Up/down-motion apparatus for driving thread guide rail in spinning machine

Abstract: In a spinning machine including a line shaft (2) disposed longitudinally thereof and a first toothed wheel (4) mounted on the line shaft (2) so as to corotate with the latter, a poker pillar (6) supporting a ring rail (5) has a screw portion (6a) which is in screw thread engagement with a nut member (7) supported rotatably on a frame of the spinning machine at a predetermined height position. The nut member has an outer periphery formed integrally with a second toothed wheel (7a) meshing with the first toothed wheel (4). An up/down-motion apparatus for the spinning machine includes a pulley (14) of larger diameter and a pulley (15) of smaller diameter both mounted corotatably on a supporting shaft (13) supported on the machine frame, a first belt (16) secured to the ring rail (5) at a first end and the larger diameter pulley (14) of large diameter at a second end, a thread guide rail (18) mounted fixedly at a top end of a supporting pillar (17), a bracket (21) mounted on the supporting pillar at a bottom end thereof, and a second belt (22) having a first end secured to the smaller diameter pulley (15). The thread guide rail (18) is constituted by a lappet holding angle bar or an anti-node ring holding rail. Alternatively, both the lappet holding angle bar and the anti-node ring holding rail can be moved upwardly and downwardly.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to a spinning frame or machine (hereinafter referred to as a spinning machine) such as a ring spinning machine, a ring twisting machine or the like which is equipped with a ring rail and a thread guide rail such as a lappet holding angle bar, an anti-node ring holding rail or the like. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with an up/down-motion apparatus for driving a thread guide rail for forming cops in the spinning machine (see DE-A-3 917 406). 2. Description of Related Art In general, in the spinning machine of the aforementioned type, there is adopted an up/down-motion apparatus for gradually moving upwardly a ring rail while repeating an up-and-down motion thereof during operation of the spinning machine with a thread guide rail being thereby moved upwardly and downwardly in synchronism with the up/down-motion of the ring rail, for forming cops. As the thread guide rail, there may be mentioned a rail which is referred to as the lappet holding angle bar for supporting lappets each having a snail wire mounted thereon and a rail which is called the anti-node ring holding rail for supporting anti-node rings for preventing cops being formed from ballooning excessively between the snail wire and a traveller during the spinning operation. As the up/down-motion apparatus for the ring rail and the lappet holding angle bar, there is known from, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 148820/1989 (JP-A-1-148820) an apparatus in which the ring rail, the thread guide rail (lappet holding angle bar) and others are suspended downwardly by means of cords, wherein cords are wound on take-up drums which are driven by separate motors, respectively. In this known apparatus, the upward displacements of the individual rails are positively realized by winding the cords on the associated take-up drums, respectively. On the other hand, during the downward motion, the rails are caused to move downwardly under the gravity while delivering out the cords from the take-up drums by rotating them in the reverse direction. Furthermore, there is also known such a structure of the up/down-motion apparatus in which the individual rails are not only moved upwardly and downwardly by rotating reversibly the take-up drums but subjected to up/down-motion effectuated by levers moved pivotally under action of a cam every time the cords are taken up on the drums by a predetermined amount. In this case, although the upward motion of the rails is positively carried out under the action of the cam, the downward motion of the rails is passively effected under the gravity of the individual rails. In addition, in the up/down-motion apparatuses disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 133129/1987 (JP-A-62-133129) and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 27130/1991 (JP-A-3-27130), each of poker pillars adapted for supporting the ring rail and the lappet holding angle bar, respectively, is constituted by a screw shaft having a threaded portion formed partially in the outer periphery, wherein each of the screw shafts is placed in screwwise engagement with a nut member mounted rotatably on the machine frame. By rotating reversibly the nut member by way of a toothed wheel or wheels fixedly mounted on one or two line shafts which are disposed so as to extend longitudinally of the machine frame, the ring rail and the lappet holding angle bar (rail) are positively driven in both the upward and downward directions. In the case of the up/down-motion apparatus in which the ring rail and others are positively driven only in the upward direction while being passively driven under the gravity in the downward direction, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 148820/1989, there arises a problem when the speed of up/down-motion of the ring rail is increased. More specifically, because the downward stroke of the ring rail is passively realized under the gravity, there takes place what is called breather or pause phenomenon in which the motion of the ring rail is temporarily stopped for a short time at the time point when the ring rail transits to the downward stroke from the upward one, incurring thus disturbance of threads in the cops being formed. In particular, when the flying waste is deposited on the poker pillar of the ring rail and others during operation of the spinning machine, the above-mentioned phenomenon tends to become more significant because of resistance presented by the flying waste as deposited. In order to carry out the thread take-up operation without incurring disturbance in formation of the cop, it is required to effectuate the up-and-down motion of the ring rail with high reliability and accuracy. By contrast, the lappet holding angle bar is not always required to move upwardly and downwardly in synchronism with the ring rail. Besides, no problem will arise even when the breather or pause phenomenon takes place in the motion of the lappet holding angle bar. Certainly, the apparatuses disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publications Nos. 133129/1987 and 27130/1991 are essentially immune to the problems mentioned above because the ring rail and the associated components are positively