US3336739A - Spinning frame apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 22, 1967 I G. H. SANDERS ET AL 3,336,739

. S PINNI NG FRAME APPARATUS Filed March 26, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS GRADY H. SANDERS BY JOHN K. McCOLLOUGH Emu/WW ATTORNEY I G. H. SANDERS IET'AL 3,336,739

Aug. 22, 1967 SPINNING FRAME APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 26, 1965 INVENTORS G RA D Y H SA N D E R 5 BY J O H N K. Mc C OLL O U G H MIL.

A T TO R N E Y Aug. 22, 1 967 H, SANDERS ET AL 3,336,739

SPINNING FRAME APPARATUS Filed March 26, 1965 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 fIOG 8* Sf Start 0 o ..1:|

' Stan I I46 Brake Solenoid INVENTORS GRADY H. SANDERS -JOHN K.MCCOLLOUGH Maw;

ATTORNEY United States Patent Filed Mar. 26, 1965, Ser. No. 442,911. 7 Claims. (Cl. 5754) This invention relates to bobbin using textile processing apparatus and more particularly to spinning, twisting and the like frames which can be automatically doffed.

Prior to this invention spinning, twisting or like frames were doifed manually by an operator. When the bobbins were fully wound the operator had to manually lower the ring rail below the bottom of the bobbins in order to more readily dolf the full bobbin and to wind yarn around the spindle between the whorl and the bottom of the bobbin in order to insure that the empty bobbin replacing the dolfed full bobbin would wind properly on start-up without the end coming down. The bearing down of the ring rail was a hard and arduous task which required the services of a strong operator. Furthermore, an operator would tend to wrap excess yarn on the spindle to insure that the end would not come down during startup. This, of course, resulted in a need for more frequent cleaning of the spindles to prevent the manufacture of damaged yarn due to the bobbin sitting too high on the spindle because of excess yarn wound thereon. Further, manual doffing of a spinning, twisting or like frame was a hinderance to the complete automation of the yarn handling operation in a textile mill.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a system of automatically bearing down a spinning, twisting or like frame in preparation for dofiing of full bobbins therefrom.

Another object of the invention is to provide an automatic bear down for a spinning, twisting or like frame which will automatically rewind the builder motion for the next cycle.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an automatic bear down for a spinning, twisting or like frame which will automatically turn the threadboards up and down when necessary.

A fourth object of the invention is to provide a bear down system for a spinning, twisting or like frame which will eliminate the necessity for an operator to use brute strength to bear down the frame for dofling.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an automatic bear down for a spinning, twisting or like frame which can be integrated with an automatic doifer to automatically prepare and doff the frame.

Other objects and advantages of our invention will be clearly apparent as the specification proceeds to describe the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic representation of a portion of a spinning frame with an automatic doifer overhead and with the ring rail in the up position;

FIGURE 2 is a further schematic representation of a portion of a spinning frame with the ring rail in the down position;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view of the doifer guide rail shown in FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 4 is a schematic electrical diagram of a control circuit for automatically bearing down a spinning frame.

Looking now to the drawings and especially to FIG- URE 1 the herein disclosed invention is shown installed on a spinning frame, generally designated 10, over which is shown an automatic bobbin doffing and donning appa- John K. McCullough, Spar- I 3,336,739 Patented Aug. 22, 1967 ratus12 awaiting the bearing down of the frame. In the illustrated form of the invention it is shown in cooperation with a conventional spinning frame but it is within the scope of the invention to apply such invention to other frames such as a twisting frame. The automatic bobbin doffing and donning apparatus 12 is not, per se, part of the invention and can be that illustrated in U. S. Patent No. 3,123,967.

In conventional manner roving is supplied from packages 14 through a conventional drafting system 16 wherein the fibers are aligned and compacted. From the drafting system 16 the compacted fiber strand passes through guides 18 in the threadboard 20 and are twisted and wound onto the bobbins 22 on the spindles 24. The spindles 24 are rotated in conventional manner by tapes (not shown) which contact the whorls 26 of the spindles.

As in a conventional spinning frame the build of yarn on the bobbin 22 is controlled by a builder motion which basically controls the position of vertical movement of the ring rail 28. The ring rail 28 when the frame is first started up reciprocates up and down adjacent the bottom of the bobbin 22 to wind yarn thereon. Then as the bottom portion of the bobbin is filled with yarn the ring rail is moved up automatically to wind yarn on a larger section of the bobbin. This continues until a desired portion of the bobbin is wound with yarn.

