SPINNING MEANS FOR A WORK STATION OF A TEXTILE MACHINE, AND TEXTILE MACHINE AND METHOD FOR OPERATING A TEXTILE MACHINE HAVING A PLURALITY OF WORK STATIONS

Abstract

The invention relates to a spinning means for a work station of a textile machine having a plurality of work stations, comprising a first spinning means identification for identifying and/or authenticating the spinning means at a work station. Furthermore, the invention relates to a textile machine having a plurality of work stations and a method for operating the same, wherein the work stations have replaceable spinning means, each having a first spinning means identification. In order to provide a spinning means that has a particularly forgery-proof spinning means identification, it is provided that the first spinning means identification is formed by at least one specific, sensor-detectable material property of a spinning means material and/or a coating applied to the spinning means material. In order to provide a method for operating a textile machine which prevents operation with unsuitable spinning means, it is provided that the first spinning means identification formed by a material property of the spinning means is monitored by a sensor device and, depending on the detected material property, operation of the respective work station is blocked or limited.

Description

The invention relates to a spinning means for a work station of a textile machine having a plurality of work stations, comprising a first spinning means identification for identifying and/or authenticating the spinning means at a work station. Furthermore, the invention relates to a textile machine having a plurality of work stations with replaceable spinning means and a method for operating a textile machine having a plurality of work stations, wherein the work stations have replaceable spinning means, each having a first spinning means identification.

Spinning means of the type mentioned at the outset, which are used at the individual work stations of a textile machine used for thread production or thread processing, are known in various embodiments from the prior art. The spinning means are, for example, combing rings of an opening roller serving to open a fiber sliver or roving into individual fibers, a spinning rotor which is used in open-end rotor spinning devices, a suction nozzle via which a thread is drawn off a rotor spinning device, or a spinning nozzle of an air spinning machine. The spinning means can also be designed as a spinning ring or ring traveler of a ring spinning machine. The roller covers of a drafting system of an air or ring spinning machine also constitute a spinning means. The spinning means are in contact with the thread or the fibers and influence the yarn properties. The spinning means are arranged replaceably at the corresponding work stations of the textile machine so that they can be replaced, for example, depending on the thread to be produced and in the event of wear.

The high demands on the spinning means and the resulting high spinning means costs have led to the fact that increasingly, forged, low-quality spinning means are offered which do not meet the quality requirements of the textile machine manufacturer and can lead to disruptions and damage to the textile machine during operation. It is already known from the prior art to provide the original spinning means with a spinning means identification, for example a bar code or a transponder which enables identification and/or authentication of the spinning means at the work station. Suitable sensor devices connected to a control device of the work station then enable the spinning means to be detected so that, for example, a spinning process is started only when the spinning means is regarded as being permissible in terms of production technology and harmless in terms of safety on the basis of the spinning means identification.

However, the identifications with the known spinning means identification applied to the spinning means, such as bar codes or transponders, have also proven to be insufficiently effective to prevent the use of low-quality spinning means.

Proceeding from this, the object of the invention is to provide a spinning means which has a particularly forgery-proof and wear-proof spinning means identification. Furthermore, the invention addresses the problem of providing a method for operating a textile machine which prevents operation with unsuitable spinning means.

The invention achieves the object by a spinning means having the features of claim 1, by a textile machine having a plurality of work stations with replaceable spinning means according to claim 10, and by a method for operating a textile machine having a plurality of work stations having the features of claim 13. Advantageous developments of the spinning means are specified in the dependent claims 2 to 9. Developments of the method according to the invention are specified in claims 14 and 15.

Characteristic of the spinning means according to the invention is the fact that the first spinning means identification is formed by at least one specific, sensor-detectable material property of a spinning means material and/or a coating applied to the spinning means material.

The spinning means can be designed, for example, as an opening roller, spinning rotor, or suction nozzle of an open-end rotor spinning device, and as a spinning nozzle of an air spinning machine, or as a spinning ring or ring traveler of a ring spinning machine, or as a roller cover of a drafting system.

