CN111670277A - Single needle rotary weft yarn presenter - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention describes an improved weft yarn presenter comprising one or more rotating weft yarn presenter, wherein for each weft yarn presenter a single needle is used to feed a plurality of weft yarns at a time. Furthermore, the one or more rotating weft yarn presenting devices can be fixed in place along the width of the weaving machine without the need to cut a reed to accommodate different weaving widths.

Description

Single needle rotary weft yarn presenter

The following description describes the invention and its embodiments in detail.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a weft yarn presenter for presenting a plurality of yarns in a weft direction on a loom, particularly a rigid and flexible rapier shuttleless loom for use in textile weaving applications.

Background

A conventional weft presenter on a rapier shuttleless loom has multiple needles (one for each individual yarn) and is therefore awkward. They require a large space allocation to accommodate all underlying mechanisms. Therefore, conventional weft thread presenters are installed in large boxes on shuttleless looms and require precise timing. The conventional weft yarn presenter has some disadvantages.

A first disadvantage is that the weft thread presenter is usually mounted outside the width of the reed. Multiple needles allow for a greater width of such a device. This mechanism requires a cam, a selector magnet, a spring and a timing link, all mounted in a housing or case that becomes quite large with the variety of all mechanical elements required for a single needle. The weft thread is normally presented to the gripper near the fabric edge, so that all the thread-carrying needles with suitable closed eyes are bent and staggered from the side on which they are mounted on the pivot shaft in order to reach the desired weft thread presentation position or point in relation to the path or travel of the gripper head. Furthermore, such interlacing and bending is also required when feeding yarns from one direction almost parallel to each other to avoid entanglement of the yarns. There is a narrow space to create the critical timing movement, which, although a single task is achieved, brings with it many mechanical limitations, namely presenting a fine weft yarn to the passing gripper, and only one yarn at a time. Thus, all conventional/currently known mechanisms are too large in space compared to the actual task being performed.

A second drawback is that even in the case of using an electronic version of the weft insertion mechanism, the latter uses a plurality of needles and a plurality of stepping/servo motors, and a drive motor is required for each individual needle for the weft thread. Thus, the size and task imbalance is even worse because the large number of motors (one for each needle) takes up more space. In addition, such assemblies are expensive.

A third drawback of the currently known weft thread presenter is that in conventional designs, or even in newer motor-driven models of weft thread presenter, the size and layout of the weft thread presenter box is such that the reed length has to be cut according to each weaving width. Since the weft thread presentation is done in front of the reed, the length of the reed must be short, otherwise the beating up would cause the reed to hit the weft thread presentation device. Therefore, the reed is usually cut to a certain length to overcome this problem.

There is a need in the art for an improved weft thread presenter that overcomes at least some of the disadvantages of currently known weft thread presenters.

Disclosure of Invention

An improved weft yarn presenter is provided herein that includes one or more rotating weft yarn presenter devices wherein, for each weft yarn presenter device, a single needle is used to feed multiple weft yarns at once. Furthermore, the one or more rotating weft yarn presenting devices can be fixed in place along the width of the weaving machine without the need to cut a reed to accommodate different weaving widths.

In one aspect, provided herein is a weft presenter for a shuttleless loom comprising at least one rotary weft yarn presenter mounted on the loom, wherein each rotary weft yarn presenter presents a plurality of weft yarns. In one embodiment, the weft yarn presenter comprises a single rotary weft yarn presenter. In another embodiment, the weft thread presenter comprises a plurality of rotary weft thread presenter devices mounted side by side on the weaving machine.

In any of the embodiments described above and herein, each rotary weft yarn presenter device comprises a single needle (13) and a rotary feed drum (7) comprising peripheral holes arranged thereon, wherein the rotary feed drum (7) is actuated by a suitable drive, wherein the rotary feed drum (7) is suitably mounted at an angle such that a plurality of weft yarns can be presented to the single needle (13), and wherein the single needle (13) feeds the plurality of weft yarns to a rapier gripper (15) for weft insertion.

In any of the embodiments of the weft presenter described above and herein, each yarn of the plurality of weft yarns is presented at a constant position for pick up by the rapier gripper (15) for weft insertion. Thus, in the case of a weft presenter comprising a plurality of rotary weft presenter devices mounted side by side on a weaving machine, each weft presenter device comprises its own single needle, and each such needle presents each yarn of the plurality of weft yarns in a constant position for pick up by a rapier gripper (15) for weft insertion.

In any of the embodiments of the weft presenter described above and herein, each weft presenter further comprises a mounting body (2) and a mounting arm (1) for rotating the feed drum (7) on top of the mounting body (2), wherein the mounting arm (1) protrudes from the mounting body (2), wherein the mounting body is positioned and fixed on a T-groove (3) at a variable position along the width of the loom, and wherein the mounting arm (1) protrudes above a reed (16) mounted on a sley (18) so as to avoid interference with the reed-sley path. This arrangement makes it possible to mount the weft yarn presenter or the weft yarn presenters in front of the moving sley and reed (16) of the weaving machine.

