Abstract:
A yarn cone holder whereby the yarn cone is mounted on an angled wire section of the holder with a yarn retention arm disposed substantially below the yarn cone and extending outwardly therefrom and including a resilient pad with the lower edge of the yarn cone deforming the resilient pad.

Description:
The benefits under 35 U.S.C. 119 are claimed of provisional patent application 62/045,263 filed Sep. 3, 2014. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Creels are widely used in the textile and the carpet industry on which multiple yarn cones are mounted at varying positions on the creel. Yarn is unwound from the cone and transferred to tufting, warping, weaving looms and other like-type machines. During this process, yarn is unraveled from the cardboard yarn cone at high speed which causes inherent vibration in the cone itself. This results in the strands of yarn wrapped around the cone and disposed closest to the creel post tending to slide away from the cone which can cause interference in the operation of the creel including yarn breakage and yarn tightening which requires the operator to manually reposition the yarn strands on the cone. By this invention, lower strands of yarn are maintained in position and the need for yarn end and tension detectors is eliminated. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In textile manufacturing, multiple yarn cones are mounted on a creel by means of a yarn cone holder. As the yarn is removed from the cones, yarn wound on the lower portions of the cones tends to unravel. In order to prevent undesirable unraveling, according to this invention, a wire cone holder includes angular wire cone engaging means with the yarn cone mounted thereon and which is attached to the creel by means of an attachment bracket. A yarn retention arm including a base plate with a foam pad mounted thereon extends laterally from the cone engaging means so that the lower edge of the yarn cone depresses the resilient foam causing the foam pad to envelop the lower strands of yarn mounted on the cone and thereby maintain them in their proper position. This results in the elimination of the need for tight end detectors and motion sensors so that the machine operates at a higher production efficiency. 
     Over time, yarn cones tend to collapse and assume an irregular shape making it difficult to install them on a conventional wire cone holder. According to this invention, the wire cone engaging means includes a pair of angular spaced wire sections extending from an attachment bracket with the distal looped ends angled inwardly to facilitate mounting of the yarn cone even if it is substantially collapsed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is a partial representation of multiple yarn cone holders mounted on a creel; 
         FIG. 2  is an enlarged side elevational view of a yarn cone holder with a yarn cone mounted thereon, according to this invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the yarn cone holder and retention arm; 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view of the holder shown in  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  is an inverted perspective view of a modified retention arm; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a further embodiment of the retention arm; 
         FIG. 7  is an exploded view of a modification of the wire yarn holder and retention arm shown in  FIG. 4 ; and 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of further embodiment of the retention arm. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     In the drawings and with particular reference to  FIG. 1 , numeral  1  designates an upright frame member or creel post of a conventional creel with multiple vertically arranged support shafts  2  extending outwardly and generally laterally therefrom. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the yarn cone holder is designated generally by the numeral  3  and includes attachment bracket  4  and wire cone engaging means  5 . Wire cone engaging means  5  includes wire sections  6  and  7  the free ends of which are secured to bracket  4 , as is well known. Wire sections  6  and  7  extend in a generally parallel fashion from bracket  4  outwardly and loop around through an angle substantially greater than  90  degrees whereby the ends opposite from bracket  4  are integrally joined together by connector  8 . The distal looped ends of wire sections  6  and  7  are angled inwardly so that the tips are in close proximity to the point of touching or slightly separated. 
     According to a feature of this invention and as best shown in  FIGS. 4-7 , the yarn retention arm is indicated generally by the numeral  9  and includes base plate  10  and foam pad  11 . Foam pad  11  is manufactured of any suitable resilient foam material and is secured to base plate  10  by means of conventional hook strips  12  and loop strips  13  adhered, respectively, to foam pad  11  and base plate  10 . By this means, foam pads  11  are quickly removed and replaced, as needed, due to wear and tear. Foam pads  11  are also attachable to base plate  10  by more permanent means such as glue and the like. 
     In order to attach yarn retention arm  9  to creel support shaft  2 , various types of brackets are utilized. One such bracket is shown in  FIG. 5  in the form of a split collar bracket generally designated by the numeral  14  by which semicircular clamp  15  is secured by welding and the like to base plate  10 . In order to attach retention arm  9  to support shaft  2 , without the necessity of removing and replacing wire cone engaging means  5 , semicircular clamp  15  is positioned around support shaft  2  and corresponding semicircular clamp  16  is placed on the opposite side of support shaft  2 . Then semicircular clamps  15  and  16  are secured together by means of screws  17  and  18  so that yarn retention arm  9  is securely fastened to support shaft  2  and extends through aperture  22 . By separating semicircular clamps  15  and  16 , retention arm  9  is easily removed and replaced without the necessity to disassemble and remove any other elements of yarn cone holder  3 . 
     An alternate yarn retention arm attachment means is shown in  FIG. 6  by which circular bracket  19  is attached to base plate  10  by welding and the like and is provided with set screw  20 . In order to install yarn retention arm  9  on the creel, it is positioned so that support shaft  2  extends through aperture  21  of circular bracket  19 . Bracket  19  is then secured in place by set screw  20  and retention arm  9  is in an operational position as shown generally in  FIG. 1 . 
     Following this, yarn cone holder  3  is positioned on support shaft  2  whereby support shaft  2  extends through aperture  23  of attachment bracket  4  such that the lower surface of attachment bracket  4  is in face contacting relation with the upper surface of either circular bracket  19  or split collar bracket  14  depending on which type of bracket is being used. Attachment bracket  4  is secured to support shaft  2  by means of set screw  24  extending through an aperture formed in attachment bracket  4 , as shown in  FIG. 7 . 
     Yarn cone  25  is then positioned on yarn cone holder  3  in known manner. Since the inner diameter of yarn cone  25  is less than the angular disposition of wire cone engaging means  5 , the resulting outwardly biasing force on the inside of yarn cone  25  acts to maintain the yarn cone in its proper operational position on the creel, as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     Since the lower strands of yarn  26  tend to unravel in practice, it is necessary to maintain yarn  26  from unraveling around the inner edge of yarn cone  25  which causes a tight end or break out. This is accomplished by the resiliency of foam pad  11  whereby the inner edge of yarn cone  25  closest to the creel post  1  is caused to depress foam pad  11  inwardly an amount sufficient to cause the surrounding foam to envelope and thereby hold the lower strands of yarn  26  in position. 
     Depending on the access limitations of the particular creel, bracket  4  is positioned so that set screw  24  is accessed from above or below and affixed to support shaft  2  by means of set screw  24 . 
     In some applications of this invention, it is desirable to affix a second foam pad  11  to the opposite side of base plate  11 , as shown in  FIG. 8 , so that, in effect, base plate  10  is fully enveloped in foam so as to prevent any operator injuries resulting from inadvertent contact with exposed metal parts of base plate  10 . 
     The feature of applicant&#39;s invention of the looped distal ends of wire sections  6  and  7  being angled inwardly and touching facilitates the placement of yarn cones  25  onto wire cone engaging means because typically the cardboard yarn cones themselves tend to collapse over time which are clearly difficult to place onto conventional yarn cone holders in which the distal ends are not substantially turned inwardly.