US3921922A

US3921922A - Method of automatically changing winding tubes and winding apparatus for implementing the aforesaid method and improved spool doffing mechanism

Info

Publication number: US3921922A
Application number: US453172A
Authority: US
Inventors: Olivier Wust
Original assignee: Maschinenfabrik Rieter AG
Current assignee: Maschinenfabrik Rieter AG
Priority date: 1969-10-03
Filing date: 1974-03-20
Publication date: 1975-11-25
Anticipated expiration: 1992-11-25

Abstract

A method of and apparatus for automatically changing tubes seated upon tube clamping mandrels and wherein each tube, through rotation of a member carrying the tube clamping mandrels, is alternately brought out of a position in contact with a friction drive drum for the purpose of taking-up an endless thread delivered at a high speed and after reaching the desired package size thereon the tube with its package is brought into a package doffing position. A gripper is rocked out of a rest position essentially perpendicular to the axial direction of the tube clamping mandrel carrying the tube with the package wound thereon, and the package and its tube are engaged by means of the gripper. Then the engaged package and its tube are withdrawn from the tube clamping mandrel by moving the gripper in a direction away from the tube clamping mandrel and essentially parallelly with respect to the axial direction of the tube clamping mandrel into a predetermined position, and thereafter the package and its tube are released by carrying out an opposite rocking movement of the gripper.

Description

United States Patent Wiist 1 Nov. 25, 1975 [54] METHOD OF AUTOMATICALLY 3,532,278 10 1970 Sparling 242/18 A CHANGING WINDING TUBES AND 3,559,902 2/1971 Brock 242/18 A 3,682,403 8/1972 Willis 242/18 A WINDING APPARATUS FOR 3,693,897 9/1972 Davidson 242/18 R IMPLEMENTING THE AFORESAID 3,791,123 2/1974 Kawauchi 57/52 METHOD AND IMPROVED SPOOL 3,801,030 4 1974 Kobatake et al 242/18 A DOFFING MECHANISM Inventor: Olivier Wiist, Seuzach, Switzerland Rieter Machine Works, Ltd., Winterthur, Switzerland Filed: Mar. 20, 1974 Appl. No.: 453,172

Related U.S. Application Data Division of Ser. No. 350,793, April 13, 1973, Pat. No. 3,856,222, which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 76,181, Sept. 28, 1970, abandoned,

Assignee:

Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 3, 1969 Switzerland 15021/69 Jan. 22, 1973 Switzerland 854/73 Feb. 2, 1973 Switzerland 1547/73 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Nuissl 242/18 A Pospisil et a1 242/18 A Primary Examiner-Stanley N. Gilreath Attorney, Agent, or FirmWerner W. Kleeman [57] ABSTRACT A method of and apparatus for automatically changing tubes seated upon tube clamping mandrels and wherein each tube, through rotation of a member carrying the tube clamping mandrels, is alternately brought out of a position in contact with a friction drive drum for the purpose of taking-up an endless thread delivered at a high speed and after reaching the desired package size thereon the tube with its package is brought into a package doffing position. A gripper is rocked out of a rest position essentially perpendicular to the axial direction of the tube clamping mandrel carrying the tube with the package wound thereon, and the package and its tube are engaged by means of the gripper. Then the engaged package and its tube are withdrawn from the tube clamping mandrel by moving the gripper in a direction away from the tube clamping mandrel and essentially parallelly with respect to the axial direction of the tube clamping mandrel into a predetermined position. and thereafter the package and its tube are released by carrying out an opposite rocking movement of the gripper.

