Radiant energy – Photocells; circuits and apparatus – With circuit for evaluating a web – strand – strip – or sheet
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-30
2001-10-02
Allen, Stephone B. (Department: 2878)
Radiant energy
Photocells; circuits and apparatus
With circuit for evaluating a web, strand, strip, or sheet
C250S22300B, C250S239000, C356S238200, C209S538000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06297514
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the field of inspection for yarn bobbins having different nature (textile, glass fiber, etc.) to localize eventual defects which could occur when finishing said elements. More concretely, the installation according to the invention is applied for scanning yarn bobbins after their process of winding them on a core for quality control, being embodied in one or more quality control machines, each comprising one or several inspection stations as well as one or more bobbins loading/unloading areas, associated to a line to convey said factory-fresh bobbins to a use or storage area. The installation proposed is adapted for processing bobbins having different sizes, colors and material, comprising a first step of picking and transferring the bobbins from said conveying line to one or more inspection stations, where means to form (to capture and lighten ) images from the surface of the bobbin have been provided, which are thereafter duly processed with an analysis computer program applied to pick and assess possible defects and a second step of bobbin feedback to said conveying line which has due stops for such purpose.
The installation according to the invention allows to detect a great number of defects which may appear in the spinning bobbins and namely in flies, loops, flushes, scratches and strokes, spots at the bobbin end faces and sides, scratches, strokes and enlarged portions, distortions, sagging and bobbin density, color of the tube and thread of the ply, as well as rings and spots on the bobbin end faces.
BACKGROUND OF THE PATENT
Several embodiments are known in the state of the art applied to detect defects which may appear in yarn bobbins.
We can mention thus patents JP-A-62-62938 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,151, which disclose methods to detect by means of image forming sensors of line by line reading, installed close to light sources in a station intercalated in a transfer line of the bobbins toward a storage or service area, which is embodied in a wrapping housing which delimitates an enclosure having access doors, which is crossed by the conveying line, providing means to rotate the bobbin to a given position, within said enclosure and when the doors have been closed to darken the inspection area.
This background has the drawback that as the inspection enclosure is intercalated in the conveying line itself, the inspection operation obliges to completely stop said conveying line during a very long time, because the closure of access doors and the accurate arrangement of means to rotate a support on which the bobbin is arranged have to be provided which means the system is slow, which makes that in addition to localize a possible defect two or three shootings of the image sensor are necessary, its use additionally meaning limitations as for the bobbin color and/or material, which makes difficult the general use of the method which is useful mainly for direct reflection bobbins. In addition, as this type of sensors only reads one line, the field embraced is very limited and shootings have to be done at very close points to achieve effective results. On the other hand, this system, as the bobbin rotation means interferes with the conveying line itself, has the likelihood to lead to error in the bobbin positioning which will produce reading inaccurateness of eventual defects to be assessed. Said technical issue does not allow either to arrange several in line inspection stations because for a correct operation it will be demanded that the inspection time has same length, which is not fit for the specific nature of each inspection cycle.
Patents JP-A-07-134105 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,408 disclose devices to inspect spinning bobbins with inspection stations also intercalated in the conveying line, but comprising matrix camera like means to form images, the second of said backgrounds disclosing arrangements applied to detect different possible defects by using several types of light sources such as ultraviolet rays, fluorescent or others.
However, said backgrounds do not contemplate the possibility to fully scan all bobbin surfaces, carrying out an inspection of multiple and different defects which may appear in spinning bobbins, in some cases checked twice or more times and by means of one or more inspection stations mounted on one or more quality control machines associated to a factory-fresh bobbins conveying line, with the peculiarity that it is adaptable to several sizes of bobbins and regardless said bobbins color and characteristics of the material.
The installation which is disclosed is applied to implement a bobbins inspecting method and system disclosed in the international application PCT/ES 97/00070 of same applicant where a series of relative arrangements of image forming sensors and light sources are proposed in order to obtain an effect of field deepness so that they allow to accurately focus eventual defects, at each sector scanned, which significantly facilitates their identification.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The installation according to the invention is on the ground of the performance of a plurality of image forming sensors, several of them are movable in order to be able to locate them at predetermined points, before starting each cycle of image shooting of a related detecting operation, adapted to the type of bobbin and in general specific for each of the possible defects for which and in a preferred embodiment which will be illustrated in drawings attached, several quality control machines have been provided each of them having one or more examination/inspection stations associated to the conveying line in each of which examination/inspection stations light sources have been likewise arranged specially adapted to each case, whose arrangement, combined with a suitable optics provides an effect of field deepness sufficient in order eventual defects present in the sector are perfectly focused in the resulting image.
According to the invention, each of the quality control machines, located close to the bobbin conveying line or lines, loaded on supports, integrates a group for transferring the bobbins, applied to picking up said bobbins from said conveying line, transferring and positioning them within an enclosure which houses one or several inspection stations and further bobbins feedback to their support on the conveying line. For such purpose, one or more loading/unloading areas have been provided. Said group for bobbin transfer in turn comprises a movable frame according to discrete displacements, with stops having a predetermined time length corresponding to each of said loading/unloading stations and/or areas and on said group several assemblies are axial development angularly equally spaced arranged are provided at a free end which peripherally protrudes, from a locking member which may be linearly moved, in a to and fro motion, having a predetermined length to an approach up to the support bearing the bobbin for picking it up and further retraction during its transfer. This way said assemblies remain located successively at each of the frame stops in a position directly facing a bobbin to be examined arranged on its support on the conveying line, also temporarily stopped, while at same time one or more assemblies present a bobbin to a related inspection station or loading/unloading area.
Said displacement group, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, comprises a dividing plate or frame having means for rotatably driving it, according to angular fractions of 360
a complete rotation, n being the number of inspection stations plus the loading/unloading areas on the frame of which n of said assemblies are mounted, equally spaced, with an axial development fastening member, said fastening member being comprised of a collet associated to a fluid dynamic, electromechanical or mechanical cylinder, arranged at a end of said assembly, for its to and fro linear displacement and performance of grasping the bobbin winding tube.
Also means to produce a relative displacement between the bobbin and
Castello Antoni Llorens
Cortes Albert Sanfeliu
Allen Stephone B.
Cognivision Research, S.L.
Jensen & Puntigam P.S.
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