U.S. patent number 3,830,084 [Application Number 05/355,098] was granted by the patent office on 1974-08-20 for apparatus for controlling the movement of piece goods in dyeing and finishing machines.
Invention is credited to Renzo Caputi.
United States Patent |
3,830,084 |
Caputi |
August 20, 1974 |
APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING THE MOVEMENT OF PIECE GOODS IN DYEING AND
FINISHING MACHINES
Abstract
This invention provides a control apparatus for use with a
dyeing and/or finishing machine of the kind in which a skein or
rope of material is passed through a closed circuit including
tubular conduits. A magnet or metal element moves with the skein or
rope and in one zone of the closed circuit an electromagnetic
detector is arranged to provide pulses in response to the passage
of the said element through the zone. If the pulses fail to appear
within a given interval of the time taken for one complete circuit
of the dyeing machine in normal operation of the latter the
detecting circuit operates an alarm device signalling stoppage of
the skein or rope in the machine.
Inventors: |
Caputi; Renzo (Strona
(Vercelli), IT) |
Family
ID: |
11208606 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/355,098 |
Filed: |
April 27, 1973 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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Apr 27, 1972 [IT] |
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23617/72 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
68/178; 118/419;
118/703; 226/45; 340/677; 118/674; 118/712; 226/100 |
Current CPC
Class: |
D06B
3/36 (20130101); D06B 3/26 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
D06B
3/26 (20060101); D06B 3/36 (20060101); D06B
3/00 (20060101); B05c 003/134 (); B05c 011/00 ();
G08b 021/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;68/175-179,13R
;118/6,419 ;226/45,100 ;340/259 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Hornsby; Harvey C.
Assistant Examiner: Coe; Philip R.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Browdy & Neimark
Claims
I claim:
1. In a dyeing and finishing machine of the kind having a closed
circuit including at least partly tubular conduits and
skein-winding means for moving a skein of material through a bath
in said closed circuit, improved control apparatus comprising at
least one device adapted to provide upon movement of the skein
electrical and/or electromagnetic pulses, said device being
associated with the skein in at least one point of its overall
length, a device for detecting said pulses, located externally of
one of said conduits of said dyeing machine in at least one zone of
said closed circuit of movement of the skein, and a signalling
device adapted to be operated by the detected pulses in the event
of stoppage of the skein.
2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said device for
providing electrical and/or electromagnetic pulses is formed by a
permanent magnet which in use of the apparatus is arranged for
movement with the skein.
3. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said pulse detecting
device comprises at least one coil wound around a zone of at least
one of said conduits defining said closed circuit of movement of
the skein, and therefore of said device for providing the
electrical and/or electromagnetic pulses.
4. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said pulse detecting
device comprises a number of ferromagnetic cores and a respective
coil wound on each said core, said coils being connected together
in series and the series-connected coils being connected to said
signalling device.
5. Apparatus as defined in claim 4, including an annular support
arranged externally of said zone of at least one of said conduits
defining said closed circuit of the skein material, said
ferromagnetic cores being mounted on said annular support with
their axes extending radially outwardly from said support.
6. Apparatus for controlling the movement of piece goods in a
dyeing and finishing machine, in particular for controlling the
movement of a skein of material in a dyeing machine having means
for moving the skein cyclically in a closed circuit closed within
conduits which are at least partly tubular, said apparatus
comprising: an electrically conductive element which in use of the
apparatus is associated with a point on said skein; an electrically
conductive winding surrounding a zone of at least one of the said
conduits of the machine; a generator of an oscillatory voltage at a
predetermined frequency connected to said winding; a detecting
device connected to the winding and to the said generator, said
detecting device being adapted to provide an electrical pulse each
time the conductive element passes through the said zone surrounded
by the winding; and a signalling device connected to said detecting
device and operable in response to variation or cessation of said
pulses resulting from stoppage of the skein in the machine.
7. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said signalling device
includes an alarm and a delay circuit which operates said alarm
when the interval between two successive pulses from said detecting
device exceeds by a given interval "t" the time "T" taken by the
skein to complete its closed circuit under normal operating
conditions of the machine.
8. Apparatus as defined in claim 6, wherein said signalling device
includes an alarm and a delay circuit which operates said alarm
when the interval between two successive pulses from said detecting
device exceeds by a given interval "t" the time "T" taken by the
skein to complete its closed circuit under normal operating
conditions of the machine.