In any of the embodiments of the weft yarn presenter described above and herein, for each weft yarn presenter, the mounting arm (1) is positioned and fastened together with the mounting body (2) at a variable position along the width of the weaving machine, wherein the arm (1) supports a drive motor (5) having a rotating feed drum (7) mounted on a shaft (5a) of the drive motor (5), wherein the drive motor drives the rotating feed drum in forward or reverse rotational steps, wherein a needle (13) is mounted on a bearing sleeve (9) mounted in the mounting body (2) towards a protrusion (2a) at the bottom of the mounting body (2), and wherein the bearing sleeve (9) is supported by a suitable set of bearings (8) fixed at the protrusion (2a) at the bottom end of the mounting body (2). In any such embodiment, the needle is mounted axially and/or radially in the mounting body 2.

In the embodiments of the weft thread presenter described above and herein, the mounting body (2) and the mounting arm (1) form an integral body (23) having a rotary feed drum (7) mounted on and driven by the shaft (5a) of the drive motor (5). In another embodiment of the weft thread presenter described herein, the mounting body (2) and the mounting arm (1) are discrete separate parts which are connected upon assembly, and the final weft thread presenter has a rotary feed drum (7) mounted on and driven by the shaft (5a) of the drive motor (5).

In any of the embodiments of the weft presenter described above and herein, the mounting arm (1) is angled between 10 and 45 degrees at a position (1a) in the arm and the projecting mounting arm (1) is inclined towards the entry point of the rapier gripper (15) so as to position the open eye (13a) of the needle to intersect the original position of the weft yarn, thereby retaining the weft yarn in the respective through hole (7b) between the selvage along the fabric edge (6) and the exit end of the rotary feed drum. In alternative embodiments, the mounting arm (1) is angled between 10 to 40 degrees, 10 to 30 degrees, or 10 to 15 degrees (1c) at a position (1a) in the arm. Variations are expressly contemplated within the scope of the embodiments provided herein in which the mounting arm may be straight and the mounting means for the motor or its shaft may comprise a suitable angle, thereby providing the same advantages as the angled mounting arm described herein.

In any of the embodiments of the weft yarn presenter described above and herein, the weft yarn presenter further comprises a protruding flange (1b) at the top end of the mounting arm, which protruding flange supports a suitable fastening support (1c) for driving a drive motor of the rotary feed drum (7), wherein the motor is mounted on the protruding flange (1b) at the end of the arm (1) and the shaft (5a) of the motor extends from the top end of the mounting arm (1) and along the top end of the mounting arm (1), the rotary feed drum (7) being mounted in a mounting hole (7a) on the feed drum (7). In some such embodiments, the motor may be mounted on the protruding flange from the front/back/side.

In any of the embodiments of the weft thread presenter described above and herein, the weft thread presenter further comprises a drive mechanism (12) for the needles (13) at a suitable distance from the needle drive mechanism and driving a shaft (10) extending across the length of the weaving machine, wherein said shaft is driven in an oscillating motion by a cam (12b) and a driven mechanism (12c), wherein the needles are radially locked on said shaft (10) by means of a bearing sleeve (9), but are free to move axially along the shaft, thereby positioning the device at variable positions along the width of the weaving machine.

In any of the embodiments of the weft thread presenter described above and herein, for each rotary weft thread presenter, the rotary feed drum (7) comprises a central mounting hole (7a) locking it on the protruding motor shaft (5a) and a flat or skirt-like peripheral surface (7c) and comprises a plurality of equally spaced axial through holes (7b) extending in parallel along the axis of the rotary feed drum axis and arranged on a circle on the bottom of the skirt (7c) and through which the weft thread is pulled, wherein the pulled thread passes in front of the open ends of the needles for selection in a sequential or random manner.

In any of the embodiments of the weft yarn presenter described above and herein, the weft yarn is fed to the rotary feed drum from either side or at an angle, thereby positioning the at least one weft yarn presenter in a variable position along (or across) the width of the weaving machine, away from the weft yarn sensing device, and wherein, after the weft yarn is fed from either side or at an angle, the weft yarn passes along the rotary feed drum through the axial through hole (7b) and is delivered to the selvage yarn when it is not fed for insertion by the weaving machine.

In any of the embodiments of the weft yarn presenter described above and herein, the axial through holes (7b) on the periphery of the rotary feed drum transport weft yarns from the bottom side of the mounting arm to the top of the projecting mounting arm (1), and the yarn entry positions of said axial through holes (7b) are staggered at different heights from the top surface of the rotary feed drum and along the axis of the rotary feed drum, thereby avoiding entanglement of the weft yarns during stepwise rotation of the feed drum, wherein the weft yarn selection is controlled by software programmed for the desired fabric design, and wherein all said axial through holes (7b) are on the same horizontal plane at the exit, such that the exit end of the axial through hole (7b) when aligned to feed to the needle (13) remains at the same distance as the tip (13a) of the feed needle (13). In any of the embodiments of the weft presenter described above and herein, the selector needle is positioned such that the end of said needle (13a) transports the weft yarn down a path (21) from an original position to a position (20) to intersect the path of the rapier gripper (15), and wherein the needle tip has a forked feature or open eye (13a) allowing the needle to retract back to the original position of the needle while the picked up yarn is still inserted in the open shed by the rapier gripper (15) and the needle is free to move back to the original position of the needle to pick up the next weft yarn.

