United States Patent 09 Morton [54] YARN CONTROL MEANS FOR AUTOMATIC WINDING MACHINE [75] Inventor: Alfred L. Morton, Ranlo, N.C. [73] Assignee: Pharr Yarns, Incorporated, McAdenwille, N.C. [22] Filed: June 18, 1974 (21) Appl. No. 480,584 [52] US. CL. [51] Int. ch. .- 242/36; 242/35.6 R (58] Field of Search. 7 sos B6Sh 63/00 242/36, 37, 35.5 R, 35.6 R (56) References UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,157,874 8/1956 Marcellus 242/35.6R 21764362 9/1956 Goodhue et al 242/35.6 R 310811045 3/1963 Pitts et al. 242/35.6R 3,262,648 7/1966 Livingston. 242/35.6 R Primary Examiner—Stanley N. Gilreath Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Parrot, Bell, Seltzet, Park & Gibson J 26 g un 3,902,675 (45) Sept. 2, 1975 [57] ABSTRACT ‘The present yarn control means is adapted for use with an automatic winding machine of the type includ- ing active and reserve supply packages at each wind- ing station and means for presenting the reserve sup- ply package to active position when the exhausted yarn sensor indicates that the yarn on the active sup- ply package is exhausted. The present yarn control ‘means is in the form of a yarn guide which is of suffi cient size to permit passage of the yarn therethrough and is small enough to prevent passage of looped or tangled yarn therethrough. When engaged by looped or tangled yarn, the yarn guide is moved upwardly until the yarn breaks and is then moved downwardly to withdraw the broken yarn from the exhausted yarn sensor to prevent continued operation of the retying mechanism of the machine, 8 Claims, 3 Drawing FiguresPATENTEUSEP 21975 3,902,6751 YARN CONTROL MEANS FOR AUTOMATIC WINDING MACHINE This invention relates generally to improved yarn control means for automatic winding machines’ and more particularly to a yarn guide which prevents re peated operation of the retying mechanism of the ma- cchine when engaged by looped or tangled yarn which is withdrawn from the active supply package The yam control means of the present invention is particularly applicable to automatic winding machines Of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat, No, 2,764,362, issued Sept. 25, 1956 to W. V. Goodhue, et al. and U.S, Pat. No. 3,081,054, issued Mar. 12, 1963 to T. E. Pitts, et al. Generally, this type of winding machine is provided with means for automatically repairing broken ends which occur during the winding operation and also for tying-in new yarn when the supply of yarn from the ac- tive supply package is exhausted. This type of machine is generally known as the “UNICONER™ automatic ‘cone winder manufactured by Leesona Corporation, of Cranston, Rhode Island, The present yarn control ‘means is particularly adapted for use with this type of, automatic winding machine which has been provided with a creel for supporting large diameter active and reserve supply packages, of the type disclosed in my co- pending application Ser. No. 480,570, filed June 18, 1974, When the “UNICONER™ automatic cone winder is, provided with a creel for supporting large diameter ac- tive and reserve supply packages, as disclosed in my co- pending application, it sometimes happens that the last few winds of yarn on the active supply package are sloughed off the cone or supply tube in a looped or tan: gled manner. This looped or tangled yarn will not pass through the yarn guide, thereby causing a breakage of the yarn beyond the exhausted yarn sensor of the wind- ing machine. In this event, the retying mechanism of the winding machine continuously operates in an at- ‘tempt to find the broken ends and tie them together so that the winding operation may be continued. How- ever, the retying mechanism will not operate on the broken end of yarn which is held by the looped or tan- sled portion, thereby resulting in lost production time of that particular winding station, until the malfunction is noticed and corrected by the operator. With the foregoing in mind, it isan object of the pres- cent invention to provide a yarn control means which ‘operates to prevent the repeated operation of the rety- jing mechanism in an attempt to repair a broken yarn fend when such broken yarn end is caused by looped or tangled yarn becoming caught and held in advance of the exhausted yarn sensor of the automatic winding machine. In accordance with the present invention, the yarn control means includes a yarn guide positioned at a predetermined level above the active supply package and including a yarn passage opening therein of suf cient size to permit passage of the yarn therethrough as the yarn is withdrawn from the active supply package and being small enough to prevent passage of looped or tangled yarn therethrough. The yarn guide is supported {or upward movement when engaged by the looped or tangled yarn and resilient means is connected to the support means for resisting upward movement of the yarn guide and for returning the yarn guide to the pre- ‘determined level upon breakage of the yarn in advance Of the sensor means of the automatic winding machine, 20 2s 30 35 45 ss 6 902,675 2 ‘The broken yarn end is withdrawn from the sensor ‘means when the yarn guide is returned to the predete ‘mined level by the resilient means and to automatically trigger the indexing means for rotating the reserve package to active position for winding onto the take-up package, Other objects and advantages will appear as the de- scription proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a portion of one side of the automatic winding machine and showing a pair of adjacent yarn winding stations ‘with the present yarn control means associated there- with; FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 2—2 in FIG. 1 and with parts of the housing being broken away to illustrate the manner in which the present yarn control means oper- ates in response to engagement by a looped or tangled yar; and FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view of the lower right-hand portion of FIG. 2, illustrating the pivotal connection for the yarn guide when the guide is in the lowered or nor- ‘mal operating position The present yarn control means is illustrated in asso- iation with an automatic winding machine of the type known as the “UNICONER winder which has been provided with an improved cree! for supporting large diameter active and reserve yarn supply packages, in accordance with my co-pending application. A plural- ity of identical winding stations, only two of which are illustrated in FIG. 1, are provided along each side of the machine. Only those portions of the winding machine have been illustrated which are necessary to an under- standing of the operation of the present yarn control means and a more complete description of the other parts of the machine may be obtained from the afore- ‘mentioned patents and my co-pending application, The machine includes a longitudinally extending main frame 10 and a package support frame 11 which extends along the lower front of one side of the ma- chine. Closely spaced winding stations are provided along the machine and are described as alternate or first winding stations, broadly indicated at W-1, only ‘one of which is shown in FIG. 1, and intervening oF sec- ond stations, broadly indicated at W-2. Since the adja cent winding stations W-1 and W.2 are identical, ex- cept for the position of the yarn supply package sup- Port means at these adjacent stations, only the winding station W-1 will be described in detail and the corre- sponding parts of the winding station W-2 will bear the same reference characters, Each winding station includes means for winding yarn from an active supply package A and onto a take- up package 12 which is supported for movement into and out of driving relationship with a yarn traversing drive roll 13. In its path of travel from the active yarn supply package A, the yarn Y being wound passes through the yarn control means of the present inven- tion, to be presently described, over a yarn guide wire 14, between yarn tension discs 18, through an ex- hhausted yarn sensor 16, a slub catcher 17, a wax appli- ator 18, and over a broken yarn sensor, in the form of a fecler wire 19. The tension dise 15, yarn sensor 16, and slub catcher 17 are mounted on the upper inclined surface of a housing H which is supported on the main frame 10.