FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to textile spinning using sliver CANs for collecting sliver from different processing machines. More particularly, the present invention relates intelligence enabled CANs for sliver stock tracking and alert system provided to the operator from long distance inside the shed or remote places.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

The spinning of yarn from the cotton to yam is achieved by processing in blow room machines, carding machines, combing machines, draw frame followed by speed frame and spinning frames or draw frame followed by Open-End spinning machines.

The cotton material in the sliver form delivered by carding machines, combing machines, draw frames are collected in the sliver CANs and are transported for feeding to the next stage machine. The CANs used are either circular or rectangular in shape.

The CANs comprises a top plate which is present inside the CAN and is mounted on a compression spring. When the sliver if filled by the processing machines, the top plate is pushed down due to the weight of filling sliver and the top plate is pushed up wards by the spring force when the sliver content in the CAN is pulled out from the CAN.

Most of the textile mills/operating units rely on human effort for transporting CANs from one processing machine to the other. As CANs are used to store different types of slivers produced by different types of processing machine as per requirement, different color of CANs is being used in the factories for identifying the category of sliver present in the CANs.

Colours are normally used for identification purposes, as they are easy for the machine operators to identify and manage the CANs as per requirement, especially in situations where the machine operators are not well educated. Alternatively, to reduce the inventory of CANs instead of using colored CANs, some mills use passive identification color bands stuck to standard colored CANs. These bands are mounted on the CAN for easy identification so that an operator may be able to identify and differentiate the CANs belonging to appropriate machine or department or process. These bands also tend to make the operator identify the type of material inside the CAN for placing it into appropriate machines.

Though the bands are useful for identification of the type of sliver present inside the CANs, the operator faces difficulty in managing stock of slivers present inside the sliver. These bands in the existing arts are not indicative in respect of fullness of the CAN. Moreover, the operators are expected to inspect each and every CAN constantly or wait for the main machine to stop the process when the CAN reaches its empty or full state.

This results in temporary delay of the process of production. Further, the machine is temporarily stopped if a run out occurs, and the operators are not able to estimate the contents inside the sliver CANs at different stages of production.

Also, due to the supervisors' limited understanding of the number of full and exhausted CAN at different stages of production, it becomes challenging to accurately estimate productivity and efficiency.

Accordingly, there exist a requirement to overcome this tedious process of identifying the CAN content from distance and apply proper planning to organize Full or Empty CAN for a particular machine, department or process and to provide a means which is capable identifying the sliver stock (content) inside the sliver CANs continuously and alert the operator in case of run-out of sliver from long distance inside the shed or remote places. Also, it will be advantageous to provide an intelligence enabled CAN which will provide information of different CANs inside the mills, reduce stoppage of the processing machine due to want of CAN change to the supervisor and achieve management remotely.

OBJECTS OF INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to overcome the problem faced in the prior art. It is an object of the present invention to provide an intelligence enabled CAN.

The main objective of the invention is to track the volume/content of slivers present in the sliver CANs.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an intelligence enabled CAN that includes an active identification color band that will indicate the content inside the sliver CAN.

It is another objective of the present invention is to provide an alert system to alert the operator in case of lower volume of sliver in CANs.

It is another objective of the invention wherein the displacement detector has a camera, sonar, infra-red, laser or Hall Effect sensors to measure the height of the CAN’s top plate which holds the sliver.

It is another objective of the invention wherein the sensors are placed at equal distance to cover the full height of the sliver CAN.

It is another objective of the invention to provide an identification color band mounted on the visible portion of the sliver CAN. It is another objective of the invention to provide an identification color band that will provide identification about the related information of the particular CAN such as machine, department and process assigned to the CAN with various colors and types.

It is another objective of the invention, wherein the identification color band can produce more than 10 million of colors of user’s choice in which the user uses different colors and blinking patterns for indicating the machine/ department/ process and state of the sliver CAN contents.

It is another objective of the invention is to provide an intelligence enabled CAN that includes a controller module having Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or any other communication modules with a battery pack.

It is another objective of the invention wherein the displacement detector and identification color band are integrated with a controller module which is programmed to control the identification color band according to the inputs received from the displacement detector.

It is another objective of the invention to provide an intelligence enabled CAN that sends the stage data to a cloud by Wi-Fi / Bluetooth or other communication modalities for generating reports, comparison data, alerting user and trend analysis. It is another objective of the invention wherein the identification color band changes the type of color indication depending on the CAN content signal given by the displacement detector.