In any of the embodiments of the weft presenter described above and herein, the weft presenter further comprises a thread guide (14) suitably mounted on the oscillating loom sley, wherein said thread guide (14) is mounted directly in front of the needle feed position (20) and directly above the passing rapier gripper (15) such that when the rapier gripper (15) delivers a yarn below the thread guide (14), the needle (13) having an open ended forked configuration or open eye (13a) at its end retracts backwards after the gripper (15) has advanced beyond the thread guide (14), leaving the yarn captured below the guide portion (14) so that the needle is free to move up to a position (19) without affecting the picked up weft inserted into the open shed.

In any of the embodiments of the weft presenter described above and herein, the weft presenter further comprises a yarn guide (14) suitably mounted on the swinging loom sley (18) just in front of the needle's feed position and held just above the passing rapier gripper (15), wherein said open-ended forked formation (13a) is included at its tip when the rapier gripper (15) carries the yarn under the guide (14) and the needle (13), the needle can be retracted backwards after the gripper (15) has advanced beyond the guide (14), leaving the yarn guided under the guide (15), and wherein when the insertion is completed, the loom sley (18) swings forwards to a beat-up or front centre position (17) releasing the inserted weft yarn from under the guide (14) to an original position where, the weft yarn is held back between the feed drum port (7b) and the selvage yarns.

In any of the embodiments of the weft yarn presenter described above and herein, the weft yarn presenter further comprises a mark or label (7d) on the peripheral skirt or disc (7c) which, together with the pointer tip (1d), identifies the axial through hole (7b) selected for insertion of a weft yarn, wherein the axial through hole is selected by software programmed for the desired fabric design.

In any of the embodiments of the weft yarn presenter described hereinabove and herein, the needle (13) can be retracted to its original home position (19) once the yarn is picked up by the rapier gripper (15) and transported past the guide (14), and wherein the rotating feed drum (7) is ready to select the next axial through hole (7b) before the weft yarn returns to its home position, in parallel with the return movement of the weft yarn to the home position (19), guided by the programming software, before the current weft insertion cycle is completed.

In any of the embodiments of the weft presenter described above and herein, the up and down timing of the needles (13) is not changed for different fabric widths, but the at least one weft presenter is positioned along the T-slot (3) using fasteners (4) at variable positions along the width of the weaving machine.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a rotary weft thread presenting device as described herein, the mounting arm (1) being shown in a translucent manner, so that the positioning of the needle and the motor can be shown.

Fig. 2 shows a detail of a rotary feed drum with an axial through hole (weft port) in it.

Fig. 3 is a front view of the rotary weft yarn presenting device described herein.

Fig. 4 is a view of the rotary weft yarn presenter described herein facing the weaver.

Fig. 5 is a bottom view of the rotary weft yarn presenter described herein.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the mounting of the rotary weft yarn presenter device described herein along the width of a weaving machine and a top view of the drive shaft of the rotary weft yarn presenter device.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the components of the rotary weft yarn presenter described herein on a shaft and a cam and follower for driving the rotary weft yarn presenter.

Fig. 8 is a schematic view showing an exploded view of the rotary weft yarn presenter described herein, in two parts that are connectable, namely the mounting body (2) and the upper arm (1), and the arrangement of the shaft and the cams and followers relative to the T-slots on the weaving machine.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a rear central view of the rotary weft yarn presenter described herein after being placed on a weaving machine with the needles and all weft yarns in the highest or (original) position.

Fig. 10 is a schematic view showing a rear central view of the rotary weft yarn presenter device described herein after being placed on a weaving machine with the needles in a lower position.

Fig. 11 shows a view of the unitary body (23) described herein from a first side.

Fig. 12 shows a view of the unitary body (23) described herein from the second side.

Detailed Description

Described herein are weft yarn presenters that address some of the problems/disadvantages associated with conventional multi-yarn, multi-color weft yarn presenters systems for weaving looms. The weft presenter described herein comprises a device that uses only one needle for each yarn or each color of weft yarn, thereby reducing the size of the mechanism to a more compact size compared to conventional weft presenter. In contrast, conventional weft thread presenter require many needles, one for each weft thread, resulting in a bulky weft thread presenter.

The redesigned compact weft presenter described herein includes mounting a turret-type weft presenter and feeding multiple colors (i.e., multiple wefts) onto only one needle (as opposed to requiring a dedicated needle for each weft in the weave), with a single needle effectively feeding all the yarns to the gripper. The drive movement and timing setting device of the weft yarn presenter is placed in the machine body structure, away from the reed and sley. The use of a single needle for feeding a plurality of yarns, one yarn at a time, and the separation of the drive member from the actual loom has not been described previously.

