US2440958A - Electric contactor for loom warps - Google Patents

Description

QB. KRONOFF ETAL ELECTRIC CONT-ACTOR FOR LOOM WARPS Filed July 26, 1946 INVENTORS GLAREIVGERKRONOFF GEORGEM PETERSON 61M, 97M

ATTORNEY Patented May 45 1948 ELECTRIC CONTACTOR FOR LOOM WARPS Clarence R. Kronofl, Worcester, and George N. Peterson, North Grafton, Mass, assignors to Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, Worcester, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application July 26, \1926, Serial No. 686,292

\ 10 Claims. i

This invention relates to improvements in electric contactor mechanism for use more partie ularly in machines operating with warps and it is the general object of the invention to provide such a mechanism which will respond to slight changes in warp tension.

In certain warp supplying mechanisms, such as the letoif of looms, it has been proposed to use electric motors to turn the warp beam either continuously r intermittently, and it is desirable under either of these conditions that the operation of the motor be under control of the warp tension. It is an important object of our'invention to provide contact mechanism so constructed as to lend itself to the ready replacement of an empty beam by a full beam. This feature of our invention provides mounting means for the contactor so constructed that when the contactor is removed therefrom warp ends fromthe empty beam can be moved upwardly away from the support and warp ends of the new beam can be moved downwardly to normal position between parts of the support.

The contactor mechanism set forth herein is designated for use with a variety of types of warp some of which will be under high tension and others of which will be relatively slack. In order to adapt our contactor mechanisms to these varying conditions it is a further object'of our invention to provide a warp engaging presser foot so constructed that its pressure on the warp can be varied, depending upon the kind of warp with which it is used.

The aforesaid presser foot will ordinarily bear downwardly on a group of warp threads and in order that the pressure may be uniform it is another object of our invention to mount the foot for pivotal movement with respect to its supporting lever, thereby enabling the foot to adjust itself to the sheet of warp threads which it enages.

In certain types of the letoif controlling motor mechanism already alludedto provision is made for both forward and reverse running of the motor by means of a set of contacts including at least one member movable between the other members and contactable with but one of the latter at a time. It is desirable that the gap between the one member and the other two be as small as possible, and to attain this result it is a further object 'of our invention, toprovide the members with spring biases and use adjusting screws to engage some of the members to overcome their normal bias for the purpose .of minimizing the aforesaid gap.

previously mentioned contactor support. These spring conductors are so'constructed that they automatically connect the contact members with external wires of a control circuit when the contactor unit is placed in position on its support.

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

In the accompanying drawings, wherein a convenient embodiment of our invention is set forth. Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a part of the rear end of the loom having our invention applied thereto, i Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view looking in the direction of arrow 2, Fig. 1, showing our improved contactor mechanism,

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 is a transverse section on line 5-4 of Fig. 2. Referring particularly to Fig. 1, we have shown 25 a center brace ill suchas is customarily used with certaintypes of looms for supporting the top or crank shaft Ii. Center bearing I 0 is provided with a rearwardly extending horn l2 on which is mounted a holder is for the warp stop mecha- W nism designated generally at M. This latter mechanism is generally present in looms but forms no part of our present invention, and is shown merely because of the relation which it sustains to the holder i3 which we use. The warp 8B beam B has a barrel IE on which is wound the warp W. The barrel has a supporting gudgeon It at each end thereof by means of which the beam is rotatably mounted in the loom. The warp extends upwardly from the barrel and 40 passes over a whip roll l1, also preferably rotatable on the loom as by means of gudgeons one of which is shown at I8. mounted for bodily movement relatively'to the loom, or it can be held stationary except for its so rotary motion. .Our invention has been used principally with the latter or so-called stationary whip rolls.

The matter thus far described is commonly employed in looms and it will be seen from Fig. 1

so that the warp leads upwardly from the beam B,

over the whip roll I1 and then forwardly or to the left through the warp stop motion and to the weaving instrumentalities not shown herein.

'In carrying our present invention into effect 66 we provide a vertical support the lower end of The whip roll may be which is provided with vertical slots 28 receiving bolts 21 which are secured to a'rearward exten-' sion oi the holder I3. By this construction thesupport 26 can be held stationary in vertically adjusted position. The upper part of the support is provided with a flat horizontal table 36 to which are secured front and back transverse warp positioning bars -3I 32, respectively. These bars may be held to. the-table 36,, in any approved manner, as by screws 33, and the table may be held to the support 36 by means of screws 36, see Fig. 3.

The contact mechanism or unit designated generally at 35 comprises a casing or housing 36 made oi insulating material. preferably a transparent plastic, and has located within it the aforesaid contact members and lever mechanism for controlling at least one of the contact members. The casing 36 is supported by right and left i gaging side member 36. Bolt 6| passes through theupper part or the casing 36 as shown in Fig. 3, and the casing is provided with slots 45 which receive the side members. The slots and bolt H cooperate to hold the casing 36 in fixed normal position when the screw 46 is tightened to the position indicated in Figs. 2 and 4.

Mounted for rocking movement in the easing 36 is a small shaft 61 the ends of which extend beyond the casing and have pinned there- I to the twosides 43 and 66 of a yoke arm 56 which when moved vertically causes rocking of shaft 41. The forward end of yoke arm 66 has a bearing 52 slotted as at 63 to receive an upwardly extending web 66 formed on a tension or presser foot 65. A pin 66 pivotally connects the web 56 to the bearing 62 sothat the presser foot is rockabie and lower spring electric contacts 64 and 65, re-

spectively. The upper and lower contacts are out of the range of action of the finger 62 and the latter can engage the intermediate contact only.

These contacts extend forwardly and are held out of electric contact with each other by an insulating mounting 61 secured to the upper part of casing 36 by means or screws 66.

An adjusting screw 16 is threaded into the upper part of casing 36 for engagement with the upper contact, and in similar manner an adjusting screw II is provided for the lower contact 65. Upper contact 66 normally has a spring bias which tends to move it away from the intermediate contact 63 and the adjusting screw 16 counteracts this bias and is the means by which contact 64 can be adjusted toward the intermediate contact. The lower contact is also biased upwardly so that it normally tends to I remain in constant engagement with the intermediate contact .63, and thesecond adjusting screw 1| permits downward adjustment of the lower contact member 66 away from the interbetween the upper ends of side arms 31 and 361s a bolt ll having a head 62 engaging side member 31 and a holding screw 43 enmediate contact. These two adjusting screws therefore cooperate with the normal biases oi the upper and lower spring contacts to regulate the air gap between themand the intermediate 7 contact member.

A pressure arm 16 is secured to shaft 41 and is located within the casing 36. It engages a plunger 16 mounted for horizontal sliding motion in thecasing 36 and urged forwardly by a compresslon spring 11 located within a bore 16 running longitudinally of the casing 66. An adjust- .ing screw 16 for.- the spring engages the rear end of the latter and is threaded into a sleeve 66 which in turn is threaded into the casing 36. The sleeve and'screw 16 are both metallic and adiustments of the force exerted by the spring can be effected without causing wearing of any part of casing 36. A knurled nut 6I integral with .sleeve 66 permits removal or the latter, or holdins of it when screw 16 is adjusted.

The casing 36fhas a .wall 66 through which extends a contact button 66 connected by wire 61 to the intermediate spring contact 63. Button .66 engages a spring electric conductor 66 located in a vertical slot 66 in the inner side of the right side arm 31, see Fig. 4. The conductor 66 is normally housed within its side arm and is insulated therefrom by sheets of insulating material 66. In similar manner the other side arm '36 is slottedas at 66 and has located in it right and left spring conductors 66 and 61, see Fig. 4. These contacts are insulated from each other and also from the side arm 36, as at 96. Spring contact 66 engages a button 66 extending through the left side wall I66 or the casing 36, while spring contact 61 engages a second button I6I also extending through wall I66. Wires I62 and I63 connect the top and bottom buttons IM and 66 with the bottom and top spring contacts 65 and 66, respectively. The contact springs 66 and 61 are normaliylocated within the slot 35 in the same manner as contact 66 is 'normally confined within its slot 66. Conductors", 66 and 61 are connected at their lower ends to wires I66, I66

and I61, respectively, forming part of a control circuit'not shown.

The table 36 and side arms 31 and 36 are permanently fixed to the loom. When a warp is to be placed inthe loom bolt 6| is removed and the unit 35 is lifted upwardly away from the side arms as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3. The warp is then placed over the whip roll and moved downwardly so that a small group of warp threads, indicated at W in Fig. 4, lie between the side arms 31 and 36. These warps W will be located below the casing 36 when the latter is in normal position and'will extend over the tops of the cross bars 31 and 32. The unit 35 is then inserted downwardly between the side arms,

thereby establishing electric engagement between the conductors 66, 66 and 91 and their respective buttons. The'bolt ll is then placed in position and the nut 43 tightened. When thus assembled the warp threads between the side arms 31 and 36 extend under the-presser foot 55. The latter, as is apparent from Fig. 2, is wider than the space between the side arms .so that some of the warp threads not between the side arms will engage the end portions of the presser foot.

The spring 11 will then exert a down force on the presser foot 55, and when the war is comparatively slack this foot will descend and there will be a corresponding upward movement of lever arm 6| which enables the intermediate the warp tension increases and the foot as will be raised, thereby lowering arm Bi and causing finger B2 to press the intermediate spring contact down against the lower contact 65, Adjusting screw 19 can be altered to vary the downward force of foot 65 depending upon the type of warp being used. A bottom plate I08 closes the lower part of recess or cavity 60 and protects the contacts 83, 64 and 85 from lint.

The presser foot 55 is shown herein as having a length greater than the distance between the side arms 31 and 38, but'this is not an essential relationship. When it does exist the warp threads at the sides of the small group W' may lie entirely under the ends of the presser foot, or some of these threads may be over the presser foot. It will be understood that the total upward force exerted by the warp on the presser foot will depend upon the number of threads under it, and by varying this number of threads the force opposing spring ll can be altered. The ultimate force acting to depress finger $2 is therefore not necessarily limited or determined only by the setting of spring ll. The presser foot is provided with flanges H0 so that after a given number of threads are in engagement with the presser foot they will remain in engagement with it. These flange H0 are desirable in view of the fact that as warp threads unwind from the warp beam they do not always lie in exactly parallel rela-' tionship.

From the foregoing it will be seen that we have provided a form of electric contact for use in machines operating with warp threads wherein the presser foot is pivotally mounted so as to equalize the upward forces of the warp threads as they tend to rock lever L. It will also be seen that the presser foot is somewhat wider than the group of warp threads W. and it is because of this fact that it is possible to vary the forces acting on the presser foot independently of the spring ll. After a given relation between warp threads and the presser foot has been established, however, it is possible to alter the counter-force exerted by the spring 11 against the warp by means or adjusting screw 19. The adjusting screws 10 and 'Il afiord means for adjusting the upper and lower contacts 64 and 8B relatively to the intermediate contact 63. It will further be seen that by means of the bolt ii it is possible to remove the contact unit 85 without disturbing the remainder of the mechanism when a depleted warp beam is being replaced by a full beam, and that when the unit 35 is replaced to the position indicated in Fig. 4 the conductors extending along the side plates 31 and 38 automatically reestablish electric contact with their respective contact buttons.

Having thus described our 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 we do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what we claim is:

1. In electric contactor mechanism for a machine operating with a warp, a structure fixed on the machine, an electric contact supported by the structure, a lever pivoted on the structure for movement into engagement with the electric contact, and a presser foot extending transversely of the warp and pivoted to the lever in'such manner as to adjust itself to unequal forces exerted by the warp thread. 1

and lever so constructed as to enable said foot to respond to unequal tensions in the warp threads engaged thereby.