It is another objective of the invention wherein the identification color band visually alerts the user by sequential color indication.

It is another objective of the invention wherein the controller is provided with a battery which is a rechargeable one and equipped with terminals for easy connections to the mains power supply.

It is another objective of the invention wherein controller of intelligence enabled CAN internally stores the CAN ID for process mapping.

It is another objective where each sliver processing machine includes a process control unit that communicates with the intelligence enabled CAN nearby. The intelligence enabled CAN sends its Unique CAN ID and its process configuration to the process control unit and CAN receives communication from the processing control unit.

It is another objective of the invention wherein the operator is alerted by the controller when a particular type of sliver CAN is placed at the wrong process line, i.e., the CAN process ID does not match with the processing stage ID. If a mismatch happens between the two IDs, this immediately triggers an alert message or error signal in the intelligent display device to alert the user of wrongly placed CAN.

It is another objective of the invention is to increase the CAN utilization for the given process, increase the utilization of the machines in which the CAN is used and to improve the process with effective CAN management.

It is another objective of the invention is to reduce the overall distance that the operator needs to walk when attending the CAN and reduce the time taken to attend empty CAN and to reduce the stoppage of the machines for want of filled CAN.

It is another objective of the invention to get short- and long-term reports and analysis of the CAN usage for quality improvement and effective process optimization.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Thus, according to the embodiment of the present invention there is provided an intelligence enabled CAN for textile industry. The intelligence enabled CAN is assigned a unique ID during manufacturing stage itself and includes a sliver CAN, a top plate that is positioned on compression spring, an intelligent displacement detector (iDD), a top ring, an intelligent display device and a control module.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the Intelligent Displacement Detector (iDD) comprises sensors placed at equal distance on a PCB to cover the full height of the CAN.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the Intelligent Displacement Detector (iDD) uses hall-effect sensors.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the Intelligent Displacement Detector (iDD) is fixed on the outer circumference of the CAN.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the PCB of the Intelligent Displacement Detector (iDD) is glued on the outer circumference of the CAN vertically.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the Intelligent display device is arranged on a PCB and is positioned around the CAN.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the Intelligent display device is positioned above the top ring of the CAN. It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the Intelligent display device arranged on a PCB and is configured to produce different colors and different blinking patterns.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the control module has Intelligence Built System on Chip PCB (iSOC), Battery Management System, Charger Module with a docket.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the Unique ID is input to the Read Only Memory (ROM) of the Intelligence Built System on Chip PCB (iSOC).

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein Intelligent Displacement Detector (iDD) PCB and Intelligent display device communicates with the iSOC of the control module and cloud by Wi-Fi and BLE means.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the control module (6) is attached to the CAN and has an inbuilt chargeable battery and provided with magnetic docking pins for connection with power source for charging.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein firmware is programmed in the Intelligence Built System on Chip PCB (iSOC) of the control module to control the Intelligent Displacement Detector (iDD) PCB and Intelligent display device. It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the Firmware is programmed by Wi-Fi and BLE means by external devices such as web browser using the unique ID of the intelligence enabled CAN.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the communication between Intelligence Built System on Chip PCB (iSOC) of the control module is transferred to cloud for access from other remote places using the unique ID of the intelligence enabled CAN.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein Input /Output ports are taken from Intelligence Built System on Chip PCB (iSOC) for Displacement Detector Sensors, Battery Indicator, normal switch and Touch Sensor, switch for ON / OFF / RESET.

BREIF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1: Illustrates the intelligence enabled CAN according to the present invention.

Figure 2a: Illustrates the intelligence enabled CAN depicting sliver CAN completely filled with sliver content (shown without sliver) according to the present invention.

Figure 2b: Illustrates the intelligence enabled CAN depicting sliver CAN half filled with sliver content according to the preset invention. Figure 2c: Illustrates the intelligence enabled CAN depicting a sliver CAN fully empty according to the preset invention.

Figure 3: Illustrates the control module of intelligence enabled CAN with iSOC PCB, BMS PCB, Battery Pack, Switch, and various ports.

Figure 4: Illustrates, assigning different colours to different processing using intelligence enabled CAN’S Unique ID.

Figure 5: Illustrates the arrangement of intelligence enabled CANs on a sliver process machine and the wireless connectivity.

