US3432118A - Creel - Google Patents

Description

T M rch f 69 G. A. CARRUTHERS 3,432,118 CREEL Filed Jan. 5, 1967 Sheet of 2 1 N VEN TOR. GEORGE ALAN CARRUTHERS 2 Y @AWV/ ATTORNEYS.

March 11, 1969 GREEL Filed Jan. 5, 1'96? 7 Sheet 2 of? Fig. 5

s. A. CARRUTHERS 3,432,118 r I Fig. 7

mvsmoa GEORGE ALAN CARRU'FHERS ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 0 3,432,118 CREEL George A. Carruthers, Ambleside, England, assignor to Turbo Machine Company, Lansdale, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Jan. 3, 1967, Ser. No. 606,832 US. Cl. 242-131.1 Int. Cl. B6511 49/18 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Cross reference to related applications Reference is made to British Patent application No. 1,367/66, filed Jan. 12, 1966.

Background of the invention Heretofore, creels have been provided which are made up of a large number of stationary supports, spaced apart from one another and occupying a large floor area. Each support has been provided with a number of angularly arranged supporting rods, each of which is arranged to support a yarn package such as a bobbin, pirn spool or the like. The packages are conventionally placed on the rods by operating personnel in the mill, moving between the spaced apart supports. By means of a warp beamer, the ends of the yarn are collectively pulled and thereby looped off the ends of their individual packages, and wound onto the warp beam. Often, the yarns must be rewound onto cones and the cones placed in the creel for winding onto the warp beam. The warp beams, in turn serve as the means for supplying multiple ends of yarn to a fabricating machine, such as a loom or a warp knitting machine or the like.

According to conventional creeling practice, the packagesare mounted so that their axes are disposed at an angle to the vertical. The yarn is withdrawn from the package at an angle to the package axis, so that the yarn is looped off the end of its package without rotation of the package, as it is withdrawn.

The process of beaming with textured yarns, particularly torque yarns, is difficult because such yarns are stretchable along their axes. This is particularly true in the case of yarns which are twist-lively, such as false twist yarns. Whenever the tension is lost on a multiplicity of adjacent ends of twist-lively yarns, they wind about each other and tangle so badly that they are virtually impossible to separate again.

Summary of invention This invention provides a straightforward and reliably operable alternative to the stationary creel and warp beam apparatus and process now commonly used in textile mills. For the first time known to me, the multiple ends of a torque yarn can now be conducted directly from the creel to the fabricating machine. This invention provides a creel for yarn packages comprising a housing having a multiplicity of parallel compartments open at the front, a multiplicity of removable carriers which are shaped to fit into the compartments, each carrier being provided with a plurality of rotatable package supports. The carriers, when removed from the cabinet, may be loaded with yarn packages and the yarns may be collected together for unwinding in unison, all moving at an angle to the axis of rotation. Then, the carriers may be loaded into the cabinet for compact storage, and the cabinet may be moved to a desired location, such as a location immediately adjacent to a fabricating machine such as a loom, or a warp knitting machine or the like.

Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a simple, compact and inexpensive creel for yarn packages.

Another object of this invention is to provide a compact creel for yarn packages wherein the packages are easily removable from a plurality of locations.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a compact creel for yarn packages which is both portable and modular, in that it can be moved and readily assembled with other similar creels for applications involving a great number of yarn packages.

Still another object is to provide a creel wherein a plurality of yarns may be withdrawn in unison with one another and along substantially parallel lines, and wherein any frictional drag that is imparted to any individual yarn is taken up and shared by the other yarns, thus avoiding yarn breakage.

Still another object is to provide a creel which can be used for connection directly to a fabricating machine, which allows for changing some of the ends of yarn in th middle of a run on the machine, and substituting other ends of yarn therefor.

A further object is to provide an apparatus of the type described which contributes ease of maintenance, and ease of repairing any ends of yarn that should becom broken.

Still another object of this inventon is to provide a creel for connection directly to a fabricating machine, according to which the finished fabric can be tested shortly after commencement of the run, and any defective yarn that is found as a result of the tests can be removed immediately and replaced, thus correcting the defect before the entire yarn content of the creel has been converted into fabric.

Other objects and advantages of this invent-ion will further become apparent hereinafter, and from the drawings.

Brief description of the drawings FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of this invention showing a creel partially broken away with a number of wound yarn package carriers in position within the creel, one carrier being in a removed position, and similar additional creels shown in phantom;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a deck of the creel shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken as indicated by the lines and arrows III-III which appear in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic plan view of a plurality of yarn packages on their carrier, showing the path of withdrawal of the yarns from their packages;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic elevation of the carrier and packages shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic plan view of a plurality of yarn packages showing an alternative method of withdrawing the yarns simultaneously from their packages;

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic elevation of the packages shown in FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic plan view of a plurality of yarn packages showing a still further alternative embodiment of the method for simultaneously withdrawing the yarns from their packages.

