Yarn joining assembly for automatic yarn piecing apparatus

Claim 2

In an automatic yarn piecing apparatus servicing a textile spinning frame or like machine having drafting means at which yarn issued therefrom is adapted to be joined by said apparatus with yarn extending to a bobbin of said machine, an improved yarn joining assembly comprising: a frame movable forwardly toward and rearwardly away from said drafting means; engageable and disengageable yarn clamping means carried by said frame; a yarn joining roller element carried by said frame for forward movement therewith into abutment with said drafting means and for limited forward-rearward movement relative to said frame; and spring means upon said frame for biasing said roller element forwardly relative to said frame and for at times contacting and releasably securing said clamping means in engaged condition, said spring means being deflectable by rearward movement of said roller relative to said frame to a position permitting disengagement of said clamping means.

Claim 3

Apparatus as in claim 1, including detent means operatively connected to said clamping means, and wherein said spring means comprises a leaf spring element having an edge portion receivable by said detent means for releasably securing said clamping means in engaged condition.

Claim 4

Apparatus as in claim 1, wherein said clamping means includes a pair of clamping jaws, a bifurcate bracket pivotally connected adjacent one end to said frame and supporting one of said clamping jaws adjacent the other end thereof, adjustable stop means extending through a portion of said bracket intermediate its length and projecting into the path of pivotal movement thereof, and biasing means biasing said bracket into engagement with said stop means to resiliently maintain said one clamping jaw in a desired position of adjustment determined by said stop means.

Claim 5

Apparatus as in claim 1, including yarn cutting means cooperable with said clamping means, said cutting means including a substantially rigid blade element, and resilient means adjustably mounting said blade element upon said frame closely adjacent said clamping means.

Claim 6

Apparatus as in claim 4, wherein said clamping means includes a pair of clamping jaws, and said blade element is cooperable with a terminal edge of oNe of said clamping jaws.

Claim 7

Apparatus as in claim 1, including a control shaft mounted upon said frame for rotation about its axis, a yarn-tension control arm affixed to one end of said shaft for pivotal movement of said arm in unison with rotation of said shaft, a cam lever affixed to the other end of said shaft for at times imparting rotation to it, and a coil spring encircling an intermediate portion of said shaft and exerting a predetermined drag force tending to oppose rotation of said shaft.

Claim 8

Apparatus as in claim 6, wherein said clamping means includes a pair of clamping jaws, a rocker shaft carried by said frame for rotation about its axis, an arm secured to one end of said rocker shaft and mounting one of said clamping jaws for movement toward and away from the other of said jaws in response to rotation of said rocker shaft, a second cam lever carried by said control shaft for free rotation about its axis, and motion-transmitting linkage means interconnecting said second cam lever and the other end of said rocker shaft.

Claim 9

Apparatus as in claim 7, wherein said linkage means includes a yoke element secured to said other end of said rocker shaft, and a stud element carried by said second cam lever and received by said yoke element.

Claim 10

Apparatus as in claim 7, including spring means biasing said rocker shaft in a rotative direction tending to move said one clamping jaw away from said other jaw.

Claim 11

Apparatus as in claim 7, including cam follower elements carried respectively by each of said cam levers and extending therefrom toward the other of said levers in generally parallel and overlapping relationship to one another, and further including a pin element carried by one of said cam levers for at times engaging the other of said levers and thereby causing rotation of said levers in unison with one another about the axis of said control shaft.

Claim 12

In an automatic yarn piecing apparatus servicing a textile spinning frame or like machine having drafting means at which yarn issued therefrom is adapted to be joined by said apparatus with yarn extending to a bobbin of said machine, said apparatus including a mobile carriage disposed forwardly of said machine, an improved yarn joining assembly for said apparatus comprising: a frame; means on said carriage mounting said frame for movement relative to said carriage forwardly toward and rearwardly away from said drafting means; engageable and disengageable yarn clamping means carried by said frame for movement with and relative to it; yarn-tension control means carried by said frame for movement with and relative to it; and means for moving said clamping means and said tension control means relative to said frame, including a control shaft upon said frame, a pair of cam levers mounted in adjacent relationship to one another upon said control shaft for rotation about its axis, a pair of cam follower elements carried respectively by each of said cam levers and extending therefrom toward the other of said levers in generally parallel and overlapping relationship to each other, and a cam element mounted upon said carriage for engagement with both of said cam follower elements during movement of said frame forwardly toward said drafting means.

