US1993491A - Electrical weft detector and shuttle therefor - Google Patents

Description

March 5, 1935. G. TURNER ELECTRICAL wEFT DETECTOR AND 'SHUTTLE THEREFOR Filed Jan; 1935 Patented Mar. 5, 1935 pare-Nr OFFICE ELECTRICAL WEFT DETECTOR :AND

SHUTTLE THEREFOR.

Richard Greenleaf Turner, Worcester, Mass., as-

signor tf1-Crompton & Knowles-Loom Works,

Worcester, Mass., a chusetts Application January 26,

k Claims;

Thisinvention relatesto improvements in electricalweit-detectors. and shuttles for- Weitl replenishingiloorns and itis the7 general object of theginvention to provide adurable .shuttle ef- 512 fective upon exhaustion of weft to'com-plete a.

loom fcontrollingeeleotriccircuitthrough the` detecter /ngersswhichare Yexternal :to the shuttle. Shuttlescf-the electrical indicating'type have ordinarily? employed a pair: of contact plates- `10 mounted?onthefront wallof the shuttle'to enfgagebrushl or. sliding.VY contacts carried" byV the shuttle box. Several il-lterconnectedgparts` are carried within the shuttle Vto constitute'` a-v circuits-having" itsfterminals: attached tothe plates 1&1 The' constant jarringfincidentto the abrupt Vstopping;l oir the shuttlefv loosens and breaks thesef parts; so -thatithey provide -poor contactwitlrresultant-misindi-cation. Itfis an importantobject of; inw-present: inventionx to provide a shuttle'- 20s whichihas alcircuit'- closer or contact platenormall'y in .non-indicatingiposition, butV movable at' exhaustionv off-weft to aposition where itjcanv electrically connect oppositeipoles of anindicate ingvcircuit-allfoffwhich, exceptthe closer; is-jloe cated:extericrly`r` of ,fthe shuttle. By fthe use of' myY improved shuttles-current is not f required to flow'throughany-j oint or, mechanical connection;

carried permanentlyv by the shuttle.

Itfis-xa. furtherobject ofmy\inventon to proe vide ell-'slnlttlel so constructed :thatf the aioresaid Contact plate can .begiven afrelatively-'large motion"A atthe timev off. weftexhaustion, thereby avoiding the `necessity for setting parts forl closel operation:

Itis anotherfobject'of my invention to 'provide the lever-which,car1ies the'contact-platel with n stops to limit the--movementfot the plate toward- A indicating position. .These stopsare madeeffec-` tiva-to moveftheyarnengagingdetecting part 40e of ntheV levert out ofthe Ypath Lof movement of l the weftcarrienwhen the. spindle isiiraised to receive4 a. fresh supply .I of weft.

It isfanother object Otmyinventionto provide.

alstonfor at kleast `one of .the electrodes external 457-; to 1the shuttldsaid stops` being positioned to en gagetlie shuttle regardless of the vertical position ofthe latter. inthe shuttle box and thus prevent closing of the circuit until the contact plate has reached'a predetermined'position.V In this 501' wayy the detector is enabled to operate properly even though the shuttle be misplaced.`

In connection with my improved `shuttle Iemploy1 a form of detector having two electrodes which 55T in' any approved manner after the shuttle is.

are; ab'ovefthe shuttle and 'aremoved down corporation of l Massa- 1933, serial No. 653,642v

carries asmall amount ofoilwhichfcannot be` removed'fronithe'fabric sovthat the latter. is permanentlvl injured.' With my improved shuttle, on the other hand, no opportunity arises fory the formationof .the grit or dirt, and asa resulta higher grade ofcloth can be woven.

,y It is a further important objectof myinven tion to provide the shuttle with fmeans for holdingA the indicator in indicating position.' YIn order to minimize the strain on the. yarn the', spring whicntends to move the-indicating ele' ment to indicating position is preferablymade aslight as isv consistent with reliable; operation. As a result of this vconstruction there is aychance that the detecting ngers Ymay lnot have a suiie cientlyi heavy contact with theindicator to establish a proper circuit; In orderlthat the'light` positiveness fof indication I' provide a.v holding. device which is normally ineiective to restrain 1 movementy ofthe indicator and is held in nonlocking position by the latter when yarnispresent; Atl substantial exhaustion, however, the weak spring which exertsv itsV pressure against the yarnis sufficiently strong to moveLthe indicator or contact plate to a positionwhere the lock may becomeV effective to holdithe ContactV plate againstthe downward pressure of the detesting' element. The latter may therefore ex# crt suicient pressure to-.establish good contact; With these and other objects in view which wilLappear as the description proceeds, my in-y vention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forthv Y in the claims. f ,j

