There exists in the textile industry a number of devices which are used to form yarn take-up packages on winding tubes. Several of these winders are designed so that multiple yarn packages can be formed simultaneously while mounted on the same spindle. One such winder is a Leesona 959 winder with a two cop take-up. It is at times desirable to form the yarn packages so that one end of yarn wound on the package is free from the main body of the wound yarn. A free end of this type is commonly referred to as a yarn tail and it allows the user of the yarn package to operate continuously in that, the yarn tail of one package can be tied to the lead end of another package to provide for an uninterrupted supply of yarn.
To facilitate the formation of yarn tails which are separate from the main body of the yarn package, a number of different devices have been developed including the apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,814,339. The apparatus disclosed in that patent while providing for the formation of yarn tails on dual wound packages, has several drawbacks associated with its design and operation. Primarily, the problems with this apparatus relate to the rather complex and slow operation which it employs in transferring the yarn strands from their positions in forming the transfer tails to their positions used in forming the main body of the yarn package. The difficulty lies in directing the yarn strands from a centrally located guide to the two reciprocating guides associated with the winding tubes and which form, by their reciprocating movement, the main bodies of the yarn packages.
The prior art apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,814,339 has a centrally located guide which has a holder positioned therein to retain the yarn strands while forming the yarn tails. The holder is maintained in place by an electromagnet. Upon reaching the required length for the yarn tails, the operator must deactivate an electromagnet which in turn releases the holder. The holder then under the influence of gravity falls away from the guide, spreading the two yarns and directing them to the reciprocating guides used to form the take-up packages.
Thus, this prior art device has several disadvantages, in that, the mechanism is complex and the time required to transfer the yarn strands from the central guide to the two reciprocating guides is relatively slow thus causing yarn waste.