FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an apparatus and method for tracking the product carriers in a textile mill, in particular to cone or cheese or spool packages, which primarily aids in optimization of quality and productivity in further processing steps forming a fabric such as in weaving,, knitting or any other fabric forming process, as described in the preamble of the corresponding independent claims.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Winding or Twisting or Package Conversion machines form the final stage of a spinning mill where a package transformation takes place. The product which is the yarn or thread is carried in cops or cones or spools as an input to the textile machine and wound onto another product carrier which is mostly a cone or cheese or spool package. These textile machines comprise multiple sections on which this package transformation can take place simultaneously. Hence this has been the ideal stage to monitor, detect and eliminate the objectionable or disturbing defects in the yarn. If Open-end Spinning is adapted instead of Ring Spinning, then the Open End Rotor Machine forms the final stage producing a cheese or cone or spool package.

Yarn clearers are deployed in winding machines or open end spinning machines which have the capability to detect and eliminate the disturbing yarn and foreign fiber defects or faults. They also provide classification of these mass/diameter and foreign fibre faults and also give information of the imperfections in yarn, co-efficient of variation (CV) of the unevenness of the yarn, periodic faults, hairiness, spectrogram, histogram and other related quality and productivity parameters.

The buyer of the yarn in cone or cheese packages normally gets a lab test report on a random sample of the faults remaining in the textile carrier for a set fault clearing limits or curve. This information is normally extrapolated to the population. This test conducted on such random samples might not be statistically significant and hence is not a true representation of the population.

US6352214 describes a method for putting a barcode or magnetic identification in the cop to identify and rectify defective spinning positions based on further data from winding. The purpose as claimed is to identify the defective spinning positions based on the winding data. It is also claimed generally that the yarn quality to be attributed to the spinning position. No information on the detailed parameters is described. Both reading the bar code at spinning and winding machines and writing at the spinning machine are preferred embodiments. It is also described that a magnetic marker could be used for this purpose. What is also claimed is that the yarn could be dyed with the barcode so that is read by the (optical) yarn clearers in the winding machine which will save cost on the bar code reader in the winding machine.

US5289983 describes a production control method to track back production or quality defects and set them right.
WO01774281A1 describes a mechanism of collecting contactless thread data through transponders. Reading of the information and sending it through a CAN Bus to the Controller Unit or a Computer is also mentioned. A compilation of the product data is done from the manufacture and process data. Data is concerned only with the production date stamps, machine related information and process data but no quality data. Control is provided by adjusting the thread data with the manufacturer data and if it oversteps a threshold then the machine switches off. It is also possible to provide the thread consumption or the energy consumption.

US5287692 describes basically information that is collected for every spinning position to identify and maintain rogue spindles. Different identification mechanisms with a memory chip whose capacity of 100 to 1000 bytes for a bobbin conveyance system from spinning to winding is described. When the cop moves out of the spinning machine the machine and the spinning position number is written in the memory card. Then a transport mechanism carries forward the spindle and this memory card automatically to the winding unit. In the winding unit the cuts, the evenness CV of the yarn and the yarn strength etc are stored in the memory card. When this cop runs out this memory chip moves in the transport mechanism and then read by another reader to transfer the information of the spin position with the quality data to a central computer. This information is used to identify rogue spindles and for preventive maintenance.

US5107667 relates to transferring the bobbin from a ring spinning machine to the winding machine. Identification means are fixing a barcode identifier on the tray and also magnetizing the rings which can be read / writable to store information. The spinning positions could be tracked back based on cops which produce more cuts. Also the winding machine can be fixed with an evenness testing function in addition to the slub catcher to check for the evenness and also periodic and non periodic faults with Fourier analysis and comparing with a threshold value.

US 4843808 also relates to monitoring the quality of the yarn where the ring spinning machine and winding machine are connected via a transport system. There is no indication or marking on the spinning bobbin or the winding unit. This is determined online by the controlled sequencing and sorting by the automatic transport system. The invention relates to determining quality deficiencies in the spun yarn. The winder data and the spinning position data are combined for evaluation, for controlling production, controlling bobbin conveyance or for grading the production.

US 4660370 relates to placing identification marks on the spinning cops and carriers (either a bar code or a magnetic tape) to identify the faulty positions. This is claimed only for a Spinning Machine which is connected to a Winder Machine with an automatic transport system between them.

All these methods described above and some other methods that are documented and published on various automatic transport mechanism of the spun cops from the ring spinning machine to the winding machine to collect the quality information and then associate it with the spinning position. They are all mainly used to recognize the 'off-standard' ring spinning positions and actions taken at the Ring Spinning Machine.