Description
This invention relates to an apparatus for controlling the movement
of piece goods in dyeing and finishing machines and more
particularly, but not exclusively, it relates to an apparatus for
controlling the movement of piece goods in machines for dyeing
skeins of material.
It is known that, before undergoing a treatment of dyeing and/or
finishing of said type, the material is "constricted" to assume
substantially the form of a skein or rope. Under such conditions
the skein of material is pressed and stretched as it passes in a
tortuous path through a dyeing and/or finishing bath, so that it
makes good contact with the treatment liquid.
Known machines for dyeing skeins of material are generally formed
by a substantially tubular U-shaped tub having substantially
vertical tubular legs which communicate at their upper ends with
the inside of a chamber in which a skein-winder is rotatably
mounted for supporting and pulling the skein of material through
the bath. The dyeing and finishing liquid is fed into the tub until
it reaches a certain level in the tubular legs. To be treated in
such dyeing machines, the ends of the skein of material are
connected to each other and the material assumes the form of an
endless skein or rope which is supported and moved by the
skein-winder, passing through the dyeing bath a predetermined
number of times.
It is also known to provide in various parts of the tub inlet and
outlet conduits for the dyeing liquid, and conduits for introducing
fluid (for example air and/or steam) into the bath to produce
turbulence, in order to facilitate the movement of the skein and to
improve its contact with the treatment agents contained in the
bath. For the same purpose the transverse section of the interior
of the tubular tub is generally irregular.
The above-mentioned known expedients in dyeing machines tend to
interfere with the tortuous path of the skein of material,
obstructing its movement. This, added to the fact that the skein of
material is by nature prone to entanglement, especially when it
encounters one or more obstacles, gives rise to several technical
difficulties in dyeing machines, until now not satisfactorily
resolved. One of these technical difficulties is the fact that the
material, in passing through the dyeing or finishing bath, for the
above-mentioned reasons, can become arrested. Such stoppage of the
material is not easily detected, as the skein-winder continues to
rotate while the skein of material slides over it. A stoppage of
the material in the dyeing bath, even for short periods, can ruin
the material irreparably.
A main object of this invention is to provide an apparatus which
controls with safety the movement of piece goods in dyeing and/or
finishing machines, in particular in machines for dyeing skeins of
material, and which can detect the occurrence of a stoppage of the
skein material during its movement through the dyeing and finishing
bath even if the means drawing the skeins through the bath continue
to function.
A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of
said type having simple structural and functional characteristics,
susceptible of a wide application to dyeing and/or finishing
machines without entailing specific time-consuming modifications or
adaptations of the dyeing machines. Another object of the invention
is to provide an apparatus of the said type which is of simple
realisation, allowing the use of material normally available
commercially.
According to the invention there is provided an apparatus for
controlling the movement of piece goods in a dyeing and finishing
machine, in particular for controlling the movement of a skein of
material in a dyeing machine, in which the skein is moved in a
closed circuit including at least partly tubular conduits by
skein-winding means, the said control apparatus comprising at least
one device adapted to provide upon movement of the skein electrical
and/or electromagnetic pulses, said device being associated with
the skein in at least one point of its overall length, a device for
detecting said pulses, located externally of one of the conduits of
said dyeing machine in at least one zone of the closed circuit of
movement of the skein, and a signalling device adapted to be
operated by the detected pulses in the event of stoppage of the
skein.
The invention will now be described, by way of non-limiting
example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 represents schematically a machine for dyeing material in
the form of a skein incorporating apparatus according to one
embodiment of the present invention for controlling the movement of
the material;
FIG. 2 represents, on enlarged scale, a detail of the control
apparatus according to the invention, as employed in the machine of
FIG. 1, and
FIG. 3 represents schematically part of a second embodiment of
apparatus according to the invention for controlling the movement
of a skein of material through a dyeing machine.
FIG. 1 illustrates a machine for dyeing material in the form of a
skein, comprising essentially a tubular U-shaped tub 1 having
tubular legs 2 and 3 the upper ends of which are in communication
with the inside of a cylindrical chamber 4 having a charging door
4a. A rotary skein-winder 5 driven by a motor 5a through a
transmission belt 5b is mounted in the chamber 4. The legs 2 and 3
together with the chamber 4 define a closed path for the skein of
material to be dyed.