REFERENCE NUMERALS OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) - An intelligence enabled CAN

(2) - Top plate

(3) - Compression spring

(4) - Displacement detector

(5) - Top ring

(5a) - Intelligent display device

(6) - Controller module

(7) - Magnetic docking pins

(8) - Sliver processing machine

(9) -Process control unit

(10) -Wireless hub/routers

(11) - Intelligence enabled CAN

(12) - Peripheral devices (13) -Cloud

(14) -Remote places

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE ACCOMPANYING FIGURES

In textile mills, the CANs are used for holding the sliver/roving produced in the processing machine such as carding, drawing, fly frame and transporting the same to the next processing machine. In mill condition by and large more than one type of sliver such as carded sliver, combed slivers are produced and for identifying the same CANs of different colors are used. Likewise, slivers of different sliver counts are produced to meet the requirement of the yarn count being produced. Again, to identify the sliver produced, CANs of different colours are used. This involves the requirement for a huge quantity of sliver CANs which adds to the capital cost.

According to the present invention this problem is addressed by using an intelligence enabled CAN that comprises a sliver CAN of single colour fitted with an intelligent Displacement Detector (iDD), an Intelligent display device and Intelligent System on Chip and Battery pack. - iSOC,

Referring to Figure 1, an intelligence enabled CAN (1) is provided with a sliver CAN (11), intelligent Displacement Detector (iDD) (4) to detect the position of the top plate (2) on which the sliver is deposited. The top plate (2) is fitted with magnet. The Intelligent Displacement Detector (iDD) (4) may be a camera or sonar or IR sensor, Laser beam or hall effect sensors that measure the position of the CAN’S top plate (2) inside the sliver CAN (11).

In a preferred embodiment the Intelligent Displacement Detector (iDD) (4) uses hall-effect sensors. The hall-effect sensors are placed at equal distance on a PCB to cover the full height of the sliver CAN (11) and the PCB is glued on the outer circumference of the sliver CAN (11) vertically. Intelligent Displacement Detector (iDD) (4) is fixed on the outer circumference of the sliver CAN (11) with all necessary electrical connections and fastened using a permanent glue and protected with a high strength HDPE sheet duct designed to match with the sliver CAN (11) surface. It is also possible that Intelligent Displacement Detector (iDD) (4) can be constructed by fixing individual displacement sensors one above the other to cover the full height of the sliver CAN (11) and electrically connecting all the displacement sensors to the control module (6).

The Intelligent Displacement Detector (iDD) (4) is fixed on the outer circumference of the sliver CAN (11) such that it does not interfere in the free movement of the top plate (2) which is inside the sliver CAN (11). This top plate (2) is mounted on a compression spring (3) which pushes the top plate (2) upwards when the sliver content in the sliver CAN (11) is pulled out from the sliver CAN (11). When the sliver if filled by the sliver processing machines, the top plate (2) is pushed down due to the weight of filling sliver. The Intelligent Displacement Detector (iDD) (4) provides measurement of the height and the direction of movement of the top-plate (2) by checking successive sensor measurements.

The Intelligent Displacement Detector (iDD) (4) senses the magnet fixed on the top plate (2) that moves up and down according to the sliver content. In a preferred embodiment the Intelligent Displacement Detector (iDD) (4) is in the form of PCB . The hall-effect sensor that is present in the PCB senses the magnet fitted to the top plate (2) thereby a signal is generated according to the content of the sliver in the sliver CAN (11) for example half filled, empty, full as shown in Figures 2a, 2b and 2c of the drawing.

The number of hall-effect sensor present in a PCB varies from 5 to 33 depending upon the type of CAN. Table 1 illustrates the number of hall-effect sensor present on sliver CAN (11) of different applications. For example, an iDD PCB with 5 sensors covering 200 mm top of the sliver CAN (11) alerts the operator before an intelligence enabled CAN (1) gets empty such that the operator can organize another intelligence enabled CAN (1) before the intelligence enabled CAN (1) of the sliver processing machine is totally all out of sliver. This facilitates uninterrupted working of the machine since stoppage of the machine due to want of sliver in intelligence enabled CAN (1) is eliminated. The number of sensors may increase or decrease depending on the resolution required to calculate the

CAN content. Table 1:

Since the top plate (2) movement is linear and sensor position is known, it is possible to identify whether the intelligence enabled CAN (1) is filling or emptying, the percentage of filling, the weight of sliver content in the intelligence enabled CAN (1), the idle state, time taken for filling / emptying of intelligence enabled CAN (1) and production loss due to stoppage of the machine due to want of filled /empty intelligence enabled CAN (1) by the sliver processing machine The Intelligent display device (5a) is mounted on the outer periphery of the sliver CAN (11). The Intelligent display device (5a) may be an Intelligent Color Band, LEDs or Laser diode or other display system. In an embodiment as illustrated in Figure 1, The Intelligent display device (5a) is positioned above the top ring (5) of the sliver CAN (11). The Intelligent display device (5a) shown in Figure 1 is arranged on a PCB which can produce more than 10 million colors. This enables the user to select different colors and blinking patterns for indicating the machine / department / process and CAN contents. The colors and blinking patterns are configured according to the choice of the end user to suit the different process parameters.

