Rieter

Machines with two operating robots

Index

Two operating robots (on for each side of the machine) are usually adequate for serving the spinning positions efficiently on the machine lengths of 240 to 280 spinning positions that are customary nowadays. Each robot serves one side of the machine, and when one robot is being serviced the second robot can be programmed also to serve the other side of the machine (Fig. 49). In this case the robot transfers from one side of the machine to the other via a loop on the headstock. The downtime due to stationary spinning positions is therefore reduced by half. Using 4 robots on machines of this length results in a significant improvement in efficiency only in extreme spinning conditions – e.g. a combination of coarse yarn counts, small package formats and high delivery speeds – and only then justifies the higher capital costs of the two additional robots.

Another possibility for optimizing travel strategy is useful when using  2 and  4 robots. The robots can be controlled in such a way that a robot changes its direction of travel if no spinning positions in the original direction of travel require the robot‘s services. All commands for robot control are entered via the machine control panel.

Fig. 49 – Travel strategy with one operating robot on each side of the machine; each robot can also serve the other side