System for handling and distributing spools to the coning stations of an automatic coning machine

Abstract: Conveyor device for spools, for handling said spools on a coning machine, with spool carrier disk means (1), wherein the means for handling the spools to be processed are constituted by a drive means (10) which is caused to horizontally circulate along a closed loop defined by a support plane (14) for said spool carrier disk means (1), with said drive means (10) being provided with pushing/guide means (13) guiding said spool carrier disks means (1) along said loop while driving them to run by sliding along the support plane (14).

Description: The present invention relates to the manufacture of high quality threads by means of the combined spinning-coning process. In the first step, the thread is produced and in the second step said thread is coned or rewound in order to deprive the thread of possible faulty or irregular portions from both viewpoints of aesthetical characteristics and mechanical strength, thus yielding a high-quality product. The coning, or rewinding, step is generally carried out at much higher speeds than the spinning process; thus, a small number of coning stations can process the thread produced by a much larger number of spinning stations, which produce a large number of spools of wound thread which are unwound and rewound into a smaller number of cones having a by far larger size. The difference in productivity of both steps is so large that a same coning machine can be used in order to process simultaneously the threads produced by a plurality of spinning frames, and even different types of threads produced by different spinning frames. The available processing capacity in the coning step is generally installed with a meaningful capacity excess relatively to the spinning step, so that the coning machine may process the product from the spinning frame, with no risk of getting flooded. The handling requirements do not relate only to the spools filled with wound thread (i.e., the cop) and the empty tubes, but also a small, but meaningful, number of irregular spools, i.e., tubes from which the thread was not completely unwound, but for which the coning station is no longer capable of recovering additional thread amounts, because their respective thread end cannot be recovered with the means said coning station is equipped with. Such irregular spools are discharged and recycled to the spool preparation devices for thread end location and are then fed again to the coning machine, in order to exhaust the thread still wound on their tube. The spools from which even such an operation does not allow the thread end to be recovered are, on the contrary, discharged and submitted to separate treatments. For the coning operation, it is necesary that the spools produced by the spinning step are prearranged with their thread end at a predetermined position, in general with said thread end slid through the upper opening of the tube on which the thread is wound to form the cop. The automatic coning unit will thus be capable of automatically catching said thread end from the spools as these are fed to it, and of starting the coning thereof, thus continuing the production of the cones. Between the spinning frame and the coning machine, rather large amounts of materials have thus to be handled: the empty tubes returned to the spinning frame, on which new cops are wound again, and the filled spools produced by the spinning frame to be prepared and fed to the coning machine. For indicative purposes, in the coning machines designed according to the most recent concepts, each coning station is capable of processing thirty, or even more, spools per hour, so that the total number of spools to be handled can be as large as some thousand pieces per hour. Such a handling volume requirement is very burdensome and in the most modern facilities it is committed, as far as possible, to automatic devices, with the interventions by the attending operators being only reserved to supervision and malfunctioning addressing. In the traditional coning machines, the handling of spools and tubes was carried out by means of box trolleys from which the spools or tubes were taken either by means or charging and ordering devices, or more simply, by hand. In more recent models, the transfer of the spools is carried out by means of conveyor belts, e.g. according to U.S. patent No. 4,571,931 to Schlafhorst, on which the ready spools are charged and released towards the coning stations. In U.S. patent No. 5,289,674 to Savio, the transfer of the ready spools to the coning units is committed to a device with running pockets kept always full and circulating, so as to create a reserve, or magazine, of ready spools. A different technical solution consists in transferring the spools onto supporting carrier means provided with a central vertical pin and of keeping then on such carrier means also during the unwinding step, such as, e.g., according to Japanese patent JP-B-49-12128 to Kanebo, or German patents 3,235,442; 3,213,253; and 3,249,583 to Murata. The adoption of such a contrivance makes it possible the spools to be transferred and processed practically without touching them and only acting on such carrier means, generally having a disk shape (i.e., a plate of circular shape). The spool type can be furthermore