US3572597A

US3572597A - Textile machines

Info

Publication number: US3572597A
Application number: US762419A
Authority: US
Inventors: Walter Parker; Harold William Lee; Alan Herbert Evans
Original assignee: Ernest Scragg and Sons Ltd
Current assignee: Ernest Scragg and Sons Ltd
Priority date: 1966-11-07
Filing date: 1968-09-25
Publication date: 1971-03-30
Anticipated expiration: 1988-03-30
Also published as: CH512393A; GB1234202A; FR95813E; BE721445A; NL6813819A; DE1785457A1

Abstract

A doffing mechanism of a textile machine in which prior to severing the yarn a full spool is released from the yarn-winding position to fall on to auxiliary drive rolls and is then supported and rotated by auxiliary drive rolls so that the full spool continues to take up yarn until an empty spool is delivered to the winding position and is ready to take up yarn, whereafter the yarn is severed to commence winding on of yarn on the empty spool and the auxiliary drive rolls are moved to lower the full spool on to a delivery conveyor arranged below these rolls.

Description

United States Patent [72] Inventors Walter Parker Wilmslow; Harold William Lee, Poynton; Alan Herbert Evans, Bramhall, England [2]] Appl. No. 762,419 [22] Filed Sept. 25, 1968 [45] Patented Mar. 30, 1971 [73] Assignee Ernest Scragg 8: Sons Limited Macclesiield, Cheshire, England [54] TEXTILE MACHINES 10 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 242/18, 242/l9,242/35.5 [51 Int. Cl B65h 54/06 [50] Field of Search 242/18, 18 (A), 18 (DD), 19, 27, 35.5, 35.6, 36, 4], 45,157, 66

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,306,871 12/1942 Esser et al 242/35.6

Primary Examiner-Stanley N. Gilreath Assistant Examiner-Werner H. Schroeder Attorney-Larson, Taylor & Hinds ABSTRACT: A doffing mechanism of a textile machine in which prior to severing the yarn a full spool is released from the yam-winding position to fall on to auxiliary drive rolls and is then supported and rotated by auxiliary drive rolls so that the full spool continues to take up yarn until an empty spool is delivered to the winding position and is ready to take up yam, whereafter the yarn is severed to commence winding on of yarn on the empty spool and the auxiliary drive rolls are moved to lower the full spool on to a delivery conveyor arranged below these rolls.

Pfitentd March 30, 1 971 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 l htented Mm so, 1971 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 QT v Q2 8 A2 29 m2 Patented March 30, 1971 1 3,572,597

5 Shets-Shet 4 FIGS Patented March 30, 1971 5 Sheets-Sheet S TEXTILE MACHINES DESCRIPTION In patent application Ser. No. 680,105 filed Nov. 2, 1967 by Frederick Scragg, Walter Parker, Alan Herbert Evans and Walter Edouard Ernst, assignors to Ernest Scragg & Sons Limited, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,507,453, issued Apr. 21, 1970, there are described improvements in and relating to textile machines which facilitate automatic doffrng, that is the replacement at a winding position of a full" spool, or like former, carrying yarn by an empty spool.

This invention provides modifications of, or alternatives to, such improvements.

One important improvement described in application Ser. No. 680,105, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,507,453, issued Apr. 21, 1970 comprises the provision of an auxiliary roll drive to engage a full spool when it is released from contact with the normal drive roll and to drive the full spool, if desired at increased peripheral speed, until the yarn is severed during doff'mg. The auxiliary drive in one form comprises a pair of rollers from which after yarn severing the spool is deposited on to a conveyor disposed below these rollers by separating the rollers to allow the spool to fall between them.

According to this invention, the rollers of the auxiliary drive are operable to lower the full spool toward the conveyor, for instance by the auxiliary rollers being carried by arms which swing downwardly towards the conveyor prior to their releasing the spool. This arrangement has the advantage that bouncing of the full spool on reaching the conveyor can be reduced or eliminated. Also if a number of spools are being doffed at the same time and they have differing diameters, they may be deposited on the conveyor at substantially the same instant, whereas if the rollers are separated the smaller diameter spools will fall first and the larger diameter spools thereafter.

Another improvement described in application Ser. No. 680,105, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,507,453, issued Apr. 21, 1970 comprises the provision of an empty spool magazine having a delivery mouth in which an empty spool is held in a position to be picked up preparatory to transfer to the winding position.