The operation of the builder motion is basically controlled by a cam .29 suitably driven by gears (not shown) within the confines of the head end housing 30 of the spinning frame. The ring rail 28 is moved by a plurality of vertical rods 32 secured to pivot rods 34 through suitable means and is counterweighed toward the up position by a weight 36 connected to the ends of pivot rods 34. To control the position of the ring rail 28 a rocker shaft 38 is provided and is connected to the draw bar 40 which interconnects all the vertical rods 32 to cause uniform motion of the ring rail.

As previously pointed out the ring rail 23 is incrementally raised as the build on the lower portions of the bobbin reaches a desired diameter. This motion of the ring rail is caused by the rotation of the cam 29 acting on the roller 42 to pivot the builder drive mechanism 44 up and down.

The builder drive mechanism basically consists of rod member 46 secured to rotably mounted shaft 48, rotably mounted shaft 50, builder rewind motor 52 which rotates shaft 50 through pulleys 54 and 56 by means of a chain 58, a ratchet wheel 60 rigidly attached to shaft 50 and cooperates with pawl 62 and support member 64 which is fixed relative to the pivoting builder drive mechanism 44 and has upper and lower stop rods 66 and 68 connected thereto.

To transmit the motion of the cam 29 a gear pulley 70 is rotably fixed to builder motion mechanism 44 in engagement with worm 72 on shaft 50. Rotatably supported in spaced relation to the gear pulley 70 is a double pulley 74 which is rotated by gear pulley '70 through chain member 76. A further chain member 78 is connected to double pulley 74 and to rocker arm connected to rocker shaft 38.

The builder motion operates in the following manner. Rotation of the cam 29 causes the builder motion mechanism 44 to reciprocate up and down as dictated by the action of the cam surface on the roller 42. On the downward stroke of the builder motion mechanism the chain 76 will rotate the pulley 74 causing the chain 78 to wind up on the pulley 74 to pull the rocker arm 80 toward the pulley 74. When the rocker arm 80 moves in the above-described direction against the action of counterweight 36 the rods 32 will move downward to pull the ring rail 28 down a certain fixed distance.

of many various types such as Conversely, when the builder motion mechanism 44 moves upward the pulley '74 will rotate in the opposite direction due to the action of the counterweight 36 and the slackening of the chain 76 to allow the rods 32 and the ring rail 28 to move upwardly. It can be seen that extremes of vertical movement of the ring rail are controlled basically by the lengths of the chains 76 and 78.

As previously discussed the yarn is spun on a narrow area of the bobbin and then the yarn area is incrementally increased by allowing the ring rail 28 to reciprocate over a wider area of the bobbin. Basically this is accomplished by incrementally increasing the length of chain 76 to allow the rocker arm 80 to rotate in a wider arc. The cam 29 is so designed that the builder motion mechanism reciprocates a greater distance than the space between the stops 66 and 68. Therefore, on each upward motion of the builder motion mechanism the pawl 62 will contact the upper stop 66 and thereby engage and rotate the ratchet wheel a predetermined distance. Rotation of the ratchet wheel 60 causes the shaft 50 and the worm 72 to rotate, thereby rotating the gear pulley in the clockwise direction to slacken the chain 76 in order to allow the ring rail 28 to reciprocate over a greater area of the bobbin.

As will be explained hereinafter in conjunction with the control circuit shown in FIGURE 3 the builder motion mechanism 44 is automatically rewound. In other words the chain 76 is rewound on the gear pulley 70 in anticipation of the next spinning cycle after the full bobbins have been doifed. As previously explained the ring rail 28 is placed in its lowest position (FIGURE 2) when the frame is doffed. In this position the builder motion mechanism 44 is also in its lowest position and the pawl 62 is disengaged from the ratchet wheel 60 by the lower stop 68. Then to rewind the chain '76 rewind motor 52 is energized to rotate the shaft 50 in the counterclockwise position to wind the chain 76 back into the gear pulley 70.

Looking now to FIGURES 1 and 2 in conjunction with the control circuit shown in FIGURE 3 the operation of the automatic bear down of the spinning frame will be explained. Approximately ten minutes before the spinning frame is ready to be dolfed, the predetermining counter 82, which counts the yardage of spun yarn, will switch to the doff position as shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 4. This energizes the time delay coil 84 and simultaneously signals the doffer 12 in a manner (not shown) to be sure that the doifer is in position when the frame is ready to be doffed. After the above approximate ten minute period has passed time delay switch 86 will close so that line switch 88 will energize the time motor 90 the next time the ring rail 28 reaches the top position. In FIGURES 1 and 2 the line switch 88 is located in such a position that the pivot rod 34 will close the line switch 88 when the ring rail 28 reaches the top position.

