Winding – tensioning – or guiding – Helical or random winding of material – Including particular material to spool connection
Reexamination Certificate
1997-12-12
2001-03-06
Walsh, Donald P. (Department: 3653)
Winding, tensioning, or guiding
Helical or random winding of material
Including particular material to spool connection
C242S476600, C242S486200, C242S487900
Reexamination Certificate
active
06196490
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an elastic yarn winder for winding large-diameter elastic yarn packages onto a plurality of tubes without the elastic yarn crossing between the tubes and without broken yarn ends remaining in the inner layer (“core”) portion of the elastic yarn package. This invention also relates to an elastic yarn transfer method for reliably transferring an incoming elastic yarn end from a full package to an empty tube.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Winders of the prior art are shown in
FIGS. 4-6
. These have hitherto been used for winding elastic yarns such as polyester, polyether, polyurethane and polyamide yarns, and for producing elastic yarn packages. The winder shown in
FIG. 4
has, on a turnable table
15
, a single spindle
11
, a friction roll
12
that drives this spindle
11
, a traverse mechanism
13
that traverses the yarn, and a traverse releasing mechanism
14
that removes the yarn from a traverse guide mounted in traverse mechanism
13
. This winder is generally used for producing large-diameter elastic yarn packages having diameters up to 350 mm.
The above-mentioned turnable table
15
can turn only several degrees by hand about a rotating shaft. The single spindle
11
mentioned above is supported in a freely rotatable manner by the table
15
, and a plurality of tubes
16
can be mounted on the spindle.
Friction roll
12
presses constantly against the layer of elastic yarn that has been taken up onto tube
16
, and rotatably drives tube
16
in a clockwise direction.
A traverse guide (not shown) is provided on the above-described traverse mechanism
13
. This traverse guide guides elastic yarn Y back-and-forth over the traverse range, so that traversing movement of the yarn is carried out. In addition, a plurality of yarn guides
19
are provided on top of traverse mechanism
13
.
The prior art practices for taking up and transferring elastic yarn using the winder depicted in
FIG. 4
are disclosed in
FIG. 5
, which is also of the prior art.
FIG.
5
(
1
) shows the elastic yarn being taken up and a yarn package
18
being formed.
FIG.
5
(
2
) shows that when elastic yarn package
18
has been fully wound, a plurality of continuously fed elastic yarns Y are drawn in by means of suction nozzle
20
on suction device
17
, and separated from fully wound elastic yarn package
18
. Table
15
is turned several degrees, thereby separating spindle
11
from the friction roll
12
and stopping rotation of the spindle. The fully wound elastic yarn package
18
mounted on the spindle
11
is then pulled off, following which an empty tube
16
is mounted in its place.
FIG.
5
(
3
) shows first, the traverse releasing mechanism
14
being lowered so that the yarn is no longer traversing, and the spindle
11
on which an empty tube
16
has been replaced is once again pressed against the friction roll
12
, thereby causing spindle
11
to rotate. Here, the plurality of elastic yarns Y that have been drawn in at the suction nozzle
20
are respectively grasped by a plurality of guides
19
provided at the top of traverse mechanism
13
and are drawn in by the suction device
17
. This way, as indicated by the dashed line in the Figure, the elastic yarn Y passes between traverse mechanism
13
and friction roll
12
. Afterwards, the suction nozzle
20
is rotated clockwise along the outer periphery of the single foremost empty tube
16
that has been mounted on spindle
11
, thus winding the elastic yarn Y onto the single empty tube
16
.
Elastic yarn Y, prior to entering the suction nozzle
20
, is then forcibly stretched so that breakage of the elastic yarn occurs.
Next, the traverse releasing mechanism
14
that removes the elastic yarn Y from the traverse guide is returned to the original position, the elastic yarn Y is grasped by the traverse guide and traverse is begun, thereby completing the change in the elastic yarn Y.
These prior-art winders and method, however, have inherent disadvantages. When winding of the elastic yarn package
18
begins, as shown in
FIG. 6
(also of the prior art), elastic yarn Y is first wound onto just the foremost hollow tube
16
a
that has been mounted on the spindle. Because the other elastic yarns Y (those not intended to be wound onto foremost tube
16
a
) have been grasped by guide
19
at the top of the traverse mechanism
13
, the other elastic yarns Y are shifted to the positions of the respective empty tubes behind
16
a
by inertial force, at which positions they start being taken up onto their corresponding empty tubes
16
. Therefore, during the interval between the beginning of take-up until the elastic yarn Y moves to the its proper corresponding tube
16
(by means of inertial force), the elastic yarn crosses between each of the tubes
16
further back and is taken up while passing each of the tubes.
When the packages are completed, at the time of yarn changing, the yarn is broken by forcible stretching of the elastic yarn and a contractile force acts upon the elastic yarn the moment that the yarn has broken. The direction of the contractile force of the elastic yarn Y becomes random and indeterminate, as a result of which the yarn end at which winding begins (the incoming cut end) can reach the traversing regions of the neighboring elastic yarn packages and become entangled in the neighboring tubes. The yarn end at which winding begins can also fly out from the sidewall of the fully or partially wound elastic yarn package and become entangled with other equipment.
Thus, utilizing prior art winders, elastic yarn can cross between each of the tubes at the initial winding stage (when the fully wound elastic yarn package is removed from the winder spindle) and the fully wound packages will be connected to each other by the crossed elastic yarn Y. In order to separate the packages, the crossing yarns must be cut. In addition, a further problem arises because the elastic yarns that crossed between each of the tubes are cut between the packages; that is, the pieces of yarn that have been cut remain at the interior of the foremost package.
As a result, yarn breakage will occur at users of common elastic yarn packages, resulting in reduced quality and commercial value of the elastic yarn. For these reasons, improved equipment and methods which avoid the creation of these cut ends have been long sought.
Japanese Registered Patent No. 9-2624345 (1997) discloses winders that produce elastic yarn packages having a relatively small (less than 170 mm) diameter. Here, because two spindles are provided on a turnable table and yarn transfer is carried out by turning of these two spindles, the yarn at the beginning of winding is not disposed so as to cross between the tubes. However, in this case, the diameter of the fully wound package is restricted by the distance between the spindle at the winding position and the spindle at the waiting position. This makes it difficult to produce large-diameter elastic yarn packages with winding diameters greater than approximately 250 mm. Therefore, either a winder having only one spindle needs to be used for the production of such packages or, alternatively, one must greatly widen the distance between the two spindles on an existing winder entailing enormous costs, comparable to the cost of producing a new winder.
Therefore, in prior-art winders and yarn transfer methods, there are limits on the efficient production of large-diameter elastic yarn packages which do not cause crossing of the elastic yarn between the individual tubes, leaving cut pieces of yarn in the interior layers of the package, and without letting the winding startup yarn ends fly off from the sidewalls of the elastic yarn package.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The winder of the present invention for winding a plurality of elastic yarns to form wound packages comprises:
a freely rotatable spindle mounted on a turntable, the spindle having an axis and being capable of having mounted thereon a plurality of tubes, each tube having an axis, a length, a longitudinal center, and a ya
Fujita Hiroshi
Gotoh Ryoji
Dupont Toray Co. Ltd.
Marcelo Emmanuel M.
Walsh Donald P.
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