Creel Assembly Yarn Package Loading With Gravity Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Handling and transferring heavy yarn packages on creel assemblies is cumbersome due to their weight and requires powerful multi-axis robots, which incur high energy consumption and rapid wear of mechanical joints.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a creel assembly with lateral bullhorns and a loading device that moves along the creel assembly's lateral face, featuring detection, positioning, and transfer mechanisms to align and transfer yarn packages without motorization, utilizing gravity and linear movements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If multi-axis robots are used to handle heavy yarn packages, then the ability to manipulate heavy items with accuracy is improved, but the stress on joints and mechanical wear increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediate transfer mechanism consisting of a sliding carriage and transfer rails that act as a mediator between the yarn package storage and the creel assembly. This intermediary system handles the heavy packages through gravity-assisted sliding movements, eliminating the need for robotic arms to directly manipulate packages, thereby preventing mechanical wear on joints while maintaining accurate positioning capability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the complex multi-axis robotic mechanical system with a simpler gravity-based sliding mechanism. The transfer carriage moves along fixed rails using gravity and minimal actuation, substituting the power-intensive robotic arm system with a passive mechanical guidance system that requires negligible motorization, thus eliminating joint stress and mechanical wear
2Power
If multi-axis robots with high power are used to support very heavy loads, then the load-bearing capacity is improved, but the energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent positions the transfer carriage and yarn packages at elevated heights, utilizing gravitational potential energy to drive the transfer process. Packages slide downward along inclined rails to the creel assembly, converting potential energy into kinetic energy for the transfer motion, thereby eliminating the need for high-power motors and significantly reducing energy consumption while maintaining full load-bearing capacity
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service transfer where the heavy yarn packages, through their own weight and gravitational force, perform the work of moving themselves from storage to the creel assembly. The minimal actuation system only needs to initiate and guide the motion, not continuously power it, allowing the load itself to serve as the energy source for the transfer operation
3Ease of operation
If powerful motorization is used to handle heavy yarn packages, then the handling capability is improved, but the device size and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the need for powerful motorization systems by using gravity as the primary driving force. The complex robotic arm structure with multiple high-power motors is replaced with a minimal actuation system that only needs to initiate sliding motion and provide positional adjustment, dramatically reducing device size and complexity while maintaining full handling capability for heavy packages
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the fundamental operating parameter from motor-driven force to gravity-driven motion. By reconfiguring the transfer path as an inclined plane and using passive sliding instead of active robotic manipulation, the system transforms the handling mechanism from one requiring high power and complex control to a simple gravity-based system with minimal actuation requirements
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables efficient and low-stress handling of heavy yarn packages, reducing mechanical wear and energy consumption, and eliminating the need for powerful robots.
Implementation Method 1
a detection means to identify the position of at least one empty receiving bullhorn of the creel assembly
Implementation Method 2
transfer mechanism for effecting translation of the yarn package from the carrying bullhorn to the empty receiving bullhorn of the creel assembly
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a system for the loading of yarn packages on a creel assembly. The system may include a creel assembly with at least one lateral face having a plurality of receiving bullhorns arranged outwardly according to a horizontal axis to engage a respective yarn package, and a loading device movable along a path arranged along the creel assembly. The loading device may include a detection means to identify an empty receiving bullhorn of the creel assembly, a positioning means to adjust a bullhorn carrying a yarn package to be loaded onto the creel assembly so that the free end of this bullhorn is placed in front of the free end of the empty receiving bullhorn of the creel assembly, and a transfer mechanism for the effecting translation of the yarn package to the empty receiving bullhorn of the creel assembly.