Patent ID: 8128017

Claim:
A winding machine, comprising: a frame including a barrel positioned on the frame; at least two spindles fastened to the barrel, each of the spindles being configured to support at least one cake and to be movable in rotation about a first axis substantially perpendicular to a diameter of the cake; a thread drawer including at least two motor-driven rollers configured to hold at least one thread at a first position before the thread is attached to any of the at least two spindles, the rollers being fastened to the frame of the winding machine at a position directly below the at least two spindles; a straight ejector positioned above the at least two spindles and configured to move the thread from the first position to a second position such that the thread is attached to one of the spindles; at least one positioning and guidance device configured to move the at least one thread with a primary stroke movement to position and guide the at least one thread on the spindles; a linear actuator configured to continuously drive the spindles in a secondary stroke movement simultaneously with the primary stroke movement to wind the cake such that the spindles move linearly in forward and reverse directions along the first axis during winding of the at least one thread; a thread retraction device positioned above the at least one positioning and guidance device and configured to displace the at least one thread by grasping the thread and rotating between the second position, in which the at least one thread is attached to the one of the spindles and retracted from the positioning and guidance device, and a third position, in which the at least one thread is engaged with the positioning and guidance device; a control and command device to regulate speed and/or position between the primary stroke movement of the positioning and guidance device and the secondary stroke movement of at least one of the spindles; and an indexing device configured to modify continuously an angular position of the barrel with respect to the frame as a function of a variation in outside diameter of the cake, to keep a path of the thread constant between its exit point from the positioning and guidance device and its contact point on a periphery of the cake, wherein the barrel is mounted movably in rotation with respect to the frame along a third axis of rotation substantially parallel to the first axis.