The weft presenter described herein comprises a rotating weft presenter having a "turret and single-needle multiple-weft presenter" design and is clamped/fixed/placed in front of the sley and reed, which encloses the path of motion during beating up, avoiding the complications caused by weft, sley and beating up actions. Advantageously, the weft presenter described herein allows the color selector to be mounted anywhere along the width of the sley without interfering with its motion, while also avoiding the need to cut the reed according to the width of the woven fabric.

Each rotary weft thread presenter mounted on the weaving machine comprises an open eye needle which feeds a weft thread to the gripper and then the needle is ready to be withdrawn once the gripper picks up the weft thread on its way. In contrast, in conventional systems, the needle can only be retracted after the current fill cycle is complete. The rotary weft yarn presenter described herein thus facilitates the preparation, selection and alignment of the next weft yarn at the filling position before the current weft yarn cycle has not been completed, which reduces the response time required to select a weft yarn, which is particularly useful for high speed operating weaving machines.

The weft yarn presenter described herein includes one or more rotating weft yarn presenter devices. Furthermore, the rotating weft yarn presenter allows for precise timing of weft yarn selection and, accordingly, the weft yarn presenter is smaller in size compared to conventional weft yarn presenters. Advantageously, the rotary weft yarn presenter described herein is mounted without interfering with the path of movement of the beating-up member, thereby also avoiding the need to trim the reed length for each different weaving width. The mounting of such a weft yarn presenting device, which avoids interference with the movement of the beating-up member, has not been disclosed before.

Another advantageous feature of the rotary weft yarn presenter described herein is that they can present weft yarns for multiple colors or types of weft yarns by using a single needle instead of the conventional multiple needle arrangement which involves a separate dedicated needle for each weft yarn.

In the weft thread presenter described herein, the rotating shaft, the link and the cam are separated from the main needle selection device, so that the device is simply and easily moved according to different widths of fabrics woven on the weaving machine.

The weft presenter provided herein eliminates the need for needle timing settings. The relative setting of the sley movement and the needle movement always remains the same (irrespective of the position of the weft feeder along or across the machine width), allowing a simple transverse setting procedure to be performed, so that the machine setting can be easily changed/reset even without a technician.

The disclosure of the invention as found herein is to be considered to cover all embodiments as found in the claims, as they are interdependent with each other, irrespective of the fact that the claims are found without multiple citations or redundancies.

Except in the examples, or where otherwise explicitly indicated, all numbers in this description indicating amounts of material or angles or measurement of material or physical properties and/or uses are to be understood as modified by the word "about".

Referring to fig. 1 to 6, the mounting arm (1) of the weft yarn presenting device is fixed to a mounting base (2) mounted on an elongated T-shaped groove portion (3) mounted transversely on the machine. The T-slot arrangement comprises a T-slot nut (3a) and the mounting arm (1) is securely mounted on the T-slot portion (3) by at least one fastener at location (4). This completes the width-direction adjustment/arrangement of the weft selector. The mounting base (2) has a cylindrical protrusion at the bottom end (2a) and a square/circular/oval/rectangular/triangular protrusion (2b) at its uppermost position to properly accommodate a small motor (5) such that the motor axis or shaft (5a) protrudes towards the tip of the entire assembly. The arm (1) is bent at a small angle at point (1a) to facilitate correct positioning of the weft yarn in contact with the needle (13), as will be explained further below. The motor is mounted on the mounting arm (1) at a location (1c) on the projecting flange (1b) by at least one fastener. A turret-shaped and/or rotating feed drum (7) is mounted on the projecting shaft (5a) of the motor. The turret-shaped and/or rotating feed drum consists of a central boss (7a) and has a plurality of through-holes (7b) (also called weft ports), wherein the number of through-holes (7b) can vary from 2 to 20. Through holes (7b) are formed in the periphery, skirt or rim (7c) of the drum/turret (7) which are designed such that they can smoothly guide a plurality of individual weft yarns through them. Furthermore, the holes (7b) are arranged in a staggered height or stacked manner, thereby avoiding entanglement of weft yarns when the turret/rotary feed drum rotates in forward and reverse directions (or clockwise/counterclockwise directions) when presenting desired weft yarns to the weft gripper. The rotating/turret feed drum is engraved/pressed/cast/attached/labelled with several numbers (7d) to mark the different weft yarns processed by it. These numbers are indicated by fixed pointers (1d) on protruding flanges (1b) at the end of the mounting arm (1) of the weft feeder when the rotating/turret feed drum rotates. The bottom cylindrical projection (2a) of the mounting base (2) houses suitable bearings (8) which guide the bushing (9) in both axial directions and thrust along the shaft axis in both directions.

With reference to fig. 6 to 9, the sleeve (9) has a triangular/square/hexagonal/octagonal/key/spline shaped hole to lock diametrically a suitably shaped drive shaft (10) extending in the transverse direction along the width of the loom. The drive shaft is suitably guided by bearing means at a plurality of locations along its length. During the weaving cycle, the shaft (10) is driven in an oscillating motion with precise timing between 10 to 80 degrees of rotation by means of a suitably designed cam (12b) mounted on the shaft (12a) and a rocker or driven bearing arrangement (12c) at one of the ends of the shaft (10).

