JP2009523924A - Method and apparatus for weaving fabrics - Google Patents

Abstract

【Constitution】
A method for weaving a tube-like article such as a sleeved garment (10) uses a weft carrier such as a shuttle (not shown) that passes forward and backward across the warp bed (1) of the loom. This method includes detecting sagging in the supplied weft, which sagging is caused by the weft being supplied by the shuttle but not interwoven with the warp beyond the weaving area ears. The slack weft is pulled back into the shuttle and stored in the shuttle for later supply.
[Effect] When weaving, it is possible to weave a truly seamless tube-like material regardless of the position of the warp width.
[Reference drawing] FIG.

Description

  The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for weaving fabrics, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for weaving independent tubes or tubes, such as clothing and certain types of prostheses, i.e. tubular items. About.

  For the purpose of weaving the tube, the loom can be installed with a suitable warp bed having a width corresponding to the desired flattened width of what is to be woven. In other words, all warp yarns are taken into the fabric. Such an arrangement does not pose any particular problems, and the technology for making seamless (seamless) woven tubes in this way using a loom is well established.

  Sometimes it is not possible to use the full width of the warp to weave the thing, which leads to difficulties when the weaving is positioned on one side of the centerline of the width of the warp bed. This will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1A is a schematic side view illustrating the configuration of a “double cloth” structure conventionally used to fabricate seamless tubes by weaving. This tube has an upper set 1A and a lower set 1B of a warp woven with a weft 2 in a plain weave. The weft 2 is continuous at each end from the upper set of warps to the lower set of warps or vice versa, meaning that there is no interruption, so that the ends are truly seamless and from the restraint of the loom When removed, the plain weave upper and lower layers thus woven can be formed into a cylindrical tube shape without any identifiable seams.

  FIG. 1 (B) is a schematic view seen along a warp 1 of a loom in a direction turned back toward a warp beam (not shown), and is a processing of a plain weave seamless tube using a “double cross” structure. It is very early.

  For illustration purposes, the drawing shows a warp bed having only a few warps, and it can be seen that the outermost warp on each side does not participate in the fabric. The extent of the woven tube is therefore approximately indicated by the vertical lines 3A and 3B.

  As is well known, weaving proceeds by moving the shuttle 9 forward and backward across the warp bed. Each movement of the shuttle from one side of the warp bed to the other is called a pick. The shuttle supports a bobbin (not shown) on which the weft 2 is wound. Because of the wefts that are tensioned and therefore actually “pulled” out of the shuttle, the wefts are automatically fed from the bobbin as the shuttle moves across the warp bed. Even if the item to be woven is narrower than the warp bed, the shuttle moves across the entire width of the warp bed at each pick.

  In the first pick, the shuttle moves across the warp bed from right to left and supplies the weft as it moves. The first pick of the weft is shown as line 4. During the first pick, the wefts 4 are interwoven with alternating warps 1A so as to form a top layer of plain fabric in a conventional manner. To achieve this, all of the warp yarns between line 3A and line 3B are moved by a heel (not shown) to create a fold so that weft 4 interweaves only with the upper set of warp 1A. It is.

  In the second pick, the shuttle moves across the warp from left to right, and a saddle is formed so that the weft is now interwoven with the lower set of warp 1B between lines 3A and 3B. During the passage in the left direction across the leftmost warp not included in the fabric, the extra weft supplied by the shuttle 9 reduces the tension in the weft, and in the first part of its second pick, No further weft is supplied by the shuttle. When the shuttle moves from left to right, the dragged weft is eventually engaged with the warp 1B at the left end, and the weft tension is re-established, whereby the supply of the weft is started again by the shuttle. Since the shuttle continues to move it to the right, this time the weft 2 indicated by line 5 is interwoven with warp 1B to form the lower layer of the plain fabric. At the end of the second pick, the shuttle 9 moves across the rightmost warp not included in the fabric, and the weft continues to be fed during this period as shown.