Description of the preferred embodiment Although specific forms of the invention have been selected for illustration in the drawings, and the following description is drawn in specific terms for the purpose of describing those forms of the invention, this description is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a creel 11 in the form of a housing including a vertical structure 12 having shelves 13 thereon, and disposed on casters 14.

The basic creel design 11 is a modular unit; creels 11a and 11]; represent other modules.

The creel shelves 13 are arranged to store a plurality of yarn package carriers 20. The details of construction of this carrier 20 as well as its disposition on the creel shelf 13 is shown in FIG. 2.

The shelf 13 is affixed to the vertical structure 12 in any suitable fashion, as by riveting or welding, for example. The shelf itself is preferably of a light-weight, high strength construction, and may be fabricated of relatively thin aluminum sheet having support members as at 21, and channel shaped spacer members as at 22, aflixed thereto.

The yarn package carriers 20 are disposed on the shelves 13 between the spacer members 22, movable into and out of the compartments provided by the spacer members 22. The dimensions are such that the carriers 20 slide freely into and out of position on the shelves between the spacer members. In order to prevent the carriers 20 from sliding off the shelves 13, a stop 23 is fixed to the spacer member 22.

It has been found convenient to have at least a portion of the carriers 20 readily accessible from the front and rear of the creel to facilitate easy insertion and removal.

The carrier 20 is shown as a flat plate or panel, which may be made of any material such as metal, wood or the like.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 2 and 3, means are provided for supporting several yarn packages in a freely rotatable condition on the carrier 20. A pin 24 is aflixed to the carrier 20 by plate 25. The pin 24 is designed to receive a mandrel 26, which is mounted on suitable bearings 27a and 27b to rotate therewith. The bearings have a sliding fit on the pin 24 and are free to rotate thereon. A washer 28 is provided between the end bearing 27b and the carrier 20. The mandrel 26 may be made of any suitable material such as wood or the like, and is provided with a flange 29 at the end thereof proximate to the carrier 20. The mandrel 26 serves as the mounting means for the yarn package 30.

Although the drawings have shown the pins 24 as being substantially vertically disposed in the creel, and although this is a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be clear that the axes of rotation of the yarn packages can be arranged horizontally or at any other angle with respect to the horizontal or vertical, as desired by the designer of specific equipment intended for a specific purpose. One advantage inherent in a nonhorizontal arrangement is that the yarn package stays on its carrier by reason of gravity and this eliminates the need for any retaining means at the free end of the pin 24.

The packages 30 may be of any suitable form, but it is preferred to employ a tubular core 31 onto which the yarn is wound. A double flanged bobbin may be provided in which each end of the core 31 is provided with a flange, and the package is disposed between the flanges. However, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the tubular core is not flanged, but is disposed on the flange 29 of the mandrel 26.

It is preferred that the packages initially all contain the same weight of yarn. This is accomplished in the ordinary operation of automatic winders currently in use.

Though it is not essential, it is also preferred that the packages be flat Wound.

Referrng to FIG. 4, a yarn configuration for withdrawing the yarns concurrently from their packages is shown. Each package is free to rotate, as previously described, about its axis as at 34. The yarn ends are drawn off in the direction of rotation as indicated by the arrows.

As shown in FIG. 5, the yarn ends may be drawn off concurrently from each of a plurality of wound packages. All ends are drawn off in a direction substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation of each wound package. Of course, it will be understood that the yarns are converged for ease of handling and are therefore not precisely parallel. Further, the point at which the yarn is withdrawn from its package, i.e., the point of tangency 35 (FIGS. 4 and 5), traverses the axial length of the package during withdrawal, so that the yarn angle varies from an exact perpendicular, as illustrated by the phantom alternate position illustrated in FIG. 5. This exception is intended to be made when I use the expression substan tially perpendicular, to describe the angle of the path of withdrawal to the axis of rotation of the package. The important distinction is that the yarn is not looped off the end of a stationary package, but is withdrawn sidewise from a rotating package.

This substantially perpendicular Withdrawal is important because it minimizes the variation in the tension of the yarns being unwound from the packages.