3. In electric contactor mechanism for a machineoperating with a warp, a structure fixed to the machine having spaced side members between which a group of warp'threads pass, an electric contact on the structure, a lever pivoted on the structure for movement into engagement with the electric contact, and a presser foot on the lever extending transversely of the warp and extending beyond each side of said group of warp threads and being over all of the threads in said group and engaging certain of the other warp threads at the sides of said group.

4. In electric contactor mechanism for a ma chine operating with a warp, a structure fixed to the machine, an electric contact thereon, a lethread, a spring supported by the structure and operatively related to the lever and tending to move said presser foot toward the warp threads.

and means carried by the structure to vary the force exerted by said spring on the lever.

5. In electric contactor mechanism for a machine operating with a warp, a structure fixed on said machine, an electric contact on said structure, a shaft rockably mounted on the structure, a lever secured to said shaft and having an arm for movement into engagement with the contact and having another arm for engagement with the warp, a pressure arm secured to said'shaft, a spring supported by the structure exerting a force on said presser armttending to move said other arm of the lever toward the warp and said one arm away from said contact, and means sup-- ported by the structure to vary the force exerted by said spring on said presser arm.

6. In electric contactor mechanism for a machine operating with a warp, a structure fixed to the machine, upper and lower spaced electric contacts mounted on the structure, an intermediate contact on the structure between said upper and lower contacts, means on said structure for moving the intermediate contact with respect to said upper and lower contacts, the upper contact being normally biased to move away from the intermediate contactand the lower contact beingmormally biased to move toward the intermediate contact, an adjusting screw on said structure engaging the upper contact and effective to move the latter toward the intermediate contact, and a second'adjusting screw on said structure for the lower contact to move the latter away from the intermediate contact.

7. In electric contactor mechanism for a machine operating with a warp, fixed structure including spaced side members between which certain of the warp threads normally extend, a contact unit having a lever for engagement with the warp threads, electric contact mean supported by the structure controlled by said lever, and

means for detachably supporting said unit on posit-ion by'said detachable means.

8. In electric contactor mechanism for a machine operating with a warp, fixed support means including side members spaced from each other laterally of the length of the warp threads and between which a group of warp threads normally extend, an electric contact unit having a presser foot to engage the top of said group or warp threads, and detachable means normally securing said unit to said side members with said group under said unit and said presser foot, said unit being removable upwardly away from said side members when said detachable means is removed to permit movement of said group'ot threads upwardly from between said isde members and permit insertion of another group of warp threads downwardly between said side members, after which said unit is returnable tov the normal position thereof to be held by said detachable means over said other groupoi warp threads. j

9. In electric contactor mechanismffor a machine operating with a warp, -a pair vertical side members spacedirom each other laterally oi the direction in which the warp threads extend, electric conductor means supported by said side members, an electric contact unit having contact button means ior engagement with said conductor means. and detachable means for bolding said unit in normal position on said side members, said unit being removable from between said side members when said detaching means is removed and the button means being slldable away from the conductor means to permit removal of the warp threads between said members, and said unitsubsequent to placement oi another group 0! warp threads between said side members being returnable to normal position and said button means sliding into electric engagement with said conductor means.

10. In electric contactor mechanism for a machine operating with a warp, vertical side members spaced laterally relatively to the length of the warp threads, an electric conductor on one of said side members, an electric contact unit. detachable means normally holding said unit in position between said side members and havin a contact button normally in engagement with said conductor, said unit upon removal 01' said detaching means being movable upwardly to move the button away from said conductor preparatory to removal or the warp threads between said side members, and subsequent replacement of said unit between said side members causing said contact button to reestablish electric engagement with said conductor.

CLARENCE R. KRONOFF. GEORGE N. PE'I'ERSON.

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