US1422727A - stafford - Google Patents

Description

A. E. STAFFORD. 4

FILLING END CLEARER FOR FILLING REPLENISHING LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 24, 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

M Afly sv \nvenToT. Alfred E sTufford Patented July 11, 1922.

byflawl Wk A. E. STAFFORD.

FILLING END CLEARER FOR FILLING REPLENISHING LOOIVIS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 24. I920.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

Fig.2.

AIFred ESTcaIFord WMMOKZLM AITys.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED E. STAFFORD, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO DRAPER CORPORATION, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 11, 1922.

App1ication filed February 24, 1920. Serial No. 360,893.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, ALFRED E. STAFFORD, a citizen of the. United States, and resident of Hopcdale, county of Worcester, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Filling-End Clearers for Filling- Replenishing Looms, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

This invention relates to improvements in filling end cleaners for automatic filling replenishing looms and the object thereof is t provide means for removing from the shuttle the trailing end of filling leading from an abandoned filling carrier after it has been discharged from the shuttle by the transferring mechanism.

When transfer takes place in automatic. filling replenishing looms, the filling which leads from the web of cloth to the filling carrier which is to be discharged, is severed either closely adjacent to or within a short distance of the selvage of the web of cloth just before the transferrer acts to supply the shuttle with a fresh filling carrier and thereby knock the abandoned filling carrier from the shuttle.

The abandoned filling carrier in falling from the shuttle usually draws the filling end through the eye of the shuttle, but in some instances the filling unwinds from the filling carrier with such rapidity that a trailing end remains which leads from the abandoned filling carrier through the eye of the shuttle. If then the shuttle is picked this trailing filling end is likely to be drawn into the web of cloth thereby producing an imperfection.

The present invention contemplates means for clearing this trailing end of filling from the shuttle before the latter is picked, thereby preventing the trailing filling end from being drawn into the cloth.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for actuating the filling end clearer operable from the mechanism which controls the transferrer, whereby the movement of the filling end clearer will be properly coordinated with the action of the transferring mechanism.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide means carried by, or operable from the lay which will act to remove the trailing end of the filling from the filling end clearer thereby maintaining thelatter in proper operative condition.

A further object of the invention is to provide a filling end clearer which can be readily applied to usual types of looms without any material modification in the structure.

Other objects and features of the invention will more fully appear from the following description and the accompanying drawings and will be pointed out in the annexed claims.

The drawings illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention as applied to the well known Northrop type of automatic filling replenishing loom.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an end elevation, partly in vertical cross section, of the battery end of the loom illustrating the preferred embodiment of my invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a detail side elevation of a portion of the loom embodying my invention.

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view through the lay showing diagrammatically the relative position of the filling end clearer to the lay and the means carried by the controller rod for actuating said filling end clearer.

A selected embodiment of the invention is disclosed herein as applied to an automatic filling replenishing loom of the Northrop type in which the frame or loom side 1 Sup ports, at the transfer end of the loom, a hopper stand 2 upon which is mounted a rotary hopper 3 which carries a supply of fresh filling carriers 4. The lay 5, which is mounted upon the usual swords 6, is provided at the transfer end beneath the shuttle box 7 with a vertical opening 8 to permit the downward discharge of an abandoned filling carrier when the transferrer thrusts the fresh filling carrier into the shuttle and thereby drives the abandoned filling carrier from it.

The transferrer 9 may be of the usual character comprising a bell crank shaped lever pivotally mounted upon a stud lO-on the hopper stand, one arm of said lever being provided with a head 11 adapted to engage the positioned fresh filling carrier to thrust it into the shuttle, the other arm 12 of said lever being provided with a pivotally mounted dog 13 adapted to be raised by suitable controller mechanism into the path of a hunter 14 upon the lay as is usual in looms of this type.

Any usual controller mechanism may be employed; consequently, it has been deemed sufficient herein to illustrate only the controller rod 15 which extends longitudinally of the loom and to which a bracket 16 is secured which carries an arm 17 which serves to control the operation of the filling end clearer.-

The filling end clearer comprises a plate 18 having at'its upper portion an extension 19 provided with serrated edges 20, 21 which extend along the field through which the abandoned filling carrier is discharged. The plate 18 is provided at its lower end with bosses 22, 23 which are pivotally mounted upon a shaft 24 which is fixedly secured to a bracket 25 which is adjustably mounted upon the loom side 1 by bolt and slot connections 26, 27.

