Abstract:
A method and an apparatus involves crimping a multifilament thread, wherein the thread which is produced by melt spinning is compressed to a thread plug. The thread plug is cast on the circumference of rotating processing drum for thermal treatment and is wrapped around the circumference of the processing drum with many side-by-side wraparounds. Following that, the thread plug is unravelled in an unravelling area on the circumference of the processing drum into the crimped thread which is pulled of the processing drum. To obtain a continuous and regular unravelling of the thread plug with multiple wraparounds and mutual touching of the wraparounds of the thread plug, the thread is guided at a slant from the unravelling area of the thread plug such that a growing axial space appears between the thread and the thread plug, on the circumference of the processing drum, during increasing wraparounds of the thread on the circumference of the processing drum.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This Patent Application is a Continuation of International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2007/061264 filed on Oct. 22, 2007, entitled, “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CRIMPING A MULTIFILAMENT THREAD”, the contents and teachings of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. 

   TECHNICAL FIELD 
   Embodiments of the invention relate to methods for crimping a multifilament thread as well as devices for carrying out such methods. 
   BACKGROUND 
   It is generally known to initially extrude a plurality of restiform filaments from a thermoplastic melt during the production of crimped synthetic threads. The filament bundle is combined after cooling to form a smooth multifilament thread. In order to produce crimping in the individual filament strands, the multifilament thread is compressed into a thread plug. For this purpose, the filaments of the thread are preferably conveyed through a hot fluid, and deformed into loops and arcs at the surface of the thread plug. In order to fix the crimping forming in the filaments, the thread plug is thermally treated. In the case where the thread plug formation occurs by hot fluid, the thread plug heated in this manner is subsequently cooled. For this purpose the thread plug is guided at the circumference of a processing drum. The processing drum is driven in a rotating manner so that the dwell time for cooling the thread plug is determined substantially by both the circumferential speed of the processing drum, and by the degree of the wraparounds of the thread plug at the circumference of the processing drum. Since the circumferential speed of the processing drum is determined by processing speeds and can be modified only to a limited degree, the intensive cooling may be achieved only by respective wraparounds of the thread plug at the processing drum. 
   A method and a device are known from DE 38 00 773 C2, which discloses that the thread plug is guided in multiple wraparounds at the circumference of the processing drum. For this purpose the wraparounds of the thread plug are guided in a direct side-by-side manner at the circumference of the processing drum, such that reciprocal influences of the individual filaments of the thread plug are inevitable. 
   SUMMARY 
   A loose connection of the filaments within the thread plug can result in individual filaments getting stuck to each other in the adjacent wraparounds of the thread plug at the circumference of the processing drum, particularly in the case of thread plugs having a respectively low thread plug density. Such sticking together has an adverse effect, especially during the unraveling of the thread plug into a crimped thread, such that irregularities occur at the crimped thread, which are particularly evident in a fluctuating thread tension during the unraveling of the crimped thread. Such thread tension fluctuations have a very adverse effect, especially on the after-treatment of the thread, such as by twirling. 
   Embodiments of the present invention are therefore directed to further improve a method and a device for crimping a generic, multifilament thread such that it enables a safe and even unraveling of the thread plug into a crimped thread after thermal treatment of the thread plug having multiple side-by-side wraparounds at the circumference of a processing drum. 
   Embodiments of the invention include guiding the thread at a slant from the unraveling area of the thread such that an increasing axial space appears between the thread and the thread plug on the circumference of the processing drum during increasing wraparounds of the thread on the circumference of the processing drum. 
