US2548662A

US2548662A - Weft needle mechanism for axminster looms

Info

Publication number: US2548662A
Application number: US651178A
Authority: US
Inventors: Fletcher Norman; Walter Y Robb
Original assignee: Crompton and Knowles Corp
Current assignee: Crompton and Knowles Corp
Priority date: 1946-03-01
Filing date: 1946-03-01
Publication date: 1951-04-10
Anticipated expiration: 1968-04-10

Description

April 1951 N. FLETCII-IER ET AL 62 WEFT NEEDLE MECHANISM FOR- AXMINSTER LOOMS Filed March 1, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR S NORMA/V FLETCHER WALTER )5 R058 ATTORNEY April 10, 1951 v N. FLETCHER ET AL 2,548,652

WEFT NEEDLE MECHANISM FOR AXMINSTER LOOMS Filed March 1, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS NORMAN FLETCHER WALTER Y. R058 6%,? M rg I ATTORN EY April 1951 N. FLETCHER EI'AL 2,548,662

WEFT NEEDLE MECHANISM FOR AXMINSTER LOOMS Filed March 1, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. I?

5 lill va7 38 N L -s3 2 r r V FI -11 36 l v t ed 65 u 4 55 INVENTORS A TORNEY Patented Apr. 10, 1951 WEFT NEEDLE-MECHANISM FOR AXMINSTER LooMs Norman Fletcher, Worcester, and Walter Y. Robb, Whitinsville; Mass, assignors to Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, Worcester, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application March 1, 1946, Serial No. 651,178 I This invention relates to improvements in Weft needles for looms. more particularly of the Axminster type and it isthe general object of our invention to provide a flexible needle formed of sheet metal curved transversely to provide rigidity,

In Axminster looms the weft is drawn from a stationary package and is introduced into the warp shed by an elongated needle. In the past this needle has been rigid and has required a long needle rail extending to one side of the loom. The needle railadds considerably to the floor space occupied by the loom and in wide looms 4 Claims. (o1.1s9 123) this additional space required for the rail is ob-,

jectionab1y large. Itis an important object of our present invention to provide a flexible needle which can be bent or curved on itself so that the part thereof out of the shed can move along a,

path transverse of that part of the needle which is in the shed, which usually extends to one side of the loom.

It is another object of our invention to make the needle of concave sheet metal provided with spaced slots or openings to receive the teeth of a driving sprocket wheel by which the needle is moved into and out of the shed.

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.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein a con- Venient embodiment of our invention is set forth,

Fig. l is a. side elevation of a portion of an Axminster loom having our invention applied thereto,

Fig. 2is a front elevation looking in the direction of arrow 2, Fig. 1, I

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section on line 33 of Fig. 2 showing the needle driving mechanism,

Figs. 4, and 6 are enlarged vertical sections on lines 4-4, 55 and 6-45, respectively, of Fig. 2',

Fig. 7 is anenlarged plan view of the eye end of the needle looking in the direction of arrow 1, .2,

Fig. 8 is an enlarged plan looking in the direction of arrow 8,'Fig. 2, showing the selvage shuttle, the needle and the thread guide at the right side of the loom,

Fig. 9 is a vertical section on line 9-9, Fig. 3,

Fig. 10 is a vertical section through the warp shed showing the needle between the top andbot-- tom sheds, and

Fig. 11 is a horizontal section on line il --l I, Fig. 3.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the loom frame 10 supports a pullover shaft H around which extends a tube frame transporting chain I2. The

tube frame transfer arms, one of which is shown at l3 in Fig.2, disconnect the tube frames one at a time from the chains i2 and move them down in the usual manner to tuft forming position after which the tube frame is returned to the chain. In Fig. 1 one of these tube frames is indicated at M in the position which it occupies just'prior to movement downwardly to tuft forming position. I V e The loom is provided with frontand back tuft cutting knives i5 and [6, respectively, which operate at the proper time inthe loom cycle to cut the row of tufts from'the tube frame which has been moved to tuft forming position;

frames ll manipulate the warp threads in such manner as to form top and bottom sheds W and The loom is provided with a shaft which rotates once for each three picks of the 100111.,

This shaft actuates'the usual: means for operating the tube frame transferrer arms 13, the

knives I5 and 16, the harness frames I1, and the lay 21 which moves backwardly and forwardly once for .each pick of the loom. The reed 22 of the lay extends through the warp shed and is the means by which the weft-thread F is beaten forwardly into the fabric.

