Method for Monitoring the Spinning Process on a Spinning Device, Spinning Position of an Air-Spinning Machine and Spinning Device

Abstract

The present invention relates to a spinning position of an air-spinning machine having a spinning device, and to a spinning device for manufacturing a thread from a supplied fibre band by means of a circulating air flow, with a hollow spinning cone arranged in a spinning housing, the spinning housing having an envelope wall arranged coaxially and at a distance from the spinning cone and forming an envelope gap, and a nozzle device to which compressed air can be applied for producing an air flow circulating the spinning cone in the envelope gap. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method for monitoring the spinning process on a spinning device. In order to provide a spinning position of an air-spinning machine with a spinning device which detects process disturbances reducing the thread quality as early as during the spinning process, and in order to provide a method for monitoring the spinning process on the spinning device, there is provision in the spinning device for the spinning cone and the envelope wall for forming a capacitor unit to have electrodes arranged opposite one another with the envelope gap interposed and forming an electrode pair.

Claims

1. A spinning device for manufacturing a thread from a supplied fibre band by a circulating air flow, comprising: a hollow spinning cone arranged in a spinning housing, the spinning housing having an envelope wall which is arranged coaxially with and at a distance from the spinning cone and forms an envelope gap, and a nozzle device which can be supplied with compressed air for generating an air flow circulating the spinning cone in the envelope gap, characterised in that the spinning cone and the envelope wall for forming a capacitor unit have electrodes arranged opposite one another with the envelope gap interposed, forming a pair of electrodes.

2. The spinning device according to claim 1, characterised in that, in that the electrodes are attached opposite one another on the envelope wall and/or the spinning cone in an insulated manner with respect to the envelope wall and/or the spinning cone.

3. The spinning device according to claim 1, characterised in that two or more pairs of electrodes extend over an area delimited in the circumferential direction of the envelope wall and the spinning cone.

4. The spinning device according to claim 1, characterised in that the electrodes are arranged in a spiral on the envelope wall and the spinning cone in an insulated manner with respect to the envelope wall and/or the spinning cone.

5. The spinning device according to claim 1, characterised in that surfaces of the electrodes of at least one capacitor unit facing the envelope gap have an electrically non-conductive material.

6. A spinning position of an air-spinning machine for manufacturing a thread from a supplied fibre band, comprising: a spinning device for forming a thread from at least one fibre band fed via a drafting system, and a winding device for taking up the thread on a take-up package, characterised in that the spinning device is formed according to claim 1.

7. A method for monitoring the spinning process on a spinning device, characterised by the spinning device according to claim 1, in which the following steps are performed for detecting at least one characteristic of the wrap fibres in the envelope gap: build up an electric field in the area between the electrodes, detection of the capacitance of the capacitor unit in the condition without thread, recording of the capacitance change in the spinning operation, monitoring and comparison of the capacitance change with a reference value or reference value range known or previously determined for a proper thread.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterised by a spinning device wherein the electrodes are arranged in a spiral on the envelope wall and the spinning cone in an insulated manner with respect to the envelope wall and/or the spinning cone, with detecting capacitance changes and their frequency in the spinning operation, and monitoring the frequency of the capacitance changes and comparing them with a reference value and/or reference value range known or previously determined for a correct thread in order to reach a conclusion about the rotation speed of the wrap fibres in the envelope gap that are decisive for the fibre density.

9. The method according to claim 7, characterised in that at least one characteristic of the spinning process such as a pressure acting on a vortex chamber of the spinning device, a fibre band feed speed or a thread take-up speed is adjusted in case of a deviation from the reference value or the reference value range, or the spinning process is stopped.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0036] The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily to scale.

[0037] An embodiment example of the present invention is explained below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings:

[0038] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a spinning device known from the prior art, with an upstream drafting system;

[0039] FIG. 2 shows a sectional view of a schematic representation of a spinning device according to a preferred embodiment example in the region of an envelope gap between an envelope wall and a spinning cone;

[0040] FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of the spinning cone of the spinning device in FIG. 2 in the spinning operation.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0041] The following description of the embodiments of the present invention is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses. The following description is provided herein solely by way of example for purposes of providing an enabling disclosure of the invention, but does not limit the scope or substance of the invention.

[0042] For a general understanding of the mode of function of a spinning device 2, FIG. 1 shows the basic structure of a drafting system 1 with a downstream spinning device 2 which, in this embodiment example, is composed of multiple pieces. The fibre band 11 taken up from a fibre band source not shown here is pulled in by an input roller pair formed by an input top roller 26 and an input bottom roller 27. The fibre band 11 is then drafted between the second drafting system top roller 28 and the second drafting system bottom roller 29 as well as the third drafting system top roller 24 and third drafting system bottom roller 25 and the subsequent output roller pair consisting of output top roller 22 and output bottom roller 23. The drafted fibre band 11 then passes through an entry region 12 of a nozzle device 6 into the spinning device 2 and is transformed therein into a thread 16 by means of a thread-forming unit 3 as well as the nozzle device 6 of the spinning device 2. The component of the spinning device 2 having the entry region 12 forms, together with the nozzle device 6, a first part of the spinning device 2. The thread-forming unit 3 forms the second part of the spinning device 2, with the first and second parts being designed and mounted in such a way as to be movable relative to one another for opening the spinning device 2 for cleaning and maintenance purposes.