   It has been surprisingly found that the individual filament strands have no substantial differences in composition and crimping even with a non-linear transition of the thread plug into the crimped thread. However, even the filament strands that are stuck to the adjacent wraparound of the thread plug are integrated into the filament connection of the crimped thread without any irregularities during the unraveling, due to the removal of the crimped thread from the thread plug end at a slant. Due to the course of the crimped thread facing away from the wraparounds of the thread plug on the processing drum, different actions of forces are created in the unraveling area between in inner side of the thread plug, which directly faces the adjacent wraparounds of the thread plug, and an outer side of the thread plug for forming the thread. In this manner, particularly the partial areas of the filament strands placed in the inner area of the thread plug are drawn more intensely than the partial areas placed in the outer area, which substantially facilitates the unraveling of possible individual overlapping locations between the individual wraparounds of the thread plug at the circumference of the processing drum. In this regard the thread plug can be evenly transferred into the crimped thread. 
   In order to obtain conditions in guiding the thread and the unraveling of the thread plug that are as stable and even as possible, a further improvement of one embodiment of the invention of guiding the thread into an unraveling groove at the circumference of the processing drum after unraveling of the thread plug has proven particularly successful. In this manner reproducible and even operating conditions and straight grains can be achieved. 
   As a function of the thickness of the thread plug, which has a direct effect on the reciprocal influencing of the thread plug wraparounds at the circumference of the processing drum, different straight grains may be selected during the unraveling of the thread plug. However, it has been shown that the thread should be guided at the circumference of the processing drum at a gradient angle, if possible, which exceeds an angle of 10°. Depending on the looseness of the thread plug the gradient angle may be increased, where maximum gradient angles of 80° should not be exceeded. 
   It is of particular importance for the after-treatment of the crimped thread that a sufficient thread tension is created at the thread. For this purpose, one embodiment of the invention advantageously provides a further improvement in that the thread is guided between the unraveling area and a removal area across a wraparound area at the circumference of the processing drum, which includes a circumferential angle of at least 45°. In this manner the only minimal tensile forces required for unraveling the thread plug as opposed to the thread tensile forces required for the after-treatment can be realized. For example, no substantial tensile force acting upon the thread is desired in the unraveling area of the thread plug. The thread tensile force required for the after-treatment of the crimped thread could be, for example, 100 cN. 
   It has been proven particularly successful for the after-treatment, if the crimped thread is twirled into a spool before wrapping, and is twirled after removal from the processing drum by a twirling unit. In this manner the bond of the crimped filaments may be advantageously improved in the thread connection for further processing. 
   In order to be able to carry out the forming of the thread plug and the thermal treatment of the thread plug at a flexibility that is as high as possible, one embodiment of the method variation has proven particularly successful, in which the thread plug is conveyed by a conveyor device for the unraveling on the circumference of the processing drum, where the conveyor device and the processing drum are driven independently of one another. The thickness and the guide speed of the thread plug can be adjusted both via the conveyor device and via the processing drum. 
   A device is provided in order to carry out the embodiments of the method of the invention. The device according to embodiments of the invention includes a guiding apparatus for guiding the crimped thread at the circumference of the processing drum at a slant from the unraveling area of the thread plug such that an increasing axial space appears between the thread and the thread plug on the circumference of the processing drum during increasing wraparounds of the thread on the circumference of the processing drum. 
   Such a guiding apparatus may be formed directly at the circumference of the processing drum. However, it is also possible to embody the apparatus at a distance to the circumference of the processing drum. 
   It has proven particularly advantageous to form the guiding apparatus via a cast-off groove at the circumference of the processing drum. The cast-off groove is arranged at an axial offset to a guideway receiving the thread plug at the circumference of the processing drum such that a crimped thread guided from the unraveling area of the thread plug at a slant can be directly inserted into the cast-off groove. This results in very stable and reproducible operating conditions and thread guides at the circumference of the processing drum during the unraveling of the thread plug. 
   For the purpose of the thread guide of the crimped thread at the circumference of the processing drum one embodiment of the device according to the invention has proven particularly advantageous in which a diameter step is embodied at the circumference of the processing drum between the cast-off groove and the guideway. For this purpose the thread is guided across the diameter step at the circumference of the processing drum. In this manner, gradient angles can be realized in the straight grain, which are possible in a range of between 10° and 80°. 