Each rotary weft yarn presenter comprises a single weft yarn presenter needle (13) having a bottom mounting end (13a) adapted to be radially locked with the sleeve (9) and an open end (13b) at the top end for capturing weft yarn as it is presented by the turret/rotary feed drum (7). The needles have a shank (13c) connecting a base (13a) and a tip (13c) and are shaped so that the open ends of the needles catch the weft yarns presented to them by the turret/rotary feed drum and bring them into the path of the passing gripper. The movement of the needle (13) is combined with the oscillation of the sleeve (9) driven by the cam and follower means (12) and the drive shaft (11), as shown in figure 9.

At the centre of the back of the weaving machine (the weft insertion stage of weaving), one or more rotary weft yarn presenter assemblies are mounted on a weaving machine, and each rotary weft yarn presenter assembly is mounted at a location (4) on a long T-slot section (3) by means of at least one fastener and a T-slot nut, the T-slot extending across the width of the weaving machine with sufficient length that the rotary weft yarn presenter can be easily fixed in position along the width of the weaving machine to suit the width of the fabric to be woven on the weaving machine. The shaft (10) is hexagonal/square/key/spline shaped in cross-section to maintain a diametric lock with the needle mounting sleeve (9) which also extends across the width of the machine. A smooth yarn guide (14) is mounted on the oscillating sley in such a way that it remains above the passage path of the collet (15) and just above the lowest position of the needle open end (13a) when the needle (13) is in the lowest position.

From a top view of the weft thread presenter at the centre of the rear of the weaving machine (weft insertion stage of weaving), this view shows the positioning of the weft thread presenter assembly as seen from the top. The mounting arm (1) is fixed to a mounting base (2), which base (2) is bolted to a T-slot section (3) which extends across the width of the machine as does the shaft (10). The arms (1) of the weft presenter are angled slightly towards the outside of the fabric width so that weft presentation takes place from the fabric edge (6) which holds all undelivered weft. This angle at point (1a) also serves to resolve the weft yarn passage from the weft feeder to the gripping head (15) and the nose (14), thereby resolving the acute angle of the two locations in the weft yarn passage, so that the tension on the weft yarn is less when inserting weft by the gripper (15). The side body structure or frame of the machine keeps the drive cam system (12) for the drive shaft (10) oscillating, which facilitates the movement of the needles with the required timing corresponding to the weaving cycle frequency. The placement of the drive member away from the weft presenting mechanism itself makes the mechanism smaller and further makes it easy to position it along the width of the fabric.

As used herein, the "axial through hole" in the rotary feed drum (7) is interchangeably referred to as a weft port, and is the port through which the weft yarn is exposed prior to selection of weft insertion.

As used herein, the "original position of the weft yarn" is the position of the weft yarn before any weft yarn is engaged by the needle for weft insertion when picked up by the rapier gripper (15).

As used herein, the "original position of the needle" is the position of the needle in its highest position when the needle is not engaged with any weft yarn. During the weaving cycle, the needles are moved from their original position to the operating position or any intermediate position, while the weft threads engage in their open eyes.

As used herein, "software programmed for a desired fabric design" directs the pick up of the weft and warp yarns in a desired sequence/pattern, i.e., the software is a weft and warp yarn pattern selection program.

The working description is as follows: a cam (12b) mounted and fixed on the shaft (12a) imparts a swinging motion to the drive shaft (10) through a rocker and follower (12 c). The timing of the forward swing of the shaft starts after the sley reaches the rear center position and enters a dwell period. The back swing of the shaft (10) is completed before the end of the dwell period of the sley or reed (16) and the start of the beating-up operation, so that the movement of the needles takes place after the sley or reed (16) has stopped its movement (dwell time of the sley) and before the sley starts moving in the next weaving cycle.

The mounting arm (1) in the rotary weft yarn presenter is suspended above the reed and shuttle plate so that the needle (13) engages with the weft yarn in its open eye (13a) when lowered, the weft yarn being fed from a position/port (7b) in the turret periphery of the turret/rotary feed drum; the needle (13) then falls between the reed (16) and the passing gripper (15) so that the presented weft thread is picked up by the gripper (15). The weft thread is transported forward along its path by the weft gripper and cut from the selvedge by the weft cutter. The yarn now passes under the smooth yarn section (14) and, thanks to this guide (14), no longer needs a needle to hold the weft yarn being presented along the path of the gripper (15) and the needle can be retracted at this stage. The needle returns to its retracted rearward or uppermost position (19), which is the original position of the needle.

The advantage of the weft presenter described herein is that when the needle (13) has an open end (13a) and is reinforced by a smooth yarn guide (14), the needle (13) can be retracted once the gripper picks up the weft yarn and cuts it from the retaining selvedge. The entire weft presenter can then select the next weft port/axial through hole (7b) according to the weft design program and remain ready until the completion of the current weft insertion cycle, and at the beginning of the next weft insertion cycle the corresponding weft port has been preselected in the above-described manner as the completion of the current weft insertion cycle. This allows the response time of the stepper motor (5) and the accompanying options to enable the use of a common stepper motor. The need for additional/additional high-response stepper motors is avoided.