  The shuttle now starts the third pick, moves back to the left, and the saddle is set again so that the weft is interwoven with the warp 1A. As with the beginning of the second pick, the weft tension decreases in the first part of the third pick, until the tension rises again after engagement of the trailing weft with the warp 1A. Weft supply by the shuttle stops.

  In this way, it can be seen that this weaving process produces a seamless tube of the type shown in FIG. 1A at approximately the center of the width of the bed of warp 1. When viewed from a plane, the tube made by such a process extends longitudinally in the warp direction. Such a tube (along with a few warps) is schematically illustrated in plan view as a dotted rectangle 7 in FIG. However, the tube 7 is symmetrical about the center line 8 of the bed of the warp 1. On the other hand, in FIG. 2B, the tube 7 is shifted to the left with respect to the center line 8, but still overlaps the center line. In FIG. 2C (having a wider warp bed), the tube 7 has been shifted to the left until there is no portion overlapping the centerline.

  The purpose of the series of drawings in FIG. 2 is how the excess weft produced by continuing to supply weft as the shuttle moves beyond the area of the tube 7 in each pick is handled in the conventional weaving process. This is in order to explain whether or not

  Referring to FIG. 2 (A), it is clear from the description of FIG. 1 that the excess weft supplied with each pick is used up in subsequent picks. This is because at each pick, the weft retensions itself before the shuttle reaches the end of the pick. For very narrow tubes 7, this re-tension does not occur until very close to the end of the shuttle movement, but still occurs. This means that in the next pick, the length of the excess weft will never be more than half the width of the warp bed, and therefore the excess weft will be tightened before the end of the pick To do.

  Thus, when weaving a tube arranged symmetrically about the centerline, the excess weft is the same for each pick, and the weft uses up its surplus before the end of the pick and re-tenses itself.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, when weaving a tube that is not symmetrically arranged but straddles the centerline, the amount of excess yarn increases or decreases with alternating picks. For example, the situation is similar. However, even the increased length will not be so long that it does not re-tension itself to the weft at the end of the pick. The center line of the tube 7 gradually moves away from the center line 8 of the warp bed, so that the point at which re-tensioning occurs at each pick gradually approaches the end of the pick. The limit point is when the tube is positioned so that one of its edges actually coincides with the centerline 8 of the warp bed.

  FIG. 2C illustrates the situation beyond this limit. From the above detailed description of FIG. 1B, extra weft of length L1 is supplied during each pick, including movement of the shuttle from right to left. As already explained, when the shuttle returns with the next pick, the weft does not immediately engage the left-hand warp and does not actually engage the warp until the left hand edge of the tube 7, thus reducing the weft tension. To do. Thus, it can be seen that the relatively short excess weft L1 is used up almost immediately in the next pick, at which point the weft re-tenses on its own and resumes the supply of the weft. By the end of the rightward movement of the next pick, the weft yarn having the length L2 is supplied. Thus, at the beginning of the next movement of the shuttle from right to left, there is a considerable remainder before re-tensioning can occur. Unfortunately, this surplus does not begin to tighten until the shuttle reaches the right hand edge of the tube 7 (at which point the warp engages the weft). Therefore, the extra yarn L2 is not used up by the time the shuttle reaches the end of the pick and remains as a loop that extends beyond the right hand edge of the tube 7 when the shuttle reaches the end of the pick. It can be seen that there is a remaining length Lr. As already explained, at the end of each pick, the trajectory changes from one layer of the tube 7 to the other and operates to interweave the warp and weft, and hence the loop at the left hand edge of the tube 7 Confine.

The following equation can easily be shown:
[number]
Lr = 2 × L2-Wb
Here, Wb is the width of the warp bed.

  Therefore, it can be seen that the remaining yarn length Lr is zero under the limit condition described above, that is, L2 = Wb / 2. Also, if the length L2 is shorter than Wb / 2, the value of Lr becomes negative, which corresponds to the condition shown in FIG. 2B that extra weft is generated but used up before the end of the pick. For this purpose, further wefts must be refilled by the shuttle.