driven in both the upward and downward directions. However, in these known apparatus, a combination of the screw shaft and the nut members is required for each of the ring rails, incurring complication and expensiveness in the implementation of the spinning machine. On the other hand, as the up/down-motion apparatus for the anti-node ring holding rail, there are hitherto known two types of apparatuses, i.e., a unitary type up/down-motion apparatus by which the anti-node rings and the ring rail are moved in union and an independent type up/down-motion apparatus by which the anti-node rings are moved independent of the ring rail. In the case of the unitary type up/down-motion apparatus, the anti-node rings are fixedly secured to the ring rail. So long as the up/down-motion stroke is relatively short, the unitary type up/down-motion apparatus for the anti-node ring holding rail suffers practically no problems. However, in the case where a long bobbin is used or the up/down-motion stroke is increased, it then becomes difficult to control properly the size of the balloon over the whole range of the up/down-motion stroke. In more concrete, when the anti-node ring is disposed at a position selected appropriately for the start of winding of the thread on the bobbin at which the balloon is likely to collapse, the anti-node ring will assume a position which is excessively higher than that suited for the appropriate balloon control after the cop being formed has reached a given intermediate size. A typical one of the independent type up/down-motion apparatus is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 303131/1988 (JP-A-63-303131). In this known up/down-motion apparatus, the anti-node ring holding rail is moved up and down together with the lappet holding angle bar before reaching a predetermined take-up amount, and thereafter the anti-node ring holding rail is moved together with the ring rail. Thus, in the up/down-motion apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 303131/1988 in which the anti-node rings are moved in union with the ring rail, the distance between the anti-node ring and the lappet becomes inappropriate at or in the vicinity of the end of the thread take-up process. In parenthesis, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 27130/1991 mentioned previously there is also disclosed another example of the independent type up/down-motion apparatus in which the ring rail, the lappet holding angle bar and the anti-node ring holding rail are driven up and down independent of one another by a pair of line shafts by way of respective threaded spindles. However, this up/down-motion apparatus is disadvantageous in that the structure is complicate and expensive and that troublesome procedure is required for installing the up/down-motion apparatus on the existing spinning machine. Under the circumstances, there exists in the field of the spinning machines a demand or need for an up/down-motion apparatus for driving a thread guide rail which is capable of moving up and down the thread guide rail independent of the ring rail along appropriate or optimal paths throughout from the start to the end of the thread take-up operation and which can be implemented in a simplified structure. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the light of the state of the art described above, it is an object of the present invention to provide an up/down-motion apparatus for driving a lappet holding angle bar in a spinning machine, which apparatus is capable of moving the ring rail and the lappet holding angle bar in such state where no obstacle is presented to satisfactory formation of a cop and which can be implemented in a simplified and inexpensive structure. Another object of the present invention is to provide an up/down-motion apparatus for driving an anti-node ring holding rail in a spinning machine, which apparatus is capable of moving the ring rail and the anti-node ring holding rail in the state providing no obstacle to formation of the cop and which can be implemented in a simplified and inexpensive structure. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an up/down-motion apparatus for driving a thread guide rail in a spinning machine, which apparatus is capable of moving up and down an anti-node ring holding rail in addition to the lappet holding angle bar. In view of the above and other objects which will become apparent as the description proceeds, the present invention is directed to a spinning machine which includes a ring rail and a thread guide rail. In the spinning machine of this type, there is provided according to a first aspect of the present invention an up/down-motion apparatus for driving the thread guide rail such as defined in claim 1. In the up/down-motion apparatus of the arrangement mentioned above, the supporting pillar which supports the ring rail is positively moved up and down by the up/down-drive mechanism. In accompanying the up-and-down motion of the ring rail, the first drive means is moved together with the ring rail, as a result of which the rotatable member of large diameter is caused to rotate in union with the rotatable member of small diameter reversibly in forward and backward directions. The rotation of the rotatable member of small diameter is translated into up-and-down reciprocative motion of the thread guide rail by the second drive means such that the thread guide is moved reciprocatively in the forward and downward directions in synchronism with the motion of the ring rail. In a preferred mode of the present invention, the thread guide rail may be constituted by a lappet holding angle bar or an anti-node ring holding rail. In another preferred mode, the up/down-motion unit may be comprised of a screw portion provided in the supporting pillar, a nut member mounted rotatably on the machine frame at a predetermined height for supporting the above-mentioned supporting pillar in the state meshing screwwise with the aforementioned screw portion, and a line shaft extending in a longitudinal direction of the machine frame for positively rotating reversibly the nut member. By virtue of the structure described above, the nut member is positively rotated reversibly in the forward and backward directions through the threaded or screw portion, whereby the ring rail is caused to move up and down together with the supporting pillar which is moved up and down in correspondence to forward and backward rotations of the nut member. Thus, the thread guide rail is caused to move up and down in synchronism with the motion of the ring rail. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an up/down-motion apparatus for the spinning machine of the type mentioned above, in which the pair of rotatable members are constituted by pulleys of different diameters, respectively, and the first drive means is constituted by a first belt having one end secured to the ring rail and a second end secured to the pulley of large diameter, while the second drive means is comprised of a supporting pillar disposed vertically movably and having a top end to which the thread guide rail is coupled and a second belt having one end secured to a bottom end of the supporting pillar and a second end secured to the pulley of small diameter, wherein the pulley of small diameter may be formed in such a shape that the distance between the center of rotation and an outer peripheral surface varies. In the up/down-motion apparatus of the structure described above, the large-diameter pulley and the small-diameter pulley are caused to rotate reversibly in the forward and backward directions in accompanying the up-and-down motion of the ring rail through the medium of the first belt serving as the first drive means. On the other hand, the second belt disposed between the small-diameter pulley and the thread guide rail is wound around the small-diameter pulley upon upward displacement of the ring rail while the second belt is delivered from the small-diameter pulley when the ring rail moves downwardly. Thus, displacement of the thread guide rail is determined by a ratio between the diameter of the small-diameter pulley and that of the large-diameter pulley. Thus, even when the lower limit of every stroke (chase length) in which the ring rail is moved up and down is incremented by a predetermined constant ratio in the upward direction, the thread guide rail can be moved such that the lower limit of every stroke (chase length) is incremented by a variable ratio in the upward direction, because of change in the diameter of the small-diameter pulley, i.e., the change in the distance between the outer periphery of the small-diameter pulley and the center of rotation thereof. The present invention is further directed to a spinning machine which includes a ring rail, a lappet holding angle bar disposed at a position above the ring rail and an anti-node ring holding rail disposed substantially at a mid position between the ring rail and the lappet holding angle bar and extending in a longitudinal direction of the spinning machine. In this type spinning machine, there is provided according to a further aspect of the present invention an up/down-motion apparatus, which includes an up/down-motion unit for positively moving upwardly and downwardly a supporting pillar which supports the ring rail, first and second rotatable assemblies each including a pair of rotatable members having different diameters and adapted to rotate in union about a same axis relative to a machine frame of the spinning machine, a first drive means provided between the ring rail and the large-diameter rotatable members of the first and second rotatable assemblies and adapted to move in union with the ring rail for thereby rotating the large-diameter rotatable members, a second drive means provided between each of the lappet holding angle bar and the anti-node ring holding rail and the small-diameter rotatable member of each of the first and second rotatable assemblies for translating rotations of the rotatable members of small diameter into up/down-motions of the lappet holding angle bar and the anti-node ring holding rail, respectively. In the up/down-motion apparatus of the structure mentioned above, the lappet holding angle bar and the anti-node ring holding rail are caused to move up and down independent of the ring rail. The above and other objects, features and attendant advantages of the present invention will more easily be understood by reading the following description of the preferred embodiments thereof taken, only by way of example, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the course of the description which follows, reference is made to the drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing schematically an up/down-motion apparatus for driving a lappet holding angle bar according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a schematic side elevational view of the same as viewed from the right-hand side in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a schematic top plan view of a spinning machine incorporating the same; Fig. 4 is a diagram for graphically illustrating up-and-down reciprocative motions of a ring rail and a lappet holding angle bar, respectively; Fig. 5 is a schematic front view showing a major portion of the up/down-motion apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 6 is a schematic front view showing a major portion of the up/down-motion apparatus according to still another embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing a structure of the up/down-motion apparatus for driving an anti-node ring holding rail according to a further embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 8 is a schematic view similar to Fig. 6 and shows a major portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 7; Fig. 9 shows yet another embodiment of the present invention applied to an up/down-motion apparatus in which both the lappet holding angle bar and the anti-node ring holding rail are caused to move up and down reversibly and reciprocatively; and Fig. 10 is a view for graphically illustrating up and down reciprocative motions of a ring rail, a lappet holding angle bar and an anti-node ring holding rail, respectively, in an up/down-motion apparatus for a spinning machine according to yet another embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Now, the present invention will be described in detail in conjunction with what is presently considered as preferred embodiments thereof by reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, like reference characters designate like or equivalent parts throughout the several views. Also in the following description, it is to be understood that such terms as "left", "right", "horizontal", "vertical", "clockwise", "counterclockwise" and the like are words of convenience and are not to be construed as limiting terms. Referring to Figs. 1 to 3, description will be made of an up/down-motion apparatus for a spinning machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention in which a thread guide rail of the spinning machine is realized in the form of a lappet holding angle bar. In these drawings, Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing schematically the up/down-motion apparatus for a lappet holding angle bar according to the first exemplary embodiment of