Abstract: An apparatus for gripping tubes of yarn packages in a textile machine includes a pressurized fluid drive member. The pressurized fluid drive member is fixedly mounted to a support frame and, in one aspect of the invention, extends interiorly of a generally cylindrical fixed component having a pair of diametrically opposed projections formed on its outer surface. A movable component comprising a tube receiving housing for receiving a yarn package tube therein has a pair of detents compatibly configured with the projections on the fixed component for releasably securing the tube receiving housing to the fixed component. In the event of a collision between the tube gripping apparatus and another object, the movable component is non-destructively released from its normal operating position, thereby minimizing the risk that potentially damaging forces will be transmitted to the pressurized fluid member.