DESC:FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to the textile spinning preparatory machine. More particularly, the invention relates to a trolley operating mechanism for releasing, indexing and locking lap trolley in a textile lap forming machine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Textile spinning mills have plurality of spinning preparatory machines like blow room, carding, draw frame, lap former, combing, speed frame and ring frame to produce yarn. Combing is one of the important preparatory machine which processes fiber material, where the fibers are fed from a lap roll package. To produce these lap roll package, lap former machine are used in spinning mills. The lap former wounds fiber sheet of predetermined length on a bobbin after doubling and drafting the plurality of draw frame slivers.

[0003] In a lap forming machine, the wound lap rolls are automatically doffed and empty spool are replaced for next subsequent winding cycle. For carrying the said wound lap rolls, a lap trolley arrangement is provided which stores plurality of full lap rolls as well as empty spools for feeding during the successive doffing process. Once the wound fiber lap roll is transferred to the lap trolley, it has to be moved for some short distance to provide a space to accommodate next fiber lap roll, and hence the trolley is to be moved at predetermined pitch length on either side as per requirement.

[0004] Efforts have been made in the past to provide mechanism that allows sideways movement of a lap trolley of a lap forming machine. For instance, Indian Patent Application Number 12/CHE/2008 briefly explains the working and functioning of a conventional lap trolley. Aforesaid lap trolley is subjected to be in locked position during auto doffing time as well as idle time to ensure positional accuracy. In the existing lap former trolley arrangement, two separate actuators are used. The first actuator is used for indexing the trolley and to enable forward movement of the trolley to receive the subsequent or next spool. The second actuator is used to lock the trolley to ensure positional accuracy of the lap trolley, whereas the timing of locking and unlocking is controlled by the signals received from reed switches or by means of sensor arrangement of the actuators which gives the present position of the cylinder stroke. Normally the reed switches are fixed at ends of the actuators to detect the end of the strokes. The trolley locking actuator is actuated when the trolley moving actuator reaches a specified length and before completion of its stroke. To enable this, another reed switch is being used. The position of this reed switch / sensor is set in between the stroke length of trolley moving actuator.

[0005] This indexing arrangement of lap former machine comprises an air cylinder with three position reed switch for trolley indexing and an index arm is coupled with an indexing air cylinder. This coupled arrangement is hinged with guide block which is guided over a linear guide. The index arm in the above arrangement is used to push the trolley while indexing and the hinged link assists rotation of the indexing arm relieved from the trolley during the retraction of indexing air cylinder.

[0006] The first reed switch of indexing air cylinder initiates the trolley indexing. The middle one initiates locking of the trolley with the hinged locking arm. The locking arm is used to lock the trolley operated by air cylinder. The locking arm should fall down on the trolley surface and slide over it till the trolley reaches before its locking position. Sometimes the middle reed switch is not able to sense movement of piston of the actuator within the crossing time. Due to this, the locking arm does not lock the trolley and due to this operational capability of the lap forming machine is compromised.

[0007] The conventional lap trolley arrangements are associated with limitations such as failure of detection of position of the piston of the actuator since the reed switch / sensor is used for sensing the moving object, requirement of manual setting of reed switch, and the requirement of a display command for unlocking of the trolley.

[0008] Moreover due to the long-term usage of trolley, the trolley wheels gets worn out which reduces the trolley height. As a result, the trolley locking arm position misaligns. Due to this variation, a need for changing the cylinder stroke length for each trolley arises which is not possible in practice. Because of this worn out problem, the trolley may undesirably come out from locking position, which is an undesirable occurrence during machine operation.

[0009] Thus, the existing trolley operating mechanism has a disadvantage of using at least two separate actuators for indexing the trolley and locking / unlocking the trolley. As this mechanism not only uses too many moving parts but also produces height variation in trolley locking slots and hence, this mechanism becomes no more versatile.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[00010] The primary object of the present invention is to provide a trolley operating mechanism for a lap forming machine for releasing, indexing well as locking the trolley by means of a single actuator.

[00011] Another object of the present invention is to provide a trolley operating mechanism which provides versatility for any depth of trolley locking slot.

