Spinning preparation machine

Abstract

A spinning preparation machine includes a consolidating means for producing a roving having a protective twist from a fiber bundle, a drafting system arranged upstream of the consolidating means, a winding device arranged downstream of the consolidating means, and a movably mounted traversing element adjacent the winding device to guide the roving being wound onto a tube. In a side view of the spinning preparation machine, the consolidating means is arranged vertically between at least one feed roller of the drafting system and the traversing element, and the feed roller and the traversing element are arranged on a same side of the consolidating means so that in operation of the spinning preparation machine, the roving experiences a change in direction after exiting the consolidating means and prior to being wound onto the tube.

Claims

1. A spinning preparation machine, comprising: a consolidating means for producing a roving having a protective twist from a fiber bundle supplied to the consolidating means; a drafting system arranged upstream of the consolidating means in a running direction of the roving to draft the fiber bundle; a winding device arranged downstream of the consolidating means in the running direction to wind the roving onto a tube; a movably mounted traversing element adjacent the winding device to guide the roving being wound onto the tube; in a side view of the spinning preparation machine, the consolidating means arranged vertically between at least one feed roller of the drafting system and the traversing element; in the side view of the spinning preparation machine, the feed roller and the traversing element arranged on a same side of the consolidating means so that in operation of the spinning preparation machine, the roving experiences a change in direction after exiting the consolidating means and prior to being wound onto the tube; and a tube transfer device disposed to transfer the tubes from a tube transport device to the winding device or from the winding device to the tube transport device, wherein the traversing element, in the side view, is arranged horizontally between the consolidating means and the tube transfer device.

2. The spinning preparation machine in accordance with claim 1, wherein the consolidating means comprises an air spinning nozzle, and wherein the roving having the protective twist is produced inside the air spinning nozzle by means of a swirled air flow.

3. The spinning preparation machine in accordance with claim 1, further comprising a pair of draw-off rollers arranged downstream of the consolidating means in the running direction, the pair of draw-off rollers arranged vertically between the feed roller of the drafting system and the traversing element, wherein the roving experiences the change of direction through or downstream of the pair of draw-off rollers.

4. The spinning preparation machine in accordance with claim 1, wherein the winding device further comprises at least one tube receiver to fix the tube thereon, the tube receiver arranged, in the side view, horizontally between the tube transfer device and the traversing element, or between the tube transfer device and the consolidating means, or between the tube transfer device and the pair of draw-off rollers.

5. The spinning preparation machine in accordance with claim 4, wherein one or both of the tube receiver or the tube transfer device are arranged, in the side view, below the consolidating means.

6. The spinning preparation machine in accordance with claim 4, wherein the tube receiver, the traversing element, and the consolidating means are arranged, in the side view, below the tube transfer device.

7. The spinning preparation machine in accordance with claim 1, further comprising a guide for the fiber bundle arranged upstream of the drafting system in a transport direction of the drafting system, the guide comprising a feed segment at an end thereof opposite from the drafting system and a delivery segment at an end thereof adjacent the drafting system, and the feed segment arranged, in the side view, on a side of the tube transfer device facing away from the consolidating means.

8. The spinning preparation machine in accordance with claim 7, wherein the drafting system, the winding device, the tube transfer device, and the guide are arranged, in a front view of the spinning preparation machine, at least in part behind the consolidating means.

9. The spinning preparation machine in accordance with claim 1, wherein the traversing element, the winding device, and the tube transfer device have at least one common horizontal sectional plane.

10. The spinning preparation machine in accordance with claim 9, wherein the feed roller and the consolidating means have a common sectional plane that, in the side view, intersects the first horizontal sectional plane at a side of the consolidating means that faces away from the winding device.

11. The spinning preparation machine in accordance with claim 10, wherein the common horizontal sectional plane and the common sectional plane form an angle (a) that ranges between 85 and 20.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Further advantages of the invention are described in the following exemplary embodiments, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a side view of a spinning preparation machine according to the invention, and,

(3) FIG. 2 is a top view of a spinning preparation machine according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(4) Reference will now be made to embodiments of the invention, one or more examples of which are shown in the drawings. Each embodiment is provided by way of explanation of the invention, and not as a limitation of the invention. For example features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment can be combined with another embodiment to yield still another embodiment. It is intended that the present invention include these and other modifications and variations to the embodiments described herein.

