DESC:TITLE OF THE INVENTION

An arrangement of receivers for detecting contaminants in flow of textile material

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to the method of arranging the ultrasonic receivers for detecting contaminants in textile materials efficiently in the opening process of spinning mills.

PRIORITY CLAIM

[0002] This application for complete specification claims priority from the provisional application No. 201641034792 for the same invention titled An improved arrangement of receivers for detecting contaminants in flow of textile material

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] In the present textile scenario, contaminants play a major role in affecting the process performance and is the root cause for visual defects in fabrics. Once the contaminants mixes with cotton, it is very difficult to remove in further processing stages. Yarn clearers remove the contaminants in yarn stage, but it affects the production to a major extent. Various types of contamination in cotton are colored or colorless plastics, seeds, jute, hair, strings, cloth bits etc. These contaminants need to be removed during cotton stage itself which helps to improve the performance of further processes.

[0004] In winding, contamination is detected by yarn clearers and the portion of yarn will be removed with some yarn as waste. During this process, production will also get affected. The contamination also affects the yarn manufacturing process at various stages by increasing the end breakage rate at ring frame, rotor, winding etc. thus reducing the efficiency and productivity. So removing contaminants at blow room stage is highly beneficial.

[0005] Only the contaminants which are having different color compared to cotton can be detected and removed by visual inspection manually. The main drawback in this method is high investment for labor and time taken for processing.

[0006] Another method to remove the contaminants is by gravity. The main drawback in this method is that only heavy contaminants can be removed.

[0007] To overcome all these above issues an online contamination sorter has become a necessary mechanism in yarn manufacturing process.

[0008] Presently, the contamination sorter available for detecting and removing contaminants works on various principles and usage of ultrasonic receivers is one among them. But the arrangement of the existing ultrasonic receivers in a contamination sorter is restricted due to its design and construction characteristics. This especially creates “deaf zones” through which there are more possibilities for contaminants to escape. This especially happens when the contaminants are smaller in size.

[0009] US6249935 B1 discloses an apparatus which uses an optical sensor system with an electric control-and-regulating device which, in turn, is coupled to a device which removes the foreign material and which includes a mechanism for generating an air blast directed to the clothing of the opening roll for dislodging and carrying away the foreign material from the clothing of the opening roll. The main disadvantage of this system is that the optical sensor gets affected by the dust and water content present in the fiber flow and frequent cleaning of the optical sensor is required.

[0010] After extensive experience over the years, we have developed a fairly accurate method for detecting contamination by eliminating the deaf zone by the way of arrangement of ultrasonic receivers. The present invention overcomes the disadvantages mentioned in the above prior arts. The usage of small ultrasonic receivers and especially the arrangement of the ultrasonic receivers in the detection zone of the contamination sorter eliminate the so called “deaf zones” and thereby the possibility for a contaminant to escape from the detection zone is reduced significantly thereby improving detection efficiency.

[0011] Thus a contaminant getting into the spinning process stages is eliminated which improves the quality of the final product and also eliminates the other process hindrances.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0012] The main object of the present invention is to improve the detection efficiency of various contaminants like foreign particles, transparent, glowing and non-glowing plastic materials by the way of the arrangement of ultrasonic receivers thereby eliminating the deaf zones which overcomes the drawbacks of prior arts.

[0013] Another object of the present invention is to remove even the smaller size contaminants by eliminating the deaf zones thereby increasing the
efficiency of the back stream processes of the textile mill.

[0014] Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the description of the invention herein below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0015] The main advantage of this invention is the effective removal of contaminants from the textile material by peculiar arrangement of small and tiny ultrasonic receivers in a contamination sorter.

[0016] According to the present invention, the ultrasonic transmitters and ultrasonic receivers are arranged on one side of the textile material transportation duct and an observer on the other side of the transportation duct. The ultrasonic receivers are closely and compactly arranged in order to detect even smaller size contaminants and to eliminate the deaf zones.

