Design of a yarn feeder based on a piezoelectric actuator

Abstract

Yarn feeding is a crucial step in various stages of the textile industry, and plays an important role in ensuring the stable operation of knitting machines. In response to the working environment of yarn feeders and the periodic intermittent yarn usage in loop forming systems, this paper proposes a new type of piezoelectric-actuated yarn feeder with the characteristics of small size, low energy consumption, switchable yarn feeding modes, and self-locking. The working principle of the new yarn feeder is systematically analyzed and simulated, and the performance of the yarn feeder is experimentally investigated and compared with theoretical analysis. The relationship curves between yarn feeding speed and driving frequency, as well as yarn feeding speed and driving voltage peak-to-peak value, are drawn, and the stability segmentation line of the yarn feeder is defined. The yarn feeding accuracy of the proposed yarn feeder is verified, and the displacement-time relationship curves of yarn under different conditions are plotted to explore the yarn feeding characteristics. In summary, the proposed piezoelectric-actuated yarn feeder has good performance and can meet the needs of practical production processes. It provides a valuable reference for the combination of piezoelectric driving and the textile industry.