Drafting Roller Control for Uniform Air-Jet Spinning Piecing

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing spinning processes in air-jet spinning machines face issues such as fiber sliver compression and inconsistent yarn quality due to idle rollers, frequent shutdowns, and incorrect timing during yarn joining, leading to defects and resource inefficiencies.

Innovation Solution

A spinning unit with independently driven roller pairs and controlled operating modes, along with a method and control device that manage roller speeds and accelerations to prevent fiber sliver compression and ensure uniform yarn formation, including a drafting device with selective activation of rollers and coordinated fiber ribbon separation.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If the drafting device rollers are stopped frequently for piecing operations, then the threading process can be maintained, but the fiber sliver becomes dented and yarn quality deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvepiecing operationVSAvoidyarn uniformity
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The control device maintains the drafting device in a ready state by keeping rollers rotating at low speed before piecing operations, preventing fiber sliver denting in advance. This preliminary action ensures the rollers are warm and the fiber path is maintained, eliminating the need for complete stops during piecing while preserving yarn uniformity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Loss of energy

If the drafting device is stopped completely for piecing, then resource consumption is reduced, but the rollers require warm-up time and thread uniformity suffers

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveresource consumptionVSAvoidthread uniformity
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of energyVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The control device implements continuous low-speed rotation of drafting rollers during piecing operations, maintaining thermal state and fiber path continuity. This continuous action eliminates the need for warm-up periods while consuming minimal energy, achieving both resource efficiency and high thread uniformity simultaneously.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #20Continuity of useful action

3Productivity

If multiple roller pairs are used in the drafting device, then the drafting capability is improved, but the complexity of controlling different speeds and accelerations increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedrafting capabilityVSAvoidcontrol system complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The control device uses feedback mechanisms to automatically coordinate the speeds and accelerations of multiple roller pairs during piecing operations. By monitoring the actual performance of each roller pair and adjusting their operation accordingly, the system maintains optimal drafting capability while simplifying control through automated coordination rather than manual adjustment of each roller independently.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentEP4474538B1Drafting device, spinning station and method
Publication Date: 2026.05.13 SAURER SPINNING SOLUTIONS GMBH & CO KG
  • EP4474538B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4474538B1 patent drawingFigure 2A~2C
  • EP4474538B1 patent drawingFigure 3A~3B

AI summary

The invention relates to a drafting device for a textile machine, in particular an air-jet spinning machine, wherein the drafting device can have several pairs of rollers that can be driven independently of one another. The roller pairs can be designed and arranged to guide a fiber ribbon between an upper roller and a lower roller of each pair during their rotational operation in order to stretch the fiber ribbon. The drafting device can be designed and configured to carry out a spin-up process after the fiber ribbon has been cut within the drafting device. To optimize the spinning process, the drafting device is designed and configured to selectively add at least two pairs of rollers via their drives during the spin-up process.