(5) FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a spinning preparation machine 1 according to the invention in the form of an air-jet spinning machine that stands on a shop floor 20 and produces roving 3 (FIG. 2). The spinning preparation machine 1 preferably comprises a drafting system 5 with a plurality of corresponding drafting system rollers (only one of the two feed rollers 9 arranged in the input area of the drafting system 5 is provided with a reference number) that is supplied with a fiber bundle 4, for instance in the form of a doubled drafter sliver.

(6) The fiber bundle 4 generally originates from a container 14 (e.g. a sliver can) and may be fed to the drafting system 5, preferably after passing over a guide roller 21, via a guide 16, wherein the guide 16 may be embodied for instance as a longitudinal profile. In principle, the guide 16 comprises a feed segment 13 adjacent to the container 14, a delivery segment 19 adjacent to the drafting system 5, and a guide segment 17 disposed therebetween for supporting the fiber bundle 4 at least from below.

(7) The illustrated spinning preparation machine 1 furthermore also comprises a consolidating means, spaced apart from the drafting system 5, in the form of an air spinning nozzle 2 having an internal vortex chamber (known from prior art and therefore not shown) and a yarn-forming element (likewise known from the prior art and therefore not shown) in the form of a hollow spindle that projects into the vortex chamber. In the vortex chamber, the fiber bundle 4 or at least a portion of the fibers in the fiber bundle 4 are provided with a protective twist by means of a swirled air flow generated by air nozzles in the vortex chamber.

(8) The air spinning machine may furthermore comprise a pair of draw-off rollers 15 for the roving 3 downstream of the drafting system 5 in the illustrated transport direction T (the draw-off unit is not absolutely necessary and is also shown only in FIG. 1 for reasons of clarity). Moreover, a winding device 6 is present that preferably serves for receiving at least two tubes 7 and with which it is possible to wind the roving 3 onto a tube 7, the roving 3 being guided by means of a traversing element 8 that can be moved back and forth in the direction of the double arrow shown in FIG. 1. The winding device 6 may in particular comprise a tube receiver 12 (e.g. in the form of a platform) that can be rotated by means of a drive and on which the tubes 7 may be fixed via corresponding holding devices (not shown in greater detail), wherein the holding devices and thus also the respective tubes 7 may be caused to rotate, preferably via separate drives.

(9) The spinning preparation machine 1 works according to a special air spinning method. For forming the roving 3, the fiber bundle 4 is guided in the transport direction T via an inlet opening (not shown) into the vortex chamber of the air spinning nozzle 2. There, it is given a protective twist, that is to say at least a portion of the fibers of the fiber bundle 4 is grasped by the swirled air flow, which is created by suitably placed spinning air channels. A portion of the fibers is thereby pulled at least a little way out of the fiber bundle 4 and is wound around the tip of the yarn forming element which protrudes into the vortex chamber.

(10) Finally, the fibers of the fiber bundle 4 are drawn out of the vortex chamber via an inlet opening of the yarn forming element and a draw-off channel which is arranged inside the yarn forming element and adjoins the inlet opening. In doing so, the free fiber ends are finally also drawn on a helical trajectory in the direction of the inlet opening and wrap as wrapping fibers around the centrally running core fibers, resulting in a roving 3 which has the desired protective twist.

(11) Due to the only partial twisting of the fibers, the roving 3 has a draftability that is essential for the further processing of the roving 3 in a downstream spinning machine, for example a ring spinning machine. Conventional air-jet spinning devices, on the other hand, give the fiber bundle 4 such a pronounced twist that the required drafting following yarn production is no longer possible. This is also desired in this case since conventional air-jet spinning machines 1 are designed to produce a finished yarn, which is generally intended to be characterized by a high strength.

(12) As explained in the foregoing, after leaving the air spinning nozzle 2, the roving 3 is wound onto a tube 7 by means of the winding device 6. If the specific tube 7 is adequately loaded with roving 3, it is exchanged for an empty tube 7, wherein the aforesaid tube pick-up 12 is rotated for this purpose about a preferably vertical rotational axis until the empty tube 7 shown in FIG. 1 is disposed in the position of the loaded tube 7 shown in FIG. 1 and vice versa.

(13) While the empty tube 7 is being loaded with roving 3 following this tube exchange, a tube transfer device 10 is activated that transfers the loaded tube 7 to a conveyor 18 (for instance in the form of a conveyor belt) of a tube transport device 11 that finally transports the tube 7 to a removal location (not shown). This conveyor 18, a plurality of which may be present, preferably comprises a plurality of tube holders 22 by which the tubes 7 may be held during their transport. Once the loaded tube 7 has been transported away, the position on the tube pick-up 12 of the winding device 6 that has been freed up by this may be occupied by a new, empty tube 7, the tube transfer device 10 preferably accomplishing this.

