COP UNLOADING DEVICE IN A TEXTILE MACHINE
FIELD OF THE INVENTION:
The present invention relates to a device for unloading and transporting the cop in a textile
Machines, such as a ring spinning and twisting machine, and, in particular, to an automatic cop unloading and transporting system including the peg tray and a conveyor system adapted to cooperatively handle unloading and transportation of the full cops being unloaded. The automatic system of the present invention is directed to enable fast and effective unloading of cops and its transportation such as to thereby favour improving productivity and performance of such spinning machines and the like.
BACKGROUND ART:
The usage of ring spinning machines for the production of yarn is known. Normally the ring
spinning machine comprises a spindle rail to carry predetermined number of spindles arranged at predetermined pitch arranged on both side of the machine. The conical tubes on which the yarn is wound are fitted to the spindles and driven by suitable drive means. Ring rails arranged coaxial to the spindle rail and carries spinning ring and traveller assembly of same number and pitch as that of spindle. The ring rails further provided with means for travel up and down in a direction traverse to the spindle axis for the built up of yarn on to the conical tubes attached to the revolving spindles .
Roving bobbins of equal number as that of the spindles are arranged in a creel member attached to the ring spinning machine for the introduction of roving into the drafting arrangement through suitable guide means and drafted. The drafting arrangement essentially comprises rear, middle and front bottom rollers with top drafting rollers associated with them. The drafting rollers being driven at differential speed by the drive system of the machine such that middle drafting rollers being driven at a faster peripheral speed than that

of the rear drafting rollers and the front drafting rollers being driven at a faster peripheral speed than that of the middle drafting rollers to facilitate drafting. Guide arms attached to the drafting system rotatably support the top rollers as well as apply the required drafting pressure to the drafting rollers through suitable means The conical tubes being attached to the spindles and driven by the spindle drive system and the drafted roving is subsequently wound on conical tubes by the ring and ring traveller assembly and the cop built up takes place. Soon after the conical tubes are filled with predetermined length of yarn, the spindles are stopped and the cop is replaced with empty conical tubes and the machine is subsequently re started.
Modern ring spinning machines are constructed with spindles in the order of more than 1200. Replacing of the cop with empty conical tubes normally known as doffing and manual doffing of such large number of spindles requires more man power and time consuming.
Modern Ring Spinning machines empl6y auto doffers some of them employ mechanism of pegs moving in peg trays. The peg tray forms a closed loop and houses plurality of pegs to carry and position the conical tubes on to the spindles as well as to receive the cops and to transport them to the un loading zone of the ring spinning and twisting machine . Pushing means are arranged on both sides of the machine for the displacement of the pegs in the peg tray in the longitudinal direction of the machine.
The doffer further comprises a tube loader, gripper rail, intermediate peg tray. Conical tubes are loaded into the pegs arranged in the peg tray by the tube loader and displaced along the row of spindles so that each conical tube is positioned in front of respective spindle. Soon after the cop built up is completed, conical tubes present in the pegs are exchanged with the full bobbins otherwise known as cops and the pegs carrying the cops and subsequently transported to the unloading zone of the machine.

At the unloading end suitable means are provided to unload the cops and the pegs are transported to the tube loading area where the conical tubes are loaded on to the pegs by the tube loader and subsequently transported to the doffing zone. In this manner the pegs move around the machine to receive and transport the empty conical tubes or the cops as the case may be.
Japanese patent application JP 9049130A2 discloses a peg tray which is being constituted by forming a bending part standing upward from the horizontal conveying part of the peg tray making it a loop turn like a hairpin at the top, bending it downward so as to direct the pegs carrying the cops in a down ward direction to facilitate the cops being pulled out by its self weight from the pegs and then connecting to the horizontal conveying part at the end part of the outer end of a spinning machine. A pusher arrangement being provided for pushing the pegs carrying the cops in to the bent portion of the peg tray such that during the passage of the pegs carrying the cops in the loop portion the cops being pulled off from the pegs at the pulling out position, the cops being received by a chute and deposited in to cop collecting box placed on the floor of the spinning machine.
In the above arrangement the portion being connected to the horizontal conveying part through a radius portion constituting an curvature. The curvature portion is likely to impose restriction to the proper conveyance of the pegs. A horizontal portion of the peg tray (parallel to the ground) in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the machine with two bend portions connecting the peg trays arranged in the longitudinal direction and the traverse direction is provided to complete the peg tray as an endless loop for the transportation of the pegs in a closed loop. The above arrangement with such curved portion will also further restrict the smooth flow of the peg trays.

