US 5,277,295 AGranted

Textile article removal apparatus for removing textile articles from supported dispositions on the posts of support members

AssigneeW. Schlafhorst AG & Co.

InventorsHans Grecksch, Heinz Buhren, Dieter Vits, Manfred Hauers

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Abstract

An apparatus removes textile articles such as empty tubes or full yarn packages from the individual posts on which such articles are supported simultaneous with advancing movement of the posts. The textile articles are removed in a direction generally parallel to the axis of the posts so that during removal detrimental binding of the textile article relative to the post does not occur. According to one aspect of the invention, at least one pair of endless belts are mounted in spaced, parallel relation to one another to form an elongate opening therebetween. The elongate opening is aligned with the travel path of the textile articles being advanced on the posts so that the textile articles automatically enter the elongate opening and are engaged by the endless belts without the need to stop or otherwise control the advancing movement of the textile articles. In another aspect of the invention, a pair of spaced, parallel elongate rollers are provided, the elongate rollers being rotated in opposite directions to effect removal of a textile article which has been advanced into the elongate opening formed between the rollers. The textile article removal apparatus preferably also includes a collection assembly for collecting removed textile articles in an orderly manner and an assembly for transporting loads of removed textile articles to a location for further handling.

Claims13

Dependent claims

An apparatus for removing textile articles from supported dispositions on support members, each textile article being a substantially rigid tube or a substantially rigid tube having textile strand material built thereon and each support member having a post for supporting a tube inserted thereon in co-axial relation thereto, the apparatus comprising:

means for advancing the support members and the textile articles supported thereon along a travel path;
means for displacing a textile article in a direction generally parallel to the axis of the post on which it is supported as the support member advances along the travel path to thereby effect removal of the textile article form the post readily without inclination of the textile article relative to the post during the removal of the textile article sufficient to resist removal, said displacing means including a pair of opposed article engaging surfaces forming an elongate opening therebetween and means for supporting said opposed article engaging surfaces with the elongate opening aligned with a portion of the travel path for entry of textile articles into the elongate opening during advancing movement of the support members along the travel path, the pair of opposed article engaging surfaces engaging each textile article advancing along the travel path and displacing it outwardly beyond its associated post as the post is advanced along the aligned portion of the travel path, said displacing means including a first movable member forming the at least one opposed article engaging surface and a second movable member forming the other opposed article engaging surface and means for synchronously moving the first and second movable members along a movement path which diverges at an acute angle from the travel path relative to the direction of advancing of the support members along the travel path such that the opposed article engaging surfaces compressively retain each textile article therebetween in a substantially non-twisting manner with the tube of the textile article remaining in co-axial relation to the support member as the article engaging surfaces are moved along the movement path at an ever widening spacing from the travel path, thereby removing the textile article from its associated post;
and
means for mounting at least one of the pair of opposed article engaging surfaces for resilient movement thereof in a direction transverse to the longitudinal extent of the elongate opening, the at least one opposed article engaging surface and the other opposed article engaging surface forming the elongate opening with a width extent transverse to the travel path slightly less than the corresponding width of the textile article which enters the elongate opening, the mounting means being operable to bias the at least one opposed engaging surface yieldably inwardly toward the other surface for compressive engagement of a textile article therebetween.

1 more element

means for advancing the support members and the textile articles supported thereon along a travel path including means for advancing the support members with their post axes in a horizontal plane and further comprising an assembly for arranging the removed textile articles in a predetermined arrangement following their removal from the posts of the support members including means forming a first retaining area for retaining a predetermined number of textile articles in a predetermined arrangement therein and means forming a second retaining area for retaining a predetermined number of textile articles therein in a predetermined arrangement, the second retaining area having a capacity to retain at least twice as many textile articles as the first retaining area, and the means forming the second retaining area being mounted relative to the means forming the first retaining area for receiving therefrom loads of textile articles;
and means for displacing a textile article in a direction generally parallel to the axis of the post on which it is supported as the support member advances along the travel path to thereby effect removal of the textile article from the post readily without inclination of the textile article relative to the post during the removal of the textile article sufficient to resist removal, said displacing means including a pair of opposed article engaging surfaces forming an elongate opening therebetween and means for supporting said opposed article engaging surfaces with the elongate opening aligned with a portion of the travel path for entry of textile articles into the elongate opening during advancing movement of the support members along the travel path, the pair of opposed article engaging surfaces engaging each textile article advancing along the travel path and displacing it outwardly beyond its associated post as the post is advanced along the aligned portion of the travel path.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.