[00012] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a fool proof trolley indexing and locking arrangement with economically simplified construction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[00013] An aspect of the present invention relates to a trolley operating mechanism for a lap forming machine. The trolley operating mechanism includes a locking lever pivoted at center and having a pin end and a locking end, the locking end being positioned in a slot of a trolley to arrest movement of the trolley. The trolley operating mechanism further includes a rotary member pivoted at a hinge point and adapted to rotate about the hinge point such that rotation of the rotary member exerts a downward push on the pin end of the locking lever, the rotary member having a heavy mass lobe surface, and an indexing arm having a rear end facing towards the lobe surface of the rotary member and a front end positioned in an indexing slot of the trolley such that movement of the rear end of the indexing arm during pivotal movement of the indexing arm about an axis, actuated by an actuating member, allows rotation of the rotary member about the hinge point.

[00014] When the rotary member pushes the pin end of the locking lever downwards, the locking end of the locking lever disengages from the slot of the trolley, thereby unlocking the trolley to move in a lateral direction.

[00015] Further, after a specific movement of the rear end of the indexing arm, the front end of the indexing arm contacts a wall surface of the trolley indexing slot and pushes the trolley in the lateral direction till the locking end of the locking lever engages to the next successive slot of the trolley.

[00016] In an embodiment, the heavy mass lobe surface of the rotary member allows the rotary member to retain its original position after the specific movement of the rear end of the indexing arm.

[00017] In an embodiment, after movement of the trolley in the lateral direction, the locking end of the locking lever engages a subsequent slot of the trolley to arrest further movement of the trolley.

[00018] In an embodiment, weight of the locking end of the locking lever is greater than weight of said pin end of the locking lever to allow engagement of the locking end with the subsequent slot after movement of the trolley for the pre-determined length.

[00019] In an embodiment, during movement of the rear end of the indexing arm, the indexing arm swings about an acute angle and the front end of the indexing arm is positioned approximately perpendicular to the trolley indexing slot of the trolley.

[00020] In an embodiment, the indexing arm comprises a linear slot (not shown) operatively coupled to a link of the actuating member to prevent rotation of the rotary member during retraction of the rear end of the indexing arm.

[00021] In an embodiment, the indexing arm is pivoted over a guide block that is slidably movable over a guide rod.

[00022] In an embodiment, the trolley operating mechanism further includes a relieving lever attached to the rotary member and hinged coaxially with the rotary member.

[00023] In an embodiment, the rotary member comprises a shift pin arranged in parallel with rotating axis of the rotary member and rests over the relieving lever such that rotation of a free end of the relieving lever in the direction of the shift pin relieves the trolley to move in the lateral direction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[00024] Figures 1 and 2 illustrate exemplary representations of side and isometric views of the trolley operating mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[00025] Figures 3 to 5b illustrate exemplary representations of the sequence of operation of releasing and indexing of the trolley according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[00026] Figures 6 and 7 illustrate exemplary representations of the trolley operating mechanism with a manual operating arrangement according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[00027] As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of “a,” “an,” and “the” includes plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, as used in the description herein, the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[00028] Exemplary embodiments will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments are shown. This disclosure may however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. These embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those of ordinary skill in the art. Moreover, all statements herein reciting embodiments of the disclosure, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in the future (i.e., any elements developed that perform the same function, regardless of structure).

[00029] The present invention relates to a lap forming machine, and more specifically pertains to a trolley operating mechanism of a lap forming machine for releasing, indexing and locking movement of a lap trolley.

[00030] According to the present invention, the lap forming machine with trolley operating mechanism for releasing, indexing and locking the lap trolley is achieved by a single stroke of an actuator with fool proof timing sequence. The trolley locking and trolley indexing mechanism consists of an actuator, an indexing arm for moving the trolley, a rotary member, and a see-saw type locking lever for locking the trolley in position.

[00031] The rotary member is pivoted at one end. The indexing arm pushes the rotary member such that the rotary member starts rotating about its pivoted axis, in turn pressing the pivoted locking lever at one end, so that its other end gets lifted up to release the lap trolley. When the indexing arm disengages from the rotary member, then pivoted rotary member reaches its home position which makes the locking lever to fall down and slide over the trolley frame until the next slot is reached, and thereby making the trolley to move and stop at a pre-determined distance to receive next lap roll. Once the cycle is completed, the actuating member gets retracted to its initial position.

