Yarn packaging and delivery system

Abstract

Included are apparatus and methods for preparing a yarn package for a small portion of yarn that provides substantially uniform tension on removal. The method includes providing an amount of yarn up to two pounds which is introduced to a small package with vacuum applied at the bottom of the container and vibration to assist yarn uniform packing of the yarn.

Claims

1. A method for providing a yarn package comprising: (a) providing an amount of yarn greater than zero up to about two pounds; (b) passing a first end of said yarn through a yarn guide to a narrow end of a first cone-shaped air diffuser which reduces air velocity and prevents recirculation and through said first air diffuser to a wide end adjacent to a hollow extension portion, (c) passing said first end of said yarn through said hollow extension portion adjacent to a first opening of a hollow yarn container having a top and a bottom; (d) passing said first end of said yarn through said top of said yarn container and attaching said first end of said yarn to a second opening at said bottom of said yarn container, wherein porous media is present at said second opening of said yarn container so that yarn accumulates in said bottom above the second opening of said yarn container; (e) applying vacuum to a narrow end of a second cone-shaped air diffuser, wherein a wide end of said second air diffuser is adjacent to said second opening of said yarn container to promote uniform airflow across said bottom of said yarn container and into the vacuum; and (f) applying vibration to said yarn to facilitate downward movement and increase density of the yarn in said yarn container.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said yarn container has a cross section selected from round, square, regular polygon and irregular polygon.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said yarn guide comprises a material selected from ceramic, metal, plastic, and combinations thereof.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said yarn guide is a ceramic eyelet.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said yarn package has a removal tension that is substantially uniform and which introduces no surge in tension.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said yarn has a density from about 600 denier to about 10,000 denier.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said yarn package comprises a polymer selected from the group consisting of a polyamide, a polyester, copolymers thereof and combinations thereof.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising placing a plurality of said yarn packages in a vertical orientation on an assembly for shipment.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising compacting said yarn with a plunger.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said yarn is twisted, entangled, or combinations thereof.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein said porous media comprises a mesh, a filter, a perforated plate, or a screen.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein said vibration is applied to assist settling of the yarn within the yarn container.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein said vibration is selected from a constant vibration, an intermittent vibration, and combinations thereof.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein upon removal of said yarn from said package, the package is able to be refilled.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein said yarn is caused to move through said yarn guide, through said first air diffuser, and into said yarn container at a rate of about 500 yards per minute to about 1000 yards per minute.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a side view of an apparatus of some embodiments.

(2) FIG. 2 is a side view of a container of yarn with extension of some embodiments.

(3) FIG. 3 is a schematic of delivery system including yarn containers of some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(4) Included in some aspects is an apparatus and method for packaging yarn for tufting or weaving for small lot fabric production that provides a large number of small yarn packages in a very compact arrangement that is inexpensive to ship, store, and locate at the tufter or loom. In use, efficiency improvements are obtained by the present methods by the yarn freely dispensing from the container rather than being removed from a wound package. In addition, the vertical arrangement and removal of the yarn from the mobile creel at the tufter or loom simplifies the threadline routing from the container to the tufter or loom and minimizes the tension placed on the threadlines by friction from the yarn routing tubes or guides. The containers themselves may be reused or refilled after the yarn is removed.

(5) In some aspects, the yarn is placed into a container without forming tangles or loops that cause problematic snagging during yarn removal and in a compacted form that allows for several thousand yards of high denier carpet yarn to be placed into a small, compact container. The yarn may be of any suitable linear density such as about 600 denier to about 10,000 denier. Any of a variety of different yarns can be included, including but not limited to, polyamide, polyester, copolymers thereof and combinations thereof. The yarns themselves may be single filament, multiple filament and may also be twisted, air-entangled, etc.

(6) Preventing tangles or loops as encountered by use of a tube bank/sample creel is accomplished by introducing the yarn into the container without recirculation of the air (or other fluid) that was used to pull the yarn into the container by the use of inlet diffuser and removal of the motive air via a suction at the bottom of the container.

(7) Other devices suffer from loops and tangles due to recirculation of the air used to push the yarn into the container and use complex means to remove the motive air so that it does not impact the yarn as it drops into the container. In the method of some aspects, suction removes the air used to pull the yarn into the container through a porous media that allows free movement of the air with minimum pressure drop while not allowing any of the yarn to pass into the suction header. Higher density storage of the yarn was obtained by the use of an extension tube on the top of the container to allow additional disengagement distance for the yarn to separate from the air stream and settle into the container, compaction of the yarn due to the pressure drop through the accumulating mass of yarn at the bottom of the container, vibrating the apparatus to facilitate movement of the yarn down into the tube, and lastly by use of a mechanical compaction device to push the yarn down from the extension section into the container after stopping the yarn movement into the apparatus. The free end of the yarn going into the container is then cut, moved to the edge of the container top opening, and then a cap (not shown) may be placed on top of the container to capture the free end and prevent soiling of the yarn during shipping. Alternately a unit containing a number of cavities similar in dimensions to the containers above could be indexed or moved between the inlet and outlet diffusers to allow filling the cavities and reduce the number of individual containers that had to be handled.

