The ring spinning machine was first patented in the USA in 1828 by the American inventor John Thorpe, and to this day ring spinning remains the most widespread spinning procedure in the world, as it provides the widest range and the highest quality of yarn produced from various fibres and blends.
The core of the ring spinning machine has not changed much in the last 70 years ago: its potential for increasing productivity is low, primarily due to the high coefficient of friction between the traveller and the ring, limiting its speed to approx. 45 m/sec and, accordingly, the speed of rotation of the spindle and the productivity of the machine.
Inventors have been unsuccessful in trying to overcome this problem. A serious attempt was made by using a round traveler that rolls along the ring (instead of sliding) with minimal friction. For example, in 1995 at ITMA-95 in Milan, visitors could see a new spinning system “Supertraveller” (“S”) with a new ring with a diameter of 75 mm and a round traveler with a diameter of 10 mm made of nylon, on which wool yarn with a linear density from Nm 3 to Nm 12 was produced at a spindle speed of 7,500 to 14,000 rpm (traveller speed up to 55 m/sec).
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The new approach aroused great interest among specialists.
Naturally, this first industrial model of the new S-1" system had several "childhood diseases" including a limited range of yarn produced, long machine downtimes when replacing travelers or repairing broken yarn, and other problems.
The author continued, together with the inventor of the Supertraveller spinning system, to improve the invention and, after lengthy research and experiments, develop and complete preliminary tests of the modernized spinning system
Supertraveller–2m (hereinafter S-2m).
The new profile of the working surfaces of the ring (know-how) allows the user to
reduce the tension of the yarn and expand its range, including cotton yarn,
significantly increase the speed of the traveler,
reduce the cost of the ring and traveler,
provide fast (3 - 5 sec) elimination of yarn breaks and replacement of the traveler.
When running, the traveler rolls along the ring and simultaneously rotates around the yarn
(which increases the service life of the traveller and reduces breaks and hairiness of the yarn).
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The design of the new ring allows replacing the traveler without effort and deformation, and therefore new travelers can be made not only from elastic steel and nylon but also from various new modern wear-resistant composite materials with a lower coefficient of friction and better heat capacity.
During the testing of the prototype of the new pair "ring-traveller" type S-2m, yarn with a linear density of 120 to 35 tex from 100% cotton was produced on a 47 mm ring at a spindle speed of 12,000 rpm to 24,000 rpm (see Photo S-2m).
Despite the relatively low quality of the working surface of the ring on the sample produced, and lack of lubrication, the traveler speed was more than 59 m/sec, and the operating temperature of the traveler (made of textolite) did not exceed 60° C.
Thus, the new ring-traveler spinning system type S-2m allows:
to increase the productivity of the ring-spinning machine by 10 – 100%,
to reduce yarn breakage,
to improve yarn quality, including eliminating melting of synthetic fibres, even at maximum
traveller (and spindle) speed,
to reduce energy costs,
to reduce the cost of yarn produced.The new ring “S-2m” can be quickly and easily installed on traditional ring-spinning machines instead of a traditional ring.
According to the inventor, the “S-2m” system is particularly efficient in producing yarn from various fibres with a linear density from 1000 to 25 tex, and especially yarn with synthetic fibres that may melt and lose quality when in contact with a traditional steel traveler. In these cases, the productivity of the ring spinning machine increases by 1.5 – 2.5 times, respectively.
In addition, these yarns have a large and growing market.
Following the successful tests, an international PCT application has been prepared for this invention.
The author cannot manufacture several high-quality samples of the new ring and is therefore ready to provide manufacturers and/or developers of ring-spinning machines with more detailed and substantiated information on a confidential basis.
CREDENTIAL: Peter Johansson, worked in the textile industry since 1989.