One more possibility for the textile mills is to place a sticker with information on a cone or cheese or spool and delivered to a customer. This information typically contains the machine number (in which this cone or cheese or spool was created) and the drum or position number the date, shift and a code identifying the operator and/or supervisor. Based on the sticker information, the customer can manually trace back to the yarn producer only the machine number and positional information of the particular cone or cheese or spool.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A problem to be solved by the present invention is to prepare and present the quality and production data individually for the final textile packages in a textile mill as a data repository for information and management. The information and management could be the quality variances across the textile packages, overliers, underliers, histograms and sorting mechanism or mix criteria and not excluding the inventory control. This information and management is used to effectively utilize the textile packages which are already produced in the next appropriate end-use.

It is an object of the invention to create an apparatus and a method for tracking the product carriers in a textile mill in particular to the cone or cheese or spool packages which is useful to optimize the quality and productivity in the appropriate further process stages in forming a fabric for the seller and buyer of the textile material. The identification of the textile packages by labeling, coding or tagging and further consolidating and tracking of the product carriers is simple to implement, enhances the quality perception and unique, authentic, automated and fool-proof.

The invention thus relates to the collection, collation and categorization of the information and traces it to the textile product carriers in a textile mill. The invention encompasses the labeling or coding or tagging of such textile product carriers appropriately and tracking the productivity and quality of these textile product carriers in the final process stage of a spinning mill and in particular to the winding process, the twisting process and the open end rotor spinning process. This gives comprehensive information of the production and quality of the textile material carried by these product carriers such as cone or cheese or spool. This information is useful both for the producer and the buyer of the yarn

The present invention provides to the industry the possibility to have the entire quality related information for all the textile product carries such as cones or cheeses or spools instead of only the random samples, thus allowing to get a true and complete picture of the entire population. This information is to preferably used in the successive processing stages in forming a fabric to optimize the usage of the textile packages for appropriate quality and productivity.
This information in the textile packages can also be linked back to the previous process stages to identify and detect the cause of defects or maintenance related issues. Also, it becomes possible to reject a package which is produced in the textile mill based on predetermined limits so that it does not get further rejected by the end customer.

Information about textile material and quality parameters are gaining importance due to the shift in the trend of on-line quality monitoring and control rather than off-line lab testing. This provides the technological value of the textile material in terms of the actual quality parameters measured online and continuously. It is also profitable for the producer to grade the textile packages and even mark them for specific applications.

For the textile material buyer this complete information on the textile packages is very useful for analysis and to optimize quality and productivity in the further processing stages forming a fabric as in weaving or knitting or any other fabric forming process. The buyer can also choose the appropriate quality grade material for his end use, thereby he can enhance the value addition in this process.

This method also provides a mechanism to scientifically determine a selection and grouping criteria or a mix profile of textile packages for woven and knitted fabric or any other fabric forming processes. In a similar manner, selection and elimination of rogue textile packages is also possible. It also assures an engineered approach to maintain optimum and consistent quality across different production batches.

The method and apparatus described are simple and efficient and can be retrofitted to the existing productive machines.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Winding or Twisting or Package Conversion machines form the last stage of a spinning mill where the final packaging takes place. The product which is the yarn or thread is carried in a cop or cone or spool as an input to the textile machines and wound in another product carrier which is mostly a cone or cheese or spool package. In case of Open end machines, the input material is in the form of sliver strand which is spun into a thread and packaged in the form of a cone or cheese or spool. All these machines comprise multiple sections where this production can take place simultaneously, and mostly have been installed with yarn clearers which have a built in intelligence of detection or executing the following:

1. Classification of the faults based on their mass or diameter deviation in cross-section axis and length of the faults in longitudinal axis.

2. Identification of faults which are:

. Objectionable and seldom occurring faults (and hence to be eliminated, where
the objectionable limits are set by the user) and their categorization.

• Frequently occurring faults (are more in number, and usually are not required to
be eliminated, whereas it is important to know about these faults in terms of
numbers which helps to determine the quality of the textile material after clearing,
and especially the appearance of the fabric).

■ Mean variation detection of any quality parameter.

• Count variation detection i.e. variation in linear density or fineness of the yarn,

■ The unevenness and its coefficient of variation (CV) of a parameter of the textile material (these parameters vary continuously and usually provide an indicator to the quality produced).

■ Mass/Diameter or Foreign fibre faults which are clustered over a reference length which as individual faults are not objectionable.

■ Formation of periodic faults i.e. faults occurring periodically, i.e. repetitively with a particular period length in the textile material due to process machinery defects.

■ Hairiness or the fibre protrusions in the textile material.

■ Spectrogram of the mass, diameter and hairiness variations of the textile material in the frequency domain.

■ Histogram for the relevant quality parameter distributions.

■ Other relevant quality and production parameters, their graphical representations such as scatter plots and calculation of any statistical parameters.

This information is presently made available to the user by the yarn clearer manufacturer or the machine manufacturer either in absolute numbers or is converted to a standard length typically 100km for every position or section of the machine consolidated every shift. This in general gives information both on productivity and quality of the produced textile material for the producer. However for the consumer of the textile material this information is required for every package which is not available in the existing systems. For the consumer only an offline lab testing is performed per batch based on random sampling. This might not be statistically representative and gives a very generic idea or an estimate on the faults remaining in the production batch.