the invention, Fig. 2 is a schematic side elevational view of the same as viewed from the right-hand side in Fig. 1 and Fig. 3 is a schematic top plan view of a spinning machine equipped with the up/down-motion apparatus according to the invention. As can be seen in Fig. 3, there are mounted rotatably a pair of line shafts 2 at left and right sides (upper and lower sides as viewed in Fig. 3), respectively, of a machine frame 8 of a spinning machine 1 so as to extend along a longitudinal axis thereof. Disposed on each of the line shafts 2 are a plurality of up/down-motion units 3 with a predetermined distance therebetween (e.g. one for every twenty-fourth spindle). As is shown in Fig. 1, each of the up/down-motion units 3 is comprised of a worm gear 4 fixedly mounted on the line shaft 2 so as to corotate with the line shaft 2 in union and a nut member 7 mounted screwwise on a threaded or screw portion 6a formed in a lower portion of a poker pillar 6 which serves as a supporting pole or pillar for supporting a ring rail 5. The nut member 7 is supported rotatably by a bracket (not shown) at a predetermined vertical position relative to the machine frame 8 (see Fig. 2) and has an outer peripheral portion in which a worm wheel 7a adapted to mesh with the worm gear 4 is integrally formed. The poker pillar 6 is supported on the machine frame 8 so as to be movable in the vertical direction. The ring rail 5 is secured to the poker pillar 6 at a top end thereof by means of a bracket 9. The line shafts 2, the up/down-motion unit 3 and the screw portion 6 cooperate to constitute an up/down-motion or drive means. As shown in Fig. 3, each of the line shafts 2 is operatively connected through a coupling 12 to an output shaft 11 of a gear box 10 which constitutes a driving source for the lappet holding angle bar. To this end, such arrangement is adopted that rotation of a front roller of the spinning machine is transmitted to the gear box 10 via a gear train (not shown). Installed within the gear box 10 are a pair of gear trains and a switching mechanism for changing over the rotational direction of the line shaft 2 through the medium of electromagnetic clutches, although they are not shown in the figures. The line shaft 6 is driven in the forward direction or in the reverse or backward direction in dependence on electrical energization and deenergization of the electromagnetic clutches provided in a pair, whereby the ring rail 5 is caused to move upwardly or downwardly. Incidentally, the arrangement described above is basically identical with that of the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 277826/1994 (JP-A-2-277826). Secured fixedly to the machine frame 8 at a position underneath the ring rail 5 is a supporting shaft 13 which extends horizontally in the direction orthogonally to the longitudinal axis of the spinning machine. Mounted on the supporting shaft 13 so as to corotate therewith are a pulley 14 of a large diameter (hereinafter also referred to as a large-diameter pulley or rotatable member) and a pulley 15 of a small diameter 15 (hereinafter also referred to as a small-diameter pulley or rotatable member). The large-diameter pulley 14 and the small-diameter pulley 15 are implemented in an integral structure. Spanned between the ring rail 5 and the large-diameter pulley 14 is a first belt 16 which serves as a first driving means. The first belt 16 has a first end portion secured fixedly to the ring rail 5 by an appropriate means (not shown) and a second end portion secured to the outer periphery of the large-diameter pulley 14 by a similar fixing means (not shown). The machine frame 8 is equipped with a plurality of supporting columns or pillars 17 with a predetermined distance therebetween which are so supported by means of supporting brackets (not shown) that they can be moved reversively in the upwardly and downward directions , wherein a lappet holding angle bar 18 is fixedly mounted at a top end of the supporting pillars 17. On the other hand, there are fixedly mounted on the lappet holding angle bar 18 a plurality of lappets 20 (only one of which is shown in Figs. 1 and 2) at a predetermined distance therebetween, wherein each of the lappets 20 is equipped with a snail wire 19. Furthermore, secured to the supporting pillar 17 at a bottom end thereof is a bracket 21 to which a first end portion of a second belt 22 is fixedly secured by an appropriate means, wherein the other or second end portion of the second belt 22 is secured to the outer periphery of the small-diameter pulley 15. The supporting pillar 17, the bracket 21 and the second belt 22 cooperate to constitute a second driving means which serves for translating the rotation of the small-diameter pulley 15 into vertical or up/down-motion of the lappet holding angle bar 18. The large-diameter pulley 14 is so dimensioned that the outer peripheral length thereof is longer than that of the up/down-motion stroke of the ring rail 5 (i.e., the extent of a range within which the ring rail 5 is moved upwardly and downwardly). In other words, such a dimensional relation is realized between the first belt 16 and the large-diameter pulley 14 that the first belt 16 is prevented from being taken up more than one turn by the large-diameter pulley 14 upon rotation thereof and that magnitude of angular displacement of the large-diameter pulley 14 is in proportion to the take-up or delivery length of the first belt 16. On the other hand, the small-diameter pulley 15 is so dimensioned that the outer peripheral length thereof is greater than the up/down-motion stroke of the lappet holding angle bar 18 and that the angular displacement of the small-diameter pulley 15 is in proportion to the take-up or delivery amount of the second belt 22. More specifically, the large-diameter pulley 14 and the small-diameter pulley 15 are so dimensioned that the ratio of the diameter between the pulleys 14 and 15 assumes a predetermined value selected such that the lappet holding angle bar 18 is caused to move in the vertical direction at a predetermined rate which is smaller than that of the ring rail 5. It should be noted that the second belt 22 is wound around the small-diameter pulley 15 in the direction opposite to the direction in which the first belt 16 is wound around the large-diameter pulley 14. The large-diameter pulley 14, the small-diameter pulley 15, the first belt 16, the supporting pillar 17 and the bracket 21 mentioned above cooperate to constitute an up/down-drive mechanism 23 for moving the lappet holding angle bar 18 reversibly and reciprocatively in the upward and downward directions. At this juncture, it should further be mentioned that