identified by instrumental means, when a plurality of thread batches are processed simultaneously, from the carrier disk means it is supported by. According to the prior art, the handling of the spool carrier disk means is generally carried out by moving the surface on which they rest, e.g., with conveyor belts in the case of rectilinear motions and revolutionary disks for circular motions. Another technical solution for circulating the spool carrier disks consists in driving said disks, causing them to slide on a support plane by driving means that exert a pushing action along a path defined by fixed guide elements, as in DE-A-41 13 092 to Rieter and FR-A-1 571 158 to Giddings & Lewis-Fraser. The advantages for the processed spools are achieved at the cost of some drawbacks, such as, e.g., the considerable complexities as relates to the motion driving and conveyor organs. During the coning step, a large amount of dirt is developed from the dusts and short fibers which are released by the threads, and can cause blockages or malfunctioning of the motion driving organs. The matter of fact that the carrier disk means simply rests on the conveyor belt implies the risk that any motion irregularities may cause the carrier disk means to overturn and the spools to fall down. The present invention relates to an apparatus for feeding the spools to an automatic coning machine and handling then inside said coning machine by using said carrier disk means, as regards both the handling of spools to be delivered to the coning stations, and the handling of the spools at the coning stations in order to move them between their stand-by, cop unwinding and exhausted spool tube discharging positions. The purpose of the present invention is of providing an improved device for transferring and handling the spools and tubes supported on spool carrier disk means, which is free from the drawbacks displayed by the analogous devices and processes known from the prior art. The characteristics and advantages of the device for feeding and handling the spools and tubes on a coning machine according to the present invention will be better evident from the disclosure of a typical exemplifying, non-limitative embodiment thereof, referred to the accompanying Figures 1-5, in which: Figure 1 shows a plan view of the conveyor system and coning station, and in the explanatory detail of Figure 1A the front view is displayed of transported spool carrier disk means, as seen according to BB, in which one will see a spool carrier disk means which supports a full spool and is travelling towards the one direction, and a spool carrier disk means which carries an empty tube and is travelling towards the opposite direction, with a protective guard means between both paths being also indicated; Figures 2 and 2A are the general views of the conveyor system with its drive means. The dashed area represents the coning machine front side, opposite to the conveyor system; Figure 3A and 3B are the plan views of two different embodiments of the guide organs for the spool carrier disk means; Figure 4 is a schematic side view of the coning unit and its main organs; Figure 5 is a plan view of the conveyor system and coning station according to an alternative embodiment of the discharge system for the exhausted spools. The spool carrier disk means (1), as evidenced in the detail of Figure 1A, per se known, is constituted by a circular base (2), and a spool supporting pin constituted by a collar (3), on which the tube of the spool to be conveyed rests, and a pin (4) which engages the bottom opening of the tube (5) of the spool. The diameter of the collar (3) is consequently substantially larger than of the tube, and the diameter of the pin (4) is slightly smaller than the diameter of the bore of the tube (5), so as to constrain said tube to stand in vertical position on said pin. According to the present invention, the carrier disk means destined to support the spools to transport them, are made from materials, and with such a finish degree of their bottom base, as to secure that said bottom base will display low adhesion to the flat surfaces onto which it comes to rest, so that it can be caused to slide on said surfaces by means of a very small force applied. At the beginning of the conveyance operation, the spool to be unwound is positioned on a spool carrier disk by means of per se known devices and methods. According to the present invention, on the rear side of the coning machine, the handling device is installed for handling the full spools to be fed to the coning stations which constitute the automatic coning machine. Said device is constituted by a drive means (10), which can be realized as a belt or a chain, and is caused to run according to a horizontal closed path, i.e., loop, between two vertical-axis guide/drive means (11). When the drive means (10) is constituted by a smooth or toothed belt, its drive means (11) can be normal pulleys. On the contrary, in the case when the drive means (10) is constituted by a toothed belt or a chain, its guide means (11) can be sprockets. One of both guide means (11) is provided with drive motor means (12), e.g., an electrical motor with a suitable reduction gear means. To the drive means (10) which runs in a direction as shown by the directional black arrows, pushing/guide means (13) are fastened, which are arranged