GB2175318A - Weft selectors - Google Patents

Abstract

A weft selector control comprises means (10) for generating a series of counter actuating pulses; means (60) for receiving the controlling data responsive to the counter actuating pulses to count the number of steps effected and the address of the next step in the sequence to be performed; a memory unit (40) coupled to the receiving means (60) for storing the control data therein, and coupled to the counter unit (20) for outputting the corresponding control data in response to the address number; a driving unit so (50) coupled to the memory unit (40) for receiving the control data and actuating one of the weft thread guiding mechanism to its beating-up position in accordance with the received control data; and means (30) for resetting the address number to its initial number when the programme has been completed. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION An apparatus for actuating filling thread guiding mechanisms to the beating-up position The present invention is related to an apparatus for actuating one of a plurality of filling threads guiding mechanisms of a shuttleless loom to its beating-up position for attsining the beating-up and colour selection process.

The beating-up and colour selection process of the conventional shuttleless loom is achieved by a punch card or tape inserted into a controlling mechanism. At first, the designed pattern of the cloth to be woven is depicted on a paper, a card or tape, e.g. made of plastic material, is punched by a puncher in accordance with the designed pattern, and then is carefully mounted on a tape reader.

However, the use of a punch card or tape has some disadvantages, such as the fact that the production of such a punch card or tape is complicated and takes a lot of time, the punch card or tape is inconvenient to use and is easily damaged, and the length of the tape is limited.

An object of the present invention is to improve upon the drawbacks described above.

According to the present invention there is provided an apparatus for actuating a plurality of filling thread guiding mechanisms of a shuttleless loom to its beating-up position respectively in accordance with a series of preset controlling datas, comprising means for generating a series of counter actuating pulses; means for receiving the controlling datas inputted by a user; a counter unit responsive to the counter actuating pulses to count the number of controlling data in accordance with the quantity of the controlling data while the user is inputting the controlling datas, and to count the number of address of ensuing controlling data in accordance with the times of the filling thread guiding mechanisms to be actuated to its beatingup position when the shuttleless loom is running; a memory unit coupled to the receiving means for storing the controlling datas therein, and coupled to the counter unit for outputting the corresponding controlling data in response to the address number; a driving unit coupled to the memory unit for receiving the controlling data and actuating one of the filling thread guiding mechanisms to its beating-up position in accordance with the received controlling data; and means for comparing the quantity of controlling datas with the times of the filling thread guiding mechanisms to be actuated to its beating-up position, coupled to the counter unit for resetting the address number to its initial number when the quantity is equal to the times.

The filling thread guinding mechanism may comprise a guiding rod, a swinging member capable of swinging synchronous to the beating-up process of the shuttleless loom, and an electromagnet mounted on the guiding rod and coupled to the driving unit for being magnetized to attract the swinging member in response to the controlling data, so that the guiding rod with the swinging member is swung to the beating-up position.

The present invention provides an actuating apparatus which utilizes a memory unit to store a series of controlling datas for controlling the shuttleless loom repeatedly. Therefore, the punch card or tape is no longer needed.

The present invention may also include an oscillator coupled to the counter unit for outputting a series of pulses to actuate the counter unit to count the address number, and then the memory unit is capable of outputting the controlling datas stored therein in series to a memory unit in another actuating apparatus of another shuttleless loom through a data bus in response to the address number.

Preferably, the counter unit includes a first visual indication therein to indicate the address number, and the driving unit includes a second visual indication therein to indicate the controlling data.

The pulse generating means may be included a count up/down controlling circuit to the counter unit for controlling the counter unit to count up or count down.

The present invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which are an integral part of this application and in which: Figure 1 is a block diagram of the actuating apparatus for a shuttleless loom in accordance with one preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is an electrical schematic diagram of the actuating apparatus of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a side view of a filling thread guiding mechanism in accordance with the present invention.

At first, it should be noted that although the controlling datas are all formed of 8 bits through all of the descriptions below, the controlling datas may be easily extended to 16 bits, 32 bits, or more by those who are ordinarily skilled in the art. In addition, the amount of the filling thread guiding mechanisms, each of which guides a filling thread in a different colour, is limited by the bit number of each controlling data.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2, the apparatus for actuating one of a plurality of filling thread guiding mechanisms of a shuttleless loom to its beating-up position in accordance with one of a series of preset controlling datas, comprises means 10 for generating a series of counter actuating pulses, a counter unit 20, a comparing means 30, a memory unit 40, a driving unit 50, and means 60 for receiving the controlling datas inputted by a user.

