Multi-Container Spinning Tube Supply for Selective Automated Dispensing
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Solution Overview
Problem
The automated process of transporting spinning tubes between winding and spinning machines is prone to errors such as incomplete unwinding, damage, or improper positioning, necessitating manual intervention and manual selection of appropriate spinning tube types, which is inefficient and error-prone, especially in modern spinning mills with fewer operators.
Innovation Solution
A tube supply device with containers, a dispensing unit, and separating devices that allow selective feeding of specific spinning tube types, enabling automated exchange of defective tubes with faultless ones, using gravity and mechanical sliders, chutes, and drives to ensure precise and automated dispensing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual processing of defective spinning tubes is used, then operators can handle and replace defective tubes, but the process becomes inefficient and error-prone due to fewer available operators and the need to manually select correct tube types
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service automation where the supply device automatically detects the type of defective tube being transported (via data carrier reading), selects the corresponding replacement tube from multiple containers, and dispenses it without human intervention. This resolves the contradiction by making the system serve itself rather than requiring operators.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical operation of operators selecting and replacing tubes with an automated mechanical system comprising sensors, data carriers, and a dispensing mechanism. This substitution increases both productivity and automation level simultaneously.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple spinning tube types are stored for different yarn batches, then the correct tube type can be provided for each batch, but the complexity of managing and selecting the appropriate tube type increases
Solution Approach 1:
The supply device is designed with multi-functionality to handle multiple tube types through a single unified system. Multiple containers can store different tube types, and the automated selection mechanism universally applies to all tube types by reading their data carriers and matching them with corresponding replacements, thereby increasing adaptability without proportionally increasing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from data carriers on transported tubes to automatically determine the correct replacement tube type. This feedback mechanism eliminates the need for manual identification and selection, resolving the complexity issue while maintaining high adaptability to different tube types.
3Extent of automation
If automated dispensing is implemented, then the exchange of defective spinning tubes is automated, but additional technical components (containers, separating devices, dispensing units) are introduced
Solution Approach 1:
The automated dispensing system is segmented into distinct functional modules: multiple containers for storing different tube types, separating devices for isolating individual tubes, and a dispensing unit for automated delivery. This segmentation allows each component to perform a specific function efficiently, reducing overall system complexity while achieving high automation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces data carriers as intermediaries between the transported tubes and the dispensing system. These data carriers contain information about tube types and enable automated identification and selection without requiring complex direct sensing of the tubes themselves, thereby simplifying the automation architecture.
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
Enhances process efficiency and reduces errors by automating the provision of correct spinning tube types, improving handling and reducing manual intervention, particularly in systems with multiple spinning machines producing different yarns.
Implementation Method 1
The containers, the dispensing unit and the separating device are arranged such that a spinning tube can be selectively fed from one of the containers to the dispensing unit
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The present invention relates to a tube supply device (1) for supplying spinning tubes (2) for a spinning machine (3), and to a system (18) comprising at least one washing machine (19), at least one spinning machine (3), and a transport device (11) for transporting spinning tubes (2) between the at least one washing machine (19) and the at least one spinning machine (3). According to the invention, the tube supply device (1) comprises at least two containers (4) for receiving spinning tubes (2), a dispensing unit (5) for dispensing a spinning tube (2), and at least one separating device (6). The containers (4), the dispensing unit (5), and the separating device (6) are arranged such that a spinning tube 2 can be selectively fed from one of the containers (4) to the dispensing unit (5) by the separating device (6).