The Intelligent display device (5a) uses the main features of identifications namely Color and Type. Type is a unique feature where process within a broader process used for classification like specific count of sliver produced, the sliver processing machine and type of yam produced in the sliver processing machine either carded or combed. The type of classification shown in Table 2 is used to identify the different processes running in the floor of the mills with the help of Unique ID stored in the intelligence enabled CAN (1).

Table 2:

Color Identification is done to classify the intelligence enabled CAN (1) with broader processes, for example Hank or Lot. As shown in Figure 4, for instance six colors are provided for selection namely Yellow, Green, Pink, Orange, Sky- blue and Red with the help of the Unique ID stored in Intelligence Built System on Chip PCB (iSOC) of the intelligence enabled CAN (1).

The Intelligent display device (5a) of intelligence enabled CAN (1) can be configured any number of ways to identify the Lot, Hank, Count, carded, combed and recipe as illustrated in Table 3. The Intelligent display device (5a) is visible up to a distance of 200 meters with its color status stand still / blinking which provides the operator the convenience of attending to the CAN according to the priority. Table 3:

The Intelligent display device (5a) will change the type of indication depending on the content signal given by the Intelligent Displacement Detector (iDD) (4), when the intelligence enabled CAN (1) reaches a specific stage. The Intelligent display device (5a) alerts the operator by faster blinking for quick attention and gets progressive slower at other states that do not demand quick attention of the operator. This way the operator can observe the color pattern /blinking pattern generated from a longer distance and suitably handle the intelligence enabled CAN (1) at various departments / processes. The different stages of filling of intelligence enabled CAN (1) with sliver are illustrated in Figures 2a, 2b and 2c.

As shown in Figure 1, the control module (6) is attached to the sliver CAN (11) for example at the outside bottom of the sliver CAN (11). Figure 3 shows internal construction of the control module (6) with an Intelligence Built System on Chip PCB (iSOC), Battery Management System, Charger Module with a docket separated. Input /Output ports are taken from Intelligence Built System on Chip PCB (iSOC) for Displacement Detector Sensors, Battery Indicator, normal switch and Touch Sensor, switch for ON / OFF / RESET.

The Intelligence Built System on Chip PCB (iSOC) of the control module (6) is the heart of the intelligence enabled CAN (1) which allocates a Unique ID to the intelligence enabled CAN (1) that is used to track the intelligence enabled CAN (1) from any location.

The Intelligence Built System on Chip PCB (iSOC) for example is ESP32 chip which is versatile chip that has a Wi-Fi and BLE combined protocols which enables wireless communication from intelligence enabled CAN (1) to the process control unit (9) which is attached to the sliver processing machine (8) as shown in Figure 5. Each sliver processing machine (8) communicates with the intelligence enabled CAN (1) nearby. The intelligence enabled CAN (1) sends the CAN ID and its process configuration to the process control unit (9) and intelligence enabled CAN (1) receives communication from the process control unit (9) and communicates the same to the server or cloud (13) which enables monitoring the status of the different CANS available inside the mill using the Unique ID of the intelligence enabled CANs. The details shared include the CAN type, model, specifications, and the data from sensors. The Intelligence Built System on Chip PCB (iSOC) with Wi-Fi and BLE communication capability is used for sending and receiving data which enables extended time intervals between charges.

As shown in Figure 5, the communication between Intelligence Built System on Chip PCB (iSOC) of the control module (6) with the intelligence enable CAN (1) and other peripheral devices (12) is effected using wireless router (10) placed at different locations inside the mills and the data is transferred to server (not shown in figure) or cloud (13) for access from other remote places (14).

The Battery Pack used is LiPo batteries, which provides required power to iSOC operations and Intelligent display device (5a). Battery Pack is provided with charging and battery protection circuits for LiPo batteries used. With Level Full Intelligent Displacement Detector (iDD) (4) state the battery pack can run the indication for more than 48 hours. Battery packs can be charged using micro-USB or C-type port with the help of magnetic dock charger.

