Patent GB-1427796-A (GB)
Title: Method and apparatus for taking up strand material
IPC: B65H67/052
Filed: 1973-02-21
Abstract: 1427796 Donning and doffing; conveying reels to and from winding station WESTERN ELECTRIC CO INC 21 Feb 1973 [23 Feb 1972] 8432/73 Headings D1F and D1J Empty reels 26, Fig. 1, are moved from an input path 27 into a yarn take up mechanism 22, the empty reel being then rotated to wind up strand material. The rotation of the reel is discontinued when a predetermined amount of strand material has been wound. Thereafter the now full reel is moved back to the path 27 characterized in that no free rolling of the reel about its axis of rotation takes place during this movement from the take-up-mechanism 22 to the path 27; and the removed reels are then moved axially away. Moving the empty reels to the winding station. The empty reels 26, Fig. 13, rest in nests 158 mounted on an endless conveyor 27. Manual pulsing of a cylinder 167 causes a pawl 171 to engage each nest 158 in turn and move the conveyor 27 in a step-by-step manner. With each manual pulsing of the cylinder 167 a further cylinder 176 causes a latch 177 to engage with an aligned nest 158 in a manner ensuring accuracy of the stepby-step movement. Moving an empty reel into a wind-up-station. When an empty reel 26 is aligned with the wind-up-station the operator causes an electrical control circuit to be switched to automatic operation. This causes a load-unload arm 181, Fig. 2, to push the reel 26 up a ramp 182 to a setting in which the reel is aligned with support cones 81 and 82, Fig. 4. A cylinder 83 then moves the cone 82 towards the cone 81 to clamp the reel 26 therebetween. The arm 181 is then lowered. Strand Supply; Snagging; Reel Shroud; and Traversing. The strand material 21, Fig. 2, passes from a sheave 31 to an accumulator 23 and thence over sheaves 44 and 46. From sheave 46 the material 21 passes between rollers 51-51 of a strand distributor 24. The distributor 24 can be displaced along a pair of rods 57, 58, Fig. 3, to transfer the material 21 from a full take-up reel 26 to an empty reel 26. As the strand is moved towards an empty reel 26 a deflector arm 106, Fig. 4, is swung up to move the material 21 into the path of a snagging device 116, Fig. 5, that rotates with the cone 81. The snagging device catches the material 21 and causes the empty reel to commence wind-up of the strand. Just prior thereto, a shroud (140), Fig. 10 (not shown) that is aligned concentrically with a snagger plate (97) and mounted slidably is moved by an air cylinder to cover the snagger plate as well as the reel flange engaged by the snagger pad (96). This arrangement is necessary to prevent the snagging facilities associated with the full reel from engaging the strand material at cut over. As shown in Figs. 5 and 7 the snagging device comprises an annular member 117 on which are teeth 119, these teeth and the member 117 jointly defining V-shaped openings into which the material 21 can pass. Fig. 7 shows how each V-shaped opening has associated therewith a wedge-shaped member 122 that is normally biassed to an opensetting by a spring 127. As the driven cone 81 speeds up, the rotation of the annular member 117, and therewith the wedge-shaped members 122, causes the force of the springs 127 to be overcome and the strand material is then gripped by the wedge-shaped members 122. The full reel and the adjacent empty reel rotate in opposite directions. This, together with the snagging means associated with the empty reel, causes the strand material to be broken intermediate the reels. A shroud surrounds the annular member 117, and the arm 106 causes the trailing broken end of the material 21 to be drawn into the shroud 141 to prevent damage thereby. The arm 106 then swings back to the setting shown in Fig. 4 and a cylinder 62, Fig. 3, is actuated to move the distributor 24 back-and-forth in a manner traversing the material 21 onto the take-up reel 26. The operation of the cylinder 62 is controlled by limit switches 69 and 71 controlled by a switch actuator on the piston rod 63. Winding continues until a footage counter (not shown) causes a lead screw 58, Fig. 3, to turn and so move the distributor 24 along the rod 57 and the screw 58 towards the empty reel. At this time the limit switch 74 is rendered effective to maintain the traverse of the distributor head 48 between a diddler limit switch and the limit switch 67 to cause the last few convolutions to be positioned adjacent the inner flange of the reel and to ensure that the strand material is adjacent the shroud at cut over. At the same time a cylinder 132 is actuated to move the shroud 141 that is associated with the next reel to be wound to be moved to a setting over the end flange of that reel. The deflector arm 106 is then operated, as before, to cause the yarn to be snagged by the snagging means associated with the fresh take-up reel. Regenerative braking brings the fully wound reel to a rapid halt. Discharge of Wound Reel. When the fully wound reel is to be released the arm 28, Fig. 2, is again swung upwardly. The reel is then released by retracting the cone 82 and moving the cone 81 in unison therewith to the left in Fig. 4. The shaft 84 on which the cone 81 is mounted carries a cam surface (131), Fig. 9, (not shown), that co-operates with cam followers (132) on the spindles (133), to cause these spindles (133) to rock pawls (138) about pivots (139). These rocking pawls act on the heads 126, Fig. 7, of the spindles 123 to force the wedge-shaped members 122 to move to a setting in which they release their grip on the material 21.