US1896337A - Loom - Google Patents

Description

E. J. WENTZ Feb. 7, 1933.

LOOM

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 16, 1932 INVENTOR.

EAELE J. WENTZ CL/NroxvjCosue/v.

ATTORNEY.

' Feb. 7, 1933. E. J. WENTZ 1,896,337

LOOM

Filed March 16, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

EAELE d. WEN TZ.

BY WM W MT/VESS.

CL/N TON 6. (Josue/v.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 7, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. f1 1 FARLE J. wmvrz, or ScnooLFIELn, VIRGINIA, AsSIeNoR T DRAVPER CORPORATION,

or HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, A COBIEORATION. or MAINE LOOM Application filed March' 16, 1932. Serial No. 599,233.

This invention relates to automatic looms of the type wherein the filling supply is automatically replenished upon its becoming substantially exhausted. Such looms usually inelude a filling feeler and devices controlled thereby for initiating operation of the replenishing mechanism upon substantial exhaustion of the filling Supply, and means, commonly including a filling fork, for'detectl0 ing the absence of filling in the shed and stopping the loom when the filling fails to be properly laid in the shed.

As is hereinafter more fully explained, the stopping of the loom from the filling fork occurs with the lay part way up on its beat"- ing-in stroke and with the shuttle boxed on the opposite side of the 100m from the filling fork when a Side fork is used. Such forks are ordinarily positioned on the side of the loom opposite the replenishing mechanism and, therefore, stop the loom with the shuttle in the box on the replenishing side of the loom. Then, before the loom is restarted, the weaver must remove the broken pick if one be present in the shed and must in addition, remove the shuttle from the box, manually thread the filling through the shuttle eye, replace the shuttle in the box and secure the loose end of filling to a stationary part of the loom. These additional operationsare rather difiicult to accomplish when the shuttle is boxed beneath or behindthe replenishing mechanism, and consume much of the weavers time, V

It is, accordingly, the principal object of my invention to eliminate the aforementioned additional operationson the part of the weaver, and to this end the invention contemplates the provision of means operating, when the loom is stopped from the filling detecting means with the shuttle atthe replenishing side, to position the replenishing mechanism for replenishing of the filling supply on the first beat-up of the lay following the restarting of the loom. 7

Other objects will, in part, be hereinafter more specifically enumerated or will, in part, become obvious as the description proceeds.

Referring to the drawings, which illustrate 50 the preferred embodiment of my invention:

ward andfrom the front Fig. 1' is a fragmentary plan view of the front portion of a loom, certain parts being broken away or omitted to better show the operation of my invention; 1

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the anism shown in Fig. 1; I

Fig. 3 is a sectional view, toan enlarged scale, taken substantially on line 33 ofFig. 2 and Figs. 4 and 5 are views showing the sitions.

The loom to which my invention has been applied includes the usual loom sides I carry ing abreast beam 2, a lay 3- reciprocated to: of the loom-by crankshaft 4, shuttle 5 picked alternately from side to side of the loom "along a race plate on the lay, and other usual well-known 7 devices which form no part of the present invention and need not be illustrated or described.

The mechanisms of the loom with which my invention is particularly concerned are the filling replenishing mechanism and means initiating the operation of the same and thefilling detecting and loom stopping devices, the invention consisting, as above indicated, in a novel interrelation between such mechanisms. I

The filling replenishing mechanisln' is shownas being located on the right hand side of the loom andmay be of any suitable usual construction. The particular replenishing mechanism shown includes abattery or hopper 6 for supporting a reserve supply of bobbins, and a tranSfer'hammerF for driving a full bobbin into the shuttle boxed therebeneath, and expelling the nearly empty bobbin. The transfer hammer is in the form 90 of a bell crank lever pivoted on a stud 8 and normally urged to inoperative positionby a coil spring 9. The vertical arm 10 of the transfer hammer carries a dog 11 pivoted thereto as at 12 and oontrolled'by a pin 13 operated from the shuttle feeler 14. Upon a call for'replenishm-ent the dog 11 is tilted up into the path of abunter (not shown) carried by the lay, the beat-up of the lay effecting the actual transfer. i I

mechsimilar to Fig.