The counter actuating pulse generating means 10 is constructed to actuate the counter unit 20 to count up or count down. The counter actuating pulses can be generated in the counter actuating pulse generating means 10 in three ways. In the first way, once a user manually presses a switch (not shown), a manually operating pulse signal MX inputs to a pulse generator 11 of the counter actuating pulse generating means 10. Then, the pulse generator 11 will output a counter actuating signal to the counter unit 20 for actuating the counter unit 20 to count up one or count down one. In the second way, each one of a series of synchronous pulse signals PX is generated as one of the sequential beating-up motions occurs, so that the pulses PX are synchronous to the beating-up process in the shuttleless loom.The series of synchronous pulse signals PX are sequentially sent to the pulse generator 11 through a synchronous signal generator 12, and then to the counter unit 20 when the shuttleless loom is in operation. In the third way, a series of data transmitting pulse signals SX are generated from an oscillator (O.S.C.) 13, and sent to the counter unit 20 through the pulse generator 11 so as t6 actuate the counter unit 20 to continuously count. When the shuttleless loom is not in operation, the series of data transmitting pulse signals SX can actuate the controlling datas stored in the memory unit 40 to transmit to the other memory unit (not shown) of the other shuttleless loom (not shown), and this process will be described in detail later.The oscillator 13 can be turned on by pressing a terminal ST (start), and will be automatically turned off when a stop signal is received at a terminal SP (stop) at the moment the controlling datas have been wholly transmitted out, and this process will also be further described in detail later. The counter actuating pulse generating means 10 also includes a count up/down selec- tor 14 coupled to the counter unit 20 for providing the user with the selection terminals PBU and PBD to alternatively control the counter unit 20 to count up or count down.

The counter unit 20 is coupled to the counter actuating pulse generating means 10 for outputting a signal set to act as an address number of a con toiling data in increments or in decrements. The counter unit 20 roughly includes a first counter 21 and a second counter 22. The first counter 21 is directly actuated by the counter actuating pulses from the generating means 10, and then outputs the number signal at its output port A0 to A9 to act as an address number of a controlling data. The second counter 22 is coupled to the pulse generating means 10 through two tristate elements 24 and 25 which are controlled by an RW signal from the input data receiving means 60. In other words, the second counter 22 receives the counter actuating pulses only when the RW signal is in a logical high state.The RW signal is in a logical high state only when the user is inputting the controlling data into the input data receiving means 60. Therefore, the second counter 22 will keep the number of the total quantity of the inputted controlling datas until it is reset by a RESET signal. Aparat from the RESET signal, the first counter 21 can also be reset by a feedback signal RS1 from the comparating means 30 to repeat the other cycle of the same beating-up process, and this function will be further described in detail. The counter unit 20 may include a first visual indication 26 coupled to the first counter 21 for indicating the address number.

The comparing means 30 includes a comparator 31 constructed to compare the quantity of the controlling datas kept in the second counter 22 with the address number outputted from the first counter 21. A circulating pulse generator 32 is coupled to the comparator 31 for outputting the RS1 signal to reset the first counter 21 and outputting a RS2 signal to the SP terminal of the oscillator 13 so as to turn off the oscillator 13 when the outputs of the first and second counters 21 and 22 are equal, i.e. all controlling datas have been outputted sequentially.

The memory unit 40 may be a random access memory of 8K bits having an address port A0 to A9 and a data port DO to D7. The memory unit 40 is constructed to store and output the datas of controlling one of the filling thread guiding mechanisms to move to its beating-up position. The random access memory 40 of 8K bits can store 1024 controlling datas.

The driving unit 50 is coupled to the memory unit 40 for receiving the controlling data outputted from the memory unit 40 and actuating one of the filling thread guiding mechanisms to its beating-up position in accordance with the received controlling data. The driving unit 50 includes a photo-couple element 51 coupled to the memory unit 40 through a tristate buffer 54 to transfer the controlling data to an electromagnet driving stage 52 for magnetizing an electromagnet mounted on the selected filling thread guiding mechanism according to the controlling data. The driving unit 50 also includes a second visual indication 53, e.g. eight LED's, coupled to the memory unit 40 through a buffer for indicating the content of the controlling data. The tristate buffer 54 and a tristate element 55 are controlled to determine whether to let the controlling data pass therethrough.

The input data receiving means 60 includes an 8bit register 61 and eight buttons 62 which connect the data port DO to D7 of the 8-bit register 61 respectively for the user to input controlling datas.

