An automatic spinning system has at least one spinning frame with opposite banks of spinning stations. A tractor carries a tender capable of randomly servicing the spinning stations. The tractor is mounted for back and forth movement between opposite ends of a track above the banks of spinning stations. The tender is mounted on the tractor for swinging movement about the ends of the spinning frame from one of the banks of spinning stations to the other bank when the tractor is at either of the opposite ends of its track. Thus, the tender patrols the stations as it travels in one direction along a continuous path about the banks of spinning stations, and is capable of randomly servicing the spinning stations. Either a broken strand of yarn or a full bobbin at a station requiring servicing is sensed by operating mechanism for stopping the tender in servicing orientation with the station requiring servicing, whereupon the tender doffs the bobbin from the station spindle and donns an empty bobbin and starts the strand winding onto the empty bobbin. Empty bobbins are conveyed to the tender and filled bobbins are conveyed from the tender as they are doffed. If desired, the tender may be equipped with a system for ridding the spinning frame of lint.
A method and apparatus for reducing waste of supply strands passing to a series of yarn processing units, in which a detector moves along the yarn processing units alternately in a first direction and a second direction opposite from the first direction while sensing breakage of any one of a series of strands being delivered from the processing units and also sensing the direction of movement of the detector, and in response to sensing breakage of any strand, and irrespective of the direction of movement of the detector, passage of the corresponding supply strand is interrupted in its course to the corresponding yarn processing unit by a flowing stream of air being directed from a nozzle moving with the detector into engagement with a corresponding, normally inactive, strand interrupting member for actuating the same.
3908346 - Traveling textile machine tending unit - Owned by Parks-Cramer Company (Fitchburg, MA) [*] Notice:The portion of the term of this patent subsequent to August 28, 1990 has been disclaimed.
An apparatus for tending an elongate textile machine such as a spinning frame wherein a yarn piecing apparatus is traveled along first one side of the elongate textile machine and then the other side of the textile machine while a flow of air cleans the machine. Flows of air for blowing and vacuum cleaning pass through a housing which is traveled back and forth above and along the elongate textile machine, and through tubes depending from the housing into aisle space at one side of the machine. As the tending unit completes a traverse of one side of the machine, the housing approaches an end portion of the machine and is rotated about a substantially vertical axis while the tubes and yarn piecing apparatus pass around an end of the machine into a position in aisle space to the opposite side thereof. Continuing a movement of the housing and other components of the tend apparatus services both sides of the machine.
The invention concerns an arrangement of service positions for maintenance apparatus, which can travel on a guide rail along a multiplicity of similar workstations on a first side of a textile machine, wherein a maintenance apparatus in a first service position at the elevation of a machine framing of the textile machine can be pivoted away from, or transversely withdrawn from the guide rail. Per side of the textile machine, at least two maintenance apparatuses are exclusively assigned thereto, whereby the guide rail on the first side, at least at one end of the textile machine, is elongated beyond the textile machine and a second service position is placed on the elongated guide rail. In this way, it becomes possible, with a large number of workstations to assure the shortest possible duration of a standstill, wherein in the case of a failure or preventive unkeep of one maintenance apparatus, another maintenance apparatus can serve a workstation in a short time.
A spinning machine with a plurality of spinning locations or stations is equipped with automatic or semi-automatic spool-changing mechanisms. The machine also has a servicing device, designed for travel along the machine and for repairing thread breakages at some particular spinning location. The presence of this servicing device or carriage at a spinning location would interfere with the operation of the spool-changing mechanism. A controller delivers signals to an appropriate receiver in the servicing device and causes it to depart to a neutral zone at the end of the machine.
