Yarn spool gate for a ring spinning machine

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a roving spool creel for a ring spinning machine with at least two creel rows formed by longitudinal beams, which can be fitted with roving spools, wherein the longitudinal beams are supported on vertical creel bars via transverse profiles.

[0002] Yarn creels have long been known in connection with ring spinning machines in various embodiments and are described in detail in numerous patent applications.

[0003] For example, German patent DE 297 12 880 U1 describes a roving creel which has three creel rows on each side of a ring spinning machine, each of which can be loaded with roving bobbins. The roving bobbins are connected to longitudinal beams of the creel via so-called bobbin hangers, the longitudinal beams of which are in turn supported by cross profiles on vertical creel bars of the creel. The roving wicks unwound from the roving bobbins, guided by different wick guides, enter the drafting units of the ring spinning machine.

[0004] A comparable roving creel is also described in DE 10 2007 007 864 A1. In this known roving creel, the roving bobbins are also connected to the longitudinal beams of the creel via bobbin hangers; however, in this case, the longitudinal beams are designed as hanging rails. The bobbin hangers are also connected by linking elements to form so-called hanging carriage trains, which ensure a timely supply to the working stations of the ring spinning machine. This means that the hanging carriage trains, loaded with fresh roving bobbins before the start of a spinning process, not only ensure a reliable supply of fresh feed material but also promptly remove the empty spun bobbins after the spinning process is completed.

[0005] While such suspended carriage trains, equipped with roving spools and positionable in the roving creel, ensure a good supply of fresh roving to the ring spinning machines during the ongoing spinning process, it is often relatively difficult to determine the exact time when the roving spools have run out and need to be replaced.

[0006] This means that with such roving creels, calculating the so-called remaining running time of a yarn batch is often relatively difficult and is ultimately usually quite inaccurate.

[0007] As described in EP 0 321 404 B1, the amount of residual yarn in the roving creel of a ring spinning machine is often calculated based on the machine's consumption. The roving creel described in EP 0 321 404 B1, for example, has devices that measure the length of yarn unwound from the roving bobbins during spinning. From these measurements, the remaining yarn lengths on the roving bobbins are calculated, and from these, the remaining run time of the yarn batch is determined. However, since this method always assumes full roving bobbins, it is often unclear exactly how much yarn is actually still available in the roving creel.

[0008] To optimize the operation of spinning mills, various other operating methods have been proposed in the past, but these are usually quite complex and therefore generally quite expensive.

[0009] DE 3216218 A1 relates to methods and devices for operating a spinning or twisting machine with a large number of feed packs. The machine is to be utilized as efficiently as possible, even during periods of unattended operation, through special designs and methods. For example, before the start of an unattended period, the remaining runtimes of all feed packs can be determined, and the feed packs expected to expire during the upcoming unattended period can be displayed to allow for advance replacement. Another possibility is to determine the remaining runtimes of all feed packs and calculate a reduced machine speed at which a selectable maximum number of expired feed packs is not exceeded during the upcoming unattended period.This includes, for example, yarn sensors connected to each feed spool and a runtime calculator.

[0010] This means that each of the numerous coil hangers for the feed coils is equipped with its own sensor unit. While this design achieves extremely high accuracy in determining the remaining runtime, it is relatively complex to implement.

[0011] German patent DE 3527473 A1 relates to a method and a device for determining the fill level of a plurality of feed spools in the creel of a spinning or twisting machine. In this method, the diameter of the feed spools is repeatedly scanned successively, each scanned diameter value is compared with a value corresponding to a minimum diameter, and an evaluation signal is triggered if the minimum diameter value is undershot by a scanned diameter value. The device according to the invention is characterized by at least one light barrier on a transport device running parallel to a series of feed spools and moving at a given speed, a measuring element connected to the light barrier, and a comparator connected to both the light barrier and the measuring element.