For the producer of the textile material It is possible to segregate the entire production batch into various grades based on quality information available and it will be helpful during sales of the produced material.

For the consumer of the textile material It is desirous to have information of every cone or spool or package or textile carrier rather than of just a random sample. It is more useful and relevant to have the information presented to the consumer per textile package basis and most important for every textile package that Is purchased. This means the quality parameters and the faults existing and removed from the textile material produced on each cone or cheese or spool package Is to be made available to the user including the time stamps related to the production. This may also include traceability to the produced Machine Number and the Section Number with necessary Date, Time Stamps, Operator, Supervisor and Shift information

There is a value addition when such textile carriers or in particular cones or cheeses or spools are identified with a unique number so that the traceability is established and using this, the producer and buyer of the textile material have quantifiable and specific reference to a particular textile material package or set of textile material packages for any further actions and process optimization In further end use as forming a fabric.

For the textile material producer this information will be very useful to segregate his production on a quality basis and fix up an appropriate price for the appropriate quality. This means that the producer can grade the produced textile carriers such as cone or cheese or spool packages to have different pricing levels. They can also track back to previous process stages and analyze the reasons for quality below the set threshold levels.

For the consumer or buyer they could buy the appropriate quality of the textile material for the appropriate application and also arrange and schedule the order or batch of the textile packages in such a manner so that consistent quality and productivity are achieved. The textile packages can then be sorted or mixed for optimum quality. Also selective elimination or filtering can be done on rogue textile packages. This assures uniform and consistent quality of the raw material for subsequent stages in forming a fabric with no peaks or troughs or any skew in the quality irregularities across the textile packages

This information is managed by specific application software developed for this purpose. To have information and track every textile package needs to have an identification which has to be done to maintain uniqueness, authentic and also foolproof. The application software collects directly or indirectly the required data from the machine or the yarn clearer or from any system or sub-system of the machine inclusive of the position information and the relevant quality data.

The start of the new package and the end of the package event information are also collected.

Typically in a winding machine or the open end spinning the empty package is placed in the production position on the individual section by a system called automatic doffer, which may be a robot. The automatic doffer or the robot moves to the appropriate winding section or position for Doffing - the process of removing the fully wound textile packages and placing a new empty cone or cheese or spool package and then initiating the winding/spinning process. When an automatic doffer is not available, the process of removing the full textile package and replacing with a empty package carrier can be done manually or semi-automatically also.
The packages will now be identified, say bar-coded or tagged with RF identification or any other appropriate identification mechanism or embedded with a chip with memory and intelligence for storage before they are supplied as empty cones or cheeses or spools to the winding or twisting or open-end spinning or any other package conversion machine.

A reader/scanner, such as barcode reader or a RF tag reader or a chip reader or any appropriate identification reader or imaging/vision system is installed preferably on the automatic doffer. It is also possible to install this reader/scanner on any other appropriate position in the machine which facilitates the reading of the tag or the identification as soon as an empty cone or cheese or spool textile package is deployed for producing the textile material. Since the machine is made of multiple sections or positions a mobile or movable reader/scanner which is synchronized to the doffing process is preferable. Hence it is also obvious that the read/scan operation could be fully automated or semi-automatic or completely manual.

During the start of the winding or spinning operation immediately after doffing on every section or the position or the drum, the reader/scanner retrieves the tagged information identification on the textile product carrier or the empty cone or cheese or spool. This information is passed to a Central Unit for the Machine or a Computer/Server through a wired or wireless serial interface.

On one preferred embodiment the Reader/Scanner could be connected through a Blue Tooth connection to an Intelligent system on each machine, since the Reader/Scanner is moving to different sections for the purpose of reading the information immediately after a doff. On another preferred embodiment it is also possible to use Infrared(IR) connectivity if the Reader/Scanner and the Intelligent system could be placed appropriately for communication through IR. On yet another preferred embodiment it is also possible to have a Wireless Interface which can directly stream its data to the Central Unit for the machine or to a Centralized Server for the entire department. On another preferred embodiment it is also possible to use a Wired Connection from the Reader/Scanner to the Central Collection/Processing Unit fixed on the machine.

The winding or spinning of the textile material in the cone or cheese or spool package is carried on, up to a preset limit of length or weight converted to length. All the events performed by the yarn clearing system and/or the winding machines and/or any of the systems or sub-systems fitted in the machine including the classification and clearing of objectionable faults and all productivity and quality related parameters and events are logged continuously and immediately during the process for the tagged textile product carrier or cone or cheese or spool under production.

This log is preferably effected as a text or binary file or as database entities. This information could be plain or encrypted. The usage of database systems are preferred for storage and retrieval of log information and possible usage of structured queries to further analyze and act upon. The Database Server can reside preferably in the Central Location and can possibly serve multiple client systems for information transfer through appropriate user interfaces.

