Yarn Heater Shared Guide Passage for Lower Heat Loss
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing yarn heaters suffer from inefficiencies in power consumption due to air inflow and outflow through yarn guide passages, leading to increased energy usage.
Innovation Solution
A yarn heater design with shared yarn guide passages and a heat insulator that includes a narrow portion and a partition member to minimize air circulation, combined with a contactless heating unit to reduce power consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If independent yarn guide passages are provided for each yarn running groove, then yarn insertion is facilitated, but air inflow and outflow increases leading to higher power consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the yarn guide passages into a single common passage that serves multiple yarn running grooves, eliminating the need for separate independent passages for each groove. This consolidation reduces the total surface area open to air flow, thereby minimizing heat loss and power consumption while still allowing yarns to be inserted effectively into the respective grooves through the shared passage.
Solution Approach 2:
The common yarn guide passage performs multiple functions: it guides yarns into different yarn running grooves and simultaneously acts as a heat insulation barrier by reducing air exchange. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for separate passages while addressing both yarn insertion requirements and energy conservation goals.
2Use of energy by moving object
If a common yarn guide passage is used for multiple yarn running grooves, then power consumption is reduced by minimizing air flow, but yarn insertion becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
While the yarn guide passage itself is common and unsegmented, the passage is positioned and dimensioned to naturally segment the yarn flow paths toward different grooves. The passage width and orientation create distinct flow directions that guide different yarns to their respective grooves without requiring physical segmentation of the passage structure, thus maintaining ease of insertion while reducing air flow.
3Ease of operation
If the yarn guide passage width equals the total width of yarn running grooves, then yarn insertion is easy, but air inflow and outflow increases
Solution Approach 1:
The yarn guide passage is designed with a width that is locally optimized - narrower than the total width of all yarn running grooves combined. This local quality adjustment reduces the open surface area for air exchange and heat loss at the critical location of the passage, while the passage's positioning and the grooves' arrangement ensure that yarn insertion remains facilitated despite the reduced width.
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
The design effectively reduces power consumption by minimizing air inflow and outflow through the yarn guide passages, enhancing energy efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a heating unit which extends along the first direction and is configured to heat the yarns running in the at least two yarn running grooves
Implementation Method 2
a heat insulator which extends along the first direction and is provided on the opposite side of the at least two yarn running grooves over open ends of the at least two yarn running grooves
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
Power consumption is reduced. In a first heater 13, two yarn running grooves 56a and 56b are formed to extend in an extending direction and to be aligned in the base longitudinal direction. The first heater 13 further includes a heating unit 50 which extends along the extending direction and is configured to heat yarns Ya and Yb running in the yarn running grooves 56a and 56b and a heat insulator 70 which extends in the extending direction and is provided to be opposite to the yarn running grooves 56a and 56b over open ends of the yarn running grooves 56a and 56b in an up-down direction. In the heat insulator 70, a yarn guide passage 74 is formed to allow the yarns Ya and Yb to pass through, in order to insert the yarns Ya and Yb into the respective yarn running grooves 56a and 56b. The yarn guide passage 74 is shared between the yarn running grooves 56a and 56b. The yarn guide passage 74 has a narrow portion 74a having a width W1 that is narrower than the sum of the widths (W3a+W3b) of the two yarn running grooves 56a and 56b.