In the accompanying drawing, where aconvenient -embodimentof `my invention is set forth,

Fig. l is a top plan view of a shuttle rnade according to my present invention,

Fig..2 is a vertical section on line 1,' showing the contact plate in two positions,

Fig. 3 isa transverse vertical section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 showing* the detector parts in detecting non-indicating position,

Fig; 4 is a diagrammatic view similar to' Fig'. 3 but showing the parts in detecting position when a suicient supply of weft is present,

Fig. 5 isa'viewvsimilar to aiportion ofelig.Y 2

v trodes 40 and 41.

with the spindle raised and the detector retracted,

Fig. 6 is a top plan View of the shuttle box and detector,

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view showing how the lay motion is used to move the detector toward the shuttle, and

Fig. 8 is a view showing the Contact plate locking means.

Referring to the drawing, I have shown a shuttle 10 which preferably may be adapted for silk weaving by a coating of iiber or like material 11, although this feature is not necessary. A transverse pin l2 forms the pivot ,of a spindle 13 having a vertical slot 14. The pin 12 extends through the wooden body 15 of the shuttle and may be held in position in any approved manner. The weft carrier 16 may be of metal and has a head 17 to coact with claws 18 on tlie'shuttle to hold the carrier against longitudinal and angular motion relatively to the spindle.

Pivoted to the spindle at 2) and extending within the slot 14 is a detector lever 21 having a rounded smooth upwardly extending detecting surface 22 designed to project through a slot 23 in the carrier 16. right hand end of said lever is curved upwardly and has mounted thereon a circuit cioser er contact plate 24 which, as shown in Fig. l, is provided with a substantially long contact face 25 from the sides of which extend stop wings 26. A relatively weak coil spring 27 is interposed between the bottom of the contact plate and the spindle, and may be received in a pocket 28 in the spindleL The upper ber vplate of the shuttle prefer-Y ably extends over the stop wings 26 as at 30 and serves to limit upward movement ofthe contact plate under influence of the spring. The top fiber plate is also provided with an opening 31 to renderv the Contact surface 25 accessible from above thev shuttle. I do not wish to be limited to any particular form of weft carrier or means for holding the same in the shuttle, inasmuch as it is sufficient for the operation of my present invention if the slot 23 is held in alignment with the detector surface 22 of the lever when the spindle is in normal lowered position.

The shuttle coacts with a pair of yieldable' detector ngers or electrodes 40 and 41, respectively, `each of which is formed as part of a ring 42 secured to a support 43 of insulating material rotatably mounted on a supporting stud 44. Thelatter is held in a small stand 45 secured to the box back 46 of the loom. Interposed between the stud and the support 48 is a relatively light torsion spring 47 the eiTect of which is to move the electrode 41 down toward the top of the shuttle. A collar 48- fixed to the opposite end of the stud receives one end of another light torsion sping 49 which is connected to the support 50 with the other electrode 40 tending to move the latter in the same direction as electrode 41. Collector brushes 51'and 52 contact respectively with the rings of elec- These brushes are mounted on an insulating base 53 carried by the lay and have electrical connection with mechanism not shown to effect a change in loom operation whenever said brushes are electrically connected by the plate 24 at substantial exhaustion oi weft.

As shown in Fig. 7 the lay L moves about the forward pivot and there is provided a rear pivot lxed with respect to the loom and hav- As viewed in Fig. 2 the Y ing mounted thereon an upwardly extending rod 62 which slides through a guide bearing 63 carried by and extending rearwardly from the lay. 'Iheupper end of this guide has a head 64 which extends laterally on each side of the rod 62 for engagement respectively with actuator arms 65 and 66 which are connected to the rings of electrodes 40 and 41, respectively. There is a sufficient space between the pivots 66 and 61 so that as the lay moves forwardly the cross head will have a relatively downward movement with respect to the lay and when the latter moves rearwardly the movement will be upward.

The head is so formed as to rock the electrodes in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 3 when the lay moves backwardly, thereby raising the forward ends of the electrodes to keep them out of the path of the shuttle. On the forward beat of the lay, however, the relative downward movement of the head will move the latter away from the actuator arms so that the springs 47 and 49 will move said arms downwardly after the shuttle is boxed. The top 'l0 of the head 64 will act as a stop for the arms 65 and 66 when no shuttle is present.