According to the present invention, such a magazine may have catch means permitting the spools to be fed one at a time from the magazine to the pickup position in the mouth, which catch means are operated when transfer means for picking up the spool reach the pickup position. In this way the position of the spool in the mouth is unaffected by the weight of any other spool in the magazine, as may not always be the case if the spools travel in contact down a chute magazine to a mouth having spring retaining lips, and further the transfer means may be arranged to assist to guide the spool correctly into the pickup position.

in application Ser. No. 680,105, new U.S. Pat. No. 3,507,453, issued Apr. 21, 1970 there is also described means to ensure that a travelling yarn which is being reciprocated laterally of its direction of travel, as by a traversing guide of a winding mechanism, may be picked up and guided into a desired path, for example in the path of a cutter or other severing device, the means comprising an angle-section plate with a slot in it which the yarn enters as it is traversed across the plate, the slot constituting a guide determining the desired yarn path.

This invention may replace such means bya plate with a transversely disposed arcuate slot in it and above the slot a correspondingly arcuate resilient guide wire having a midlength notch, the arrangement being that as the yarn is reciprocated it moves over the wire until it enters the notch which acts to lead the yarn into the desired path.

Other inventive features will appear from the following demription of a textile processing machine. The description refers to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevation of the upper part of a textileprocessing machine;

F116. 2 shows details of a yam-guiding arrangement which is associated with the severing mechanism;

P16. 3 is an elevation of a severing device;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are views in the directions of arrows 4 and 5 on H0. 3;

F IG. 6 shows a front elevation of a deflector panel; and

FIG. 7 shows an alternative spool magazine to that shown in FIG. 1.

The machine illustrated is double-sided and basically has a layout similar to that shown in the drawings accompanying application Ser. No. 680,105, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,507,453, issued Apr. 21, 1970. Accordingly the winding positions and the associated doffmg mechanisms only are shown.

The yarn after processing, as by false-twisting, heating, cooling and the like, travels upwardly from feed rolls 113 to the winding positions, of which two are shown, one at each side of the machine, where the yarn is wound on a spool driven by peripheral contact with a main drive roll 114, commonly referred to as a "bowl roll. When a spool is full," it is delivered to auxiliary rolls 118 which give the spool an increased peripheral speed to tension the yarn until it is severed. After severing, the full spool is delivered to a central conveyor 119 serving the winding positions at each side of the machine.

Dofi'mg may be initiated in various ways, eg by sensing a spool dimension, by a timing mechanism, or by a revolution counter which senses when a batch of spools have been at their winding positions for a specified number of revolutions of, for instance, the main drive roll 1M. Conveniently in machines having a large number of winding positions, a batchdoffing arrangement isemployed in which the spools are not all doffed together but in groups. Also as in the illustrated form of machine, the spools along one side of a double-sided machine are preferably doffed at a different time from those along the other side so as to give the advantage that the clotting mechanism can be placed centrally of the machine and parts used when dofiing spools on either side of the machine.

The spool during winding on of yarn is held in a spool support which also serves to transfer an empty spool from a magazine 145 to the winding position. This transfer occurs after release of the full spool and before severing of the yarn.

In one novel feature of the illustrated machine, the auxiliary rolls 118, which may be individual to a pair of winding positions as shown or may extend along the length of the machine so serving a large number of winding positions, are rotatively mounted on shafts 120 which extend the length of the machine and which are carried by anns 121 rockably supported on shafts 122. The anns 121 have toothed sectors 123 which mesh with sectors 124 mounted on rocking shafts 125. The shafts 122 are rotatively driven through magnetic clutches which are alternately engaged, and the shafts carry pulleys 126 driving pulley belts 127 for driving the rolls 118. As in the machine described in application Ser. No. 680,105, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,507,453, issued Apr. 21, 1970 the direction of rotation of the rolls 118 depends on the side of the machine from which the spools are delivered and the reversal of the direction of rotation of the rolls 118 is achieved in a mannersimilar to that described in our prior application.

After severing of the yarn in doffmg the arms 121 are swung downwardly as indicated by arrows 118a towards the conveyor 119 so that any spool on the rolls 118 even if carrying little or no yarn (as could happen when the yarn has broken before the spool is full), is lowered on to the conveyor. The spools thus have less tendency to bounce on the conveyor and the instant of deposition of spools on the conveyor can be substantially the same for a range of sizes of full spool."

The swinging of the arms 121 through rocking of the shafts may be effected in any convenient way for example by hydraulic actuators which are situated at one end of the machine and are connected to rocker arms carried by the shafts 125.