  In each leftward pick, the remaining excess yarn is not pulled through the sword, so in the next (rightward) pick, the excess weft will not be longer than the length L1, so that its right Can be used up quickly with a directional pick. In this way, the remaining loop is born only on the right side and not formed on the left side. As weaving progresses, a series of loops are formed on the right hand edge of the tube 7 corresponding to the excess weft made with each pick.

  In the final product, these loops must be removed, which can be achieved by cutting them. The edges are spliced to prevent fraying, but if this is done, the tube is no longer seamless.

  Of course, this problem can be avoided by proper positioning of the woven tube relative to the centerline of the warp bed. However, that method is not always possible. For example, when weaving clothing with sleeves or trouser legs, or a prosthesis with many branches, if you need to make many tubes across the width of the warp bed, General requirements may require that at least one of the tubes to be woven is off center. To illustrate this, reference is now made to FIG. FIG. 3 shows an outer shape 10 of a garment with sleeves to be woven on a bed of warps 1. This FIG. 3 is schematic and in fact there are much more warps than shown.

  Between dotted lines A and B, the loom must weave three separate tubes, one for each of the left and right hand sleeves and one for the fuselage. Above line A and below line B, the loom weaves only one tube. A problem arises in the part between lines A and B. This is because the left and right hand sleeves are considerably off-center even though the garment is generally centered about the axis 8.

  Weaving the section between lines A and B is accomplished by using three shuttles, one for weaving the fuselage and one for weaving each of the sleeves. Thus, it can be seen that the sleeve weave results in the formation of the loop described above.

  The present invention allows for the weaving of a tube that is truly seamless. Those items may be positioned anywhere across the width of the warp, pulling back the excess weft back to the shuttle or other weft carrier and, if necessary, such that it can later be fed This is made possible by temporarily storing.

  Thus, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a tube is woven using a weft carrier that is moved forward and backward across a warp bed to provide a weft to be interwoven with the warp. A method of weaving a tube that detects sagging in a supplied weft, pulls the sagging weft back into the carrier, and stores the pulled back weft on the carrier for later resupply. Provided.

  In practice, the weft supplied by the carrier is interwoven with the warp only in the area of the warp bed where the object is woven. Thus, the sagging weft includes excess yarn that is created when the carrier moves beyond the weaving tube and into the area of the warp bed where the weft is not interwoven with the warp.

  By using the method of the invention, the tube can be woven without making loops in the selvedges even if the tube is positioned significantly off-center with respect to the warp bed. This in turn allows for the production of relatively complex objects including branched tubes such as clothing and branched prostheses. For example, a garment having one torso and two sleeves as shown in FIG. 3 is substantially a plurality of branched tubes, for three shuttles, one used to weave each of the sleeves and the torso Can be woven using At least a sleeve woven shuttle uses the method of the present invention, but all three shuttles may do so, for example, if the entire garment is positioned off-center. Many objects can be woven at the same time by positioning the object across the width of the warp bed and using an appropriate number of shuttles. For example, to make two garments such as those shown in FIG. 3 positioned across the width of the warp bed, three or six shuttles are required for each garment.

  While weaving, each shuttle is alternately passed across the warp bed, and the lashes are adjusted so that wefts are only woven into the warps that are within that part of the garment outline that the particular shuttle weaves . The next pick using a different shuttle will require readjustment of the tortoise to cover the different parts of the clothing that the shuttle is woven. Furthermore, as weaving progresses, the specific warp yarns with which the wefts are interwoven change. For example, the edge of the sleeve is not parallel to the warp direction, and there is a slight angle to the warp direction.

  After weaving, the unused warp yarns are cut to reveal a seamless garment.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a weft carrier used in a loom for weaving a tubular article, a bobbin for holding a yarn used as a weft in a weaving process, and a carrier during the weaving process. Means for supplying said yarn, means for detecting slack in the supplied weft, means for pulling back the slack weft into the carrier, and for re-feeding the slack back weft afterwards A weft carrier is provided, further comprising means for storing on the carrier.

  The presence of sagging yarn is detected by monitoring the tension of the yarn being supplied by the carrier. When the tension drops below a predetermined level set by, for example, an electronic circuit or a physical spring, the slack yarn is pulled back into the carrier and stored, re-tensioning the yarn.