This quality and production information is preferably collected from the Yarn Clearing System or from the Machine or from both or from any other system or sub-system which is capable of providing or transferring the required and relevant data. This collection of information is necessarily to be done from each machine section and consolidated on a Central Unit on every machine or directly on the Central Server. The connection between such systems could be preferably serial and wired or wireless. In case if a yarn clearer is used to collect such information then the data could be connected serially and the same Central Unit of the Yarn Clearing System could be used to interface with an appropriate connectivity from the Reader/Scanner. These Central Units in turn could be connected to a Central Server which serves as the repository for the collected information. Alternatively, the repository for the collected information can be at the Central Unit itself.

In a preferred embodiment, after the preset production limit is reached, which is normally signaled by the machine to the yarn clearing system or by any other system or sub-system is then trapped by appropriate mechanism to signal the event of consolidation of the textile package information to the Machine Central Unit or any server system. This information is then transferred through wired or wireless or manual means to the centralized Computer/Server. This server loaded with the application software has the capability to provide necessary reports to enable the producer and consumer of the textile material to analyze, decide and act based on the information. This operation is carried by all sections or positions of the machine on an event driven basis for priority reasons though normal polling mechanism could also be used.

In another preferred embodiment, the application software can be loaded in the machine or clearer Central unit or the Central Server system itself which has the capability to provide necessary reports to enable the producer and consumer of the textile material to analyze, decide and act based on the information. Here also, this operation is carried by all sections or positions of the machine on an event driven basis for priority reasons though polling could also be used.

In another preferred embodiment, after storage of quality information of individual textile packages during doffing, one more Reader or Scanner can be kept at the packaging or dispatch section at the producer's location wherein all the textile packages are to be packed in multiple boxes/cartons/containers for supply to the consumer. In such a case, the reader or scanner scans the information from the packages which have the bar code or RF identification already done, and for which quality information is available. Thus either the reader / scanner or a system or server connected to the reader / scanner comprises another application software which has the capability of matching the identification information of the currently scanned packages with the stored quality information of the same. It is then possible to grade the textile packages and accommodate them in boxes/cartons/containers, with a corresponding identification on the boxes/cartons/containers. Thus the possibility of segregation of individual packages is possible at the producer's location itself. Thus by this method it is possible to fix the cost and sale the textile packages based on the quality levels. Also it is possible to segregate or mix the textile packages for various end uses based on the quality information available.

The segregation and sorting or mixing of the textile carriers is preferably done automatically. Alternatively, the information on how to segregate or sort or mix is determined automatically (by computer), and then implemented manually or semi-automatically based on this information.

In another preferred embodiment it is also possible to write the data in the memory chips/tags in addition to transmitting the data to the Central Unit or to the Central Computer/Server or Repository during the doffing process. In yet another preferred embodiment this information is fed back to the winding or open end or twisting or any other package conversion machine or any one of its system or sub-systems to accept or reject textile packages based on pre-defined quality thresholds. This enables selective elimination and discarding of the textile packages which are rogue or of poor quality.

The textile package quality information is, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, also traced back to the previous preparatory stages. This is possible by using an appropriate tag as RFID that is mounted in the spools or cops of the Ring Spinning machine which is generally the previous process stage of the winding machine. Reference to our Indian Patent Application No..1620/CHE/05 is also sought here. This identifier on the cop or the textile spool is basically a RFID tag which could also be possibly fitted in any of the textile product carriers and in most of the preparatory stages. The machine, section and any other relevant information is written or associated with the unique id in the preparatory stages. This information is retrieved in the final textile stages to associate the quality information collected for the cone/cheese packages to the cop or sliver cans or any preparatory textile carriers with RFID or other relevant tags. This information is passed to the Central Unit on the Machine or the Central Computer/Server.

In one preferred embodiment it is possible to have smart card chips embedded in such textile product carriers. In case of the Ring Spinning Machine the cops can also contain such smart chips which can then pass the required information with smart card readers or any appropriate reader/scanner at any process stage and send it to a central repository or processing station. The quality information of the Cone or Cheese or spool could be then be associated with the machine and position of the preparatory or previous process stages.

Such information collated for the textile product carrier is preferably available for the machine or section or position of the machine or groups of machine. The information may also contain, in the case of a Ring Spinning machine but not limited thereto, the number of end breaks encountered during the spinning process, the average spindle RPM at which the textile material was spun with the twist information and possibly the environment conditions of the ring shed such as the RH and temperature during the spinning process. This information has to be appropriately read by providing suitable readers/scanners in the winding machine or the open-end spinning machine or twisting machine or any other package conversion machine to collect and present this information to the Central Computer/Server or Central Repository or the Database for correlation and collation.

In another preferred embodiment it is also possible to eliminate rogue textile packages and also track back them to the previous process stages or preparatory stages for identification of machine defects or maintenance issues. This repository or database of information can be transferred to the necessary departments but not limiting to the Winding department, Spinning Department and the Packing Department.

