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AssigneeGuilford Mills, Inc.
InventorsArne Nielsen, Majid Moghaddassi, Boris Vishnepolsky, Keith Smith
Estimating the term…
An apparatus for take-up of textile fabric from a fabric producing machine is equipped with a fabric take-up frame, a fabric take-up roll supported on the frame for fabric winding thereabout, and a variable speed drive motor arrangement for rotating the take-up roll. A transducer roll or other suitable arrangement monitors tension in the fabric between the fabric producing machine and the take-up frame and is associated with a microprocessor or other controller to adjust the drive motor speed as necessary to maintain fabric tension in accordance with a predetermined tension program as the fabric is wound on the take-up roll, either for purposes of maintaining constant fabric tension or programmed tension variation over the winding operation. The take-up frame is separable from and movable independently of the fabric producing machine for transporting a fabric after a take-up operation to a subsequent processing station without rewinding of the fabric. In other embodiments, the fabric producing machine may be disposed at an elevation directly above the take-up apparatus or vice versa.
In combination with a textile fabric producing machine, a fabric take-up apparatus comprising a fabric take-up frame, a fabric take-up roll supported on the frame for winding of fabric thereabout, means for variably driving rotation of the take-up roll, means for monitoring tension in the fabric between the fabric producing machine and the take-up frame, and means operatively associated with the tension monitoring means for controlling the driving means to maintain tension in the fabric according to a predetermined tension program as the fabric is wound on the take-up roll, wherein the tension monitoring means comprises a take-off roll adjacent the fabric producing machine for peripherally contacting the fabric and means associated with the take-off roll for detecting deflections of the take-off roll resulting from fabric tension fluctuations, and an applying means is arranged for peripherally applying the fabric to the take-up roll at a peripheral location thereon facing the take-off roll for reducing the distance of fabric travel between the take-off and take-up rolls, the take-up frame being separable from and movable independently of the fabric producing machine for transporting a fabric after a take-up operation to a subsequent processing station without rewinding of the fabric.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.