  Conveniently, this arrangement is such that the yarn supplied by the carrier is preferentially removed from the storage means and is only removed from the bobbin when it is empty. In order to achieve this, a yarn storage means is provided in the yarn path between the bobbin and the carrier supply means. The carrier supply means is a hole or channel formed in the main body of the carrier, through which the yarn is guided to the outside of the carrier.

  Thus, the yarn storage means is intended to temporarily store the slack yarn that has been supplied but then loses tension and becomes slack. Such excess yarn is held in the storage means until such time as the carrier needs to supply more wefts, and the yarn storage means is first emptied before the yarn is removed from the bobbin. The As is apparent from the above description of the extra weft produced during the weaving of the narrow tube positioned off center, the length of the extra yarn produced is quite long, typically 40- 50 cm and the yarn storage means are designed in such a way that at least the maximum possible possible length can be stored.

  The yarn storage means may include, for example, a cylindrical reel on which excess yarn is wound up. In one embodiment, means are provided for rotating the reel to wind up the yarn. The rotating means can be controlled by mechanical means such as a spring or by an electronic circuit that drives a small electric motor provided on the weft carrier.

  In a preferred embodiment, the reel does not rotate and the excess weft is a winder, i.e. a winder having a thread guide that rotates relative to the reel and winds the thread onto the reel. ) It is wound on a fixed reel by an arm. Various arrangements for the dragonfly are possible, but unlike the one that rotates the reel itself, the main advantage of using a dragonfly to wind the yarn on the reel is that it shows minimal inertia and therefore in high speed looms It is possible to have a lightweight structure that can perform the necessary high-speed reciprocating motion. In an embodiment, the dragonfly includes a sleeve that is rotatable about the axis of the reel, the sleeve supporting a winder arm, the winder arm through which the yarn passes. Terminates in the thread guide in the form of The winder arm extends generally radially from the sleeve and then bends over the reel's thread-bearing surface so that the thread can be guided onto that surface as the sleeve rotates relative to the reel. As previously mentioned, the movement of the sleeve can be controlled by mechanical means such as a spring, or it can be controlled by an electronic circuit that drives a small electric motor provided on the weft carrier.

  Another alternative yarn storage means is a variable tortuous path structure through which the yarn emerging from the bobbin passes before being fed from the carrier. Such a structure can be changed by changing the thread path through the structure to lengthen or shorten it, or by changing the size of the structure. In either case, the result is that the amount of yarn “stored” in such a structure can be varied. An example of a serpentine path structure is a structure that forces a thread to follow a plurality of zigzag paths, where the magnitude of the zigzag bend can be changed to change the amount of thread traveling through the structure. is there. This makes it possible to form a variable storage structure for yarns that operate at very high speeds.

  With the electronic version, the possibility opens the way to intelligently control the weft supplied by the shuttle. Thus, a microprocessor and associated memory can be incorporated into the shuttle and can be used to control the yarn supply according to preset programs and / or external control signals. The latter signal is generated as a result of monitoring the instantaneous weaving condition.

  Without significant changes in the loom, the size of the weft carrier is determined by the size of the raft formed during weaving and through which the weft carrier passes, so an important factor in the design of the yarn storage means is its physical Size.

  The weft carrier usually takes the form of a conventional shuttle, but the term “shuttle” here supports, for example, its own weft on a bobbin or wood tube and during weaving in the form of holes or channels, for example. It should be understood that it is used in its broadest sense to mean a device having means for supplying yarn. Conventional shuttles generally have a tube shape, usually with pointed ends to maximize their aerodynamic efficiency, but the weft carrier of this invention may have such a shape. However, such a shape is not necessarily required, and depends on the use situation and environment. Similarly, conventional shuttles are often of relatively heavy construction in order to impart maximum momentum to the shuttle during its movement across the warp bed. Since small bumps and protrusions can be overcome by the momentum (momentum) of the shuttle, this ensures a smooth supply of yarn from the shuttle. However, in the present invention, due to the close control of the supply of weft yarn from the carrier, the carrier does not necessarily have to be a heavy structure, thereby providing very great flexibility in the design of the carrier.