And (3) transferring the yarns: the transfer of the yarn is illustrated in figures 6, 9 and 10 and described below. With reference to fig. 6, a top view of the machine and the path of the yarn from the weft sensor is shown, and the tensioning device is shown. As shown in fig. 6, the yarns extend almost parallel to each other as they leave the weft sensor and the tensioning device (6) and are fed to the turret/rotating feed drum (7) through a port (7b) and extend along the port and converge at a temple (17) where the selvage (11) is formed after the previous weaving is completed, and the selvage (11) is held firmly by the fabric temple (17). As the feed drum rotates, the convergence point of all weft yarns remains unchanged and then all weft yarns are aligned with the needle tip (13a) to be engaged by the needle, and this is controlled by the weft selection software program. When the drum rotates in steps, the length variation of the weft is compensated by a tension and length compensation mechanism (6).

Referring to fig. 9 and 10, side views of the yarn converging to the temple (17) are shown, the yarn transfer being shown only between the exit end of the weft yarn port (7b) and the temple (17) held at the selvedge (11). The needle in fig. 9 is in its uppermost position (19) and when the needle is lowered to position (20) the weft yarn is free to pass under the needle for selection, as shown in fig. 10. The path of the selected weft yarn is shown as being caught by the needles through the exit port (7b) of the path deflecting-feeding drum, by the forked open ends (13a) of the needles, which are also lowered to their feeding position (20) so as to intersect the path of the rapier head (15), while the other end is still held firmly at the selvage structure at (6) by the temple (17). This is an illustration before the weft cutting operation is performed, where the weft yarn is cut by the weft cutting device (22) at the nearest possible point at the selvedge (6), and it is also seen that the selected weft yarn intersects between the cutter blades (22a) of the weft cutter (23). The weft guide (14) can be seen above the needle point (13a) and above the rapier head (15), so that the weft can pass under the guide when the rapier 15 is advancing on the loom along its width path. Once the rapier head picks up the weft yarn (21) lowered by the needle (13), it is cut by the blade at (22a), now held only by the rapier head to pass through the open warp shed of the loom. The needle can be returned upwards to its position (19). When the insertion cycle is completed, the rapier head (15) is empty and when beating up by the reed (16), the inserted weft yarn is held firmly in the selvedge (6) at the temple (17) and the rotating weft feed drum (7) is again free to select another weft yarn, as shown in fig. 9. This procedure is repeated according to any software program that controls the weft/fabric design.

As shown in fig. 6, 9 and 10, some deflection of the weft yarn may occur when beaten up by the reed at the tip of the reed, but this is minimal and the tension compensation device at (6) is able to compensate for this length change due to small changes/deflections in the yarn path caused by the reed. Thus, the rotary weft yarn presenter can be mounted directly in front of the reed at a suitable position along the width of the machine. Furthermore, a plurality of such rotary weft yarn feeders can be mounted on a T-slot (3) along the width of the machine, thereby enabling the machine to weave complex patterns with multi-position multi-weft patterns, such as the traditional art fabric used in indian tulle, which otherwise could only be woven by hand.

The programming software for controlling the weft yarn pattern of at least one weft yarn presenter described herein also controls the warp yarn pattern, thereby controlling any desired yarn design in the resulting fabric in the warp and weft directions. While the weft presenter described herein executes the weft portion of the fabric design software program, the warp portion of the fabric design software program is executed by the warp patterning device.

Included within the scope of the embodiments provided herein are weaving looms that include a rotary weft yarn presenting device as described herein, and further include a warp yarn patterning device having an axial shaft arrangement, as described in PCT publication WO 2017/134642, which is incorporated herein by reference. The shaft-in-shaft arrangement comprises a warp patterning device comprising a half-slit bisecting the left and right side units, and further comprises a shaft-in-shaft arrangement for driving the output rod such that the selection and drive elements maintain a different pitch than the drive rod. The shaft-in-shaft arrangement includes a connecting rod and disk drive shedding device without a hook, knife and rotor cam type arrangement, where rotating the connecting rod and disk increases the speed of operation. The output rods alternately drive half of the frames on the loom, thereby driving the even-numbered frames from one side of the loom and the odd-numbered frames from the other side of the loom. The shaft-in-shaft arrangement is a multi-stage shaft-in-shaft arrangement for driving the required number of heald frames, comprising an innermost shaft with a total diameter between 20 and 60mm and provided with a keyway near the end, the hollow shaft having a radial thickness between 4 and 20mm, wherein there are two laterally stopped shafts in the assembly, while the remaining shafts take their position from corresponding parts fitted on the assembly and on the drive lock and emerge on both faces of all the shafts to lock the elements fitted on both ends of said shafts diametrically. This is described in more detail in the drawings provided in PCT publication WO 2017/134642, which are also incorporated herein by reference.

The present invention has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof. However, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.