According to the invention, a selected, sensor-detectable material property of the spinning means material from which the spinning means is produced, and/or a selected, sensor-detectable material property of a coating applied to the spinning means material of the spinning means, serves to identify and/or authenticate the spinning means. The identification/authentication can take place via a stationary sensor device connected to a control device of a work station or via a mobile sensor unit.

The spinning means identification according to the invention allows detecting original parts, type recognition, and/or determining the state of wear of the spinning means.

The selection and use of a certain, preferably very simple and precisely detectable material property of the spinning means, or of a coating applied to the spinning means, for identifying the spinning means makes it possible to dispense with an external spinning means identification, which is usually applied on the outside of the spinning means, since identification and/or authentication results from the inherent properties of the spinning means itself. In addition to dispensing with a spinning means identification to be applied to the spinning means for identification or authentication thereof so that it cannot be used for identifying forged spinning means, the spinning means according to the invention also has the advantage that the material properties used for identification and/or authentication are not apparent to third parties and are protected from breakage and abrasion.

The sensor-detectable material properties can be, for example, the measurable electrical resistance of the spinning means material used to produce the spinning means or the layer thickness of a coating which enables a unique identification of the spinning means. In the case of a wear coating which is applied to the spinning means and is worn off during operation, the detection of the electrical resistance of this coating, which changes due to the wear, furthermore makes it possible to detect the state of wear of the spinning means, such that the moment when maintenance or repair work needs to be effected can be determined and fixed in advance.

In addition to an original part detection that is relevant in terms of safety and production technology, the detectable material properties of the spinning means material or of a coating applied to the spinning means material also allow a type identification of the spinning means at the work station so that process parameters corresponding thereon can be adapted automatically to the type of spinning means at the work station. In addition, the detectable material properties have the advantage, compared to optical spinning means identification devices, that they are insensitive to soiling or wear that impairs readability.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, the spinning means material and/or the coating has signal-emitting solid particles incorporated therein, which serve for determining the detectable material property of the spinning means material and/or the coating applied to the spinning means material. The use of detectable solid particles which are input into the material for producing the spinning means and/or the coating in a defined quantity makes it possible to unambiguously identify the spinning means taking into account the identifiable and/or quantifiable solid particles. The solid particles incorporated into the coating or the spinning means material create a material property of the spinning means that can be detected easily and reliably.

For detection of an original part, the presence of solid particles is sufficient. That is, if the presence of the solid particles can be detected, it is an original part. However, it is particularly advantageous for the spinning means material and/or the coating to have a predefined concentration of solid particles for identifying and/or authenticating the spinning means. This concentration enables the encoding of further information. For example, the concentration of the solid particles can indicate a specific type of spinning means. Knowledge of the type of spinning means is safety-relevant. For example, a spinning rotor having a large diameter must not be operated at the same rotational speeds as a spinning rotor having a smaller diameter.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the solid particles are identifiable and/or quantifiable by means of photosensory, spectroscopic and/or imaging methods so that they can be detected in a convenient manner by a sensor device connected to a control device of the work station of a textile machine, wherein an identification of the spinning means results from an optical, optoelectronic or electronic reflection of the solid particles. In addition to detection of the solid particles by a sensor device arranged at a work station, they can also be detected by portable readout units. By way of example, the types of the individual spinning means, their size, the year of manufacture, etc. can be determined by the concentration of the solid particles.

Spinning means often have a coating of industrial diamond for wear protection. According to a further embodiment of the invention, it is therefore provided that the coating applied to the spinning means material has a correlating proportion of solid particles and industrial diamond. Due to the fixed ratio of solid particles and industrial diamond, continuous detection of the solid particles allows a non-destructive determination of the proportion of industrial diamond in the spinning means material, which changes in an analogous manner, and thus a dynamic detection of the state of wear of the spinning means.

