecting means including a pivotally mounted bobbin ejection lever, said lever being movable between a bobbin supporting position and a bobbin firing position, and an ejection trigger member for loading and releasing said ejection lever through successive contact with each of said spindles.

4. A mechanism for doffing wound bobbins from a row of spindles supported on a textile machine which includes a unitary bobbin lifting member, said lifting member comprising a first camming edge disposed at an inclination to the horizontal for breaking the bobbin drive contact with the spindle, and a second camming edge in continuation of said first camming edge and disposed at an increased inclination to said first edge forming a bobbin lifting surface for raising each bobbin to a firing height, a bobbin ejecting means being mounted in following adjacent relationship -to said lifting member for removing individual bobbins consecutively from said spindles, said ejecting means including a pivotally mounted bobbin ejection lever, said lever being movable between a bobbin supporting position and a bobbin firing position, tensioning means urging said lever toward said firing position, and an ejecton trigger member for loading and releasing said ejection lever through sucoessive contact with each of said spindles.

5. A mechanism for dofling wound bobbins from a row of spindles supported on a textile machine which includes a unitary bobbin lifting member, said lifting member comprising a first camming edge disposed at an inclination to the horizontal for breaking the bobbin drive contact with the spindle, and .a second camming edge in continuation of said first camming edge and dis posed at an increased inclination to said first edge forming a bobbin lifting surface for raising each bobbin to a firing height, .a bobbin ejecting means being mounted in following adjacent relationship to said lifting member for removing individual bobbins consecutively from said spindles, said ejecting means including a pivotally mounted bobbin ejection lever, said ejection lever having a bobbin supporting surface and a bobbin firing end surface, said ejection lever being movable between a bobbin supporting position and a bobbin firing position, tensioning means urging said lever toward said firing position, and an ejection trigger member for loading and releasing said ejection lever through successive contact with each of said spindles.

6. A mechanism for doifing wound bobbins from a row of spindles supported on a textile machine which includes a unitary bobbin lifting member, said lifting member comprising a first camming edge disposed at an inclination to the horizontal for breaking the bobbin drive contact with the spindle, and a second camming edge in continuation of said first camming edge and disposed at an increased inclination to said first edge forming a bobbin lifting surface for raising each bobbin to a firing height, a bobbin ejecting means being mounted in following adjacent relationship to said lifting member for removing individual bobbins consecutively from said spindles, said ejecting means including a pivotally mounted bobbin ejection lever, said ejection lever having a bobbin supporting surface and a bobbin firing end surface, said ejection lever being movable between a bobbin supporting position and a bobbin firing position, tensioning means urging said lever toward said firing position, and an ejection trigger member for loading and releasing said ejection lever through successive contact with each of said spindles, said trigger member being adapted for drawing said ejection lever to said supporting position against the forces of said tensioning means.

7. A mechanism for dofling wound bobbins from a row of spindles supported on a textile machine which includes a unitary bob-bin lifting member, said lifting member comprising a first camming edge disposed at an inclination to the horizontal for breaking the bobbin drive contact with the spindle, and a second camming edge in continuation of said first camming edge and disposed at an increased inclination to said first edge forming a bobbin lifting surface for raising each bobbin to a firing height, a bobbin ejecting means being mounted in following adjacent relationship to said lifting member for removing individual bobbins consecutively from said spindles, said ejecting means including a pivotally mounted bobbin ejection lever, said ejection lever having a bobbin supporting surface and a bobbin firing end surface, said ejection lever being movable between a bobbin supporting position and a bobbin firing position, tensioning means urging said lever toward said firing position, and an ejection trigger member for loading and releasing said ejection lever throngh successive contact with each of said spindles, said trigger member being adapted for drawing said ejection lever to said supporting position against the forces of said tensioning means, said ejection lever moving violently toward said firing position when released by said trigger member.