Also the manufacture the peg trays of the above type is difficult, time consuming and expensive
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION: '
It is thus the basic object of the present invention to provide for an automatic cop unloading
and transporting system for ring spinning machine such as to favour automatic unloading of a full cops and transporting the same to a location for easy transfer.
A further object of the present invention is directed to said automatic bobbin unloading and
transporting device of ring spinning machines involving selective positioning of peg-trays
for unloading/removal of the full cops and cooperative arrangement for automated unloading
of full cops and further for transporting and collecting the full cops in a collecting box on
trolley /
A further object of the present invention directed to an automatic cop unloading and transporting system which would be simple and user friendly and at the same time favour improving the productivity cycle of operation of such spinning units due to uninterrupted unloading and transporting of the cops.
A still further object of the present invention directed to said automatic unloading of full bobbins is to provide a cop change equipment involving a peg tray, wherein for a single stroke more than one cop could be unloaded at a time to save time for bobbin change over, for onward transporting by conveyor belts for easier collection in boxes and/or further end use of said full cops.
A still further object of the present invention directed to said automatic unloading of full bobbins is to use a conveyor belt run over pulleys driven by motor-gear with chain-sprocket drive for favored transportation of the full cops, being carried by the cleats fixed on to the

conveyor belt such as they move upwards for finally being collected in the collecting box via the cop discharge tray at the top of the conveyor.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
Thus according to the basic aspect of the invention there is provided an automatic cop
unloading and transport system comprising:
a plurality of pegs carrying full cops in a peg tray which is arranged as an endless loop for the transportation of the pegs carrying the cops to the cop unloading zone with means provided for their displacement in a known way,
A cop unloading device located at the pre determined cop unloading area and being operably connected with a means to remove the full cops from the peg, the cop unloading arrangement provided with means to remove the full cops from the peg, the cop unloading means comprises a member which makes to and fro motion in a direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the pegs carrying the cops;
the cop unloading means being a plate like member secured to the piston of a pneumatic cylinder such that the movement of the said member in a direction away from the peg tray for the removal of the full cops from the pegs thereby the automatic cop unloading is effected; the cops unloaded from the peg tray being collected by a cop collecting tray and a transport means provided for transporting of the cops from the cop collecting tray and the cop transport means transport the cops to a pre determined location and deposits the same in collecting means.
Thus in the above automatic cop unloading and transport system when the peg with full cop reaches the cop unloading zone, the cop removing member secured to a piston means of the pneumatic cylinder, the said cop removing member is adapted to insert between the lower

end of the full cop mounted on the peg and when the piston of the pneumatic cylinder is actuated the full cop is removed from the peg by the cop removing member and dropped in a cop collection tray by the gravitational force Subsequently the full cops are transported by a conveyor means of said transport means.
Alternatively the cop removing member may be held in the normal position by means of spring force generated by the spring, a guide pin attached to one end of the cop removing member passes through the spring, a holding member is attached to the other end of the guide pin, electromagnet operably connected to hold the holding member so as to retain the cop removing member in the normal position, when ever the a peg carrying the cop reaches the cop unloading zone the electromagnet causes the lifting of the cop removing member to a pre determined location by the spring force and the cop is dropped in the cop collecting tray by the gravitational force.
Advantageously, in accordance with an aspect of the invention in the automatic cop
unloading and transport system for a single to and fro movement of the cop lifting member
more than one cops from the corresponding pegs are removed by means of said actuating
means adopted to lift the cop removing member.
j Moreover, the above system involves a cooperative transport means comprising a gear motor
driven conveyor adapted to transport the full cops.
Preferably, the said transport means comprises conveyor belts having belt cleats adapted for picking up the cops form the said collection tray. The movement of the conveyor is achieved involving a gear motor adapted to drive the drive roller through chain drive and sprocket, said drive roller further adapted to drive the driven roller and conveyor belt, tensioning arrangement being provided to adopt the desired tension to the chain and the conveyor belt.

