Claims:WE CLAIM:
1. An automatic package inspection machine (1, 2), said machine is characterized in that essentially comprises of
a) Feeding zone (101, 501) with weight measuring means (130, 530) and package handling apparatus (140, 540);
b) Package inspection zone (230, 601) with inspection unit (230, 360);
c) Delivery zone (301, 701) with package dispensing apparatus (310, 730); and
d) a Control unit (401, 801);

2. The automatic package inspection machine (1) as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said feeding zone (101) comprises of feeding conveyor unit (110), driving means (120, 160) and transfer conveyor unit (150).

3. The automatic package inspection machine (1) as claimed in claim 1 and 2, characterized in that said cone handling apparatus (140) is preferably an automated robot arm apparatus.

4. The automatic package inspection machine (2) as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said feeding zone (501) comprises of feeding conveyor unit (510), driving means (520, 560) and transfer conveyor unit (550).

5. The automatic package inspection machine (1) as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said package inspection zone (201) comprises of enclosure (220), indicator light (221), conveyor unit (240) and driving means (250)

6. The automatic package inspection machine (2) as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said package inspection zone (601) comprises of conveyor unit (610), driving means (620), enclosure (640) and indicator light (641)

7. The automatic package inspection machine (2) as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said delivery zone (701) comprises of transport handling apparatus (710), delivery conveyor unit (720), driving means (730) and delivery handling apparatus (740).

8. The automatic package inspection machine (1, 2) as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said package dispensing apparatus (310, 730) is preferably a package sorting and arranging mechanism

9. The automatic package inspection machine (1, 2) as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said package is preferably a Cone, Cheese or Hank

10. The automatic package inspection machine (1, 2) as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said feeding zone (101, 501), package inspection zone (230, 601) and delivery zone (301, 701) is connected to the control unit (401, 801).

11. The automatic package inspection machine (1, 2) as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said control unit (401, 801) is disposed on the outer surface of the enclosure (220, 640).

12. The working method of automatic package inspection machine (1, 2) comprises of
- Feeding the package to the feeding zone (101, 501) in particularly the feeding conveyor unit (110, 510) whereas the weight of the package is measured by weight measuring means (130, 530)
- Sorting the package by the handling apparatus (140, 540) and transferring the package to the transfer conveyor unit (150, 550)
- Feeding the sorted package to the package inspection zone (201, 601) in particularly to the conveyor unit (240, 610)
- Inspecting the package based on shade, size, shape and colour in the package inspection system (230, 630)
- Transferring the package to the delivery zone through the package dispensing apparatus (310, 730)

13. The working method of automatic package inspection machine (1, 2) as claimed in claim 12, characterized in that said method is controlled and operated by the control unit (401, 801).
, Description:FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of textile industry. Particularly, the present invention relates to the field of spinning industry. Still particularly, the present invention relates to inspection of packages of the finished products in the spinning industry.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In spinning mills, the fibre materials are cleaned, parallelized, drafted and twisted to form the yarn. The ring spinning machines produces yarn from Roving bobbins and said yarn is wound on the bobbins. A spinning bobbin contains 2,000 to 10,000 metres of yarn. Yarn produced in spinning machines contains various defects such as thick place, thin place, weak place, Neps, fluff etc. Said defects are removed in the winding department. The automatic winding machines in the winding department are used to remove the defects present in the yarn and to wind the yarn in to various forms of packages. The finished product packages are preferably in the form of Cone, Cheese or Hank.

Normally, the finished products are wound in the form of cones using paper cones. The length of yarn wound in the paper cones are in the range of 50,000 to 2,00,000 metres and the weight of the yarn wound in a paper cones ranges from 500 to 2000 grams. Once the predetermined length of yarn is wound on a paper cone, the finished cone will be removed and stored in the storage area.
The stored cones should be inspected to ensure that the finished products are free from any defects. The common defects present in the cones are, weight variation, shade variation, size variation, identification label missing, base stiches, nose stitches, tail end missing, damaged cones and paper cone identification mark variation. At present, the cones are inspected manually. Each and every cone is evaluated by manual process. After inspection process, the cones are packed in bags or Boxes and delivered.