[0043] The nozzle device 6 has nozzles 7, 8 for this purpose, which are connected to a compressed air source 10 via lines 9. The air flowing out of the nozzles 7, 8 produces a rotational flow within a vortex chamber 4, which rotational flow is applied to the fed, drafted fibre band 11. The thread-forming unit 3 has a thread-forming element in the form of a spinning cone 5, which, in conjunction with the nozzle device 6, forms the thread 16, which is taken up from the spinning device 2 via the hollow spinning cone 5 through an outlet opening 17. An expansion space 30 following the vortex chamber 4 in the thread take-up direction is coupled via a further line 31 to a vacuum air source 32 for removing fibre residues.

[0044] In the spinning device 2, the outer wrap fibres 19 are wound around the inner core fibres 18 of the fibre band 11 due to the vortex air flow generated within the spinning device 2 or vortex chamber 4 and thus guarantee the desired strength of the thread 16.

[0045] FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a spinning device 2 according to a preferred embodiment example in the region of the spinning cone 5 and the envelope wall 14 of a spinning housing 13 coaxially encompassing the spinning cone 5. The core fibre 18 of the drafted fibre band 11 enters a central opening of the hollow spinning cone 5, whereas the outer wrap fibres 19 of the fibre band 11 enter the envelope gap 15 due to the air flow circulating the spinning cone 5 in the region of the envelope gap 15 between the envelope wall 14 and the spinning cone 5. Due to the circulating air flow in the envelope gap 15, the wrap fibres 19 rotate around the spinning cone 5 and are wound spirally around the core fibre 18 when the thread 16 is unwound.

[0046] To detect the fibre density in the envelope gap 15, electrodes 20 are arranged opposite one another on the spinning cone 5 and the envelope wall 14 with the envelope gap 15 in between, and these items together form a capacitor unit 21. The electrodes 20 are insulated from the spinning cone 5 and the spinning housing 13, respectively, so that after an electric field is built up between the electrodes 20, the capacitor unit 21 formed by the electrodes 20 undergoes a change in capacitance, for example an increase in capacitance compared to a fibre-free envelope gap 15, when the winding fibres 19 pass through it.

[0047] By means of monitoring and comparison of the change in capacitance with a reference value known or determined for a correct thread, which reference value can be stored in a retrievable manner or can be transmitted, conclusions can thus be drawn about the filling level of the envelope gap 15, in particular about a number of wrap fibres 19 or the fibre density, in which case an excessive increase in capacitance in particular can indicate contamination of the envelope gap 15 and a reduction in capacitance compared with a reference value can indicate an insufficient arrangement of wrap fibres 19 in the envelope gap 15.

[0048] In the embodiment example shown in FIG. 2, the electrodes 20 extend opposite one another over the entire circumferential surface of the spinning cone 5 or the envelope wall 14, thus forming a capacitor unit 21 in the manner of a ring capacitor.

[0049] In the embodiment example shown in FIG. 3, the electrodes 20 extend only over a partial area in a spiral over the spinning cone 5 as well as in a corresponding manner on the opposite envelope wall 14 (not shown here) of the spinning housing 13. In this regard, the spiral orientation of the electrode 20 corresponds to the orientation of the wrap fibres in the spinning operation due to the generated air flow within the envelope gap 15. This orientation of the electrode 20 thus enables effective detection of the wrap fibres 19 in the region between the electrodes 20, at the same time as allowing conclusions to be drawn about the rotational speed of the wrap fibres 19 around the spinning cone 5 by means of the change in capacitance when passing through the capacitor unit 21, as well as permitting measures to be taken which can be derived therefrom, such as for example an adjustment of the spinning process, an adjustment of a draft in the drafting system 1 and/or a stopping of the spinning process as well as, if necessary, a cleaning out of the thread section produced during the detected tolerance deviation before adjustment of the spinning process or the draft is possible.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0050] 1 Drafting system [0051] 2 Spinning device [0052] 3 Thread-forming unit [0053] 4 Vortex chamber [0054] 5 Spinning cone [0055] 6 Nozzle device [0056] 7 Nozzle [0057] 8 Nozzle [0058] 9 Line [0059] 10 Compressed air source [0060] 11 Fibre band [0061] 12 Entry region [0062] 13 Spinning housing [0063] 14 Envelope wall [0064] 15 Envelope gap [0065] 16 Thread [0066] 17 Outlet opening [0067] 18 Core fibre [0068] 19 Wrap fibres [0069] 20 Electrode [0070] 21 Capacitor unit [0071] 22 Output top roller [0072] 23 Output bottom roller [0073] 24 Third drafting system top roller [0074] 25 Third drafting system bottom roller [0075] 26 Input top roller [0076] 27 Input bottom roller [0077] 28 Second drafting system top roller [0078] 29 Second drafting system bottom roller [0079] 30 Expansion space [0080] 31 Further line [0081] 32 Vacuum air source

[0082] It will therefore be readily understood by those persons skilled in the art that the present invention is susceptible of broad utility and application. Many embodiments and adaptations of the present invention other than those herein described, as well as many variations, modifications and equivalent arrangements, will be apparent from or reasonably suggested by the present invention and the foregoing description thereof, without departing from the substance or scope of the present invention. Accordingly, while the present invention has been described herein in detail in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that this disclosure is only illustrative and exemplary of the present invention and is made merely for purposes of providing a full and enabling disclosure of the invention. The foregoing disclosure is not intended or to be construed to limit the present invention or otherwise to exclude any such other embodiments, adaptations, variations, modifications and equivalent arrangements.