US2356458A - Weft stop motion for narrow ware looms - Google Patents

Description

v Aug. 1944.`V E R, HOLMES 2,356,458

WEFT STOP MOTION FOR NARROW WARE LOOMS Filed May 8, 1945 l AT roRNzY Patented Aug. 22, 1944 WEFT STOP MOTION FOR NARROW WARE.

LOOMS= ElbridgeR. Holmes, Worcester, Mass., assignorto Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, Worcester, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application May 8, 1943, Serial'No. 486,238

13 Claims.`

This invention relates to improvements in nar? row ware looms and .it is the general object of the invention to provide improved means for stopping the loom, or effecting a change in the loom, should the weft in a shuttle be broken or exhausted.

Narrow ware looms'operate with a bank of shuttles which are moved back and forth through relatively narrow sheds by rack and pinion mechanism. The weft is wound on quills extending lengthwise of the shuttle and tensioning mechanisms mounted on the shuttle provide an angular path which the weft traverses from the quill to the delivery eye of the shuttle. Because of the nature of the weft system within the shuttle it has not been practical in the past to determine weft breakage or exhaustion. It is an important object of my present invention to mount a detector on the shuttle and locate it within the overall outline of the shuttleso that it will not interfere with the warpthreads whenthe shuttle. is passing through the shed, and construct the detector so that upon weft fault it will fall'to .an indicating position outsidethe overall outline'of the shuttle and cooperatewith means to bring about a change in actuator loom operation, such as stoppage.

Due to the forward movement of the lay which -Y carries the shuttles any moving detector inthe shuttle should be so constructed that it willV not lee-materially effected by momentumas the lay advances. It is accordingly a further objectof my pre-sent invention to mount the detector fso that it moves around a kpivotwhich is ,substantially parallel to the direction in which the shuttle advances as the lay beats up.

The aforesaid guide mechanism for the weft within the shuttle generally includes a pair 'of eyes through whichthe weft is threaded. These eyes, together with the delivery eye of theyshuttle and a third eye, determine the weft path whenthe thread is taut. It is another object of my present invention to mount the detector in such a position in the shuttlethat it will be located below that portion of the thread path extending between the aforesaid guide eyes and not interfere with the thread.

Itis a further object of my presentiinvention to provide the loom with a form of electric switch which is closed during advance'movement ofthe lay when the detector has fallen to indicating position due to weft failure. This feature of my invention may include a resiliently mounted plunger normally extending under the shuttle at frontcenter and below the` detector when the thread is intact but positioned to be engaged by the detector upon weft failure. The plunger is then moved forwardly to close an electric' switch in circuit with loom stopping mechanism.

With these and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, my invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth. i

In the accompanying drawing, wherein a con'- venientembodiment of my invention is set forth, Fig. l is a front elevation ofaportion of the lay and breast beam of afnarrowware'lom showing my invention,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged Vplan viewY looking in they direction of arrow 2,-Fig. 1, with the `mechanism in non-indicating position, Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectionA on line 3 3 of Fig. 2 showing the shuttle detector in non-indicating positionin full lines and inV indicating position in dottedl lines,

Fig. 4 is anenlarged detailed section orn line 4 40fFig.2,f-j Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view ofor-ie type of controlelectric circuit which` canl be used with my invention, and y Z y Y' V Fig. 6 is an enlarged transverse 'sectionY on line ,-6ofFig.2. Referring particularly to "1 and 2,11Lhave slihwn ajlay III of axnarrowl ware loom provided .ingv the weftsupply W is mounted on the pini I1 and. is engaged by a. friction pad I9 of the usual type. li/,lountecl at the sidespf lthe openingr I6 are 'right ,and left handv guide. eyes zul an@ 2 1, respectively, while the. .front 'or bowed `wallj'22 of the shuttle is provided with a third guide v,eye 23 .and 4a weft delivery eye 24.. The weft'wll ordinarily follow the` path indicated in.: 2, y' leading forwardly from lthe quill Illv t'o thecentral veye .23, then to one of theside eyes, as 20J then vracross the space .I 6 to. the other Yey1e.2I,.an d` thence to and .out ofthe delivery eyel24j. YItis customary Lto mount the guide eyes. 20. `and,2ly on springs not shown-which are .embedded in'the bodygf]Y the shuttle. Mechanism jiricludijng.,piriions'y and a rack 3| .causethe shuttles lDQ'ESWt-.rtg bgg-,k

Voperation of my invention. This means includes a shaft which rotates during .loom operation and has a cam 36 to rock a lever31 mounted on a fixed pivot 38. A knock-off lever 36 movable above a Xed pivot 40 is connected to a rod 4| extending to the loom. shipper mechanism not shown and also has pivoted thereto .a link 42. L A normally deenergized solenoid 43 has a core 44 operatively connected to the link42, and a weighted positioner 45 is pivotedunder the link 42.

