DESC:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a method for gripping a textile package by a service robot during the operation of piecing a broken yarn.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In a ring spinning machine, when a yarn breaks, piecing operation is usually done by an operator who removes the textile package from the spindle, unwind the yarn from the textile package, threads the yarn into a traveller, insert the textile package back into the spindle and then pieces the free yarn end to the delivery material from the drafting system to resume production.

In case of automatic piecing methods, a robot removes the textile package from the spindle. Usually, the textile package rotates at a higher speed and hence the textile package is firmly gripped into the spindle. Hence, removal of textile package from the spindle needs sufficient force. Hence, it is a challenging task for the robot arm to remove the package from the spindle.

Therefore, in view of the exiting prior art, there is a dire need for a method for gripping the textile package by a service robot during the operation of piecing the broken yarn.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the present invention. It is not intended to identify the key/critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concept of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description of the invention presented later.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a robotic arm and a method of gripping a textile package thereof.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a method for gripping the textile package by a service robot during the operation of piecing the broken yarn.

First aspect of the present invention is to provide a robotic arm assembly for gripping textile package during yarn piecing process, the assembly comprising an end effector mounted in the robotic arm wherein the end effector having an inner periphery encircling an outer periphery of the textile package , at least one gripper element positioned inside the end effector operably placed on the inner periphery of said effector in a longitudinal direction wherein the gripper element adapted to grip the outer periphery of the textile package for yarn piecing process.

Second aspect of the present invention is to provide a method of gripping the textile package using the robotic arm assembly during the yarn piecing process, the method comprising moving the gripping element of the end effector towards the textile package when the yarn is broken, positioning the end effector to encircle the outer periphery of the textile package, activating the gripping element to hold the textile package firmly, lifting the broken textile package from the spindle using the robotic arm assembly wherein said assembly moves up to lift the said package, wherein the end effector rotates freely in any direction during the piecing process to facilitate collecting the broken yarn and re-positioning the textile package to the spindle using the gripping element thereby enabling the piecing process to continue.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be more apparent in the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates an end effector of a service robot adapted to grip a textile package, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 illustrates a cross-section view of the end effector of the service robot, when it grips the outer periphery of the textile package, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 illustrates an end effector of a robotic arm with one or more gripper elements placed inside, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 illustrates a method performed by the robotic arm assembly for gripping the textile package during the yarn piecing process, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and may have not been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of various embodiments of the present disclosure as defined by the claims and their equivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding, but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the various embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of various embodiments of the present disclosure is provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. Features that are described and/or illustrated with respect to one implementation may be used in the same way or in a similar way in one or more other implementations and/or in combination with or instead of the features of the other implementations.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, a reference to “a component surface” includes a reference to one or more of such surfaces.

All terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which various embodiments belong. Further, the meaning of terms or words used in the specification and the claims should not be limited to the literal or commonly employed sense but should be construed in accordance with the spirit of the disclosure to most properly describe the present disclosure.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular various embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of various embodiments. As used herein it is understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising” used herein specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, members, components, and/or groups thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, members, components, and/or groups thereof. Also, expressions such as “at least one of,” when preceding a list of elements, modify the entire list of elements and do not modify the individual elements of the list.

The present invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which various embodiments of the present disclosure are shown. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the various embodiments set forth herein, rather, these various embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the present disclosure. Furthermore, a detailed description of other parts will not be provided not to make the present disclosure unclear. Like reference numerals in the drawings refer to like elements throughout.

Embodiments discloses a robotic arm assembly (100) and a method (200) of gripping a textile package thereof. The robotic arm assembly (100) for gripping the textile package (1) during the yarn piecing process comprising an end effector (2) having a gripping element (3) positioned inside the inner periphery of the end effector (2) and the gripping element (3) is adapted to grip the outer periphery (4) of the textile package (1) for yarn piecing process. Moreover, the present invention performs a method (200) of gripping the textile package using the robotic arm assembly involving various steps as moving the gripping element (3) of the end effector (2) and positioning to encircle the textile package (1) outer periphery (4) when the yarn is broken during the piecing process. Activating the gripping element (3) to hold the textile package (1) firmly and lifting up the broken textile package (1) using the robotic arm assembly (100). Further, the end effector (2) can rotate in any direction freely to facilitate collecting the broken yarn. Finally, the re-positioning the textile package (1) to the spindle thereby enabling the piecing process to continue further smoothly.