The Intelligence Built System on Chip PCB (iSOC) stores the Unique ID input to the Read Only Memory (ROM) of the Intelligence Built System on Chip PCB (iSOC) of the intelligence enabled CAN (1) using firmware during manufacturing stage itself. The unique ID may be numerals or alpha numerals.

The unique ID is useful for the following.

1. Unique ID the intelligence enabled CAN (1) stores the information like can specification, customer information, date of manufacturing etc which unique to the can.

2. With the unique ID the system understands how many intelligences enabled CANs (1) are being operated inside the mills when the customer enters ID to add can inventory.

3. Unique ID is useful to track the intelligence enabled CAN (1) individually inside the mills without any dependence of process / machine and also correlate the data with the process running in mills.

4. Allocation of intelligence enabled CAN (1) to particular process / hank / department and assignment of color / pattern to the Intelligent display device (5a) is done for group of cans only using this unique ID of the intelligence enabled CANs (1) grouped to the particular count group.

5. Unique ID is useful in calculating the utilization loss due to nonuse of intelligence enabled CAN (1) or intelligence enabled CAN (1) are not used properly in sliver management which provide a score card for the intelligence enabled CAN (1) for its usage.

6. Process stock / work-in -progress are all calculated from the individual intelligence enabled CAN (1) using the Unique ID, 7. Unique ID of intelligence enabled CAN (1) gives the edge in connecting

1000’s of CAN data of the intelligence enabled CAN (1) to server or cloud (13) and allowing to compute the data in group of cans for given count group / process.

8. Unique ID is helpful for quality tracking and defect identification in the entire process.

The Intelligence Built System on Chip PCB (iSOC) also stores Customer ID, CAN model, Specification, Modules connected like Basic, Advanced or Supreme, process assigned to the CAN in Mills floor and all other data. Firmware is programmed in the Intelligence Built System on Chip PCB (iSOC) which controls the Intelligent Displacement Detector (iDD) (4) PCB and Intelligent display device (5a). The Firmware is programmed by Wi-Fi and BLE means by external devices such as web browser using the unique ID of the intelligence enabled CAN (1). The iSOC gets the signal from the displacement detector (4) regarding the movement of the top plate (2) and processes it as per the level of the sliver content inside the intelligence enabled CAN (1). The control module (6) understands whether the sliver content is getting filled or emptying by the displacement detector.

The control module (6) controls the Intelligent display device (5a) with the help of firmware programmed in the Intelligence Built System on Chip PCB (iSOC) which controls the color and type of blinking of the Intelligent display device (5a) depending on the process run by the customer. The control module (6) also helps in prevention of CAN mix-up when the nearby CANs process ID does not match. The main task of the Control Module (6) is monitoring the content of the intelligence enabled CAN (1) and alert production personnel for smooth planning of the production. The Intelligent Displacement Detector (iDD) PCB and Intelligent display device (5a) communicates with the iSOC and server by Wi-Fi and BLE means. The Battery Pack mounted on the control module (6) used is LiPo batteries, which provides required power to iSOC operations and Intelligent display device (5 a)

The Intelligence Built System on Chip PCB (iSOC) can store data for 9 shifts with time and date of fill and empty intelligence enabled CAN (1). Each and every intelligence enabled CAN (1) is accessed through a restricted portal for OTA updates. The Intelligence Built System on Chip PCB (iSOC) monitors the Battery Pack and provides indication for charging. The control module (6) further has an inbuilt chargeable battery and provided with magnetic docking pins (7) for connection with power source for charging. The CAN are charged using wire free magnetic dock charging.

The intelligence enabled CAN (1) is configured with its Unique ID, type, model, mechanical specification, parts included, and variant module can be used to read the Mills floor. Further detail such as CAN assignment and Data interpretation required for processing can be added by the customer at Mills floor any time with help of unique ID of the intelligence enabled CAN (1) which is permanent one assigned to the particular intelligence enabled CAN (1).

The CAN assignment and Frontend Report generation are done through Web Browser and App based access using the unique can ID stored in the Intelligence Built System on Chip PCB (iSOC).

Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, these descriptions are not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternative embodiments of the invention will become apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to the description of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and the specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. It is therefore contemplated that the claims will cover any such modifications or embodiments that fall within the true scope of the invention.