  For clarity, the term “shuttle” is used extensively in this specification in view of the general usage of the term in the field of the loom industry. However, this term is intended to be given the broad interpretation specified above.

  The shuttle can be moved forward and backward across the warp bed by any of the known means such as, for example, mechanical means, air or fluid means or electromagnetic means. The method of movement may be by air flight, and if more control is required, some form of remote guidance system such as magnetic levitation, air or water levitation may be used. Systems such as magnetic or water levitation can provide both propulsion and guidance to the shuttle. For example, a jet of air or water angled along the shuttle path can be used to provide propulsion to the shuttle across the warp bed. The jets are movable to direct the shuttle in both directions as needed, or two sets of fixed jets can be used, each propelling the shuttle in one direction or the other. Is angled.

  The present invention is applicable to any appropriate type of loom. Jakar looms are specially suited for fabrics such as prosthetics and clothing because of the close control of the weave given by the individual control of the heel.

  For a better understanding of the present invention, some embodiments thereof are described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  The above object, other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments with reference to the drawings.

  Referring initially to FIGS. 4 and 5, a modified flight shuttle according to a first embodiment of the present invention is shown. FIG. 4 shows the entire shuttle, and FIGS. 5A and 5B show the mechanism on the left hand side on an enlarged scale. As can be seen from FIG. 4, the shuttle has a longitudinal body 20 that has pointed ends 21 and 22 to improve its aerodynamic performance. The shuttle is typically wooden and in some cases has a brass end to protect against wear, thereby giving the shuttle a large momentum when moving. This momentum is desirable to ensure that wefts are fed smoothly. Although described in connection with this general type of shuttle (examples), it is clear that other shuttle structures and materials move the shuttle across the environment and circumstances, particularly across the warp bed. This is possible depending on the method used.

  The body has a hollow interior 23, which may or may not be closed by a door or lid (not shown). Inside this interior 23 are provided a bobbin or wood tube 24 which is the primary source of weft and a winding and storage mechanism 25. During weaving, the yarn is unwound from the wood tube 24, passes through the storage mechanism 25, and emerges out of the shuttle body through holes extending from the interior 23, as will be described. The emerging yarn 26 is used to make weft yarns during weaving, as explained above.

  Usually, the wood tube 24 does not rotate and is firmly fixed on a post 27 provided auxiliary to the interior 23 in such a way that it can be easily removed for refilling. However, it does not exclude the use of rotating wood pipes.

  The storage mechanism 25 is supported on a small plate 28 provided across the interior 23 of the shuttle body. What is fixedly provided on the plate 28 is a hollow shaft (not visible), and the weft 29 enters the mechanism from the wood tube 24 through the hollow shaft. What is rotatably provided on the hollow shaft is a sleeve 30 that supports the winder arm 31. This arm 31 initially extends in the radial direction, but then bends 90 degrees axially and terminates in the winder eye 32. A spool 33 having a thread carrying surface 36 is fixedly provided on the end of the hollow shaft. Therefore, the spool 33 cannot rotate with respect to the shuttle body. A radially extending hole (bore) 37 extends from the center of the spool 33 and communicates with the interior of the hollow shaft, which bore 37 opens onto the yarn carrying surface 36. A coil spring 34 is provided, the coil spring having an inner end attached to the sleeve 30 and an outer end attached to a post 35 provided on the plate 28.

  As is apparent from the previous description of FIGS. 1 and 2 in particular, the shuttle normally operates to cause the wefts under tension to appear. It is common practice to maintain this tension by removing the yarn through a serpentine path as it travels out of the shuttle from the woodwind. In the shuttle of FIGS. 4 and 5, the situation in which the yarn has tension is illustrated in FIG. The yarn 29 emerging from the wood tube 24 enters the hollow shaft, reappears from the end of the bore 37 and passes through the winder eye 32. The thread is generally axially continuous toward the eye 38 attached to the body of the shuttle, and thus exits the shuttle at reference numeral 26.