   In order to be able to guide the crimped thread in the cast-off groove at a defined wraparound, a thread guide is preferably connected downstream of the processing drum, which tensions a guide plane with the cast-off groove. For this purpose a wraparound can be realized depending on the position of the thread guide, which preferably includes at least one circumferential angle of 45° at the circumference of the processing drum. 
   Since texturing apparatus having compression chambers, being vertically aligned, are usually utilized for forming thread plugs, a further improvement of the device according to one embodiment of the invention is preferably used, in which a supply unit is arranged between the texturing apparatus and the processing drum in order to obtain a transition of the thread plug from the texturing apparatus to the circumference of the processing drum that is as gentle as possible. In this manner the thread plug thicknesses preadjusted in the compression chamber may be left substantially unchanged. The transition toward the circumference of the processing drum is preferably embodied at an acute angle, or tangentially, such that the thread plug may be guided without any substantial supply. 
   For this purpose, the supply unit is formed by a guide mechanism and a conveyor device, which are combined into a conveyor gap such that the thread plug is conveyed along a slideway formed by the guide mechanism via the engagement of the conveyor device. For this purpose the supply and a conveying of the thread plug can be advantageously combined with little deformation. A defined and controllable discharge speed of the thread plug from the texturing apparatus is possible by the conveyor device such that a constant building up of the thread plug is ensured. 
   In order to realize multiple wraparounds in a substantially elongated and straight line unraveling of the thread plug at the circumference of the processing drum the embodiments of the invention preferably provide a control member that is arranged in the pivoting direction of the processing drum, at a short distance in front of the guide mechanism, such that the thread plug may be displaced by the control member after a single wraparound at the circumference of the processing drum. In this manner compact guides of the thread plug can be realized at the guideway in the processing drum. 
   The cooling of the thread plug at the circumference of the processing drum for the thermal treatment is preferably carried out by ambient air. For this purpose the circumference of the processing drum is embodied by a gas permeable guide casing, where low pressure acting upon the environment in the interior of the processing drum is created by a suction device. In this manner, a uniform cooling air flow can be created for flowing through the thread plug at the circumference of the processing drum. As an alternative, or in addition, conditioning of the air or of the thread plug may also be carried out. It is possible to utilize cold air, or to wet the thread plug using a fluid, such as water. 
   The device according to embodiments of the invention is preferably utilized in a spinning process, in which the crimped thread at the end of the spinning process is wound on a spool. For this purpose it is of particular advantage if an additional twirling of the crimped filaments is carried out before winding. For this purpose a twirling unit is connected downstream of the processing drum, by way of which the filaments of the multifilament crimped thread are twirled after crimping. Multifilament threads or composite threads, such as BCF threads, can be produced within the spinning process. In case of composite threads, such as the so-called tricolor thread, which is formed of three individual partial threads, the thread plug can be created by combining all three partial threads. 
   Regardless of the composition of the synthetic thread, a conveyor nozzles combined with a compression chamber has been proven as particularly suited as the texturing apparatus. The conveyor nozzle is connected to a compressed air source, and the compressed air is supplied to the conveyor nozzle preferably heated such that a heating of the filaments may take place simultaneously in addition to the conveying of the filaments. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The embodiments of the invention is described in further detail below based on some example embodiments of the device according to the invention for carrying out the method according to the invention with reference to the attached figures. 
     They show: 
       FIG. 1  a schematic cross-sectional view of a first example embodiment of the device according to the invention for carrying out the method according to the invention; 
       FIG. 2  a schematic side view of the example embodiment of the device according to the invention in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  a schematic rear view of the example embodiment of the device according to the invention in  FIG. 1 ; and 
       FIG. 4  a schematic side view of a further example embodiment of the device according to the invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2 , and  FIG. 3  schematically show a first example embodiment of the device according to the present invention for carrying out the method of the present invention for crimping a multifilament thread in multiple views.  FIG. 1  schematically shows the device in one view, and  FIG. 2  in a side view.  FIG. 3  shows the rear view of the example embodiment. Insofar as no reference is made to one of the figures, the following description applies to both figures. 