[0017] The ultrasonic transmitters emit a short burst of sound in a particular direction at ultrasonic frequencies. The ultrasonic receivers are sensitive to the ultrasonic sound waves getting transmitted from the ultrasonic transmitters. The observer on the other side of the transportation duct acts as a sound suppresser. If the transportation duct transports only textile material without any contaminants, then no ultrasonic sound will be reflected back to the ultrasonic receiver. The ultrasonic sound wave will get absorbed by the textile material and also by the observer.

[0018] In case of any contaminant present in the flow of textile material in the transportation duct, the ultrasonic sound waves hit the contaminant, gets reflected and received by the ultrasonic receiver. The ultrasonic receiver which is sensitive to ultrasonic sound waves transmits a signal further to eliminate the contaminant by means of a separate ejection system. If no contamination is present, the ultrasonic waves will be absorbed by the absorber on the other side of the transportation duct.

[0019] The advantage claimed in the present invention compared to the prior arts is the arrangement of ultrasonic transmitters and receivers with an observer. The ultrasonic receivers used in the present invention are smaller in size and it can be either surface mounted or can be mounted in a through-hole. Since the ultrasonic receivers are smaller in size, various forms of arranging them are possible. In such arrangements, the so called “deaf zones” is insignificant or almost eliminated thus the detection efficiency of the contaminants by the device is improved compared to the existing contamination sorters. The various forms of arranging the ultrasonic receivers are explained in the detailed description of drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] For a better understanding of the invention, few embodiments are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in which

[0021]Figure 1 shows the arrangement of ultrasonic transmitters, ultrasonic receivers and observer arrangement in a transportation duct of a contamination sorter.

[0022]Figure 2 shows the deaf zone in the existing contamination sorters.

[0023]Figure 3 shows the arrangement of ultrasonic receivers below the ultrasonic transmitters in such a way that the ultrasonic receivers form concentric shape around the part of the periphery of the ultrasonic transmitters.

[0024]Figure 4 shows the arrangement of ultrasonic receivers below the ultrasonic transmitters in a straight line with a minimal gap between each of them.

[0025]Figure 5 shows the arrangement of ultrasonic receivers below the ultrasonic transmitters in two straight lines, where the second straight line is offset horizontally to at least more than the distance between two ultrasonic receivers in the first line.

[0026]Figure 6 shows the arrangement of ultrasonic receivers below the ultrasonic transmitters in a straight line and also the ultrasonic receivers are placed in between the ultrasonic transmitters.

[0027]Figure 7 shows the arrangement of ultrasonic receivers above the ultrasonic transmitters in such a way that the ultrasonic receivers form concentric shape around the part of the periphery of the ultrasonic transmitters.

[0028]Figure 8 shows the arrangement of ultrasonic receivers above the ultrasonic transmitters in a straight line with a minimal gap between each of them.

[0029]Figure 9 shows the arrangement of ultrasonic receivers above the ultrasonic transmitters in two straight lines, where the second straight line is offset horizontally to at least more than the distance between two ultrasonic receivers in the first line.

[0030]Figure 10 shows the arrangement of ultrasonic receivers above the ultrasonic transmitters in a straight line and also the ultrasonic receivers are placed in between the ultrasonic transmitters.

[0031]Figure 11 shows the arrangement of ultrasonic receivers above and below the ultrasonic transmitters in such a way that the ultrasonic receivers form concentric shape around the periphery of the ultrasonic transmitters.

[0032]Figure 12 shows the arrangement of ultrasonic receivers above and below the ultrasonic transmitters in a straight line with a minimal gap between each of them.

[0033]Figure 13 shows the arrangement of ultrasonic receivers above and below the ultrasonic transmitters in two straight lines, where the second straight line is offset horizontally to at least more than the distance between two ultrasonic receivers in the first line.

[0034]Figure 14 shows the arrangement of ultrasonic receivers above and below the ultrasonic transmitters in a straight line and also the ultrasonic receivers are placed in between the ultrasonic transmitters.

