THREAD GUIDING UNIT WITH AUTOMATIC CONTROL PARTICULARLY FOR SPOOLING MACHINES

Abstract: The rod (3) supports a thread guide (4) and is reciprocatingly movable along a direction which is parallel to the axis of a yarn spooling reel (5) supported by the spooling machine. A step motor (10) is furthermore provided for the actuation of the rod (3) and is driven by stroke limit sensors (21,22) which interact with an abutment (25) associated with the rod (3).

Description: The present invention relates to a thread guiding unit with automatic control particularly for spooling machines. As known, thread guides are used in spooling machines and move the thread with respect to the reel so as to obtain a uniform winding of the thread on the axial extension of the reel. Thread guide moving units currently in use are manufactured according to the most disparate constructive criteria and among these mention is made of thread guides constituted by an oscillating lever which is actuated by means of cams. This kind of thread guide is considerably complicated from a mechanical point of view and furthermore does not allow to obtain a good thread spooling speed due to the impossibility of mechanically following the possible spooling speed of the thread on the reel. Another disadvantage observed with known thread guiding units is furthermore constituted by the fact that winding imperfections very frequently occur at the axial ends of the reel being spooled, proximate to the flanges of said reel; said imperfections can be constituted by an excess of thread, with consequent widening of the reel, or by a lack of thread, with consequent undue narrowing of the reel at the axial ends. On the other hand it is extremely difficult, if not impossible in many cases, to precisely adjust the position of the thread, especially at the axial ends. Other difficulties arise in correctly adjusting the excursion of the thread guide, i.e. its movement from one end of the reel to the other to provide the oscillation reversal which allows to obtain a uniform spooling of the reel. A wire drawing machine in which the winding conditions are controlled automatically and with the features recited in the preamble of claim 1, is disclosed in PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN, volume 11, number 90, (M-573) (2537), March 20, 1987; & JP-A-61 243773 (MITSUBOSHI KOGYO K.K.), 30. 10. 1986. The aim proposed by the invention is indeed to eliminate the disadvantages described above by providing a thread guiding unit with automatic control, particularly for spooling machines, which performs the alternated movement of the thread guide in extremely short times which are such as to allow an increase in the spooling speed of the thread on the reel with respect to currently usable speeds. Within the scope of the above described aim, a particular object of the invention is to provide a thread guiding unit which allows to adjust in an extremely rapid manner the stroke limit stop of the alternated movement of the thread guide, thus obtaining a perfectly uniform spooling of the thread or yarn on the reel. Another object of the present invention is to provide a thread guiding unit which allows to effect, according to a presettable logic and variably according to presettable criteria, the alternation of the strokes of the thread guide so as to prevent the occurrence of spooling defects at the axial ends of the reel. A further object of the present invention is to provide a thread guiding unit which is very compact from a dimensional point of view and can be easily applied at each reel, with the advantage of being able to perform adjustments which can vary from one reel to the other. This aim, these objects and others which will become apparent hereinafter are achieved by a thread guiding unit with automatic control, particularly for spooling machines, according to the invention and with the features disclosed in the characterizing part of claim 1. Further characteristics and advantages will become apparent from the description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of a thread guiding unit with automatic control, particularly for spooling machines, illustrated only by way of non-limitative example in the accompanying drawings, wherein: figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of the thread guiding unit applied to a spooling machine; figures 2 and 3 are schematic views of the thread guiding unit applied to a spooling machine, shown with the thread guide arranged at the ends of its stroke; figure 4 is a front view of the thread guiding unit; figure 5 is a sectional view taken along the line V-V of figure 4; figure 6 is a schematic front view of the thread guiding unit with the thread guiding rod in raised position; figure 7 is a schematic side view of the thread guiding unit. With reference to the above figures, the thread guiding unit with automatic control, particularly for spooling machines, according to the invention, comprises a supporting frame, constituted by a plate 1, which is rigidly associable with the frame of the spooling machine, generally indicated by the reference numeral 2. A rod 3, supported on the plate 1, is movable with a reciprocating motion and supports a thread guide 4. The rod 3 is reciprocatingly movable along a direction which is substantially parallel to the axis of the reel 5, which is supported by the spooling machine in a per se known manner. The alternated or reciprocating sliding of the rod 3 is performed by virtue of motor means which are constituted by a step motor 10 which is supported by the plate 2 and actuates a control wheel 11 advantageously made of elastically yielding material. The control wheel 11 engages by contact with a lateral edge of the rod 3, which is retained by means of abutment rollers 12, which are arranged so as to be mutually spaced and provided with a flange-like wing 13 which partially overlaps the rod 3. The respective centers of the rollers 12 are aligned along a direction which is parallel to the direction of sliding of the rod 3 and are arranged so as to be mutually spaced so that the control wheel 11 engages the rod 3 by contact so as to provide support for the rod 3 on three spaced and non-aligned points. The rollers 12 are rotatably supported by a bar 15 which can be fixed to the plate 2 with the possibility of positioning it along a direction which is perpendicular to the direction of motion of the rod 3. Positioning is obtained by means of slots 16 which are defined on the supporting bar 15 and allow the passage of fixing screws 17 for connecting the supporting bar 15 to the plate 1. The step motor 10 is driven by stroke limit sensors which are advantageously constituted by a lower sensor 21 and by an upper sensor 22 which can be of any kind, such as one or more photocells, optical sensors, magnetic sensors and the like. By means of a program which can be varied in each instance according to the spooling requirements, the sensors 21 and 22 in practice determine the stroke limit conditions of the reciprocating sliding of the rod 3, with the possibility of displacing the lower and upper stroke limits according to a presettable cycle or in any case according to a presettable logic, so as to obtain the correct spooling of the yarn in the most critical regions of the reel, which are notoriously constituted by the axial ends proximate to the flanges of said reel. The sensors 21 and 22 are activated by an abutment 25 which interacts with said sensors and is rigidly connected to the rod 3. In practical operation, the interaction between the abutment 25 and one of the sensors activates the motion reversal control according to the mode and logic which can be set for controlling the step motor. The use of a step motor allows to follow with extreme speed and precision the reciprocating movements of the rod, and the particular mechanical coupling, provided by means of the elastically yielding wheel 11 and the abutment rollers 12, furthermore allows to perform an extremely precise sliding in both directions, with the possibility of providing the stroke limit stop at the precisely determined point. It should be furthermore added that the elastic yielding of the control wheel 11 in practice allows, by acting on the mutual position of the rollers 12 which can be moved in a direction which is perpendicular to the direction of movement of the rod, to vary the useful diameter of said control wheel and in practice obtain a further adjustment of the translatory motion according to the number of turns of the step motor. From what has been described above it can thus be seen that the invention achieves the proposed aim and objects and in particular the fact is stressed that the use of a thread guiding unit, wherein the thread guide supporting rod is actuated by means of a step motor, allows to significantly increase the spooling speed of the spooling machine, since the thread guide is capable of performing movements at a speed which is considerably higher than that which can be achieved with conventional mechanical thread guiding units. The invention thus conceived is susceptible to numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the claims.

