Title of Invention

"AN INSTRUMENT TO MEASURE LINEAR DENSITY OF CONTINUOUS ELASTANE THREADS AND STRANDS"

Abstract This invention relates to an instrument to measure linear density of continuous elastane threads and strands comprising rpm (revolution per minute) unit (21), a wrap-reel unit (22), load cell and cutting unit (23) and thread supply unit (24) wherein rpm unit (21) comprises rpm display meter (1) housed inside a metallic box (2), a controller (3) connected to wrap reel (5) and to said rpm display mater; wrap-reel unit (22) comprises of a wrap-reel (5) mounted on shaft which is fixed to the metallic box (6), the said shaft being connected to a motor which rotates the said wrap-reel, said metallic box (6) being connected to another metallic box (7), a yarn transverse mechanism (8) mounted on the said metallic box (6), said metallic box (7) being provided with a load indicator (9) and a length counter meter (10), said load Indicator (9), power switch (11) with indicator and a motor switch (12) with indicator and wherein said load indicator has four buttons with one for tension setting, second for setting tension variation limits, third for time delay setting and fourth button being a start button. Load cell and cutting unit (23) comprises an adjustable tensioner (14) mounted on load cell (13) to generate required tension in the yarn, guide bars (15) to stretch and to prevent snarling in the yearn passing over it, guide bar (16) to guide the yarn passing over to said tensioner (14); cutting mechanism (17) connected to load cell (13) and load indicator (9), the said cutting mechanism getting actuated and carrying out cutting and discarding of the yarn when the tension of the yarn goes beyond the preset tension range; thread supply unit (4) comprising of metallic stand (18) provided with horizontal peg and a vertical metallic disc (19) fixed to the said stand by nut and bolt means and thread cone/bobbin (20) mounted over the disc (19).
Full Text FIELD OF INVENTION
The invention relates to an instrument to measure the linear density of continuous elastane threads and strands, which are elastic in nature and whose length is not stabilized.
PRIOR ART
Determination of linear density of continuous threads and strands especially of textile materials, is essential for various reasons. In the case of non-elastic threads such as cotton threads, polyester threads, it is determined by winding a specified length of the thread onto a circular reel (known as wrap reel) and then weighed. The wrap reel consists of a set of holders on which packages containing the threads are mounted. The threads are then passed through guides and suitably knotted to the circular reel. The circular reel is rotated either manually or with the help of a motor to wind specified length of the thread on the circular reel. In case of a manual rotation of the reel, the length of the thread is judged with the help of a counter; while in the case of motor driven reel an auto stop motion is incorporated so that the reel stops automatically after making predetermined number of revolutions.
The advantage of motor driven wrap reel is that the winding tension is uniform throughout the preparation of the sample as the reel rotates at a constant speed. In the case of manual rotation there is a possibility of variation of the speed of the reel and hence there is a possibility of
variation in winding tension during the preparation of the sample which may result in variation in the length of the sample prepared. In the case of non-elastic threads like cotton threads, polyester threads, this variation in the length due to variation in the winding tension is not significant.
In the case of elastic threads/strands, the tension plays a significant role in deciding the length of the material. In these materials, the tension varies not only because of variation in the speed of reel but also due to size and shape of the package. The size and shape of the package greatly influence the unwinding tension of the threads/strands. Therefore to determine the linear density, it is absolutely essential to maintain a uniform tension throughout the preparation of the sample which means it is essential to control both unwinding tension of the material at the package and winding tension at the time of winding on to the reel. Since there are no control systems to control these tension variations on the conventional wrap reel, it is not suitable to determine the linear density of elastane yarns.
The linear density of elastane threads/strands is therefore conventionally determined by cut-and-weigh method. In this method small lengths of threads/strands are stretched under a constant tension; they are cut and weighed. The disadvantages of this method are that it is time consuming and requires a large number of samples to be tested to derive acceptable results.
Dupont a USA based company has suggested cut-and-weigh method to determine the linear density of elastane threads. This method comprises of fastening a meter scale on to a table and fixing a pulley at the end of meter scale in such a way that the pulley is extended over the edge of the table. A standard weight is attached to the end of the thread and the thread is guided over the pulley so that the standard weight hangs and stretches the thread under the constant tension. With the help of meter scale, one mete length of the stretched thread is measured and cut. This procedure is repeated to obtain 300 samples. The samples are weighed by taking 10 samples at a time and then the linear density is determined.
A drawback of the above method is that it is time-consuming as it requires every meter of yarn to be laid on table, weight applied to it and then cutting it.
Another drawback of the above method is that the sample length taken for each weighing being small, the results may not be reliable.
OBJECTS OF PRESENT INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide an instrument which can accurately measure linear density of continuous elastane threads and strands.Another object of the present invention is to provide an instrument which can measure linear density of continuous elastane threads and strands in a time-efficient manner.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an instrument which incorporates an adjustable spring tensioner for generating and adjusting tensions in the yarn in the required range.
Further object of the present invention is to provide an instrument which incorporates a yarn feed unit which enables feeding of yarn from a bobbin or a yarn cone.
Still further object of the present invention is to provide an instrument which incorporates a motorized wrap-reel with controllable variable speed from 0 to 60 rpm.
Even further object of the present invention is to provide an instrument which incorporates a load indicator connected to a load cell to measure the tension in the yarn in the range of 0 to 100 g and the tension thus measured is displayed on the digital display panel provided in the instrument.
STATEMENT OF INVENTION
According to this invention there is provided an instrument to measure linear density of continuous elastane threads and strands comprising rpm (revolution per minute) unit, a wrap-reel unit, load cell and cutting

