US2703588A - Support for shifting shuttle boxes - Google Patents

Description

March 8, 1955 c KRUKQNIS 2,703,588

SUPPORT FOR SHIFTING SHUTTLE BOXES Filed Nov. 25, 1953 INVENTOR ATTORNEY ALEXANDER KRUKONIS United States Patent SUPPORT FOR SHIFTING SHUTTLE BOXES Alexander C. Krukonis, Auburn, Mass., assignor to Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, Worcester, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application November 25, 1953, Serial No. 394,240

8 Claims. (Cl. 139-182) This invention relates to improvements in supports for shifting shuttle boxes and it is the general object of the invention to provide a simple form of support which enables the boxes, if in high position when the lay is in its forward position, to withstand without downward displacement the force exerted incident to bobbin transferring operations of the loom.

In certain types of weft replenishing looms, such as those which operate pick and pick wherein one shuttle after being active for one pick is followed by another shuttle which is also active for but one pick, the weft replenishing operation occurs in the upper box of a gang of shuttle boxes when the lay is in its forward position and the gang is in high position relative to the lay. The downward force exerted by the transferrer arm during weft replenishing operation has a tendency to depress the shuttle boxes so that the incoming bobbin may not be completely seated in the shuttle in the upper shuttle box. It has been proposed heretofore to provide a simple form of support for the boxes, but such support is in supporting position whenever the gang is up and the lower shuttle box is empty and prevents downward motion of the boxes under these conditions. In the weaving of certain pick and pick fabrics, such as sharkskin wherein only two shuttles are used, the condition arises in which it is desirable to lower the gang of boxes while the lower shuttle box is empty, and under this condition the previously mentioned support cannot be used.

It is an important object of the present invention to provide a support rockable on the lay below the shuttle boxes and connected to a lay carried spring which tends to move the support to box supporting position, and to control the support by means of an operator such as a rod pivoted at a point spaced from the lay axis and operating in such manner as to enable the spring to move the support to supporting position if the gang of boxes is in high position, but having a lost motion connection with the support which permits relative movement of the operator and the support in the event that the shuttle boxes are not in their high position.

It is a further object of the invention to provide the lay, and preferably though not necessarily the lay end thereof, with a fixed stud below the shuttle boxes surrounded by a spring of the torsion type having one end fixed with respect to the stud and having the other end connected to the support and tending to move the latter to supporting position.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide the aforesaid stud with a collar held thereto in angularly adjusted position to hold the end of the spring which is fixed with respect to the lay or stud. The operator may be in the form of a rod and the lost motion connection may be provided by a slotted rod head on the rod receiving a pin or the like on the support lever. Adjustment of the spring by adjustment of the collar and adjustment of the rod head with respect to the rod afford ample adjustment to insure proper operation of the support lever.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood reference is made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate by way of example the embodiments of the invention and in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of part of a loom having the invention applied thereto,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section on line 2--2, Fig. 1, showing the gang of shifting shuttle boxes in high position and the support in box supporting position, the

lay being in the forward part of its motion or on front center position,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail side elevation of the pivot for the lower end of the operator rod looking in the direction of arrow 3, Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a vertical detail section on line 4-4, Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged longitudinal section through the upper end of the operator rod and its rod head and connected parts taken on line 5-5, Fig. 2, and

Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are diagrammatic views showing different positions of the support with respect to the lay, Fig. 6 showing the lay on back center, Fig. 7 showing the lay on bottom center and moving forwardly, and Fig. 8 showing the lay on front center with the gang of shuttle boxes down. Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the loom frame 1 supports a rocker shaft 2 on which a lay 3 is mounted by means of lay swords one of which is shown at 4 in Fig. 1. The lay is provided with the lay end 5 having the rear vertical wall 6 and a lower horizontal shelf 7. The lay oscillates backwardly and forwardly during loom operation in well-known manner by drive means not shown herein.

The lay is provided with a gang G of shifting shuttle boxes which in the present instance has upper and lower shuttle boxes 10 and 11. A gang is supported on a box lifter rod 12 the position of which is determined by a flexible connector 13 connected as at 14 to the lower end of rod 12. The connector 13 extends to the opposite side of the loom and is controlled by well-known mechanism, such for instance as the Knowles head, and is pulled to the left to raise the gang and is slackened to permit the gang to descend. The gang can therefore occupy either high or low positions with respect to the lay, so that either of the two shuttle boxes 10 or 11 can be in picking position aligned with the lay. As shown herein the upper end of rod 12 is connected to a bobbin chute 15 the upper part of which is fastened to the under side of the gang G in well-known manner such as that shown for instance in patent to Brouwer No. 2,300,200. The loom has a picker stick 16 which may be of usual form and can be operated as required for the picking of either of two shuttles which enter and leave the shuttle boxes of the gang G.

In carrying the present invention into eifect, I secure a small stand 20 to the horizontal shelf 7 by means of screws 21 and mount thereon a stud 22 preferably parallel to the lay passing through right and left bearings 23 and 24 as viewed in Fig. 4 and held in fixed position in said bearings by set screw 25. Surrounding the stud 22 is a collar 26 which is held in adjusted angular position on the stud by a set screw 27. The collar receives end 28 of a torsion spring 29 surrounding the stud 22 and having the other end 30 thereof extending into the hub 31 of a shuttle box supporting lever 32. Bearing 24 limits left hand motion of the hub 31 as viewed in Fig. 4. Lever 32 has an arm 35 which serves as a support for the gang G as will be described and has also a second arm 36 extending forwardly as shown in Fig. 2.

The operator for the lever 32, designated generally at 40, includes a rod 41 the lower end of which is pivoted on a stud 42 held in fixed position on a small stand 43 which is held by screws 44 to the loom frame as shown for instance in Fig. 1. A cotter pin 45 or a similar device may be utilized to hold the lower end of the rod 41 on the pivot 42. The upper end of rod 41 has adjustably attached thereto a rod head 46 into which the upper threaded end 47 of the rod is screw threaded and a lock nut 48 holds the lengthwise adjustment of the rod head 46 with respect to the rod 41. The rod head is provided with a lengthwise slot 49 into which extends a stud 50 on the arm 36 of the lever 32. The stud as shown in Fig. 5 has a head 51 of greater diameter than the width of slot 49, a bearing part 52 to slide in the slot 49, and a reduced shank 53 which passes through the arm 36 of the lever 32. Another cotter pin 54 may be utilized to hold the stud in correct position with respect to arm 35, but this is not the only way in which the stud 50 can be held to the arm 36. The pivot 42 is spaced forwardly from the rocker shaft 2 as will be apparent for instance in Figs. 6-8.

An adjustable stop screw 60 may be provided in the lay end behind the arm 35 of the lever 32 to limit movement of the lever 32 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2, the stop screw 60 preferably holding the upright arm 35 and when engaging it holding it in a substantially vertical position. The upright rear corner of arm 35 may be rounded as shown at 61 in Fig. 2, and the lower left corner of the gang G may be rounded as at 62 if desired, although these roundings are not essential, particularly that on the gang G.

In the operation of the loom the lay will move backwardly and forwardly and the gang G when called upon to do so will shift vertically to assume either high or low position with respect to the lay by the mechanism already described during a period starting when the lay is approximately at its bottom center position and ending when the lay is approximately at its top center position, so that the boxes will be shifting when the lay is on front center. The gang G will not necessarily shift on every beat of the loom and may be held in high position for two successive beats of the loom in the second of which a weft replenishing operation can occur during which a reserve bobbin B is pushed down into a shuttle S in the top box by a transferrer arm T. The gang G can also be in low position for more than one beat of the loom.

If the gang has shifted upwardly and is in the position shown in Fig. 2 as the lay moves forwardly the operator 40 will permit the spring 29 to rock the lever 32 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2 to the supporting position shown in that figure and if a weft replenishing operation occurs as the lay reaches front center the upright arm will support the gang G against any downward force exerted by the transferrer arm T. If, on the other hand, the gang G should be shifting downwardly as the lay moves forwardly then the arm 35, which will be in an inclined position, will be held against move ment to its supporting position by the gang and the latter will overcome the force exerted by the spring 29 and prevent the support from moving to supporting position. Under this condition the lost motion connection between operator and stud will permit these parts to move relatively to each other as the lay advances. This same relation will exist if the boxes have previously been down and are shifting upwardly as the lay approaches front center, or if the boxes remain down.

