W. Schlafhorst Ag & Company

Norbert Bohnen

Hans Grecksch

Alfred Schmitz

Heinz Buehren

Thomas Heidtmann

A tube transport assembly is provided for a textile machine system in which tubes having yarn or the like wound thereon are transported to, and empty tubes are transported from, a textile machine. Two different transport apparatus are each operable to transport a different kind of tube support member along a respective endless transport path. In one aspect of the present invention, an alternating positioning device alternately positions the two types of tube support members and a tube transfer device is operable to transfer the tubes and full yarn packages from the type of tube support members on which they are initially supported to the other type of tube support members. In one embodiment of the tube transport assembly, the alternating positioning device is a rotatable annular disk having a plurality of tube support member retaining positions uniformly spaced annularly thereon. In another embodiment of the present invention, the alternating positioning device controls the feed of tube support members to a coextensive travel path in which both endless transport paths are coextensive, the feed of the tube support members being controlled to produce an alternating arrangement of the two different types of tube support members.

Textile machine tube transport assembly with full package and empty tube

An apparatus for orienting packages of textile material into predetermined individual orientations cooperates with a package delivery system which delivers packages in random orientations. The package orienting apparatus includes a device for classifying each package on the basis of a detectably different characteristic such as, for example, the characteristic that one respective end of the tube of the package has a larger diameter than the other tube end. A disposing device is operatively connected to the classifying device for moving each textile material package through a predetermined movement in response to the sensing of the detectably different characteristic to thereby bring the package into a predetermined individual orientation. The disposing device can include a drum having a pair of package receiving elements formed therein each along a respective radius of the drum and perpendicular to the other package receiving element. A control unit controls the drum motor to rotate the drum in a selected clockwise or counter-clockwise direction in response to sensing of the detectable characteristic of the package being received in the next available package receiving element to thereby orient all packages detected as having the same characteristic into the same individual orientation.

Growing community of inventors

Moenchengladbach, Germany

Norbert Bohnen