Claim 13

In an automatic yarn piecing apparatus servicing a textile spinning frame or like machine having drafting means at which yarn issued therefrom is adapted to be joined by said apparatus with yarn extending to a bobbin of said machine, said apparatus including a mobile carriage disposed forwardly of said machine, an improved yarn joining assembly for said apparatus comprising: a frame; means on said carriage mounting said frame for movement relative to said carriage forwardly toward and rearwardly away from said drafting means; engageable and disengageable yarn clamping means carried by said frame for movement with and relative to it; yarn-tension control means carried by said frame for movement with and relative to it; and means for moving said clamping means and said tension control means relative to said frame, including a control shaft upon said frame, a pair of cam levers mounted in adjacent relationship to one another upon said control shaft for rotation about its axis, a pair of cam follower elements carried respectively by each of said cam levers and extending therefrom toward the other of said levers in generally parallel and overlapping relationship to each other, and a cam element mounted upon said carriage for engagement with both of said cam follower elements during movement of said frame forwardly toward said drafting means.

Claim 14

Apparatus as in claim 11, wherein said yarn-tension control means includes a tension control arm, said arm and one of said cam levers being affixed to said shaft for movement in unison about the axis thereof, the other of said cam levers being carried by said shaft for rotation relative to it and said first cam lever, and a pin element carried by said one cam lever for engagement at times by said other cam lever to thereby rotate said one cam lever in unison with said other cam lever.

Claim 15

Apparatus as in claim 12, wherein said yarn clamping means includes a pair of clamping jaws, a rocker shaft carried by said frame for rotation about its axis, an arm secured to said rocker shaft and mounting one of said clampinG jaws for movement toward and away from the other of said clamping jaws in response to rotation of said rocker shaft, a yoke element secured to said rocker shaft, and a stud element carried by said other cam lever and received by said yoke element for transmitting movement between said rocker shaft and said other cam lever.

Claim 16

Apparatus as in claim 11, wherein said means mounting said frame movement toward and away from said drafting means includes a shaft extending generally parallel to said drafting means and mounted upon said carriage for rotation about its axis, a support arm connected at one end to said carriage shaft and supporting said frame at its other end for pivotal movement with said support arm in response to rotation of said carriage shaft, biasing means upon said carriage connected to said carriage shaft and biasing the same in a direction for moving said support arm and said frame away from said drafting means, and linkage means upon said carriage for rotating said carriage shaft in a direction moving said support arm and said frame toward said drafting rolls.

Claim 17

In an automatic yarn piecing apparatus servicing a textile spinning frame or like machine having yarn drafting rolls, said apparatus including a carriage disposed forwardly of said drafting rolls, and a yarn joining assembly adapted during a piecing operation to join together yarn issuing from said drafting rolls and yarn extending to a bobbin of said machine, the improvement comprising: an elongate support member supporting said assembly adjacent one end thereof; means mounting said support member adjacent its other end upon said carriage for multidirectional movement of said member and said assembly relative to said carriage forwardly toward, rearwardly away from, and generally parallel to said drafting rolls; and cam means for moving said support member generally parallel to said drafting rolls, during movement of said support member toward said drafting rolls, as required to align said assembly with yarn issuing from said drafting rolls.