[0012] EP 0 512 442 A1 discloses, for example, a method and an auxiliary device that include means for establishing a production plan. The production plan specifies the distribution of a certain production quantity of a given yarn across different machines, and also includes means for estimating the production quantity per unit of time.

[0013] EP 0 541 483 A1 describes a comparable process control system in a textile mill. The spinning mill is equipped with a process control computer for a group of machines, with each machine in the group having its own controller that manages the machine's actuators. This known process control system also incorporates a network that enables bidirectional communication between the process control computer and each machine in the group.

[0014] However, with the known, mostly quite elaborate methods and equipment, there is still potential for improvement, especially regarding the determination of the remaining service life of roving spools and thus the exact time of replacing the empty roving spools with fresh flyer spools.

[0015] Based on the prior art described above, the invention therefore aims to further develop a roving creel for a ring spinning machine in such a way that the exact remaining running time of the roving spools located in the roving creel can be easily retrieved at any time.

[0016] This problem is solved according to the invention by equipping the yarn creel with sensor units that measure the amount of yarn present in the creel rows and transmit this information to a computer system which calculates the remaining runtime of the yarn in the yarn creel.According to the invention, the sensor units are arranged in the area of ​​the longitudinal beams of the yarn creel and detect the bending load of the associated longitudinal beam which depends on the weight of the yarn spools, or the sensor units are installed in the area of ​​the transverse profiles of the yarn creel and detect the bending stresses which are introduced into the relevant sections of the transverse profiles by the weight of the yarn spools, or the sensor units are each arranged in the area of ​​the vertical creel bars of the yarn creel and detect the bearing pressure of the supporting transverse profile, which in turn is loaded by the longitudinal beams which bear the weight of the yarn spools.

[0017] Advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

[0018] The roving creel designed according to the invention has the particular advantage that the remaining run time of a yarn batch in the creel can be determined relatively easily. This means that by using a roving creel according to the invention, the point in time at which a roving change must be initiated can be determined very precisely, thus minimizing the time the ring spinning machine is switched off and therefore not producing. Overall, the productivity of a ring spinning machine, especially when batch changes are frequent, can be significantly improved by precise timing of the roving change.

[0019] To ensure the most accurate possible calculation of the remaining runtime of the roving still in the creel, it is advantageous to calibrate the sensor units first when commissioning the creel according to the invention. For this purpose, the creel is first loaded with empty flyer tubes and the weight of the empty flyer tubes is recorded. The weight of these flyer tubes then serves as a reference value for the subsequent measurements of the amount of roving present in the creel rows.

[0020] Regarding an advantageous arrangement of the sensor units, various embodiments are possible.

[0021] In a first embodiment, the sensor units can be arranged, for example, in the area of ​​the longitudinal beams of the roving creel. That is, preferably, each longitudinal beam of the roving creel has its own sensor unit in the area of ​​each machine section of the ring spinning machine. With such a design, both a very precise determination of the amount of roving still in the roving creel, and thus a very precise calculation of the remaining run time of the yarn batch, is ensured, as well as the possibility of determining the weight distribution within the roving creel and thus preventing harmful one-sided loads on the roving creel at an early stage.

[0022] The design effort required to arrange the sensor units on each longitudinal beam of a machine section of a ring spinning machine is considerable and can be significantly reduced if the sensor units are arranged in the area of ​​the cross profiles of the roving creel. In such an embodiment, advantageously only two sensor units are required per cross profile, with one sensor unit arranged on the rear and one on the front side of the cross profile. While the measurement results obtained with this significantly simpler embodiment are somewhat less precise than those achievable with the installation described above on all longitudinal beam sections, the installation costs are also considerably lower.

[0023] Advantageously, the sensor units described above are each equipped with a strain gauge. Such strain gauges are often designed as foil strain gauges, which have a measuring grid film containing a resistance wire, applied to a thin plastic substrate and provided with electrical connections.