When the lay approaches its back center position shown in Fig. 6 the operator 40 and stud 50 will cooperate to rock the lever 32 to its extreme left hand position in which the inclined arm 35 is in the path of the gang G if the latter should descend. As the lay moves to its bottom center position the lever 32 will be rocked by the spring 29 to some such position as shown in Fig. 7 where arm 35 will still be in position to be deflected forwardly by the boxes should the latter be down as indicated in Fig. 8. Whenever the gang engages the arm 35 and defleets it forwardly the stud 50 will move downwardly in the slot 49.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the invention provides a simple form of support for a gang of shifting shuttle boxes wherein the backward and forward motion of the lay together with the operator 40 and the spring 29 are relied upon to move the support into supporting position as shown in Fig. 2 provided the boxes are in high position. If, on the other hand, the boxes are in some position other than their highest position, as by moving either downwardly from or upwardly toward that position as the lay moves forwardly, the gang will prevent movement of the support lever 32 to supporting position and overpower the spring 29. The slot 49 and stud 50 act as a pin and slot connection between the operator 40 and the lever 32 which permits the support to move to some such position as that shown in Fig. 8 as the lay moves forwardly in the event the gang G is in a position below its high position. The spring 29 is mounted on the lay and preferably though not necessarily by the stud 32 and has one end fixed with respect to the lay and the other end connected to the lever 32. Adjustment of the collar 26 around stud 22 permits adjustment of the tightness of the spring 29 and therefore the promptness with which it will act to move the support to supporting position, and the rod head 46, being adjustable lengthwise on the rod 41, permits adjustment to vary the rocking of the lever 32 with respectto the lay as the latter swings backwardly and forwardly.

The support for the gang G and control therefor set forth herein is an improvement over the shuttle box support shown in my copending application Serial No. 389,589, filed November 2, 1953, in which the broader aspects of the support and its control are claimed.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, what is claimed is:

1. In a loom provided with a lay to move backwardly and forwardly in the loom, shuttle boxes shiftable vertically on the lay to high and low positions relative thereto, a support lever rockable about an axis fixed with respect to the lay to and from supporting position with respect to the shuttle boxes, a spring supported by the lay tending to move the lever to the supporting position thereof, and an operator for the lever having one end thereof supported independently of the lay and having at the other end thereof a lost motion connection with said lever and effective when the lay moves forwardly to enable said spring to move the lever into supporting relation with respect to the boxes, provided the latter are in high position, the operator effective when the lay moves rearwardly to move the lever away from supporting position, the boxes if in a position below their high position as the lay moves forwardly preventing movement of the lever to supporting position and the lost motion connection permitting relative motion of the lever and operator.

2. The loom set forth in claim 1 wherein said spring is of the torsion type surrounding said axis and has one end fixed with respect to the lay and has the other end thereof connected to said support lever.

3. In a loom provided with a lay to move backwardly and forwardly about a rocker shaft, shuttle boxes shiftable vertically on the lay to high and low positions relative thereto, a stud fixed with respect to the lay under the shuttle boxes, a support lever for the boxes rockable on said stud to and from supporting position with respect to the boxes, a spring having one end thereof fixed with respect to the lay and having the other end thereof connected to the lever and tending to move the lever into supporting position with respect to said boxes, a pivot spaced from said rocker shaft, and an operator for the lever pivoted at one end thereof on said pivot and having a lost motion connection at the other end thereof with said lever and effective when the lay moves forwardly to enable said spring to move the lever into supporting relation with respect to the boxes, provided the latter are in high position, the boxes if in a position below their high position as the lay moves forwardly preventing movement of the lever to supporting position and the lost motion connection permitting relative motion of the lever and operator, said operator effective when the lay moves backwardly to move the lever away from the supporting position thereof against the action of the spring.

4. The loom set forth in claim 3 wherein the spring surrounds and is supported by the stud and said one end of the spring is fixed with respect to the stud.

5. The loom set forth in claim 4 wherein a collar on the stud is fixed in angularly adjusted position on the stud and holds said one end of the spring.

6. The loom set forth in claim 4 wherein a support is fixed to the lay below the boxes and the stud is secured in fixed position on the support.

7. The loom set forth in claim 3 wherein the operation includes a rod and the lost motion connection includes a stud on the lever slidable in a slot in a rod head on the rod.

8. The loom set forth in claim 7 wherein the rod head is adjustable lengthwise on the rod.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,300,199 Brouwer Oct. 27, 1942 2,300,200 Brouwer Oct. 27, 1942 2,300,217 Grzesik Oct. 27, 1942 2,669,260 Foisy et a1. Feb. 16, 1954

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