Referring to FIG. 6, the illustrated configuration has the particular advantage that a uniform tension is achieved from one yarn end to another. The operating principle is that should the friction in one wound yarn package be higher than the average, possibly due to tightness of a bearing, for example, then the extra tension required to overcome the increased friction is shared by all the yarn ends. As shown in FIG. 6, the yarn end 39 from the lead wound package 40 is withdrawn from the package in the direction of rotation just as it was in FIG. 4. However, the yarn end is then looped around a portion of the circumferential surface of the next adjacent wound yarn package 42 and simultaneously an end 41 of yarn is withdrawn from that wound yarn package. Both yarns are then taken in a path around the circumferential surface of the lead wound yarn package 40 and the foregoing steps are then repeated with the next adjacent wound yarn package 43. As the yarns 39 and 41 proceed around the circumferential surface of the wound yarn package 43 another end of yarn 44 is concurrently withdrawn from this wound yarn package in the direction of rotation of the packages. This method of unwinding may be repeated for as many of the wound yarn packages as is desirable, depending on the type of yarn used and the amount of friction encountered. The yarns may then be withdrawn from the creel simultaneously, as at 45. FIG. 7 illustrates that the substantially perpendicular path of withdrawal is maintained, even with the FIG. 6 configuration.

In FIG. 8, a further alternative configuration for unwinding the packages is disclosed. In this case the principle of sharing the tension load is again utilized. However, package 42 instead of package 40 provides the initial yarn. The configuration is substantially the same, and is based upon the principle that one must proceed from one wound package to an adjacent wound package in the direction of rotation without skipping a wound package that has not as yet had an end of yarn withdrawn from it. This principle avoids crossovers and entanglement, and permits simultaneous withdrawal of the yarns.

Referring again to FIG. 1, it can be seen that a creel of the type described may form a modular section of a larger creel by locating similar creels side by side (11, 11a, 11b). This is of particular advantage for applications where a large number of yarns is necessary. The: modular concept can then be used to feed large numbers of ends of yarn into machines of different capacities.

The creel may be designed to meet given criteria for a particular plant operation. For example, it may be designed with the human engineering factors given the greatest weight, e.g. the height of the creel may be made equal to that of an average worker to facilitate ease in loading the wound yarn package carriers containing a pluarity of wound yarn packages onto the shelves.

The mobility of the creel is particularly desirable in that it may be used to service a number of machines at various plant locations and need not take up a fixed area of floor space. Its compactness and high package density provide a great many advantages over the tfixed creel known in the prior art. In addition to the space saving and efficiency advantages, it can now be readily understood that from a quality control and maintenance standpoint the creel has the advantage of allowing an operator to repair broken ends of yarn, or remove faulty yarns by simply removing the yarn package carrier 20 and either replace it with another yarn package carrier, or substitute one package for another. Any number of packages may be changed in this manner, thus facilitating changes in yarn types or colors.

According to this invention, the yarn package carriers may be separately assembled with a plurality of yarn packages. Having once decided on a configuration for unwinding the packages, such as one of the methods shown in FIGS. 4 through 8, the initial unwinding of the ends of the yarn can be performed ahead of time. The yarn ends to be withdrawn are carried to the front end of the yarn package carrier, where they may be retained in exact order in any suitable fashion, as by knotting them about the pin shown aflixed to the front end of the yarn package carrier (FIG. 2).

It will be understood that various changes in the details, materials and arrangements of parts which have been described herein and illustrated in order to explain the nature of this invention, may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention as expressed in the following claims.

The following is claimed:

1. In a method of withdrawing yarn ends from a plurality of wound yarn packages which packages are disposed in a creel and which packages are free to rotate in the same direction so as to unwind, the steps comprising:

withdrawing the yarn from a package in the direction of rotation thereof, wrapping said yarn about a circumferential portion of the next adjacent yarn package in the same direction of rotation, withdrawing another end of yarn from said adjacent wound yarn package, continuing to withdraw both ends of yarn from their respective packages in a common path.

2. In a method as in claim 1, the additional steps of extending said yarn ends around a portion of the surface of said first mentioned yarn package in the direction of rotation thereof, continuing to withdraw both of said yarn ends in a path extending around the next adjacent yarn package which has not had an end of yarn withdrawn from it, in the same direction of rotation and withdrawing another end of yarn from said next adjacent yarn package, and continuing to withdraw the group of yarn ends in a common path.

3. A creel for yarn packages comprising a housing, a plurality of shelves arranged in vertical spaced relation with respect to one another within said housing, a plurality of spacer elements dividing each of said shelves into a plurality of elongated compartments, open at the ends thereof, a pluraltiy of yarn package carriers, each slidably stored in a compartment, and each of said carriers including a plurality of spaced-apart supporting means, each arranged to carry a yarn package with capacity for rotation about its axis.

4. A creel as in claim 3, wherein caster means mounted on said housing to enable said creel to be easily moved.

5. The creel defined in claim 3 wherein the supporting means are themselves rotatable.

6. A creel as in claim 5 whereinsaid rotatable supporting means are substantially parallel to one another.

7. The creel as in claim 6, wherein a retaining means is disposed on each of said carriers to retain the ends of said yarns together when they have been withdrawn from their respective packages.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,042,340 7/1962 Butler 242131 FOREIGN PATENTS 536,897 4/ 1955 Belgium.

LEONARD D. CHRISTIAN, Primary Examiner.

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