GB632245A - Improvements relating to automatic looms for weaving - Google Patents

Abstract

632,245. Automatic cop changing; weft fork motions. SHIMWELL, D. W. June 24, 1947 Nos. 16626/47 and 387/48. [Classes 142 (i) and 142 (iii)] When cop changing is initiated by a feeler housed in the shuttle as described in Specification 632,258, the weft is cut between the shuttle eye and the fabric and the remnant is extracted from the shuttle, which then passes through the shed empty one or more times before a fresh cop is inserted. Extracting spent cop. As shown in Fig. 2, the feeler in the shuttle raises a striker e into line with a block n (see also Fig. 11) carried by a vertical lever ql which is thereby turned at beatup about its pivot q2 to swing a hook d (or a pair of gripping jaws) through a slot in the shuttle to engage the spent cop c ; the lever also operates scissors w by means of a cable v. As the slay recedes, the cop is withdrawn from the shuttle and, when the slay reaches back centre, it pulls a rod z to return the lever q<SP>1</SP> to its normal position, thereby returning the hook d to the position shown in chain line, this movement occurring quickly so that the cop remnant falls off the hook. Meanwhile, the shuttle is picked empty, causing operation of a weft fork which, through linkage u swings the block n about a pivot p, so that when the shuttle returns and again raises the striker e, the lever q<SP>1</SP> is not operated by it. Controlling cop inserter. The weft fork also controls mechanism (not described) which inserts a fresh cop into the shuttle. Alternatively, the cop inserter can be controlled as shown in Figs. 7 and 9, in which an arm 10 for operating the cop hammer normally rests on a concentric part of a continuously rotating cam 6; when the lever ql is turned as described above, a wedge 5 on the rod z pushes the cam endwise so that a thread 7 engages the arm 10, causing the cam to traverse further along its shaft; when the shuttle has made two flights empty, a lobe 8 on the cam lifts the arm 10 into the path of a striker 14 on the slay, whereby the cop hammer is actuated at beat-up. In the case of a loom weaving a three-leaf twill, the cam 6 and the cop hammer are placed at the opposite end of the loom to the scissors and cop extractor, and the cam 6 is rotated at such a speed that the shuttle makes three empty flights. In another modification, Figs. 11-13, arranged for plain weaving, ratchet wheels 21, 25 and a cam 26 are fixed on a shaft 24; the teeth 27, 30 of the ratchet wheel 25 are widely spaced so that, in the position shown, a continuously oscillated pawl 31 fails to engage the tooth 27. When the lever q<SP>1</SP> is returned to its normal position by the rod z, however, a pawl 20 turns the shaft 24 slightly, whereupon the pawl 31 engages the tooth 27 and turns the shaft further, causing the cam 26 to lift the arm 10, which is actuated at the next beat-up to insert a fresh cop. The pawl 31 then engages the tooth 28 and turns the shaft 24 to lower the arm 10. For weaving a four-leaf twill, the ratchet wheels and the cam are changed so that the shuttle crosses the loom empty four times before a fresh cop is inserted. For weaving a three-leaf twill, the weft is cut at one end of the loom and the spent cop is extracted at the other end, the shuttle then making three further flights before a fresh cop is inserted. Weft fork motion. When a weft fork, Fig. 23, is used to stop the loom on breakage of weft, it is put out of action after the weft has been cut at the shuttle eye. A connection 53 from the scissors depresses a shoulder 52 below the path of the tail 51 of the fork, as shown; as the weft fork hammer 59 moves forwards, a striker 60 returns the shoulder 52 to its normal position.