WO2005037701A1

WO2005037701A1 - Device for supporting and/or containing roving or yarn or textile tape in general and related identification system

Info

Publication number: WO2005037701A1
Application number: PCT/IB2004/003348
Authority: WO
Inventors: Giovanni Casentini; Luca Segafreddo
Original assignee: Nuova Saccardo S.C.A.R.L.
Priority date: 2003-10-15
Filing date: 2004-10-14
Publication date: 2005-04-28
Also published as: ITVI20030205A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a device (1) for supporting textile thread in general, comprising a main body (2) on which the textile thread is wound and to a system for its identification. The device is provided with transmitter means (3) suitable for generating at least one radio frequency identification signal for the identification of the device (1). Moreover, the invention relates to a device (100) for containing textile thread in general, comprising a main body (20) complete with a cavity (21) in which the textile thread is collected and to a system for its identification . The device (100) is provided with transmitter means (3) suitable for generating a radio frequency identification signal for the identification of the device (100).

Description

DEVICE FOR SUPPORTING AND/OR CONTAINING ROVING OR YARN OR TEXTILE TAPE IN GENERAL AND RELATED IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM The present invention relates to a device for supporting and/or containing roving or yarn, or textile tape in general, that is wound onto said device and collected to form cones or cheeses, with a corresponding identification system.

As in all sectors of the manufacturing industry, so too in the textile industry many innovative efforts focus on reducing the labor needed in the various production processes and on reducing the processing times. In factories manufacturing yarns, the production process substantially consists in obtaining a continuous thread or tape of indefinite length from the raw material, which may be linen, wool, cotton or other mixed, natural or synthetic materials, by spinning or throwing the natural, synthetic or mixed fibers of which the raw material is composed. The resulting textile thread can subsequently be twisted together with other threads to obtain yarns with different mechanical characteristics, or it can undergo other treatments, such as dying, spooling, weaving, etc.

In all the various production stages, both the thread being manufactured and the yarn or tape are wound onto particular supporting devices that substantially comprise a main body, generally in the shape of a cylinder or truncated cone, provided with means for coupling it to the winder/unwinder units on each machine. These devices are indicated by various terms, such as spool, reel, cone tube, cheese tube, or bobbin, for instance.

In other cases both the thread being manufactured and the yarn or tape are collected in particular containment devices, called cans, that substantially comprise a hollow main body in which the thread is collected. The simultaneous use of numerous devices of identical or different structure, in both the manufacturing process and subsequent modification processes, poses the problem of how to identify them and if necessary also of how to be able to select them during the production process. This may be necessary, for instance, before conveying them towards the various machines, i.e. when they are "full", or before they are reused to load the appropriate thread or yarn, i.e. when they are "empty", when they are unloaded from the aforesaid machines.

It is equally essential and useful to identify a given reel as well as the thread that is wound on the same at any given time, in order to send each device to the right unwinder unit or other scheduled treatment. It is consequently necessary to achieve a supporting or containment device that is easily identifiable and that enables the thread or yarn wound on it to be identified.

The object of the present invention is consequently to solve the above-mentioned problems. In particular, a first object of the invention is to achieve a device for supporting or containing roving or textile yarn, or textile tape that can be unequivocally and automatically identified even without any action on the part of the operator.

A further object is to achieve a device that can be identified both when it is "full", i.e. the textile thread is wound around it, and when it is "empty". A further object is to achieve a device that also enables the roving or textile thread or yarn wrapped around it to be identified.

Another object is to achieve a device that is reusable and reliable.

A further object is to achieve a device that is quick and easy to identify.

Another object is to achieve a system that enables the supporting or containment device and/or the product, roving or textile thread, wound around it or contained inside it to be marked and identified.

A further object is to achieve a system that enables any amount of information relating both to the device and to the textile thread wound around it to be managed.

A further object is to achieve a device and a system that are straightforward, reliable and reproducible.

Another, and not necessarily final, object is to achieve a device and a system that are economical and straightforward to construct and control.

The above-mentioned objects are achieved by a device for supporting roving or thread, or textile tape in general, that, in accordance with the main claim, comprises a main body on which said roving or thread, or textile tape is wound, characterized in that it is provided with transmitter means suitable for generating at least one radio frequency identification signal for the identification of the device.