The timer motor 90 (not shown in detail) is a cam timer with six operated switches (namely 92, 94, 96, 98, and 102) which act sequentially as hereinafter explained. First the cam timer closes switch 92 to maintain power to the timer motor 90 to allow line switch 88 to open as the ring rail 28 descends to the lowest position. Then the cam timer closes switch 94 to energize relay coil 104 to open switch 104A to deenergize the spining frame drive motor 106 and to close switch 104B. Then the cam timer closes switch 96 to energize the solenoid 108 to supply air to double acting pneumatic cylinder 110 to pivot the actuating arm 112 (FIGURE 2) to pivot the pivot rods 34 upwardly against the bias of counterweights 36 to lower the ring rail 28 to the position shown in FIG- URE 2. As the ring rail descends toward the lowest position and the spinning frame is coasting to a stop, four to six wraps of yarn will be placed on the spindle to tie the yarn end down for the next spinning cycle. In manual operation the operator will normally wrap considerably more yarn on the spindle just to be sure the end is tied down necessitating cleaning of the spindle at more frequent intervals. When the ring rail 28 is lowered to the position shown in FIGURE 2 the pivot rod 34 actuates line switch 114 to close switches 116 and 118 and open switch 120. Closing of switch 118 energize the builder motion rewind motor 52, since switch 92 has previously been closed, to wind up the chain 76 on the gear pulley 70 in the manner previously described. Then the cam timer closes switch 98 to energize solenoid 122 to supply air to pneumatically operated piston 124 which pivots the threadboard 20 to the up position out of the automatic bobbin dofling and donning apparatus 12 and closes switches 126, only one being shown for the sake of illustration, which are operably associated with the threadboard actuating mechanism 128 on both sides of the frame. The closing of switches 126 energizes light 129 which is picked up by photocell 130 which actuates the doffer control circuit (not shown) to automatically begin dofiing of full bobbins from the spindles and replacing them with empty bobbins for the next spinning cycle. A short predetermined time thereafter cycle timer motor opens line switch 92 to stop cycle time motor 98, deenergize the rewind motor 52 and deenergize solenoid 122 to cutoff the air to piston 124.

After the spinning frame has been doffed and empty bobbins replaced on the spindles the carrier members 132 of the doifer 12 are raised with the doffer grasper rails 134 being guided upward in the frame guides 136. As the grasper rails 134 clear the frame guides 136 they close one way actuator switch 138 to energize solenoid 140 to supply air to piston 124 to cause the threadboards to be turned down to the run position as shown in FIGURE 1. The operator then resets the yardage counter 82 to the run position and the spinning frame 10 is now ready for a controlled start-up.

To start the frame up the operator pushes start button 142 which energizes the cycle timer motor 90 since switch 116 is now closed. Switch 100 then closes to maintain the cycle time motor energized when the start button 142 is released. Then switch 96 of the cam timer opens to deenergize solenoid 108 to cut the air oif bear down piston 110 to allow the counterweight 36 to cause the ring rail to move up. After the ring rail starts up switch 102 of the cam timer closes to actuate relay 144 which closes switches 146 and 148 to start the frame motor 106 and close switch 107 to lock out switch 146 and to energize the solenoid 108 to put air on the piston 110 to start the ring rail down. When the ring rail 28 drops a predetermined distance the pivot rod 34 will engage switch 150 to open contacts 152 and 154 to once again deenergize the solenoid 108 to cut off air to the piston 110 and allow the ring rail to rise. This up and down motion of the ring rail continues until the switch 102 of the cam timer phases. This motion is necessary on start-up to secure the end of the yarn on the bobbin to prevent long tails on the next dofiing cycle. Finally, switch 100 opens shutting off the power to cycle timer motor 90 and take up slack in the yarn. At this time cycle timer motor 90 will be at the zero position ready for another doff cycle.

The herein disclosed automatic bear down system for spinning or like frame eliminates the necessity of an operator struggling to manually bear the ring rail down to doff full bobbins from the frame and replace them with empty bobbins. Furthermore, the herein disclosed system is designed to work automatically with an overhead doffing and donning apparatus to provide a complete automatic spinning frame dofiing system.

