PROCESS FOR DETERMINING THE OPTIMUM WINDING SPEED, AS WELL ASTHE OPTIMUM WINDING PARAMETERS FOR EACH TYPE OF YARN

Abstract: A process is disclosed, which makes it possible the optimum winding speed to be determined, in order to obtain a greater productivity, on an automatic coner machine fed with a batch of a certain type of yarn. Also the values of acceleration and braking are optimized, together with the various production parameters deriving from the functions of the devices the yarn meets along its path, such as the yarn tension, the slub catching level, the amount and nature of the lubricant, or of the paraffin, applied to the yarn. The whole collection front of the individual machine is subdivided into various winding sectors (2), and each sector is preset, by means of a central microprocessor unit (6), to operate at a winding speed, and with operating parameters which are partially differentiated from, and partially equal to, the operating parameters according to which the other sectors (2) operate, according to a program pre-set in said central unit (6). This latter processes the data received from each individual sector (2), and compares them to one another, in order to define and display the values of the operating parameters, which make it possible the highest productivity to be obtained in the yarn winding process.

Description: The present invention relates to a process for determining the optimum values of the operating parameters on an automatic coner machine, in order to obtain a greater productivity in the winding process. Said operating parameters are those relating to the winding speed, the acceleration and braking values, the value of the tension of the yarn being collected, the slub catching level, the amount and nature of the lubricant, or of the paraffin, applied to the yarn before it is collected in the cone form. On a textile winding machine, e.g., an automatic coner machine, equipped with a number of winding stations closely approached side-by-side to each other, the yarns taken from pirns under way of unwinding are collected as a package of crossed turns, denominated "cone", which is suitable for being used in the subsequent processing steps. Relatively to the type and to the count of the yarn, and to the type of cone which one wants to obtain, the operating parameters assume different optimization values. Thus, at each yarn change, it is necessary to preset the winding with new optimum values, in order to secure acceptable quality and production rate. The larger the increases in speed the production systems allows, the cheaper said production systems are. A fast winding, which does not penalize the quality, and with small breakage rates, contributes to improve the productivity, so that the operators will tend to operate at the maximum allowed winding speeds. But, the characteristics of the yarn and, in particular, the strength thereof, limit the operating speed at values lower than those possible from a purely mechanical standpoint, in order not to incur alterations in the physical characteristics of the same yarn. Thus, the selection of the value of the winding speed is considerably important, relatively to the type of yarn to be processed. On the automatic coner machines with yarn crossing, the cylinder which supplies the motion, and the yarn-guide device constitute one single element of the machine, which is the grooved drum. This grooved drive cylinder, used to wind the yarn, drives the cone by friction. At winding start-up, and during the stopping brakings, the cone frequently undergoes sharp changes in speed, which cause disarrangements in turns, and more or less considerable slippings between the cone under way of formation, and the drive cylinder, to occur. Said turn disarrangements can easily generate faults in cone formation, which cause difficulties during the unwinding process operating downstream the cone winding. Therefore, it happens often that, when the type and the quality of the winding are unsuitable for the use they are intended for, the cones must be re-wound, causing increases in finishing costs. The above said slippings, in their turn, damage the wound yarn, which is stressed in a detrimental way generating faulty yarn lengths, which often cause yarn breakages during the unwinding processes downstream the production cycle. Those skilled in the art widely acknowledge that the cause determining the damaging of the yarn, and faulty windings, is to be mostly searched for in the adoption of values of acceleration and braking, which are unsuitable for the type of yarn being wound. The yarn tension value of the yarn being wound is considerably important in the winding, because the success of the winding largely depends on a proper selection thereof. Said selection is mainly based on the type of yarn being wound. In a similar way, the selection of the slub catching degree shall be made relatively to the type of yarn, and to its count, such to eliminate the irregularities in the same yarn, and only those which might constitute a defect in the finished product. A further selection in the operating parameters is the amount of the lubricating substance, and of paraffin which has to be deposited on the yarn. Said amount is mostly determined by the nature of the yarn under way of winding. From the