Portable Creel with Insertable Yarn Trays and Alignment Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing systems for supplying yarn to tufting machines are labor-intensive and inefficient, requiring significant factory space and resources, with creels experiencing downtime during loading and unloading, and involving cumbersome processes for handling and reconfiguration of yarn packages.
Innovation Solution
A creel system with a frame that holds multiple insertable and removable trays for yarn packages, allowing for remote loading and quick replacement of trays, combined with an alignment mechanism using headers to facilitate efficient attachment of yarns to the tufting machine, reducing labor and downtime.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If yarn packages are loaded directly onto creel holders, then yarn can be supplied to the tufting machine, but significant labor and time are required for individual positioning and threading of each package
Solution Approach 1:
The creel system is divided into modular components: a creel frame, removable trays, and individual yarn packages. Each tray can be independently loaded with multiple yarn packages, allowing the loading process to be segmented into tray assembly and then creel assembly operations, significantly reducing the complexity of individual package positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
Yarn packages are pre-loaded onto trays before being transferred to the creel frame. This preliminary action of assembling complete trays with multiple packages allows for batch processing, eliminating the need for individual positioning and threading of each package during creel setup.
2Ease of operation
If creels are stationary and fixed in position, then yarn handling is straightforward, but the tufting machine must be out of service during loading and unloading operations
Solution Approach 1:
The creel system transitions from a static, fixed configuration to a dynamic, reconfigurable system with removable trays and packages. This allows the creel to be quickly assembled, disassembled, and reconfigured without requiring the tufting machine to be out of service for extended periods, as components can be swapped while the machine remains operational or with minimal interruption.
Solution Approach 2:
Complete trays with yarn packages are prepared and positioned in advance, allowing for rapid loading onto the creel frame. This preliminary preparation enables quick exchanges of trays without time-consuming individual package handling during machine downtime.
3Reliability
If multiple yarn packages are positioned individually on the creel, then each yarn can be threaded through tubes to headers, but the process becomes cumbersome and labor-intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The yarn handling system is segmented into discrete components: trays holding packages, tubes routing yarn, and headers receiving yarn. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and enables standardized assembly procedures, improving both the reliability of threading and the efficiency of handling by reducing the complexity of individual package positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
Trays serve as intermediary structures between the yarn packages and the creel frame. These trays provide a standardized interface that simplifies the connection between packages and the threading system, eliminating the need for complex individual positioning and routing operations while maintaining accurate yarn alignment through the tubes and headers.
4Adaptability or versatility
If creels occupy large amounts of factory floor space, then yarn packages can be stored and handled, but manufacturing facility space is consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The creel system employs a nested structure where multiple yarn packages are arranged on stacked trays, which are then positioned on the creel frame. This vertical nesting arrangement allows for increased yarn package storage capacity within a compact footprint, reducing the factory floor space required while maintaining adequate storage and handling capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The creel design transitions from a horizontal, spread-out arrangement to a vertical, stacked configuration. By utilizing the vertical dimension through stacked trays and packages, the system achieves greater storage capacity without proportionally increasing the horizontal footprint, thereby reducing the overall factory space consumption.
Data Source
AI summary
Creels having frames configured to receive one or more trays of yarn packages. The trays of yarn packages are removable from the frame and can be loaded with packages of yarn when not inserted into the frame. Separately loading trays with yarns can simplify and provide other benefits with respect to the process of loading a creel with yarn packages. Also disclosed is an assembly that is positioned with respect to a detachable header and a stationary header on a creel and that comprises an air flow unit that causes yarns to move through to an alignment mechanism that aligns the yarns for attachment to yarns already feeding into a tufting machine.