the number of the up/down-drive mechanism 23 to be installed actually may be same as or twice as great as that of the up/down-motion units 3. Next, description will turn to operation of the apparatus implemented in the structure described above. When the spinning machine is put into operation, the line shaft 2 is caused to rotate reversively in the forward and backward directions periodically at a predetermined time interval via the front roller (not shown) of the spinning machine and the gear box 10. The forward/backward rotations of the line shaft 2 results in the corresponding reciprocative rotations of the nut member 7 by way of the worm gear 4 and the worm wheel 7a, as a result of which the poker pillar 6 having the screw portion engaging screwwise with the nut member 7 and hence the ring rail 5 secured to the top end of the poker pillar 6 are caused to move upwardly and downwardly in a reciprocative manner. When the ring rail 5 moves upwardly, the large-diameter pulley 14 is rotated clockwise as viewed in Fig. 1 by way of the first belt 16 with the small-diameter pulley 15 being rotated in the direction to take up the second belt 22. As a result of this, the lappet holding angle bar 18 is moved upwardly together with the supporting pillar 17 which is supported on the second belt 22 by way of the bracket 21 as mentioned previously. On the other hand, when the ring rail 5 is moved downwardly, the first end portion of the first belt 16 moves downwardly together with the ring rail 5. Thus, the small-diameter pulley 15 is urged to rotate in the direction for delivering the second belt 22 under the influence of the weight of the supporting pillar 17, the lappet holding angle bar 18 and others. Consequently, both the large-diameter pulley 14 and the small-diameter pulley 15 are caused to rotate in the counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1 as the ring rail 5 moves downwardly, whereby the first belt 16 is taken up around the large-diameter pulley 14. Furthermore, since the second belt 22 is delivered as mentioned above, the lappet holding angle bar 18 is caused to move downwardly in synchronism with the ring rail 5. Figure 4 is a diagram for graphically illustrating reciprocative up/down-motions of the ring rail 5 and the lappet holding angle bar 18, wherein a curve A represents characteristically the up/down-motion of the ring rail 5 with a curve B representing that of the lappet holding angle bar 18. The ratio of the up/down-motion stroke between the ring rail 5 and the lappet holding angle bar 18 is determined by the ratio of radius between the large-diameter pulley 14 and the small-diameter pulley 15. Accordingly, the ratio of the up/down-motion stroke between the ring rail 5 and the lappet holding angle bar 18 can readily be changed by preparing a plurality of combinations of the large-diameter pulley 14 and the small-diameter pulley 15 which differ from one another in respect to the ratio in the radius and exchanging one of these combinations with another. As is indicated by solid straight lines in Fig. 4, as the lower limit of the up/down-motion stroke in each cycle of reciprocative motion (i.e., chase length) of the ring rail 5 increases at a predetermined constant ratio during a period beginning at the start of thread winding and ending at the end of the thread winding, the lower limit of the range within which the lappet holding angle bar 18 is reciprocated increases correspondingly at a predetermined constant ratio. As mentioned previously, the ring rail 5 is supported by the poker pillar 6 having the screw or threaded portion 6a which is screwwise engaged by the nut member 7. The poker pillar 6 is positively moved upwardly under the action of the threaded portion 6a upon forward rotation of the nut member 7 driven positively in the forward or backward direction by the line shaft 2, while the poker pillar 6 is positively moved downwardly under the action of the threaded portion 6a when the nut member 7 is rotated in the backward direction. In this manner, even when the up/down-motion speed of the ring rail 5 increases, the up/down-motion of the ring rail 5 is effected with high accuracy without suffering the so-called breather or pause phenomenon, whereby the cop can be formed without suffering any noticeable disturbance. Besides, because the ring rail 5 is positively moved upwardly and downwardly under the action of the threaded portion 6a, the lappet holding angle bar 18 driven by the ring rail 5 can be moved upwardly and downwardly in the stable state. Of course, the downward motion of the lappet holding angle bar 18 is effected rather passive or negatively under the gravity, as mentioned hereinbefore, there may take place the breather or pause phenomenon, which however does not affect any appreciable influence to the formation of cop. Furthermore, when compared with the conventional structure in which the toothed wheel and the nut member are provided for the lappet holding angle bar with the screw portion being formed in the supporting pillar (corresponding to the pillar 17), the inventive arrangement of the large-diameter pulley 14, the small-diameter pulley 15, the belts 16 and 22 and the bracket 21 described above contributes to simplification as well as inexpensive realization of the apparatus. It should be appreciated that the present invention is never limited to the embodiment described above but various modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as described below. For example, such a modification may be possible in which a coil spring may be mounted to the supporting shaft 13 so as to bias the large- and small-diameter pulleys 14, 15 in a counterclockwise direction, that is, in a direction in which the large-diameter pulley 14 is urged to take up the belt 16 thereon and the small-diameter pulley 15 is urged to unwind the belt 22 therefrom. Also, instead of implementing the small-diameter pulley 15 in a circular form coaxially with the large-diameter pulley 14, the small-diameter pulley 15 may be formed in a cam-like shape in which the distance between the outer peripheral surface thereof and the center of rotation changes in and along the rotational direction, as is illustrated in Fig. 5. In this conjunction, it is noted that upon restarting of the spinning machine after doffing, i.e., in the initial thread take-up phase, breakage of the thread is likely to take place. Accordingly, the ballooning should preferably be small in this operation phase. To this end, the stroke of the reciprocative up/down-motion of the lappet 20 should be maintained at as small a value as possible in the initial take-up phase so that the lappet 20 is moved in