Also, advantageously during transport of the full cops the same are guided by side guides in said conveyor and upon traversal to the top of the conveyor the full cops are dropped in a cop collecting container.
The present invention, its objects and advantages are described in greater details with reference to the accompanying illustrative figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING FIGURES:
Figure 1: is a isometric view of the cop unloading and transporting device according to the
invention
Figure 2: is yet another isometric view of the cop unloading and transporting device according to the invention
Figure 3: is the schematic front view of the automatic cop unloading portion of the invention
i
wherein part of the peg tray is shown
Figure 4: is the schematic side view of the cop unloading and transporting device according to the invention
Figure 5: is the schematic front view of the automatic cop unloading portion of the invention wherein the cop is shown lifted from the peg tray by the cop unloading device
Figure 6: is the schematic side view of the automatic cop unloading portion of the invention wherein the cop is shown lifted from the peg tray by the cop unloading device
Figure-7: is the schematic side view/of yet another embodiment of the automatic cop unloading portion of the invention wherein the cop is shown lifted from the peg tray by the cop unloading device
Figure-8: is the schematic side view of the cop unloading and transporting device according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION WITH REFERENCE TO ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS:
The present invention relates to an automatic cop unloading and transporting system for textile spinning machines, such as a ring spinning frame machine. A peg-tray as an endless member is arranged as a closed loop on both right and the left side of the lower part of a ring spinning frame machine in the longitudinal direction. The peg tray being adopted to guide a plurality of the pegs which carry the full cops unloaded from the spindles / conical tubes to be loaded on the spindle as the case m^y be and located at a predetermined position of the peg tray . Means are provided for the displacement of the pegs carrying the full cops / conical tubes, in the known way. The pegs carrying the full cops reaches the cop unloading zone where the cops are unloaded from the pegs and are subsequently transported to a pre determined location and deposited in a collecting means.
Reference is first invited to accompanying Figures 1, 3, 4, 5& 6, which illustrate the arrangement for the cop unloading in accordance with the invention. Such an arrangement (U) basically involves the full cop (1), the peg (2), a peg tray (3), a cop removing member (4), which may be a plate, adapted for cop unloading and a pneumatic cylinder (6). In particular, the full cop (1) is shown mounted on peg (2), being moved on the peg-tray (3) provided to facilitate the displacement of the pegs.
The cop removing member (4) is connected to a actuating means capable of displacing the said cop removing member (4) to a pre determined location and back in a direction substantially perpendicular to the flow direction of the pegs . The actuating means may be for example a pneumatic cylinder (6) provided with the piston rod (5) on which the cop removing member (4) is fitted by suitable means. The cop removing member (4) is normally positioned such that when a peg carrying the cop reaches the cop unloading zone, the same is located between the lower end of the full cop (1) and the corresponding bobbin peg (2).

When the peg (2) carrying the full cop (1) is displaced to the cop unloading zone by the peg transport arrangement, the cop removing member (4) is lifted by the actuating means to a pre determined position sufficient enough such that the cop is no more supported by the cylindrical stem portion (2a) of the peg and the cop is dropped in the cop collecting tray (7) by the gravitational force. The cop removing member (4) is then returned back to its home position. The cop removing member (4) may be used for the removal of at least one cop at a time , in the remark example the cop removing member (4) is shown adopted for unloading of two cops for its each to and fro movement. Means are provided for the synchronized movement of the pre determined number of pegs to the vicinity of the cop lifting member within the time when the cop lifting member completes one to and fro movement.
In another embodiment of the invention shown in figure 7 , the cop unloading device is indicated by (U) in which the cop removing member (4) is being actuated by a electromagnet magnet (23) in conjunction with the spring force exerted by the spring (20). One end of the plunger (21 ) of the electromagnet (23) being housed in the spool of the electro magnet (23). The cop removing member (4) is attached to the top plate (24) and the other end of the plunger is fastene4d to the top plate (24). A spring is retained in between top plate (24) carrying the cop removing member (4) and the holding member (22) During the time when ever the electromagnet is energized ,the cop removing member (4) is held in its normal working position against spring force of the spring (20 ) .
When ever the pre determined number of pegs carrying the cops reaches the cop unloading zone, the electromagnet being de-energized and the cop removing member (4) is lifted to a pre determined location by the spring force and the cop is dropped in the cop collecting tray (7) by the gravitational force. Subsequently the cop removing member (4) is pulled back to its home position on energizing the electro magnet (23).