Claims: Thread guiding unit with automatic control, particularly for spooling machines, comprising: a supporting frame (1), a rod (3) supported on said supporting frame (1) and alternatively movable along a direction which is substantially parallel to the axis of a spooling reel (5), a thread guide (4) supported on said rod (3), stroke limit sensors (21, 22) interacting with an abutment (25) associated with said rod (3), a step motor (10) for actuating said rod (3), being driven by said stroke limit sensors (21, 22), characterized in that in further comprises a control wheel (11) actuated by said step motor (10) and engageable with said rod (3), on an opposite side with respect to a pair of abutment rollers (12) the axes whereof are aligned along a direction which is substantially parallel to the direction of motion of said rod (3), said abutment rollers (12) being rotatably supported by a supporting bar (15), coupled to said supporting frame (1) and being positionable along a direction which is substantially perpendicular to the direction of motion of said rod (3). Thread guiding unit, according to claim 1, characterized in that said control wheel (11) is made of elastically yielding material. Thread guiding unit, according to claim 1, characterized in that said step motor (10) is supported by said supporting frame (1), which is constituted by a plate fixed to the frame (2) of the spooling machine. Thread guiding unit, according to claim 1, characterized in that said stroke limit sensors (21, 22) provide at least one lower sensor (21) and at least one upper sensor (22) which drive said step motor (10) by means of programmable logic means. Thread guiding unit, according to claim 1, characterized in that said stroke limit sensors (21, 22) are positionable in presettable positions on said supporting frame (1).

Inventors: BONI, ROMANO
Applicants: BONI, ROMANO
Application year: 1990
Main classification: B65H54
IPC codes: B65H54