[0035]Figure 15 shows an example of how the deaf zone is eliminated if the ultrasonic receivers are arranged as in Figure 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0036]The present invention relates to the method of arranging ultrasonic receivers for detecting contaminants in textile materials efficiently in the opening process of the spinning mills.

[0037]Figure 1 explains the module comprising ultrasonic transmitters (1) and ultrasonic receivers (2) with an observer (3). The plurality of ultrasonic transmitters (1) transmits sound waves at ultrasonic frequencies. The ultrasonic receivers (2) are sensitive to the ultrasonic sound waves which are transmitted from the ultrasonic transmitters (1). The observer (3) which is mounted on the other side of the transportation duct (6) of the textile material (4) acts as a sound suppresser. When there are no contaminants (5) in the textile material (4) which is being transported through the transportation duct (6), then the ultrasonic sound waves are absorbed by the textile material (4) and also by the observer (3). In case of no textile material (4) in the transportation duct (6), the ultrasonic sound waves are absorbed by the observer (3). The observer (3) also serves the function of acquiring the basic reference value of the ultrasonic sound waves for the purpose of detecting contaminants (5). In case of any contaminants (5) if entered along with the flow of textile material (4) in the transportation duct (6), the ultrasonic sound waves hit the contaminant (5) and get reflected back to the ultrasonic receivers (2) and the signal level will be significantly higher than compared to the minimal or no signals which are being received during the flow of textile material (4) without contaminants (5). Based on the ultrasonic signal which is identified by the ultrasonic receivers (2) during the presence of contaminants (5), a signal from the ultrasonic receiver (2) is taken for further processing to eliminate the contaminants (5) by means of a separate ejection system.

[0038]Figure 2 explains the deaf zone (9) which is available in the existing contamination sorters. In arrangement of Conventional Ultrasonic Transmitters (7) and Conventional Ultrasonic Receivers (8) of Conventional Contamination Sorters, deaf zones (9) are present due to the design and construction features of the Conventional Ultrasonic Receivers (8). Through this deaf zone (9) the contaminants (5) will escape and enter into the textile material (4) again.

[0039]Figure 3 explains the arrangement wherein the ultrasonic receivers (2) are arranged below the ultrasonic transmitters (1) in such a way that the arrangement path of the ultrasonic receivers (2) forms concentric shape around the part of the periphery of the ultrasonic transmitters (1). In such a kind of concentric positioning, the deaf zone is eliminated and the contaminant will not escape from the ultrasonic receivers (2).

[0040]Figure 4 explains the arrangement wherein the ultrasonic receivers (2) are arranged below the ultrasonic transmitters (1) in a straight line with a minimal gap between each of them. In such conditions, there is a very least possibility for a contaminant to get escaped from the ultrasonic receivers (2).

[0041]Figure 5 explains the arrangement wherein the ultrasonic receivers (2) are arranged in two straight lines below the ultrasonic transmitters (1) where the second straight line is offset horizontally to atleast more than the distance between two ultrasonic receivers (2) in the first line. This kind of arrangement eliminates the disadvantage of the minimal deaf zone created in the first row of ultrasonic receivers (2). A contaminant if escapes from the first row of ultrasonic receivers (2) will get caught by the second row of ultrasonic receivers (2).

[0042]Figure 6 explains an example of positioning the ultrasonic receivers (2) in between the ultrasonic transmitters (1). This kind of positioning can be done in any of the embodiments explained in Figure 3 to Figure 5. Figure 6 represents an example of such positioning when the embodiment as explained in Figure 4 is used. The ultrasonic receivers (2) are arranged below the ultrasonic transmitters (1) in a straight line with a minimal gap between each of them and also the ultrasonic receivers (2) are arranged in between the two successive ultrasonic transmitters (1).

[0043]Figure 7 explains the arrangement wherein the ultrasonic receivers (2) are arranged above the ultrasonic transmitters (1) in such a way that the arrangement path of the ultrasonic receivers (2) forms a concentric shape around the part of the periphery of the ultrasonic transmitters (1). In such a kind of concentric positioning, the deaf zone is eliminated and the contaminant will not escape from the ultrasonic receivers (2).