10 Claims, 28 Drawing Figures US. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet 1 of 15 US Patent Nov.2'5, 1975 Sheet2of 15 3,921,922

US. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet3of 15 3,921,922

Q3 2 ca fig US. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet50f15 3,921,922

Fig. 77

US. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet6of 15 3,921,922

US. Patent N0v.25, 1975 Sheet8of 15 3,921,922

Fig. 16

US. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet90fl5 3,921,922

U.S. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet 10 of 15 3,921,922

Fig. 21a A US. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet 11 0f 15 3,921,922

U.S. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet 13 of 15 3,921,922

U.S. Pat6nt Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet 14 of 15 3,921,922

Patent Nov. 25, 1975 METHOD OF AUTOMATICALLY CHANGING WINDING TUBES AND WINDING APPARATUS FOR IMPLEMENTING THE AFORESAID METHOD AND IMPROVED SPOOL DOFFING MECHANISM CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED CASE This is a divisional application of my commonly assigned copending U.S. application Ser. No. 350,793, filed Apr. 13, 1973, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,856,222, granted Dec. 24, 1974, and entitled Method Of Automatically Changing Winding Tubes And Winding Apparatus for Implementing The Aforesaid Method And Improved Spool Doffing Mechanism which, in turn, is a continuation-in-part application of my commonly assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 76,181, filed Sept. 28, 1970, now abandoned, and entitled Method Of Automatically Changing Winding Tubes And Winding Apparatus For Implementing The Aforesaid Method.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improved method of automatically changing tubes taking up endless filaments and further pertains to an improved winding apparatus for implementing the aforesaid method. The method techniques and apparatus structure of the invention are especially suitable for use in spindrawwinding in the man-made or synthetic fiber manufacturing industry. The invention also is concerned with an improved construction of spool doffing mechanism.

The prior art is already acquainted with the technique of lifting the full wound package-off the drive drum for the purpose of changing the spool and to automatically pivot an arm supporting two spools. With this procedure the empty tube or sleeve is placed in rotation by manually pressing it against the friction drive drum for a short period of time, then lifting it off again for a short period of time, so that the thread or yarn can be manually wrapped several times around the empty tube. The winding process is thereupon started by again placing the empty tube onto the friction drive drum and by simultaneously threading the traversing thread guide, whereupon the connecting thread to the full package is torn off.

This technique possesses the notable drawback that automatic operation is not possible, resulting in operational difficulties at high processing speeds, inasmuch a manual operations can be no longer attained with sufficient precision and speed. A further disadvantage is that during the acceleration or speed-up time of the empty tube the full package must be already lifted off the friction drive drum, so that during a relatively long time interval thread is taken up by the undriven package, the speed of rotation of which decreases. As a result, the tension in the thread or yarn up to the location of the above-situated delivery element sharply decreases, greatly increasing the danger of lap formation at the delivery'elernent. This phenomenon is particularly pronounced in the event a spool change operation must be effectedfor any reason during theinitial stage of the package formation, during which time the inertia of the package is still extremely small. A still further disadvantage is that as the thread is u n'threaded from the traversing guide, which occurs immediately after lifting the package, the thread tension considerably drops and cannot be compensated. Furthermore, this device does not permit formation of a thread reserve.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Hence, there is a real need in the art for an improved technique of automatically changing the winding tubes as well as for improved winding apparatus for implementing such technique or method without encountering the aforementioned drawbacks of. the prior art. With this in mind a primary objective of the present in-, vention is to provide an improved method of changing winding tubes and an improved winding apparatus for this purpose which effectively fulfills the existing need and is not associated with the aforementioned drawbacks prevailing in the state-of-the-art.

Another essential objective of the present invention not only constitutes the effective elimination of the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art techniques and apparatus structure, but additionally aims at fully automating the process of spool change while at the same time achieving thread transfer from a full package to an empty tube held in readiness without generating any thread waste and while maintaining the normal winding speeds.

Still a further objective of the present invention is to realize a spool change operation in such manner that the still traversing thread or yarn contacting the friction drive drum does not cause the formation of irregular or otherwise disturbing layers at the full package, nor cause damage to the thread, nor cause the formation of bulges at the full package due to prolonged winding without traversing the thread.

Another object of this invention is to control the contact pressure of the full wound package against the friction drive drum during the spool change operation up to the moment of lifting off such package from the friction drive drum, in other words, to maintain the contact pressure as constant as possible.