The plate 18 is secured against end-wise movement upon the shaft 24 by means of a collar 28 which abuts against one end of the boss 23, and a bracket 29 which is fixedly securedto the shaft 24 by a set screw 30 and is provided with a downward and lateral extension 31 in which is mounted a retaining plunger 32 provided at .its upper end with an inverted V-shaped top, the members of which are adapted to engage respectively inclined faces 33, 34 formed on the under-side of the boss 23. i

The top of the plunger 32 is yieldingly held .in engagement with one of the faces 33, 34 by a helical spring 35 seated in a chamber in the extension 31 of the bracket 29 and which supports the lower end of the plunger 32.

It will be obvious that by this construction the clearer will be held by the plun er 32 either in the position illustrated in fuil lines in Fig. 1 and in dotted lines in Fig. 3, or in the position illustrated in full lines in Fig. 3, and vibration of the clearer prevented when in either position.

The osition in which the clearer is held desirab y is controlled from the controlling mechanism which initiates the action of the transferring mechanism. In the preferred embodiment of the invention herein the arm 17 is provided with a downwardly extending inclined portion 36 the under edge 37 of which provides a cam which enga es a pin 38 extending from the end of the lling end clearer plate 18. The portion 36 of the arm 17 merges into a horizontal extension 39 having at its end a stud 40 which forms an anchorage for a helical spring 41, the other end of which is secured to the pin 38.

During the normal operation of the loom the controller rod 15 remains at rest and the arm 17 .-is retained in the horizontal position illustrated in Fig. 1, at which time the upper end of the cam 37 holds the pin 38 down thereby retaining the filling end clearer plate in the position illustrated in Fig. 1. When transfer is called for-the controller rod 16 is rocked, thereby raising the arm 17 and re lieving the pressure of the cam 37 upon the pin 38, whereupon the spring 41 oscillates the filling end clearer rearwardly to the osition illustrated in Fig. 3, in which position its end engages the rear wall of the opening 8 in the lay when the lay has moved forward beneath the hopper to transferring position, but at the same time the controller has elevated the dog 13 into the path of the hunter 14 so that just as the lay has reached transferring position the transferrer is operated to thrust a fresh filling carrier into the shuttle and thereby knock the abandoned filling carrier from it.

As soon as the transfer action has taken place the controller is restored to its normal position thereby depressing the arm 17 and causing the cam face 37 of the portion 36 of said arm to act upon the pin 38 and force the filling end clearer to its normal position. This causes the filling end clearer to sweep across the path of the discharged abandoned filling carrier thereby causing the clearer to whip the trailing filling end, which runs from the abandoned filling carrier to the shuttle, from the eye of the shuttle thus clearing the shuttle of the trailing end, so that there is no possibility of the trailing end being drawn into the web of cloth upon the next pick of the shuttle after transfer.

In order to provide a more effective means for removing the trailing end of the abandoned filling carrier from the shuttle, and also to provide means for detaching said trailing end from the filling end clearer, a supplemental filling end catcher desirably maybe secured to the lay in such a manner that it will move in a direction opposite to the direction of effective movement of the filling end clearer.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention disclosed herein the supplemental filling end catcher is in the form of a serrated plate 42 which extends in parallelism with the extension 19 of the filling end catcher along in front of the path of the discharged filling carrier, the plate 42 being provided with an extension 43 which desirably is secured to a ledge 44 upon a bracket 45 which carries the picker check.

In the operation of the loom, therefore, the extension 19 of the clearer lies closely adjacent the rear wall of the opening of the lav and is behind the path of the abandoned filling carrier as it drops from the shuttle, while the filling end catcher 42 lies in front of the path of the abandoned filling carrier. Vhen the filling end clearer is actuated to whip the filling end from the shuttle it carries the strand against the serrations of the catcher 42, thereby forming a partial anchorage for the strand of filling and assisting in whipping its end from the shuttle. When the lay recedes after transfer has taken place and the filling end cleared from the shuttle the filling end catcher 42 receding with the lay to which it is attached serves to draw the free end of the filling from the filling end clearer thereby preventing the massing of trailing ends upon it and insuring its proper operation in subsequent trans fer operations.