. As shown in Figs. 2 and 8 the left side of the loom is provided with a selvage shuttle 25 which through a loop, in the filling thread Fafter the latter has been moved into the shed by the improved needle forming part of our invention and set forth more particularly hereinafter;

The matter thus far described operates in the usual manner, the lay beating forwardly three times for each complete tuft forming cycle of the loom. e v

In carrying our invention into effect we provide a flexible needle N which is made of sheet metal and is permanently curved throughout its 7 length so that it' is of arcuate transverse cross section and concave relatively to an axis longitudinal of the needle, as set forth particularly in-Figs. 4 and 5. In Fig. 4 the needle 'is seen to be concave upwardly and engages a guide roll 30 formed with a convex periphery 30' to fit the upper concave surface of the needle and rotatable Harness in a stand 3| fixed to the support 48. A second roll 32 under the needle is also rotatable on the stand 3! and together with the upper roll 3!! limits vertical motion of that part of the needle near the loom frame and shown at the right of Fig. 8. The stand 3% has vertical guide walls 33 between which the needle N moves. The flexible needle is therefore guided by the

rolls

30 and 32 and also by the walls 33.

The needle is formed with a series of slots, apertures, or openings 35 which are aligned longitudinally and centrally of the needle and are equally spaced along the length of the needle to receive the sprocket teeth 33 of a sprocket wheel 3's mounted in a housing designated generally at H. The sprocket wheel has a wide web 38 having cylindrical peripheral surfaces 39 located on op posite sides of the teeth 35. The wheel 37 also has hubs 40 which are pinned or otherwise secured to a shaft di which rotate in bearing hubs d2 of right and left side plates 43 and, respectively,

1 asviewed in Fig. 3.

The side plates are secured to a guide block 65 as at it and the block is secured as at 4"? to a support it fixed with respect to the loom frame. The block has provision for guiding the needle N including a slot designated generally at 53 and having a horizontal part an arcuate part 52 concentric with shaft ll, and a vertical part 53. These three parts of the slot are continuous and form a guide for theneedle as the latter moves along the guide block 45.

The bottom of the slot has a surface 55 which is engaged by the underside of the needle and the arcuate part 58 of surface 55 is spaced fromthe surfaces 39 of the sprocket by a distance slightly greater than the thickness of the nee-,

A narrower slot 57 is cut in'bloc'k 55 below the level of surface 55 to provide clearance for the teeth 36 of the sprocket wheel, and the side walls defer the slot 521 serve as guides f or'the needle to prevent substantial lateral movement thereof with respect to the block. The slots or apertures 35 in the needle may be slightly wider than the sprocket teeth 36 and the latter serve merely to move the needle along the block without necessarily performing a guiding relationd sprocket wheel to hold the latter in correct position for registry with the needle N.

During loom operation a rotation of the shaft 2!} will cause three rotations of the crank arm 3% and therefore three complete oscillations of the. sprocket wheel 31. The needle will be inserted and removed from the shed for each oscillation of the sprocket and a complete rotation of shaft 20 will result in laying three shots of for an Axminster loom constructed of flat resilient sheet metal dished or curved so as to be concave with respect to an axis extending along the length of the needle. The housing H is constructed with guide walls for the needle which require the latter to bend uniformly along that part thereof in driving relation with respect to the sprocket. These guides prevent buckling of the needle and prevent a greater amount of bending at the slots than between the latter. It will also be seen that we have provided a guide for the upper part of the needle which directs the latter inwardly toward the center of the loom. By this construction we are able to avoid the long needle 7 railsh'eretofore used in'wide Axminster looms.