There are various problems persist in the existing manual inspection process. Mainly, a greater number of workers are required to do this work. As humans are involved, errors are inevitable. To inspect the shade variation, Ultraviolet (UV) lights are used and the inspection is done by workers. As the UV lights are hazardous, it affects the human health. More time is required to complete the inspection process. More importantly, there is no database available about the inspection of each cones. Therefore, it is difficult to find out the details like, number of defects per lot, types of defects, frequently occurring faults etc,.

Therefore can be new systems introduced in order to provide a solution for the above said problem. Existing solutions proposed may resolve the above said issue. The existing inventions that may resolve the above said issue are disclosed in the prior art section. Patent application CN105297207 describes a yarn storage device. The invention comprises of a yarn storage barrel, yarn stirring barrel and a tension adjusting device to store the yarns. Even though the invention provides a device to store yarns, it did not describe any methods for inspection the cone shade variations.

United states patent application US2015113777 describes a stretched yarn cutting assembly. The existing invention comprises a cutter head to cut the yarn in a desired length. The invention clearly describes a machine to cut the yarn and it not describe any inspections means to inspect the cones. Indian patent application 201947025782 describes a yarn winding unit to automatically wing yarns of various sizes. The invention comprises a yarn feeding unit, reception unit and a winding unit for winding the yarn. Even though the invention describes a winding unit, it did not propose any inspection means to inspect the yarns. Therefore, there are no invention proposed in the existing invention related to inspecting the finished packages.

To overcome the above said disadvantages, the present invention provides a finished product package inspection system which provides a machine to process the entire inspection process, a method to inspect the cones and a system to monitor the inspection process.

OBJECTIVE OF THE INVENTION
The main objective of the present invention is to provide a finished product package inspection machine and an inspection and sorting system to overcome the disadvantages present in the existing system.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a weighing mechanism to weigh each and every package.

Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide at least one image capturing means to capture the images of packages.

Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide an ultraviolet emitting means to monitor the shade variation present in the cones.

Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a transport system to transport the packages for inspection.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the main aspect of the present invention, an automatic package inspection machine comprises of feeding zone with weight measuring means and package handling apparatus, package inspection zone with inspection unit, delivery zone with package dispensing apparatus and a control unit. The feeding zone comprises of feeding conveyor unit, driving means and transfer conveyor unit. Said cone handling apparatus is preferably an automated robot arm apparatus. Feeding zone comprises of feeding conveyor unit, driving means and transfer conveyor unit.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the package inspection zone comprises of enclosure, indicator light, conveyor unit and driving means. The package inspection zone comprises of conveyor unit, driving means, enclosure and indicator light. The delivery zone comprises of transport handling apparatus, delivery conveyor unit, driving means and delivery handling apparatus. Said package dispensing apparatus is preferably a package sorting and arranging mechanism. Said package is preferably a Cone, Cheese or Hank. The feeding zone, package inspection zone and delivery zone is connected to the control unit. Said control unit is disposed on the outer surface of the enclosure.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, the working method of automatic package inspection machine comprises the following steps. The package is fed in to the feeding zone in particularly the feeding conveyor unit whereas the weight of the package is measured by weight measuring means. The package is sorted by the handling apparatus and transferred the package to the transfer conveyor unit. The sorted package is fed to the package inspection zone particularly to the conveyor unit.

The package is inspected based on shade, size, shape and colour in the package inspection system. The package is transferred to the delivery zone through the package dispensing apparatus. Furthermore, the above said method is controlled and operated by the control unit.

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

Figure 1a depicts the first embodiment of automatic package inspection machine according to the main aspect of the present invention.

Figure 1b depicts the second embodiment of automatic package inspection machine according to another main aspect of the present invention.

Figure 2a depicts the feeding zone of the first embodiment of automatic package inspection machine in accordance to the present invention.