The labeling, coding or tagging of the textile product carrier is preferably done on a separate off line equipment. On a preferred embodiment this could be a multi-axis robotic arrangement controlled by the same or a different central computer acquiring data from the reader/scanner or it is done on a label printer attached to the automatic doffer along with the reader where both the reader/scanner and printer are controlled from the central computer/server. Since the central computer does both these functions, the numbering and traceability is centrally controlled mill wise. It is also possible to have a separate computer and not link this with the central computer.

In a particular embodiment of the invention the textile product carrier is a cone, the cones are stacked one over the other in a rack and will be loaded on the operation table. A label sticking mechanism which is preferably pneumatically operated will be loaded by a slider which travels preferably with a support of servo with ball screw mechanism. As an example a pre-printed bar coded paper roll will be placed in the sticking mechanism. The coding will reveal typically the mill, machine and position, date, time and shift information and any other additional information that is relevant to the application. The assembly will move near to the first cone with a sensing mechanism and labeling will be done on the textile product carriers or the cones based on a predefined logic and position within the empty textile package. The assembly will move in the specified steps and make sure that all the textile product carrier or cones will be checked and labeled. After completing a row it will automatically move to the next row. This process is repeated after all the labeled textile product carriers or cones are automatically or manually removed and refurbished with the empty textile product carriers or cones for further labeling.

On another preferred embodiment of this invention the bar code labeling or any other tagging can also be done manually by the producer of the yarn or by the textile product carrier producer in particular to the cone or a cheese or a spool.

The barcode information can be transferred to the central computer through a Bluetooth or other wireless network to the system to track the labeling process. The time-stamp on the label information can be from Central Server/Computer which can be used as Master for comparing the label information system and associating it with the data received from the label reader. With synchronization with the labeling system it is also possible to identify deferred labeled textile product carriers and either accept or ignore them. Though a cone labeling or tagging system is described above this could be extended further to other textile product carriers and necessary modification in the system can be done to accommodate the label or tagging function for cheese or spool or any other textile packages.

The consumer of the textile package preferably collects such information and then uses it for deploying the textile packages for optimizing the production and quality of the further processing stages forming a fabric such as weaving or knitting or any other fabric forming process. A knowledge or expert system or an application software could be deployed in the Central Server/Network Server/Web Server to appropriately identify the right mix of the textile packages for optimizing the production or the quality or both. Any information or set of information could be used as the qualifiers for this process of optimization.

The method for yarn package information and management for a textile mill preferably comprises the steps of

• Labeling, coding or tagging the textile product carries such as cones or cheeses or spools

• Reading/Scanning the labels, codes or tags before start of the production process and associating them with the machine and position related information

• Acquiring the quality and production related information of the textile package from the machine or from the yarn clearer or from appropriate system or sub¬system and sending it to a central unit in the machine or to a centralized server

• Transferring the information of every textile package if stored in the machine central unit to the central server automatically, semi-automatically or manually

• Storing in a central repository or a database and manage which enables to sort, analyze and eliminate yarn packages based on user preferred quality limits and thresholds

• Generating reports of all yarn packages produced with time stamps

• Alerts and optimization schemes for grouping this yarn packages based on requirements from further process stage in forming a fabric such as weaving or knitting or any other fabric forming process

• Acceptance or Rejection of yarn packages based on pre-defined quality attributes and limits

• If traced back to the previous process stages based on the track reports the yarn buyer can order the production from the preferred machine and production positions which are appropriate.

The management system for textile package information for a textile mill comprises corresponding means or sub-units for implementing these steps, that is,

• a reader/scanner/vision system for reading the label, code or tags of the textile product carriers;

• a yarn clearer or other measurement system or sub-system arranged to collect the quality information on a length of yarn, preferably the entire length of yarn

• an information storage unit arranged to store said information, the information being associated with a machine readable representation of the label or tag, such as an identifier or ID number.

• Segregation of the textile packages based on the quality information available in the centralized server or computer or central unit with another scanner or reader preferably at the despatch section which facilitates to segregate the textile packages for the purpose of fixing the cost and sales to the buyer and also for the purpose of segregating the textile packages for various end uses.

The management system preferably comprises a selection means, typically implemented by knowledge or expert software running on a computer or any server, for selecting a set of textile product carriers according to predetermined selection criteria related to the information of the textile product on the carriers.

The management system preferably further comprises a further (preferably mobile) information storage unit for storing information associated with a selected set of textile product carriers, in order to allow the physical delivery of said set of carriers together with the associated information.

The labels could be a bar code label. The tags could be RF tags or smart chips. The labeling or tagging of the textile product could be done automatically by a robot or semi-automatically or manually or embedded by any other suitable process

The reader is preferably fixed in the robot or in the machine which is movable to ensure reading of the tag just before the production process. This can also be done semi-automatically or manually. This ensures the information of the machine and the position in which the textile product carrier with its unique identifier is placed for the production process.