synchronism with the ring rail 5 after lapse of a certain time from the start of spinning operation. In this manner, the ballooning can be made small during the initial thread take-up period. In this conjunction, the small-diameter pulley 15 may preferably be so formed that the distance from the center of rotation to the outer peripheral surface of the small-diameter pulley 15 decreases progressively from the position corresponding to the start of the thread take-up operation and then increases gradually to a constant value. In that case, even when the lower limit of the reciprocative up/down-motion stroke (chase length) of the ring rail 5 rises up linearly at a constant rate in every cycle, as indicated by the solid straight in Fig. 4, the lappet holding angle bar 18 is caused to move upwardly and downwardly in such a manner that the lower limit of the reciprocative up/down-motion stroke thereof changes at variable rates from one to another cycle, as indicated by a broken-line curve in Fig. 4. In this manner, by imparting a cam-like configuration to the small-diameter pulley 15, the up/down-motion of the lappet 20 can easily be changed without need for changing the up/down-motion behavior of the ring rail 5. As another modification, the small-diameter pulley 15 may be mounted on the supporting shaft 13 at an off-center position thereof substantially to the same effect as mentioned above. Alternatively, the small-diameter pulley 15 may be formed circularly and mounted on the supporting shaft 13 at a center position thereof, while the large-diameter pulley 14 is imparted with a cam configuration or formed in an eccentrical shape. Besides, both the large-diameter pulley 14 and the small-diameter pulley 15 may be disposed at positions corresponding to the range of up-and-down motion of the ring rail 5. Furthermore, it goes without saying that the supporting shaft 13 may be so disposed as to extend in parallel with the longitudinal axis of the spinning machine 1. As a further modification of the first embodiment of the invention, a pinion 24 may be so mounted as to corotate together with the small-diameter pulley 15 instead of the large-diameter pulley 14, while a rack 25 serving as the first driving means may be provided to mesh with the pinion 24 for moving in union with the ring rail 5. In this case, the pinion 24 is positively rotated via the rack 25, as the ring rail 5 moves upwardly or downwardly. In this manner, the pulley 15 and the pinion 24 and hence the lappet holding angle bar 18 are positively caused to rotate in concurrence with the ring rail 5, whereby up-and-down motion of the lappet 20 can be realized with high reliability and stability even in the case where the lappet holding angle bar 18, the supporting pillar 17 and others are formed of a material of light weight. In addition, such arrangement may equally be adopted in which the rotatable member of a small diameter is constituted by a pinion with the second driving means being realized by a rack, while the rotatable member of a large diameter is constituted by the large-diameter pulley 14 with the first driving means being constituted by the belt. Of course, both of the rotatable members may be constituted by pinions, respectively, with the first and second driving means being implemented in the form of racks, respectively. With the modified arrangements enumerated above, similar effects and actions as those of the first embodiment can be obtained. As a still further modification of the first embodiment of the invention, the large-diameter pulley 14 and the small-diameter pulley 15 may be formed as separate members, respectively, wherein both the large-diameter pulley 14 and the small-diameter pulley 15 are interconnected by a retainer pin or the like so that they are supported on the supporting shaft 13 so as to corotate in union with each other. It is also possible to mount removably a pair of rotatable members on a rotatable shaft supported rotatably on the machine frame 8 so that the rotatable members can corotate in union. In this case, the ratio of the up/down-motion stroke between the ring rail 5 and the lappet holding angle bar 18 can be changed by replacing one of the pulleys or rotatable members by another one. It should further be mentioned that the line shaft 2 may be disconnected from the front roller of the spinning machine and rotationally driven by a reversible servo motor through a servo driver. Moreover, the input power from the front roller of the spinning machine and that of the reversible motor may be combined by a differential gear to thereby derive the driving power for the line shaft 2 from the differential gear. As yet another modification of the embodiment described above, the driving means for driving positively with high reliability the ring rail 5 in both the upward and downward directions may be constituted by a rack formed in a lower portion of the poker pillar 6 which supports the ring rail 5 and a pinion mounted on the line shaft 2 in place of the worm gear 4, as is disclosed in Utility Model Publication Japanese No. 29334/1991. Furthermore, as the means for reversibly rotating the nut member 7, a spur gear may be formed in the outer periphery of the nut member 7 in place of the worm wheel 7a with the line shaft 2 being replaced by a rack extending in parallel with the longitudinal axis of the spinning machine and adapted to be driven reciprocatively in the longitudinal direction, as is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 32542/1993. Moreover, as the cord such as the belt which constitutes the first and second driving means, respectively, there may be employed a flat or plain belt, a V-belt (i.e., belt of a V-like section), a round belt, a toothed belt, a chain, a tape, a rope or the like which can easily be bent and arcuately wound around a rotatable member, which in turn may be realized in the form of a pulley, a toothed pulley, a sprocket or the like on which the cord mentioned above can be wound or suspended and which serves as a rotatable guide member. As is apparent from the foregoing description, by virtue of the arrangement for driving the lappet holding angle bar via the ring rail according to the teachings of the present invention, it is possible to effect the up-and-down motions of the ring rail and the lappet holding angle bar in the state where no obstacle is presented to formation or build-up of the cop from the beginning of the thread take-up operation to the end thereof with a simplified structure. Additionally, by making variable the distance between the center of rotation and the outer periphery of the pulley which is operatively associated with the lappet holding