BOBBIN ALIGNING APPARATUS IN A TEXTILE MACHINE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[001] The invention generally relates to a bobbin aligning apparatus for use in conjunction with auto doffer in textile spinning machines. Particularly, the invention is concerned to a bobbin loading system that loads the empty bobbins to the peg conveyor in a typical auto doffer of a ring spinning frame.

PRIOR ART

[002] Modem textile spinning or twisting machines are equipped with auto-doffers. After the pre determined length of yarn is wound on the bobbins mounted on the spindles, the process of cop built up is completed. The auto doffing system performs the function of full cop unloading and empty bobbin loading. Auto doffing refers to the automatic sequential system of full cop unloading and empty bobbin loading. Generally, the auto doffing system is provided with a empty bobbin loader mounted at the end, preferably at tail stock of the ring spinning frame. The empty bobbins / conical tubes are stored in a bobbin reservoir, which is also mounted at the tail end of the machine. At the outlet of the said reservoir, a rotatable drum is fixed.

[003] One such device for removal of bobbins from a container is disclosed in Indian patent number 166495 assigned to Maschinenfabrik Rieter AG. The device includes a rotating drum with traverse grooves on its circumference to accommodate only one bobbin at a time. While the said drum is being rotated at a predetermined time, it picks up a bobbin from the reservoir and releases one by one to the chute. The chute has an outlet in order to deliver those bobbins and is mounted overhead of the belt / peg rail system which contains series of pegs for receiving the said empty bobbins. These conical bobbins are of hollow structure having a larger diameter at one end and smaller diameter at the other end. Therefore while loading, only the larger end of the bobbin can easily accommodate with a peg of the peg rail system. The releasing of bobbins to the chute is done in such a way that the bobbins are being fallen vertically with their larger dia end down and sits on to the peg.

[004] However, the device of Maschinenfabrik Rieter AG requires that the bobbins have to be pre-arranged in the reservoir in order to fall down correctly into the chute so as to minimize bridging problem. The said orientation is one of the factors that impose restriction on speed of loading the bobbins. Moreover, the grooved drum may improperly pick up a bobbin while rotating and hence there are possibilities of struck-up of bobbin in between rotating drum and wall of the reservoir. The successor bobbins fall down by gravity and get locked in that area. There is also the possibility of capturing more than one bobbin on the drum's groove, which causes choking and leads to problem in loading them. There had been therefore a need for developing a bobbin loading system that would eliminate the limitations and draw backs of the prior art and in particular to overcome the bobbin struck-up as well as to eliminate the need for pre-arranging the bobbins in reservoir.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

[005] One object of the invention is to provide a bobbin sorting apparatus that enables single bobbin delivery to the loading duct at a time and to prevent bobbin locking and jamming.

[006] Another object of the present invention is to provide a bobbin sorting apparatus to eliminate the necessity for pre-arrangement of bobbins in bobbin reservoir and ensure the reliability of perfect orientation of bobbins through smooth movement even at higher speed of operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[007] FIG. 1 schematically illustrates the cross sectional view of the bobbin aligning apparatus of the present invention.

[008] FIG.2 schematically illustrates the cross sectional view of the agitating links and stopper mechanism.

[009] FIG.3 schematically illustrates the cross sectional view of working of filter pates according to the invention.

[0010] FIG.4 schematically shows the isometric view of the bobbin conveying chute of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the invention includes a bobbin aligning apparatus for a textile machine comprising of a scoop assembly for receiving a plurality of bobbins from a bobbin reservoir. A chute is coupled to the scoop assembly for passage of the bobbins. At least one filter plate is provided on a slot on the chute for delivery of one bobbin at a given instant of time to a delivery tube and an aligning means for orienting the bobbin released from the filter plate onto the delivery tube for proper loading of the bobbin.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

[0011] Various embodiments of the invention provide a bobbin aligning apparatus for a textile machine. Fig.l shows the improved bobbin aligning apparatus of the present invention comprises a empty bobbin reservoir (1) at the tail stock of the ring spinning machine where the empty bobbins (2) are stored. As shown in Fig.l the base of the reservoir (1) comprises a pair of pivot plates (23 8L 24) which are connected to the bottom ends of side walls of the reservoir (1) and extended up to the scoop (22).