The tub 1 is supported on a base and is filled to a certain level
6a with a liquid forming a dyeing and finishing bath 6. The
skein-winder 5, of known type, supports and pulls the skein 7 of
material and has an essentially elliptical shape. Upon rotation the
winder 5 pushes and pulls the skein 7 at a cyclically varying speed
so that the skein passes through the bath 6 in a tortuous
conformation, shown schematically in FIG. 1 as a number of bends
7a.
The apparatus of this invention for controlling the movement of the
skein 7 through the bath 6 and for detecting stoppages in such
movement, comprises a pulse generator 8 associated with the skein 7
and a pulse detector device 9 arranged externally of the tub 1 for
the purpose of detecting the pulses generated by the generator
8.
More particularly according to a preferred embodiment of the
invention, illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the pulse generator 8
comprises a permanent magnet attached to the skein 7, while the
pulse detector device 9 is formed (FIG. 2) by a number of
ferromagnetic cores 10, on each of which an electrical conductor is
wound to form a coil 11, the coils 11 being connected in series.
The ferromagnetic cores 10 are mounted on and arranged with their
axes extending radially outwardly from an annular collar 12 which
is clamped by means of screws 13 to the tubular leg 2 of the tub 1.
The two ends 14 and 15 of the series-connected coils 11 are
electrically connected to a signalling or warning device 16
including, for example, an acoustic alarm 17.
The operation of the control apparatus according to the invention
is as follows: when the permanent magnet 8, which moves cyclically
with the skein 7, passes through the zone of the detector device 9,
it induces an electromotive force in the coils 11 and the resulting
induced current flows in signalling device 16. The device 16 is
provided with a delay circuit which causes the associated alarm 17
to operate only if the interval between two successive pulses from
the detector device 9 exceeds by a predetermined time "t" the time
T taken by the skein 7 to accomplish a complete circuit of the
closed path of the machine. For example, if it takes a minute for
the skein 7 to accomplish a complete circuit under normal
conditions of operation of the machine, the delay circuit of the
signalling device 16 may be set to provide a delay of 1.5 minutes.
In the event of an accidental stoppage of the skein 7 within the
dyeing and finishing bath 6 the permanent magnet 8 stops and
therefore ceases to induce regular current pulses in the detector
device 9 so that the signalling device 16 ceases to receive pulses.
If this stoppage lasts for a time exceeding the predetermined delay
(e.g. 1.5 minutes) of the delay circuit of the signalling device
16, the alarm 17 operates and the machine operator can quickly
intervene to eliminate the cause of the stoppage, thereby avoiding
prolonged immersion of the arrested skein of material in the bath
6, which would damage the material.
In the second embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the apparatus
according to this invention comprises a high frequency voltage
generator 18 connected, through leads 19 and 20, to a winding 21
having one or more turns surrounding the skein 7 for example at a
point on the leg 2 of the tub 1.
One of the leads, for example the lead 20, includes a detecting
device 22 which is connected through leads 23 and 24 to a
signalling device 25 including, for example, an acoustic alarm
25a.
The apparatus further includes a metal element 26, not necessarily
magnetic, which is fixed to the skein 7 of material being treated
in the machine which passes cyclically through the leg 2. The
detecting device 22 is provided with a known circuit which is
responsive to the electromagnetic characteristics of the winding 21
surrounding the leg 2 at the frequency of the oscillating voltage
applied to the winding 21 and generates pulses only upon the
passing of the metal element 26 through the winding 21. These
pulses are sent to the signalling device 25 which operates the
alarm 25a when the detected movement of the skein 7 is irregular.
The signalling device 25 is, as in the previously described
embodiment, provided with a known delay circuit. If the pulses are
detected at intervals T, substantially equal to the time taken by
the skein 7, and therefore by the metal element 26, to accomplish a
complete circuit, the device 25 prevents the acoustic alarm 25 from
functioning; on the other hand, if the interval between two
successive detected pulses exceeds by an interval "t" the time T
taken by the skein 7 to accomplish a complete circuit in the
machine when the latter is functioning normally, the acoustic alarm
25a is automatically operated by the device 25 to warn the machine
operator.
It will be appreciated that instead of an acoustic alarm 25a the
signalling device 25 could be associated with an optical warning
device.
* * * * *