Apparatus for automatically transporting textile laps to a comber

In combination with a textile comber having a plurality of generally aligned work stations each adapted for supporting a textile lap thereat, apparatus for automatically transporting textile laps wound on supporting tubes to the work stations of the comber, said transporting apparatus comprising a lap storage station for storing a plurality of laps in a serial arrangement, an elevated bridge structure movable between the lap storage station and the comber, a trolley movable along the bridge structure transversely with respect to the direction of movement of the bridge structure for movement along the aligned work stations of the comber, a drive motor associated with the trolley for actuating movement thereof, a lap gripping device having gripping elements for gripping engagement with the supporting tube of a lap to be transported, a lifting device supporting the lap gripping device in suspended relation from the trolley, a drive motor associated with the lifting device for lowering the lifting device to position the lap gripping device for engaging a lap to be transported at the storage station and for depositing the lap at the comber and for raising the lifting device during transport between the storage station and the comber, a first sensor associated with the lap gripping device for detecting the presence of a lap at the lap storage station and generating a corresponding signal, another sensor associated with the lap gripping device for detecting the presence of the supporting tube of a lap and generating a corresponding signal, and a controller for receiving the signals generated by the sensors, the controller being associated with the drive motor of the trolley for positioning of the lap gripping device centrally with respect to the detected lap and the controller being associated with the drive motor of the lifting device for positioning the gripping elements of the lap gripping device at generally the center of the detected tube.