Dave_Burrows:
- What determines when a hook needs to slide, and what do they do when the determination is made?
- Are the hooks expected to move independently of each other?
- Are we sliding side to side along the shaft or rotating around the shaft?
Ideally, they would slide very slowly but continually back and forth as the crank is turned. "As the crank is turned" suggests a purely mechanical device might be better suited. I mean, I might need to answer the phone, pour more coffee, take a leak, and forget to turn off that motor. When I move them manually, it's in response to certain visual cues; the yarn is getting deep in a particular slice of the drum, and the "V" shape of the split yarn starts to move towards the place where it's mounding more deeply.
As it is right now, yes, they move independently. Whether they are moved by purely mechanical means, or with the assistance of electronics, they would slide back and forth in unison. I anticipate a nearly perfect distribution of the yarn around the drum, and zero breakage.
They slide side to side.
Ahhh! Now I understand. You want them to slide back and forth so that the yarn does not all accumulate in one spot on the spool. Duh! I should have realized that. Like a wire spooler or coil-winding machine.
Essentially, you want them to direct the yarn from one edge to the other creating a uniform layer. Actually, this makes mechanical means even more relevant. As you change the speed of the drum, you want to also increase the speed of the side to side movement. However, this will be in a ratio.
For every revolution of the drum, you want the yarn to move over one yarn width. When it reaches the end, you want it to do the same, but in reverse. This will distribute the yarn uniformly along the spool/drum. If the speed of the slides do not match the speed of the rotating spool, it will not distribute evenly. So you want these to work in unison.
So you need to determine the number of revolutions it takes to spool the yarn across one entire length. Controlling the tension will thin the yarn fibers out to make them a universal width. You want there to be tension so the yarn does not slip side to side and so it will be a constant width. A coil-winder uses a solenoid to provide this tension by rotating the axle that the eyelets are on. Too much tension, and it will break of course.
Once you determine how many revolutions it takes to spool an entire layer, you count the number of spirals. This will determine your gearing ratio.