Textile Machine Section Bus Layout for Fast Reliable Control

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Modern textile machines with many communication-capable units face limitations in reliable and quick communication due to the limited number of bus participants and information backlogs on section buses, leading to signal delays and disruptions, especially during critical operations like starting and parking.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a textile machine with at least two section buses connected to the section control, where one section bus handles similar individual drives and sensors, and the other handles job control units, allowing for distributed communication and reducing the number of bus participants, enabling quick and reliable information exchange while accommodating modern and legacy components with different protocols.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Quantity of substance

If the number of bus participants is increased to accommodate many communication-capable units, then the coverage of communication units is improved, but the communication speed and reliability deteriorate due to information backlogs

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvenumber of bus participantsVSAvoidcommunication speed
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSSpeed

Solution Approach 1:

The patent divides the single section bus into multiple section buses (first section bus, second section bus, etc.). Each bus handles a subset of communication-capable units, reducing the number of participants per bus and eliminating information backlogs while maintaining comprehensive coverage across all units.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Quantity of substance

If the number of bus participants is increased to accommodate many communication-capable units, then the coverage of communication units is improved, but the reliability of communication deteriorates due to signal delays

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvenumber of bus participantsVSAvoidcommunication reliability
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

By segmenting the bus system into multiple independent section buses, each bus maintains reliable communication with fewer participants. The section control coordinates between buses to ensure overall system reliability without the signal delays that occur in overloaded single-bus systems.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

3Speed

If more section buses are implemented to reduce bus participants, then the communication speed is improved, but the device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecommunication speedVSAvoidbus system complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
SpeedVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent combines multiple section buses at the section control level, allowing the system to benefit from faster communication on each individual bus while the section control manages the complexity of coordinating between buses. This hierarchical merging approach distributes complexity management effectively.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

4Reliability

If more section buses are implemented to reduce bus participants, then the communication reliability is improved, but the device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecommunication reliabilityVSAvoidbus system complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Multiple section buses are merged at the section control level with a coordinated communication scheme. The section control manages data exchange between buses, ensuring high reliability through reduced participant loads on each bus while systematically managing the added complexity through centralized coordination.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentEP3617108B1Textile machine and method for controlling a textile machine
Publication Date: 2022.11.30 MASCHINENFABRIK RIETER AG
  • EP3617108B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3617108B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3617108B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

In a textile machine (1), in particular a spinning or winding machine, with a plurality of workstations (3) arranged side by side and grouped into several sections (2), each section (2) having several communication-capable units, wherein the sections (2) each have a section control unit (13), and wherein, for communication with the section control unit (13), the communication-capable units of the workstations (3) of a section (2) are connected to a section bus (15, 16), the sections (2) each have at least two section buses (15, 16) connected to the section control unit (13). A first part of the communication-capable units of the workstations (3) is connected to a first (15) of the at least two section buses (15, 16), and a second part of the communication-capable units of the workstations (3) is connected to a second (16) of the at least two section buses (15, 16).In a corresponding method for controlling such a textile machine (1), a first part of the communicable units of the workstations (3) communicates via a first (15) of the at least two section buses (15, 16) with the section control (13) and/or further communicable units of the workstations (3), and a second part of the communicable units communicates via a second (16) of the at least two section buses (15, 16) with the section control (13) and/or further communicable units of the workstations (3).