All buttons 62 are normally in an open state so as to input eight logical low states to the data port DO to D7, whereas if one or more buttons are pressed, one or more logical high states will then input to the data port DO to D7, keeping the other buttons which are not pressed in logical low states. Since in the operation of the shuttleless loom just one filling thread guiding mechanism will be actuated to its beating-up position at a time, that one corresponding button is pressed is enough to complete the input of a controlling data. The input data receiving means 60 also includes an 8-bit OR gate 63 connected to the outputs of the eight buttons 62 respectively, so that the output line LG of the 8-bit OR gate 63 is in a logical high state if one or more buttons are pressed. The high logical state signal in the line LG is sent to an LE (Latch Enable) terminal of the 8-bit register 61 and a WE (Write Enable) terminal of the random access memory 40 concurrently in order to enable the 8-bit register 61 and the random access memory 40. In addition, the input data receiving means 60 includes a readl write controller 64 to control the random access memory 40 to receive the controlling datas or output the controlling datas stored therein, and this function will be further described in detail.

Referring now to Figure 3, there is shown a filling thread guiding mechanism in accordance with one preferred embodiment of the present invention. The filling thread guiding mechanism includes a swinging member, a guiding rod, and an electromagnet 83. The swinging member includes a rotating axle 71 which is rotated synchronous to the beating-up motion of the shuttleless loom and has a cam 72 thereon, a swinging plate 73 having one end pivotally connected to a supporting axle 74 and at the other end having a rotating wheel 75 and a metal plate 76 mounted thereon respectively, and a spring 77 constructed to bias the rotating wheel 75 to keep it in contact with the cam 72.The guiding rod includes an arm 78 pivotally connected to the supporting axle 74 at its one end, and a sliding rod 80 pivotally connected to the other end of the arm 78 through an adjusting plate 79 and extending through a supporting frame 81, so that the sliding rod 80 can slide along the supporting frame 81 following the rotation of the arm 78 about the supporting axle 74. The arm 78 includes a fixed plate 82 mounted thereon for securing the electromagnet 83 thereonto, and a torsional spring 85 mounted around the supporting plate 74 for biasing the arm 78 to abut against an adjusting bolt 84 which is constructed to adjust the height of the arm 78. The electromagnet 83 is connected to the electromagnet driving stage 52 of the driving unit 50.During the operation of the shuttleless loom, the cam 72 rotates following the rotating axle 71, and therefore the rotating wheel 75 and the metal plate 76 will move downward and upward, and concurrently actuate the swinging plate 73 to swing in relation to the supporting axle 74. When the electromagnet 83 is magnetized according to the controlling data, and at this moment the metal plate 76 is pushed upward to its ultimate up position by the cam 72, the electromagnet 83 will cling on to the metal plate 76. Then, the guiding rod is moved to its ultimate low position or beating-up position following the downward motion of the metal plate 76. After the beating-up motion is finished, the electromagnet 83 is demagnetized, and therefore the guiding rod is drawn to return to its ultimate up position by the bias of the spring 85.

Since the beating-up motion is well known in the art, further description is deemed not to be necessary.

According to the actuating apparatus and the filling thread guiding mechanism described above, the steps of inputting the controlling datas are as follows: First, switch the read/write controller 64 to PWR for selection of the write mode, and the RW line will be in logical high state. Thus, the RW line connected to the terminal OE selects the 8-bit register 61, and the tristate elements 24 and 25 of the second counter 22 are enabled by the logical high state signal in the RW line. Press the reset to send a reset signal to the MR1 and MR2 terminals in the first and second counters 21 and 22 respectively so as to reset both counters to zero. Switch the count up/down selector 14 to PBU (or PBD) for actuating the counters 21 and 22 to count up (or count down). Manually input an MX pulse signal, and then the counters 21 and 22 will indicate "1".At this moment, input a controlling data, namely press one of the eight buttons 62, e.g. the third button. The controlling data "00000100"is sent into and stored in the memory unit 40 at the address "00000001" through the 8-bit register 61 due to the fact that terminals WE and LE are enabled. Then, manually input an MX pulse signal again, and the counters 21 and 22 will now indicate "2". Input a controlling data as the method described above.

Repeatedly input an MX pulse signal and a control ling data until all controlling datas are entirely stored in the memory unit 40. The address number and the content of each controlling data can be checked from the first and second visual indication 26 and 53 respectively after each inputting operation is finished.

