Technical field The present invention refers to a package holder for example in a plant for producing warp, wherein a yarn bobbin provided with yarn is moved axially onto the holder and stays lying onto it while yarn is reeled off the yarn bobbin. Obviously, the invention can also be used for other purposes than production of warp.

Background of the invention

Warp is the term used for the longitudinal threads, which form the framework in most textile materials. The manufacture of warp normally involves reeling off yarn from a large number of spools and guiding them together to the warp. Thus, each yarn in the warp is reeled off from a spool. The yarn in the spool is rolled up onto a bobbin which has a central hole. The spool is moved onto the holder which axially enters the centre hole of the bobbin, and when the bobbin is empty from yarn, the bobbin is drawn from the package holder. It is important that entering and removal of the bobbin can take place rapidly and simply.

In a traditional plant for production of warp, each yarn is guided from an eye into the warp. The yarn comes to the eye from a spool, from which it is reeled off. The spool is threaded onto a package holder. This is generally consists of an approximately horizontal rod, onto which the spool is moved axially. Each eye has two package holders which are aimed towards the eye, to simplify the reeling off of yarn. Spools are placed onto both the package holders and last yarn end of the first spool is connected to the beginning of the other yarn spool. Owing to this, an automatic transfer to the other spool takes place, and the empty bobbin of the first spool can be drawn off from its package holder.

Since the spools have different inside diameter size owing to the bobbin they have been wound up around, it is desirable that the package holder functions well for the different bobbin centre hole sizes. This is achieved practically by means of giving the package holders an external diameter which is somewhat smaller than smallest bobbins that are current. That means that when spools with big inside opening, i.e. large hole in their bobbin is used, there is a large play between package holder and bobbin. When a lot of yarn has been reeled off the spool so that this is light, this can lead to vibration problems, i.e. that the spool begins move upon the roll holder during reel off. Since bobbins with different sizes of centre hole are used, the centre of the bobbins, and therefore also the centre of the entire bobbin will end up on different level in relation to the package holder. Since it is not desirable to adjust the height of the package holder in relation to the eye when exchanging bobbin, instead the package holder is adjusted to an appropriate average bobbin. This implies that if for instance a bobbin with a bigger centre hole is used, the spool thereby will rest in lower position than intended in relationship to the eye. That means that at the underside of the bobbin in vertical direction, the reeling off will be harder than at its upper side and this leads thus to uneven reeling off.

When reeling off from the underside this leads to a bigger reeling resistance and thereby ta an added risk for deformation and fracture of the thread or yarn.

To overcome the above problem, special centring means have been developed for bobbins. An ordinary method is to provide the package holder with an interchangeable adapter, which is exchanged to a new appropriate adapter during exchange to a spool which has a different bobbin than the preceding spool. But this implies keeping in stock a number of adapters, as well as extra work when shifting adapters.

Another such a solution uses pneumatically driven centring means. This requires thus access to pressurized air as well as a appreciable plumbing in the support frame, so that air pressure will be available for each package holder.

Further, a package holder is known, which is equipped with a pivotal flap. The flap is spring loaded so that its bottom end feels the inside diameter of the bobbin, while its upper end functions as a bearing for the spool. Different inside diameters therefore results in different axial inclination of different spools, so that an automatic correction is achieved. However, the spring loaded flap aggravates the turning of the spool, which is desirable when yarn ends from two different spools shall be joined.

The purpose of the invention

The purpose of the present invention is to create a simple built up package holder that substantially reduces the above described problems. By mens of the simple structural design no access to pressurized air or similar working fluid is required. At the same time, the spool can easily be turned when joining yarn ends.

Summary of invention The above mentioned purpose is achieved by means of that the package holder according to the invention exhibits the characteristics stated in the enclosed claims.