  In the position shown in FIG. 5A, the coil spring 34 is in a wound state, and is therefore biased (unevenly) to rotate the sleeve 30 and the arm 31 in the direction of arrow A. According to this arrangement, the normal weft tension present in the thread extending between the bore 37 and the fixed eye 38 holds the arm 31 and prevents the arm from rotating under the pressure of the spring 34. Enough.

  The given sufficient tension is maintained in the weft supplied from the shuttle, and the arm 31 is held in the position shown in FIG. 5A against the force of the spring. However, if, for example, the weft slacks under the circumstances outlined with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the force of the spring 34 causes the sleeve 30 supporting the arm 31 to rotate in the direction of arrow A. Winder eye 32 therefore travels just above and above thread carrying surface 36 of spool 33 to grab excess weft resulting from loss of tension. During this process, excess weft is pulled back into the shuttle from outside the shuttle and wound up around the spool 33, so that the spool 33 operates as a temporary storage of yarn as shown in FIG. 5B.

  When additional weft is requested, the weft tension is re-established. This pulls the length of the thread 29 between the winder eye 32 and the fixed eye 38 and begins to pull the thread from the spool 33, thus causing the sleeve 30 and winder arm 31 to oppose the direction of arrow A. Rotate in the direction. During this process, the spring 34 is wound up again. By this method, the yarn wound around the spool 33 is first supplied until the spool returns to the empty state shown in FIG. When the position shown in FIG. 5A is reached, the spool 33 is emptied again, and further wefts are drawn from the wood tube 24.

  Low rotational inertia is very important in the rotating parts 30 and 31 of the mechanism because the above-described operation needs to be performed at a high speed, typically several times per second.

  Reference is made to FIGS. 6 and 7 which show a gear version of the shuttle shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. In this second version, the sleeve 30 is coupled to a gear 40 which is driven from a gear 41 which is rotatably mounted on a hollow shaft separated from the gear 40 / sleeve 30. The inner end of the coil spring 34 is attached to the gear 41 and the outer end is attached to the plate 28 as before.

  The gears 40 and 41 are mechanically linked by a pair of gears 42 and 43 provided on a shaft 44 attached to the plate 28 so as to be freely rotatable. The gear 41 meshes with the gear 43, and the gear 40 meshes with the gear 42. Therefore, the gear 41 drives the gear 40 via the gears 43 and 42 according to the multiplication ratio, which is why the winder arm 31 is dependent on the applied spring standard, but in the embodiment of FIGS. It means moving at a longer distance and faster speed. On the other hand, if the arm 31 exerts the same force on the thread 29 in the winder eye 32, the spring should be made stronger.

  As explained above, low rotational inertia is a desirable feature of mechanism 25, including that of a gear train.

  Referring now to FIGS. 8 and 9, these figures show an electronic version of the winding and storage mechanism 25. FIG. In this embodiment, the sleeve 30 is formed with a female screw so as to engage with a fine male screw 50 formed on the outer surface of the hollow shaft. As above, the spool 33 is fixedly provided on the end of the hollow shaft and its bore 37 communicates with the hollow interior of the shaft. The screw connection between the hollow shaft and the sleeve 30 causes the sleeve 30 and thus the winder arm 31 to move in the axial direction as the sleeve rotates. This guides the suspended yarn over the width of the yarn carrying surface 36 of the spool 33.

  The sleeve 30 is attached to a gear 51 which is driven by a pinion 52 attached to the output shaft of a small electric motor 53. The sleeve 30 / gear 51 combination moves in the axial direction in response to the rotation of the pinion, and in order to cover it, the pinion 52 has a sufficient length in the axial direction to ensure that the gear 51 and the pinion 52 are firmly connected. Make sure to stay in the combined state. The motor 53 is supplied with electric power from a drive circuit provided on the printed circuit board 54.

