Title of Invention

A SYSTEM FOR CONTINUOUS MEASUREMENT OF MASS VARIATIONAL OF MOVING TEXTILE MATERILAS IN TEXTILE MACHINERIES

Abstract

ABSTRACT A system for online continuous measurement of mass variation of moving textile material using a condenser unit having a conically shaped passage comprising a broader entry and a narrower exit for the sliver material, accommodating a strain gauge sensor, the strain gauge sensor head portion adapted to deflect based upon the amount of compressed textile material flowing therethrough said conical passage being indicative of the variation in the mass of said sliver material. The system is simple and cost effective for online continuous measurement of mass variation of moving textile materials in textile machineries such as condenser units/trumpet with minor modification. The system is easily obtainable and highly effective in determining mass variation and allied textile parameters. Te- The Controllor of Patonts The Patent Office- M Pfthnnni

Full Text

The present invention relates to a system for on-line continuous measurement oY mass variations of moving textile material. Measurement of mass variation in a textile material is important at every stage to ascertain the quality of the material being produced. There are various parameters which indicate the mass variations present in the material viz. Univenness %, CV %, of various cut length etc. The general practice is to measure these parameters off¬line in a laboratory. With this method one cannot be sure that all the material that is produced is of the required standard. This is more significant in the case of sliver material produced at the draw frame and comber stages of the textile process as one meter of sliver results in yarn of more than one hundred meter in length. Also a small length of defective material is sufficient to produce a bad fabric. US Patent No. 4,864,853 disclosing an online apparatus for continuous measurement of mass variations in textile machinery which comprise of a measuring member arranged thereon a compression member of the textile machinery for measuring the thickness of fibre sliver passing through a measuring duct specially provided on said measuring member. Importantly, the said patent teaches the provision of a specially developed measuring member having said measuring duct formed in alignment with the passage for said textile material in said compression member and having a measuring device comprising a leaf spring positioned essentially transverse to the direction of travel of the fibre sliver in said measuring duct. As would be evident from the construction of the apparatus of said US patent 4,864,853 the same involves provision of a specially developed measuring member having a measuring duct and the provision of measuring device in the form of a leaf spring positioned essentially transverse to the flow of textile material in said duct which necessarily involves complications in manufacture and obtaining of the measuring apparatus. It is thus the basic object of the invention to provide for a simple and cost effective system for online continuous measurement of mass variations of moving textile materials in textile machinery such as the condenser units/trumpets with minor modifications in the known machinery/equipment. Another object of the present invention is to provide for online continuous measurement mass variation in textile machine by way of a system which can be easily obtained and at the same time will be highly effective in determine mass variation and allied textile parameters. Yet further object of the present invention is directed to provide for an online system for continuous measurement of mass variation in textile machinery which can be obtained of minor modifications of conventional condenser/trumpet of textile machineries and adaption of known sensor means for such purposes thereby making the system simple to obtain and cost effective. Yet further object is directed to provide a system in textile machine whereby it would be possible to measure the various quality parameters continuously on line in a textile process. Thus according to the present invention there is provided a system for continuous measurement of mass variations of moving textile materials in textile machineries comprising: a condenser unit of said textile machinery having a conically shaped passage comprising a broader entry and a narrower exit for the sliver material, said condenser unit adapted to accommodate a strain gauge sensor such that the head of said strain gauge sensor atleast partially projects internally into said conical passage adjacent the said narrower exit of said condenser unit; said strain gauge sensor head portion adapted to deflect based upon the amount of compressed textile material flowing therethrough said conical passage and the consequential deflection of said protruding head of said strain gauge sensor; said deflection of the strain gauge sensor head portion being indicative of the variation in the mass of said sliver material. In both the draw frames and comber machines known in the textile industry, after the required process of drafting or combing is completed, the sliver material is compressed in a Condenser often called as a Trumpet. Based on the Hank of the material being produced, the size of the condenser used is changed. The condenser in a way is the last point in the machine wherein the quality parameters