(8) After the yarn is placed into the container it is removed from the packaging apparatus and placed into a reusable, standardized, stackable shipping/dispensing receptacle along with any suitable number of other containers. This may be about 30 to about 500 or about 50 to about 200 other containers. The number can vary depending on the requirements for downstream handling, product design, or processing which contains yarn for the same production run of fabric to be produced on the tufter/loom. Alternately, a number of the units with multiple cavities can be combined into the receptacles for shipping, handling, and dispensing. The receptacles are designed so that they will interlock when stacked several high for handling, shipping, and storage. A sufficient number of receptacles are then preloaded into a mobile creel(s) at the carpet/fabric manufacturing facility to supply the necessary number of threadlines for the tufter or loom warp threadlines. The mobile creel as shown in FIG. 3 is equipped with plastic yarn transporting tubes located above the centerlines of where each of the containers of yarn will exit vertically from the containers to facilitate transport of the yarn and minimize the amount of tension generated by the threadlines moving through the plastic tubes and other guides. This is a much more compact and simplified configuration than as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,634,585 where the yarn packages are oriented horizontally and space must be allowed for the yarn to not entangle with the adjacent packages of yarn. The devices for holding the packages of yarn are also much less expensive and maintenance intensive since they do not have to grip the inside of the paper/plastic tubes or contain the yarn transport tubes.

(9) The apparatus and methods described herein are useful with a number of different yarn sources. One suitable method includes using single which are twisted air entangled, then prepared into yarn packages as described. Alternatively, the yarn may be a spun yarn which is run through a twister and then packaged herein. Where a reduction in yarn processing steps is desired, the packaging method of some aspects can be coupled to a yarn preparation machine, which avoids the need for winding on a paper tube. Also, yarn may be removed from larger packages, unwound and repackaged as a smaller packaged according to the method of some aspects. Optionally, the yarn may be air entangled or twisted prior to preparation of the yarn packages of some aspects.

(10) FIG. 1

(11) In direction 12, yarn 6 enters at low tension as it is pulled through yarn guide 2 such as a ceramic eyelet or venturi shaped piece. Any of the yarn guides useful in the method of some aspects may be made of any suitable material. Examples include, but are not limited to, ceramic, metal, plastic and combinations thereof. Then, air velocity is reduced to prevent recirculation through an optional first air diffuser 4. The yarn 6 then enters the extension 8 of the container 10 and accumulates in the container 10. The yarn container may be of any suitable size or shape as needed to hold the necessary small amount of yarn. The cross-section may be any suitable configuration such as round, square, regular polygon or irregular polygon. Air pulling the yarn into the apparatus is pulled out of the bottom of the container 10 through a porous media or filtration media 14 (any suitable material such as a mesh filter, a perforated plate or a screen or combinations thereof) located at the bottom of the container 10 that prevents yarn 6 from exiting the container 10. A second air diffuser 20 is included to promote uniform flow across the bottom of the container, and then into a vacuum source 22. The extension is used to provide additional distance for disengagement of the yarn from the air stream and to allow a larger vertical height of yarn to accumulate before is compacted mechanically as shown in FIG. 2. Vibration means 18 may be applied to the second air diffuser 20 to facilitate downward movement of the yarn 6 and increase the density of the yarn 6 in the container 10. The vibration may be constant vibration, an intermittent vibration, or a combination thereof. The vibration may assist settling of the yarn 6 in the container 10. The yarn may be introduced into the yarn container at any suitable rate such as about 500 yards per minute to about 1000 yards per minute.

(12) FIG. 2

(13) After the desired amount of yarn is placed in the combination of extension 8 and container 10, they are removed from the top (optional) and bottom air diffusers and the yarn is mechanically compressed with a compaction plunger 24. This moves the yarn 6 down completely into the container 10 and the extension 24 can then be removed at separation point 25.

(14) FIG. 3

(15) Several yarn containers 10 placed in compact, high density shipping/dispensing receptacle, which allows vertical orientation 34 removal of yarn through guides 30 at the tufter/loom with simplified, lower tension feeding of the yarns. The container and shipping system permits the storage, transport and removal of the yarn from a vertical orientation. In one suitable method the yarn may be transferred through the yarn guides to an eyeboard 32 prior to tufting (not shown). In operation, the yarn removal tension will be substantially uniform meaning that the there are no surges in tension, i.e., tension spikes.