parts in different operative po- The filling feeler 15 and operative connections therefrom for initiating the replenishing operation may likewise be of any suitable usual construction, except as hereinafter pointed out. The filling feeler is, as shown, located on the opposite side of the loom from the replenishing mechanism and is, therefore, operative only when the shuttle is boxed on the side opposite the replenishing mechanism. When the feeler detects substantial exhaustion of the filling supply in the shuttle it will move link 16 to the right, thereby posi: tioning a latch 16 (Figs. 3-5) on link 17 into the path of a head 18 on weft hammer 19 which, as is usual, reciprocates toward and from the front of the loom at the rate of one complete reciprocation for each two picks.

The weft hammer starts its forward movement at just about the time the lay reaches front center.. Consequently, when link 16 is moved to the right the weft hammer will, through the latch, move link 17 forwardly as the lay starts back. Link 17 is pivoted at 20 to an arm 21 fixed at its lower end to a rock shaft 22. extending widthwise of the loom below and in front of the breast beam. The rock shaft 22 carries an arm 23 for operating shuttle feeler 14 which tilts dog 11 into operative position, thereby completing the initiation of the replenishing operation. The weft hammer has a dwell at the forward end of its stroke, to hold dog 11 in operative position until the next beat-up of the lay, during which time the shuttle has been picked to the replenishing side of the loom.

The filling detecting means is located on the same side of the loom as the feeler and is comprised of the usual filling fork 2 1 pivoted to a slide 25 mounted in the usual manner for sliding movement toward the front of the loom, the slide being normally held in a rearward position by a spring, not shown. The front end of the filling fork slide is guided in its movements by an arm 26 pivotally mounted on a convenient support, such as rock shaft 22. When the filling fork detects absence of filling in the shed the tail 27 will engage hook 28 on member 29 which is pi'v oted to the upper end of the weft hammer 19. The weft hammer will then start to move the filling work slide forwardly when the lay starts rearwardly, and has completed the forward movement by the time the crank in the crank shaft 4 is slightly past top center, the shuttle being picked toward the replenishlng side when the crank is at top center, as is usual.

When the filling fork slide 25 is moved forwardly a stop 30 carried thereby engages and moves the inner end of a lever 31, pivoted at 32 on the breast beam 2. The outer end of the lever 31 is positioned just forwardly of a notch'33 in a guide member 34. A shipper handle 35 occupies notch 33, when the loom is running, but is released from the notch by lever 31 almost simultaneously with the picking of the shuttle toward the replenishing side of the loom. The release of the shipper handle from notch 33 sets in operation the usual brake and possibly disengages a clutch or shifts a driving belt, to stop the loom. The brake and clutch or belt shipper are not illustrated because they are standard construction on virtually all power looms and are, therefore, well known in the art. Suffice it to say that they stop the'loom in about one-half of a revolution ofthe crank shaft from the instant the shipper. is released from its notch.

It is apparent from the foregoing that when the loom is stopped from the filling fork the shuttle will be'boxed on the replenishing side and the lay will be'part way up on its forward stroke.

As above indicated, I haveprovided means for initiating the replenishing operation simultaneously with the initiation of the stopping of the loom. Such means, in the simplest form I have so far devised, includes a lost-motion connection between the filling fork slide 25 and the arm 21, whereby movement of the slide will operatethe arm but operation of the arm from the filling feeler will not move the slide. To this end, a pin 36 projects laterally from link 17 into a slot 37 formed in member 38 and a pin 39'projec'ts from the filling fork slide into a slot 40, likewise formed in member 38.