8. A mechanism for doffing wound bobbins from a row of spindles supported on a textile machine which includes a unitary bobbin lifting member, said lifting member comprising a first camming edge disposed at an inclination to the horizontal for breaking the bobbin drive contact with the spindle, and a second camming edge in continuation of said first camming edge and disposed at an increased inclination to said first edge forming a Ibobbin lifting surface for raising each bobbin to a firing height, a bobbin ejecting means being mounted in following adjacent relationship to said lifting member for removing individual bobbins consecutively from said spindles, said ejecting means including a pivotally mounted bobbin ejection lever, said ejection lever having a bobbin supporting surface and a bobbin firing end surface, said ejection lever being movable between a bobbin supporting position and a bobbin firing position, tensioning means urging said lever toward said firing position, an auxiliary lever connecting said tensioning means and said ejection lever, and an ejection trigger member for loading and releasing said ejection lever through successive contact with each of said spindles, said trigger member being adapted for drawing said ejection lever to said supporting position against the force of said tensioning means, said ejection lever movable violently toward said firing position when released by said trigger member.

9. A mechanism for doffing wound bobbins from a row of spindles supported on a textile machine which includes a unitary bobbin lifting member, said lifting member comprising a first camming edge disposed at an inclination to the horizontal for breaking the bobbin drive contact with the spindle, and a second camming edge in continuation of said first camming edge and disposed at an increased inclination of said first edge forming a bobbin lifting surface for raising each bobbin to a firing height, a bobbin ejecting means being mounted in following adjacent relationship to said lifting member for removing individual bobbins consecutively from said spindles, said ejecting means including a pivotally mounted bobbin ejection lever, said ejection lever having a bobbin supporting surfiaceiand a bobbin firing end surface, said ejection lever being movable between a bobbin supporting position and a bobbin firing position, tensioning means urging said lever toward said firing position, an auxiliary lever connecting said tensioning means and said ejection lever, said auxiliary lever being centrally pivotal against restraining tension ifor gently decelerating said ejection lever, and an ejection trigger member for loading and releasing said ejection lever through successive contact with each .of said spindles, said trigger member being adapted for drawing said ejection lever to said supporting position against the force of said tensioning means, said ejection lever moving violently toward said firing position when released by said trigger member.

, 10. A mechanism for dofling wound bobbins from a row of spindles supported on a textile machine which includes a unitary bobbin lifting member, said lifting member comprising a first camming edge disposed at an inclination to the horizontal for breaking the bobbin drive contact with the spindle, and a second camming edge in continuation of said first camming edge and disposed at an increased inclination to said first edge forming a bobbin lifting surface for raising each bobbin to a firing height, a bobbin ejecting means being mounted in following adjacent relationship to said lifting member for removing individual bobbins consecutively from said spindles, said ejecting means including a pivotally mounted bobbin ejection lever, said ejection lever having a bobbin supporting surface and a bobbin firing end surface, said ejection lever being movable between a bobbin supporting position and a bobbin firing position, tensioning means urging said lever toward said firing position, an auxiliary lever connecting said tensioning means and said ejection lever, said auxiliary lever being centrally pivotal against restraining tension for greatly decelerating said ejection lever, an ejection trigger member for loading and releasing said ejection lever through successive contact with each of said spindles, said trigger member being adapted for drawing said ejection lever to said supporting position against the force of said tensioniug means, said ejection lever moving violently toward said firing position when released by said trigger member, and reciprocal gear means interconnecting said trigger member with said ejection lever and said auxiliary lever.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,070,949 1/1963 Du Buis etial 57-53 3,116,587 1/1964 .Du Buis et a1. 57--53 3,148,495 9/ 1964 King et a1 5753 FRANK I. CO HEN, Primary Examiner. J. PETRAKES, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. A MECHANISM FOR DOFFING WOUND BOBBINS FROM A ROW OF SPINDLES SUPPORTED ON A TEXTILE MACHINE WHICH INCLUDES A UNITARY BOBBIN LIFTING MEMBER, SAID LIFTING MEMBER COMPRISING A BOBBIN DRIVE B REAKING CAM SURFACE AND A BOBBIN LIFTING CAM SURFACE, A BOBBIN EJECTING MEANS BEING MOUNTED IN FOLLOWING AFJACENT RELATIONSHIP TO SAID LIFTING MEMBER, SAID EJECTING MEANS INCLUDING A PRIVOTALLY MOUNTED BOBBIN EJECTION LEVER, AND AN EJECTION TRIGGER MEMBER BEING ADAPTED FOR LOADING AND RELEASING SAID EJECTION LEVER THROUGH SUCCESSIVE CONTACTS WITH EACH OF SAID SPINDLES.