present state of the art, some empirical, or semi-empirical methods are known, which enable the operators to determine approximately optimum values for the previously described operating parameters, which make is possible to achieve a higher productivity of the machine, at the same time safeguarding the quality of the product, which must fulfil the presently adopted standards. In as much as he cannot know, from a theoretical viewpoint, the values of the above described parameters, the user must carry out, from time to time, experimental tests according to the type of yarn. From the practical view point of the user, the yarn being processed is wound, throughout the winding front of the machine, for a certain time, at a speed determined on the basis of empirical criteria. The operator will then increase or decrease the winding speed, and at the end of the experimental tests, their results will be compared with one another. Sometimes, on the contrary, the quality of the yarn wound on the cone must fulfil certain requisites, so that the operator must proceed to process the yarn a plurality of times,, each time with different operating parameters. The process according to the present invention makes it possible the times necessary for the experimental tests to be considerably minimized. In fact, it is possible to make the different winding sectors, along the whole operating front of the machine, operate with values of speed, and of braking and acceleration, which are different between sectors, with the other operating parameters being kept constant according to a program preset in the central microprocessor unit. At the end of the planned experimental tests, the results of productivity obtained from the various winding tests are compared to one another, and the same central processing unit identifies and displays the values of the operating parameters of that winding sector wherein the greatest productivity in the yarn winding process was achieved. Then, the whole operating front is prearranged to operate, by means of the central processing unit, with the optimized values of speed, acceleration and braking as obtained from the previous tests, while the other working parameters, such as the yarn tension, the slub catching degree, the amount and the nature of the paraffin, are changed, individually or by groups, from sector to sector, always proceeding gradually, in order to define their optimum value. The central microprocessor unit displays, at the machine head, all of the values of the operating parameters preset during the experimental tests in the various winding sectors, and, after the processing of the data, it displays the production results, indicating, as well, the optimum values, according to a preset program, of the individual operating parameters. Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is overcoming the above-said drawbacks. In accordance with such intended purpose, the present invention is concerned with a process for determining the optimum values of the operating parameters in an automatic coner machine, according to which the whole winding front of the individual machine is subdivided into various winding sectors, with each of said sectors being constituted by at least one winding unit; the speed, the acceleration and the braking values are preset, by means of a central microprocessor unit installed at the machine head, as differentiated values from sector to sector; a same value is preset for each of any other processing parameters for all of said winding sectors; and, finally, by means of said central processing unit, the data received from each individual sector are processed, to be compared with one another, in order to define and display the values of the speed, and the values of acceleration and of braking, which enable the best productivity to be obtained in the yarn winding process. According to a form of practical embodiment of the process of the present invention, also the values of the other operating parameters are optimized on the basis of the optimized speed, acceleration and braking values. Such other parameters are, for example, those relating to the value of the tension of the yarn being wound, to the slub catching degree, and to the amount and nature of the lubricant, or of the paraffin, applied to the yarn before it is coned. The present invention is now disclosed by referring to the hereto attached drawing table, wherein: Figure 1 is a plan diagram of an automatic coner machine, subdivided into a plurality of winding fronts. Figure 2 is a partial diagram of the machine head, containing the central microprocessor unit, characterized in that it is provided with an input section, in order to acquire the input parameters, and with an output section, in order to supply, after the processing, the data, according to a pre-established program. In the Figures: 2 is a winding sector of the machine front, constituted by one or more winding unit(s); 4 is the head of the winding machine, wherein the various devices and the various common drive sources of the whole operating winding front are collected; 6 is the central microprocessor unit, located in the head of the winding machine 4, schematically subdivided into the input section 6A and output section 6B; 8 is the electrical line of connection and communication