   The device, which could be integrated, for example, into a spinning process for the production of a BCF thread, has a texturing apparatus  1  in order to compress a running multifilament thread  8  into a thread plug  9 . However, depending on the percentage, the thread  8  could also be formed from one filament bundle, or from multiple filament bundles of multiple partial threads. In this example embodiment, the texturing apparatus  1  is formed by a conveyor nozzle  2  and an adjoining compression chamber  4 , as known from WO 03/004743. In this regard express reference is made to WO 03/004743 which is incorporated herein by reference, such that only a short description shall suffice at this point. 
   The conveyor nozzle  2  has a center thread channel  6 , into which a conveyor fluid is introduced. For this purpose the conveyor nozzle  2  is connected to a compressed air source via a fluid connection  3 . The conveyor fluid introduced into the thread channel  6 , which is preferably formed by compressed air, is heated before the introduction into the conveyor nozzle  2 . The multifilament thread  8 , which was previously formed from a plurality of extruded filaments, is suctioned into the conveyor nozzle  2  by the compressed air entering into the thread channel  6  under pressure, and conveyed along the thread channel  6 . 
   The compression chamber  4  has a plug channel  7  in an extension of the thread channel  6 , which is formed by a plurality of lamellae  5  that are arranged in an annular manner. The lamellae  5  are held in a housing of the compression chamber  4 , in which the conveyor fluid discharged from the plug channel  7  is discharged via a fluid outlet. Each of the synthetic filaments of the thread  8  within the plug channel  7  is deposited on the surface of the thread plug  9  into loops and arcs by means of the conveyor fluid. For this purpose the thread plug  9  continuously moves from the plug channel  7  in the direction of a plug outlet. 
   A supply unit  15  is provided on the outlet side of the texturing apparatus  1  for the further guiding of the thread plug. In this example embodiment the supply unit  15  is formed by a guide mechanism  11  arranged directly at the compression chamber  4 , and a conveyor device  13 , which are arranged opposite of a conveyor gap  19 . In this manner a retaining force can be created at the thread plug  9 , which counteracts the pressure of the conveyor fluid for depositing the thread  8  and for forming the thread plug  9 . In this manner a uniform thread plug formation is obtained within the compression chamber  4  and a uniform conveying of the thread plug  9 . The conveyor device  13  is embodied as a conveyor roller  14 , by which the thread plug  9  is conveyed in a single engagement into the conveyor roller  14 . For this purpose the guide mechanism  11  has a slideway  12 , on which the thread plug  9  is guided in a sliding manner. The conveyor gap  19  formed between the guide mechanism  11  and the conveyor device  13  is embodied such that the shape of the thread plug  9  is changed so that the forces required for conveying and building up a retaining force can be created at the thread plug  9 . For this purpose the guide mechanism  11  is preferably embodied as a guide rail  20 , which extends between the texturing apparatus  1  and a processing drum  26  in an L shape. The free end of the guide rail  20  forms a plug outlet  10 , which is directly associated with the circumference of the processing drum  20 . The slideway  12  in the guide rail  20  is embodied in the shape of an arc, where the conveyor gap  19  is formed in the arc-shaped section of the slideway  12  by the conveyor roller  14  positioned on the opposite side. The conveyor roller  14  is coupled to a motor  18  via a drive shaft  17 . 
   The deflection of the thread plug  9  from the outlet side of the texturing apparatus  1  to the plug outlet  10  is coordinated to the circumference of the processing drum  26  such that the thread plug  9  can be supplied to the processing drum  26  in a substantially tangential manner. 