[00032] The trolley operating mechanism according to the present invention as shown in Figure 1 to Figure 6 includes an actuating member (1) for sliding the trolley (9), an indexing arm (5) for engaging to the trolley slot (4), a rotary member (2) and a guide block (7). The trolley (9) has plurality of wheels (not shown) for providing smooth movement of the trolley (9) while carrying lap rolls. A see-saw type locking lever (3) is provided for locking and unlocking the trolley (9). This see-saw locking lever (3) is pivoted at midway and has more weight at locking end (3’) and less weight at pin end (3”), so that a dead weight always acts on the locking end (3’). The rotary member (2) is pivoted at a hinge point (11) and is able to rotate radially to push the locking lever pin (3”) at one end as shown in Figure 5a. In a locking (normal) condition, the locking end (3’) of locking lever (3) is seated in the slot (4) of the trolley (9) as shown in Figure 4. The rotary member (2) includes a heavy mass lobe surface (2’) such that a dead weight always acts on said lobe surface to retain the rotary member (2) in a home position as shown in Figure 5a.

[00033] Both trolley locking lever (3) and trolley indexing arm (5) can be actuated by means of single pneumatic actuating member (1). One end of trolley indexing arm (5) is faced towards the said lobe surface (2’) of the rotary member (2). Therefore, when the actuating member (1) extends from home position, the indexing arm (5) is able to push the rotary member (2) with respect to the hinge point (11) in a radially rotatable manner as shown by arrow in Figure -5a, 5b.

[00034] As represented in Figure 3, the trolley indexing arm (5) is pivoted preferably at center point of the arm over the guide block (7) which can be slidably movable over the guide rod (7a) when the actuating member (1) moves.

[00035] During automatic lap roll doffing, the pneumatic actuating member (1) moved to a specified/pre-determined stroke length by carrying trolley indexing arm (5) and touches guide block (7). Therefore the indexing arm (5) gets swing about an acute angle and its front end is positioned approximately perpendicular to the trolley indexing slot (6) as shown in Figure 5a. Meanwhile rear end of the trolley indexing arm (5) touches the lobe surface (2’) of the rotary member (2) and pushing action continues as the actuating member (1) in operating condition as shown by arrow. Thereafter, the rotary member (2) rotates radially (as shown by arcual arrow on top) about the hinge point (11). The rotary member (2) puts pressure over pin end (3”) of the see-saw locking lever (3) and thereby pushes said pin end (3”) downwards, as shown by arrow. Since the locking lever (3) is pivoted at center, the pushing action at pin end (3”) makes the locking end (3’) to lift upwards, as shown by arrow in Figure 5b and thus, the locking end (3’) is relieved from the trolley locking slot (4).

[00036] The further continuous movement of actuating member (1) makes the rear end of indexing arm (5) slidably moves past the lobe surface (2’) of the rotary member (2) underneath. Subsequently, the front end of trolley indexing arm (5) touches wall of indexing slot (6) and pushes the trolley (9) for a pre-determined length. During this action, the rotary member (2) is relived from the indexing arm (5), so the rotary member (2) returns to home position and thus, pin end (3’’) gets released by the rotating member (2). Locking end (3’) of the see-saw locking lever (3) is downed by its self-weight and slides over the top frame of the trolley (9), as shown in Figure 6.

[00037] While the full stroke length of actuating member (1) is reached, the next successive slot (4) of trolley (9) reaches the locking end (3’) of the see-saw locking lever (3) such that the said locking end (3’) falls into this slot (4) and arrests further movement of the trolley (9). Thus the trolley (9) is firmly held in a position for accommodating next lap roll which will be loaded in the next doffing operation. The proposed trolley operating mechanism has more reliability and versatility even if the trolley lock has various height (due to worn out trolley wheels), since the locking lever (3) falls down till it reaches the bottom end of the locking slot (4) cut-out.

[00038] During retraction of the actuating member (1), the front end of indexing arm (5) gets relieved from touching the trolley indexing slot (6). The indexing arm would hinder the rotary member (2) if a hole is provided in the indexing arm to which the indexing air cylinder/actuating member (1) is coupled. For this reason, the indexing arm (5) is provided with a linear slot (not shown). Hence, during retraction of actuating member (1) the link reaches the least position of the slot and so the index arm (5) deviates more angle compared to its forward movement. This helps to provide clearance between the indexing arm (5) and the rotary member (2), as shown in Figure 6. Finally, the index arm reaches the home position and the process cycle is repeated for subsequent lap roll doffing operations.