[0024] Furthermore, such foil strain gauges often have another thin plastic film on their top side, which is firmly bonded to a support part, in this case a longitudinal beam or a transverse profile of the roving creel, and mechanically protects the measuring grid.

[0025] Strain gauges like these allow for the quick and accurate detection of deformations in components, for example, due to loads. This means that the strains or compressions of the affected component under load cause a change in the strain gauge's specific resistance. This change can be easily transmitted as an electrical signal to a computer, which then uses it to determine the load on the component. The deformations caused by the weight of the yarn spools on the longitudinal beams, cross members, or spool hangers can therefore be detected with relative precision, allowing the current weight of the spools in the spool creel to be determined. Since the weight of the spools also represents their current fill level, the computer can also easily calculate the exact remaining runtime of the yarn batch.

[0026] In a further alternative embodiment, a sensor unit is arranged in the area of ​​the vertical gate bars of the yarn creel. The sensor unit preferably comprises a bearing component fixed to a gate bar and a measuring element slidably mounted relative to the bearing component. The support area of ​​the yarn creel, including one of its cross profiles, rests on the measuring element. This means that the weight of the yarn creel, including the yarn spools suspended within it, rests on the slidably mounted measuring element of the sensor unit, which is preferably designed as a pressure sensor.

[0027] By using such pressure sensors, which are arranged on the vertical gate bars of the roving creel, the effort required for the necessary sensor unit can be further reduced, even if the accuracy of the measurement result is somewhat lower.

[0028] Not only are different variants possible with regard to the design and arrangement of the sensor units, but also with regard to the communication of the sensor units with the computing device, various designs are conceivable.

[0029] The sensor units and / or sensors can, for example, be connected to the computer system of the ring spinning machine via signal lines in a proven design. However, communication between the sensor units and the computer system of the ring spinning machine can also be wireless, for example using familiar wireless networks such as WLAN or Bluetooth.

[0030] In both cases, it is ensured that the values ​​determined by the sensor units are immediately and reliably transmitted to the computer system, where they are processed to calculate the exact remaining runtime of the current yarn batch.

[0031] The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings.

[0032] It shows: Fig. 1 in side view of a roving creel of a ring spinning machine, as known from the prior art, Fig. 2 schematically in perspective front view of a first embodiment of a roving creel designed according to the invention, with sensor devices in the area of ​​the longitudinal beams, Fig. 3 a second embodiment of a roving creel according to the invention, with sensor devices in the area of ​​the transverse profiles, Fig. 4 an embodiment of a roving creel according to the prior art, with sensor devices on the spool hangers for the roving spools, Fig. 5 a further, alternative embodiment of a roving creel according to the invention, with sensor units in the area of ​​the vertical creel bars, Fig. 6 a strain gauge arranged in a sensor unit, Fig. 7 a sensor unit arranged on a vertical creel bar of the roving creel, Fig.8. A sensor device arranged on a coil support according to the prior art.

[0033] The Fig. 1 Figure 1 shows a side view of a roving creel 2 of a ring spinning machine 1, as known from the prior art. The ring spinning machine 1 is shown in a highly schematic representation; that is, the ring spinning machine 1 is not shown in the figure 1. Fig. 1 Only one of the so-called punches 13, which carry the lower rollers of the drawing units of the ring spinning machine 1, and the central computer unit 7 of the textile machine are shown.

[0034] As is known, such roving creels 2 usually have a plurality of machine-length longitudinal beams 3, which are supported by cross profiles 8 on vertical creel bars 9, which in turn are mounted in the machine frame of the ring spinning machine 1.

[0035] The longitudinal beams 3, mostly designed as overhead track rails, are often part of an overhead track system via which the ring spinning machine 1 is supplied with fresh roving spools 4. That is, trains of suspended carriages run in the overhead track rails 18, consisting of a multitude of interconnected spool suspension carriers 5, which in turn are equipped with full roving spools 4, preferably flyer spools, or, after the spinning process, with empty flyer tubes.