   For the thermal treatment the thread plug  9  is deposited in a straight line at the circumference of the processing drum  26 . For this purpose the circumference of the processing drum  26  is embodied as a gas permeable guide casing  27 . The processing drum  26  is rotationally driven via a drum drive  28 . The circumferential speed of the processing drum  26  and the conveyor speed of the thread plug  9  being conveyed via the conveyor device  13  are substantially equal such that the thread plug  9  gathers at the circumference of the processing drum  26  without any change in thickness, and is further conveyed. However, it is also possible to set a circumferential speed via the drum drive  28 , which is slightly increased as opposed to the conveyor speed of the conveyor device  13 . In this manner a slight loosening of the thread plug is achieved upon gathering on the processing drum  26 . An increase of circumferential speed of the processing drum of 5% to 40% as opposed to the conveyor speed of the conveyor device has been proven to be particularly advantageous. 
   The processing drum  26  is closed on the front sides and is connected to a suction device  30  via a suction connection  29 . Low pressure is created in the interior of the processing drum  26  via the suction device  30  such that gaseous fluid may be suction into the interior of the processing drum  26  from the exterior via the guide casing  27 . For the treatment of the thread plug  9  the same is deposited on the guide casing  27  of the processing drum  26  and guided at the circumference of the processing drum  26 . 
   For this purpose the processing drum  26  has a guideway  24  on the guide casing  27 . The thread plug  9  is guided in multiple wraparounds positioned directly side-by-side. The guide mechanism  11  has a control member  23  on the end facing the processing drum  26 , which is positioned on the side of the guide rail  20  opposite of the guideway  12 . The control member  23 , which is preferably embodied as a sliding edge, has a shape that is adjusted substantially congruent to the guide casing  27  of the processing drum  26 , and is held at a short distance above the processing drum  26 . The sliding edge extends at a slant to the circumference of the processing drum  26  such that a thread plug exiting at the plug outlet  10  via the slideway  12  and deposited at the circumference of the processing drum  26  is automatically guided against the sliding edge of the sliding device  23  after a straight course on the guideway  24  of the guide casing  27 , and is displaced on the guideway  24 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 3  the thread plug  9  is axially displaced at the circumference of the processing drum  26  by the sliding device  23 . In this manner it is possible to guide the thread plug  9  with multiple wraparounds in the guideway  24  of the guide casing  27 , wherein the wraparounds of the thread plug are directly guided side-by-side. In this regard the guide mechanism  11  may be utilized both for guiding the thread plug  9  in front of the processing drum  26  and for guiding the thread plug  9  at the processing drum  26 . 
   In addition to the guideway  24 , the guide casing  27  of the processing drum  26  has a cast-off groove  22 . The cast-off groove  22  and the guideway  24  are separated from each other at the circumference of the processing drum  26  by a diameter step  34 . For this purpose the groove base of the cast-off groove  22  is positioned on a diameter that is slightly smaller than the diameter of the guideway  24 . The cast-off groove  22  and the guideway  24  are embodied in a gas permeable manner at the guide casing  27  such that air flows through the guideway  24  and the cast-off groove  22  from the exterior to the interior. Depending on the thread guide a guide zone may be embodied between the cast-off groove  22  and the guideway  24 . The guide zone could also be embodied in a gas permeable or gas impermeable manner in order to guide the thread. 
   A thread guide  31  is connected downstream of the processing drum  26  for guiding a thread at the circumference of the cast-off groove  22 . Together with the cast-off groove  22  the thread guide  31 , which is formed in this case by a deflection roller, tensions a guide plane of the crimped thread  35  at the circumference of the processing drum  26 . 
   A cast-off mechanism  16  having multiple godet units  32 . 1  and  32 . 2  is connected downstream of the thread guide  31  in the guide plane. A twirling unit  33  is provided between the godet units  32 . 1  and  32 . 2 , which is connected to a compressed air source that is not illustrated. The godet units  32 . 1  and  32 .  2  are formed by a driven godet and a non-driven accompanying roller. 