Further, the steps for output of the controlling datas are as follows: First, switch the read/write controller 64 to PBR for selection of the read mode, and the RW line will be in logical low state, whereas the RW line will be in logical high state. Thus, the 8-bit register 61 is not selected, and the tristate elements 24 and 25 of the second counter 22 are disenabled by the logical low state signal in the RW line. By contrast, the tristate elements 54 and 55 of the driving unit 50 are enabled by the logical high state signal in the RW line, so that the controlling datas are allowed to pass through the tristate elements 54 and 55. Press a RUN button of the circulating pulse generator 32 to output a logical low state pulse signal at the line RS1 to the MR1 terminal of the first counter 21 for resetting the first counter 21 to zero.The second counter 22 still keeps the latest address number, i.e. the quantity of the controlling datas. If the user wants to check the controlling datas, he can sequentially input a series of MX pulse signals to go over each controlling data on the second visual indication 53. Otherwise, when enter into the operation of the shuttleless loom, a series of PX pulse signals synchronous to the beating-up motion will continuously input to the first counter 21. Thus, the first counter 21 will continuously increase (or decrease) and then output the address number, resulting in that the memory unit 40 will send out one controlling data to the driving unit 50 after one beating-up motien is completed.The driving unit 50 magnetizes one of the electromagnets 83 in the eight filling thread guiding mechanisms in accordance with the received controlling data from the memory unit 40 to drive that filling thread guiding mechanism to its beatfng-up position, i.e. to guide the filling thread to be moved through the warp shed. Whereby, each time a different colour filling thread may be interlaced between the warp threads. When the increasing address number in the first counter 21 reaches the stored number in the second counter 22, that is to say, all controlling datas are implemented, the comparator 31 actuates the circulating pulse generator 32 to output a logical low state pulse signal at the line RS1, whereby the first counter 21 is reset to zero.Thus, the first counter 21 begins counting from "00000001" again, and the beating-up motions are also repeated again in accordance with the same preset controlling datas.

Considering that in mass production many looms are processing the same work, the actuating apparatus of the present invention also provides the function of continuously outputting the stored controlling datas to the other actuating apparatus in the other loom. The steps of operating this function are as follows: First, switch the read/write controller 64 to PRB for slection of read mode, thus the tristate element 55 is enabled. Press the RUN button of the circulating pulse generator 32 to reset the first counter 21 to zero. Then press the ST button of the oscillator 13 to start the oscillator 13 outputting a series of SX pulse signals continuously to the first counter 21. The controlling datas will thus continuously output to the DO lines which are connected to the other actuating apparatus through the data port DO to D7, the data bus, and the tristate element or buffer 55. Of course, the two actuating apparatus must simultaneously receive the synchronous SX pulse signals to proceed the synchronous data transmitting process. When the numbers in the first and second counters 21 and 22 are equal, the circulating pulse generator 32 is thus actuated to output a logical low state pulse to the SP terminal of the oscillator 13 for interrupting the oscillator 13. In other words, the controlling datas transmitting process is finished.

Claims (6)

1. An apparatus for continuously actuating one of a plurality of filling thread guiding mechanisms of a shuttleless loom to its beating-up position in accordance with a series of preset controlling datas, comprising: means for generating a series of counter actuating pulses; means for receiving the controlling data inputted by a user; a counter unit responsive to the counter actuating pulses to count the number of controlling data in accordance with the quantity of the controlling data during the user's inputting the controlling data, and to count the number of address number of ensuing controlling data from an initial number in accordance with the times of the filling thread guiding mechanisms to be actuated to its beatingup position when the shuttleless loom is running;; a memory unit coupled to the receiving means for storing the controlling data therein, and coupled to the counter unit for outputting the corresponding controlling data in response to the address number; a driving unit coupled to the memory unit for receiving the controlling data and actuating one of the filling thread guiding mechanisms to its beating-up position in accordance with the received controlling data; and means for comparing the quantity of the controlling data with the times of the filling thread guiding mechanisms to be actuated to its beating-up position, coupled to the counter unit for resetting the address number to its initial number when the times are equal to the quantity. are equal.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pulse generating means includes a count up/ down controlling circuit coupled to the counter unit for controlling the counter unit to count up or count down.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the counter unit includes a first visual indication therein to indicating the address number, and the driving unit includes a second visual indication therein to indicating the controlling data.

4. An apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the apparatus further comprises an oscillator coupled to the counter unit for outputting a series of pulses to actuate the counter unit to count the address number, and then the memory unit capable of outputting the controlling datas stored therein in series to a memory unit in the other actuating apparatus of the other shuttleless loom without shuttle through a data bust in response to the address number.

5. An apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein each controlling datas is an 8-bit data.

6. An apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein each filling thread guiding mechanism includes a guiding rod, a swinging member capable of swinging synchronous to the beating-up process of the shuttleless loom, and an electromagent mounted on the guiding rod and coupled to the driving unit for being magnetized to attract the swinging member in response to the controlling data, so that the guiding rod with the swining member is swung to the beating-up position.