In connection with the last-stated object of the invention a further objective of the present invention is to compensate changes in thread tension during the spool change operation by appropriately selecting the magnitude of the circumferential speeds of the thread guiding elements.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a spool doffing mechanism which is of relatively simple construction and design yet extremely efficient and reliable in operation.

Now, in order to implement these and still-further objects of the invention, which will become more readily apparent as the description proceeds, the method for automatically changing two tubes each placed on a mandrel arranged on an arm movable parallel to its axis and rotatable such that such tubes alternatingly contact a friction drive drum for taking up in a winding device an endless thread delivered at high speed, is achieved by undertaking the steps of rolling the full package wound onto the tube, as the desired package size is reached, along the friction drum in the sense of an extension of the thread path on this drive drum until the empty tube is accelerated by the friction drive drum due to contact of such empty tube with the friction drive drum. Then the full package is lifted off the drive drum, thread still being wound onto this full package owing to the inertia of the full package. The thread passing from the friction drive drum to the full package which has been lifted off the drive drum and which thread in the meantime has been unthreaded from the traversing guide, is deflected through a rotating catching zone of the mandrel supporting the empty tube. The

3 connecting thread betweenthe full package and the empty tube is subsequently severed byt he rotating catching zone, and a number of reserve wraps are placed upon the empty tube by axially moving the tube into its normal winding position while rolling the tube along the friction drive drum.

The just-explained method aspects of the invention are successfully achieved through the use of a winding apparatus of the invention incorporating a friction drive drum for driving two tubes which are alternatingly brought into contact with such friction drive drum. These tubes are each placed upon a respective mandrel which can be braked and detached and which by means of a rotatableand arrestable arm can be rotated through 180 in each instance into the spooland the tube change position, respectively. Furthermore. means are provided for generating and transmitting a contact pressure to the supporting arm in such a manner that the mandrels are supported so as to be axially movable at the supporting arm and this axial movement is determined by the momentary position of the supporting arm. I

The invention also deals with a method of, and appa ratus for, the automatic doffing or changing of a tube seated upon one of the mandrels which contemplates engaging a full tube defining a package by means of a gripper rocked towards the full tube out of a rest position and in a direction essentially perpendicular to the axial direction of the mandrel into a package change position. withdrawing the package from the mandrel by carrying out a movement of the gripper away from the mandrel and essentially parallel with respect to the axial direction of the mandrel until reaching a predetermined. position, and thereafter releasing the package by carrying out an opposite pivotal movement of the grip per. 1

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 1

FIG. '1 is a side or elevational view of the tube change apparatus of the invention in normal winding position;

FIG. 2 is a topplan view, partly in section, of the apparatus of FIG. 1, showing the position of the structural components thereof immediately before thread transfer occurs;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a detail of the thread catching zone of the mandrel;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating details of the thread catching zone of the mandrel;

FIG. 5 is a schematic circuit diagram of an electropneumatic control of the inventive winding apparatus;

FIG. 6 is an electrical circuit diagram ofthe inventive winding apparatus;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view illustrating the position of the tubes in the thread severing position;

FIG. 8 is a schematic elevational view, partly in crosssection, showing details of a possible construction of spool doffin g mechanism for use with the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view showing details of a portion of the spool doffing mechanism of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the spool doffing mechanism depicted in FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a further embodiment of spool doffing mechanism with the full spool or tube still located upon the mandrel;

.FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the mechanism of i 2 FIG. 11 taken substantially along the line II thereof; FIG. 13 is a schematic elevational viewof the spool doffing mechanism of FIG. 11;. 7 FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view showing a the spool doffing mechanism of FIG. 11;

FIG. 15 is a pneumatic circuit diagram of the control i for the spool doffing mechanism of FIG. 11;

FIG. 16 is an electrical circuit diagram of the contro for the spool doffing mechanism of FIG. 11;

