Improved carrier for maintaining packages and tubes in an erect position for their transport and positioning within textile machines

Abstract: A caddy for packages and tubes in yarn production processes, comprising a disc-shaped base (1) in which there is inserted a hollow tubular peg (4) about which a package support slider (3) is mounted coaxial to the peg (4) and slidable on it, to offer to the package (5) mounted on the peg a level-adjustable support.

Description: This invention relates to the handling of packages and tubes within textile yarn preparation machines and in particular to an individual movable support for their transport and positioning for processing. In the known art, considerable favour has been found in the expedient of handling packages and tubes in the production, control and packaging of yarn from textile fibre sliver by the use of carriers to be located on belt conveyors or similar handling members serving the machine, for individually moving said packages and tubes to and from the processing units. Said carriers are provided with a vertical central mandrel which enables the package to be maintained in an erect position not only during their transport but also during their preparation and unwinding, the packages being transferred and processed practically without having to be touched, by manipulating only the carriers, without the packages having to touch and slide in contact with the machine members, so becoming soiled or deteriorated. A carrier according to the preamble of claim 1 is described in numerous documents of the known art, such as French patent 1,571, 158 in the name of Giddings and Lewis-Fraser, Japanese patent JP-B-49-12128 in the name of Kanebo and Italian patent application 48, 195/A/82 in the name of Murata. A technical problem deriving from carriers of the known art occurs during the unwinding of the package in a bobbin winding machine. In this respect, it should be noted that in winding machines of the most recent design the unwinding speed is of the order of 25 m/sec and more, with the yarn rotating about the package at a speed of the order of 10,000-20,000 r.p.m. Hence radial stresses are generated which tend to deviate the package from the vertical, and axial stresses which tend to raise the package. These stresses tend to shift the package and carrier from their correct vertical centered position during processing, with possible misalignment and escape of the package from the carrier mandrel on which it simply rests during its unwinding. To obviate these drawbacks more elaborate carrier constructions have been proposed, by providing it with resilient means for retaining the package and with conical lead-in fins for its centering, for example in DE-A-4,236,038 and US-A-5,297,761 in the name of Schlafhorst and in Italian patent application MI96A125 in the name of the present applicant. These arrangements are however not free from drawbacks, especially considering that in a yarn spinning and bobbin winding complex thousands of carriers may be required for each machine, especially if processing several batches, ie dividing the bobbin winding machine by simultaneously using in some of the winding units a yarn different from that used in the other winding units of the same machine. As can be seen hereinafter, the carrier according to the invention is advantageously suitable for supporting different sized packages while maintaining them in a constant position relative to the winding machine members and ensuring a yarn end always of constant length on commencing the unwinding of a new package. To clarify the technical problems confronted and solved by the present invention and its characteristics and advantages compared with the known art, the present invention is described hereinafter with reference to its application to the processing of packages during bobbin winding, by way of non-limiting example. The present invention therefore relates to an individual carrier for packages and tubes, for their positioning, transport and correct position maintenance during their unwinding in yarn preparation machines. The object of the present invention is to provide an improved carrier of more general use free from the drawbacks of analogous supports of the known art. The present invention is defined in terms of its most general conception in the first claim. The characteristics and advantages of the carrier according to the present invention will be more apparent from the description of some typical embodiments thereof given hereinafter by way of nonlimiting example with reference to Figures 1 to 4. Figures 1A,B show one embodiment of an individual transport carrier according to the present invention. Figure 1A is a section through the carrier carrying a large-format package, and Figure 1B is a section through the carrier carrying a smaller package. It consists of a cylindrical preferably circular disc-shaped base 1, upperly carrying a cylindrical collar 2. The lower face of the base 1 is intended to rest on machine transport and service devices, and the upper face of the cylindrical collar 2 acts as a support or limit stop for the support slider 3 for the tube of the transported package. The body of the collar 2 also performs other functions in guiding the caddy along the bobbin winding paths. In the unit formed by the base 1 and collar 2 there is inserted a tubular peg intended to engage the cavity of the tube on which the package is wound, said tubular peg being intended to contain the yarn end of the package after its preparation for unwinding, for example in automatic preparation devices. The support slider 3 for the package is coaxial to the peg 4. It can slide on this latter and then be locked thereto so as to offer the package 5 mounted on the peg a support at a level adjustable relative to the tip of the tubular peg 4, by varying its height from the caddy base 1. In the embodiments of Figures 1A,B the slider is of conical form, in order to exert on the lower end of the package tube 6 an action for centering its lower cavity about the peg 4. The slider can be fixed at the desired level on the peg 4 by conventional positioning means, for example with a setscrew 9 in Figures 1A,B which screws into and unscrews from a threaded guide hole transverse to the peg 4. The useful length of the tubular peg 4 is on the whole less than the length of the longest package in the range which is to be processed. It is not-necessary for