US1813217A - Filling fork and grid cleaner - Google Patents

Description

' July 7', 1931. I J, F, WE T 1,813,217

FILLING FORK AND GRID CLEANER Filed Dec. 1, 1930 hvenfon Patented I July 7, 1 931 UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE JACK FAYETTE WEST, OF CANTON, GEORGIA, ASSIGNOR TO DRAPER CORPORATION, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE FILLING FORK Ann GRID CLEANER Applicationfiled December 1, 1930. Serial No. 499,202.

This invention has forits object to provide a simple and eflicient means for keeping the tines and grid bars of the filling fork mechanism of" an automatic loom clear from V fly, lint, and other. foreign matter.

The invention has for its furtheryobject to provide means for preventing bouncing or undue vibration of the fillingforkso as to insure its proper cooperation with the weft hammer or other operating mechanism.

The invention has for its further object to provide means for preventing a broken or unduly slack filling end from being thrown around the tines of the fork so as to interfere with the proper action thereof.

These and other objects and features of the invention will appear more fully fro-1n the accompanying description and drawings and will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

As the invention is concerned entirely with the filling forkmechanism of an automatic loom, and as the construction and operation of such mechanisms as well as of the looms in which they are embodied are all iwell known and familiar to those skilled in the art, itis only necessary here to illustrate portions of an ordinary type of loom and an ordinary type of filling fork mechanism, together with a preferred form of the present invention applied thereto.

In the drawings: t Fig. 1 is a side elevation partially in Vertical cross section of a portion of a loom, a

filling fork mechanism, and a preferred form I of the present invention embodied therein.

Fig. 2 is a topplan view on a larger scale ner during the'weaving operation.

As is Well known, such looms are commonly rendered automatic by embodying therein a so-called filling fork mechanism which acts upon breakage or failure of the .50 running filling to effect a change in the operation of the loom, such, for example, as either 7 the stopping of the loom or the automatic re.- glenishment of the running filling supply.

uch a filling fork mechanism usually com prises two main elements, namely, a grid carried by the lay and in front of which lies the path of the filling from the shuttle to the cloth and a filling fork pivoted on a fork slide carriedby the breast beam. 5 In the form illustrated, the grid is shown as comprising a plurality of spaced'and generally U-shaped bars 5 connected at theirfree rear ends to. supports 6 and thereby secured to the lay so that the front portions of the bars stand perpendicularly to the raceway 7. This grid is usually mounted in a recess 8 formed in the lay adjacent the edge of the cloth. A filling fork slide 9 is. mounted to slide forward and rearward on the breast beam opposite the grid. At its rearward end it has pivoted thereto at 10 a fork comprising the depending tines 11 and the forwardly extending looped end 12. A weft hammer 13 is fulcrumed at let on the loom frame and is given a forward and backward swinging movementdurmg the operation of the-loom, the for-v ward movement taking place at alternate picks all in the well-known manner. This I weft hammer at itsupper end has pivoted thereto a hook 15 which, when the weft hamm-er swings rearward, passes beneath the looped end 12 of the fork sothatifthe fork engages the hook, the weft hammer on its forward movement moves the entire'fork slide forward and this movement of the fork slide is utilized all in the familiar manner to effect the desired change in the operationof the loom, such as the stopping of the loom or the replenishment of the filling.

Normally the filling is laid fairly taut in front of the grid bars 5 as the shuttle is picked to the'detecting side of, the loom, or

that side where the filling fork mechanism is v located. Consequently as the lay heats up,

' and the tines 11 of the fork tend to pass between the bars 5 of the grid, the filling will cause the fork to rock and prevent its looped end 12 from being caught by the hook 15.

If, however, the filling is absent, due to ex V positioned filling.

haustion or breakage, the filling fork will not rock and consequently the hook 15 will catch the looped end 12 and the fork slide will be moved forward.

It is very essential that the tines of the fork and the bars of the grid be kept clear from fly, lint, and other foreign material so as to insure their proper cooperative action. Furthermore, since the lay beats up with a sudden blow and since the fillingfork' must be very light, it frequently happens tha the blow given to the filling fork by the taut filling and the jar of the parts causes the filling fork to vibrate or bounceso that it fails properly to cooperate with the hook 15. Furthermore, if the filling breaks adjacent the end of the shuttle, it may snap or be thrown around the tines of the fork, thus interfering with the proper action of the fork. The present invention obviates all of these difiiculties.

In the preferred form of the invention, a brush comprising a base 17 and bristles 18 is supported in front of the forkwith the bristles facing the tines and is moved into ongagement with the fork tines when the lay beats up on a detecting pick. The bristles are relatively soft and sufficiently spaced so that they do not interfere with a normally Preferably the brush is adjustably mounted by thebolt 19 in a slot 20 on anarm 21 secured to the weft hammer 15. The weft hammer, it will be remembered, swings rearward as thelay beats up and thus is available for giving the required movement to the brush.

It will thus be seen that as the lay beats up and the fork tines come into cooperative relation with the grid bars, the brushengages the tines and grid bars and, when it swings forward, car ies with it any lint, fly, or foreign matter, thus constantly maintainin the tines of the filling fork and :the bars or the grid clear. It will also be seen that as the brush comes into engagement with the fork tines justas they are cooperatin with the grid bars, the brush acts to etee the fork and prevent it bouncing or vibra mg so that the proper cooperation of thefork with the hook 15 of the weft hammer is insured. It will also be seen that the brush engaging the fork tines prevents any broken filling from being thrown or snapped around the fork tines so as to interfere with the proper action of the fork.

There i'sthus provided a very simple and efficient mechanism readily attached to exist ing looms, economical of manufacture and maintenance, which acts to obviate the objections heretofore noted.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desired to'be secured by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a loom having a filling fork pivoted.

and a grid carried by the lay and cooperating with the fork, the combination of a brush and means for supporting the brush in front of the fork with the bristles facing the tines and for moving the brush into engagement with the fork tines when thelay beats up on a detecting pick, thereby to steady the fork, prevent filling from thrown around the fork tines and clear thetines.

2'. In a loom having a. filling fork pivoted on fork slide carried by the breast beam and a grid carried by the lay and cooperating with the fork, the combination of a brush and means for supporting the brush in front of the fork with the bristles facing the tines and for moving the brush into engagement with the fork tines and grid. bars when the lay beats up on a detecting pickand brings the said tines and bars into cooperative rela# tion, thereby to steady the fork, prevent filling from being thrown around the fork tines and clear the tines and bars.

3. In a loom. having a fillingfork pivoted on a fork slide carried by the breastv beam, a grid carried by the lay and cooperating with the fork, and a weft hammer extending in front of and moving toward and from the fork on alternate picks, the combinationof a brush and means for supporting the brush on the weft hammer in front of the, fork with the bristles facing the tines whereby the brush isbrought into engagement with the fork tines when the laybeats upon a ,detecting pickand acts to steadylthe for-leprevent filling from being thrown around the fo-rkfines and clear thetines.

4L. In a-loom having a filling fork pivoted on a fork slide carried by the. breast beam,

a grid carried by the (lay. and cooperating with the fork; and a weft-hammer extending in front of'an'd moving toward and from the,

fork on alternate picks, the combination of a brush and means for supporting the brushv on the weft hammer in front;of gthe fork Jacki WEST--

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