angle bar, the up/down-motion stroke of the lappet holding angle bar can be made variable even when that of the ring rail is constant, whereby possibility of the thread being broken can positively be suppressed to a minimum because the up/down-motion stroke of the lappet holding angle bar can be made small in the initial thread take-up phase. Next, by referring to Fig. 7, description will be made of another embodiment of the up/down-motion apparatus according to the present invention in which the thread guide rail is constituted by a rail adapted to support or hold anti-node rings. The instant embodiment differs from the up/down-motion apparatus shown in Fig. 1 primarily in that an anti-node ring holding rail 26 is employed in place of the lappet holding angle bar 18 and thus the top end of a supporting pillar 37 of the up/down-drive mechanism 30 is coupled to the anti-node ring holding rail 26. Each of the up/down-drive mechanisms 30 which are provided in the same number as the up/down-motion units 3 or twice as many as the up/down-motion unit 3 is composed of the members denoted by reference numerals 31 to 37, which correspond, respectively, to the supporting shaft 13, the large-diameter pulley 14, the small-diameter pulley 15, the first belt 16, the bracket 21, the second belt 22 and the supporting pillar 17 shown in Fig. 1. Since the range or stroke of the up/down-motion of the lappet holding angle bar (i.e., chase length) slightly differs from that of the anti-node ring holding rail, the ratio in diameter between the first pulley 32 and the second pulley 33 in the up/down-motion apparatus according to the instant embodiment of the invention slightly differs from the corresponding ratio between the large-diameter pulley 14 and the small-diameter pulley 15 in the apparatus according to the preceding embodiment of the invention. It should however be noted that the mutual interconnecting relation among the individual members are substantially identical with in the apparatus according to the preceding embodiment. More specifically, the ratio in diameter between the first pulley 32 and the second pulley 33 is so selected as to be a predetermined value such that the up-and-down motion of the anti-node ring holding rail 26 assumes a predetermined value which is greater than that of the lappet holding angle bar. The anti-node ring holding rail 26 is supported to be vertically movable by means of the belt 36 constituting the driving means the bracket 35 and the supporting pillar 37. On the other hand, the anti-node ring holding rail 26 is so disposed as to extend in parallel with the ring rail 5 over a substantially whole length of the ring rail 5 and equipped with the anti-node rings 27 (only one of which is shown) at the position corresponding to the lappets. Operation of the apparatus implemented in the structure described above is substantially same as that of the up/down-motion apparatus for driving the lappet holding angle bar in that the anti-node ring holding rail 26 is moved reciprocatively in the vertical direction in place of the lappet holding angle bar as the ring rail 5 moves upwardly and downwardly. Except for this difference, operation of the up/down-motion apparatus according to the instant embodiment of the invention is substantially same as that of preceding embodiment. Accordingly, repetition of the description directed to the operation will be unnecessary. In this manner, the anti-node ring holding rail 26 can reciprocatively be moved upwardly and downwardly along appropriate paths from the start of the take-up operation to the end thereof nevertheless of simplified structure. The apparatus for effectuating the up-and-down motion of the anti-node ring holding rail 26 by means of the ring rail 5 is not limited to the structure shown in Fig. 7 but is susceptible to the various modifications as in the case of the embodiment described hereinbefore in conjunction with Figs. 1 to 3. In this conjunction it will be sufficient to add that the term "lappet holding angle bar" be replaced by the term "anti-node ring holding rail" in the descriptions directed to the modifications of the apparatus shown in Figs. 1 to 3. Further, the apparatus according to the instant embodiment may be modified such that the pinion 29 is so provided as to corotate with the first pulley 32 in union in place of the large-diameter pulley 32 for the lappet holding angle bar so that the rack 28 secured to the ring rail 5 in the state meshing with the pinion 29 can move in union with the ring rail 5. In this case, the pinion 29 is positively rotated by way of the rack 29 as the ring rail 5 moves reciprocatively in the vertical direction. Thus, the first pulley 32 is caused to move together with the ring rail 5 and the anti-node ring holding rail 26 in concurrence with the latter without fail even in the case where the anti-node ring holding rail 26 and the supporting pillar 37 are formed of a material of light weight. Additionally, instead of the arrangement in which the supporting pillar 17 is driven at a speed which is in proportion to the up/down-speed of the ring rail 5, such arrangement may equally be adopted in which the up/down-speed of the supporting pillar 17 is changed on the way of take-up motion in dependence on the spinning conditions. By way of example, in place of the first pulley 32 having a constant distance between the outer peripheral surface and the center axis of the supporting pillar 31, there may be used a pulley formed in such a shape that the distance between the outer peripheral surface thereof and the center axis of the supporting pillar 31 various. Alternatively, a cylindrical pulley may be eccentrically so mounted as to corotate together with the second pulley 33. At this juncture, it should also be added that the arrangement described above may be adopted in association with the second pulley 33 instead of the first pulley 32. Figure 9 shows yet another embodiment of the invention according to which both the lappet holding angle bar and the anti-node ring holding rail are caused to move reciprocatively in the vertical direction. In the up/down-motion apparatus according to the instant embodiment, not only the lappet holding angle bar 18 but also the anti-node ring holding rail 26 disposed in parallel with the ring rail 5 at an intermediate position between the ring rail 5 and the lappet holding angle bar 18 is caused to move reciprocatively in synchronism with the ring rail 5. To this end, there are supported on the supporting shaft 13 shown in Fig. 1 not only the large-diameter pulley 14 and the small-diameter pulley 15 for the lappet holding angle bar 18 but also a first pulley 32 and a