  A tension sensor 55 is provided close to the point where the thread 29 exits from the cavity 23 in the shuttle, and the tension sensor is also arranged to monitor the tension of the thread as it exits the shuttle. As shown in the simplified block diagram in FIG. 10, the electrical output from the sensor 55 is applied to a control circuit provided on the printed circuit board 54, and the electrical signal controls the motor 53 in the feedback control circuit. To do.

  The route or path taken by the thread 29 in tension is illustrated in FIG. When tension is lost due to extra thread outside the shuttle, the tension sensor 55 is activated and sends an appropriate signal to the control electronics or control circuit 56 (see FIG. 10) provided on the printed circuit board 54. This in turn sends a control signal to the motor drive circuit to operate the motor so that the motor 53 drives the pinion 52 and the gear 51. When operated in this way, the yarn winder arm 31 rotates about the spool 33 and deposits the yarn taken from the surplus outside the shuttle in a spiral shape. It is ensured that the full width of the yarn carrying surface 36 is utilized by the axial movement of the arm 31 during this process (see FIG. 9B).

  When the tension of the yarn is restored, the increase in tension is detected by the sensor 55, which sends another signal to the control electronics or control circuit to de-energize the motor 53. As explained above, the tension in the yarn now drives the winder arm 31 in the opposite direction, unwinding the excess yarn and feeding it from the shuttle. When the yarn accumulated on the spool 33 is used up, further yarn is supplied from the wood tube 24 as shown in FIG. 9A on the assumption that the weft tension is still maintained.

  Similar to the previous embodiment, low rotational inertia is desired for rotating parts because of the very fast operation of the device in use.

Motors and electronics get their power from small batteries or storage capacitors (not shown). Batteries and storage capacitors can be provided on the printed circuit board 54 for convenience. Various methods for charging batteries and capacitors can be devised. In one embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, charging is performed using a permanent magnet slug (slug) provided in the guide tube 57.
: Not shown). At each end of each pick, the shuttle reverses its movement so that the slag is accelerated along the tube, thereby inducing current to the outside of the tube 57 and to the coil 58 wound near its center. To do. The movement of the slag within the tube is limited by an end stopper, the left hand side of which is indicated by reference numeral 59 in FIGS. 9A and 9B. The coil 58 is connected to the capacitor and the battery via an appropriate circuit so as to maintain the charged state.

FIG. 1 (A) is a schematic side view for illustrating the structure of a conventional seamless woven tube removed from the loom, and FIG. 1 (B) is set for weaving a tube of the type shown in FIG. 1 (A). It is the schematic of the warp in a loom. FIGS. 2A-2C are a series of schematic plan views A, B and C of a loom warp bed, showing three different possible positions of the tube to be woven by the loom. FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of a warp bed of a loom, showing weaving of garments with sleeves. FIG. 4 is a side view of an embodiment of a weft carrier in the form of a shuttle suitable for use in the method of the present invention. 5 (A)-(B) are partial views on an enlarged scale of the shuttle of FIG. FIG. 6 shows another embodiment and corresponds to FIG. FIGS. 7A to 7B are partial views corresponding to FIG. 5 of another embodiment. FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a weft carrier in the form of a shuttle showing still another embodiment of the present invention. 9A-9B are partial views on an enlarged scale of the shuttle of FIG. FIG. 10 is a simplified schematic block diagram of the circuitry within the shuttle of FIGS.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1A, 1B ... Warp 2, 4, 5 ... Weft 7 ... Tube 9 ... Shuttle 10 ... (Clothing) outer shape 20 ... Main body 21,22 ... Pointed end 23 ... Hollow inside 24 ... Bobbin or wood tube 25 ... Storage Mechanism 26 ... Emerging thread 27, 35 ... Post 28 ... Plate 29 ... Weft 30 ... Sleeve 31 ... Winder arm 32 ... Winder eye 33 ... Spool 34 ... Coil spring 36 ... Yarn carrying surface 37 ... Hole 38 ... Eye 39 ... Extra weft 40, 41, 42, 43, 51 ... Gear 44 ... Shaft 50 ... Male screw 52 ... Pinion 53 ... (Tension) motor 54 ... Printed circuit board 55 ... Tension sensor 56 ... Control circuit 57 ... Guide tube 58 ... coil 59 ... stopper