(16) The features and advantages of the present invention are more fully shown by the following examples which are provided for purposes of illustration, and are not to be construed as limiting the invention in any way.

EXAMPLES

(17) Testing done to demonstrate this concept is as shown below for a single container, using 2-ply air entangled SDN yarn (nylon 66, 1245 singles denier having been already processed) with four hole hollow-fill cross-section.

Example 1

(18) Set yarn entrainment device compressed air pressure=60 psig so it would smoothly pull yarn from package on creel peg.

(19) Filled PVC pipe container with yarn to approx. 28 inches above HVAC filter media at bottom of pipe.

(20) Removed top air diffuser while vacuum continued to remove air from bottom, and level of yarn in the pipe fell to 20 inches above HVAC filter due to increased air flow. The vacuum was provided by a Shop-Vac Model 2015 Wet/Dry vacuum.

(21) Tapped on side of pipe to simulate vibration and level of yarn dropped to 18 inches.

(22) Removed container of yarn and determined weight of yarn in container=0.53 pounds after subtracting tare weight of container.

(23) Used wooden creel peg 2 11/16 inches in diameter with non-rounded bottom face to mechanically compact the yarn in the container to level 11 inches above HVAC filter. Used moderate force (30-40 pounds estimated).

(24) Removed yarn from container by hand at 50 yards per minute without any snarls or tangles.

Example 2

(25) Same conditions as Test 1, filled yarn to approx. 29 inches above HVAC filter level.

(26) Removed top diffuser while vacuum still applied and level of yarn dropped to 20 inches.

(27) Tapped container on floor to simulate vibration after removal from vacuum source, and yarn level dropped to 16-17 inches.

(28) Used mechanical compaction device (wooden creel peg) and compressed yarn level down to 10 inches.

(29) Weight of yarn in container=0.51 pounds.

Example 3

(30) Same conditions as Test 1. Took 2 minutes to fill container with yarn.

(31) Weight of yarn in container=0.54 pounds.

(32) Based on definition of denier as grams/9000 meters the mass per unit length of 2-ply 1245 SDN=0.000557 lb./yard.

(33) For 0.54 pound yarn weight, calculated yarn length in container=0.54/0.000558=968 yards.

(34) Approximate yarn speed into container=968 yards/2 minutes=484 yards per minute.

Summary from Examples

(35) For 3.042 inch I.D. container size, 11 inches of yarn vertical height, and 0.53 pounds of yarn on 2-ply air entangled 1245 denier SDN singles.

(36) Yarn density obtained=0.00663 Lb/cubic inch or 0.183 g/cubic cm

(37) Weight of yarn per vertical foot=0.58 pounds

(38) Calculated length of yarn per vertical foot=1056 yards

(39) So, if require 1 pound of yarn would require container with 1.72 feet vertical height of yarn

CONCLUSIONS

(40) 1. Method to effectively produce large number of metered quantities of yarn to support small lot tufting or weaving versus rewinding or on-line production of small (less than 1 pound) wound yarn packages.

(41) 2. Improved yarn processing on tufter or loom from vertical yarn removal from containers versus stripping yarn off end of small diameter wound packages. Removes problematic removal of yarn from near package core due to frequent winding ribbon zones, high number of yarn wraps per traverse stroke, and snags on end of core or core end caps.

(42) 3. Improved yarn delivery from vertical yarn removal from containers versus wound packages supported in horizontal or slightly angled orientation where the yarn can drop down and become entangled with yarn packages located below during stopping/starting or running.

(43) 4. Compact form that is ready to be installed in the tufter or loom creel when received versus wound packages that must be manually stocked after removal from shipping boxes or other containers. Compact versus wound package creel packaging that has hollow core that occupies significant space on small quantity packages and due to need to separate the individual wound packages from each other to allow yarn removal without snagging yarns from adjacent packages.

(44) 5. Process may be installed on off-line machine pulling yarn from packages of yarn placed in a creel, or directly in line with yarn processing equipment such as air entangling machines. Yarn speed demonstrated approximately 500 yards per minute, with additional improvements predict to be equivalent to rewinding or air entangling machines that can process at speeds of up to 1000 meters per minute.

(45) 6. Modest improvements in the amount of yarn mass compaction over those obtained in Tests 1 to 3 via additional work using increased air flows/controls and vibratory settling should make it possible to place 1 pound of yarn in a container less than 24 inches in vertical height without use of the second mechanical compaction step. This would result in a much less complex, lower cost process than those cited in U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,888 and EP058478.

(46) While there have been described what are presently believed to be the preferred embodiments of the invention, those skilled in the art will realize that changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is intended to include all such changes and modifications as fall within the true scope of the invention.