Cloth winder drive

An electronic drive control system for use with winding machinery for winding continuous materials onto a package, such machinery having a primary framework through which there is a flow of materials to be wound onto a package, a winding shaft rotatably supported on such framework, and package support means for removably supporting a package onto which materials are to be wound in rotatable relationship with such winding shaft, said electronic drive control system comprising:

• an electronically controllable AC electric drive motor having a rotatable output shaft through which said drive motor provides drive power;
• drive coupling means for transmitting said drive power from said drive motor output shaft to the package support means of the winding machinery with which said drive control system is used;
• a rotatable sensing wheel associated with the flow of materials in the winding machinery framework and positioned in such flow relatively upstream from the package support means, and so as to be engaged by such materials as they flow thereby, said sensing wheel having a sensing shaft which is correspondingly rotated by such sensing wheel materials engagement;
• shaft sensing means for outputting a shaft signal indicative of the amount of sensing shaft rotation;
• materials sensing means for outputting a materials signal indicative of the presence of materials at said sensing wheel;
• count control means responsive to said shaft signal and said materials signal for determining whenever a predetermined amount of materials have passed over said sensing wheel and for outputting a full count control signal therefrom;
• run control means for outputting a winding start control signal whenever it is desired to wind a predetermined amount of materials onto a package placed on the package support means;
• inverter motor control means operatively interconnected with said drive motor and responsive to said winding start control signal and said full count control signal for driving said drive motor so as to wind said predetermined amount of materials onto a package by controllably rotating the package support means and thereafter for braking said drive motor so as to stop rotation of the package support means and for outputting a braking control signal;
• and
• sensing wheel braking means responsive to said braking control signal for stopping rotation of said sensing wheel a predetermined delay time after receiving said braking control signal, so that materials flowing through the winding machinery are safely handled at relatively high speeds of movement which being accurately sensed, whereby a winding machinery operator may safely and accurately automatically wind a predetermined amount of materials onto a package by operating said run control means.