second pulley 33 for the anti-node ring holding rail 26. Connections between the pulleys 14;15 and the lappet holding angle bar 18 as well as between the pulley 32;33 and the anti-node ring holding rail 26 are realized in the same manners as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 7. The diameters of the individual pulleys are selected such that the up/down-motion stroke of the anti-node ring holding rail 26 is greater than that of the lappet holding angle bar 18 and smaller than that of the ring rail 5. The up-and-down motion apparatus for driving the lappet holding angle bar and the anti-node ring holding rail by way of the ring rail 5 is not limited to the structure shown in Fig. 9 but susceptible to various modifications and changes as described hereinbefore in conjunction with Figs. 1 to 3 and Fig. 7. In that case, it is sufficient for understanding these modifications to read the term "lappet holding angle bar" or "anti-node ring holding rail" as "lappet holding angle bar and anti-node ring guide rail" in the descriptions made hereinbefore in conjunction with Figs. 1 to 3 and Fig. 7. Many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above techniques. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described. In a spinning machine including a line shaft disposed longitudinally thereof and a first toothed wheel mounted on the line shaft so as to corotate with the latter, a poker pillar supporting a ring rail has a screw portion which is in screw thread engagement with a nut member supported rotatably on a frame of the spinning machine at a predetermined height position. The nut member has an outer periphery formed integrally with a second toothed wheel meshing with the first toothed wheel. An up/down-motion apparatus for the spinning machine includes a pulley of larger diameter and a pulley of smaller diameter both mounted corotatably on a supporting shaft supported on the machine frame, a first belt secured to the ring rail at a first end and the larger diameter pulley of large diameter at a second end, a thread guide rail mounted fixedly at a top end of a supporting pillar, a bracket mounted on the supporting pillar at a bottom end thereof, and a second belt having a first end secured to the smaller diameter pulley. The thread guide rail is constituted by a lappet holding angle bar or an anti-node ring holding rail. Alternatively, both the lappet holding angle bar and the anti-node ring holding rail can be moved upwardly and downwardly.

Claims: An up/down-motion apparatus for driving a ring rail (5) and a thread guide rail (18, 26) both supported by a machine frame (8) of a spinning machine, said up/down-motion apparatus comprising: an up/down-motion unit (3) positively moving upwardly and downwardly a supporting pillar (6) supporting said ring rail (5) and an up/down-drive mechanism (23, 30) driving said thread guide rail (18, 26) in the upward and downward directions in a reciprocating manner characterized in that said up/down-drive mechanism (23, 30) comprises a large-diameter rotatable member (14; 32) and a small-diameter rotatable member (15; 33) each mounted on said machine frame (8) rotatably in union about a same axis (13), a first drive means (16, 34) provided between and secured to said ring rail (5) and said large-diameter rotatable member (14, 32) such that an upward/downward motion of said ring rail (5) causes a rotating motion of said large-diameter rotatable member (14; 33) and a second drive means (21, 22, 17; 35, 36, 37) provided between and secured to said small-diameter rotatable member (15, 33) and said thread guide rail (18, 26) such that said second drive means (21, 22, 17; 35, 36, 37) translates the rotating motion of said small-diameter rotatable member (15; 33) integrally rotating with said large-diameter rotatable member (14; 33) into the upward/downward reciprocative motion of said thread guide rail (18, 26). An up/down-motion apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said thread guide rail is constituted by a lappet holding angle member. An up/down-motion apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said thread guide rail is constituted by an anti-node ring holding rail. An up/down-motion apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said up/down-motion means is comprised of a screw portion provided in said supporting pillar, a nut member mounted rotatably on said machine frame at a predetermined height position for supporting said supporting pillar in screw thread engagement with said screw portion, and a line shaft extending in a longitudinal direction of said machine frame for positively rotating reversibly said nut member. An up/down-motion apparatus as set forth in claim 1 or 4, said rotatable members being constituted by pulleys of different diameters, respectively, wherein said first drive means is constituted by a first belt having one end secured to said ring rail and a second end secured to said larger diameter pulley, and wherein said second drive means is comprised of a supporting pillar disposed vertically movably and having a top end to which said thread guide rail is coupled, and a second belt having one end secured to a bottom end of said supporting pillar and a second end secured to said pulley of small diameter, said smaller diameter pulley being formed in such a shape that a distance between the center of rotation and an outer peripheral surface varies. An up/down-motion apparatus as set forth in claim 1 or 4, wherein said smaller diameter rotatable member is constituted by a pulley and said larger diameter rotatable member is constituted by a pinion mounted coaxially with said pulley, and wherein said first drive means is constituted by a rack formed in said supporting pillar so as to mesh with said pinion and said second drive means is constituted by a cord. An up/down-motion apparatus as set forth in claim 6, wherein said cord is of a belt-like shape. A spinning machine having a machine frame (8), a ring rail (5), a lappet holding angle member (18) disposed at a position above said ring rail (5), and an anti-node ring holding rail disposed substantially at a mid portion between said ring rail (5) and said lappet holding angle member (18) and extending in a longitudinal direction of said spinning machine, characterized by an up/down-motion apparatus according to one of claims 1 to 7.

Inventors: NIIMI KIWAMU, NIIMI, KIWAMU, NIIMI, KIWAMU, C/O KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYODA
Applicants: TOYODA AUTOMATIC LOOM WORKS, KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYODA JIDOSHOKKI SEISAKUSHO
Application year: 1995
Main classification: D01H1
IPC codes: D01H1