FIG. 17 is a schematic view of a variant operation of the arrangement of FIG. 7 depicting application of the full bobbin and the empty tube at the friction drum;

FIG. 17a is a schematic illustration of the construction of FIG. 17 showing contact of the full spool at the I friction drum and approaching contact of the empty,

tube at such friction drum;

FIG. 18 is a modified electrical circuit diagram for;

the winding apparatus;

FIG. 19 is a circuit diagram of a modified electro- I if pneumatic control for the winding apparatus;

FIG. 20 is a schematic representation of the course of movement of the cam disk through i FIG. 21 is an elevational view of the rotating mecha nism for the arm in a semi-schematic illustration in a I position in which the full spool or bobbin is located position D of FIGS. 17 and 17a,-

FIG. 2lais a fragmentary view of the rotating mecha- I i nism depicted in FIG. '21 in a position where the full spool is located at position A of FIGS. l7-and 17a;

FIG. 22 is a plan view of the rotating mechanism=de picted in FIG. 21; FIG. 23 is a pneumatic circuit diagram wherein the position of the rotating mechanism corresponds to that i 7 shown in FIG. 21a; I

FIG. 24 is a schematic illustration of the disk which is I part of the rotating mechanism andiin a position where the full spool is located at position B of FIG. 17a;

FIG. 25 illustrates a portion of the pneumatic circuit diagram depicted in FIG. 23 with the disk which is part of the rotating mechanism in a position in which the full spool is located at position C of FIG. 17; and

FIG. 26 is an electrical circuit diagram.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THEPREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Describing now the drawings and, in particular, referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrating a preferredembodiment of inventive winding apparatus, it will be seen that such comprises a platform 4 which is slidably arranged upon roller bearings 3 at the parallely extending horizontal rail members 1 and '2 fixed to the machine frame F. Platform member 4 supports a rotatable shaft 5 capable of being rotated in counterclockwise direction i through the action of a gear 6 and a meshing gear rack 7. When the gear 6 is driven in clockwise direction it rotates without transmitting its rotational movement owing to the action of a free-wheeling clutch 8, best recognized by referring to FIG. 2. An arm member 9 is rigidly connected with the rotatable shaft 5. Further, an

detail of s and down by cylinder 13 arranged upon platform 4. The entire arrangement just-described constitutes the revolving or rotating mechanism for rotating the arm 9.

A further arm member 14 is likewise rigidly connected to the shaft 5. During such time as the shaft 5 is rotated this arm 14 progressively displaces or pushes a suitably shaped dampening or damping lever 15, pivotably mounted at the platform 4, towards the outside and against the resistance of a piston member 16 slidably arranged within an oil-filled cylinder 17. As a result, the arm member 9 is braked during such time as the cylinder 13 is activated, that is, this arm is indirectly connected with a dampening

device

15, 16, 17, which, depending upon the position of such arm, prevents it from rotating too fast.

As best observed by referring to FIG. 2,

mandrels

18 and 19 are seated upon the ends of the arm 9, these

mandrels

18 and 19 serving to receive tubes or

sleeves

20 and 20, respectively, onto which there is wound the thread package or spool 21. These

mandrels

18 and 19 can be pneumatically loosened and braked and in their loosened or released position are provided with a piston member 22 protruding at the free end of the loosened mandrel, as indicated in FIG. 2 for the mandrel 19. Mechanisl suitable for this purpose is well known to those versed in the art, as evidenced for instance from the apparatus structure of Swiss Pat. No. 443,993, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 3,495,781 of the assignee of this application, and also assignees further US. Pat. No. 3,554,455, incorporated herein by reference, so that further description thereof can be dispensed with. The piston member 22 activates a terminal or contacting switch 23 which, in turn, activates the package and tube change mechanism to be described in greater detail hereinafter in conjunction with FIGS. 6 and 8-10.