at the level of the base (2) of the spool carrier disk means and push said carrier disk means to move in the direction of said arrows. Said pushing/guide means (13) constitute one of the characteristic features of the present invention, and will be disclosed now by referring to the embodiment, without spool carrier disk means, illustrated on the top side of Figure 1. They are constituted by a base (20) rigidly constrained to the belt (10) from which a bracket (21) extends perpendicularly to said belt (10), which bracket (21) engages the base (2) of the spool carrier disk means to apply a push to it, as schematically indicated in Figure 1. Such a fixed base (20) is so shaped as to extend, with an extending portion (20') thereof, over a meaningful portion of the base (2) of the spool disk carrier means (1), on its side facing the belt (10). On the base (20), by means of a vertical pivot (22) a horizontal jutting (23) is hinged and extends over a meaningful portion of the base of the spool carrier disk means (1) on the opposite side relatively to the belt (10). Said jutting (23) extends forwards in order to prevent the collar (3) of the spool carrier disk means from undergoing transversal shifts, and can be opened outwards with a moderate force, as necessary in order to override the resistance of a return spring (not shown in Figure), to enable the spool carrier disk means to get disengaged from its transport means, in outwards direction, on the occasion of its commanded diversion towards a coning station. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the opening of the guide fork formed by the juttings (20') and (23) is just larger than the diameter of the collar (3) of the spool carrier disk means (1). When the spool carrier disk means is disengaged, the spring causes the jutting (23) to return back to its "closed" position. In that way, the spool carrier disk means (1) are caused to circulate flanked by the drive means (10), resting and sliding on a support plane (14), owing to the effect of the push applied to them by the bracket (21) and guided by the juttings (20') and (23) which constrain them to move on the horizontal plane at a preestablished distance from the belt (10) according to a closed loop trajectory as evidenced in Figure 2, in which the dashed region indicates the front side of the coning machine assisted by the handling system disclosed up to here. Both juttings (20') and (23) perform also a second, essential function, i.e., they keep the spool carrier disk means anyway resting on its support plane and, consequently, the spool in an always vertical position, also in the case of unevennesses along the path, and changes in speed and running direction. On the left-hand side of the loop of Figure 2, a spool carrier disk means feeding system is schematically indicated, which feeds full (i.e., cop bearing) spool carrier disk means to occupy the free places on the trasport system. Like the lower surface of- the base of the spool carrier disk means, the support surface (14) is advantageously made from such materials, and with such a finish degree, as to secure that it will offer low adhesion for the spool carrier disk means resting on it, so that said spool carrier disk means can be caused to slide on it by a very small force applied. According to the present invention, the base (20) is so shaped and fastened to the belt (10), that said juttings (20') and (23) are at a distance from the support plane (14), which is just lightly longer than the thickness of the base (2) of the spool carrier disk means, and at a mutual transversal distance which is just slightly longer than the diameter of the collar (3). At each coning station of the coning machine, a diversion path is provided for, which begins with an upstream draft (16) and a downstream extension (16') and a diverting organ constituted by a pin or blade (17), which can be commanded to protrude to act as an obstacle hindering the passage of the spool carrier disk means, but not of the bracket (21), along the support surface (14), with said diverting organ being commanded by means of a drive means of conventional type not indicated in figure, following a request for a spool sent by the overhanging winding unit. Owing to the combined effect of the push applied by the bracket (21), which continues to move rightwards, and of the hindrance constituted by the blade (17) and the extension (16'), the spool carrier disk means is pushed to move towards the coning station, while progressively opening the jutting (23) of the fork (20')/(23) by means of the push applied by its collar (3), until it gets disengaged from the push applied by the bracket (21) and reaches the stand-by position (A) along the straight path of the spools inside the interior of the winding station. When the new spool comes to said stand-by position (A), a sensor means, not indicated in figure, signals the event and commands the diverting blade (17) getting released in order to return to its resting position. The rectilinear trajectory for spool processing inside the interior of the coning station is realized with a support plane (18) smoothly radiused to the plane (14), with stationary guides (19) and with pushing means. According to the invention, said guides (19) are so arranged as to extend over the base (2) of the spool carrier disk means and are arranged at a