Figure 2b depicts the feeding zone of second embodiment of automatic package inspection machine in accordance to the present invention.

Figure 3a depicts the package inspection zone of the first embodiment of automatic package inspection machine in accordance to the present invention.

Figure 3b depicts the package inspection zone of the second embodiment of automatic package inspection machine in accordance to the present invention.

Figure 4a depicts the delivery zone of the first embodiment of automatic package inspection machine in accordance to the present invention.

Figure 4b depicts the delivery zone of the second embodiment of automatic package inspection machine in accordance to 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 DRAWINGS

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 invention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention are provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Figure 1a describes the first embodiment of automatic package inspection machine (1) according to the main aspect of the present invention. Said inspection machine (1) comprises of feeding zone (101) with weight measuring means (130), package inspection zone (201) with inspection unit (230), delivery zone (301) with package dispensing apparatus (310) and control unit (401). An enclosure (220) is disposed on the package inspection zone (201) whereas said enclosure (220) covers the top portion of the machine (1). Said feeding zone (101), package inspection zone (230) and delivery zone (301) is connected to the control unit (401). The control unit (401) is disposed on the enclosure (220) wherein said control unit (401) is operatively accessible by the operator. An indicator (221) light is disposed on the top portion of the enclosure (220). Said feeding zone (101) and package inspection zone (201) are aligned continuous and nearer to each other wherein said enclosure (220) is extended towards the feeding zone (101). An perfect package preferably a Cone, Cheese or Hank is initially fed into the machine (1) wherein, the control unit (401) collects the data of the package and sets the pre-set value.

Figure 1b describes the second embodiment of automatic package inspection machine (2) according to another main aspect of the present invention. Said inspection machine (2) comprises of feeding zone (501) with weight measuring means (530), package inspection zone (601) with inspection unit (630), delivery zone (701) with package dispensing apparatus (730) and control unit (801). An enclosure (640) is disposed on the package inspection zone (601) whereas said enclosure (220) covers the top portion of the machine (2). Said feeding zone (501), package inspection zone (630) and delivery zone (701) is connected to the control unit (401). The control unit (801) is disposed on the enclosure (640) wherein said control unit (801) is operatively accessible by the operator. An indicator (641) light is disposed on the top portion of the enclosure (640). Said feeding zone (501) and package inspection zone (201) are aligned continuous and nearer to each other wherein said enclosure (640) is extended towards the feeding zone (501). An perfect package preferably a Cone, Cheese or Hank is initially fed into the machine (2) wherein, the control unit (801) collects the data of the package and sets the pre-set value.

Figure 2a describes the feeding zone (101) of the first embodiment of automatic package inspection machine (1) in accordance to the present invention. The feeding zone (101) comprises of feeding zone (101) comprises of feeding conveyor unit (110), driving means (120, 160), weight measuring means (130), package handling apparatus (140) and transfer conveyor unit (150). The feeding zone (101) further comprises of feeding machine frame (102), column support (103), plurality of wheels (104), feeding machine side frame (105), trays (106) and apparatus support (107). The feeding conveyor unit (110) further comprises of drive pulleys (111a, 111b) and conveyor belt (112). The driving means (120) comprises of motor (121) and switching means (122a, 122b). Said package handling apparatus (140) comprises of motor (141), base support (142), arm members (143), stepper motor (144), mini motor (145) and holding means (146),

Said transfer conveyor unit (150) further comprises of drive pulleys (151a, 151b) and conveyor belt (152). The driving means (160) further comprises of motor (161) and switching means (162a, 162b). The conveyor belt (112) is rotatably mounted on the pulleys (111a) and (111b) whereas said pulleys (111a) is driven by the driving means (120). The drive pulleys (111a, 111b) are pivotably disposed on the feeding machine frame (102) and supported by plurality of support columns (103). The package handling apparatus (140) is disposed on the centre portion of the frame (105) wherein said apparatus (140) is fixated on the apparatus support (107). Said apparatus (140) is operated in 360 degree in all directions whereas the package is sorted by the holding means (146) and arm members (143) operated by the stepper motor (144) and mini motor (145). Said apparatus handles the package, if the weight of package is found to be irrelevant to the pre-set data, then the package is placed on the trays (106) collected in the containers.