In a non-limiting embodiment, the present invention provides a robotic arm (100) for gripping textile package (1) during yarn piecing process, the assembly (100) comprising an end effector (2) mounted in the robotic arm (100) wherein the end effector (2) having an inner periphery encircling an outer periphery (4) of the textile package (1) and at least one gripper element (3) positioned inside the end effector (2) operably placed on the inner periphery of said effector (2) in a longitudinal direction wherein the gripper element (3) adapted to grip the outer periphery (4) of the textile package (1) for yarn piecing process. During the yarn piecing process, the yarn sometimes break which creates issues in smooth running of the spinning process. The present invention provides the robotic arm assembly to grip the broken yarn end from the textile packages and the enable the piecing process to continue.

In a non-limiting embodiment, the present invention provides the robotic arm assembly (100) for gripping textile package (1) wherein the gripping element (3) projects out and moves towards the inner center of the textile package (1) using one or combination of the mechanical, electrical energy techniques. The gripping process performed by the gripping element for projecting out with the associated movement is carried by mechanical process or by electrical process individually or in combination as a pneumatic process to achieve its working mechanism.

In a non-limiting embodiment, the present invention provides the robotic arm assembly (100) for gripping textile package during the process of yarn piecing wherein the end effector (2) rotates freely to facilitate collecting the free end of the broken yarn during the piecing process.

In a non-limiting embodiment, the present invention provides a method (200) of gripping the textile package (1) using the robotic arm assembly (100) during the yarn piecing process, the method (200) comprising moving the gripping element (3) of the end effector (2) towards the textile package (1) when the yarn is broken, positioning the end effector (2) to encircle the outer periphery of the textile package (1), activating the gripping element (3) to hold the textile package (1) firmly, lifting the broken textile package (1) from the spindle using the robotic arm assembly (100) wherein said assembly moves up to lift the said package, wherein the end effector (2) rotates freely in any direction during the piecing process to facilitate collecting the broken yarn, re-positioning the textile package (1) to the spindle using the gripping element (3) thereby enabling the piecing process to continue.

In a non-limiting embodiment, the present invention provides a method (200) of gripping textile package from the broken yarn during the piecing process wherein the activation and the movement of the gripping element (3) for gripping the textile package (1) performed by any method or the combination of methods using one or more mechanical, pneumatic and electrical techniques.

In a non-limiting embodiment, the present invention provides a method (200) of gripping textile package from the broken yarn during the piecing process wherein the gripping element (3) initiate piecing process for gripping textile package (1) from the spindle to collect the broken yarn.

In a non-limiting embodiment, the present invention provides a method (200) of gripping textile package from the broken yarn during the piecing process wherein the gripping element (3) projecting out and moving towards the inner center of the textile package (1) using one or combination of the mechanical, electrical energy techniques.

Referring figure herewith, Figure 1 illustrates an end effector of a service robot adapted to grip a textile package, according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 illustrates a cross-section view of the end effector of the service robot, when it grips the outer periphery of the textile package, according to an embodiment of the present invention and Figure 3 illustrates an end effector of a robotic arm with one or more gripper elements placed inside, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in Figure 1, 2 and 3, the end effector (2) of a service robot grips the textile package (1). Especially, the end effector (2) comprises of one or more gripper elements (3) operably placed on the inner surface of the robotic arm along a longitudinal direction. The gripper elements (3) are adapted to grip the outer periphery (4) of the textile package (1) for piecing operation.

According to an embodiment, the movement of gripper element (3) can be done mechanically, pneumatically, electrically or combination of any of these methods.
According to an embodiment, the gripping method comprises a robot with an arm equipped with a mechanism to remove the textile package (1) from the spindle to initiate piecing operation. The end effector (2) is mounted in the robot arm assembly (100). The end effector (2) is specially designed in such a way that the inner periphery of the end effector (2) encircles the outer periphery (4) of the textile package (1). The inner periphery of the end effector (2) comprises of a gripper element (3). This gripper element (3) is single or in plurality positioned inside the end effector (2). The gripper element (3) is arranged in such a way that by means of a mechanical or electronic energy, the gripper elements (3) projects out and moves towards the inner centre of the textile package (1).

When a yarn breaks, the robot arm assembly (100) moves towards the package and positions the gripper element (3) such that the end effector (2) encircles the outer periphery (4) of the textile package (1). Once encircled, the gripper elements (3) are activated and thus the elements hold the textile package (1) firmly. The activation and movement of gripping elements (3) can be of any methods or combination of methods like mechanical, pneumatic and electrical means. Once the textile package (1) is held firmly, the robot arm assembly (100) moves up to lift the textile package (1) from the spindle. The end effector (2) is freely rotatable in either direction for the purpose of facilitating the collection of free end of the broken yarn for further piecing process.