the upper end of the tubular peg 4 to emerge from the top of the package. In this respect, the slider 3 is preferably adjusted so that the top of the tube 6 is higher than the end of the peg 4 and at a constant distance therefrom determined by the overlying members of the bobbin winding unit, for example the so-called "balloon breaker" which limits the transverse excursion of the unwinding yarn. On the upper part of the tubular peg 4 which is to engage the upper part of the tube 6 of the package 5, there are provided a plurality of spring elements 7, of three or more in number, distributed about the vertical axis of the peg 4, preferably symmetrically thereabout. Said spring elements 7 are provided with projections 8 intended to grip the upper part of the inner cylindrical wall of the tube 6. In Figures 1A,B the spring elements 7 are each provided with a single projection 8, providing centering of the upper part of the tube 6, centering of the lower part already being ensured by the conical shape of the slider 3. The elastic elements 7, preferably constructed of metal such as spring steel, are formed of such cross-sections and shapes as to achieve a transverse dimension at rest which is slightly greater than the inner dimension scheduled for the tube 6, and hence undergo, with all available tubes, an elastic deformation when the tube is mounted on the tubular peg 4 to rest on the slider 3, so ensuring both that the package 5 is centered and that the forces which would tend to shift it during unwinding are counteracted. This type of construction enables a centered and correct position to be maintained even for tubes which are of considerably different diameters and lengths, by simply adjusting the positioning level of the slider when using tubes which have to rest at a different level. The further figures from 1C to 1F illustrate by way of nonlimiting example some examples of the connection between the tubular peg 4 and the spring elements 7. The lower part of the carrier comprising the base disc 1 and the collar 2, plus the slider 3, can be constructed of plastic material, whereas the tubular peg 4 can be formed from a metal tube, such as steel. In the embodiment shown in Figures 1C and 1D which represent a side view and a top section thereof, the spring elements 7 are joined together at their ends by an upper tubular collar 11 and a lower tubular collar 12, of inner diameter such as to slide along the peg as an exact fit, forming a cage which contains it. This cage is fixed to the tubular peg 4 at a predetermined height, which generally must not be changed during the technical life of the caddy. The deformation of the springs 7 by the tubes put on them causes the springs to undergo a significant excursion along the peg 4, the fixing hence being such as to allow the springs 7 this excursion freedom. In the detailed section of Figure 1E the spring cage is fixed by a horizontal circular projection 13 in the inner perimeter of the upper collar 11 to restrict passage of the tubular peg 4, in which a horizontal circular groove 14 is provided in its outer perimeter of such a profile as to contain that of the projections 13, this corresponding to a positioning height for the springs 7 on the peg 4. The projection 13 is inserted into the groove 14, for example by forcing it under hot conditions. In other words, the spring cage is fixed by a forced fit between projections 13 and grooves 14 provided on one of the collars and in the tubular peg 4, at a height corresponding to the positioning of the springs 7 on the peg 4. As can be seen, the lower collar 12 can slide freely along the peg 4 when the springs 7 are compressed and released. In the detailed section of Figure 1F the spring cage 7 is fixed to the peg 4 by one or more rivets 17 applied to the perimeter of the upper collar 11, the collar 12 not being restrained in its excursion along the peg. The outer transverse dimension of the tubular peg 4 must also be coherent with the size of the tubes to be received and supported. Generally it must have an outer diameter less than the smallest inner diameter scheduled for the tubes of the packages to be processed while also leaving the space required for the useful transverse travel of the springs 7 which expand and compress according to the constriction exercized by the tube mounted on them. In the same manner the transverse dimension of the slider 3 must also be coherent with the diameter of the tubes to be centered and supported. Generally the outer diameter of its lower part must be substantially greater than the largest inner diameter scheduled for the tubes 6 of the packages 5 to be processed, the outer diameter of its upper part being substantially less than the smallest inner diameter scheduled for the tubes of the packages to be processed, so that in all cases they rest on its conical part. Service air, both drawn and blown, passes through the interior of the tubular peg 4 from the top of the tube to its base. For this purpose, in the embodiment shown in Figures 1A, B, the lower outlet of the passage is provided in the cylindrical face of the collar 2, by means of a horizontal hole 10. In the alternative embodiment of Figure 2, the lower outlet of the air passage is provided, for example, in the lower face of the disc 1, with the hole 21 passing vertically. Figure 3 shows an alternative embodiment of the caddy of the invention. In this embodiment the slider 23 is in the form of a cylinder, with a horizontal upper flat face on which there rests the lower end of the tube, not shown in the figure. In this embodiment the diameter of the upper face must be substantially greater than the inner diameter of the largest of the scheduled tubes, so as to ensure a secure flat support in all cases. The elastic centering elements 24 positioned on the upper part of the tubular peg 4 are formed as leaf springs with two or more projections 25, alternating with a plurality of recesses 26 designed to rest on the outer surface of the tubular peg 4. Each leaf spring element 24 is fixed to the peg 4 at the centre of the recess 26, for example by rivets 27 which enable the two recessed ends 26 of the leaf spring to undergo free longitudinal excursion by the effect of the inward compression of the projections 25 by the tube mounted on the tubular peg 4. Figures 4A to 4F show some alternative methods for adjusting the level of the slider 3 along the tubular peg 4. Figures 4A and 4B