The package holder according to the invention is therefore essentially characterized in that the holder comprises a, preferably for substantially horizontal montage, adapted supporting arm apparatus, or supporting arm, which is equipped with two bearings which are distributed in the longitudinal direction of the supporting arm, a forward bearing, situated nearest the free end of the holder and the yarn guide and a rear bearing, and that at least the rear bearing has two laterally to the support arm distributed

supports, and that the lateral distance between these supports is bigger than the corresponding distance between supports for the forward bearing. Therefore, when a spool with a cylindric or slightly conical bobbin is moved onto the package holder, its position will be dependent upon the size of the internal aperture in the bobbin. If the bobbin has a small inside opening, its upper part will lie higher upon the rear bearing than if the has a big inside opening. That implies that a spool with a big inside opening in the bobbin core will comes to hang longer downwards than with a small inside opening, but it will be inclined upward in relation to the one with a smaller opening. Through this upward inclination a correction of its inclination position takes place so that the spool comes to be aimed towards the yarn guide or the eye in both falls. Precisely by means of that the lateral distance between the supports is bigger for the rear bearing than for the forward, so will the upper part of the bobbin rest higher in that rear bearing than at the forward. This effect is more pronounced the smaller the inner diameter of the bobbin is, within the operating range of the holder. Namely, for a smaller inner diameter, the supports will be closer to the bobbin centre than what they will be when the inner diameter is larger. The invention rests upon this simple basic principle.

In a normal tuning of the system, a bobbin with a smaller diameter, lets say 50 mm, rests approximately in parallel to the supporting arm which is mounted horizontally. However, a bobbin with larger diameter, lets say 100 mm, will lean upward with reference to the supporting arm. This inclination provides that even this spool points towards the yarn guide or eye although it thus hangs longer downwards. The rear supports are placed lower in the vertical direction than the ones forward.

Normally, two supports are found, both by the rear bearing and by the forward bearing. This contributes towards a good

spool stability. But it is also possible to exploit a forward bearing, i.e. that bearing which is closest to the yarn guide and which has a single support. In a further developed embodiment of the invention, the rear bearing is designed so that it has at least two laterally distributed support rollers, whose axis of rotation is essentially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the supporting arm. The support rollers are so placed that the supports between bearing and bobbin falls onto the respective backing roller. When support rollers are used, it is more simple to turn round spool around. Such turning normally happens when yarn ends from two spools shall be joined. Obviously, one or both of the supports can be provided with support rollers. Further characteristics and advantages with the invention will be disclosed by the subsequent detailed description of preferred embodiments.

Short description of drawings

The invention will be described more clearly in the following with reference to the enclosed drawing, on which the same numbers have been used in the different figures to indicate corresponding details. Fig. 1 discloses in perspective a part of a plant for production of warp. Fig. 2 discloses in perspective a package holder according to the invention. Fig. 3 discloses from the side the package holder according to fig. 2. To explain the functional design, the package holder is shown equipped with a larger spool, which is shown with unbroken lines and a smaller spool that is shown with dashdotted lines. Fig. 4 discloses from the side how the bobbin of the bigger spool in fig. 3 rests upon the package holder.

Fig. 5 discloses how the bobbin of the smaller spool in fig. 3 rests upon the package holder.

Fig. 6a discloses a view along line A-A in Fig. 4, i.e. how the large bobbin rests upon the forward bearing. Fig. 6b discloses a view along line B-B, i.e. how the large bobbin rests upon the rear bearing.

Fig. 7a discloses a view along line A-A in Fig. 5, i.e. how the small bobbin rests upon the forward bearing. Fig. 7b discloses a view along line B-B, i.e. how the small core rests upon the rear bearing.

Fig. 8 discloses a bearing, forward or rear, where the lateral distance between the supports of the bearing can be varied. Fig. 9 and 10 discloses detail solutions for the embodiment according to Fig. 8.