between the various winding sectors 2 and the central unit 6; 10 is the length of electrical line connecting the electrical data transfer line 8 with the central processing unit 6; 12 is the length of electrical line connecting a winding sector 2 with the electrical data transfer line 8; 14 is the symbol representing the data input devices, used to enter the parameter values in the central unit prearranged to acquire the input parameters; 16 is the symbol representing the data output devices of the central unit prearranged to supply the data, after the processing, according to a pre-established program. The operation of the process according to the present invention is now disclosed. Initially, when the operation of coning of a new yarn batch is preset, in the input section 6A of the central processing unit 6, via a keyboard or preselectors 14, the value of speed "V", and the values of acceleration and of braking "A", different for the various winding sectors 2, are entered, and the values are entered as well, of the other operating parameters, for these latter, anyway, a same value being adopted for all of said winding sectors 2. Furthermore, the value of the length (metres) of yarn to be wound on the cones, and the maximum number of cycle repetitions which all of the winding units shall perform, are entered as well. The command of start-up of the coner machine is supplied, and the coner machine starts the winding operation throughout its winding front. This latter is subdivided into the various winding sectors 2, each of which operates on the basis of its operating parameters, a part of which are different from, and a part of which are the same as, those of the other winding sectors 2, according to the program, according to which the values are entered in the input section 6A of the central processing unit, as above disclosed. Said central processing unit 6, through the lengths of electrical connecting line 10 and 12, and the electrical connecting and communication line lengths 8, receives from the individual winding sectors 2 the whole set of the production data which are necessary in order to compute the amount by weight, or the lengths, as metres, of yarn actually wound on the cones by each winding sector, moment by moment, or in correspondence of initially prefixed time intervals, besides the number of slub removals, the number of carried out knotting cycles, the number of carried out knots or junctures, the number of stops, with the relating stand-by time of the winding heads. The central control unit 6 processes, by means of a dedicated program, the production data relevant to each winding sector 2, in order to compute the amount by weight, or by metres, of yarn wound in each one of the winding sectors, together with the general winding yield reached in said each one of said winding sectors. All of these data are displayed, as a whole, on a display peripheral, and/ or on a printer 16 provided in the data output section 6B, upon a request for display entered by the attending operator. A variant can be preset as well in the dedicated program run by the central processing unit 6 in such a way that, when a prefixed time interval expires, a sound signal, or a light signal, in enabled, in order to draw the attention of the attending operator, in that the received data have been processes and the output parameters are ready for display. Once that the operator has learnt the data relevant to the highest-productivity winding sector, he can now enter in the section 6A of the central processing unit 6 said data, in order to made them uniform throughout the winding sectors 2 of the winding operating front, which starts thus oprating under the new operating conditions.

Claims: 1. Process for determining the optimum values of the operating parameters in an automatic coner machine, characterized in that the whole winding front of the individual machine is subdivided into various winding sectors, with each of said sectors being constituted by at least one winding unit; the speed, the acceleration and the braking values are preset, by means of a central microprocessor unit installed at the machine head, as differentiated values from sector to sector; a same value is preset for each of any other processing parameters for all of said winding sectors; and, finally, by means of said central processing unit, the data received from each individual sector are processed, to be compared with one another, in order to define and display the values of the speed, and the values of acceleration and of braking, which enable the best productivity to be obtained in the yarn winding process. 2. Process according to claim 1, characterized in that also the values of the other operating parameters are optimized on the basis of the optimized values of the speed, of the acceleration and of the braking. 3. Process according to claim 2, characterized in that said other parameters are those relating to the value of tension of the yarn being wound, to the slub catching degree, and the the amount and nature of the lubricant, or of the paraffin, which is deposited on the yarn before it is wound in cone form.

Inventors: BADIALI, ROBERTO, COLLI, LUIGI, MARANGONE, NEREO
Applicants: SAVIO S.P.A.
Application year: 1987
Main classification: B65H59
IPC codes: B65H59, B65H54