Patent GB-1064466-A (GB)
Title: Doffing and donning mechanism
IPC: D01H9/10
Filed: 1964-07-14
Abstract: Donning and doffing apparatus comprises a carriage mounted on rails along a spinning-frame, and carrying doffing and donning means, a supply of empty bobbins and means for feeding bobbins from the supply to the donning-means, the latter comprising a vertical shaft rotated by means engaging successive spindles and having a plurality of bobbin-control means to receive empty bobbins from the feeding-means and to deliver them above the spindles on which they are impaled by gravity.  The carriage has floor-wheels (21, Fig. 1, not shown) controlled by hydraulically-operated pistons and rail-wheels (26, 27) and rollers (28, 29).  The carriage is pushed into position with the wheels above the level of the rails (11) and paddles (46, 47) engage the rail to move a valve (A) through toggle-mechanism to cause the pistons to move the floor wheels apart and lower the carriage to bring the wheels on to the rail and free the floor wheels for movement due to floor-irregularities.  The doffing and donning units (30, 31, 16) are movable towards and away from the frame by hydraulically-operated pistons controlled by valves.  As the carriage nears the first spindle, a valve (B) is rotated by a cam to charge a pressure-line, and with further movement of the carriage, a cam operates the valves in succession to project the units successively into working position.  At the other end of the frame, another cam rotates valve (B) to vent the line and a further cam operates the valves to retract the units.  The doffing and donning units.  The doffing devices are of the kind described in Specification 965166, and the donning unit comprises a shoot down which empty bobbins slide by gravity on a friction-free plastics surface from a supply.  As the bobbins enter the shoot they are turned from the horizontal to the vertical; at the lower end of the shoot the bobbins are received in compartments formed by an upper series and a lower series of radial vanes on a shaft.  This shaft is rotated through an overload clutch as a star wheel is rotated by engagement with the spindles as the carriage is pushed along the frame, and the bobbins are conveyed in succession past the end of the shoot so that they fall by gravity on to the vacant spindles.  The bobbins are prevented from tilting when above the spindles by a series of pivoted fingers raised successively into bobbin-supporting position by engagement with a fixed cam track (Figs. 2-8 not shown).  The bobbin supply, (Fig. 10, not shown).  Two boxes containing bobbins in vertical columns are placed in the carriage one above the other.  Plates are then removed from guides, e.g. those at (108), to cause the lower pair of bobbins in each column to descent into 'nacelles' (120).  Here the noses and bases of the lowermost bobbins rest in grooves in bars (122).  Inwardly of and below each bar is a hooked conveyer (124) arranged to transfer bobbins to an 'escalator' at the right-hand side of the boxes. This 'escalator' comprises inner and outer pairs of similar hooked conveyers (129) arranged vertically and two channels (e.g. 126a) in which the noses and bases of the bobbins are guided while being lifted.  The conveyers are given a circular reciprocatory motion by cranks on shafts rotated from the star wheel.  The upper and lower conveyers (124) each move the bobbins forwardly one step for each rotation of the corresponding shaft; the hooks of the inner and outer pairs of the vertical conveyers project alternately so that the bobbins are moved two steps for each rotation of the driving shaft, while the horizontal conveyers are so operated as to feed bobbins to alternate spaces in the vertical conveyers.  The descent of the bobbins on to the horizontal conveyers is controlled by reciprocated members (146).  The load on the conveyers is reduced in two ways, (a) by sliding a plate large enough to cover only some of the columns of bobbins into the guides (108) and (b) by pivoted members (142) which also ensure that the columns are emptied in turn starting with that on the extreme left.  A handwheel on the driving shaft (91) allows manual loading of the escalator unit and the donning-shoot before the carriage is mounted on the frame.