US2734362A

US2734362A - schiek

Info

Publication number: US2734362A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1956-02-14
Anticipated expiration: 1973-02-14

Description

Feb. 14, 1956 E. A. SCHIEK 2,734,362

DROP-WIRE AND DROP WIRE ASSEMBLY Filed March 19, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR. fUGf/Vf fl SCH/[K ATTORNEYS Feb. 14, 1956 E. A. SCHIEK 2,734,362

DROP-WIRE AND DROP WIRE ASSEMBLY Filed March 19, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 M llrllllllllllll I N V EN TOR. 0651/5 fl SCH/5K United States Patent The present invention relates to drop wires and dropwire assemblies and, more particularly, to warp-knitting machines.

Numerous types of drop wire and drop-wire assembly have been devised and employed in weaving looms. In

the loom, each of a plurality of warp threads, often numbering several thousand in a sheet of warp, passes through an individual drop wire. So long as each thread is properly tensioned, the drop wire -is maintained in an elevated position. Upon breakage or damage to the thread,

however, which would give rise to imperfect weaving, the

tension thereof is released and the corresponding drop wire moves downward to a stop-motion mechanism for shutting down the loom. In warp-knitting machines, on the other hand, the yarn is required to move at least-three or four times more rapidly than the threads of weaving looms. 'It has not heretofore been possible, in practice,

successfully to utilize drop wires and drop-wire assemblies in such rapidly moving warp-knitting machines. In such warp-knitting machines, on the contrary, theoperators must continuously inspect the large number of rapidly moving threads of yarn to try to determine by observation if one of the threads has become broken or damaged. If the yarn is observed to be damaged, it is then necessary to shut down the machine and to proceed to re-thread the yarn. This re-threading and, indeed, the

initial threading of the warp-knitting machines is today done by hand, and it is extremely time-consuming ascompared with weaving-loom machines, since there may, *for example, be as many as 4700 threads .ofyarn to a warp, and frequently a plurality of warps are utilized in the machine, one above the other. The hand threading of the yarn is attendant with the ;further drawback, moreover, that .the handling .of yarn itself may damage or weakenthe threads.

An objeotof the present invention is to provide a new and improved warp-knitting machine that is notsubject Y any of the aboye mentioned disadvantages. In par- .ticnlar, in accordance with the present invention, the warpknitting machine embodies a novel drop wire and dropwire :assembly that permits the use-of automatic stop' motion mechanism-s inthe machine, obviates the' handl-ing of the yarn, and greatly simplifies-not only the original setting-up :and threading :of *the yarn, but, also, the repair of broken-threads.

2,734,352 Patented Feb. 14, 1956 2 seinbling of yarn in a warp-knitting machine in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a similar view of an operational threaded warp-knitting machine; .and

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 illustrating the opera tion upon the breaking of one of the yarn threads.

The drop wire of the present invention is a substantially planar element 1, preferably of sheet metal, provided near its upper end with an intermediate opening 3. Communicating with the opening 3 is a slot that extends from the forward edge 5 of the .drop wire generally inwardly and upwardly of the drop wire. The slot is shown comprising a first inward and upward inclined portion 7, a second reversely curving portion 9, and a third upwardly extending portion 11 communicating directly with .the bottom right-hand portion of the opening 3, as illustrated in the drawings. At the junction of the reversely curving portion 9 and the upwardly extending portion 11 of the slot, there is provided a downwardly extending recess or depression 13, substantially in-line with the portion 11, for reasons .that will hereinafter be explained. At the lower end of each substantially planar drop wire 1, there is provided a projection or collar 15 and a notch 17 the purpose of which will also be later discussed.

In practice, aplurality or array of parallelly arranged drop wires, is utilized, one drop wire corresponding to each of a plurality of parallel yarn threads 2 from a beam 41. The plurality or array of dIOP wires is carried by a transversely extending .housing 19, Figs. 5 and .6. At the top of the housing 19 a plurality of parallel guides or slots 21 are providedwithin which the drop wires may slide. Each drop-wire projection or collar 15, before mentioned, extends transversely beyond one of the ends of the corresponding guide 21, to the left in the drawings, to limit the upward movement of the drop wire in the guide 21 so that the drop wire can not be upwardly withdrawn through the top of the lionsing 19. Near the bottom of the housing 19 .a pair of electrically

conductive terminal strips

23 and 25 are provided, preferably secured to opposite faces of an intermediate insulator strip '27. The

terminal strips

23 and 25 are connected to any desired electric stop-motion, alarm or other system 29. The terminal strip 25 is shown connected to one of the input terminals 31 of ,the electric system 29, and the terminal strip 23 is shown connected through a source .of energy 33 to the other input terminal 35 of the electric system 29. Since the

terminal strips

23 and 25 are normally disconnected, being separated by the insulator 27, the electric circuit 29 may normally be ineffective. When, however, a thread breaks or its tension otherwise slackens, as illustrated in Fig. 6, the drop wire associated with that thread drops downward under the influence of gravity within its guide '21. The downward movement of the dropping drop-wire 1 is limited or stopped by the

terminal strips

23, 25. These strips are positioned so that the slot 7--9-"1"1 will not enter the top of the housing 1 9 when the drop wire' is in its lowest position of movement, as otherwise it would be necessary to elevate the drop wire '1 before re-threading the broken thread. When'the fallen drop wire has become limited or stopped by the

terminal strips

23, 25, the'before-mentioned notch '17 at the bottom of the drop wire straddles and electrically connects the

terminal strips

23 and 25 together, thereby permitting the energization of the stop-motion, alarm or other electric system 29, shutting down the machine or otherwise indicating that a thread has been .broken, as is well-known.