Although we have described in detail the preferred embodiment of our invention, it is contemplated that many changes may be made without departing from the scope or spirit of our invention and we desire to be limited only by the claims.

That which is claimed is:

1. A textile handling arrangement comprising an automatic bobbin dofling and donning apparatus, a yarn handling frame operably associated therewith, a plurality of spindles on said frame, bobbins on said spindles, said spinning frame having a ring rail, a builder motion operably associated with said ring rail to control the build of yarn on said bobbins, means to automatically bear down said ring rail when said bobbins are ready to be doifed, means to automatically rewind the builder motion, signal means to actuate said automatic bobbin doffing and donning apparatus to dolf full bobbins from said spindles when said ring rail has been lowered, said frame including pivotally mounted threadboards and means to automatically pivot said threadboards up before the doffing of the bobbins and down after the dofiing of the spindles, said signal means being actuated by the movement of said threadboards into the up position.

2. A textile handling arrangement comprising an automatic bobbin dofling and donning apparatus, a yarn handling frame operably associated therewith, a plurality of spindles on said frame, bobbins on said spindles, said spinning frame having a ring rail, a builder motion operably associated with said ring rail to control the build of yarn on said bobbins, a threadboard pivotally secured to said frame, means to automatically pivot said threadboard up and to automatically bear down said ring rail when said bobbins are ready to be doifed, signal means operably associated with said frame to cause said automatic bobbin dofiing and donning apparatus to doff full bobbins from said spindles when said threadboards are pivoted up and the ring rail has been lowered, and replace said full bobbins with empty bobbins and automatic means to jog said ring rail up and down to securely wrap several wraps of yarn on said bobbins whensaid frame has been started up after dolfing, said means to automatically pivot said threadboards up including means to actuate said signal means when said threadboards are pivoted to the up position.

3. A spinning frame comprising: a plurality of spindles mounted thereon, bobbins on said spindles, a ring rail operably associated with said spindles, a pivotally mounted threadboard, a bobbin doffing and donning apparatus, means to pivot said threadboard away from said spindles and signal means responsive to the pivotal movement of said threadboard away from spindles to actuate said bobbin doffing and donning apparatus.

4. The structure of claim 3 wherein said threadboards are pivoted in an upward direction when said bobbin dofiing and donning apparatus is actuated.

5. The structure of claim 3 wherein said means are provided to automatically lower said ring rail prior to actuating said dofiing and donning apparatus.

6. The structure of claim 3 wherein said frame includes a builder motion to control the build of yarn on said bobbins and means to automatically rewind said builder motion before each spinning cycle.

7. The structure of claim 6 wherein said means to antomatically rewind said builder motion includes a ratchet Wheel and pawl and means to disengage said pawl from said ratchet wheel prior to rewinding said builder motion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,926,390 9/1933 Kooistra 242-261 X 2,122,434 7/1938 Morton 57-71 X 2,503,099 4/1950 Culbreath 57-54 2,575,031 11/1951 Smith 242-261 2,587,897 4/1952 Rayfield 57-95 2,716,632 8/1955 Colvin o 57-52 2,798,356 7/1957 Christiansson 57-54 X 2,857,114 8/1958 Arai 242-261 2,892,301 6/1959 Cone 57-111 X 3,015,203 1/1962 Heiberg 57-98 X 3,059,407 8/ 1962 Kennedy et al. 57-54 3,072,350 1/1963 Anderson et a1. 242-26.4 X 3,075,342 1/1963 Lohest et al. 57-54 3,101,585 8/1963 Andersen et al. 57-54 3,113,414 12/1963 Negishi 57-54 3,138,339 6/1964 Jones 242-264 3,231,209 1/1966 Pray et al. 57-54 X FRANK J. COHEN, Primary Examiner. D. E. WATKINS, Assistant Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. 3. A SPINNING FRAME COMPRISING: A PLURALITY OF SPINDLES MOUNTED THEREON, BOBBINS ON SAID SPINDLES, A RING RAIL OPERABLY ASSOCIATED WITH SAID SPINDLES, A PIVOTALLY MOUNTED THREADBOARD, A BOBBIN DOFFING AND DONNING APPARATUS, MEANS TO PIVOT SAID THREADBOARD AWAY FROM SAID SPINDLES AND SIGNAL MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF SAID THREADBOARD AWAY FROM SPINDLES TO ACTUATE SAID BOBBIN DOFFING AND DONNING APPARATUS.

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