Furthermore, these

mandrels

18 and 19 are each supported so as to be axially slidable in a respective bore 24 of the arm member 9, these bores 24 being configured and dimensioned to provide a sliding fit. The mentioned axial movement or displacement is undertaken through the action of a ring-shaped cam 25 provided with grooves 26 into which extend appropriate extensions 27 provided at the

mandrels

18, 19. During rotation of the shaft member 5 there is thus performed a predetermined axial movement of the

mandrels

18 and 19. The platform member 4 is similarly displaced along the

rails

1 and 2 through the action of a suitable pistoncylinder drive arrangement. The cylinder 28 thereof is partitioned so as to provide both a pneumatic work cylinder 28' and an oilfilled dampening cylinder 29. Work cylinder 28 may be conveniently operated through the provision of ducts or

conduits

30 and 31 communicating with opposite faces of the piston 32a slidably arranged with work cylinder 28. Furthermore, within the oilfilled cylinder 29 there is mounted upon the piston rod 32 a further piston or disk 33, this piston or disk permitting, by means of non-illustrated suitable valves, oil to only pass to a limited extent, thereby dampening the movement of the piston rod 32. Moreover, these valves are selected such that they permit a greater passage or throughflow of oil during such time as the platform 4 moves towards the outside, resulting in outward platform movement being faster than inward platform movement. The dampening cylinder 29 is additionally advantageously employed for slowing down the almost impact-like movement of the piston rod 32 brought about by the pneumatic system and further serves to suppress vibrations which may be brought about through untrue or eccentric movement of the package 21 contacting the friction drive drum 34. The package 21 which is to be wound contacts the friction drive drum 34 with a predetermined contact pressure when the platform 4 is displaced towards the right of FIG. 1 through the action of the piston rod 32. Additionally, the winding apparatus of the invention possesses a thread traversing guide arrangement 35 which horizontally traverses back and forth a thread guide 36 through a traverse distance or stroke H along the friction drive drum 34.

Inasmuch as the drive mechanism for the thread traversing guide arrangement 35 and the friction drive drum 34 is conventional, and many different systems suitable for the purposes of the invention are already part of the prior art, any further description thereof can be dispensed with, particularly since such details are not important for understanding the underlying concepts of the invention. What is however worthy of mention in this context is that the friction drive drum 34 is provided with an acceleration or entrainment rim 37, the diameter of which exceeds the diameter of the drive drum 34 by about 1 to 3 percent. This acceleration rim 37 serves to contact and accelerate the tube 20' to a speed above the circumferential speed of the thread contacting surface 34 during such time as the tube is moved out or displaced into its thread transfer position. Additionally, an abrasion-resistant rod 39 provided with a lateral notch 38 as best observed by referring to FIG. 2, is arranged in the converging space or area formed by the friction drive drum 34 and the thread transversing guide arrangement 35, the mentioned notch 38 being located within the region of the traverse distance H, as shown.

In the same area there is pivotably arranged above the rod 39 a further rod member 40. Rod member 40 possesses good thread sliding properties and can be tilted from a rest position into a pivoted or thread transfer position shown in phantom lines in FIG. 1. Cams 42 to 46 are furthermore provided upon the shaft member 5, each such cam operating a terminal or contact switch 47 through 51, respectively, utilized for the control of the operation of the individual elements during spool change.

Continuing, it will be understood that the thread catching zone 52, shown in particular detail in FIGS. 3 and 4, and provided on the

mandrels

18 and 19 is equipped with a tightly fitting steel ring 53. The outside diameter of this steel ring 53 is slightly less than the diameter of the tube 20, so that there is avoided damage to the friction drive drum 34 and the somewhat higher rotational speed of the tube is compensated. Ring member 53 under consideration is provided with a surface 54 which is conically inclined towards the inside, leaving a clearance of about 0.05 to 0.1 mm. towards the face 55 of the tube 20 placed upon the associated mandrel. Uniformly distributed along the circumference of this conical surface 54 are the teeth 56 which are inclined towards the tube face 55 and provided with a sharp inside edge. The clearance between the teeth 56 and the confronting tube face or surface 55 is sufficiently large to enable the thread to enter.