15j I l f/screws 82. Arm 46 of lever 31 has a working stroke to the right as viewed in Fig. 5 for each rotationof camv 36. Arm 46 is undercut as at 41 so that it passes over the left end of link 42 when the latter is'A Aposition shown in dotted Ato the right to Vrock the knock-off lever 39 and rod -4| to theright to operate'the shipper mechanism and stop the loom.A l Y Y 'I'he knock-off mechanism 'and control therefor shown in Fig. 5 is illustrated as one way in which my invention may be utilized and for further description of its structure andloperation reference may be had to Payne Patent No. 1,873,465. K

Except as noted hereinafter the matter thus -far described is of common construction and may be made in the usual manner. VVIf desired the shuttle blocks can have horizontal slots and the shuttles made straight so that they pass from jone block to the other in ,-avpath parallel to the lay.- form Vof-shuttle and shuttle block is very common and I have not illustrated it herein but wish it-to be understood that my invention is not limited to the use of arcuatefshuttles.

Referring .more particularlyto Figs. 2 and 3,

itjwfill beseen thatlhaveprovided Ythe inside kforward walls of the shuttle with right and left hand .supports 50 and 5|, respectively, to which 4rigl'it and left handdetector links 52 and 53 'are Vpivoted as at 54., Stops` V carried by the for- Ward shuttle wall Aoverhang the links and limit V*their upward movementslas indicated more par,- ticularly inY Fig. 3 to keep the Ylinks below the weft path previously described. The right'hand link 52 is Aprovided with a longitudinal slot 60 which Areceivesla pin, 6|.s'ecured to the left link 53. The adjacent jointed ends of Vthe'ilinks are rounded as indicated in Fig. 3 andthe pin and slot connectionl between them, requires that they move together angularly.' y

1 The breast beam |55l off the loom carries a stand 66. provided with a rearwardly extending sup- -port`.61 held' to `the standby a bolt 68 passiner through a slot 6,9 in the support to permit back and forth adjustment of* the .support with re- Irspe'ct .tothe breast beam` and the {sweep of the V `la'y."As 'shown inFig.4 4' the rear part of the sup- Vportf|51 is provided with abore 10 in which is 'sldably mounted' a vplunger 1| the front end of which isj providedlwith a. stem"12 slidable on the support 61 and'surrounded by' a. lightv compres- The weight positioner 45 then swings sion spring 13 located in the forward part of the bore 10. 'I'he rear part of the plunger 1| extends beyond the rear end of the support 61 and is provided with an electric conducting ferrule 15 held to the plunger in any approved manner, as by prongs 16. A pin 11, see Figs. 2 and 6, secured to plunger 1| extends through slot 18 in'. the support 61 to guide `and limit rear motion of? the plunger relatively to the support. Both the plunger and the support 61 are made preferably' of electric insulating material such as fiber so that the ferrule 15 is insulated from the support.

-The right and left rear sides of the support 61 .are provided with electric spring contacts and 8|, respectively, held to the support by Contact 80 connects electrically with a wire 83 while the other contact 8| is connected electrically with wire 84.

The support 61 is held in such position on the stand` 66 that the plunger is below the shuttle 'path and the spring 13 ordinarily holds the plunger rearwardly with vthe ferrule 15 located behind and out of contact with the spring contacts 80' and 8|.- If desired,` the spring contacts can be made strong enough to hold the plunger 1| forwardly by frictional engagement lwith ferrule 15 against the action of coil spring 13, in which case rearward movement of the Aplunger to normal position subsequent to for-- ward motion is effected manually.

In operation, the weft extends forwardly from `the quill I8 under the jointed links and then vpasses through the control or intermediate guide 'eye 23. The tension of the weft is sufficient to :maintain the jointed links in the full line posi- Ytionshown in Fig. 3 and as the lay beats up it vpasses overl the plunger 1| Without moving the latter. As the weft unwinds fromY the quill it lslides back vand forth under the links 52 and 53 ."andtheir rounded jointed ends. If the weft in 'the -shuttle should break or become slack the Adetector links 52 or 53, being unsupported by the weft, will fall byA gravity to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3 and on the next forward movement'of the shuttle the detector links will Iengage therear end of the plunger 1| as will be understood from reference to Fig. 3 and move the Vplunger forwardly to locate the ferrule 15 vbetween and in engagement with the contacts 160 and 8| to close thecircuit indicated in Fig. 5. The pivots 54 are so constructed as to support lthe-links `against the rearward thrust of plunger 11|. Y I f The -circuit comprises a source of electric 'power E one Side of which is grounded by wires and the other side of which is connected to Vthe wire 84. Wire 83 is connected to one side of thefsolenoid 43 and the other side of the latter is connected by wire 9| tothe ground. Closure of this circuit by forward movement of the ferrule 15 to indicating position as shown in Fig. 5 @causes energization of the solenoid 43 with; resultantrupward movement of the link 42 in the path of arm 46 to effect loom stoppage .as already described. `When the weaver corrects the defect in lthe weft, either by replacing an exhausted quill y |8 or reestablishing. normal weft tension, the forwardly extending strand of the weft will again infime- detector links 52 and 53 to their normal non-indicating fullline position shown in Fig. .3. The cam 36 can if desired rotate every second `pick ofthe looni to move lever arm 46 to the -right shortly afterv the lay'reachesV frontcenter onalternate" beats whenthe shuttle is on block 9| 1' The operation of the invention is :not limitplunger 'H forwardly by spring contacts 80 and 8| after the lay leaves front center is to permit any electric circuit which may be used to remain closed independently of the lay position. I am not limited tothe relation mentioned between the strengths of spring 13 and the contacts 80 and 8|, however, and spring 13 can be made strong enough to return the plunger 1| to normal rear position automatically as the lay recedes.

It will be seen from Fig. 2 that certain parts of the weft in the shuttle cross the vertical plane n which th links 52 and 53 swing, and it Will further be noted that the part of the weft eX- tending between the eyes and 2l is more or less parallel to the links. In Fig.V 2, this last named part of the weft vis shown as spaced a relatively large distance from the detector links for the sake cf clarity, but in actual practice, with certain types of shuttles at least, this part Yof the thread will lie close to the parallel links.

The stops 55 prevent any possible interference between the weft when it is under normal tension and the detector links 52 and 53, and the latter are kept below the plane in which lies that part of the weft extending between the eyes. Because of this relationship there is little or no .danger that the weft will be entangled with the jointed ends of the detector links.

As the lay advances the links 52 and 53 tend by their momentum to move 'frontw'ardly and unless the links were correctly pivoted they might swing to a position above the plunger ll. By referring to Figs. 2 and 3 it will be seen that the link pivots have their axes disposed more or less parallel to the 'direction of advance of the lay and the links therefore fall to 'and remain in .proper indicating position without interference by their momentum.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a simple form of control for narrow ware looms wherein the shuttle is provided with a detector element normally held raised bythe weft when the latter isunder proper tension. When weft tension fails, as by lexhaustion of the quill or undue slackness, the links 52 and 53 fall from their normal to 'indicating position s0 that forward movement of the shuttle with the4 lay can establish contact between 'the ferrul'e 15 vand the spring contacts 8!! and 8l. Itfwill be noted that the detector links move in a plane which is transverse of the direction in which the shuttle advances and are held by their pivots against objectionable forward displacement due to their momentum as the lay advances. Furthermore, the detector link pivots and their stops are so located as to maintain the detecting mechanism below the plane normally occupied by the weft when the latter is under -proper tension. Also, the link pivots 54 are so disposed that the links never strike the quill to injure its 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 notV wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

1. In a weft stop mechanism for a narrow ware loom having a reciprocating lay, a shuttle on 'the lay having a weft quill, a detector in the shuttle normally supported by the weft when the latter is under proper tension and falling to an indicating position when unsupported by the weft, a normally open electric switch on the loom, means operated by the detector when the latter is in indicating position during forward movement of the lay to close said switch, said switch constructed to hold the means in position to maintain the switch closed during backward movement of the day, and an electric control circuit for the loom closed when said switch is closed.

2. In a weft stop mechanism for a narrow ware loom having a reciprocating lay and a frame,y adetector in the shuttle held in normal position by the weft when the latter is under normal tension and moving to indicating position below the normal position thereof when unsupported by the weft, a plunger for cooperation with the indicator, means to mount the plunger on the loom frame for forward motion below the shuttle and in the path traversed by the indicator when the latter is in indicating position during forward movevment of the lay, and electrically controlled means for the loom includingr a normally open electric switch closed by the plunger when the latter is moved forwardly by the indicator in indicating position as the lay advances. l

A3. In aweft stop mechanism for a narrow ware loom having a reciprocating lay and a frame, a detector in the shuttle held in normal raised position by the weft when the latter is under proper tension and moving to an indicating position below the normal position thereof when unsupported by theweft, a normally open electric switch mounted on the loom' frame, normally open electric circuit control means for the loom clcsable ,by the switch to effect .a change in l-oom operation, and a switch closer below the advancing path of the detector when the latter is in normal position but in position to be actuated by the detector'when the latter is in indicating position during advance movement of the lay to close said switch.

4. In weft stopping mechanism for a narrow ware loom having a shuttle on a reciprocating lay, loom controller means including a part forward of the shuttle and normally in non-controlling. position but movableforwardly to controlling position, a detector within the shuttle supported in normal raised position by the weft when the latter is under proper tension and moving pivotally to indicating position when unsupported by weft, and a pivotal support for the detector carried Yby the shuttleand having an axis which is substantially parallel to the back and forth motion of the lay, to the end that the detector moves pivotally from normal to indicating position about the pivotal support thereof independently of momentum of the detector due to forward movement thereof with the shuttle.

5. In a narrow ware loom having a backwardly and forwardly reciprocating lay provided with a shuttle, a loom controller normally in non-controlling position but movable to controlling position, a pair of spaced parallel pivots on the shuttle the aXes of which are parallel to the back and forth motion of the lay, a link mounted for angular movement on each pivot, and means to connect the ends of the links remote from their pivots, the weft when under proper tension effective to hold said links in raised normal positionV and said links whenv -unsupported by the weft falling about theirv pivots to an indicating position, for engagement with the controller to move the latter to controlling position by a force derived from the lay as the latter moves forwardly.

6. In a narrow Ware loom having a horizontally reciprocating lay provided with a shuttle having a weft quill rotatably mounted thereon, weft guides carried by the shuttle through which theV weft from the shuttle passes, said guides causing the weft extending between them to maintain a given level when the weft is under proper tension, a weft detector movably mounted on the shuttle normally supported in non-indicating position by the weft when the latter is under proper tension and moving to indicating position when unsupported by the weft, means to prevent said detector from moving upwardly to said level, and control means for the loom set in operation during forward movement of the lay when the. de-

the shuttle and movable in a plane crossing said.I

given level, stop means for the detector cooperating with the weft when the latter is under proper tension to maintain the detector in nonindicating. position below said given level, said detector when unsupported by the weft vmoving to indicating position, and means set in operation by the detector when the latter is in indicating position during forward movement of the lay to control the loom. v

8. In a narrow ware loomj having a horizontally reciprocating lay provided with a shuttle carrying a. rotatable weft quill, guide means on the shuttle causing the weft when the latter is under proper tension to traverse ,a given path between said guides, a weft detector in the shut-v tle movable in a plane toward and from ,said path, means carried by the shuttle cooperating with the weft when the latter is under proper tension to maintain said detector in normal position below said path, said detector when unsupported by the weft falling to indicating position, and means set in motion by the detector when the latter is in indicating position during forward movement of the lay to control the loom.

9. In a narrow ware loom having a horizontally reciprocating lay provided with a shuttle carrying a rotatable weft quill, guide eyes carried by the shuttle to receive' the weft from the quill and cause the weft when under proper tension to traverse a given path, weft detector mechanism in the shuttle including two jointed links pivoted on the shuttle and movable toward and from said given path, said links supported in non-indicating position by a strand of the weft leading from the quill from one ofsaid guide eyes when the weft is under normal tension, said detecting mechanism moving to indicatingposition-when unsupported by the weft, stop means `carried by the shuttle to prevent movement of said jointed links to said given path, and means set in motion by the detector when in indicating position during forward movement of the lay to effect a change in the operation of the loom. f

10. In a narrow ware loom 'shuttle having a body and a weft quill rotatably mounted in a weft chamber in the body, weft guide eyes supported by the body and dening a path for weft drawn fromthe quill, a weft detector pivotally mounted on the' body and movable in a plane crossing said path, and means to confine the pivotal movement of the detector to a zone below said path.

11. In a narrow ware loom shuttle having a body and a weft quill rotatably mounted in a weft chamber in the body, a pair of jointed weft detector links 'extending in the direction of the length of said quill, and pivotal supports-on said body for the remote ends of said links extending transversely of said quill and requiring the links to move in a plane spaced from said quill.

i 12. VIn a narrow ware'loom'shuttle having a body and a weft quill' rotatably mounted ina weft chamber in the body, a weit guideV eyeon said body, and weft detector mechanism mounted on the shuttle body between'` said quill and said eye and supported by a weft'extending from the quill to the eye, said mechanisrncomprising jointed links and pivots for theremote endsof said links extending in such a direction as tov cause thelinks to move angularly in a plane between said eye and said` quill.

13. In a narrow ware loom shuttle having a body and a weft quill rotatably mountedin a weftV chamber in the body, a weft guide eye on said body, and weft detector mechanismmounted on the shuttle body between said quill and said eye and supported by a weft extending from the quill to the eye, said mechanism comprising a pair of parallel pivotal supports, one on each side of said chamber, a detector link pivoted to each support and extending toward the other support in` a direction substantially parallel to said quill, and means joining the adjacent ends of said links.

ELBRIDGE R. HOLMES.

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