Another novel feature of the illustrated machine occurs in association with the severing mechanism. There is provided a plain downwardly inclined guide plate 131) (FIGS. 1 and 2) which has in it an arcuate slot 131, and, above the slot in the plate, a similarly curved resilient wire guide 132, the height of the ide 132 above the plate increasing from stud eyes at its ends towards its center where the guide is formed 'with a yarn trapping notch 133. As the yarn travels over the plane 130 from the traversing yarn guide 116 at the winding position to a spool on the auxiliary rolls 118, it is also reeiprocated laterally with respect to its direction of travel by the traversing guide 116. During doffing, on release of the package, it rolls down the plate 130 depressing the wire guide 132 into the slot 131 as it passes and the package then is received on the auxiliary rolls 118 to be driven until the yarn is severed. As soon as the spool on the rolls 118 is driven at the increased peripheral speed so that an increased tension is maintained in the yarn, it travels along the resilient wire guide 132 from one end until the yarn enters and is caught in the notch 133. The yarn is thereafter retained in the notch.

The severing device is located at each winding position below the plate 130 and comprises (FIGS. 1, 3, 4 and a fixed blade 134 upstanding from a rail 135, and a pivoted blade 136 urged by a spring 137 against a stop 138. The blades 136 are opened each by an actuator 139 pivoted on a sliding bar 140. When the bar 140 moves to the left as viewed in FIG. 3, the actuator 139 engages a lug 141 on the blade 136 moving the blade clockwise until the actuator moves clear of the lug when the blade 136 under its spring load closes to the fixed blade 134 with a snap scissors action. In reverse movement of the bar 140, the actuator 139 engages the lug 141 to be rotated clear of the lug and, after passing the lug, the lower end of the actuator strikes a stop 142 on the rail 135 to return the actuator to its initial position.

It is arranged that the tips of the

blades

134, 136 project through a cutaway 131a in the slot 131 in the guide plate 130 (see FIG. 2) in line with and close to the notch 133 thus ensuring that the yarn as it travels from the notch 133 will enter between the

blades

134, 136 when they open. The tip of the blade 136 has a claw 143 to ensure that the yarn is retained between the blades as the blade 136 moves to and from the closed position.

The severing motion is preferably performed a number of times at each doffing to ensure the yarn is severed. The bars 140 are conveniently actuated by hydraulic linear actuators mounted at one end of the machine.

In order to assist correct fall of the full spools onto the auxiliary rolls 118, hanging deflector panels 150 (FIGS. 1 and 6) are provided centrally of the machine. Each panel is swingably suspended by hooks 151 from a rail 152 of the machine frame and the hooks also carry weighting bars 153 adjustable in position along the hooks, the weight of which bars determines the guiding effect of the panel. Each panel serves the two winding positions between which it is situated.

Another novel feature of the illustrated machine is provided in order that the empty spool will be properly positioned in the mouth of the magazine 145 relatively to the spool support pads 163 at the ends of the swinging arms 161, and also so that the spool position is unaffected by other spools in the magazine, the magazine is fitted at its mouth with a pivoted, counterbalanced, curved locating lip 157 and a catch mechanism. The catch mechanism (FIG. 1) comprises a first detent 158 which, when winding is proceeding, holds the empty spools in the magazine back clear of the lip 157 and a second detent 159 which, as the detent 158 is swung anticlockwise to allow the first spool S1 in the magazine to move up to the lip 157, itself moves into the path of the next spool S2 preventing this spool from following the spool S1. The detents are shown as being operated on arrival of the spool transfer means to pick up a spool. The detents are directly actuated by a striker 160 on the swinging arms 161 of the spool support and transfer means coming into engagement with a lever 162 movable with the

detents

158, 159 as the arms 161 reach the pickup position. Thus the pads 163 rotatively mounted on the arms to engage the spool also assist to locate the spool S1 as it travels into the pickup position. After pickup of the spool, downward swinging of the arms 161 causes the striker 160 to engage the detent 158 and return the parts to their initial position and transfers the picked-up spool to the winding position.

Since the lip 157 is counterbalanced the effort required to deflect the lip 157 is small.

Instead of moving the detents in the mannerjust described they may be positively and simultaneously moved at an appropriate time in a batch-doffing cycle. For instance as shown in FIG. 7, the

detents

158, 159 are formed as arms ofa threearmed lever, the third arm 165 being forked to be engaged by one of a series of operating fingers carried on a rocker shaft extending the length of the machine.

In such case, the swinging arms 161 of the batch of winding positions being doffed may be actuated by a common mechanism at an appropriate time in the doffing cycle, there being a lost motion between the mechanism and each pair of swinging arms to allow for growth of the package on the spool during winding and to ensure that after package release all the arms reach the spool pickup positions together.