If a coating applied to the spinning means material is used, there is, for example, the possibility of incorporating signal-emitting solid particles into the base material used to form the spinning means, and to create a wear coating applied to the base material without solid particles. If the wear coating covering the base material is present, no solid particles are detected via a sensor device. Only after the wear coating is worn down are the signal-emitting solid particles detected in the base material, thereby indicating the wear of the wear coating. In an alternative embodiment, it is possible to provide only the coating with solid particles, such that the absence thereof signals a wear of the wear layer.

The coating can consist of a single layer. According to a further embodiment of the invention, however, it is provided that the spinning means material has a coating formed from a plurality of individual layers, wherein the individual layers have different concentrations of solid particles. This embodiment of the invention makes it possible, due to the quantifiability of the solid particles, to detect the degree of wear of the spinning means via the known concentration of solid particles in the individual layers, such that a wear detection of the spinning means can be performed very precisely.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the spinning means has a second spinning means identification. The use of a second spinning means identification allows the spinning means to be identified and authenticated within the scope of so-called two-factor authentication. Only a positive detection of both spinning means identifications and their combination leads to authentication of the spinning means at the work station. As a result, it is also ensured in a particularly reliable manner that, for example, information about the operation or the basic start of operation that can be used in the textile machine is only released or can be assigned at all if spinning means actually provided by the machine manufacturer are arranged at the work station.

The spinning means identification by means of sensor-detectable material properties offers, as a first spinning means identification, as described above, a variety of options for detecting original parts, the type, or the state of wear of a spinning means. The second spinning means identification should now enable the spinning means to be linked with operating data of the textile machine. These data can be used to determine causes of errors and for wear prognosis.

In this case, the second spinning means identifications can be particularly advantageously read out optoelectronically and/or electronically, in particular by a QR code and/or a transponder, preferably by an RFID chip. This embodiment of the second spinning means identification allows particularly simple contactless detection of the second spinning means identification. The QR code allows individual identification of the spinning means. The operating or production data stored in the textile machine can thus be unambiguously assigned to a specific spinning means. The same applies to the use of an RFID chip. Alternatively or additionally, when using an RFID chip, the second spinning means identification makes it possible to store and retrieve various production-specific data, such as spinning means data on the RFID chip.

Characteristic of the textile machine according to the invention with a plurality of work stations which have replaceable spinning means each with a first spinning means identification, is the fact that the first spinning means identification is formed by at least one specific, sensor-detectable material property of a spinning means material and/or a coating applied to the spinning means material, and that the textile machine has a sensor device which is designed to detect the first spinning means identification formed by a material property of the spinning means for identification and/or authentication.

The sensor device can be arranged at the work station or at a service unit movable along the work stations.

According to a preferred embodiment of the textile machine according to the invention, the spinning means material and/or the coating has the signal-emitting solid particles incorporated therein, and the sensor device is designed to detect the solid particles.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the textile machine according to the invention, the solid particles have a predefined concentration, and the sensor device is designed to detect the concentration of the solid particles for the purpose of identifying and/or authenticating the spinning means.

In this embodiment, the spinning means identification takes place via the concentration of the solid particles, which is detected by the sensor device. The sensor device can also detect the wear state by detecting the concentration of the solid particles. If the solid particles are incorporated into the coating, a decreasing concentration indicates a reduced coating thickness. If the solid particles are incorporated into the spinning means material, they are only detected once the wear of the coating has increased.