Furthermore, the

guide walls

58 and 33 serve to direct the needle eye toward the selvage shuttle. The needle N is flexible longitudinally so that it can bend around the sprocket wheel, and is also flexible transversely so that it can be flattened as it were when passing between the sprocket to the left as at H, Fig. 2, and then horizontally as at E2. Clips 73 hold the horizontal part 12 of the guide to a supporting frame it fixed with respect to the loom.

The mechanism for oscillating the sprocket 3'! is shown more particularly in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. Secured to the shaft 2c is a large bevel gear 86 meshing with a pinion 8! of one-third the size secured to a shaft 32 rotatable in a stationary bearing 83. v The forward end of shaft 82 carries a crank arm 8d the pin $5 of which is pivoted to the lower end of a connector 85. The latter extends upwardly and is pivotally connected as at ell to the bottom end of a rack member 88 slidable in top and bottom bearings 39 and t supported by the housing H. The rack meshes with a gear at secured to the shaft ll. The side "plates 33 and id cooperate with hubs d0 of the and. guide block. Normally, however, the'needle is curved in tranverse cross section and tends to lie straight.

The present application relates more particularly to the needle driving mechanism, the needle itself being the subject of a divisional application Serial No. 758,642, filed July 2, 1947.

Having thus described our invention, it will be seen that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting 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 weft laying mechanism for a loom having a selvage shuttle at one side thereof, a flexible sheet metal weft needle, said 'needle'having a concave surface extending lengthwise thereof, actuating mechanism for said needle at the other side of the loom including a toothed rotary member, said needle having longitudinally spaced apertures cooperating with said member to cause movement of the needle toward said selvage shuttie when said member is rotated in a given direction, and guide means between said member and the. selvage shuttle having a convex periphery engaging said concave surface of said needle and cooperatingwith the member to direct "the needle along apath toward said selvage shuttle.

2. In'weft needle mechanism for a loom having a selvage shuttle at one side thereof, a flexible weft laying needle having spaced apertures extending longitudinally therealong, said needle having a concave surface extending lengthwise thereof, a rotary actuator for the needle on the other side of the loom having teeth to enter said apertures, a first guide for the needle adjacent to said actuator, and a second guide between the selvage shuttle and the first guide having a convex periphery engaging said concave surface and cooperating with the first guide to direct the needle toward said selvage shuttle when the actuator turns in such a direction as to move the needle from said other side of the loom toward said one side of the loom.

3. In weft needle mechanism for a loom having a selvage shuttle at one side thereof, an elongated flexible sheet metal weft needle having substantially parallel sides between which are located a series of apertures, said needle having a concave surface extending lengthwise thereof, a rotary actuator on the other side of the loom cooperating with said apertures to effect movement of the needle when the actuator turns, a guide holding the needle in cooperative relation with said actuator and having a guide slot for the needle between the actuator and the selvage shuttle, and guide means between said slot and the selvage shuttle having a convex periphery engaging said concave surface cooperating with said slot to direct the weft needle toward said selvage shuttle when the rotary actuator turns in such a, direction as to cause movement of the needle from said other side of the loom toward said one side of the loom.

4. In weft needle mechanism for a loom having a selvage shuttle at one side thereof, an elongated fiexible sheet metal weft needle having substantially parallel sides between which are located a series of apertures, a rotary actuator on the other side of the loom cooperating with said apertures to effect movement of the needle when the actuator turns, a guide holding the needle in cooperative relation with said actuator and having a guide slot between the actuator and the selvage shuttle, and guide means between said slot and the selvage shuttle cooperating with said slot to direct the weft needle toward said selvage shuttle when the rotary actuator turns in such a direction as to cause movement of the needle from said other side of the loom toward said one side of the loom, said needle being normally curved in transverse cross section and said guide means including a roll shaped to conform to the curved shape of the needle.

NORMAN FLETCHER. WALTER Y. ROBB.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS