Textile machinery yarn supply apparatus

Yarn supply apparatus for a knitting feed of a knitting machine having a rotatable yarn supply disk or drum (4) supplying yarn having yarn looped thereabout and supplying yarn under slip-free conditions,

• a speed-controllable drive motor (6) coupled to operate the yarn supply disk or drum (4) in a slip-free manner;
• and
• yarn pull-off speed sensing means (7, 9) coupled to the yarn being removed from the yarn supply disk or drum (4) by the knitting feed under slip-free conditions, at a yarn pull-off speed determined by said knitting feed,
• said yarn speed sensing means (7, 9) sensing speed of the yarn being removed by said knitting feed and providing a yarn speed supply signal,
• wherein, in accordance with the invention,
• the rotatable yarn supply disk or drum (4) supplies the yarn under slip-free conditions and at a predetermined tension;
• the yarn speed sensing means (7, 9) are located, viewed in the direction of travel of the yarn being supplied, between the yarn supply disk or drum (4) and the knitting feed;
• and
• means (30, 31) for coupling the yarn speed supply signal to the speed controllable drive motor (6) and for controlling the speed of operation of the speed controllable drive motor in accordance with the yarn speed supply signal, and hence in accordance with the speed of the yarn being removed from the yarn supply disk or drum (4) by the knitting feed;
• and
• wherein the yarn (11), the yarn pull-off speed sensing means (7, 9), the drive motor (6) and the yarn supply disk or drum (4) coupled thereto form a closed control loop.