[0012] Referring to the Fig.2, a connecting arm (21) connects scoop (22) to one end of the link (11) whereas the other end of the link (11) is connected to cam plate (7). The pivot pin (26) is being connected to the front wall of the scoop (22) to facilitate the pivotal movement of the scoop (22) with respect to pivot pin (26) axis. When the eccentric means (12) is rotated, an agitating movement is transferred to the scoop (22) via link (10), cam plate (7), link (11) and connecting arm (21), so that the bobbins (2) presents inside the scoop (22) are periodically agitated in order to avoid bobbin jamming. Furthermore, there is no need for pre-arrangement or orientation of bobbins while loading on to the reservoir (1). The stopper (4) is mounted just below the pivot pin (26), ensures that bobbins (2) are descending horizontally and flowing smoothly from the reservoir. The stopper (4) is of convexity in shape and extends along the entire crosswise length of the reservoir outlet.

[0013] The empty bobbins (2) are loaded in empty bobbin reservoir (1). To prevent the bobbin jamming/chocking, the scoop (22) is being continuously agitated by oscillatory motion so that bobbins (2) in the reservoir are freely moving down to the stopper mechanism (4), Due to that agitating motion of scoop (22) and presence of stopper (4), the said bobbin are getting oriented themselves horizontally and falls into the chute (13) and stays on the filter plate (5). Now the individually oriented bobbins reach the top filter plate (5) which holds the continuously stacked bobbins.

[0014] A top filter plate (5) is connected with the cam plate (7) through a link (8) and bottom filter plate (6) is connected with the cam plate (7) through a link (9). The filter plates (5, 6) are coupled to their appropriate links (8, 9) with the aid of nuts and bolts. Thus, the cam plate (7) is operably coupled with links 8, 9, & 11 in order to actuate them. Said cam plate (7) is swingably fixed at its center with a link mechanism (3) and in turn gets the drive from driving means (25) through crank arm (10) incorporated with an eccentric means (12). Crank arm (10) is connected to the eccentric disc (12) through a crank pin (12a). The said driving means (25) is an electric motor which can be coupled to the transmission arrangement (27) in order to drive the eccentric means (12), A gear drive or belt drive (not shown) is normally used as a transmission arrangement (27). The eccentric means (12) is generally an eccentric disc or an eccentric cam. This mechanism ensures that for every complete revolution of the eccentric means (12), only one bobbin (2) is allowed to pass in to the chute (13). A pneumatic means can be used in place of electric motors as a driving means (25) in order to actuate the above system and the said pneumatic means can be a piston and cylinder arrangement.

[0015] Fig.3 shows the chute (13) is provided at the outlet of bobbin reservoir (1) for transferring and orienting the bobbins which were delivered from the said reservoir (1). A slot provided in the upper portion of the chute (13), pertains the space for forward and backward traverse movements of filter plates (5&6). The fiher plates (5&6) are substantially flat surfaced with a slanting nose at their front ends while the other ends of filter plates (5&6) are fixed with link mechanism (3). Said slanting surfaced nose facilitates them to move smoothly in between two successively stacked bobbins. This arrangement also minimizes the chance for bobbins getting damaged due to the reciprocal& rubbing movement of said filter plates (5&6). Aforesaid link and cam plate mechanism provides alternate forward and backward traverse movements of filter plates (5&6) into the chute (13). i.e., When the filter plate (5) traverse in one direction, the another filter plate (6) traverses in opposite direction and vice versa (as shown by arrows in Fig.3). Thus it releasing only one bobbin to travel into the chute (13) at a time. Below the filter plate arrangement there are at least two limiting means (14a, 14b) are provided at inside the chute (13) where the bobbins are in travel as shown in Fig.4. The limiting means (14a, 14b) are placed nearly 3/4th of the bobbins length. Moreover, the space between tip of the limiting means (14a, 14b) and wall of the chute (13) ensures that it allows only the smaller end of the bobbin (2) to slide &pass through and not the larger end of the bobbin.

[0016] A tilting means (15) fixed at the tail end of the chute (13) (Refer Fig,2), Said tilting means (15) temporarily supports the falling end of bobbin at the bottom and thus it makes the larger end of the bobbin to fall down through the side passage (16) provided at the tail of the chute (13). Thus the bobbins (2) are again turned into 180° while falling in to the delivery tube (17) provided adjacent to the tail of the chute (13) (Refer Fig.l). This delivery tube (17) comprises with a aligning means (18) which guides the bobbin to sit over the corresponding peg (19). Said aligning means (18) is a funnel shaped outlet opening for delivering the bobbin (2) and is mounted directly above peg rail (20). By this way, the aligning means (18) faces towards the pegs (19) of the peg rail (20) and thus the delivery tube (17) guides the bobbins (2) towards the peg rail/ peg conveyor (20) of automatic bobbin loading system.