After collecting the free end of broken yarn, the gripper element (3) repositions the textile package (1) to the spindle thereby enabling to continue the piecing process.

Although a robotic arm assembly (100) and a method (200) of gripping a textile package thereof has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methods, it is to be understood that the implementations disclosed in the above section are not necessarily limited to the specific features or methods or devices described. Rather, the specific features are disclosed as examples of implementations of the robotic arm assembly (100) and a method (200) of gripping a textile package (1) thereof.

In a non-limiting embodiment, Figure 4 illustrate the method (200) steps carried by the present invention for gripping the textile package (1) using robotic arm assembly (100) during yarn piecing process, the method (200) initiating at step (202), moving the gripping element (3) of the end effector (2) towards the textile package (1) when the yarn is broken. Next at step (204), positioning the end effector (2) to encircle the outer periphery of the textile package (1). At step (206), activating the gripping element (3) to hold the textile package (1) firmly. At step (208), lifting the broken textile package (1) from the spindle using the robotic arm assembly (100) wherein said assembly moves up to left said package. At step (210), the end effector (2) rotates freely in any direction during the piecing process to facilitate collecting the free end of the broken yarn. At step (212), re-positioning the textile package (1) to the spindle using the gripping element (3) thereby enabling the piecing process to continue. Finally, at step (214), the method stops.

The present invention offers multiple technical advantages out of which few have been enumerated below for ease of understanding:
• The present invention provides a robotic arm assembly for gripping textile package during the process of yarn piecing when the yarn is broken.
• The present invention provides a method for gripping the textile package by a robot arm assembly and remove the broken yarn from the textile packages during the spinning process.
• The present invention provides a gripping element positioned inside the end effector adapted to grip the outer periphery of the textile package for piecing operation.
• The present invention provides the gripping element arranged in such a way that by means of a mechanical or electronic energy, the gripper elements projects out and moves towards the textile package.
• The present invention provides an efficient, easy method for gripping the textile package of the broken yarn without consuming unnecessary time and mechanical involvement of labor to do the same process.

The foregoing description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form or forms disclosed, and other modifications and variations may be possible in light of the above teachings wherein those of skill in the art will recognize certain modifications, permutations, additions and sub combinations thereof.
,CLAIMS:
1. A robotic arm assembly (100) for gripping textile package (1) during yarn piecing process, the assembly (100) comprises:
- an end effector (2) mounted in the robotic arm (100), said end effector (2) having an inner periphery encircling an outer periphery (4) of the textile package (1); and
- at least one gripper element (3) positioned inside the end effector (2) operably placed on the inner periphery of said effector (2)
wherein the gripper element (3) adapted to grip the outer periphery (4) of the textile package (1) for yarn piecing process.

2. The assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the gripping element (3) projects out and moves towards the inner centre of the textile package (1) using one or combination of the mechanical, electrical energy techniques.

3. The assembly (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the end effector (2) rotates freely in any direction for purpose of facilitating in collection of free end of the broken yarn during the piecing process.

4. A method (200) of gripping the textile package (1) using the robotic arm assembly (100) during yarn piecing process, the method (200) comprises:
- moving, the gripping element (3) of the end effector (2) towards the textile package (1) when the yarn is broken;
- positioning, the end effector (2) to encircle the outer periphery of the textile package (1);
- activating, the gripping element (3) to hold the textile package (1) firmly;
- lifting, the broken textile package (1) from the spindle using the robotic arm assembly (100) wherein said assembly moves up to left said package;
- facilitating, the collection of free end of the broken yarn by rotating the end effector (2) freely in any direction during the piecing process; and
- re-positioning, the textile package (1) to the spindle using the gripping element (3) thereby enabling the piecing process to continue.

5. The method (200) as claimed in claim 4, wherein the activation and the movement of the gripping element (3) for gripping the textile package (1) performed by any method or the combination of methods using one or more mechanical, pneumatic and electrical techniques.

6. The method (200) as claimed in claim 4, wherein the gripping element (3) initiate piecing process for gripping textile package (1) from the spindle to collect the broken yarn.

7. The method (200) as claimed in claim 4, wherein the gripping element (3) projecting out and moving towards the inner centre of the textile package (1) using one or combination of the mechanical, electrical energy techniques.