Description of embodiments

In Fig. 1, 1 designates a package holder in a plant for production of warp. The warp consists of a number of parallel yarns which are joined together in a yarn collecting unit 6. Each thread, or yarn 4, comes via a yarn guide or eye 5, from a yarn bobbin 2 on which the yarn is wound. The yarn 4 is reeled off the spool 2. The yarn 4 is wound around a bobbin and the inner end of the yarn 4' shoots out somewhat outside the bobbin. Therefore, it is possible to knot together yarn onto a new spool, which is placed upon the adjacent roll holder 1, with the yarn 4'. This is facilitated if it is simple to turn around the yarn bobbin 2. This is namely frequently very heavy, about 20 to 30 kg. When the thread on the first spool is running out, an automatic exchange will thus be made to the new spool. In Fig. 1 is shown for the other eye just such a position where two spools are present upon adjacent frame parts, and connected by a spliced yarn that runs between them. As appears from Fig. 1, the free package holder 1 is aimed towards the eye 5. Similarly, the most forward located package holder, with spool 2 mounted, is aimed towards the

same eye 5. Each pair of package holders 1 is thus aligned towards the respective eye 5. In order to simplify exchange of spools, it is important that a new spool can be moved onto the package holder, and be turned around so that just enough yarn is fed forward. Then this yarn is knotted together with the yarn 4' from the adjacent spool. After splicing, the newly mounted spool is turned around so that the yarn between the two spools is tensioned. Owing to this, jerks are avoided when switching to the new spool. Further, it is important that it is simple to draw the empty spool from the package holder.

Fig. 2 discloses the structural design of the package holder according to the invention. It essentially consists of a supporting arm 7, which by its one end is connected to the stand as appears from Fig. 1. In Fig. 2 the supporting arm has been broken before the its attachment to the stand. The supporting arm is vertically adjustable in the stand. It is normally horizontally mounted but can also be so designed that it can be angled around the horizontal position. It can be straight or bent, as shown in Fig. 2, at its connection to the stand. In the shown embodiment, it consists of a rod, which is straight in its outer part where the yarn bobbin shall be entered. The supporting arm 7 is provided with a forward bearing 8 and a rear bearing 9. The forward bearing 8 is provided with two support rollers 16, 17 and the rear bearing 9 with two support rollers 14, 15. The purpose with the package holder 1 is that it shall be able to carry yarn spools with different sized bobbins and automatically adapt the inclination of the yarn bobbin so that it is aimed towards the eye 5. The yarn spools have different size of the inner aperture of their bobbin 3. That implies that a package holder of a certain size can fulfil its function for yarn spools where the inner diameter lies within a certain range, for instance 50 to 100 mm. The yarn bobbin is then entered onto the package holder 1, so that it enters the centre hole of the bobbin. When the spool is released, it

will rest with its weight onto a number of supports of the respective bearings 8, 9. In the shown embodiment, the support rollers 14 to 17 are so placed that the spool comes to be supported onto each one of them. The spool is thus carried by these four supports. The rear bearing 9 has two supports 10, 11. These are found marked in Fig. 6b and the distance between them is marked d _b . The forward bearing 8 has the supports 12, 13, which are marked in Fig. 6a. The distance between them is shown in the figure and is marked with d _f . As appears from Fig. 6a and 6b, the distance at the rear bearing, d _b is bigger than the distance at the forward bearing d _f . This is a basic principle behind the automatic adaptation of inclination of entered yarn spools. As appears from Fig. 6 the bobbin rests higher in relation to the support roller centre in the rear bearing according to Fig. 6b than at the forward bearing according to Fig. 6a. When a smaller bobbin is used according to fig. 7a and 7b this effect will be substantially increased. This means that the bobbin in Fig. 7a rests somewhat higher than in Fig. 6a, while it rests substantially higher in Fig. 7b as compared to Fig. 6b. Thus the bigger bobbin gets a proportionately lower position at the rear bearing according to Fig. 6b and thereby the automatic adaptation of inclination is caused. Thus, the bigger bobbin comes to slope upwards in relation to the smaller. This upwards inclination will compensate the fact that it hangs lower because of its bigger diameter. Thereby, the core in both cases will be aimed towards the eye. Thereby, the whole spool is naturally aimed towards the eye 5, which leads to an even reel off of thread or yarn 4. This appears clearly from Fig. 3, which discloses spools whose bobbins have two different inner diameters. The smaller spool with the smaller bobbin has been given the denotation 2 ¹ for the spool and 3' for the bobbin. They are shown dashdotted in the figure. From Fig 6a and b and 7a and b it appears that the support arm 7 has a flattened part here turned downwards. Because the bearing 8, 9 has a corresponding form, this provides for a guiding so that