Claims (23)

A method of weaving a tube using a weft carrier that is moved forward and backward across a warp bed to provide a weft to be woven with a warp,
A method of weaving a tube that detects sagging in a supplied weft, pulls the sagging weft back into the carrier, and stores the pulled back weft on the carrier for later resupply.   The weft supplied by the carrier is interwoven with the warp only in the region of the warp bed where the tube is woven, and the loose weft goes beyond the tube where the carrier is woven, and the weft is woven with the warp. The method of claim 1 including excess yarns produced when moving to an unmatched warp bed area.   3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein sagging is detected by monitoring the tension of the weft supplied by the carrier and pulls back the slack weft when the weft tension drops below a predetermined level.   4. The carrier according to claim 1, wherein the carrier includes a bobbin for holding the weft and a temporary storage means for storing the pulled-back weft, and the weft supplied by the carrier is withdrawn preferentially from the temporary storage means. The method described in 1.   The method of claim 4, wherein the weft supplied by the carrier is withdrawn from the bobbin only when the amount of weft stored by the temporary storage means falls below a predetermined level or becomes zero.   The tube to be woven includes a plurality of tubes positioned across the warp bed, and uses a number of weft carriers equal to the number of the tubes to be woven, the weft carriers being moved sequentially across the warp bed, each 6. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein only one of the tubes is woven.   7. Each weft carrier is moved over the entire width of the warp bed, but its weft is interwoven with the warp only in that region of the warp bed where the tube on which the weft carrier is woven is positioned. the method of. A weft carrier used in a loom for weaving a tube, comprising a bobbin for holding a yarn used as a weft in the weaving process, and means for supplying said yarn from the carrier during the weaving process And
Means for detecting sagging in the supplied weft, means for pulling the sagging weft back into the carrier, and means for storing the pulled back weft on the carrier for later resupply A weft carrier characterized by that.   9. The means for detecting sagging includes means for monitoring the tension of the supplied weft, and the thread retracting means operates to retract the weft when the tension falls below a predetermined level. Weft carrier.   10. A weft carrier according to claim 9, comprising spring means for setting a tension below which the weft is pulled back by the thread pull-back means.   10. A weft carrier according to claim 9, comprising an electronic circuit for setting a tension below which the weft is pulled back by said yarn pull-back means.   The weft carrier according to any one of claims 8 to 11, wherein the yarn storage means is located in a yarn path between the bobbin and the supply means so that the weft yarn is preferentially supplied from the yarn storage means.   9. The thread storage means includes a cylindrical reel, means for guiding excess weft yarn on the cylindrical surface of the reel for storage, and means for relatively rotating the reel and guide means. The weft carrier according to any one of 12 above.   The weft carrier of claim 13, wherein the rotating means comprises a spring.   14. A weft carrier according to claim 13, wherein the rotating means comprises an electric motor controlled by an electronic circuit.   The weft carrier according to any one of claims 13 to 15, wherein the rotating means operates to rotate the reel, and the yarn guide means is not rotated.   The weft carrier according to any of claims 13 to 15, wherein the rotating means operates to rotate the yarn guide means and the reel is not rotated.   The yarn guide means includes a winder arm provided to rotate about the axis of the cylindrical reel, the winder arm having a yarn guide for guiding the yarn on the cylindrical surface of the reel. The weft carrier according to 17.   The weft carrier of claim 18, wherein the yarn guide includes a winder eye through which the yarn passes and is guided thereby.   The yarn accumulating means alters the path of the thread through the variable meander path structure arranged so that the weft emerging from the bobbin passes therethrough before being fed from the carrier, and thereby the thread A weft carrier according to any of claims 8 to 12, comprising means for varying the amount of yarn stored in the structure.   A loom comprising the weft carrier according to any one of claims 8 to 20.   The loom according to claim 21, wherein the carrier has a shuttle shape.   The loom according to claim 21 or 22, which is a Jakar type loom.

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