Characteristic of the method according to the invention for operating a textile machine having a plurality of work stations, wherein the work stations have replaceable spinning means each with a first spinning means identification, is the fact that the first spinning means identification formed by a specific material property of a spinning means material and/or a coating applied to the spinning means material is detected by means of a sensor device and, depending on the detected material property, the operation of the respective work station is blocked or limited. The material property can be monitored continuously by a sensor device connected to a control device of the work station, and a spinning process is interrupted if the material property reaches a defined value, wherein a spinning process is understood to mean the particular production process running at a work station of the textile machine during thread production and processing. Alternatively or additionally, the detection of the material property can take place before commencing a spinning process at a work station, and the start of the spinning process at the work station can be prevented in the event of corresponding values. It is also possible to not completely prevent operation, but to only limit it. For example, in a spinning rotor, this limitation can be a limitation of the rotational speed. The greater the rotor diameter determined using the spinning means identification, the lower the rotational speed should be.

According to the method according to the invention, a selected material property of the spinning means represents an indicator of the operational readiness of the spinning means. Should the material property reach a previously determined value which is an indication of a lack of operability of the spinning means, then the spinning process at the work station is blocked or limited.

Particularly advantageously, the sensor device is designed to detect signal-emitting solid particles in the spinning means material and/or in a coating applied to the spinning means, wherein a control device connected to the sensor device blocks or limits the operation of the work station depending on the detected solid particles the operation of the respective work station. According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, the sensor device detects the concentration of the signal-emitting solid particles in the spinning means material and/or in a coating applied to the spinning means and blocks or limits the operation of the work station depending on the concentration detected.

This embodiment of the invention, wherein the concentration of the solid particles represents the selected material property, allows a particularly reliable operation of the textile machine, wherein the operating state of the spinning means is reliably detected via the proportion of solid particles that can be detected by sensors. In the event of the solid particles being incorporated into a base material of the spinning means and a coating without solid particles applied to the base material, the detection of the solid particles thus represents a loss of the coating which, for example, has been used as a wear layer, so that the lack of operability of the spinning means is then indicated by the detection of the solid particles. In the event of an alternative incorporation of the solid particles into a wear coating and a solid particle-free base body of the spinning means, the absence of the solid particles signals an operating state of the spinning means that leads to an interruption of the spinning process.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the spinning means have a second spinning means identification which is detected by means of the sensor device, and a spinning process is started only when the spinning means is recognized as harmless in terms of safety on the basis of the first and the second spinning means identification.

According to this embodiment of the method according to the invention, the startup takes place only after a positive detection of the spinning means via a combination of the first spinning means identification and the second spinning means identification.

Examples of embodiments of the invention are explained below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of a spinning means designed as a spinning rotor, with a first embodiment of a second spinning means identification arranged on a rotor cup, and

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of a spinning rotor, with a second embodiment of a second spinning means identification arranged on the rotor cup.

FIG. 1 shows, by way of example, a spinning rotor 1 as a replaceable spinning means of a work station (not shown here) of a textile machine. On an outer side 2 of a rotor cup 3, the spinning rotor 1 has a second spinning means identification designed as a bar code 4 which is etched into the outer side, for example, or has been applied by means of a laser. In an alternative not shown here, instead of the shown bar code 4, a QR code can also be used to form a second spinning means identification.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of a spinning rotor 1 which has a passive transponder in the form of an RFID chip 5 on the outer side 2 of the rotor cup 3. The RFID chip 5 is used not only for identification, but can also contain spinning rotor-specific information which can be processed in a control device of the textile machine (not shown here). Alternatively, instead of the passive transponder, an active transponder (not shown here) can also be used, i.e., a transponder which has its own power supply device, which increases the range within which data can be received and transmitted by the transponder.

According to a further particularly preferred embodiment (not shown) the code or the transponder is arranged on the rotor bottom, in particular on the end face of the axis of the spinning rotor 1.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention, the rotor cup 3 has a coating. The coating extends over the inner region of the rotor cup 3. That is, the coating is applied to the rotor groove, the fiber slip surface, and the base surface. Furthermore, the coating extends onto the outer side 2 of the rotor cup 3. The coating is admixed with solid particles.