of the material can be measured. In the above described system of invention the strain gauge sensor is fixed removably with this condenser. This has been achieved by modifying the condenser body to accommodate the strain gauge sensor. The basic sensor used in a strain gauge sensor on account of its excellent long term stability and ruggedness. The system of the invention is described hereunder in greater detail with reference to non-limiting exemplary embodiments desclosed hereunder with reference to the accompanying figures when : Fig. 1a is a top view of a condenser unit modified to accommodate the strain gauge sensor in accordance with the system of the invention. Fig. 1b is a front view of a condenser unit modified to accommodate the strain gauge sensor in accordance with the system of the invention. Fig. 2a is a section along BB' of Fig. la. Fig. 2b is a section along AA' of fig la. Fig. 3a to 3d are schematic representations of the cap used to support the strain gauge sensor in the system of the invention. Fig. la shows the top view and lb the front view of the Condenser unit modified to accommodate the strain gauge sensor. IJp^he condenser body. The strain gauge | sensor 2 is located in the slot 6 in the condenser body. The strain guage sensor is securely positioned in the slot 6 by four locating pins 3 and with a cap 11 (fig 3) on top. Fig 2 shows the sectional view of the condenser body. The sliver material enters the condenser unit through the conical passage 7 and exits from the point 8. The sliver unit is compressed in the region 9 of the condenser unit. This region is accordingly referred to as the compression zone or the measurement zone as it is in this compression region that the measurement by the strain gauge sensor takes place. The head 10 of the strain gauge sensor projects out in the compression zone 9. The compressed sliver material passes over the head of the strain gauge sensor which in turn causes it to deflect. This deflection is proportional to the amount of sliver present in the compression zone. This deflection of the strain gauge results in a change in the output voltage of the strain gauge sensor. The output of the strain gauge is typically of the order of milli volts and thus needs to be amplified to a suitable level to enable further processing. In the normal course one would have an amplifier separately mounted. This has lot of drawn backc as the external amplifier picks up noise from the machine. Further the wires which carry the signals from the strain gauge to the amplifier have to be carefully routed in the machiner to avoid pick up of noise, also extending wires could result in the signals getting dropped and result in improper measurement. These problems have been overcome in the system by building the amplifier circuit on the strain gaugesensor itself. During the normal functioning of the device in the textile machine it is possible that a very thick material enters the condenser body, this could lead to the material getting chocked in the compression zone. This causes the deflection of the strain gauge sensor much more than its rated load capacity, which in turn could lead to permanent damage to the strain gauge. This is prevented by the specially developed cap 11 shown in greater detail in Fig. 3. The cap not only helps in securing the sensor in the condenser body in one axis but also in preventing the deflection of the strain gauge more than its maximum load rating. The passage of sliver material over the head 10 in the compression zone 9 causes fluff accumulation in and around the head of the strain gauge. Excessive accumulation of fluff can hinder the deflection of the strain gauge and thus results in improper measurement. To overcome this an air nozzle is provided on the condenser body, which blows compressed air near the head. A mild blow of compressed air is given at the inlet 4. The air comes out through the nozzle outlet 5, which is just adjacent to the head 10. Figure 4 provides a detailed assembly view with the strain gauge sensor (2) fixed on to the condenser body (1) with the cap. The assembly comprises screw (12), spring washer (13) and washer plain (14) to secure the cap to the condenser body (1). The strain gauge sensor (2) is connected to a sensor cable (15). The cap (11) facilitates the easy fixing and removal of the strain gauge sensor (2) to the condenser body (1). The cap (11) also serves the purpose of retaining the sensitive strain gauge sensor in the same position. Additionally, the construction of cap (11) prevents the excessive deflection of the strain gauge sensor (2) and hence its subsequent failure, by acting as a stopper on the maximum deflection lead. The output of the strain gauge sensor is fed to a control unit which houses the necessary electronics which calculates all the various unevenness parameters. The control unit also measures the delivery speed of the machine to determine the rate at which the signals from the sensor need to be sampled. The control unit has a display unit to display the various calculated parameters and a keyboard to provide a user interface. With this it is possible to program the unit to stop the machine when the quality of the material produced deviates a preset value. We claim : 1. A system for continuous measurement of mass variations of moving textile materials In textile machineries comprising : a condenser unit of said textile machinery having a conically shaped passage comprising a broader entry and a narrower exit for the sliver material, said condenser unit adapted to accommodate a strain gauge sensor such that the head of said strain gauge sensor atleast partially projects internally into said conical passage adjacent the said narrower exit of said condenser unit; said strain gauge sensor head portion adapted to deflect based upon the amount of compressed textile material flowing therethrough said conical passage and the consequential deflection of said protruding head of said strain gauge sensor; said deflection of the strain gauge sensor head portion being indicative of the variation in the mass of said sliver material. 