The weight measuring means (130) is disposed inner portion of the machine frame (102) located in between the feeding conveyor unit (110) and transfer conveyor unit (150). The sorted package is transferred by the transfer conveyor unit (150). The conveyor belt (152) is rotatably mounted on the drive pulleys (151a, 151b) whereas said unit (150) is driven by the driving means (160). Said units (110, 150) are also operated by manually through switching means (122a, 122b, 162a, 162b).

Figure 2b describes the feeding zone (501) of second embodiment of automatic package inspection machine (2) in accordance to the present invention. The feeding zone (501) comprises of feeding conveyor unit (510), driving means (520, 560), weight measuring means (530), transport handling apparatus (540) and transfer conveyor unit (550). The feeding zone (501) further comprises of feeding machine frame (502), column support (503), machine side frame (504), wheels (505) and trays (506). Said feeding conveyor unit (510) comprises of pulleys (511a, 511b) and conveyor belt (512). The driving means (520) comprises of motor (521), and switching means (522a, 522b). Said package handling apparatus (540) comprises of motor (541), plurality of curved plates (542) and apparatus support (543). The transfer conveyor unit (550) comprises of pulley (551a, 551b) and conveyor belt (552). Said driving means (560) comprises of motor (561) and switching means (562a, 562b).

The drive pulley (511a, 511b) is pivotably mounted on the machine frame (502) preferably on the machine side frame (504). The machine side frame (504) is supported by the plurality of column support (503). The conveyor belt (512) is rotatably mounted on the drive pulley (511a, 511b) whereas said pulley (551a) is driven by driving means (520). The weight measuring means (530) is disposed inner portion of the machine frame (502) located in between the feeding conveyor unit (510) and transfer conveyor unit (550). The transport handling apparatus (540) is disposed parallel to the weight measuring means (530) whereas it provides forward motion to move the package by using the plurality of curved plates to the transfer conveyor unit (550). If the weight of package is found to be irrelevant to the pre-set data, then the package is carry forwarded to the trays (506) collected in the containers.

The sorted package is tra3nsferred by the transfer conveyor unit (550). The conveyor belt (552) is rotatably mounted on the drive pulleys (551a, 551b) whereas said unit (550) is driven by the driving means (160). Said units (510, 550) are also operated by manually through switching means (522a, 522b, 562a, 562b).

Figure 3a describes the package inspection zone (201) of the first embodiment of automatic package inspection machine (1) in accordance to the present invention. The inspection zone (201) comprises of comprises of enclosure (220), indicator light (221), inspection unit (230), conveyor unit (240) and driving means (250). The package inspection zone (201) further comprises of machine frame (202), plurality of column support (203), plurality of wheels (204), side members (205), top frame (206) and plurality of side trays (207), end trays (208) and guide support (209). The conveyor unit (240) comprises of conveyor belt (241) and pulleys (242a, 242b). Said pulleys (242a, 242b) are pivotably mounted on the machine frame (202) preferably on the side frame (205) supported by plurality of column supports (203). The driving means (250) comprises of motor (251) and switching means (252a, 252b). Said inspection unit (250) comprises of inspection system support (231), light unit support (232), UV light means (233) and camera (234). The UV light means (233) and camera (234) are disposed on the light unit support (232) whereas said camera (234) is disposed on the centre portion of the light unit support (232) separated by the UV light means (233).

The conveyor belt (241) is rotatably mounted on the pulleys (242a, 242b) wherein said belt (242a) is operated by driving means (250). The inspection unit (230) is supported on the top frame (206) of the inspection zone (201). The guide support (209) is also disposed on the top frame (206) nearer to the delivery zone (301). Said plurality of side trays (207) and end trays (208) are fixated on the side members (205) of the machine frame (202).