[0044]Figure 8 explains the arrangement wherein the ultrasonic receivers (2) are arranged above the ultrasonic transmitters (1) in a straight line with a minimal gap between each of them. In such conditions, there is a very least possibility for a contaminant to get escaped from the ultrasonic receivers (2).

[0045]Figure 9 explains the arrangement wherein the ultrasonic receivers (2) are arranged in two straight lines above the ultrasonic transmitters (1) where the second straight line is offset horizontally to atleast more than the distance between two ultrasonic receivers (2) in the first line. This kind of arrangement eliminates the disadvantage of the minimal deaf zone created in the first row of ultrasonic receivers (2). A contaminant if escapes from the first row of ultrasonic receivers (2) will get caught by the second row of ultrasonic receivers (2).

[0046]Figure 10 explains an example of positioning the ultrasonic receivers (2) in between the ultrasonic transmitters (1). This kind of positioning can be done in any of the embodiments explained in Figure 7 to Figure 9. Figure 10 represents an example of such positioning when the embodiment as explained in Figure 8 is used. The ultrasonic receivers (2) are arranged above the ultrasonic transmitters (1) in a straight line with a minimal gap between each of them and also the ultrasonic receivers (2) are arranged in between the two successive ultrasonic transmitters (1).

[0047]Figure 11 explains the arrangement wherein the ultrasonic receivers (2) are arranged both above and below the ultrasonic transmitters (1) in such a way that the arrangement path of the ultrasonic receivers (2) forms a concentric shape around the part of the periphery of the ultrasonic transmitters (1). In such a kind of concentric positioning, the deaf zone is eliminated and the contaminant will not escape from the ultrasonic receivers (2).

[0048]Figure 12 explains the arrangement wherein the ultrasonic receivers (2) are arranged both above and below the ultrasonic transmitters (1) in a straight line with a minimal gap between each of them. In such conditions, there is a very least possibility for a contaminant to get escaped from the ultrasonic receivers (2).

[0049]Figure 13 explains the arrangement wherein the ultrasonic receivers (2) are arranged in two straight lines both above and below the ultrasonic transmitters (1) where the second straight line is offset horizontally to at least more than the distance between two ultrasonic receivers (2) in the first line. This kind of arrangement eliminates the disadvantage of the minimal deaf zone created in the first row of ultrasonic receivers (2). A contaminant if escapes from the first row of ultrasonic receivers (2) will get caught by the second row of ultrasonic receivers (2).

[0050]Figure 14 explains an example of positioning the ultrasonic receivers (2) in between the ultrasonic transmitters (1). This kind of positioning can be done in any of the embodiments explained in Figure 11 to Figure 13. Figure 14 represents an example of such positioning when the embodiment as explained in Figure 12 is used. The ultrasonic receivers (2) are arranged both above and below the ultrasonic transmitters (1) in a straight line with a minimal gap between each of them and also the ultrasonic receivers (2) are arranged in between the two successive ultrasonic transmitters (1).

[0051]The various embodiments explained in figures 3 to 14 are explored to accommodate the direction of textile material (4) flow inside the transportation duct (6) and also to improve the detection efficiency of the contaminants (5).The positioning of ultrasonic receivers (2) as explained above are just illustrations and these ultrasonic receivers (2) can be placed either geometrically or non-geometrically in such a system. The main objective of such arrangements is to minimize or to eliminate the so called deaf zones (9).

[0052]Figure 15 shows how the deaf zone is almost eliminated if the embodiment explained in figure 3 is used. Due to the concentric positioning of the ultrasonic receivers (2) around the part of the periphery of the ultrasonic transmitter (1), the deaf zone (9) is minimal and hence the probability that a contaminant (5) escapes from the ultrasonic receivers (2) is very less.

[0053]Such an arrangement in the above explained device can be an arrangement as a single device or the arrangement can be made in plurality of such devices assembled in the transportation duct (6) to improve the detection efficiency of the contaminants (5).