Claim 18

In an automatic yarn piecing apparatus servicing a textile spinning frame or like machine having yarn drafting rolls, said apparatus including a carriage disposed forwardly of said drafting rolls, and a yarn joining assembly adapted during a piecing operation to join together yarn issuing from said drafting rolls and yarn extending to a bobbin of said machine, the improvement comprising: an elongate support member supporting said assembly adjacent one end thereof; means mounting said support member adjacent its other end upon said carriage for multidirectional movement of said member and said assembly relative to said carriage forwardly toward, rearwardly away from, and generally parallel to said drafting rolls; and cam means for moving said support member generally parallel to said drafting rolls, during movement of said support member toward said drafting rolls, as required to align said assembly with yarn issuing from said drafting rolls.

Claim 19

Apparatus as in claim 15, wherein said cam means comprises cooperating cam elements, one of said elements being carried by said spinning machine adjacent said drafting rolls and the other of said elements being carried by said support member adjacent said other end thereof for engagement with said one element during movement of said support member toward said drafting rolls.

Claim 20

Apparatus as in claim 16, including means mounting at least one of said elements for forward-rearward movement between extended and retracted positions, and biasing means normally urging said movable element to said extended position thereof and permitting its yielding movement to its said retracted position under the impetus of engagement between said elements.

Claim 21

Apparatus as in claim 15, wherein said support member mounting means includes a shaft mounted upon said carriage for rotation about its axis and extending generally parallel to said drafting rolls, said support member being connected to said shaft for pivotal movement in response to rotation thereof and for linear movement longitudinally of said shaft.

Claim 22

Apparatus as in claim 15, including return means for during movement of said support member away from said drafting rolls returning said support member generally parallel of said drafting rolls to a normal inoperative position.

Claim 23

In an automatic yarn piecing apparatus servicing a textile spinning frame or like machine having yarn drafting rolls, said apparatus including a carriage disposed forwardly of said drafting rolls, and a yarn joining assembly adapted during a piecing operation to join together yarn issuing from said drafting rolls and yarn extending to a bobbin of said machine, the improvement comprising: a shaft mounted upon said carriage in generally parallel relationship to said drafting rolls for rotation about its axis; an elongate support arm connected adjacent one end to said shaft for movement longItudinally thereof and for pivotal movement about the axis of said shaft in response to rotation thereof; said yarn joining assembly being supported by said arm adjacent its other end for pivotal movement therewith toward and away from said drafting rolls; first cam means for moving said support arm longitudinally of said shaft as required to align said assembly with yarn issuing from said drafting rolls, said cam means including cooperating elements respectively carried by said spinning machine and said support arm for engagement with one another during pivotal movement of said support arm and said assembly toward said drafting rolls; and second cam means for moving said arm longitudinally of said shaft as required to return said assembly to a normal inoperative position, said second cam means including cooperating elements respectively carried by said carriage and said support arm for engagement with one another during pivotal movement of said support arm and said assembly away from said drafting rolls.

Claim 24

In an automatic yarn piecing apparatus servicing a textile spinning frame or like machine having yarn drafting rolls, said apparatus including a carriage disposed forwardly of said drafting rolls, and a yarn joining assembly adapted during a piecing operation to join together yarn issuing from said drafting rolls and yarn extending to a bobbin of said machine, the improvement comprising: a shaft mounted upon said carriage in generally parallel relationship to said drafting rolls for rotation about its axis; an elongate support arm connected adjacent one end to said shaft for movement longItudinally thereof and for pivotal movement about the axis of said shaft in response to rotation thereof; said yarn joining assembly being supported by said arm adjacent its other end for pivotal movement therewith toward and away from said drafting rolls; first cam means for moving said support arm longitudinally of said shaft as required to align said assembly with yarn issuing from said drafting rolls, said cam means including cooperating elements respectively carried by said spinning machine and said support arm for engagement with one another during pivotal movement of said support arm and said assembly toward said drafting rolls; and second cam means for moving said arm longitudinally of said shaft as required to return said assembly to a normal inoperative position, said second cam means including cooperating elements respectively carried by said carriage and said support arm for engagement with one another during pivotal movement of said support arm and said assembly away from said drafting rolls.