Figure 3b describes the package inspection zone (601) of the second embodiment of automatic package inspection machine (2) in accordance to the present invention. The package inspection zone (604) comprises of conveyor unit (610), driving means (620), package inspection system (630), enclosure (640) and indicator light (641). The package inspection zone (601) further comprises of machine frame (602), column support (603), wheel support (604), side frame (605), top frame (606), transparent glass member (635), transport apparatus support (636), enclosure (640) and indicator light (641). The conveyor unit (610) further comprises of conveyor belt (611), pulleys (612a, 612b). Said driving means (620) comprises of motor (621), switching means (622a, 622b).

The package inspection system (630) comprises of inspection unit support (631a, 631b, 631c, 631d), UV light unit support (632a, 632b), camera (633a, 633b) and UV light means (634a, 634b, 634c, 634d). The conveyor unit (610) is mounted on the machine frame (602), pulleys (612a, 612b) is pivotably mounted on the side frame (605), the conveyor belt (611) is rotatably mounted on the pulleys (612a, 612b) wherein said pulley is operated by driving means (620). The inspection unit (630) is disposed on the centre portion of the package inspection zone (601), the inspection unit support (631a, 631b) is disposed on the top portion and inspection unit support (631c, 631d) is disposed on the bottom portion. Said support (631a, 631b, 631c, 631d) is fixated on machine frame (602)

Referring in more specific with figure 3b, the camera (633a) and UV light means (634a, 634b) is disposed on the top portion whereas they are supported by UV light unit support (362a) fixated on the top frame (606). The camera (633b) and UV light means (634c, 634d) is disposed on the bottom portion whereas they are supported by UV light unit support (632b) fixated on the side frame (605). Both the top portion and bottom portion are separated by transparent glass member (635) wherein said member (635) is fixated on the machine side frame (605).

Figure 4a describes the delivery zone (301) of the first embodiment of automatic package inspection machine (1) in accordance to the present invention. The delivery zone (301) comprises of package dispensing apparatus (310) mounted on the end portion of the inspection zone (201). The package dispensing apparatus (310) comprises of stationary roller support (321, 331) and extending claw means (322, 332). The stationary roller support (321, 331) is dynamically fixed on the guide support (209) wherein said support (321, 331) oscillates in one direction due to roller action. The extending claw means extrudes below to pick and drop packages in the plurality of trays (207) or sort it on end trays (208).

Figure 4b describes the delivery zone (701) of the second embodiment of automatic package inspection machine (2) in accordance to the present invention. The delivery zone (701) comprises of transport handling apparatus (710), delivery conveyor unit (720), driving means (730) and delivery handling apparatus (740). The transport handling apparatus (710) comprises of motor (711) and plurality of curve plates (712). The delivery conveyor unit (720) comprises of conveyor belt (721) and drive pulleys (722a, 722b), Said driving means (730) comprises of motor (731), switching means (732a, 732b). The delivery handling apparatus (740) comprises of support plate (741), motor (742), shaft (743) and guiding plate (744).
The transport handling apparatus (710) is pivotably fixed on the transport apparatus support (636) attached to heretofore said side frame (605). The motor (711) provides rotational moment to the plurality of curved plates (712) and carry forward the package to the delivery conveyor unit (720) after inspection. The drive pulleys (722a, 722b) are pivotably mounted on the side frame (605). The conveyor belt (721) is rotatably mounted on the drive pulley (722a, 722b) wherein said driving means (730) operates the drive pulley (722a). The package is sorted by the delivery handling apparatus (740) wherein said directional plates (743) guides the package to the end tray (702) and drops it to the container.

The present invention is manufactured and tested with a real time packages wherein exact package data are fed into the machine (1, 2) to set the pre-set value. For testing purposes, different variation of packages are taken with different shades and sizes. It is found that the present invention determines the shade variations, size, weight and colours expediently without any miscalculations. The package with exact standards are found and sorted in minimum period of time. Therefore, the present invention is more advantages and effective than manual methods of differentiating Cones.