The same objects are achieved by a device for containing roving or thread, or textile tape in general, that, in accordance with one of the claims, comprises a main body with at least one cavity in which said roving or thread, or textile tape is collected, characterized in that it is provided with transmitter means suitable for generating at least one radio frequency identification signal for identifying the device.

The invention also relates to a system for identifying devices for supporting roving or thread, or textile tape in general, characterized in that it uses devices made as described above, and in that it comprises means for monitoring said devices including at least one receiving unit for receiving said radio frequency signal cooperating with means for processing and displaying at least some of the information contained in said at least one signal.

Advantageously, the proposed solution enables the identification of a particular device even among many.

Also advantageously, the adoption of said electronic devices enables the risk of error in the identification of the device and of any roving or textile thread wound thereon to be considerably reduced, almost to zero.

Also advantageously, the automatic electronic identification of the device and/or of the textile thread wound thereon also enables said information to be transferred to the production plant automation system, thereby permitting, for instance, the automatic transfer to the subsequent production process.

Also advantageously, the proposed solution enables each device to be associated with any information considered useful for identifying the device and/or the textile thread wound thereon, and/or the production process that the product has undergone.

Also advantageously, the proposed solution even enables the device and/or the textile thread wound thereon, or contained therein, to be identified remotely.

The above objects and advantages will be better clarified by the description of some preferred embodiments, given as an illustrative and not restrictive example, with reference to the attached drawings, where:

- figure 1 is a partially-sectioned side view of a device for supporting roving or textile thread or tape, forming the object of the present invention;

- figure 2 is a partially-sectioned side view of another device forming the object of the invention; - figure 3 is a partially-sectioned side view of a device for containing roving or thread, or textile tape in general, also forming the object of the present invention;

- figure 4 is a block diagram of the system for identifying the textile supporting devices, also forming the object of the present invention;

- figures 5 to 7 identify some processing stages in a plant for processing textile yarns equipped with a system for identifying the supporting devices forming the object of the present invention. The device for supporting the roving or thread, or textile tape in general, which forms the object of the present invention, is illustrated in figure 1, where it is indicated as a whole by the numeral 1. This comprises a main body 2 substantially in the shape of a truncated cone, on which the roving or thread, or textile tape is wound.

According to the invention, the device is provided with transmitter means, indicated as a whole by the numeral 3, suitable for generating a radio frequency identification signal for identifying the device in question. These transmitter means 3 produce a precoded signal that is different for each transmitter, thus enabling the identification of the device 1.

In the proposed solution, the transmitter means 3 are read-only transponder units, which can be questioned by means of specific reader units installed at the places of interest.

The transponder unit substantially comprises an electronic microcircuit connected to an aerial and capable of generating the above-mentioned identification signal, in the form of an electromagnetic wave at a given frequency, that is picked up by a specific detector or reader unit.

The reader unit comprises an aerial for picking up the data transmitted by the transponder and it transmits them to an appliance called a transceiver, which processes the information and makes it available to the operator, e.g. by means of an interface complete with a display, in the form of a personal computer.

A first executive variant is distinguishable from the previous embodiment in that the device 1 is also provided with receiver means cooperating with said transmitter means and with a readable memory unit. In this case, the transmitter means, the receiver means and the readable memory unit are in the form of a transponder unit of the read/write type.

Advantageously, this type of transponder enables certain information relating to the object to which it is attached to be stored in the memory unit, thereby creating a sort of electronic label on the device and on the product wound thereon. In this case, the reader unit also comprises a writer unit that enables the information to save to be sent to the aforementioned memory unit.

In this way, in addition to identifying the device, the operator can also modify the information stored in the transponder, as necessary.

Moreover, the above-mentioned transponders may be of the active or of the passive type.

It is common knowledge that active transponders have an autonomous source of energy, in the form of a battery, which is needed to guarantee their operation, while passive transponders draw the energy they need to function from an electromagnetic field in which they are immersed. Generally speaking, the magnetic field needed to activate the transponder is provided by the reader unit, which has an incorporated activator unit for this purpose.

According to one embodiment, the transponder unit is contained in a cavity inside the main body 2, in such a way as to be removable.