When the parts occupy their normal positions, as shown in Figs. 1-3, pin 36 is at the extreme rear end of slot 37 and pin 39 isat the extreme forward end of slot 40. The length of each of the slots is equal to or greater than the length of movement of the weft hammer. Consequently,when replenishment is initiated from the filling feeler and link 17 is moved forwardly, the pin-and-slot connection permits the link to operate arm 21 and thus initiate the replenishing operation Without in any way affecting the filling fork slide or the connections to the shipper handle, as shown in Fig. 5.

. However, should the filling fork detect absence of filling in the shed it will operate to stop the loom in the manner above indicated, but pin 39, engagin the forward end of slot 40, will move mem loer 38 forwardly, as shown in Fig. 4. Forward movement of member 38 operates, through slot 37 and pin 36, to initiate operation of the replenishing mechanism. It follows that when the loom is stopped from the fork the shuttle will be boxed on the replenishing side of the loom, the lay will be part way forward on the replenishing beat-up and the dog 11 will be operatively positioned to be struck by the bunter-o-n the lay on the first beat-up following the restarting of the loom.

The stopping mechanism operates as usual, to stop the loom before the shed has closed or the broken pick is beaten in and it requires only an instant to remove the broken pick, if one be present. The replenishing operation is consummated on the first beat-up of the lay following the restarting of the loom and the weaver is thereby relieved of the difficult and time consuming task of removing the shuttle, threading it by hand, replacing it in the shuttle box and securing the end of filling projecting from the shuttle eye. Consequently, the comparatively simple structural change which I have made in the exis ing looms changes considerably their mode of operation and accomplishes an important saving in time and attention required. It is this change in the operation of the loom, attained by a novel structural relation between the replenishing mechanism and filling detecting and loom stopping devices, that I consider to constitute the essence of my invention.

Having fully disclosed the preferred embodiment of my invention, I claim:

1. In a loom, the combination of filling replenishing mechanism, a filling fork slide and a filling fork carried thereby for detecting the absence of filling in the shed, means controlled by said filling fork for simultaneously initiating the stopping of the loom and positioning the said replenishing mechanism for replenishment of the filling supply on the first beat-up of the lay following the restarting of the loom, and means operable in dependently of the said slide for initiating replenishment of the filling supply without stopping the loom.

2. In a loom, the combination of a filling fork slide, a filling feeler, means including an arm for initiating filling replenishment, and a lost-motion connection between said slide and said arm causing the slide to operate the arm but permitting movement of the arm independent of the slide under control of the said filling feeler.

control of the filling feeler without moving the slide.

5. In a loom, the combination of the filling replenishing mechanism on one side of the loom, a filling feeler on the opposite side of the loom from the replenishing mechanism, means controlled by said feeler for initiating operation of said replenishing mechanism upon substantial depletion of the filling supply, a filling fork mounted on a slide on the same side of the loom as the filling feeler, means for moving said slide to stop the loom when the filling fork detects absence of filling in the shed, and a lost-motion connection be tween said slide and said first mentioned means causing movement of the slide to operate the replenishing mechanism but permitting operation of the replenishing mechanism under control of the filling feeler without moving the slide. V

6. In a loom, the combination of a filling fork slide, means operable independently of the said slide for initiating filling replenishment, and a lost-motion connection between said slide and said means, said connection causing movement of the slide to also initiate filling replenishment.

EARLE J. WENTZ.

3. In a loom, the combination of a filling fork slide, means including an arm for iniating filling replenishment, and a pin-and-slot connection between said slide and said arm causing the slide to operate the arm but permitting movement of the arm independent of the slide.

4. In a loom, the combination of filling replenishing mechanism, a filling feeler, means controlled by said feeler for initiating operation of said replenishing mechanism upon substantial depletion of the filling supply, a filling fork mounted on a slide, means for moving said slide to stop the loom when the filling fork detects absence of filling in the shed, and a lost motion connection between said slide and said first mentioned means causing movement of the slide to operate the replenishing mechanism but permitting operation of the replenishing mechanism under

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