   In the example embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  2 , and  3  the multifilament thread  8 , which, for example, has been removed and stretched directly from the spinning zone, is supplied to the texturing apparatus  1 . The thread  8  formed from a plurality of extruded filament strands is conveyed through the conveyor nozzle  6  in the thread channel  6  by way of a hot fluid and guided into the adjoining compression chamber  4 . A thread plug  9  is formed within the compression chamber in the plug channel  7 , where the filaments of the thread  8  deposit themselves in loops and arcs onto the surface of the thread plug  9 . The thread plug  9  is then guided out from the texturing apparatus  1  via the supply unit  15  at a gentle deflection toward the circumference of the processing drum  26 . For this purpose a conveyor device  13  engages into the thread plug  9  on one side and conveys the thread plug  9  continuously along the slideway  12  embodied in the guide mechanism  11 . The thread plug  9  exits continuously from the plug outlet  10  at a uniform guide speed and is taken up by the rotating processing drum  26 . The circumferential speed of the processing drum  26  and the outlet speed of the thread plug are substantially identical such that no loosening of the thread plug  9  occurs. The thread plug  9  is guided at the guideway  24  of the guide casing  27  in multiple wraparounds. For this purpose the wraparounds of the thread plug  9  are positioned side-by-side such that the individual thread plug wraparounds contact each other at the circumference of the processing drum  26 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 2 , the thread plug  9  is held at the guideway  24  of the guide casing  27  with two wraparounds. After two wraparounds of the thread plug  9  an unraveling area  25  is formed at the circumference of the processing drum  26 , in which the thread plug  9  is unraveled into a crimped thread  35 . For unraveling the thread plug  9  into the crimped thread  35  in the unraveling area  25  the thread  35  is guided from the unraveling area of the thread plug at a slant. For this purpose a gradient angle is formed between an imagined circumferential line corresponding to the course of the last wraparound of the thread plug  9  at the circumference of the processing drum  26 , and the thread  35 , which is denoted by the Greek character α. The gradient angle α is selected such that with a progressing wrapping around of the thread  35  at the circumference of the processing  26  a continuously increasing axial distance is formed between the thread plug  9  and the crimped thread  35 . For this purpose the gradient angle α for guiding the thread  35  may be embodied within a range of 10° to 80°. The gradient angle of the thread can be selected depending on the thickness and guiding of the thread plug  9  in the guide casing  27 . 
   In order to be guided the thread  35  is inserted out from the guideway  24  into the cast-off groove  22 . For this purpose the diameter step  34  formed between the guideway  24  and the cast-off groove  22  represents a deflection of the thread  35  at the circumference of the processing drum  26  such that a stable thread guide is ensured out from the unraveling area at a uniform gradient angle. The thread  35  is guided within the cast-off groove  22  at a substantially straight grain in the groove base until the thread separates from the circumference of the processing drum  26  in the cast-off area  36  shown in  FIG. 3 . The cast-off area  36  and the unraveling area  25  are preferably held toward each other such that a wraparound area occurs for the thread  35  at the processing drum  26 , which includes at least one circumferential angle of greater than 45°. In this manner a sufficient thread tension required for the further treatment of the crimped thread  35  can be created. 
   The crimped thread  35  is twirled in the twirling unit  33  by a compressed air flow for further treatment. In this manner an intensive interweavement of the crimped filaments is achieved, thus particularly improving the coherence of the thread. 
     FIG. 4  shows a further example embodiment of the device according to the present invention for carrying out the method according to the present embodiment of the invention in a schematic side view. The example embodiment of  FIG. 4  is substantially identical to the previous example embodiment with regard to construction and function so that only the differences are explained at this point and reference is made to the previous description as to the rest. 