these can not turn. They are intended to be mounted just so that the supports 10-13 end up horizontal, since this gives the most stable and best bearing. But naturally, the carrying of yarn spools and the automatic adaptation of inclination should also function if bearing exhibits a certain smaller side inclination. One or both of the bearings 8, 9 are longitudinally insertable in the supporting arm 7. They are preferably firmly locked by means of a locking screw, which for example is screwed into a threaded hole vertically from below into the respective bearing. Then the locking screw encounters the flat under surface of the support arm. This is not shown but is conventional technique. By changing the longitudinal distance between the forward and the rear bearing in this way, the adaptation of inclination for entered yarn spools is altered. If the longitudinal distance between the bearings is small, then the change in inclination will become larger than if it is large.

From Fig. 2 it also appears that an abutment washer 18 is entered upon the supporting arm 7. In the shown embodiment, it rests against a rear abutment pin 21, which is inserted horizontally in the supporting arm. The abutment washer has an oblong hole 19. The hole is made in the longitudinal direction of the abutment washer and runs from a position near its one end. Thereby, the washer by its weight will hang downwards and take brace against the abutment pin 21. The support arm is suitably equipped with still a number of more abutment pins, here one designated 20. By means of lifting the abutment washer 18 and twisting it a quarter of a turn, it can thus be moved ahead past the abutment pin 20 so that it instead takes brace against this. The abutment washer serves as a stop for yarn spools which are moved onto the package holder 1. By this simple method, the abutment is moved so that its position is adjusted according to yarn spools of different length. That part of the abutment washer rear side which rests against the abutment pin, 21 or 20,

preferably is provided with a countersink adapted to the pin. When the yarn bobbin is turned in connection with splicing of yarn ends as been described earlier, this will result in that the abutment washer 18 will not co-rotate. Otherwise, it could eventually be able to climb over the abutment pin 21, which would be a drawback. This would require a moving back of the washer to the desirable position.

As appears from Fig. 3, the abutment washer 18 can also be placed as far as possible towards the hooked part of the supporting arm itself or the connection to the frame. The shown solution with the abutment washer 18 enables a very rapid and simple moving of the position of the abutment washer. But it is naturally also possible to use other types of abutments, for instance an abutment washer which is tightened with a stop screw in the supporting arm or locked to it with a snap lock.

As appears from Fig. 2, the support rollers are essentially cylindric. Obviously, they can also be wholly or partly conical or have a dome-shaped or cambered outer surface to provide a softer contact with the bobbin. As appears from Fig. 4, the bobbin often do not rest in parallel with rotation axes of the rollers. Further, the package holder 1 can be provided with a stop or abutment for the spool also in the direction forward, i.e. towards the eye 5. This stop or abutment then serves to insure that the spool do not slide of the package holder. When entering, the spool is then lifted above this stop, later to come into contact with the abutment with its forward end surface when it rests onto the package holder. The stop should for example consist of a plate which shoots up at the front edge of the supporting arm. But this stop can also be placed in the forward bearing 8. In a preferred embodiment, the support rollers 16 and 17 are designed as flange rollers. I.e. that they are provided with a guiding flange turned forward. This guiding flange is

conically shaped or formed with a straight step. Thereby, the edge of the bobbin will come to take brace against this flange at the respective support roller 16, 17. The support rollers 16 and 17 can also be mounted on the front side of the forward bearing 8. But their stop flanges must always lie ahead towards the eye 5.