The circuit diagram of FIG. 5 for the electropneumatic control arrangement depicts the valves in their positions during the normal winding operation when building up the thread package, and this control arrangement is constructed and designed to operate as follows:

A pressure limiting valve 58 is supplied with air at a pressure p, from a non-illustrated compressed air source, delivering such pressurized air at a pressure 2, via a conduit or duct 59 to an electromagnetic valve 60. Electromagnetic valve 60 in turn is flow connected via a further duct or conduit 61, an electromagnetic valve 62,a blocking or stop-valve 63 closed at the pressure p, but opened at a higher pressure p with the cylinder 11 of the previously discussed arresting pin member 10. In the description to follow all of the electromagnetic valves will be conveniently briefly referred to as simply valves. A conduit or duct 64 communicates in flow relationship a valve 65 with the heretofore discussed cylinder 13 of the likewise heretofore discussed revolving or rotating mechanism serving to rotate the arm member 9. Furthermore, cylinder 13 is equipped with a pressure sensor 66 which responds upon attaining the pressure p in the cylinder 13 and closes the electrical circuit of FIG. 6 which will be more fully discussed shortly hereinafter. Incidentally, the pressure sensor 66 has been illustrated in the electrical circuitry diagram of FIG. 6 for purposes of clarity. Continuing, valve 60 is operated through the agency of a further pressure limiting valve 67 serving to reduce the pressure p, to the pressure value p which, however, is higher than the pressure 1,. By the same token, valve 68 receives air at a pressure p by means of the conduit or duct 69. A further conduit 70 communicating with the valve 68 delivers air to a conduit 71 and to a conduit 72 for the purpose of pneumatically loosening the tube and braking the mandrels l8 and 19, respectively. Although not specifically illustrated in the drawings, the chamber 72" appearing in FIG. 2 isfurnished with pressurized air via the duct 72 which communicates by means of the channel or throughpassage opening 72" with the interiorof the mandrel 19, shown just located in its changing position for the full package 21. The supply of pressurized or compressed air to the other mandrel 18 on which there is placed the empty tube is stopped or blocked. A conduit 73 branches off of the conduit 59 and communicates with a valve 74. Valve 74 is connected via the conduit 75 with the cylinder-piston arrangement 41 serving to tilt or pivot the rod member 40. Furthermore, duct or conduit 70 additionally supplies

valves

76 and 77, and through the agency of the

further conduits

78 and 79, respectively, delivers fluid medium to the cylinder 80 of a spool doffing or changing mechanism shown schematically by way of example in FIG. 6 and in greater detail in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10. This spool doffing or change mechanism embodies a displaceable and pivotable spool and tube gripping element 81, which can be outwardly displaced through the action of the cylinder 80, this gripping element serving to withdraw the full package 21 off the mandrel 19 (FIGS. 6 and 8) and subsequently pushing an empty tube held in preparedness onto such mandrel 19. As best seen by referring to FIGS. 8 to the tube gripping element 81 possesses for such purposes the shoes or segments 150 equipped with a lever which can be deflected against spring pressure, and which allows for the introduction and application of the tube gripping element 81 against the ends of the tube. The cylinder 80 accommodates the piston 152 which is equipped with a cam follower 153 engaging with a guide groove or cam 154, cam follower 153 being guided by guide groove or cam 154. The guide groove 154 is curved at its endsas shown in order to bring about the previously explained pivoting or rocking movement of the tube gripping element 81.