List of reference numerals

1 is a mounting arm

1a is the position giving the angle

1b is a protruding flange for mounting a motor

1c is a position for fastening the motor to the protruding flange 1b

1d is a projection for indicating the port number aligned for weft insertion

2 is a mounting base of a weft yarn presenter

2a is a cylindrical protrusion at the bottom end of the base 2

3 is a long T-shaped groove part for mounting the base 2

3a is a T-slot nut for clamping the base 2

4 is the location of the fastener for tightening the base to the T-slot portion 3

5 is a driving motor

5a is an output shaft of the drive motor

Weft yarn sensing and tension compensating device

7 is a rotor or feed drum or turret for feeding weft yarns

7a is the central boss of the rotor mounted on the shaft 5a

7b are holes on the periphery of the rotor called weft ports

7c is a skirt on the bottom of the feed drum 7

7d is a port number marked on the bottom of the skirt 7c to identify the weft port

8 is a bearing mounted at position 2b on the mounting base 2

9 is a sleeve mounted in the bearing 8

10 is a drive shaft for the sleeve 9

11 is a bearing arrangement for a shaft 10 in a machine body

12 is a cam and follower arrangement for the drive shaft 10

12a is an operating shaft on which the cam is mounted

12b are cams mounted on the shaft 12a for imparting oscillating motion

12c is a rocker with a driven bearing mounted on the shaft 10

13 is a weft yarn presenter needle

13a is the bottom end of the needle, which is locked diametrically on the sleeve 9

13b is an open ended fork or eyelet at the needle tip

13 being the shank or body of the needle connecting 13a and 13b

14 is a yarn guide mounted on the swing sley

15 is a chuck

Weaving reed on sley 16

17 is a temple portion/profile for capturing fabric

18 is the rear center position of the sley

19 is the highest or home position of the weft presenter needle

20 is the lowermost or feed position of the weft presenter needle

21 being the course of the weft fed by the needles

22 is a weft cutting device

22a is the cutting blade of the weft cutter 22.

23 is an integral body comprising a mounting arm and a mounting base.

Claims (20)

1. A weft yarn presenter for a shuttleless loom comprises at least one rotary weft yarn presenter mounted on the loom, wherein each rotary weft yarn presenter presents a plurality of weft yarns.

2. Weft yarn presenter according to claim 1 comprising a single rotary weft yarn presenter.

3. Weft yarn presenter according to claim 1, comprising a plurality of rotary weft yarn presenter devices mounted side by side on a weaving machine.

4. Weft yarn presenter according to claim 1 wherein each rotary weft yarn presenter comprises a single needle (13) and a rotary feed drum (7) comprising a peripheral hole arranged thereon, wherein the rotary feed drum (7) is actuated by a suitable drive, wherein the rotary feed drum (7) is suitably mounted at an angle such that a plurality of weft yarns can be presented to the single needle (13), and wherein the single needle (13) feeds a plurality of weft yarns to a rapier gripper (15) for weft insertion.

5. Weft presenter according to claim 1 or claim 4 wherein each yarn of the plurality of weft yarns is presented at a constant position to be picked up by the rapier gripper (15) for weft insertion.

6. Weft presenter according to claim 1, wherein each weft presenter further comprises a mounting body (2) and a mounting arm (1) for the rotary feed drum (7) at the top of the mounting body (2), wherein the mounting arm (1) protrudes from the mounting body (2), and wherein the mounting body is positioned and fastened on a T-groove (3) at a position variable along the width of the weaving machine, and wherein the mounting arm (1) protrudes above a reed (16) mounted on a sley (18) avoiding interference with the reed-sley path.

7. Weft yarn presenter according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein for each weft yarn presenter, the mounting arm (1) is positioned with the mounting body (2) and fastened at a position variable along the width of the weaving machine, wherein the arm (1) supports a drive motor (5) having a rotary feed drum (7) mounted on a shaft (5a) of the drive motor (5), wherein the drive motor drives the rotary feed drum in forward or reverse rotational steps, and wherein the needle (13) is mounted on a bearing sleeve (9) which is fixed in the mounting body (2) towards a protrusion (2a) at the bottom of the mounting body (2), and wherein the bearing sleeve (9) is supported by a suitable set of bearings (8) which are fixed at the protrusion (2a) to the bottom end of the mounting body (2).

8. Weft yarn presenter according to claim 7, wherein the mounting body (2) and the mounting arm (1) form an integrated body (23) with a rotating feed drum (7) mounted on and driven by a shaft (5a) of a drive motor (5).

9. Weft yarn presenter according to claim 7 wherein the mounting arms (1) are angled between 10 and 45 degrees (1c) at position (1a) in the arms and the protruding mounting arms (1) are inclined towards the entry point of the rapier gripper (15) positioning the open eye (13a) of the needle to intersect the original position of the weft yarn holding the weft yarn in the respective through hole (7b) between the selvage along the fabric edge (6) and the exit end of the rotary feed drum.

10. Weft presenter according to claim 9, further comprising a protruding flange (1b) at the top end of the mounting arm, which protruding flange supports a suitable fastening support (1c) for a drive motor for driving the rotary feed drum (7), wherein the motor is mounted on the protruding flange (1b) at the end of the arm (1) and the shaft (5a) of the motor extends from and along the top end of the mounting arm (1), the rotary feed drum (7) being mounted in a mounting hole (7a) on the feed drum (7).