distance from the support plane (18) which is just lightly larger than the thickness of the base (2) of the spool carrier disk means, and at a mutual transversal distance which is just slightly larger than the diameter of the collar (3). The so defined processing path contains at least three working positions. A first position, referred to as the "(A) position" is the position reached by the spool as soon as it is delivered by the transport system and waiting for being brought to the unwinding step, which takes place at the second position, i.e., the "(D) position". The unwound spool, which by now no longer contains its cop, or which cannot be further unwound, is brought to the "(S) position" in order to be discharged to the conveyor system designed to handle the exhausted ("empty") spools. In the schematic view of Figure 1, for the sake of simplicity only one from the plurality of spool paths provided in the winding station is displayed. Actually, the upper loop feeding the ready spools and the bottom loop for discharging the exhausted spools are connected to each other by a plurality of such paths, the number of which is equal to the number of winding units of the machine. In Figures 3A/B, two alternative embodiments of the pushing/guide means (13) are schematically illustrated. The spools move from top downwards on the plane of the drawing, and three positions in cascade are indicated: the spool meeting the diverting blade (17), the fork opening and delivering the spool to the coning station, and, finally the by now empty pushing/guide means (13) which is being got away. In Figure 3A, both juttings (20') and (23) are both hinged around (22) and can rotate to open towards the front side of the coning machine, and deliver the spool carrier disk means. In Figure 3B, the jutting (20') was not installed, and the task of retaining the spool carrier disk means was committed to the belt 10. In Figure 4, the coning station is schematically illustrated with its main organs. With the reference numeral (30) a spool in stand-by state is displayed, with its thread end (31) placed inside the top opening of the tube. With (32) the spool which is being unwound is indicated; the reference numeral (33) indicates the suction mouth for the spool thread end, in its position (33A) in which said suction mouth delivers the thread to the suction mouth of the knotting device, and in its position (33B) in which said suction mouth takes the thread end from the spool (32). The sensor for thread presence on the spool side is indicated with (34) and the thread tightener is indicated with (35). The reference numeral (36) indicates the thread end suction mouth of the knotting device on the spool side, in its position (36A) in which it delivers the thread end to the knotting device (37), and in its position (36B) in which it takes the thread end from the suction mouth (33). The slub catcher is indicated with (38) and (39) is the suction mouth for the thread end from the cone (40), in its positions (39A) in which it catches the thread end from the cone and (39B) in which it delivers said thread end to the knotting device (37). The cone drive roller is indicated with (41) and the cone carrier arm is indicated with (42). The trajectory (43) of the thread between the spool and the cone is indicated in chain line. The handling of the spools between (A), (D) and (S) positions is determined by commands sent by the coning station. In those cases when the coning procedure was discontinued owing to lack of thread coming from spool side, the spool which is being unwound (32) is regarded as being exhausted by the organs of the coning machine, either because it was completely unwound, or because a certain number of attempts of thread ends search, catching and knotting were unsuccessful: in that case, the coning machine pilot unit commands the change of the spool which is being unwound. The command of unwound spool change is then integrated by the pilot unit with both the command for calling a new reserve spool from its stand-by position (A), which got liberated during the spool change, and the command for exhausted spool removal. The call for the new spool is implemented by causing the diverting blade (17) to move upwards. The exhausted spool which is in (S) position must be removed at once in order to let said position free; said removal must take place on the first signal of removal path free. According to the present invention, the motion of the spools inside the interior of the coning station is caused to take place by a push action. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the spools are caused to move by means of the pair of pushing levers (50) and (51), which pivot around the hinges (52) and (53), and are linked by the tie-rod (54). They are positioned above the guides (19) and are caused to pivot according to a limited revolutionary stroke in clockwise and counterclockwise directions alternatively, by the double acting hydraulic cylinder (55), e.g., pneumatically actuated with the compressed air the machine is fed with. According to the illustrated embodiment, said levers (50) and (51) are realized -- at least as regards the lever (51) -- with their far ends relatively to hinges (52) and (53), respectively, being equipped with articulated joints which remain rigid when said levers urge downwards, i.e., towards the