Apparatus for positioning a ring rail of a textile machine

In a textile machine such as a ring spinning machine or the like having a row of spindles, a plurality of ring rail supports and a ring rail, the ring rail including a plurality of aligned elongate ring rail segments, each ring rail segment carrying a plurality of rings, each ring being associated with a spindle and having a traveler for guiding yarn onto its associated spindle, and each ring rail support being vertically movable along a respective vertical guide, an apparatus for maintaining a ring rail segment at a predetermined position with respect to the spindles serviced by its rings, said apparatus comprising:

• a centering projection mounted on a selected one of the segment and one of its ring rail supports;
• a centering bore formed in the other of the segment and said one ring rail support, said centering bore being disposed at the intersection of a longitudinal axis generally parallel to the longitudinal edge of the segment and a lateral axis generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and generally parallel to the lateral edge of the segment, said centering bore being compatible configured with respect to said centering projection to relatively snugly receive said centering projection;
• a lateral guide projection mounted on a selected one of the segment and one of the ring rail supports;
• a lateral guide bore, formed in the other of the segment and said one ring rail support associated with said lateral guide projection, for receiving said lateral guide projection therein, said lateral guide bore having a cross-sectional extent longitudinally with respect to said segment and a transverse cross-sectional extent laterally with respect to said segment, said longitudinal extent of said lateral guide bore corresponding to a cross-sectional extent of said lateral guide projection longitudinally with respect to said segment such that said lateral guide projection is relatively snugly received therein and said lateral extent of said lateral guide bore being sufficiently greater than a cross-sectional extent of said lateral guide projection laterally with respect to said segment that said lateral guide projection is slidably movable along said lateral extent of said lateral guide bore, said lateral guide bore being located with its lateral extent generally aligned with said lateral axis through said centering bore;
• a longitudinal guide projection mounted on a selected one of the segment and the ring rail support other than said ring rail support associated with said lateral guide bore and projections;
• and
• a longitudinal guide bore, formed in the other of the segment and said other ring support, for receiving said longitudinal guide projection therein, said longitudinal guide bore having a cross-sectional extent laterally with respect to said segment and a transverse cross-sectional extent longitudinally with respect to said segment, said lateral extent of said longitudinal guide bore corresponding to a cross-sectional extent of said longitudinal guide projection laterally with respect to said segment such that said longitudinal guide projection is relatively snugly received therein, and said longitudinal extent of said longitudinal guide bore being sufficiently greater than a cross-sectional extent of said longitudinal guide projection longitudinally with respect to said segment that said longitudinal guide projection is slidably movable along said longitudinal extent of said longitudinal guide bore, said longitudinal guide bore being located with its longitudinal extent generally aligned with said longitudinal axis through said centering bore, whereby the segment is maintained at a predetermined position with respect to the spindles serviced by its rings while variations in its longitudinal and lateral extent which may occur due to temperature changes or the like are automatically accommodated.