Industrial Applicability;

[0017] According to this invention, the reservoir agitating mechanism equipped with scoop & stopper that prevents the bobbin jamming/chocking and ensures the horizontal orientation of bobbins. Moreover, the filter plates arrangement facilitates a smooth flow of bobbin as well as delivery of only a single bobbin at a time into the loading duct. There is no need for pre-arrangement of bobbins because of the aforesaid arrangements, thereby avoids the time loss incorporated with it.

[0018] During working, Continuous anti-clockwise rotation of the eccentric means makes the crank arm to move downwards. This makes the top filter plate to move backward direction and the bottom filter plate to move forward direction. While the top filter plate moves backward, an opening occurs and it allows only the first bobbin to pass over. Said bobbin is again now stopped by the bottom filter plate and holds in stationary position. Further rotation of the eccentric means makes the crank arm to move upwards. Now the top filter plate moves forward and the bottom filter plate moves backward. This makes the bottom filter plate to get open and releases bobbin it already held. Therefore, the said bobbin is now free to fall into the chute. At the same time, the forward movement of top filter plate holds down the next bobbin not to fall and the cycle of operation continues. The whole operation is carried out through links-cam plate mechanism, which in turn gets the drive through eccentric means driven by the driving means. Furthermore, the said mechanism ensures that for every rotation of the eccentric means, only one bobbin is allowed to pass through the chute.

[0019] Then the bobbin reaches the limiting means provided at inside of the chute in which it allows only the smaller end of the bobbin to tilt down and not the larger end. Therefore, the smaller end of the bobbin facing towards the tilting means and falls through. At the tilting means, the falling end of the bobbin is temporarily supported and is tilted to 180° due to its own weight. So that the larger end of the bobbin enters through the side passage and falls into the delivery tube in an inverted manner. Hence, the bobbin travels through the delivery tube and is delivered via the aligning means. Since the aligning means is placed directly above the peg rail, said delivered bobbins sits in their position onto the corresponding pegs as larger end at the bottom and small end at the
top.

[0020] The invention, as described herein and as illustrated by diagram provides a bobbin aligning apparatus for a textile machine that allows proper aligning and loading of the bobbins without cluttering the delivery passage. The foregoing description of the invention has been set for merely to illustrate the invention and is not intended to be limiting. Since modifications of the disclosed embodiments incorporating the spirit and substance of the invention may occur to person skilled in the art, the invention should be construed to include everything within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

We Claim:

1. A bobbin aligning apparatus for a textile machine, wherein the apparatus comprises a bobbin reservoir (1), a filter plate assembly (5,6) and a bobbin transport chute (13), characterized in that a scoop assembly (22) is provided for receiving a plurality of bobbins.

2. The bobbin aligning apparatus according to Claim 1,wherein the scoop assembly (22) is mounted onto the reservoir (1) through pivot pin (26) and is capable of executing pivotal movement about the axis of the pivot pin (26).

3. The bobbin aligning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the scoop assembly (22) further comprises of a stopper (4) for enabling horizontal orientation of bobbins (2).

4. The bobbin aligning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the filter plates (5,6) are configured for horizontal movement to allow the horizontally oriented bobbins (2) in succession-

5. The bobbin aligning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pivotal movement of the scoop assembly (22) is coupled synchronously to the movement of the filter plates (5, 6).

6. The bobbin aligning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tail end of chute (13) is provided with a tilting means (15) for flipping the bobbin (2) to turnaround and fall through delivery passage (16).

7. The bobbin aligning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the aligning means includes at least one delivery passage (16) provided on the chute (13) proximal to the delivery tube (17) and is configured for altering the horizontal orientation of the bobbin (2).

8. The bobbin aligning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the delivery passage (16) has a proximal end having a dimension equal to the dimension of the broad end of the bobbin (2) and a distal end having a dimension greater than the narrow end of the bobbin (2).

9. The bobbin aligning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the unequal dimensions of the delivery passage (16) allows the bobbin (2) to fall through and loading onto the bobbin transport rail apparatus (20).

10.A bobbin aligning method for a textile machine, the method comprising of receiving a plurality of bobbins (2) from a bobbin reservoir (1) to a scoop assembly (22); transferring bobbins (2) through a chute (13) provided below the scoop assembly (22); and delivering bobbins (2) in succession to a bobbin transport rail apparatus (20), wherein the step of delivery of the bobbins further comprises of

allowing the entry of one bobbin (2) at a given instant of time to a delivery tube (17) through at least one filter plate (5, 6) provided on a slot on the chute (13);

orienting the smaller end of the bobbin through a plurality of limiting means (14) provided in the bobbin transferring passage of the chute (13);

flipping the bobbin (2) through a tilting means (15) to turnaround and align for proper loading of the bobbin (2).