[0036] In the exemplary embodiment, the roving creel 2 has two longitudinal beams 3 on each side of the spinning machine, each designed as a downwardly open, Ω-shaped overhead track 18, in which the coupled bobbin suspension carriers 5 are guided by means of rollers 17 in a manner known per se. Such suspension carriage trains are usually driven either manually, by (not shown) "locomotives", or by friction roller drives.

[0037] The Fig. 2Figure 1 shows a perspective front view of a machine section-length section of such a roving creel 2, which in practice is usually very long. As can be seen and already indicated above, such roving creels 2 essentially consist of longitudinal beams 3 designed as a suspended rail system, cross profiles 8 and vertical creel bars 9.

[0038] The longitudinal beams 3 are attached to the transverse profiles 8, which in turn are supported on the vertical frame bars 9. This means that at least one transverse profile 8 is attached at right angles to each of the vertical frame bars 9, which are embedded in the machine frame of the ring spinning machine 1 at specific intervals determined by the length of a machine section 12 of the ring spinning machine 1. In the exemplary embodiment, two longitudinal beams 3 are screwed to each of the transverse profiles 8 on each side of the machine; these, as explained above, are preferably designed as overhead track rails 18.

[0039] In the area of ​​the longitudinal beams 3, sensor units 6 are also installed, which are communicatively connected to the computer unit 7 of the ring spinning machine 1. The connection between the sensor units 6 and the computer unit 7 is established, as indicated, for example via signal lines 11. However, it is also possible to connect the sensor units 6 to the computer unit 7 wirelessly.

[0040] The sensor units 6 are equipped with strain gauges 10 that detect the bending load of the associated longitudinal beam 3, which depends on the weight of the yarn spools 4. As is known, such devices enable Fig. 6Strain gauges 10, depicted on a larger scale, enable the relatively simple detection of tensile and compressive deformations. This means that such strain gauges 10 allow for a relatively accurate experimental determination of mechanical stresses and thus, for example, a good determination of the stresses on a support element caused by an applied weight.

[0041] In the computer unit 7, load values ​​recorded by the sensor units 6, which, as indicated above, result from the weight of the roving spools 4 suspended from the longitudinal beams 3 via spool hangers 5, are processed; that is, the computer unit 7 calculates the remaining runtime of the yarn batch in question based on the load values ​​received from the sensor units 6.

[0042] Another advantageous embodiment of a roving creel 2 designed according to the invention is described in Fig. 3shown. In this embodiment, the sensor units 6 for determining the weight of the yarn spools 4 are each arranged in the area of ​​the cross profiles 8.

[0043] This means that a sensor unit 6 is arranged on each of the cross profiles 8, both in front of and behind the attachment of the cross profiles 8 to the vertical frame bar 9. The sensor units 6 detect the bending stresses caused by the weight of the roving spools 4, which are suspended from the spool hangers 5 and positioned in the longitudinal beams 3, and which are introduced into the relevant sections of the cross profiles 8. In this embodiment as well, the sensor units 6 are communicatively connected to the computer unit 7 of the ring spinning machine 1, whereby the connection can again be made either via signal lines 11 or wirelessly.

[0044] An embodiment of a yarn creel 2 according to the prior art is described in Fig. 4As shown. In this embodiment, each of the numerous spool suspension supports 5 has its own sensor unit 6, which directly measures the weight of the attached roving spool 4. That is, in this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 8 As indicated, each of the coil carriers 5, equipped with rollers 17 and running in an Ω-like overhead track 18, is equipped with its own sensor unit 6 which, when the coil carrier 5 is positioned in its unwinding position in the area of ​​a spinning station, communicates with the computer unit 7 of the ring spinning machine 1. The connection is made either, as shown, via a mechanical contact point 19 and a signal line 11, or, as already explained above in connection with the other embodiments, wirelessly.

[0045] In the present embodiment, the computer device 7 also continuously calculates the exact remaining runtime of the current yarn batch based on the spool weights transmitted by the sensor units 6 of the spool hanger 5 during the spinning process and other known parameters.