[0054]Such an arrangement in the above explained device can be done where the device can be an integral part of an equipment or alternatively such a device can be attached separately to the pre-existing parts of the equipment in the blow room like textile material transport duct (6), chute etc.

[0055] Accordingly the present invention relates to an arrangement of ultrasonic receivers(2) for detecting the contaminants(5) in flow of textile material characterized by the plurality of small ultrasonic receivers(2) adjacent to each other which are arranged geometrically or non-geometrically below, above and in between the ultrasonic transmitters(1) eliminating the deaf zone(9) wherein the ultrasonic transmitters(1) and ultrasonic receivers(2) are arranged on one side of the transportation duct(6) and the observer(3) is arranged on the other side of the transportation duct(6).

[0056] In an embodiment of the invention, the ultrasonic receivers (2) are arranged below or above or on both below and above the ultrasonic transmitters (1) in such a way that the arrangement path of the ultrasonic receivers (2) form a concentric shape around the part of the periphery of the ultrasonic transmitters(1).

[0057] In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, the ultrasonic receivers(2) are arranged below or above or on both below and above the ultrasonic transmitters(1) to form a straight line with a minimal gap between each of them and the very least possibility for a contaminant to get escaped from the ultrasonic receivers (2).

[0058] In yet another embodiment of the invention, the ultrasonic receivers(2) are arranged below or above or on both below and above the ultrasonic transmitters(1) in two straight lines and the second straight line is offset horizontally to at least more than the distance between the two ultrasonic receivers(2) in the first line.

[0059] In a still another embodiment of the invention,the ultrasonic receivers (2) are placed in between two successive ultrasonic transmitters (1).

[0060] In another embodiment of the invention, the ultrasonic receivers (2) can be arranged in single or in plurality in the transportation duct (6) to improve the detection efficiency of the contaminants(5).

[0061] In yet another embodiment of the invention, the arrangement of ultrasonic receivers (2) can be an integral part of the equipment or can be attached separately to the pre-existing parts of the equipment in the blow room.
,CLAIMS:We Claim:

1. An arrangement of ultrasonic receivers(2) for detecting the contaminants(5) in flow of textile material characterized by the plurality of smallultrasonic receivers(2) adjacent to each other which are arranged geometrically or non-geometrically below, above and in between the ultrasonic transmitters(1) eliminating the deaf zone(9) wherein the ultrasonic transmitters(1) and ultrasonic receivers(2) are arranged on one side of the transportation duct(6) and the observer(3) is arranged on the other side of the transportation duct(6).

2. The arrangement of ultrasonic receivers(2) according to claim 1 wherein the ultrasonic receivers (2) are arranged below or above or on both below and above the ultrasonic transmitters (1) in such a way that the arrangement path of the ultrasonic receivers (2) form a concentric shape around the part of the periphery of the ultrasonic transmitters(1).

3. The arrangement of ultrasonic receivers(2) according to claim 1 wherein the ultrasonic receivers(2) are arranged below or above or on both below and above the ultrasonic transmitters(1) to form a straight line with a minimal gap between each of them and the very least possibility for a contaminant to get escaped from the ultrasonic receivers (2).

4. The arrangement of ultrasonic receivers(2) according to claim 1 wherein the ultrasonic receivers(2) are arranged below or above or on both below and above the ultrasonic transmitters(1) in two straight lines and the second straight line is offset horizontally to at least more than the distance between the two ultrasonic receivers(2) in the first line.

5. The arrangement of ultrasonic receivers (2) according to claim 1 wherein ultrasonic receivers (2) are placed in between two successive ultrasonic transmitters (1).

6. The arrangements of ultrasonic receivers (2) according to the preceding claims 2 to 5 can be arranged in single or in plurality in the transportation duct (6) to improve the detection efficiency of the contaminants(5).

7. The arrangement of ultrasonic receivers (2) according to claim 1 can be an integral part of the equipment or can be attached separately to the pre-existing parts of the equipment in the blow room.