(14) Alternatively, it would also naturally be possible to eliminate the tube transfer device 10. Likewise, the winding device 6 could also have only one holding device for one tube 7. Ultimately, the illustrated guide 16 also does not necessarily have to be present, wherein in this case for instance the fiber bundle 4 may be inserted into the drafting system 5 immediately after it has left the container 14 (possibly after first going through a guide roller 21). It is also not absolutely necessary for the tube transport device 11 to be present.

(15) In accordance with the invention, it is suggested that the air spinning nozzle 2, in a side view of the spinning preparation machine 1 (which is preferably embodied as an air-jet spinning machine) is arranged vertically between at least one feed roller 9 of the drafting system 5 and the traversing element 8 mounted vertically therebelow. It is furthermore provided that the feed roller 9 and the traversing element 8 are arranged, in the side view, on the same side of the air spinning nozzle 2 so that when the spinning preparation machine 1 is operating, the roving 3 experiences a change in direction after leaving the air spinning nozzle 2 and prior to being wound onto the tube 7.

(16) In particular, the feed roller 9 of the drafting system 5 should have a common sectional plane with the air spinning nozzle 2, which sectional plane with the horizontal forms an angle that is between 20 and 85 so that the transport direction of the drafting system 5 runs on a downward incline. In this case it is also ensured that the running direction L of the roving 3 is oriented downward, at least in segments, between the traversing element 8 and the air spinning nozzle 2 (or the pair of draw-off rollers 15) so that the forces acting on the roving 3 in this region are particularly low.

(17) As may be seen from the figures, the winding device 6, the tube transfer device 10, and the traversing element 8 may be placed adjacent to one another and below the air spinning nozzle 2 and the drafting system 5.

(18) If a tube transport device 11 with corresponding conveyor(s) 18 is present, it is advantageous when the latter are arranged, at least in part, in a top view of the spinning preparation machine 1 shown in FIG. 2, between the feed segment 13 of the guide 16 and the drafting system 5. In particular, the conveyor(s) 18 should be supported in the area of the so-called shop floor 20 so that it/they, in the side view of the spinning preparation machine 1 shown in FIG. 1, is/are disposed below the guide 16.

(19) In addition, it is advantageous when the conveyor(s) 18 is/are arranged between the feed segment 13 of the guide 16 or the container 14 and the delivery segment 19 of the guide 16, the guide 16 spanning the conveyor(s) 18 in a bridge-like manner. The fiber bundle 4 is now guided from behind via the conveyor(s) 18 and finally travels in the front region of the spinning preparation machine 1 into the drafting system 5 and ultimately into the air spinning nozzle 2.

(20) As FIG. 2 shows, the winding device 6, the traversing element 8, and the tube transfer device 10 may be arranged to the side of the drafting system 5 or air spinning nozzle 2. In this case, the result is a particularly space-saving arrangement of the individual elements.

(21) Furthermore, the drafting system 5, the air spinning nozzle 2, and also the guide 16 should be placed above the winding device 6, the traversing element 8, the tube transfer device 10, and/or the conveyor(s) 18 to utilize the free space above the aforesaid elements.

(22) Finally, the above description is referenced with respect to the possible mutual arrangements of the individual segments (feed segment 13, guide segment 17, delivery segment 19, drafting system 5, air spinning nozzle 2, traversing element 8, winding device 6, tube transfer device 10, conveyor(s) 18) so that the mutual arrangement depicted in the FIGS. 1 and 2 shall be construed only as an example.

(23) The present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments that have been shown and described. Modifications within the scope of the patent claims are also possible, as is any combination of the described features, even if they are shown and described in different parts of the description or the claims or in different exemplary embodiments.

REFERENCE LIST

(24) 1 Spinning preparation machine 2 Air spinning nozzle 3 Roving 4 Fiber bundle 5 Drafting system 6 Winding device 7 Tube 8 Traversing element 9 Feed roller of the drafting system 10 Tube transfer device 11 Tube transport device 12 Tube receiver 13 Feed segment 14 Container 15 Pair of draw-off rollers 16 Guide 17 Guide segment 18 Conveyor 19 Delivery segment 20 Shop floor 21 Guide roller 22 Tube holder Angle between the common horizontal sectional plane of traversing element, winding device, and tube transfer device and the common section plane of feed roller or the drafting system and spinning nozzle L Running direction of the roving T Transport direction of the drafting system