[0046] The remaining running times of the roving spools that can be determined with such a design are very accurate and very detailed, however, the necessary design effort is relatively large.

[0047] Another alternative embodiment of a roving creel 2 according to the invention is described in Fig. 5 depicted.

[0048] In this embodiment, a sensor unit 14 is installed in the area of ​​each of the vertical gate bars 9, which, as known from the embodiments described above, is communicatively connected to a computer unit 7 of the ring spinning machine 1, either via signal lines 11 or wirelessly. The sensor unit 14 consists, as described above, of... Fig. 7 As can be seen, the system consists of a bearing component 16, which is fixedly arranged on one of the vertical gate bars 9, and a measuring component 15 which is slidably mounted with respect to this bearing component 16. The sensor unit 14, which functions as a pressure sensor, detects the bearing pressure of the supporting cross profile 8, which in turn is loaded by the longitudinal beams 3, which bear the weight of the roving spools 4, which are positioned in the longitudinal beams 3 suspended from spool hangers 5 in the area of ​​a machine section 12.

[0049] The sensor unit 14 reports the displacement of the measuring part 15 relative to the bearing component 16 caused by the weight of the feed spools 5 of a machine section 12 to the computer unit 7, which uses this information and other known parameters to continuously determine the exact remaining runtime of the yarn batch in question. Reference symbol list

[0050] 1 Ring spinning machine 2 Yarn spool creel 3 Longitudinal beam 4 Yarn spool 5 Spool hanging support 6 Sensor unit 7 Computer unit 8 Cross profile 9 Creel bar 10 Strain gauge 11 Signal line 12 Machine section 13 Punch 14 Sensor unit 15 Measuring element 16 Bearing component 17 Roller 18 Overhead track 19 Contact point

Claims

1. Roving bobbin creel (2) for a ring spinning machine (1), comprising at least two creel rows which are formed by longitudinal beams (3) and can be equipped with roving bobbins (4), the longitudinal beams (3) being supported on vertical creel bars (9) via transverse profiles (8), the roving bobbin creel (2) being provided with sensor units (6, 14) which detect, by measurement, the amount of roving present in the creel rows and transmit this amount to a computer device (7) which calculates therefrom the remaining operational time for the roving in the roving bobbin creel (2), characterized in that the sensor units (6) are arranged in the region of the longitudinal beams (3) of the roving bobbin creel (2), the sensor units (6) are provided with strain gauges (10) which detect the bending load of the associated longitudinal beam (3), which is dependent on the weight of the roving bobbins (4), and each longitudinal beam (3) of the roving bobbin creel (2) in the region of each machine section (12) of the ring spinning machine (1) is provided with its own sensor unit (6), or in that the sensor units (6) are installed in the region of the transverse profiles (8) of the roving bobbin creel (2), a sensor unit (6) is arranged on the transverse profiles (8) both in front of and behind the fastening of the transverse profiles (8) to the vertical creel bar (9), and the sensor units (6) detect the bending stresses introduced by the weight of the roving bobbins (4) into the relevant portions of the transverse profiles (8), or in that the sensor units (14) are each arranged in the region of the vertical creel bars (9) of the roving bobbin creel (2), have a bearing component (16) fastened in a stationary manner to a creel bar (9) and a measuring part (15) mounted movably with respect to this bearing component (16), and detect the contact pressure of the transverse profile (8) resting thereon, which is in turn subject to loading by the longitudinal beams (3) which support the weight of the roving bobbins (4).

2. Roving bobbin creel (2) according to claim 1, characterized in that the sensor units (6, 14) are each connected to the computer device (7) of the ring spinning machine (1) via signal lines (11).

3. Roving bobbin creel (2) according to claim 1, characterized in that the sensor units (6, 14) are each wirelessly connected to the computer device (7) of the ring spinning machine (1).