Conversely, according to another embodiment, the transponder unit is permanently attached to the body 2. To be more precise, one embodiment involves the transponder 3 being inserted in the body 2 during the latter's molding process.

As for the main body 2, this may be of any known shape suitable for serving the function of supporting the roving or textile thread, or yarn. Figure 2, in particular, shows another embodiment that differs in the shape of said body 2 and in the position in which the transmitter means 3 are located.

The proposed solution is also applicable to devices for containing roving or thread, or textile tape in general.

In particular, figure 3 illustrates a device for containing textile thread, indicated as a whole by the numeral 100, which comprises a main body 20 with a cavity 21, in which there is a supporting plate 22 vertically movable under the weight of the textile thread that is collected thereon. To be more precise, the plate 22 is arranged so as to rest on a helical spring 23, which gives way elastically under the weight of the textile thread.

Again according to the invention, the body 20 is fitted with transmitter means 3 suitable for generating a radio frequency identification signal for the identification of the device 100.

The system for identifying the devices 1, 100 for supporting and/or containing textile thread in general, that adopt a radio frequency signal generated by transmitter means with which they are fitted as a means of identification, is schematically represented in figure 4. It comprises monitoring means 10 for monitoring the devices 1, 100, constituted by a receiver unit 11 for receiving the radio frequency signal, cooperating with means 12 for processing the signal received.

To be more specific, the receiver unit 11 comprises a unit for reading transponders of the type previously described. The means 12 for processing the data received from the transponder 3 also comprise means for displaying said data, which in this case comprise an electronic data processor complete with a screen and a keyboard.

The electronic data processor is also complete with magnetic media, in which both the data received from each transponder and the information that the operator assigns to each device are stored and organized. The information and data that are saved constitute a database that associates each precoded identification code of each transponder/device with various details relating, for instance, to the device itself, to the textile thread wound/contained thereon/in, or to the production process by means of which it was obtained. This advantageously ensures the traceability of the product wound/contained on/in the device as well as enabling the management of useful historical or statistical information relating to the device. According to a first embodiment, the database contains information relating to the characteristics of the textile thread wound on or collected in the devices 1, 100, and to the origin of the raw materials, as well as information relating to the machine on which the device has been loaded.

The system also allows for this information to be printed, permanently stored, on an optical disk for instance, or partially transferred to the transponder's memory unit. In this last case, the information stored in the device serves as a genuine electronic tag that enables the identification and recognition, anywhere, of both the supporting device and the textile thread wound thereon.

The system also comprises a unit 13 for interfacing with the other automation systems installed at the production plant. This enables a mutual exchange of information that can thus be transferred to and saved both in the database and in the memory unit on the corresponding transponder. The description of the operation of the devices 1, 100, and of the corresponding identification system is given below with reference to a supporting device 1 fitted with a passive read/write transponder.

To be more precise, figure 5 illustrates an automatic doffing spinning frame F, in which we can see the winder units 14, served by a corresponding number of cones 15, during the phase for loading the supporting devices 1.

The same figure also shows a loader C that delivers the supporting devices 1.

As the supporting devices 1 advance towards the winder units to which they are assigned, they transit one by one in the proximity of a reader unit 11.

Said reader unit 11, alerted by a suitable sensor, starts the procedure for identifying the device 1.

The information picked up by the receiver unit is made available to the data processing unit, which proceeds to update the database.

The database is also used to save all the information coming from the plant automation system that enables the operator to know exactly which winder unit the device is assigned to, the corresponding cone 15 and the titer of the thread. When all the devices are in position, they are loaded onto the corresponding winder units 14, as illustrated in figures 6 and 7. Then the second set of supporting devices is brought forward and the corresponding information is also memorized in the database. When each device in the first set is full, the automation system begins the automatic doffing procedure, which involves replacing the full devices with other empty ones. The full devices are then ejected along a path on which a second reader unit that is not illustrated can be provided.

In addition to recognizing each device, said reader unit may also write information in the transponder relating to the type of thread wound on the device. The system advantageously enables the operator to refer to the information in the database at any time and thus ascertain the position of each supporting device 1. Figures 5, 6 and 7 also illustrate another reader and another data processing unit, connected to the previous units and indicated respectively by 11a and 12a, which are situated elsewhere in the factory, for example in a laboratory where tests on the quality of the textile thread being manufactured are performed.