2. A system for continuous measurement of mass variations of moving textile materials as claimed in claim 1 wherein there is provided a slot externally on said condenser unit to secure said strain gauge sensor with the head portion of said strain gauge sensor only atleast partially projecting into said conically shaped internal passage of said condenser unit near the narrower end thereof. 3. A system for continuous measurement of mass variations of moving textile materials as claimed in anyone of claims 1 or 2 wherein said strain gauge sensor is removably secured to said condenser unit. 4. A system for continuous measurement of mass variations of moving textile materials as claimed in anyone of claims 1 to 3 wherein said strain gauge sensor is provided with support means to maintain the same in position and also to avoid deflection of the strain gauge beyond its maximum load rating. 5. A system for continuous measurement of mass variations of moving textile materials as claimed in anyone of claims 1 to 4 optionally comprising a compressor unit provided with means for supply of compressed air near the sensor head to facilitate cleaning of the sensor head as and when required. 6. A system for continuous measurement of mass variations of moving textile materials as claimed in claim 5 wherein said means for supplying of compressed air comprise air nozzle provided on the condenser unit body adapted to blow compressed air near the sensor head, said air nozzle having an outlet adjacent said sensor head in said condenser unit. 7. A system for continuous measurement of mass variations of moving textile materials as claimed in anyone of claims 1 to 6 said strain gauge sensor comprise means to measure the variation in output voltage of said strain gauge sensor as a measurement of mass variation of textile material flowing through said condenser unit. 8. A system for continuous measurement of mass variations of moving textile materials as claimed in anyone of claims 1 to 7 wherein said output of said stain gauge sensor is operatively connected to an amplifying means. 9. A system for continuous measurement of mass variations of moving textile materials as claimed in ayone of claims 1 to 8 wherein said amplifying means comprise an amplifier circutry provided on said stain gauge sensor. 10. A system for continuous measurement of mass variations of moving textile materials as claimed in anyone claims 1 to 9 wherein the output of said strain gauge sensor is operatively connected to a control unit comprising means for analyzing the stain gauge sensor valves. 11. A system for continuous measurement of mass variations of moving textile materials as claimed in claim 10 wherein said control unit comprise means for detecting various unevenness parameters. 12. A system for continuous measurement of mass variations of moving textile materials as claimed in claim 11 wherein said control unit comprise means to measure the speed of flow of said textile material through said condenser unit and means to determine the rate at which the signals from said strain gauge sensor need to be analysed. 1 • ' ' 13. A system for continuous measurement of mass variations of moving textite materials as claimed in anyone of claims 10 to 12 wherein said control unit comprise means for displaying of various calculated parameters and means for user interface. 14. A system for continuous measurement of mass variations of moving textile materials as claimed in anyone of claims 10 to 13 wherein said control unit is adapted to stop the inflow of said textile material through said condenser unit when the quality of material is beyond a preset value. 15. A system for continuous measurement of mass variations of moving textile materials as claimed in anyone of claims 1 to 14 wherein said condenser unit comprise condenser unit/trumpet of conventional textile machinery. 16. A system for continuous measurement of mass variations of moving textile materials as claimed in anyone of claims 1 to 15 wherein said condenser unit is obtained of atleast two separable parts. 17. A system for continuous measurement of mass variations of moving textile materials substantially as herein described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying figures.

Documents:

1019-mas-1999 abstract-duplicate.pdf

1019-mas-1999 abstract.pdf

1019-mas-1999 claims-duplicate.pdf

1019-mas-1999 claims.pdf

1019-mas-1999 correspondence-others.pdf

1019-mas-1999 correspondence-po.pdf

1019-mas-1999 description (complete)-duplicate.pdf

1019-mas-1999 description (complete).pdf

1019-mas-1999 drawings-duplicate.pdf

1019-mas-1999 drawings.pdf

1019-mas-1999 form-1.pdf

1019-mas-1999 form-19.pdf

1019-mas-1999 form-26.pdf

1019-mas-1999 form-3.pdf