show a slider in which the frusto-conical body 31 of the slider is formed with a complete vertical cut 32 along one of its generating lines, giving it a C-shape in plan view, as shown in Figure 4B. The cut is of small thickness such that when the two trapezoidal faces of the cut are compressed one towards the other, the through hole 33 in the slider substantially contracts so that it becomes clamped against the cylindrical surface of the tubular peg 4, hence forming a coupling sleeve on the peg. This compression is achieved by one or more threaded through bolts 34 screwed into the slider body to rest on one side of the cut on a shoulder 35 in a cylindrical cavity provided in the slider body, and engage on the other side in the thread 36 in the slider body. These members for the approach and withdrawal of the faces of the cut 32 are formed preferably as metal inserts within the body of the slider, which is preferably of plastics construction. Figures 4C to 4F show a slider with a snap-fixing system, in which the slider 40 slides along a tubular peg 41 provided with a series of notches 42 in the form of circumferential grooves provided in its outer cylindrical surface, to determine a series of slider positioning levels along the peg 41, as in Figure 4C. A horizontal slot 43 is provided in the slider 40 to form a passage between its perimetral conical surface and its through bore in which the peg 41 slides, a space being left about said bore to house a locking piece 44 and allow it to slide between two alternative positions, namely a locking position and a release position. The locking piece 44 is of U-shape, of which the two arms 45 are each provided with a final projection 46. These projections are at a distance apart less than the outer diameter of the peg 41 and contain as an exact fit the diameter of the grooves 42, so that when the two arms assume a radially displaced position, as in Figure 4D, the two projections interfere with that of the grooves 42 which is at their height, as in Figure 4E, to lock the slider 40 to the peg 41. The guide slot 43 also houses a pair of springs 47 which urge the locking piece 44 into the position for locking the slider 40, with the arms 45 pulled outwards and the two projections 46 engaging the groove 42. The travel of the locking piece 44 is defined by two limit stops, not shown in the figure for simplicity of drawing. To disengage the locking piece 44 and release the slider, the locking piece 44 is pushed inwards, overcoming the thrust of the springs 47 as shown in Figure 4F. The projections 46 no longer interfere with the groove 42 and the slider can be slid along the peg 42 to a different positioning level, until the thrust of the springs 47 finds a different groove 42 into which to newly insert the two projections 46 and again lock the slider 40. It is apparent that the carrier according to the invention enables the package tube to be engaged and restrained by a series of elastic contact points distributed effectively at the two ends of the inner cylindrical surface of the tube 6, which is currently formed with a slight taper. Both the resistance of this restraint to those forces which during unwinding tend to shift the package from its vertical centered position, and its capacity for vibration damping can be previously regulated on the basis of the shape, dimensions and rigidity of the elastic elements 7, 14 for the tube which they have to carry. The adjustability of the level of the slider 3 (or its versions 23, 31 and 40) enable the package 5 to be set for each working campaign at a constant predetermined distance from the overlying members of the winding unit, independently of the package size, within the workable range. In automatic machines, the package must be positioned for unwinding with its yarn end 20 free and lying within its tube, from which it is withdrawn by pneumatic or mechanical effect. A very important technical aspect of the package support according to the present invention lies in the fact that this free yarn end is contained within the tubular peg 4 of the carrier according to the invention instead of within the tube 6. Generally, the yarn end available for being seized and carried to the members of the bobbin winding unit must be greater than a certain length for success to be achieved. This can be difficult if the package and its tube are too short to contain a yarn end length 20 which satisfies this requirement. Again generally, if the package and its tube are small, they are more distant from the winding members so requiring a longer yarn end, greater than the length available within the tube to contain it. It is immediately apparent that the carrier of the invention overcomes this drawback both in that it enables the package, whether small or large, to be maintained at a fixed distance from the overlying winding members, and in that it provides a cavity available for the yarn end which is independent of the package format and of the length of its tube. Secondly, if carriers are used with their pegs provided with retention springs or fins such as those available in the known art, the package yarn end is positioned within the tube and can hence become trapped within said springs or fins and not be easily withdrawable by suction for starting its unwinding. It is immediately apparent that the carrier of the invention overcomes this drawback in that it provides within the tubular peg 4 a cavity available for the yarn end 20 which is free of springs or projections which could cause the yarn end to jam. Further advantages relate to the loading of the packages onto the carrier when operating by gravity fall and the new carrier has to be positioned, the package guided onto its peg and then the loaded carrier withdrawn. With carriers of the known art, there is the drawback that when the carrier is without its package the peg is much lower than the vertical height of the carrier when loaded with a package. It is hence difficult to allow a package to fall accurately onto the carrier for which it is destined, and guide systems for the falling package have to be used which open to allow the loaded carrier to depart, and reclose to load the next carrier, with synchronization problems. With the carrier of the present invention the overall size of the unloaded carrier is substantially equal to that of the carrier provided with its package, the loading of the carrier hence being facilitated and simplified.

