Method of, and apparatus for standardizing slivers

Claim 1

A method for standardizing the cross section or weight per unit length of a sliver produced by a textile machine, comprising the steps of measuring the supply of material at the outlet of the machine, drafting the material subsequent to the measuring thereof, correcting long-term fluctuations in the supply of material at the inlet of the machine in response to the measured supply of material at the outlet of the machine, correcting short-term fluctuations in the material at the outlet of the machine in response to the measured supply of material by altering the draft thereof, supplying the sliver at the outlet of the machine to a coiling mechanism, and, in order to keep the speed of the coiling mechanism at a constant level, adjusting the difference between the variable rate of the short-term correction operation and the rate of travel of the sliver by supplying said sliver to a sliveR reservoir prior to delivery to said coiling mechanism, monitoring the filling level of the sliver reservoir and, as a result of such monitoring, controlling at least one of said correcting operations in such a way that the average filling level of the sliver reservoir remains constant.

Claim 2

A method for standardizing the cross section or weight per unit length of a sliver produced by a textile machine, comprising the steps of measuring the supply of material at the outlet of the machine, drafting the material subsequent to the measuring thereof, correcting long-term fluctuations in the supply of material at the inlet of the machine in response to the measured supply of material at the outlet of the machine, correcting short-term fluctuations in the material at the outlet of the machine in response to the measured supply of material by altering the draft thereof, supplying the sliver at the outlet of the machine to a coiling mechanism, and, in order to keep the speed of the coiling mechanism at a constant level, adjusting the difference between the variable rate of the short-term correction operation and the rate of travel of the sliver by supplying said sliver to a sliveR reservoir prior to delivery to said coiling mechanism, monitoring the filling level of the sliver reservoir and, as a result of such monitoring, controlling at least one of said correcting operations in such a way that the average filling level of the sliver reservoir remains constant.

Claim 4

An apparatus for standardizing the cross section or weight per unit length of the sliver produced by a textile machine which includes a feed roller, a main cylinder and a doffer, said apparatus comprising measuring means for measuring the cross section of the sliver at the output of said textile machine, first regulating means responsive to said measuring means for controlling the speed of the feed roller of said textile machine to correct long-term fluctuations in the supply of material received at the inlet end of the textile machine and second regulating means in the form of a drawing arrangement including a rear pair of cylinders connected to said textile machine to be driven therewith, a front pair of cylinders, and drive means responsive to said measuring means for driving said front pair of cylinders at a variable rate to correct short-term fluctuations in the material received at the outlet of said textile machine, a sliver reservoir receiving the sliver obtained from said second regulating means, detection means for generating a signal representative of the filling level of said sliver reservoir, control means responsive to the signal from said detection means for influencing at least one of said first and second regulating means in such a way that the filling level of the reservoir is maintained within a predetermined range, and a coiling mechanism receiving the sliver from said sliver reservoir and being connected to the doffer of said textile machine to be driven at the same speed therewith.

Claim 5

An apparatus for standardizing the cross section or weight per unit length of the sliver produced by a textile machine which includes a feed roller, a main cylinder and a doffer, said apparatus comprising measuring means for measuring the cross section of the sliver at the output of said textile machine, first regulating means responsive to said measuring means for controlling the speed of the feed roller of said textile machine to correct long-term fluctuations in the supply of material received at the inlet end of the textile machine and second regulating means in the form of a drawing arrangement including a rear pair of cylinders connected to said textile machine to be driven therewith, a front pair of cylinders, and drive means responsive to said measuring means for driving said front pair of cylinders at a variable rate to correct short-term fluctuations in the material received at the outlet of said textile machine, a sliver reservoir receiving the sliver obtained from said second regulating means, detection means for generating a signal representative of the filling level of said sliver reservoir, control means responsive to the signal from said detection means for influencing at least one of said first and second regulating means in such a way that the filling level of the reservoir is maintained within a predetermined range, and a coiling mechanism receiving the sliver from said sliver reservoir and being connected to the doffer of said textile machine to be driven at the same speed therewith.

Claim 11

An apparatus for standardizing the cross section or weight per unit length of the sliver produced by a textile machine which includes a feed roller, a main cylinder and a doffer, said apparatus comprising measuring means for measuring the cross section of the sliver at the output of said textile machine, first regulating means responsive to said measuring means for controlling the speed of the feed roller of said textile machine to correct long-term fluctuations in the supply of material received at the inlet end of the textile machine and second regulating means in the form of a drawing arrangement including a rear pair of cylinders connected to said textile machine to be driven therewith, a front pair of cylinders, and drive means responsive to said measuring meanS for driving said front pair of cylinders at a variable rate to correct short-term fluctuations in the material received at the outlet of said textile machine, a sliver reservoir receiving the sliver obtained from said second regulating means, a coiling mechanism receiving the sliver from said sliver reservoir and being connected to the doffer of said textile machine to be driven at the same speed therewith, a differential gear mechanism for integrating the difference in speed between said front and rear pairs of cylinders to control the speed of the sliver between the coiling mechanism and said front pair of cylinders of the drawing arrangement, means for controlling the length of sliver in said sliver reservoir and the rotational speed of said feed roller of the textile machine in response to the integral value obtained from said differential mechanism, and a pivotable rocker arm connected to said differential gear arrangement and carrying at least one roller around which said sliver passes so as to adjust the position of said rocker arm in accordance with the difference in speed between said front and rear pairs of cylinders.

Claim 12

An apparatus for standardizing the cross section or weight per unit length of the sliver produced by a textile machine which includes a feed roller, a main cylinder and a doffer, said apparatus comprising measuring means for measuring the cross section of the sliver at the output of said textile machine, first regulating means responsive to said measuring means for controlling the speed of the feed roller of said textile machine to correct long-term fluctuations in the supply of material received at the inlet end of the textile machine and second regulating means in the form of a drawing arrangement including a rear pair of cylinders connected to said textile machine to be driven therewith, a front pair of cylinders, and drive means responsive to said measuring meanS for driving said front pair of cylinders at a variable rate to correct short-term fluctuations in the material received at the outlet of said textile machine, a sliver reservoir receiving the sliver obtained from said second regulating means, a coiling mechanism receiving the sliver from said sliver reservoir and being connected to the doffer of said textile machine to be driven at the same speed therewith, a differential gear mechanism for integrating the difference in speed between said front and rear pairs of cylinders to control the speed of the sliver between the coiling mechanism and said front pair of cylinders of the drawing arrangement, means for controlling the length of sliver in said sliver reservoir and the rotational speed of said feed roller of the textile machine in response to the integral value obtained from said differential mechanism, and a pivotable rocker arm connected to said differential gear arrangement and carrying at least one roller around which said sliver passes so as to adjust the position of said rocker arm in accordance with the difference in speed between said front and rear pairs of cylinders.