In the until now described embodiments, each bearing has two support rollers. But within the scoop of the invention, it is also possible to capture a number of rollers, like also bearings without rollers. For instance should each bearing might have four rollers with two at each side of the vertical line. For certain bobbin diameters, it is then only the two inner rollers that are in contact with the bobbin, while for other bobbin diameters, only the two outer rollers are in contact with the bobbin. Two adjacent rollers can also be united in a bogie carriage, so that thereby both rollers are in contact with the inside of the bobbin. Further, the rear bearing 9 can have two rollers as shown while the forward bearing 8 only has one roller, situated in the vertical line through the supporting arm and bearing. Thereby the lateral distance between the forward bearing supports 12, 13 are equal to zero. This solution functions since the distance between the supports 10, 11 and the rear bearing 9 is bigger, i.e. larger than zero. Of course, one of or both bearings 8, 9 can be made without support rollers. For example, it is imaginable to take away the support rollers 14-17 in Fig. 2, so that the bobbin instead rests onto the very bearings 8, 9. The main thing is that the distance between the rear supports 10, 11, i.e. d _b , is bigger than the distance between the forward supports 12, 13, i.e. d _f .

In the shown embodiments, the supporting arm 7 is constituted by one part. But the supporting arm 7, or supporting mechanism, may consist of more parts. For example, two supporting arms can be provided with bearings,

alternatively according to Fig. 2 be placed in parallel side by side, and function as a package holder. This is the case if spools with big inside diameter for the bobbin shall be used. Thereby, the bobbin comes to rest onto the outer rollers 14 and 16 at one of the two cooperating holders and on the support rollers 15 and 17 at the other one. By means of using two similar package holders in combination for the large bobbin, a building kit is then created, wherein many different bobbin diameters can be carried with the aid of a few different package holders. The attachment into the frame is preferably made by means of that the respective supporting arm part is straight, and is moved into one a of several holes in the frame part. By means of that the frame part then is equipped with a number of parallel holes, the distance between the package holder parts is easy to vary. Naturally, the supports can also be rigid and not constituted by rotatable rollers.

Naturally, also specially adapted package holder parts can be used. Each supporting arm part or supporting arm 7 is then for example provided with only one forward and one rear support for instance onto a backing roller. Hereby, is then created more variants of supporting arms bμt the two supporting arms or supporting arm parts can be mounted closer to each other laterally, which can be an advantage. It is also possible to locate the forward bearing with one or two supports onto a separate supporting arm and place the rear supports onto each its supporting arm, so that thereby three supporting arms constitute the entire supporting arm.

Fig. 8-10 disclose an embodiment where the forward or rear or both bearings are adjustable. The adjustability implies that the distance between the two supports can be increased or shortened. Here, the supports fall onto support rollers but can naturally lie onto rigid, non rotatable parts. Here, the bearing consists of a rigid part 22 which is connected to the supporting arm 7. It can for instance be movable

along the supporting arm and be locked to it by means of a stop screw 28, whose tip presses against the surface of the supporting arm. Two turnable bearing parts 23, 24 are attached to the rigid bearing part 22. The attachment is arranged by means of a pivot pin 25, which penetrates parts of the two jointed parts 23 and 24 and is attached to the rigid part 22. A tension spring 26 acts to pull the two jointed parts 23, 24. An adjustment screw 27 is screwed into a threaded hole in the rigid part 22. The threaded hole is essentially parallel with the supporting arm 7. The adjustment screw 27 is screwed in from behind, as seen in Fig. 8 and its conical tip cooperates with the two turnable parts 23 and 24, so that these are pressed apart when the adjustment screw 27 is tightened. This appears from Fig. 9, which is a section A-A, which discloses the adjustment screw 27 and the parts 22, 23, 24. Fig. 10 discloses a section B-B wherein both the pivot pin 25 and the adjustment screw 27 appears.