   The example embodiment of  FIG. 4  has a pipe connection  37  as the supply unit  15 , which is directly associated with an end of the texturing apparatus (not illustrated). The supply unit  15  is arranged above the processing drum  26 , in which a plug outlet  10  directly ends at the circumference of the processing drum  26 . 
   The processing drum  26  has a guideway  24  at the guide casing  27 , which is embodied in a gas permeable manner. The guide casing  27  is rotationally driven via the drum drive  28 . The guideway  24  at the circumference of the processing drum  26  has a first area for guiding the thread plug  9  in the guide casing  27  and a second area for guiding a crimped thread  35  at an axial offset. A thread guide element  21  is associated with the circumference of the processing drum  26  in the thread guide area of the guideway  24 . The thread guide element  21  is arranged at the circumference of the processing drum  26  in the area of the second section of the guideway  24  at an axial offset to an unraveling area  25 . A cast-off mechanism (not illustrated) is connected downstream of the thread guide element  21 , which is formed in this example embodiment, for example, as an eyelet-shaped thread guide. 
   In the example embodiment of the device according to the invention shown in  FIG. 4  the thread plug  9  is guided with two wraparounds at the circumference of the processing drum after cast off. For unraveling of the thread plug  9  the crimped thread  35  is pulled off the circumference of the processing drum  26  via the thread guide element  21 . For this purpose a helical straight grain is created on the guideway  24 , which results in an axial distance at the circumference of the processing drum  26  that is formed between the thread plug  9  and the thread  35 , which continuously grows with increasing wraparounds of the thread  35  at the guide casing  27 . In this manner a removal of the thread  35  from the unraveling area  25  is achieved at a slant. The thread  35  is guided in this helical manner at the circumference of the processing drum  26  at the gradient angle α. 
   For the thermal treatment a tempered gaseous fluid is suctioned in from the exterior through the gas permeable guide casing  27 , and discharged into the interior of the processing drum  26 . For this purpose the gas permeable area of the guide casing  27  extends across the entire guideway area  24  such that the thread  35  is held at the circumference of the processing drum  26  under suction. 
   Ambient air is preferably used for cooling an already tempered thread plug  9  guided at the circumference of the processing drum  26  in multiple wraparounds. However, it is generally also possible to suction in and discharge a fluid released in the environment of the processing drum  26  via additional fluid sources, such as for heating the thread plug. In this manner multiple treatment zones may be also advantageously embodied on the processing drum  26  such that the thread plug with a plurality of wraparounds can be treated in multiple steps. 
   The example embodiments illustrated in  FIGS. 1 to 4  each show one processing drum, on which a thread plug having multiple wraparounds is guided. However, it is also generally possible to guide multiple thread plugs side-by-side parallel to each other on a processing drum. Advantageously, the invention also extends to such devices. In this regard it is essential that the crimped thread is guided at the circumference of the processing drum at a gradient angle, which leads to an increase of the axial distance between the thread and the thread plug. 
   LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS 
   
       
       
         
             1  texturing apparatus 
             2  conveyor nozzle 
             3  fluid connection 
             4  compression chamber 
             5  lamellae 
             6  thread channel 
             7  plug channel 
             8  thread 
             9  thread plug 
             10  plug outlet 
             11  guide mechanism 
             12  slideway 
             13  conveyor device 
             14  conveyor roller 
             15  supply unit 
             16  cast-off mechanism 
             17  drive shaft 
             18  motor 
             19  conveyor gap 
             20  guide rail 
             21  thread guide element 
             22  cast-off groove 
             23  control member 
             24  guideway 
             25  unraveling area 
             26  processing drum 
             27  guide casing 
             28  drum drive 
             29  suction connection 
             30  suction device 
             31  thread guide 
             32 . 1 ,  32 . 2  godet device 
             33  twirling unit 
             34  diameter step 
             35  crimped thread 
             36  cast-off area 
             37  pipe connection