Doffed package transporting apparatus

Claim 1

An apparatus for transporting and lifting doffed packages doffed on and discharged from a spinning frame, comprising: a main conveyor for conveying packages doffed on and discharged from a spinning frame, a sub conveyor onto which the packages conveyed by said main conveyor are transferred, a following package sensor for detecting a following package conveyed by said main conveyor to stop the running of said main conveyor when a forwardmost package is present on the sub conveyor, located at a position spaced a prescribed distance from said hub conveyor over said main conveyor such that no two packages are present on the sub conveyor at the same time, a sub conveyor package sensor, located over said sub conveyor, for detecting a forwardmost package, a lifter, operable to raise the forwardmost package after detection of the forwardmost package by said second sensor, for lifting and transporting the forwardmost package on said sub conveyor, and a lift completion sensor for monitoring operation of said lifter to detect completion of a lifting and transporting operation for the forwardmost package; wherein said lifter comprises a lifting apparatus having at one end thereof a stand seat for receiving a package thereon and having at the opposite end thereof a direction changing device including a cam follower urged to be rotated in a horizontal direction, a driving device for driving said lifting apparatus to move up and down, and a direction changing guide disposed for contact with said cam follower during the up and down movements of said lifting apparatus to rotate said seat a predetermined angle; and wherein said lifting apparatus includes a main shaft having at one end thereof the stand seat and having at the lower end thereof the direction changing device and two guide shafts arranged parallel to the main shaft, a sliding portion of said direction changing device being slidably supported on the guide shafts.

Claim 2

An apparatus for transporting and lifting doffed packages doffed on and discharged from a spinning frame, comprising: a main conveyor for conveying packages doffed on and discharged from a spinning frame, a sub conveyor onto which the packages conveyed by said main conveyor are transferred, a following package sensor for detecting a following package conveyed by said main conveyor to stop the running of said main conveyor when a forwardmost package is present on the sub conveyor, located at a position spaced a prescribed distance from said hub conveyor over said main conveyor such that no two packages are present on the sub conveyor at the same time, a sub conveyor package sensor, located over said sub conveyor, for detecting a forwardmost package, a lifter, operable to raise the forwardmost package after detection of the forwardmost package by said second sensor, for lifting and transporting the forwardmost package on said sub conveyor, and a lift completion sensor for monitoring operation of said lifter to detect completion of a lifting and transporting operation for the forwardmost package; wherein said lifter comprises a lifting apparatus having at one end thereof a stand seat for receiving a package thereon and having at the opposite end thereof a direction changing device including a cam follower urged to be rotated in a horizontal direction, a driving device for driving said lifting apparatus to move up and down, and a direction changing guide disposed for contact with said cam follower during the up and down movements of said lifting apparatus to rotate said seat a predetermined angle; and wherein said lifting apparatus includes a main shaft having at one end thereof the stand seat and having at the lower end thereof the direction changing device and two guide shafts arranged parallel to the main shaft, a sliding portion of said direction changing device being slidably supported on the guide shafts.

Claim 7

An apparatus for transporting and lifting doffed yarn packages doffed on and discharged from a spinning frame, comprising: a main conveyor for conveying packages doffed on and discharged from a spinning frame; a sub conveyor onto which the packages conveyed by the main conveyor are transferred; following package sensor control means for detecting, after a leading package has passed on to the sub conveyor, the presence of a following package on the main conveyor at a predetermined distance from the sub conveyor and for controlling stopping of the main conveyor to maintain said distance, where the distance is selected such that the leading package and following package are not present on the sub conveyor at the same time; sub conveyor package sensor control means for detecting the leading package at the end of the sub conveyor; a lifter for lifting and transporting the leading package in response to the detection of the leading package by the sub conveyor package sensor control means; lift completion sensor control means for detecting completion of the lifter operation and for controlling the restarting of the main conveyor in response thereto; sub conveyor transport sensor control means for detecting the transportation of a leading package from the main conveyor to the sub conveyor and for stopping the main conveyor in response thereto, wherein the sub conveyor package sensor control means controls restart of the main conveyor on detecting the leading package at the end of the sub conveyor; and acceptable package sensor control means for determining whether the leading package on the sub conveyor is between a predetermined maximum and minimum size, said acceptable package sensor control means including upper and lower pairs of photoelectric detecting sensors arranged such that the light path of both pairs is intercepted if a package is excessively wound, while the light path of neither pair is intercepted if the package is insufficiently wound, the package otherwise being of an acceptable size for transportation by the lifter.

Claim 8

An apparatus for transporting and lifting doffed yarn packages doffed on and discharged from a spinning frame, comprising: a main conveyor for conveying packages doffed on and discharged from a spinning frame; a sub conveyor onto which the packages conveyed by the main conveyor are transferred; following package sensor control means for detecting, after a leading package has passed on to the sub conveyor, the presence of a following package on the main conveyor at a predetermined distance from the sub conveyor and for controlling stopping of the main conveyor to maintain said distance, where the distance is selected such that the leading package and following package are not present on the sub conveyor at the same time; sub conveyor package sensor control means for detecting the leading package at the end of the sub conveyor; a lifter for lifting and transporting the leading package in response to the detection of the leading package by the sub conveyor package sensor control means; lift completion sensor control means for detecting completion of the lifter operation and for controlling the restarting of the main conveyor in response thereto; sub conveyor transport sensor control means for detecting the transportation of a leading package from the main conveyor to the sub conveyor and for stopping the main conveyor in response thereto, wherein the sub conveyor package sensor control means controls restart of the main conveyor on detecting the leading package at the end of the sub conveyor; and acceptable package sensor control means for determining whether the leading package on the sub conveyor is between a predetermined maximum and minimum size, said acceptable package sensor control means including upper and lower pairs of photoelectric detecting sensors arranged such that the light path of both pairs is intercepted if a package is excessively wound, while the light path of neither pair is intercepted if the package is insufficiently wound, the package otherwise being of an acceptable size for transportation by the lifter.