unit and thread supply unit wherein rpm unit comprises rpm display meter housed inside a metallic box, a controller connected to wrap reel and to said rpm display mater; wrap-reel unit comprises of a wrap-reel mounted on shaft which is fixed to the metallic box, the said shaft being connected to a motor which rotates the said wrap-reel, said metallic box being connected to another metallic box, a yarn transverse mechanism mounted on the said metallic box, said metallic box being provided with a load indicator and a length counter meter, said load Indicator, power switch with indicator and a motor switch with indicator and wherein said load indicator has four buttons with one for tension setting, second for setting tension variation limits, third for time delay setting and.fourth button being a start button. Load cell and cutting unit comprises an adjustable tensioner mounted on load cell to generate required tension in the yarn, guide bars to stretch and to prevent snarling in the yearn passing over it, guide bar to guide the yarn passing over to said tensioner ; cutting mechanism connected to load cell and load indicator, the said cutting mechanism getting actuated and carrying out cutting and discarding of the yarn when the tension of the yarn goes beyond the preset tension range; thread supply unit comprising of metallic stand provided with horizontal peg and a vertical metallic disc fixed to the said stand by nut and bolt means and thread cone/bobbin mounted over the disc.
DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES
The invention will now be illustrated with drawings, which is an illustrative embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to be taken restrictively to imply any limitation on the scope of the present invention. In the accompany drawing: -
Fig 1 :- shows the block diagram of the instruments. DESCRIPTION OF CONSTRUCTION w.r.t. DRAWING
According to present invention, the instrument to measure linear density of continuous elastane threads and strand, comprises of four interconnected units namely rpm unit (21), wrap reel unit (22), load cell and cutting unit (23) and thread supply unit (24). RPM unit (21) comprises of a rmp display meter (10) housed in a metallic box (2), which measures the rpm ranges from 0 to 60 of a wrap reel (5) of the wrap-reel unit (22). A controller (3) is connected to the wrap reel (5) and to rpm display meter. The controller controls the rpm and the readjusted rpm can be monitored by rpm display meter (1).
The wrap reel (5) of wrap-reel unit (22) is mounted on a shaft (not shown in the figure) which itself is fixed on to a metallic box (6). The said shaft is connected to a motor (not shown in figure) which rotates the said wrap reel. The said metallic box (6) is connected to another metallic box (7) as
shown in figure. A yarn traverse mechanism (8) is provided which consists of rod over which a yarn guide is mounted. The said traverse mechanism spreads the thread on to the wrap reel though a cam (not shown in figure) which is mounted on the said metallic box (6). A load indicator (9) and a length counter meter (10), which measure the length of the textile material (thread) wound on the wrap reel, are obliquely fixed on to the front side of the said metallic box (7). The said counter meter is connected to the motor which rotates the wrap reel and when the required preset length is wound on the wrap reel then it stops the winding process. The said load indicator (9) has four buttons and a display meter. The first button is for tension setting at which the thread is to be wound on the wrap reel, the second button is for setting permissible tension variation limits, the third button is for delay time setting in seconds and the fourth button is the start button. The said display meter which is connected to the load cell, continuously displays the tension at which thread is passing through the tensioner (14) mounted on load cell (13) of load cell and cutting unit (23). The load cell is capable of measuring the yarn tension, during lea preparation. The metallic box (7) is also fitted with power switch (11) with an indicator by which power supply to system can be on/off. The motor switch (12) with indicator is also fitted for stopping the motor in between the winding process, if it is required.
The load cell and cutting unit (23) comprises of an adjustable tensioner (14) mounted on the load cell (13) to generate required tension in the
yarn. The yarn from the feed package first of all passes through the guide bars (15) adapted to stretch the yarn and to prevent snarling. The yarn then passes through yarn guide (16) and then to the adjustable tensioner (14). Thereafter the yarn passes through the cutting mechanism (17), which is connected to the said load cell and said load indicator. The said cutting mechanism (17), which is movable, gets actuated and cuts the yarn when the tension of thread wound on the wrap feel (5) goes beyond the preset tension range. In case the unwinding tension at the package or winding tension at the wrap reel varies beyond the preset limits during the sample preparation, the thread/strand is cut and discarded.
The yarn feed unit (24) comprises of a metallic stand (18) to function as a package holder. The metallic stand (18) has a horizontal peg and a vertical disc (19) fixed to the said metallic stand by nut and bolt means. The thread cone/bobbin (20) can be mounted on the metallic disc.
The linear density of continuous elastane threads/strands was measured by three methods namely present invention, Dupont cut-and-weigh method and by using conventional wrap reel. The comparative results as obtained, are shown in Table-1.
Table-1
Measurement of Linear Density (in terms of Ne) of elastane threads/strands
(Table Removed)
Note:- Figures in brackets indicate % cv
The results clearly indicate that the linear densities measured in terms of Ne (English cotton count) of three cotton elastane core yarn by the instrument developed by the present invention are same as the linear densities of the yarns measured by Dupont cut-and-weigh method; while the linear densities of the yarns measured by the conventional wrap reel are coarser than the other methods.
It is to be understood that the construction of the instrument of present invention is susceptible to modifications, changes aruLadaptations by those skilled in the art. Such variant embodiments are intended to be within the scope of the present invention, whiq^ is further set forth under the following claims:














WE CLAIM;
1. An instrument to measure linear density of continuous elastane threads and strands comprising rpm (revolution per minute) unit (21), a wrap-reel unit (22), load cell and cutting unit (23) and thread supply unit (24) wherein:-
a) rpm unit (21) comprises rpm display meter (1) housed inside a metallic box (2), a controller (3) connected to wrap reel (5) and to said rpm display mater;
b) wrap-reel unit (22) comprises of:-
i) a wrap-reel (5) mounted on shaft which is fixed to the metallic box (6), the said shaft being connected to a motor which rotates the said wrap-reel, said metallic box (6) being connected to another metallic box (7), a yarn transverse mechanism (8) mounted on the said metallic box (6), said metallic box (7) being provided with a load indicator (9) and a length counter meter (10), said load Indicator (9), power switch (11) with indicator and a motor switch (12) with indicator and wherein said load indicator has four buttons with one for tension setting, second for setting tension variation limits, third for time delay setting and fourth button being a start button.
(c) Load cell and cutting unit (23) comprises:-
i) An adjustable tensioner (14) mounted on load cell (13) to generate required tension in the yarn, guide bars (15) to stretch and to prevent snarling in the yearn passing over it, guide bar (16) to guide the yarn passing over to said tensioner (14);
ii) cutting mechanism (17) connected to load cell (13) and load indicator (9), the said cutting mechanism getting actuated and carrying out cutting and discarding of the yarn when the tension of the yarn goes beyond the preset tension range;
d) thread supply unit (4) comprising of metallic stand (18) provided with horizontal peg and a vertical metallic disc (19) fixed to the said stand by nut and bolt means and thread cone/bobbin (20) mounted over the disc (19).

Documents:

218-DEL-2004-Abstract-(29-07-2010).pdf

218-del-2004-abstract.pdf

218-DEL-2004-Claims-(29-07-2010).pdf

218-del-2004-claims.pdf

218-DEL-2004-Correspondence-Others-(29-07-2010).pdf

218-del-2004-correspondence-others.pdf

218-del-2004-correspondence-po.pdf

218-DEL-2004-Description (Complete)-(29-07-2010).pdf

218-del-2004-description (complete).pdf

218-del-2004-drawings.pdf

218-del-2004-form-1.pdf

218-del-2004-form-18.pdf

218-del-2004-form-2.pdf

218-DEL-2004-GPA-(29-07-2010).pdf

218-del-2004-gpa.pdf


Patent Number 244569
Indian Patent Application Number 218/DEL/2004
PG Journal Number 51/2010
Publication Date 17-Dec-2010
Grant Date 10-Dec-2010
Date of Filing 16-Feb-2004
Name of Patentee NORTHERN INDIA TEXTILE RESEARCH ASSOCIATION
Applicant Address SECTOR-23, RAJNAGAR, GHAZIABAD-201 002, INDIA.
Inventors:
# Inventor's Name Inventor's Address
1 JUTURU VENKATA RAO SECTOR-23, RAJNAGAR, GHAZIABAD-201 002, INDIA.
2 NEERAJ AGARWAL SECTOR-23, RAJNAGAR, GHAZIABAD-201 002, INDIA.
PCT International Classification Number N/A
PCT International Application Number N/A
PCT International Filing date
PCT Conventions:
# PCT Application Number Date of Convention Priority Country
1 NA