While I have shown a particular means for providing two electrodes which are each yieldingly movable toward the plate 24 when the lay is in front position and retracted or elevated to non-detecting position prior to pick of the shuttle, yet I do not wish to be limited to the particular mechanism shown. f l

In order to 'prevent closure of the electric circuit while the plateY 24 is in low position I provide at least one of the electrodes, 41 asshown herein, with a heel which is placed so that it will engage the top ofthe shuttle and limit downward movement of the associated electrode. The other electrode may be similarly provided with a stop, but this is not essential, since the holding of either electrode away from the'plate. will be suflicient toprevent contact when the plate is in low position.

Located on each side of the detector lever is a resilient stop or support secured by screw 8l to a vertical wall 82 in theV shuttle. Normally these supports are in the full line position, Fig. 8, lying against the wings 26.

In operation, as the lay moves vforwardly with the shuttle on the detecting side of the loom the cross head will move out of control position with respect to the actuator arms and the springs 47 and 49v will move the electrodes downl so that the ends of the latter will enter the slot 31 and move toward the top of the plate 25. If suiiicient weft for continued weaving be present in the shuttle the detector arm 22 will be held down andthe contact surface 25 will be located below the bottom of electrode 41. It will therefore be impossible to close the detector circuit and the loom will continue to run@ When weft is absent,l however, except for/the bunch 5G, the detector surface 22 will no longer be restrained against upward movement under action of the yspring 2'7, and thecontact surface will be raised as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 8, until the wings 26 engage the plate forming the top of the shuttle. The `yielding supports 80 will then spring to the dotted line position of Fig. 8. under the wings 26 to support the contact plate against downward pressure. Under these conditions, as the shuttle moves forwardly, the bottom of both electrodes will strike the contact plate to establish electrical connection between the cuit can be closed when the contact plate isA raised. f

When the shuttle is to be replenished it is removedrfrlom the loom and the spindle elevated to the position suggested in Fig. 5 the effect of which is to cause the wings 26 to be 'depressed against the action of the spring 27 by `the overhang-ing parts 30 of the top of the shuttle. A

lreference to Figs. 1 and 2 'Will show that' said wings vare longitudinally spaced relatively to the spindle from the pivot of the lat or sufficiently so that when said spindle is raised there is la downward movement of Vvthe contact surface 22 to permit the sliding and rotation of the carrier 16 on the spindle.

- The placing of a fresh weft supply on the spindle depresses the detector plate, so that when the spindle is lowered, the contact plate returns tov/ard the springs v8() in low enough position to strike said springs laterally and move them to the normal full line position shown in Fig. 8. f

From the foregoing it Will be seen that I have provided a form of shuttle and electric detector wherein that part of the detecting circuit which lies within the shuttle is very short rand comprises a single member to have engagement with the two electrodes.` By this arrangement of Wires, binding posts and other forms of jointed circuit forming parts which have heretofore been employed areeliminated. Furthermore, the detector surface which engages these electrodes is on the top of the shuttle where it can never have contact with the binder or box back and assurance is therefore given that the grit and dirt which is a source of trouble Where contact plates are located on the front and back Walls of the shuttle will not be present in the shuttles shown herein. Although the part which gives indication to the external circuit moves in order to Y have direct contact with the electrodes, yet such moving part is located well within the outline of the shuttle and is therefore kept away from the threads of the top shed when the shuttle is in ilight. It will be further noted that the springs 80 act to support or lock the contact plate in indicating position, so that spring 27 may be very light to prevent chang of the weft.

Having thus described my invention it Will be seen that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

1. In a loom, a shuttle having a supply of weft, a pair of oppositely charged electric detector electrodes separate from the shuttle to be connected to effect a change in loom operation, a shuttle carried contact member for the electrodes held out of contacting relation with the electrodes when sufficient weft is present and movable relative to the shuttle upon exhaustion of weft to a position to electrically connect said electrodes, by direct engagement therewith, the

electrodes mounted to bev movable toward and from the contact member, and a stop to limit relative'smovement of the contact member toward the electrodes.

v2. Ina loom, a weft detecting shuttle, a pair of oppositely charged detecting electrodes, said shuttle having a spindle, a leverpivoted to the spindle, a contact member carried by the lever, the shuttle having an opening to expose the contact member and render the latter accessible from without :the shuttle, a yarn engaging weft detector on the lever, 'and means to move the contact member toward the electrodes, a sufcient amount of weft for continued Weaving engaging the weft detector to prevent such movement, and said means effective to move the contacting member into engaging position relatively to the electrodes at exhaustion of weft.