We claim:

1. In a textile machine, a yarn package winding mechanism comprising a rotatable main drive roll, support means for supporting a spool to contact said main drive roll and thus to be rotated by said main drive roll, means for guiding yarn onto the spool during said rotation of the latter to form a yarn package, said support means being operable to release the package from contact with the main drive roll, an auxiliary roll drive positioned to receive a wound package upon release of the latter from said supporting means while yarn is still being guided onto said spool by said means for guiding, said auxiliary roll drive driving the said released wound package, and means for severing the yarn between said main drive roll and said auxiliary roll drive as the yarn is being rotated by contact with said auxiliary roll drive; the improvement which comprises a conveyor below said auxiliary roll drive and a construction of said auxiliary roll drive comprising a pair of rotating rolls arranged side-by-side for cradling the released package, and supporting means for supporting said pair of rolls, said supporting means including means for simultaneously lowering said pair of rolls towards said conveyor to lower the released package cradled on said rolls onto the conveyor.

2. In a textile machine, a yarn package winding mechanism as claimed in claim 1, said means supporting said pair of rolls of the auxiliary roll drive comprising two sets of arms respectively having the rolls rotatively mounted at their ends, means mounting said sets of anns for swinging movement from an upper package-cradling position downwardly to a position in which said released yarn package is lowered onto the conveyor.

3. In a textile machine, a yarn package winding mechanism according to claim 2, comprising a driven shaft, and belt and pulley drives drivingly interconnecting said shaft and said rolls of the auxiliary roll drive, said shaft having said arms swingably mounted thereon.

4. In a textile machine, a yarn package winding mechanism according to claim 3, comprising rockable shafts positioned adjacent said driven shafts and meshing toothed sections on said arms and on respective ones of the rockable shafts, whereby rocking of the rockable shafts effects swinging of the arms.

5. A textile machine having a yarn package winding mechanism as set forth in claim 1 and a magazine for storage of empty spools, the magazine having means defining a delivery mouth in which a spool is held in a pickup position, catch means obstructing the path of the spools from the magazine to the pickup position in the mouth, said support means for the spool being movable between a winding position in which the spool contacts the main drive roll and a spool pickup position at the magazine mouth, said support means in the spool pickup position engaging the catch means for withdrawing it from said path.

6. A textile machine as claimed in claim 5, wherein the mouth of the magazine has a counterbalanced spool-locating lip and the catch means comprise first and second pivoted detents, the first detent, when winding is proceeding, projecting into said path and holding the empty spools in the magazine back clear of the lip and being engaged by the said support means in said pickup position to be pivoted from said path, and said second detent being simultaneously pivoted into the path of the next spool to prevent it from being delivered to the lip.

7. A textile machine as claimed in claim 1, comprising means to guide yarn which is travelling from said main drive roll towards a full spool being driven by the auxiliary roll drive, which guide means comprises a plate with a transversely disposed arcuate slot in it and above the slot a correspondingly arcuate resilient guide wire having a midlength notch, the arrangement being that the yarn moves over the wire until it enters the notch which acts to guide the yarn into a desired path.

8. A textile machine as claimed in claim 7, the height of the guide wire above the plate increasing from the ends of thc wirc towards the midlength notch.

9. A textile machine as claimed in claim 1. comprising deflector panels swingable suspended adjacent the main drive roll and above the auxiliary roll drive to assist delivery of thc released full spool to the auxiliary roll drive, the panels having associated with them weighting bars adjustable to vary the guiding effect of the panels.

10. A textile machine as claimed in claim 1, having winding positions along each side of the machine, the auxiliary roll drive and the conveyor being disposed centrally of the machine to serve the winding positions on both sides of the machine.

Claims

2. In a textile machine, a yarn package winding mechanism as claimed in claim 1, said means supporting said pair of rolls of the auxiliary roll drive comprising two sets of arms respectively having the rolls rotatively mounted at their ends, means mounting said sets of arms for swinging movement from an upper package-cradling position downwardly to a position in which said released yarn package is lowered onto the conveyor.

8. A textile machine as claimed in claim 7, the height of the guide wire above the plate increasing from the ends of the wire towards the midlength notch.

9. A textile machine as claimed in claim 1, comprising deflector panels swingable suspended adjacent the main drive roll and above the auxiliary roll drive to assist delivery of the released full spool to the auxiliary roll drive, the panels having associated with them weighting bars adjustable to vary the guiding effect of the panels.