discharge path, the collar (3) of the spool carrier disk means with the spools on the plane of Figure 1, by being caused to revolve counterclockwise; and which, on the contrary, fold on themselves when, during their return movement back to their rest positions, said levers are caused to revolve clockwise and interfere with the obstacle constituted by the collar of the spool carrier disk carrying the new spool which is being unwound and, possibly, also constituted by the collar of the new spool in stand-by position. Said articulated joints return back to their extended position after overcoming said obstacles, owing to the action of a spring of conventional type, not indicated in figure. During their revolutionary movement in counterclockwise direction, the levers (50) and (51) reach their positions (50') and (51') catching both spools illustrated in figure in positions (A) and (D), respectively, and moving them to the positions (D) and (S), respectively. In the same way as for the spool in (A) position, when the new spool comes to the (D) position a sensor, not indicated in figure, signals the occurred change to the pilot unit which then may command the coning procedure to be started again. The spool discharged to the (S) position is immediately removed. The system for handling the exhausted spools in Figure 1 is illustrated with an identical device to the handling device for the spools delivered to the coning station, and is substantially constituted by a drive means (10'), a support surface (14') and pushing organs (13') analogous to the same organs as disclosed hereinabove. Such a system is installed on the front side of the coning machine which is opposite to the side of the handling system designed to handle full spools and is designed to receive the exhausted spools from the plurality of coning stations which constitute the coning machine. The operations of delivery of the exhausted spools to the transport system for exhausted spools is commanded by the machine pilot unit and is conditioned by a sensor (60) of conventional type, e.g., a double-position optical sensor, which signals, with a suitable advance warning, that a bracket (13') without a spool carrier disk means is approaching. The removal takes place by means of a push lever system analogous to the preceding one and constituted by a push lever (61) which pivots around the hinge (62). Said push lever is caused to revolve according to a limited revolution stroke in clockwise and counterclockwise direction, by the double acting cylinder (63). As soon as the spool carrier disk means with the exhausted spool is urged to reach its useful position in which it can be caught by the arriving bracket (13'), the lever (61) is caused to return back to its rest position. In Figure 5, an alternative embodiment of the system for discharging the exhausted spools from the coning machine is shown, which adopts the transport on a conveyor tape installed along the front side of the coning machine to receive the exhausted spools removed from the plurality of coning stations which compose the machine. According to technical solution illustrated here, a conveyor belt (70) is used, the width of which is substantially exceeding the cross size of the spool carrier disk means. The shift of the lever (51) to its position (51') brings the spool carrier disk means with the exhausted spool, at least for a large portion thereof, already on the belt (70). In the (S) position, both guides (19') are shaped with a wide taper towards the outlet, with the discharge path for the exhausted spools being smoothly radiused with the guides (19), with any risks of blockages being thus eliminated. The scheme of Figure 4 can also be realized with a narrower conveyor tape. In that case, the system for discharging the spools onto the conveyor belt uses a supplementary push device, like the lever (61) illustrated in Figure 1, which pushes the spool carrier disk means with the exhausted spool onto the conveyor belt. The spool handling system disclosed up to here offers considerable advantages over the systems known from the prior art. Among them, we regard the following as being worth being mentioned. The full spool feed loop can be kept continuously moving and with all, or most, of its transport positions being full with ready-to-unwind spools, so as to meet very rapidly the request for spools coming from the coning stations, and to constitute a reserve (magazine) of ready-to-unwind spools for meeting request peaks. The spools present in the loop are kept at a certain distance from each other, so as to avoid jammings and collisions during the handling. Such a closed loop is kept moving by means of one single drive system, whilst the conveyor belts known from the prior art require that the guide means and the drive means are changed at each change in running direction. The presence of the forks (20')/(23) in the handling system and of the upper guides (19) inside the coning station secures that the spool carrier disk means will always remain resting on the support plane and that the spool all always stand in vertical position, also when running speed and direction are changed. Therefore, no substantial limits exist to spool handling speed. The support surfaces (14) and (18) can be provided with suitable openings for removing dirt and impurities developed during the unwinding step.