Claims: A carrier for transporting, positioning and processing packages and tubes in yarn production processes, consisting of a disc-shaped cylindrical base (1), a cylindrical collar ( 2) and a mandrel which maintains the package (5) in an erect position, characterised in that the package carrier mandrel consists of a hollow tubular peg (4) about which there is mounted a package support slider (3) which is coaxial to the peg (4), and can slide on and then be locked to this latter so as to offer to the package (5), mounted on the peg, a support of adjustable level relative to the tip of the hollow tubular peg (4). A carrier for transporting, positioning and processing packages and tubes in yarn production processes as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that on the upper part of the tubular peg (4) there are provided a plurality of spring elements (7) for engaging the upper part of the tube (6) of the package (5). A carrier for transporting, positioning and processing packages and tubes in yarn production processes as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the slider (3) is of conical shape, acting to provide centering of the lower end cavity of the package tube (6) about the tubular peg (4). A carrier for transporting, positioning and processing packages and tubes in yarn production processes as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that the elastic centering elements (24) provided in the upper part of the tubular peg (4) are formed as leaf springs with two or more projections (25) alternating with a plurality of recesses (26). A carrier for transporting, positioning and processing packages and tubes in yarn production processes as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that the leaf spring elements (7) are joined together at their ends by an upper tubular collar (11) and a lower tubular collar (12) which are mounted to slide as an exact fit along the peg (4), forming a cage which contains it. A carrier for transporting, positioning and processing packages and tubes in yarn production processes as claimed in claim 5, characterised in that the spring cage is fixed by a forced fit between projections (13) and grooves (14) provided on one of the collars and in the tubular peg (4), at a height corresponding to the positioning of the springs (7) on the peg (4). A carrier for transporting, positioning and processing packages and tubes in yarn production processes as claimed in claim 5, characterised in that the spring cage (7) is fixed to the peg (4) by one or more rivets (17) applied to the perimeter of the upper collar (11). A carrier for transporting, positioning and processing packages and tubes in yarn production processes as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the slider body (31) is constructed as a coupling sleeve for its locking against the cylindrical surface of the tubular peg (4), by providing it with one or more compression bolts (34) for said locking. A carrier for transporting, positioning and processing packages and tubes in yarn production processes as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the slider body (40) is provided with a snap-fixing system and slides along a tubular peg (41) provided with a series of notches (42), which determine a series of positioning levels for the slider along the peg (41), in the slider (40) there being provided a slot (43) for housing a locking piece (44) which can assume two alternative positions, namely a fixing position and a release position. A carrier for transporting, positioning and processing packages and tubes in yarn production processes as claimed in claim 9, characterised in that the locking piece (44) is of U-shape in which the two arms (45) comprise terminal projections (46) which are located a distance apart less than the outer diameter of the peg (41) and which contain as an exact fit the diameter of the grooves of the notches (42). A carrier for transporting, positioning and processing packages and tubes in yarn production processes as claimed in claim 10, characterised in that the guide slot (43) houses springs (47) which urge the locking piece (44) into the position in which it locks the slider (40).

Inventors: ANTONIEL MAURIZIO, BERTOLI LUCIANO, PIVA LUIGI, ANTONIEL, MAURIZIO, BERTOLI, LUCIANO, PIVA, LUIGI
Applicants: SAVIO MACCHINE TESSILI SPA, SAVIO MACCHINE TESSILI S.P.A.
Application year: 1997
Main classification: B65H49
IPC codes: B65H49, D01H9