The electrical circuitry employed in the winding apparatus of the present invention will now bedescribed J in conjunction with the illustration of FIG. 6. A switch I 82, initiating the spool change operation and activated manually or automatically as a function of another parameter, such as for instance package size, thread length taken-up or winding time, is electrically connected via a pre-settable timing relay 83 with the heretofore discussed valve 65. As also shown in FIG. 6 this switch 82 is likewise directly connected with the valve 60. Furthermore, the terminal switches 47 to 51 are 1 each connected with one of the

valves

74, 60, 68, 62, 65. The position of the cams 42 to 46 depicted in FIG. 6 corresponds to the position assumed by the shaft member 5 at the start of its rotation through the action of the gear rack 7. The pressure sensing means or sen-.

sor 66 is operatively connected with the valve 62. The

limit or terminal switch 84 controls operation of the

valves

77 and 68, whereas the terminal or limit switch ii 23 acts upon valve 76. The terminal or limit switch 85 A is activated when the gripping element 81 moves outv wards and through the agency of the timing relay 86 switches the valve 77. In the circuit diagram of FIG. 6, all of the electrical connections used for the switching operations starting from the operating position are shown in full or solid lines, whereas the electrical connections employed for resetting are indicated with Mo ken or phantom lines.

Having now had the benefit of. the foregoing descrip- I 7 tion of the inventive winding apparatus its operation, now will be considered and is as follows:

A. Normal Operation The endless thread 87 (FIG. 1) delivered by a conventional non-illustrated drawing arrangement, and

which may be a single thread or a strand consisting of single threads, is delivered at high speed, approximately 3,000 meters per minute, and after having been traversed by the thread guide 36 of the threadtraversing guide arrangement 35 arrives at the friction drive drum 34. From this location such thread is payed-up onto the package 21. During the winding operation the package diameter increases in the usual fashion to a maximum diameter, corresponding to the desired package weight. By virtue of the increasing package diame-.

ter the arrested arm member 9 together with the platform 4 moves out parallel into the position indicated in phantom lines in FIG. 1 and against the contact pres sure transmitted by the piston rod 32. e A

B. Spool Change The spool change operation is undertaken as follows: As the desired package weight is reached, the switch 82 is closed. Closing of this switch 82 causes switch-over of valve 60 to the higher pressure p and via the conduit.

61 and the further valve 63 the arresting pin 10 is' rethe friction drive drum 34 and the shaft member 5 r0- motion, and this can be realized by switching or setting the lever 15 and by suitably selecting the dampening A

Claims

1. A method of automatically changing tubes seated upon tube clamping mandrels and wherein each tube, through rotation of a member carrying the tube clamping mandrels, is alternately brought out of a position in contact with a friction drive drum for the purpose of taking-up an endless thread delivered at a high speed and after reaching the desired package size thereon the tube with its package is brought into a package doffing position, the improvement comprising the steps of rocking a gripper in a first direction of movement out of a rest position essentially perpendicular to the axial direction of the tube clamping mandrel carrying the tube with the package wound thereon, engaging the package and its tube by means of the gripper, withdrawing the engaged package and its tube from the tube clamping mandrel by moving the gripper in a direction away from the tube clamping mandrel and essentially in a direction which is parallel with respect to the axial direction of the tube clamping mandrel into a predetermined position, and thereafter releasing the package and its tube by carrying out a rocking movement of the gripper in a second direction of movement opposite to said first direction of movement.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, further including the step of charging the gripper with an empty tube following depositing of the package with its tube during said rocking movement of said gripper in said second direction of movement, moving the gripper with the empty tube into a substantially coaxial position with respect to the tube clamping mandrel, displacing the gripper together with the empty tube substantially axially towards the tube clamping mandrel, pushing the tube onto the tube clamping mandrel, and thereafter again rocking the gripper back into its rest position.