Claims: Spool conveyor device far their handling in an automatic coming machine comprising individual spool carrier means of spool carrier disk means type for the spools fed to, unwound and discharged from, the coning machine, and means for transferring said spool carrier disk means which carry the spools which are being processed, said transferring means for the spool carrier disk means with their respective spools being constituted by a drive means (10) which is caused to circulate horizontally between two guide/drive means (11) with vertical axis, to generate a closed loop defined by a support plane (14), said drive means (10) being provided with pushing/guide means (13) which, in their turn, are constituted by a base (20) rigidly constrained to the drive means (10) from which a bracket (21) extends perpendicularly which engages the base (2) of the spool carrier disk means to apply a push to it, with said base (20) being provided with one or more jutting(s) (20')/(23) capable of extending over a meaningful portion of the base (2) of the spool carrier disk means (1), and said guide/drive means applying push to the spool carrier disk means (1) and consequently cause them to run alongside the drive means (10) and sliding along the support plane (14), characterized in that the pushing/guide means (13) are constituted by a fixed base (20) so shaped as to extend, with an extending portion (20') thereof, over a meaningful portion of the base (2) of the spool disk carrier means on its side facing the belt (10), on which base (20) a horizontal jutting (23) is hinged and extends over a meaningful portion of the base of the spool carrier disk means on the opposite side relatively to the belt (10) and hinders the possible transversal shifts of the collar (3) of the spool carrier disk means, wherein said jutting (23) can be opened outwards with a moderate force, as necessary in order to override the resistance of a return spring to enable the spool carrier disk means to get disengaged from its transport means, in outwards direction, on the occasion of its commanded diversion towards a coming station. Spool conveyor device to handle them in an automatic coming machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the extending portion (20') is fixed relatively to the base (20). Spool conveyor device to handle them in an automatic coming machine according to claim 1, characterized in that both juttings (20') and (23) are hinged around (22) and can rotate to open towards the front side of the coning machine, to deliver the spool carrier disk means. Spool conveyor device to handle them in an automatic coming machine according to claim 1, comprising, on a front side of said coning machine, a closed-loop conveyor system for spools ready to be fed to the unwinding step at the coming stations which compose the coming machine, and, on the opposite front side of said coming machine, a conveyor system for removing the exhausted spools from the unwinding stations, characterized in that both said conveyor systems are connected with each other by means of a plurality of rectilinear processing paths at each coming station, with said paths being defined by a support plane (18) and stationary guides (19) and comprising at least three working positions -- an (A) position for the spool in stand-by state, waiting for being unwound, a (D) position of the spool which is being unwound, and an (S) position of the exhausted spool waiting for being removed -- and being provided with push means (50), (51) to push the spool carrier disk means with their respective spools, to move towards and from said positions. Spool conveyor device for handling them on an automatic coning machine according to claim 1, characterized in that said (S) position of the processing path is provided with a push means (61) to remove the spool carrier disk means with the exhausted spool from said (S) position and to deliver it to the conveyor system for the exhausted spools. Spool conveyor device for handling said spools on an automatic coning machine according to claim 4, characterized in that said conveyor system for the exhausted spools is constituted by a conveyor belt. Spool conveyor device for handling said spools on an automatic coning machine according to claim 4, characterized in that at each coning station of said automatic coning machine, the path of the spool carrier disk means with the spools running on the support plane (14) is provided with a branching with a draft and a diverter organ (17) which can be caused to protrude to act as an obstacle to the passage of the spool carrier disk means, but not of the bracket (13), from the surface (14) of the conveyor loop for the ready spools, in order to cause a spool carrier disk means to be diverted until it gets disengaged from the push applied by the bracket (13) and is caused to reach the (A) position of the rectilinear spool processing path inside the interior of the coning station.

Inventors: BADIALI ROBERTO, BERTOLI LUCIANO, COLOMBEROTTO GIORGIO, BADIALI, ROBERTO, BERTOLI, LUCIANO, COLOMBEROTTO, GIORGIO
Applicants: SAVIO MACCHINE TESSILI SPA, SAVIO MACCHINE TESSILI S.P.A.
Application year: 1996
Main classification: B65H67
IPC codes: B65H67