Creel

Claim 2

A creel for holding a plurality of spools of filamentary matter wound thereon in position for pay out of said filamentary matter from said spools comprising a plurality of take-off elements, a plurality of spool holders, and mounting means securing said spool holders in a plurality of generally arcuate arrays about said take-off elements, said spool holders extending generally horizontally from said mounting means and being disposed generally radially of said arcuate array, said plurality of arcuate arrays being disposed in generally staggered back-toback relation with their respective take-off elements disposed outwardly of said creel thereby exposing said spool holders for ready access thereto for loading spools thereon.

Claim 3

A creel for holding a plurality of spools having filamentary matter wound thereon in position for pay out of said filamentary matter from said spools comprising a structural framework including a plurality of upright standards, a plurality of brackets for receiving said spools, each of said brackets comprising a generally U-shaped member secured to a standard in positions spaced about 120* apart around said standard at a given vertical level thereon, each of said brackets having its base oriented toward said standard and having its leg portions extending from said standard in a generally horizontal direction to present the leg portions of said bracket in position to receive said spools, said brackets on adjacent standards cooperating to define a generally semicircular array of bracket legs, each of said bracket legs of an array being directed generally along a radius of said semicircular array, and a take-off element disposed in close proximity to the focus of each of said semicircular arrays for receiving said filamentary matter from said spools of the respective array.

Claim 4

A creel for holding a plurality of spools having filamentary matter wound thereon in position for pay out of said filamentary matter from said spools comprising a structural framework including a plurality of upright standards, a plurality of brackets for receiving said spools, each of said brackets comprising a generally U-shaped member secured to a standard in positions spaced about 120* apart around said standard at a given vertical level thereon, each of said brackets having its base oriented toward said standard and having its leg portions extending from said standard in a generally horizontal direction to present the leg portions of said bracket in position to receive said spools, said brackets on adjacent standards cooperating to define a generally semicircular array of bracket legs, each of said bracket legs of an array being directed generally along a radius of said semicircular array, and a take-off element disposed in close proximity to the focus of each of said semicircular arrays for receiving said filamentary matter from said spools of the respective array.

Claim 5

The creel of claim 2 wherein each of said semicircular arrays includes three brackets, each of which contributes two leg portions to the array for receiving a maximum of six spools of yarn per array.

Claim 6

The creel of claim 2 wherein each of said U-shaped brackets is fixedly secured to its respective standard in the approximate center of the base portion of said bracket.

Claim 7

The creel of claim 4 wherein said brackets are joined one to another at their respective joinders between their respective base portions and their respective leg portions.

Claim 8

The creel of claim 2 wherein each bracket grouping comprises three brackets and only one bracket of each tripartite group of brackets around a standard cooperates with only one bracket of each of two other tripartite groups of brackets on two adjacent standards to define a semicircular array comprising three brackets.

Claim 9

The creel of claim 6 including a plurality of semicircular arrays disposed in staggered back-to-back relationship with alternate arrays opening outwardly toward opposite sides of said creel.

Claim 10

The creel of claim 2 including a plurality of tripartite bracket groups disposed at different vertical levels along each standard thereby developing a plurality of vertically spaced semicircular arrays per each given unit of horizontal area occupied by said creel.

Claim 11

In a creel for storing spools of yarn for feeding to a textile machine, the improvement comprising a bracket for receiving a pair of spoOls of yarn, said bracket comprising a generally U-shaped elongated member having a central base portion and a leg portion integrally formed with each of the ends of said base portion, said base portion being bent to define an angle of about 130*, and wherein each of said leg portions extends from its respective end of said base portion to define an angle of about 100* between said leg portion and its respective end of said base portion.

Claim 12

In a creel for storing spools of yarn for feeding to a textile machine, the improvement comprising a bracket for receiving a pair of spoOls of yarn, said bracket comprising a generally U-shaped elongated member having a central base portion and a leg portion integrally formed with each of the ends of said base portion, said base portion being bent to define an angle of about 130*, and wherein each of said leg portions extends from its respective end of said base portion to define an angle of about 100* between said leg portion and its respective end of said base portion.

Claim 13

The improved creel of claim 9 including a plurality of upright standards, each of which receives at a given vertical level thereon a plurality of said brackets at positions spaced about 120* apart around said standard, the central base portion of each of said brackets facing said standard and the leg portions of said brackets extending from said standard in a generally horizontal direction.

Claim 14

The improved creel of claim 9 wherein the adjacent base portions of each of said brackets spaced around said standard at a given vertical level are joined one to another.

Claim 15

The improved creel of claim 9 wherein the adjacent base portions of each of said brackets spaced around said standard at a given vertical level are integrally formed one to another.

Claim 16

The improved creel of claim 10 wherein said bracket includes a central sleeve to which is fixedly secured the base portion of each of said plurality of brackets, said sleeve being adapted to encircle one of said standards and secure said attached brackets at a given vertical level on said standard.