3. A winding apparatus comprising a friction drive drum for driving tubes onto which are wound thread packages and which tubes can be alternately placed into contact with the friction drive drum, a respective brakable and releasable tube supporting mandrel upon which there can be mounted each of said tubes, a rotatable and arrestable member for alternately bringing the tubes into a thread wind-up position and into a thread package doffing position and an empty tube loading position, respectively, an unloading and loading mechanism for unloading the thread packages and loading an empty tube cooperating with said tube supporting mandrels, said unloading and loading mechanism comprising a gripper, means including a rotatably mounted shaft for supporting said gripper, said shaft extending substantially parallel to the axis of the thread package wound on a tube supported by one of said mandrels, means for receiving the wound thread packages, means for delivering empty tubes, said gripper being carried by said supporting means for movement in the axial direction of said shaft and pivotable together with said shaft, drive means for rotating said shaft and drive means for displacing said gripper in the axial direction of the shaft for engaging and withdrawing a wound thread package and its tube from its associated tube supporting mandrel and depositing such wound package and tube at said means for receiving the wound thread packages and for also engaging an empty tube from said means for delivering empty tubes and for displacing such empty tube onto the tube supporting mandrel from which the package was previously removed.

4. The winding apparatus as defined in claim 3, wherein said gripper includes a pair of shoe means for engaging the tubes.

5. The winding apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein said means for receiving the wound thread packages deposited by said gripper comprises rail means, said rail means incorporating tiltable rail section means, said rail means being arranged above said means for delivering the empty tubes in such a manner that the shoe means of said gripper durinG pivoting of said gripper can move past said tiltable rail section means, to permit the gripper to be brought into a position at the empty tubedelivering means for receiving an empty tube, whereupon said gripper can again be rotated past said tiltable rail section means and into a position where such empty tube is located substantially coaxially with respect to the tube supporting mandrel at which such empty tube is to be mounted.

6. The winding apparatus as defined in claim 3, wherein said drive means for rotating said guide means comprises a pivotably mounted cylinder means, said guide means having an arm, said cylinder means incorporating a piston hingedly connected by hinge means with said arm of said guide means.

7. The winding apparatus as defined in claim 3, wherein said drive means for displacing the gripper serves to axially displace said gripper and comprises a fixedly arranged cylinder, said fixedly arranged cylinder being provided with a piston, an arm member carried by said piston and extending in a direction essentially perpendicular to the direction of movement of said piston, said gripper means being provided with an annular groove, said arm member engaging with said annular groove.

8. a thread package doffing and empty tube loading apparatus for use with a tube supporting mandrel, comprising a gripper, means including a rotatably mounted shaft for carrying said gripper, said shaft extending substantially parallel to the axis of the thread package wound on a tube supported by said mandrel, means for receiving the wound thread packages, means for delivering empty tubes, said gripper being supported by said carrying means for movement in the axial direction of said shaft and pivotable together with said shaft, drive means for rotating said shaft and drive means for displacing said gripper in the axial direction of said shaft for engaging and withdrawing a wound thread package and its tube from the tube supporting mandrel and depositing such wound package and tube at said means for receiving the wound thread package and for also engaging an empty tube from said means for delivering empty tubes and for displacing such empty tube onto the tube supporting mandrel.

9. A method of automatically doffing a tube with a package wound thereon seated upon a tube supporting mandrel and loading said mandrel with an empty tube, comprising the steps of: displacing a gripper in a first direction of movement out of a rest position in a direction towards the tube supporting mandrel carrying the tube with the package, engaging the tube by means of the gripper, moving the gripper in a direction away from the tube supporting mandrel and essentially parallel with respect to the axial direction of the tube supporting mandrel to thereby remove the engaged tube from the tube supporting mandrel, thereafter releasing and depositing the tube with the package by carrying out a further movement of the gripper in a second direction of movement opposite to said first direction of movement, then charging the gripper with an empty tube following the releasing and depositing of the package with its tube during said movement of said gripper in said second direction of movement, moving the gripper with the empty tube into a substantially coaxial position with respect to the tube supporting mandrel, displacing the gripper together with the empty tube substantially axially towards the tube supporting mandrel, pushing the tube onto the tube supporting mandrel, and thereafter again moving the gripper back into its rest position.

10. The method as defined in claim 9, including the step of engaging the tube at opposite ends thereof by means of the gripper.