11. Weft presenter according to claim 10 further comprising a drive mechanism (12) for the needles (13) at a suitable distance from the needle drive mechanism and driving a shaft (10) extending across the length of the weaving machine, wherein the shaft is driven in an oscillating motion by a cam (12b) and a driven mechanism (12c), wherein the needles are locked on the shaft (10) in a diametrical direction via a bearing sleeve (9) but are free to move axially along the shaft, positioning the device at variable positions along the width of the weaving machine.

12. Weft presenter according to any one of claims 6-11 wherein for each weft presenter the rotary feed drum (7) comprises a central mounting hole (7a) locking it on a protruding motor shaft (5a) and a flat or skirt-like peripheral surface (7c) and comprises a number of equally spaced axial through holes (7b) extending in parallel along the axis of the rotary feed drum axis and arranged on a circle on the bottom of the skirt (7c) and through which the weft thread is pulled out, wherein the pulled out yarn passes in front of the open end of the needle for selection in a sequential or random manner.

13. Weft yarn presenter according to claim 12 wherein the weft yarn is fed to the rotary feed drum from either side or at an angle, positioning the at least one weft yarn presenter device in a position along the width of the weaving machine variable away from the weft yarn sensing device, and wherein after feeding the weft yarn from either side or at an angle, the weft yarn extends along the rotary feed drum towards the needles through the axial through holes (7b) and is transported to the side yarn when it is not being fed by the weaving machine for weft insertion.

14. Weft yarn presenter according to claim 13 wherein the axial through holes (7b) on the periphery of the rotary feed drum transport weft yarns from the bottom side of the mounting arm towards the top of the projecting mounting arm (1) and the yarn entry positions of the axial through holes (7b) are staggered along the axis of the rotary feed drum at different heights from the top surface of the rotary feed drum, avoiding weft yarn tangling during stepwise rotation of the feed drum, wherein the selection of weft yarns is controlled by software programmed for the desired fabric design, and wherein all the axial through holes (7b) are on the same horizontal plane at the outlet, so that when they are aligned to feed to the needles (13), the outlet ends of the axial through holes (7b) remain at the same distance from the tips (13a) of the feed needles (13).

15. Weft presenter according to claim 14 wherein the selector needle is positioned such that the end of the needle (13a) transports the weft yarn down a path (21) from the home position to a position (20) to intersect the path of the rapier gripper (15) and wherein the needle tip has a forked feature or open eye (13a) allowing the needle to retract back to the home position of the needle while the picked up yarn is still inserted in the open shed by the rapier gripper (15) and the needle can move freely back to the home position of the needle to pick up the next weft yarn.

16. Weft presenter according to claim 15 further comprising a thread guide (14) suitably mounted on an oscillating loom sley, wherein the thread guide (14) is mounted directly in front of the needle feed position (20) and directly above the passing rapier gripper (15) such that when the rapier gripper (15) delivers a yarn below the thread guide (14), the needle (13) with an open ended forked configuration or open eye (13a) at its end can be retracted backwards after the gripper (15) has advanced beyond the thread guide (14), leaving the yarn trapped below the guide portion (14), so that the needle can move freely up to a position (19) without affecting the picked up weft inserted into the open shed.

17. The weft yarn presenter according to any one of claims 1 to 16 further comprising a yarn guide (14), the thread guide is suitably mounted on the oscillating loom sley (18) just in front of the needle feed position and is held just above the passing rapier gripper (15), wherein when the rapier gripper (15) carries the yarn under the guide part (14) and the needle (13), comprising at its tip said open-ended forked formation (13a), the needle being able to withdraw backwards after the advancement of the gripping head (15) beyond the guide portion (14), leaving the yarn guided under the guide portion (15), and wherein, when the insertion is completed, the loom slay (18) swings forward to the beat-up or front centre position (17) releasing the inserted weft thread from under the guide (14) to the original position, in the home position, the weft thread is held back between the feed drum port (7b) and the selvedge thread.

18. Weft yarn presenter according to any one of claims 1 to 17, further comprising a mark or label (7d) on the peripheral skirt or disc (7c) identifying, together with the pointer tip (1d), the axial through hole (7b) selected for weft yarn insertion, wherein the axial through hole is selected by software programmed for the desired fabric design.

19. Weft yarn presenter according to claim 18 wherein the needles (13) are retractable to their original home position (19) once the yarn is picked up by the rapier gripper (15) and transported past the guide (14) and wherein the rotating feed drum (7) is ready to select the next axial through hole (7b) before the weft yarn is returned to its home position, guided by the programming software, before the current weft insertion cycle is completed, so that the next weft yarn can be preselected in parallel with the weft yarn return movement to the home position (19).

20. Weft yarn presenter according to claim 18, wherein for different fabric widths the up and down timing of the needles (13) is not changed, but the at least one weft yarn presenter is positioned along the T-slot (3) using fasteners (4) at a variable position along the width of the weaving machine.

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