Process for monitoring faults in textile webs

• US 5,873,392 A
• Filed: 06/24/1996
• Issued: 02/23/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Retech Aktiengesellschaft H. Von Arx
• Original Assignee: Retech Aktiengesellschaft H. Von Arx
• Inventors: Meyer, Urs, Keusch, Markus, Wick, Daniel, Frischknecht, Werner, Seidl, Roland
• Primary Examiner(s): Falik, Andy
• Application Number:
  US08/640,784
• Time in Patent Office: 974 Days
• Field of Search: 83/76.8, 83/76.6, 364/469, 364/470, 364/471, 364/550, 364/551.01, 364/468.17, 364/468.23, 364/470.14, 139/1 B, 73/159, 235/375
• US Class Current: 139/113
• CPC Class Codes: D03J 1/00 Auxiliary apparatus combined with or associated with looms
• CPC Class Codes: D03J 1/20 Measuring length of fabric or number of picks woven
• CPC Class Codes: D06H 1/00 Marking textile materials; Marking in combination with metering or inspecting
• CPC Class Codes: D06H 3/00 Inspecting textile materials
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 83/178 Responsive to work

Abstract

A process for automated monitoring of faults occurring in textile webs. At least one marking is worked into the web under manufacture. The marking permits incremental measurement of the textile web and facilitates the determination of particular positions thereon. Web faults and other events are detected during manufacture and their positions stored electronically. Detected faults can then be efficiently located and examined using the electronically stored location coordinates and the marking. Since the marking is worked into the web, the location of the fault can be efficiently determined even at later stages in the manufacturing process.

Claims

1. A process for monitoring faults in a textile web through several stages of production, comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of markings in a web,

detecting a fault in said web of textile material during manufacture and further processing,

correlating the position of said fault to one or more of said markings;

recording in a web file the data related to the fault and the correlation of one or more of the markings on an electronic data-storage medium; and

providing said web file along with the web to a respective next production stage.

2. The process according to claim 1, further comprising the step of recording any faults determined anew at each stage of production in the web file in conjunction with one or more of said plurality of markings.

3. The process according to claim 2, further comprising the step of utilizing a measuring wheel for determining the position between two of the markings.

4. The process according to claim 2, further comprising the step of utilizing a feeding roller for determining the position between two of the markings.

5. The process according to claim 1, wherein said step of providing a plurality of markings further comprises the step of arranging the markings in regular intervals.

6. The process according to claim 1, wherein said step of providing a plurality of markings further comprises the step of arranging the markings in irregular intervals, said markings containing further information for identification in addition to the position of said fault.

7. The process according to claim 1, wherein said step of providing a plurality of markings further comprises the step of inserting structural changes of irregular form, serving as said markings, in an edge zone of the textile web at regular intervals.

8. The process according to claim 1, wherein said step of providing a plurality of markings further comprises inserting structural changes, serving as said markings, in an edge zone of the textile web with irregular intervals and/or form.

9. A process according to claim 8 for woven textile webs wherein the step of inserting structural changes in the edge zones is accomplished by means of weaving-technological measures.

10. The process according to claim 7, for woven textile webs, wherein said step of inserting structural changes comprises the step of generating the structural changes in the edge zones by means of weaving-technological measures.

11. The process according to claim 10, wherein said weaving-technological measure comprises changing the binding in the edge zone.

12. The process according to claim 10, wherein the step of generating the structural changes comprises the step of inserting in the edge zone short threads in a fill direction as markings.

13. The process according to claim 10, wherein the step of generating structural changes comprises the step of changing the insertion length of fill threads in the edge zone.

14. The process according to claim 13, wherein the step of generating structural changes comprises the step of omitting the fill threads in the edge zone at preset intervals.

15. The process according to claim 12, wherein the step of generating the structural changes comprises the step of shortening the fill threads, at regular intervals, in a graded sequence.

16. The process according to claim 10, further comprising the step of inserting a warp yarn in the edge zone, which exhibits thick and thin spots at preset intervals, which serve as said markings.

17. The process according to claim 1, further comprising the step of inserting at least one warp thread made of metal into the web, said warp thread having the markings magnetically applied thereto.

18. The process according to claim 1, wherein the step of providing a plurality of markings comprises the step of inserting a warp thread with magnetic properties into the web, said warp thread provided with the markings for incremental measurement during the stages of production.

19. The process according to claim 18, further comprising the step of detecting the markings electromagnetically.

20. The process according to claim 1, wherein the step of providing a plurality of markings comprises the step of inserting into the web at least one warp thread, the at least one warp thread having a metallic coating which includes the markings.

21. The process according to claim 20, further comprising the step of detecting the markings electromagnetically.

22. The process according to claim 1, wherein the step of providing a plurality of markings comprises the step of inserting a thread doped with radioactive material into the textile web.

23. The process according to claim 1, further comprising the step of reading from units positioned at various points in the stages of production, finishing, goods inspection and further processing, corresponding position data with the aid of the markings and forwarding said corresponding position data to data processing, which combines said corresponding position data with fault reports in the web file.

24. The process according to claim 23, further comprising the step of stopping an advance of said web at points in which fault reports were previously generated which correlate with the markings read during the goods inspection and compared with the data stored in the web file.

25. The process according to claim 23, further comprising the step of deleting faults from the web file when said faults are removed during the goods inspection.

26. The process according to claim 1, further comprising the step of providing the markings, at least at the beginning or the end zone of the textile web, the markings being provided in a pattern which yields a web-identification code.

27. The process according to claim 1, further comprising the step of measuring an actual distance between two specific markings before a finishing step and determining the expansion or shrinkage of the web from the resulting data.

28. The process according to claim 1, further comprising the step of reading the markings during a goods inspection and comparing the markings with the data stored in the web file, and stopping an advance of the web at those points at which fault reports were generated during production or finishing.

29. The process according to claim 1, further comprising the step of deleting a fault from the web file when said fault is removed during the goods inspection.