A sensor device detects the concentration of the solid particles in the coating. According to the present example, the concentration is 0.9%. For example, it is stored in the control device of the textile machine that spinning rotors of type A have a concentration of the solid particles between 0.1% and 0.5%. Spinning rotors of type B have a solid particle concentration of 0.51% to 1.0%. In the present example, a spinning rotor of type B can thus be detected on the basis of the measured concentration of 0.9%.

During the spinning operation, the inner region of the rotor cup 3 is constantly in contact with fibers and is thus subject to wear. In contrast, the outer side 2 is largely wear-free. A wear evaluation can take place by comparing the concentration of the solid particles in the wear zone and in the non-wear zone.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

• • 1 Spinning means
  • 2 Outer side
  • 3 Rotor cup
  • 4 Bar code
  • RFID chip

Claims

1. A spinning means (1) for a work station of a textile machine having a plurality of work stations, in particular for a rotor spinning machine, an air spinning machine or a ring spinning machine, having a first spinning means identification for identifying and/or authenticating the spinning means (1) at a work station,

characterized in that

the first spinning means identification is formed by at least one specific, sensor-detectable material property of a spinning means material and/or of a coating applied to the spinning means material.

2. The spinning means (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the spinning means material and/or the coating has signal-emitting solid particles incorporated therein.

3. The spinning means (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that the solid particles have a predetermined concentration for identifying and/or authenticating the spinning means (1).

4. The spinning means (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that the solid particles can be identified and/or quantified by means of photosensory, spectroscopic and/or imaging methods.

5. The spinning means (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that the coating applied to the spinning means material has a correlating proportion of solid particles and industrial diamond.

6. The spinning means (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that the spinning means material has a coating formed from a plurality of individual layers, wherein the individual layers have different concentrations of solid particles.

7. The spinning means (1) according to claim 1, characterized by a second spinning means identification (4, 5).

8. The spinning means (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that the second spinning means identification (4, 5) can be read out optoelectronically and/or electronically.

9. The spinning means (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that the second spinning means identification has a QR code and/or a transponder, in particular an RFID chip (5).

10. A textile machine having a plurality of work stations, wherein the work stations have replaceable spinning means (1), each having a first spinning means identification, characterized in that

the first spinning means identification is formed by at least one specific, sensor-detectable material property of a spinning means material and/or a coating applied to the spinning means material, and in that the textile machine has a sensor device which is designed to detect the first spinning means identification formed by a material property of the spinning means material and/or the coating applied to the spinning means material for identification and/or authentication.

11. The textile machine according to claim 10, characterized in that the spinning means material and/or the coating has signal-emitting solid particles incorporated therein, and the sensor device is designed to detect the solid particles.

12. The textile machine according to claim 11, characterized in that the solid particles have a predetermined concentration, and the sensor device is designed to detect the concentration of the solid particles for identifying and/or authenticating the spinning means (1).

13. A method for operating a textile machine having a plurality of work stations, wherein the work stations have replaceable spinning means (1), each having a first spinning means identification,

characterized in that

the first spinning means identification formed by a material property of a spinning means material and/or a coating applied to the spinning means material is detected by means of a sensor device and, depending on the detected material property of the spinning means material and/or the coating applied to the spinning means material, the operation of the respective work station is blocked or limited.

14. The method for operating a textile machine according to claim 13, characterized in that the sensor device detects signal-emitting solid particles in the spinning means material and/or in a coating applied to the spinning means (1), and, depending on the detected solid particles, the operation of the respective work station is blocked or limited.

15. The method for operating a textile machine according to claim 14, characterized in that the sensor device detects the concentration of the signal-emitting solid particles in the spinning means material and/or in a coating applied to the spinning means (1) and, depending on the detected concentration, the operation of the respective work station is blocked or limited.

16. The method for operating a textile machine according to claim 13, characterized in that the spinning means (1) have a second spinning means identification (4, 5) which is detected by means of the sensor device, and a spinning process is started only when the spinning means (1) is recognized as harmless in terms of safety on the basis of the first spinning means identification and the second spinning means identification (4, 5).