[00039] As an additional provision, the present invention is provided with a relieving lever (8) as shown in Figures 6 and 7. The relieving lever (8) is attached to the rotary member (2) wherein a shift pin (10) is provided parallel to its rotating axis. The relieving lever (8) is hinged in the same axis as that of the rotary member (2). In locked condition of the trolley (9), the shift pin (10) rests over the relieving lever (8). During maintenance or change over of the lap trolley (9), the trolley (9) has to be relieved out from the working platform of the lap forming machine. In such conditions, in order to relieve the trolley (9), the relieving lever (8) can be pulled up manually to rotate the associated rotary member (2) to push down the locking arm (3) and then the trolley (9) can be moved out.

[00040] In the above detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part thereof, and illustrate the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the invention. However, such description should not be considered as any limitation of scope of the present unit. The structure thus conceived in the present description is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all the details may furthermore be replaced with elements having technical equivalence. In practice the materials and dimensions may be any according to the requirements, which will still be comprised within its true spirit. The embodiments shown herein are only exemplary, and further embodiments are possible within the scope of the invention.

,CLAIMS:We Claim:

1. A trolley operating mechanism for a lap forming machine, comprising:
a locking lever (3) pivoted at center and having a pin end (3’’) and a locking end (3’), said locking end (3’) being positioned in a slot (4) of a trolley (9) to arrest movement of the trolley (9);
a rotary member (2) pivoted at a hinge point (11) and adapted to rotate about the hinge point (11) such that rotation of the rotary member (2) exerts a downward push on the pin end (3’’) of the locking lever (3), said rotary member (2) comprising a heavy mass lobe surface (2’); and
an indexing arm (5) having a rear end facing towards the lobe surface (2’) of the rotary member (2) and a front end positioned in an indexing slot (6) of the trolley (9) such that movement of the rear end of the indexing arm (5) during pivotal movement of the indexing arm (5) about an axis, actuated by an actuating member (1), allows rotation of the rotary member (2) about the hinge point (11),
said rotation of the rotary member (2) pushes the pin end (3’’) of the locking lever (3) downwards, and the locking end (3’) of the locking lever (3) disengages from the slot (4) of the trolley (9), thereby unlocking the trolley (9) to move in a lateral direction, and
after a specific movement of the rear end of the indexing arm (5), the front end of the indexing arm (5) contacts a wall surface of the trolley indexing slot (6) and pushes the trolley (9) in the lateral direction till the locking end (3’) of the locking lever (3) engages to the next successive slot (4) of the trolley (9).

2. The trolley operating mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heavy mass lobe surface (2’) of the rotary member (2) allows the rotary member (2) to retain its original position after the specific movement of the rear end of the indexing arm (5).

3. The trolley operating mechanism as claimed in claim 2, wherein after movement of the trolley (9) for a pre-determined length, the locking end (3’) of the locking lever (3) engages a subsequent slot (4) of the trolley (9) to arrest further movement of the trolley (9).

4. The trolley operating mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein weight of the locking end (3’) of the locking lever (3) is greater than weight of said pin end (3’’) of the locking lever (3) to allow engagement of the locking end (3’) with the subsequent slot (4) after movement of the trolley (9) for the pre-determined length.

5. The trolley operating mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein during movement of the rear end of the indexing arm (5), the indexing arm (5) swings about an acute angle and the front end of the indexing arm (5) is positioned approximately perpendicular to the trolley indexing slot (6) of the trolley (9).

6. The trolley operating mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the indexing arm (5) is pivoted over a guide block (7) that is slidably movable over a guide rod (7a).

7. The trolley operating mechanism as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a relieving lever (8) attached to the rotary member (2) and hinged coaxially with the rotary member (2).

8. The trolley operating mechanism as claimed in claim 7, wherein the rotary member (2) comprises a shift pin (10) arranged in parallel with rotating axis of the rotary member (2) and rests over the relieving lever (8) such that rotation of a free end of the relieving lever (8) in the direction of the shift pin (10) relieves the trolley (9) to move in the lateral direction.

Dated this: March 05, 2018
[MAHUA RAY]
IN/PA 867
Of REMFRY & SAGAR
ATTORNEY FOR THE APPLICANT[S]