Patent GB-1353551-A (GB)
Title: Textile machine data communicating apparatus and method
IPC: D01H13/32
Filed: 1971-08-09
Abstract: 1353551 Signalling cleaning machines; piecing arrangements PARKS-CRAMER CO 9 Aug 1971 [10 Aug 1970] 37343/71 Headings D1D and D1F [Also in Division G4] States relating to operations in a textile yarn forming machine are detected by a travelling detector, encoded into word signals and transmitted. A travelling pneumatic cleaner (or automatic yarn piecing apparatus) moving along rails past spindle locations in one or more textile yarn forming machines, carries a number of operation detectors. In one of these, a pulse ("end-up") from a photoelectric yarn detector resets a distance counter which is counted-up by pulses produced by forward movement of the cleaner. If a yarn end is down, absence of the pulse permits the counter to reach 310 at which a pulse is produced on an "enddown" output and a first flip-flop is set and the counter is reset. If an end is down at two adjacent spindle locations, a cumulative error is avoided by the fact that the set state of the first flip-flop enables a gate so that a count of 300 (which corresponds to the distance between adjacent spindle locations) resets the counter and produces an "end-down" output pulse. An output on another line (including a second flip-flop) is produced in the event of either an "end-down" or "end-up" pulse. In another of the operation detectors, an output pulse is produced by photoelectric detection of the beginning of movement of the cleaner along its path. Outputs from the operation detectors are stored in parallel in a first set of flip-flops and transferred to a second set of flip-flops from which they are serialised onto an output line by an oscillator-driven counter as a sequence of data bits, this sequence being sent four times after which another counter loads the second set of flip-flops from the first set again with new data. The data bits occur alternately in time with clock pulses on a separate line, derived from the oscillatordriven counter. The data bits and clock pulses are used to frequency-shift in respective directions a carrier signal sent to a receiver via the rails on which the cleaner moves, these rails also being used to transmit power to the cleaner. Alternatively D.C. signalling on a conductor not used for power, or flashing of a lamp, or radio could be used. At the receiver, the information is converted to pulses on a data line and a clock line, each of the four repetitions of the sequence of data bits being shifted in turn into the top row of a fourrow register by the clock pulses, a set of adjacent clock pulses at the end of each repetition being detected by an integrator to transfer the contents of each row into the row below so that finally the four repetitions of the sequence are in the four rows respectively. A computer to which the data is to be supplied for statistical analysis checks whether the four rows are identical. If so the data is passed to the computer memory, and if not the data is disregarded or a majority decision may be made regarding what the data should be. As a modification, transmission of clock pulses to the receiver as above, may be omitted.