Advantageously, the information stored in the database, and possibly also in the transponder, can be used for diagnostic procedures on the spinning unit F and to identify any faults or malfunctions in the system. In fact, if an analysis on the textile thread wound onto a given device reveals a defect in the product due to the production process, by identifying the device itself and consulting the database it becomes easy to identify the spinning unit and the winder unit from which the device came.

This considerably simplifies the identification of any faults or malfunctions, especially when we consider that a spinning unit can be composed of as many as a thousand winder units.

Finally, it is also worth emphasizing that using miniaturized radio frequency units enables the device to be identified and any information relating to it to remain accessible even when the device is full. It becomes clear from the above considerations that the proposed solutions enable the specified object to be achieved.

Although the invention has been described with reference to the attached drawings, during the construction phase it may undergo modifications that do not depart from the innovative concept expressed by the claims given below and are consequently protected by the present patent.

Claims

1) Device (1) for supporting roving or thread, or textile tape in general, comprising a main body (2) on which said roving or thread, or textile tape is wound, characterized in that it is provided with transmitter means (3) suitable for generating at least one radio frequency identification signal for the identification of the device (1).

2) Device (100) for containing roving or thread, or textile tape in general, comprising a main body (20) provided with at least one cavity (21) in which said roving or thread, or textile tape is collected, characterized in that it is provided with transmitter means (3) suitable for generating at least one radio frequency identification signal for identifying the device (100).

3) Device (1, 100) according to claim 1) or 2), characterized in that said at least one identification signal is a precoded signal that is different for each transmitter means.

4) Device (1, 100) according to claim 1) or 2) or 3), characterized in that said transmitter means are removably associated with said main body. 5) Device (1, 100) according to claim 1) or 2) or 3), characterized in that said transmitter means are permanently associated with said main body.

6) Device (1, 100) according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that said transmitter means comprise at least one transponder unit.

7) Device (1, 100) according to claim 6), characterized in that said at least one transponder unit is of the read-only type.

8) Device (1, 100) according to claim 1) or 2) or 3) or 4) or 5), characterized in that it is also provided with receiver means cooperating with said transmitter means and with at least one memory unit.

9) Device (1, 100) according to claim 8), characterized in that said transmitter means and receiver means comprise at least one transponder unit of the read/write type.

10) Device (1, 100) according to claim 6) or 7) or 9), characterized in that said at least one transponder unit is of the passive type.

11) Device (1, 100) according to claim 6) or 7) or 9), characterized in that said at least one transponder unit is of the active type. 12) System for identifying devices (1, 100) for supporting and/or containing roving or thread, or textile tape in general, characterized in that said devices (1, 100) are made according to any of the previous claims, and in that it comprises means for monitoring (10) said devices (1, 100), including at least one receiving unit (11) for receiving said at least one radio frequency signal cooperating with means (12) for processing and displaying at least some of the information contained in said at least one signal. 13) System according to claim 12), characterized in that said processing means (12) comprise at least one electronic data processor provided with interfacing means.

14) System according to claim 13), characterized in that said interfacing means comprise at least one monitor and/or at least one keyboard and/or at least one printer. 15) System according to claim 13) or 14), characterized in that said at least one electronic data processor is provided with data saving media, in which at least some of the information contained in said at least one received signal and any information that the operator assigns to each device (1, 100) are stored and organized.

16) System according to claim 15), characterized in that said stored information constitutes at least one database that can be consulted by the operator.

17) System according to claim 15), characterized in that said information comprises data relating to the production process from which any roving or thread, or textile tape, which may be wrapped around or contained in said device (1, 100) has been obtained, and/or the characteristics of said roving or thread, or textile tape, and/or the origin of the raw material.

18) System according to any of the claims from 12) to 17), characterized in that it also comprises at least one radio frequency transmitter unit suitable for transferring information from said database to said device (1, 100).

19) System according to any of the claims from 12) to 18), characterized in that it also comprises at least one interface unit (13) for interfacing with the other production plant automation systems.

20) Device (1, 100) for supporting and/or containing roving or thread, or textile tape in general, and a system for its identification substantially as described also in relation to the attached drawings.