The association of the quality information from this position in the machine Is achieved through a communication means and is transferred directly or through a intermediary system or sub-system to the Central Repository. The said communication means could be serial and wired or wireless. The wired means could be a simple differential standard line connectivity or CAN or Ethernet or any standard or proprietary transfer means. The wireless means could be a Bluetooth, IR or other Wireless 1_AN networking mechanism and could be standard or proprietary.
The consolidation of this information is signaled by the doffing event, and it is also possible to write this Information additionally In the textile product carrier if the tag Is a smart chip (or another data storage means having sufficient capacity) during the doffing process.

Management of this yarn packages information are carried by generating appropriate reports, alerts, deployment schemes, logistics and other relevant statistical information on productivity and quality. Further this processed information of all the textile packages stored in a central repository preferably as a database with expert application software enables the grading schemes, grouping or mix criteria for further processing stages in forming a fabric such as weaving or knitting and selective elimination of abnormalities and rogue yarn packages. The software system could also provide Inventory management.

For example, the requirement of the yarn consumer could be that a particular parameter "A" should have a mean value for the population, i.e. for a selected group of textile packages, of "X". If the actual mean value available at the producer's population does not meet the mean value as required by the producer, i.e. if the actual mean value available for the batch is either higher or lower compared to the requirement by the consumer or buyer, then a proportional mixing or replacing with further textile packages to form a batch is possible so as to meet the requirement of the consumer or buyer. The further textile packages are chosen according to the manner in which they influence the mean value. Of course, the same approach can be used for other statistical quantities, e.g. median values, standard deviation or variation etc. of one or more quality parameters of the population.

As another example, the consumer may require a batch of textile packages with a quality parameter called "A" having a mean value for the entire population to be "X".

In such a case, when the producer reads / scans the textile packages at the second stage, he can configure the consumer's limit "X" for the parameter "A" to be associated with an alert. Thus, during scanning and sorting, it is possible to segregate the cones which are under the limits of value "X" for that parameter "A" and packed for despatch. In this manner, the requirements for the further process stages, set by the consumer, are met by the producer.

Once the consumer receives the textile packages which may be or may not be within the pre-defined control limits according to the process requirements, the consumer has the possibility of scanning and retrieving the actual quality information about the textile packages. From this, he will be able to determine, preferably by use of an appropriate application residing in a Computer or a Central Server or a Network Server or a Web Server, the quality level for the entire population received and also further set and optimize the process of forming the fabric from the textile materials supplied by the producer. This can involve on the one hand, ordering textile carriers over a production run to evenly distribute faults instead of having them accumulate in one area of the fabric formed. This ordering can be based on statistical properties of the quality parameters of the textile carriers and/or on the distribution of available quality (or conversely, the distribution of faults) across the textile carriers.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the textile package information is used to select a batch of individual textile packages that fall within a predetermined quality range for being processed together in a further processing stage. The quality range may be defined in terms of parameters represented by the package information, not only values of measured parameters themselves, but also statistical measures derived from the parameters and the variation among them.

The collection and consolidation of this information is done through appropriate apparatus and application software packages specifically design for this purpose.

In another preferred embodiment of the invention, it is possible to keep another reader / scanner kept at the packaging or dispatch section of the producer's location which reads the identification of the textile packages which are already scanned by the reader fixed in the automatic doffer of the machine. Another reader / scanner matches this identification information with the database of the quality information of the textile package and thus can grade the package. The grading can be intimated by either the reader / scanner itself or an application software in a computer or server. Thus it helps the producer in terms of segregation of textile packages and pack them in boxes/cartons/containers for both cost fixing and marketing/sales and also in terms of selecting and segregating the packages and supplying to buyers or consumers for appropriate end use. This information could be finally sent through any storage media to the consumer/buyer of the textile package for further processing. The Information can also be uploaded to a Web Server for protected retrieval by the Consumer/Buyer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter of the invention will be explained in more detail in the following text with reference to preferred exemplary embodiments, which are illustrated in the attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows the textile product carrier tracking mechanism in a Winding Machine;

Figure 2 shows the textile product carrier Cone with tag or label;

Figure 3 shows an automatic labeling or tagging arrangement;

Figure 4 shows the block diagram of the invention;

Figure 5 shows the illustration of segregation or grading of the textile material.
The reference symbols used in the drawings and their meanings are listed in the summary form in this list of reference symbols. In principle, identical parts are provided with the same reference symbols in the figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Figure 1 shows the general arrangement of a winding machine. A first textile product carrier or Cop 1 is fed as an input to the winding section of a machine. The mechanism unwinds the textile material, yarn 2 in the Cop 1 and winds it in a second textile product carrier or Cone 3 which has a label/tag/identifier 11. This dynamic or moving yarn 2 passes through a yarn clearing and/or quality control/assurance and/or productivity monitoring systems 4. The system 4 could be a single system or collection of systems or subsystems which aid in monitoring, recording and controlling the yarn quality and productivity. The Auto Doffing system 5 is capable of moving from one to the other end of the winding machine and to stop in the appropriate section during the doffing event. The Tag Reader/Scanner 6 is shown as being mechanically linked with the Auto Doffing system 5, but it is also possible to position this system independently and synchronize with the doffing event. The Human Machine Interface System 7 is the Central Unit or System 7 or Systems for collecting and displaying the yarn clearer and/or the machine information. A Central Server/Computer 10 collects all related information and serves as a Repository and also Database Management System, and also runs the application code. Communication Links 8 and 9 could be wired or wireless serial or parallel and in a preferred embodiment could be RF/Bluetooth/IR or any other data transfer technology. Also Link 8 could be connected to the Central System 7 instead of the Central Server 10. Link 9 could be an multi-drop, multi-node connection such as an Ethernet or any other connecting technology such as Wireless LAN or any other networking technology capable of collecting information from multiple nodes or systems.

Figure 2 schematically shows a textile product carrier cone 3 which is tagged or identified or labeled 11 and is empty. The code, label or tag 11 could be placed in other appropriate locations in the textile product carrier cone 3. This textile product carrier or cone 2 is placed on the appropriate position in the winding machine and during the doffing event is substituted instead of a full cone 3 by the Auto Doffing system 5. The tag or label 11 is the identifier in the Cone which is read/scanned by the Tag Reader/Scanner 6 during the doffing event and whose data is sent to central system 7 or central server 10.

Figure 3 shows an exemplary automatic arrangement for tagging or labeling of the cones 3. The cones 3 are stacked automatically or manually and are labeled in a fashion controlled by a multi-axis robotic arrangement carrying a labeling mechanism 13. A conveyor 12 moves the labeling mechanism 13 across the textile product carriers or cones 3 for the labeling or tagging. In another preferred embodiment, the tagging or labeling of the cone 3 is done semi-automatically or manually.

Figure 4 shows a block diagram of the invention. The tagged or labeled textile product carrier cone 3 is read by the tag reader 6 and the information is streamed through the link 8 to the central system 7. The system or the yarn clearer 4 and/or the other relevant systems collect and control the quality and productivity of the yarn being wound in the cone 3 and send the data through link 9 to the central system 7.

From the central system 7, the data is sent to the central server 10. The central server 10 consolidates the information for every cone 3 and then provides application specific processed information 18. This information 18 is used by a yarn producers data processing unit 15 to analyze and act upon the preceding process stage 14 and if necessary is extended to still further preceding stages via communication link 19. The same information 18 is shared with a yarn consumer's data processing unit 17 to optimize for a consistent quality and production emphasis in the succeeding process stage 16. This provides a closed loop comprehensive information system for the benefit of the yarn producer and the consumer.

Figure 5 shows the block diagram of the Segregation / Grading System. The Textile packages 3 before they are shipped out are scanned by a scanning / reading system 22 which processes the already stored quality information to appropriately segregate or grade the textile packages 3 as per the criteria, and then to pack them. This can be done at the production stage near the machine or at the packing/despatch section. This Segregation / Grading system gets the individual textile package data from the Central Sever 10 and preferably uploads its sorting or segregation information into the same Data Base through Information Link 23.

It is also evident that the other preferred embodiments such as another textile product carrier like a cheese instead of a cone differs only being cylindrical and the same described tagging, coding labeling and reading/scanning and relaying mechanisms could be used. Similar to this, the description also could be adapted to open end spinning or rotor machines.

While the invention has been described in present preferred embodiments of the invention, it is distinctly understood that the invention is not limited thereto, but may be otherwise variously embodied and practiced within the scope of the claims.

LIST OF DESIGNATIONS

1 Cop
2 Yarn
3 Cone
4 Yarn clearer system
5 Automatic Doffer
6 Tag Reader
7 Human Machine Interface
8 Tag Reader Link
9 Human Machine Interface Link
10 Central Server / PC / Data Base Manager
11 Tag or Label or Bar Code
12 Conveyor
13 Robot
14 Preceding process stage - Ring Spinning
15 Yarn producer or spinner
16 Succeeding process stage Forming a Fabric such as Weaving / Knitting or any
Fabric formation
17 Yarn consumer or buyer
18 Textile Package Information Channel
19 Communication link
20 Winding machine
21 Wired/Wireless Network
22 Segreation/Grading System
23 Information Transfer Link

WE CLAIM

1. A method for textile package information and textile package management for a textile mill, comprising the steps of

• labeling, coding or tagging textile packages (3), which are textile product carriers such as cones or cheeses with labels, codes or tags (11);

• reading or scanning the labels, codes or tags (11) before start of a production process in a machine (20), and associating the labels, codes or tags with machine (20) and position related information, the position being the position of the textile package (3) in the machine (20);

• acquiring quality and production related information for the textile package (3) from the machine (20) or from a yarn clearer (4) or from another measurement system or sub-system, and sending it to a central unit (7) in the machine (20) or to a centralized server (10);

• transferring the information of every textile package (3), in case it is first transmitted to the machine central unit (7), to the central server (10) automatically, semi-automatically or manually;

• storing the information of every textile package (3) in a central repository or a database of the central server (10);

• managing the textile packages (3) by sorting, analyzing and optionally eliminating them based on the associated information and predetermined quality limits and thresholds;

• generating reports of all textile packages produced with time stamps;

• segregating and sorting of packages at the yarn producer packing or depatch section by another scanner or reader which directly or aided by another system grades or segregates the textile packages based on the yarn package quality information available already in the central unit or computer or central server.
2. The method of claim 1, comprising the further step of

• generating alerts and optimization schemes for grouping textile packages (3)
based on requirements from further process stages (16) in forming a fabric such as weaving or knitting or any other fabric forming process.

3. The method of one of the preceding claims, comprising the further step of

• using the information associated with every textile package (3) to optimize the
process for forming a fabric from the textile material.

4. The method of one of the preceding claims, comprising the further step of

• accepting or rejecting individual textile packages (3) based on pre-defined
quality attributes and limits regarding these attributes.

5. The method of one of the preceding claims, comprising the further step of

• sorting the textile packages (3) to provide textile packages (3) according to
criteria comprising at least one of a machine identity and a production position, as ordered by a yarn buyer.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of sorting the textile packages comprises
at least one of

• a grading scheme for sorting the textile packages (3) according to quality, or

• the grouping or mixing of textile packages or

• the selective elimination of rogue textile packages (3) according to predetermined quality criteria;

the quality criteria being determined in view of further processing stages in forming a fabric such as weaving or knitting or any other fabric forming process.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the grouping of the textile packages comprises

• using the textile package information to select a batch of individual textile
packages (3) that fall within a predetermined quality range for being processed together in a further processing stage in forming a fabric.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the mixing of the textile packages comprises

• using the textile package information to select a batch of individual textile
packages (3) having a predetermined mix or distribution of quality.

9. The method of one of the preceding claims, wherein the consolidation of the information of every textile package (3) and its association with the label, code or tag of the package (3) is synchronized with the event of doffing the textile package (3).

10. The method of one of the preceding claims, wherein the information associated with every textile package (3) comprises quality parameters and the faults existing and removed from the textile material produced on the textile package (3), as well as time stamps and machine information related to the production of the textile material and/or the textile package (3).

11. The method of one of the preceding claims, wherein the information associated with every textile package (3) comprises at least all or a subset of the following quality parameters

objectionable and seldom occurring faults;

frequently occurring and acceptable faults;

mean variation of any quality parameter;

count variation;

unevenness of the yarn and its coefficient of variation;

mass and diameter or foreign fibre faults clustered over a reference length;

detection of periodic faults;

hairiness or the fibre protrusions in the textile material;

spectrogram of mass and/or diameter and/or hairiness variations in the
frequency domain;

histogram for selected quality parameter distributions;

other relevant quality and production parameters, their graphical representations such as scatter plots, calculation of statistical parameters.

12. The method of one of the preceding claims, wherein the machine (20) is a winding machine and/or open-end spinning machine.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the winding machine (20) transfers textile material (2) from first textile product carriers (1) to the textile packages (3), and wherein the first textile product carriers (1) comprise machine-readable tags, comprising the steps of
• retrieving information associated with the tags and relating to the textile material on first textile product carriers (1), and storing this information in association with the textile package (3) onto which the textile material is wound.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the information associated with the tags comprises the number of end breaks encountered during the spinning process, the average spindle RPM at which the yarn was spun, with the twist information and optionally environmental conditions of the ring shed such as the relative humidity and temperature during the spinning process.

15. A management system for textile package information in a textile mill, for implementing the steps according to at least one of the method claims, comprising,

• a reader (6) for reading a label, code or tag (11) of textile product carriers (3);

• a yarn clearer (4) or other measurement system or sub-system arranged to collect quality information on a length of textile material (2) on a textile product carrier (3), preferably the entire length of textile material (2);

• an information storage unit (7, 10) arranged to store said information, the information being associated with a machine readable representation of the label or tag (11), such as an identifier or ID number;

• segregating and sorting of packages at the producer end itself by another scanner or reader which directly or another system connected to the reader / scanner segregates the textile packages based on the textile package quality information available already in the central unit or computer or central server.

16. The management system of claim 15, further comprising a selection means, implemented by software running on a computer or server, for selecting a set of textile product carriers (3) according to predetermined selection criteria related to the information of the textile material on the carriers.

17. The management system of claim 15 or 16 further comprising a further, mobile information storage unit for storing information associated with a selected set of textile product carriers (3), in order to allow the physical delivery of said set of carriers together with the associated information storage unit.

18. The management system of at least one of claims 15 to 17, comprising a multi-axis robotic arrangement controlled to place labels (11) onto textile product carriers (3) stacked one over the other in a rack.

19. The management system of at least one of claims 15 to 18, comprising a tag reader and/or a label printer attached to an automatic doffer of a textile machine (20).