3.1 In an electrically roperating weftdetecting shuttle, a contact member located-Within the outlineVv of the shuttle and normally held by a sufficient supply of weft out of indicating position relatively to the shuttle, lock means tending normallyto move in a direction substantially parallel to the shuttle toa position to lock the contact member in indicating position but restrained from such movement by said contact member when sufficient weft is present, and means effective upon weft exhaustion to move the contact member to indicating position and render said -lock means effective -to move to a position to lock the contact member against movement away from the indicating position.

4. In an electrically operating weft detecting shuttle a contact member movable vertically in the shuttle and held by sufficient weft in down position, lock means tending to move longitudinallyv of the shuttle to a position under the contact member to lock the latter in raised indicating position, the contact member preventing movement of the lock when suicient Weftis present, and means effective upon exhaustion of weft to raise the contact member into indicating position, the lock thereupon being effective to move under the contact member and lock the same in raised position.

5. In an electrically operating weft detecting shuttle a weft supporting spindle pivoted to the shuttle, a detecting element supported by and movable relatively to the spindle, a contact member carried by the element and held out of indicating position by a suicient supply of weft, a yieldable lock to engage a part of the contact member tending to move in a direction parallel to the spindle into holding relation relatively thereto, and means effective upon exhaustion to move the contact member into indicating position with respect to the shuttle, the lock thereupon moving to a position to support the contact member. l

6. In a loom, a shuttle having a supply of weft, a shuttle carried contact member held out of indicating position when suflicient weft'is present and movable relatively to the shuttle upon eX- haustion of weft to indicating position, a pair of oppositely charged electric detector electrodes mounted independently rof the shuttle, one of said electrodes having a part to engage the shuttle to prevent said one electrode from engaging the contact member when the latter is out of indicating position, and both of said electrodes having parts to engage the contact member when the latter is in indicating position, and means to move said electrodes toward the shuttle on detecting beats of the loom to engage either the shuttle or the contact member depending upon the condition of weft in the shuttle. Y

7. In alecm, a shuttle having a supply of weft, a pair of oppositely charged electric detector electrodes mounted independently of the shuttle to be connected to effect a change in loom operation, a shuttle carried contact member vfor the electrodes held in non-indicating position when sufncient Weftis present and movable relatively to the shuttle upon substantialgexhaustion of weft to indicating position, each electrode having a part to Contact with the contact member when the latter is in indicating position and at least one of said electrodes having a part to Contact with the shuttle and be held out of engagement with the contact member when the latter is in non-indicating position, and means to move said electrodes toward the shuttle and contact member on detecting beats of the loom, said Contact member being the only current carrying part permanently connected to the shuttle. 8. In a loom, a shuttlehaving a supply of weft, a pair of oppcsitely charged electric detector electrodes mounted independently of the shuttle to be connected to efect a change in loom operation, a shuttle carried contact member for the electrodes held out of contacting relation With the electrodes When suicient weft is present and movable relatively to the shuttle upon exhaustion of weft to a position to electrically connect said electrodes, and means to move the electrodes toward the contact member and shuttle on detecting beats of the loom.

9. In an electrically operating weft detecting shuttle, a spindle on the shuttle to support a mass of weft, av detecting lever supported by and z movable with respect to the spindle, a Weft detector contacting plate carried by the detecting lever, presence of sufficient weft effective to hold the Contact plate out of indicating position with respect to the shuttle, means to move thel contact plate into indicating position relatively to the shuttle upon substantial exhaustion of weft, and means normally urged against the plate in a direction substantially parallel to the spindle to thereafter prevent said contact plate from moving relatively to the shuttle and away from indicating position.

10. In an electrically operating weft detecting shuttle, a contact member carried by the shuttle and movable with respect thereto and held by a suflicient supply of weft out of indicating relation with respect to the shuttle, means effective upon exhaustion of weft to move the contact member relatively to the shuttle into indicating position, and means normally urged against the contact member in a direction longitudinally of the shuttle and tending to move under said contact member to lock the latter in indicating position.

RICHARD GREENLEAF TURNER.

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