Accompanying figure 8 illustrates in greater detail the cop unloading device and the cop transporting device. In order to facilitate the transportation of the cops from the collecting tray (7), this invention employ cop transporting arrangement (T) which comprises an end less conveyor belt (9) which is provided with a plurality of cleats (10) of sufficient width to accommodate the entire length of the cops and attached to the conveyer belt at pre determined regular interval. The endless conveyor belt (9) being mounted on the drive roller (16) and the driven roller (8) and means are provided for the driving the conveyor at a pre determined surface speed. For example a sprocket (14 ) is mounted on the shaft of the geared motor (15) and another sprocket is mounted on the axis of the drive roller (16). The said sprockets being drivingly connected by the chain (17) and geared motor (15) drive the conveyor belt (9) such that the full cops (1) are picked up by the cleats (10) of the conveyor belt(9) and carried upwards to the cop discharging zone which Is located at higher level than that of the floor level where the change of direction of movement the conveyor belt (9) causes dropping of the cops (1) on to a7 cop discharging tray (12) and subsequently in to collecting means(19) by the gravitational force due to the fact that the collecting means(19) is positioned at a lower level than that of the cop discharging tray (12) . In most of the cases the collecting means (19) positioned on a mobile truck (20) which is kept at the ground level. The full cops (1) are favourably guided by the side guides (11) which are arranged adjacent to the edge of the conveyor belt (9).
Means are provided for the adjustment of tension of the chain (17) and the conveyor belt (9) as and when required, in the known way.
It is thus possible by way of this invention to automatically unload the full cops from the pegs gliding in the peg trays of a ring spinning frame machine, such as to favour improvement in productivity and less interruption by advantageous use of cop removal member for

LAKSHMI MACHINE WORKS LIMITED
operatively unloading more than one cops in a single stroke of piston operated by a pneumatic cylinder attached to the cop unloading device and there upon its transport to the cop collecting means arranged at the ground level.

We Claim:
1. Automatic cop unloading and transport system comprising:
peg tray provided as a closed loop in the longitudinal direction of the textile machine for the guidance of the pegs carrying the cops'and the conical tubes and provided with means for their displacement characterized in that a cop unloading arrangement is provided and located at a pre determined location in the peg tray, the said cop unloading arrangement comprises a cop removing member which makes to and fro motion in a direction substantially perpendicular to the flow direction of the pegs, the said cop removing member being operably connected to a means which provides the said to and fro motion to facilitate the removal the full cops from the peg and means are provided for the collection of the removed cops and the transportation of the same to a pre determined location.
2. Automatic cop unloading and transport system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the cop removing member being the plate.
3. Automatic cop unloading and transport system as claimed in claims 1 wherein the means which provides the said to and fro motion to the cop removing member being a pneumatic cylinder.
4 Automatic cop unloading and transport system as claimed claim 1 wherein the means which provides the said to and fro motion to the cop removing member being a
electromagnet and spring.
/
5. Automatic cop unloading and transport system as claimed in claim 1 wherein a cop collecting tray is provided to collect the cops removed from the pegs.

6. Automatic cop unloading and transport system as claimed in claim 1 wherein means provided for the transport of the removed cops to a pre determined location being a conveyor means
7. Automatic cop unloading and transport system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the removed cops are transported to location which is located at higher level than that of the floor level

8. Automatic cop unloading and transport system as claimed in claims 1 ,3 and 4 wherein for a single to and fro motion of the cop removing member at least one cop is removed by the cop unloading arrangement.
9. Automatic cop unloading and transport system as claimed in anyone of claims 1 ,7 and 10 wherein said conveyor comprises a plurality of cleats adapted for picking up the cops falling in said collection tray.
10. Automatic cop unloading and transport system substantially as herein described and
illustrated with reference to the accompanying figures.