It will be understood that the embodiment of the invention disclosed herein is of an illustrative character and is not restrictive and that various modifications may be made within the spirit and scope of the following claims and that the invention may be adapted to other forms of looms. It will also be understood that any suitable means may be provided for actuating the filling end clearer to cause it to clear the trailing filling end from the shuttle before the first pick takes place, after transfer has been effected, with in the meaning and scope of the claims herein.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In an automatic filling replenishing loom comprising a lay having an opening therethrough to permit the discharge of an abandon d filling carrier, and transferring mechanism, a filling end clearer pivotally mounted to oscillate below the path of reciprocation of the lay, means for positioning the filling end clearer adjacent the rear wall of the aperture in the lay; as the lay approaches transfer position, means for causing the clearer to sweep transversely across the path of the abandoned filling carrier after transfer, before the shuttle is picked,-after having been supplied with a fresh filling carrier, and means carried by the lay for removing the filling end from the filling end clearer upon backward movement of the lay.

2. In an automatic: filling replenishing loom comprising a lay having an opening therethrough to permit the discharge of an abandoned filling carrier, transferring mechanism and controlling mechanism for said transferring mechanism including a controller rod, a filling end clearer pivotally mounted to oscillate below the plane of re ciprocation of said lay, spring actuated retaining means for holding said clearer al ternatively on opposite sides of the path of the abandoned filling carrier and acting to prevent vibration of said clearer and means connected to said controller rod and operated thereby for oscillating said clearer transversely across the path of the abandoned filling carrier.

3. In an automatic filling replenishing loom comprising a lay having an opening therethrough to permit the discharge of an abandoned filling carrier,transferring mechanism, a filling end clearer pivotally mounted to oscillate across the path of the abandor ed filling carrier and below the path of reciprocz-ition of said lay and resilient means acting to retain said filling end clearer alternatively upon opposite sides of the path of the abandoned filling carrier and spring actuated means operable in conjunction with said transfer mechanism for oscillating said filling end clearer from one position to the other.

l. In an automatic filling replenishing loom comprising a lay having an opening therethrough to permit the discharge of an abandoned filling carrier,transferring mechanism, a filling end clearer pivotally mounted to oscillate across the path of the abandoned filling carrier and below'the path of reciprocation of said lay, and a spring actuated plunger acting to retain said filling end clearer alternatively upon opposite sides of the path of the abandoned filling carrier, spring actuated means operable in conjunction with said transfer mechanism for oscillating said filling carrier from one position to the other, and means for vertically adjusting the said filling end clearer and plunger.

5 In an autoi'na'tic filling replenishing loom comprising a lay having an opening therethrough to permit the discharge of an abandoned filling carrier,transferring mechanism, a filling end clearer pivotally mounted to oscillate below the path of reciprocation of said lay, spring actuated means for holding said clearer alternatively 0n opposite sides of the path of the abandoned filling carrier and retaining means operable by the transferring mechanism to swing said filling end clearer across the path of the abandoned filling carrier.

6. In an automatic filling replenishing loom comprising a lay having an opening therethrough to permit the discharge of an abandoned filling carrier and transferring mechanism; a filling end clearer, having serrated upper and lower edges pivotally mounted to oscillate below and adjacent to the path of the lay, means operable by the transferring mechanism upon call for trans-- filling end therefrom upon backward movement of the lay.

7. In an automatic loom comprising a lay having an opening therethrough to permit the discharge of an abandoned filling carrier transferring mechanism and controlling mechanism therefor; a filling end clearer pivotally mounted to oscillate across the path of the abandoned filling carrier, resilient means rendered operable by the movement of the controlling mechanism, upon call for transfer, to swing said filling end clearer from normal position and to yieldably position said filling end clearer adjacent the rear wall of the opening in the lay as the lay approaches transferring position, and means for positively swinging said clearer across the path of the abandoned filling carrier after transfer to normal position.

*8. In an automatic filling replenishing loom comprising a lay having an opening therethrough to permit the discharge of an abandoned filling carrier, transferring mechanism and controlling mechanism therefor,

including a controller rod; a filling end clearer pivotally mounted to oscillate across the path of the abandoned filling carrier, an arm on said controller rod movable upward ly upon call for transfer, a spring connected to said controller rod and to said filling end clearer operable by the upward movementof said arm to position said filling end clearer adjacent the rear Wall of the opening in the lay as the lay approaches transferring position, and a cam on said arm positioned to engage said filling end clearer upon downward movement of said arm and acting to swing said clearer across the path of the abandoned filling carrier as the controller mechanism is restored to normal position.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

ALFRED E. STAFFORD.

Images