' The housing 19 is shown supported transversely of the warp-knitting machine .upon a cross support 37 disposed intermediately .of the beam 41 of yarn, thread .or the like, and the conventional warp-knitting comb 43.

The beam 41 is shown supported upon an axis carried by the casting 39 of the machine. The loops 45 at the ends of the projections of the comb 43 receive the free ends of the substantially parallel threads 2 fed from the beam 41. Knitting needles 47 are shown supported upon an arm 49 that is rocked in the direction of the arrows 51, upward and downward, simultaneously with the rocking of the comb 43 in the direction of the arrows 53, in order to effect the knitting of the threads of yarn and the like. Since this comb and knitting structure and its rocking mechanisms are so well known in the art, they are not illustrated in greater detail in the drawings in order not to detract from the novel constructional features of the invention.

The ease with which the large number of threads of yarn may be rapidly threaded in the warp-knitting machine, and with a minimum of handling, is shown by the successive steps illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4. It is to be understood that while only three threads 2 and three drop wires 1 are illustrated, this is only for purposes of explanation. In actual practice, thousands of threads and thousands of drop wires will be used. In Fig. l, the free ends of the substantially parallel threads 2 from the beam 41 have been secured, as by scotch tape 6, along a transverse line AA disposed at one edge of a carrier strip 4, parallel to the transverse array of drop wires 1. Each successive thread 2 along the transverse warp is drawn longitudinally between successive adjacent pairs of drop wires 1. The carrier 4 is then moved to one side, Fig. 2, to permit the alinement of each thread 2 with the mouth of the slot portion 7 of the adjacent drop wire 1. The carrier 4 is then elevated to insert the threads into the slot portions 7, Fig. 3. Further upward movement of the carrier 4 draws the threads 2 through the reversely curved portions 9 of the slots 79--11, and thence upward through the upwardly extending portions 11 into the openings 3, as illustrated in Fig. 4. In accordance with the present invention, therefore, by means of substantially one motion, a very large number of threads, several thousands of threads, indeed, may be simultaneously threaded through the drop-wire devices without touching or handling by the human hand. It is to be understood that the subsequent attachment of the threads to the pro jected loops or guides 45 of the comb 43, once the apparatus is threaded as shown in Figs. 1 to 4, may be eifected in the conventional manner, as with the aid of a conventional guide, not shown, that may be substituted for the carrier 4 in order to guide the threads through the openings in the projected loops 45, as is well known.

It will now be clear that the use of the depression or downwardly extending recess 13 between the reversely curved portion 9 and the upwardly extending portion 11 of the slot 7-9-11 of each drop wire 1 prevents a broken or loosened thread from dropping out of the slot 79-11, Fig. 6. The slackened or broken thread 2, on the contrary, becomes lodged in the downwardly extending recess 13 and can not fall out of the drop wire 1. This permits of very rapid repair.

As a typical illustration, the drop wire 1 may be made from sheet brass a few thousandths of an inch thick, about two and a quarter inches long and about threeeighths of an inch wide. The recess 3 may have a diameter of about a quarter of an inch. For the conventional yarn warp-knitting machines, the slot portion 79-11 may have a slot width of slightly less than about a sixteenth of an inch and the depression 13 may be about three-thirtyseconds of an inch deep. Not only is the drop-wire device of the present invention adapted to permit the use of drop wires and automatic stop-motion devices in the rapid warp-knitting machines, however, but the drop wire is of an improved type for use in any loom. Its advantages over the hooking or hurdle-type prior-art drop wires may be immediately ob- 4 served in connection with the simplicity of the threading and repairing operations above-described.

Modifications will occur to those skilled in the art and all such are considered to fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A substantially planar drop wire provided near its upper end with an intermediate opening for receiving a thread and the like, and a reversely curving slot extending from a point along one edge of the drop wire disposed below the opening inwardly and upwardly of the drop wire and communicating with the opening.

2. A substantially planar drop wire provided near its upper end with an intermediate opening for receiving a thread and the like, and a slot having a first portion extending from a point along one edge of the drop wire disposed below the opening inclinedly inward and upward of the drop wire, a second reversely curving portion and a third upwardly extending portion communicating with the opening.

3. A substantially planar drop wire provided near its upper end with an intermediate opening for receiving a thread and the like, and a slot having a first portion extending from a point along one edge of the drop wire disposed below the opening inclinedly inward and upward of the drop wire, a second reversely curving portion provided with a downwardly extending recess and a third upwardly extending portion communicating with the opena. A substantially planar drop wire provided near its upper end with an intermediate opening for receiving a thread and the like, and a slot having a first portion extending from a point along one edge of the drop wire disposed below the opening inclinedly inward and upward of the drop wire, a second reversely curving portion provided with a downwardly extending recess and a third upwardly extending portion communicating with the opening, the bottom end of the drop wire being notched and provided with a limiting projection.

5. A drop-wire assembly comprising a housing provided at its upper end with a plurality of substantially parallel guides and a plurality of similar substantially planar drop wires constituted of conductive material, one disposed to slide within each guide, each drop wire being provided with an intermediate opening near its upper end for receiving a thread and the like and a slot extending inwardly from one edge of the drop wire communicating with the opening, and an electric circuit having a pair of normally disconnected terminal strips disposed within the housing in the path of slidable movement of the drop wires to limit the sliding movement of the same in order to maintain the drop-wire slots above the housing, the terminal strips being connected together through the drop wire limited thereby.

6. A drop-wire assembly comprising a housing provided at its upper end with a plurality of substantially parallel guides and a plurality of similar substantially planar drop wires constituted of conductive material, one disposed to slide within each guide, each drop wire being provided with an intermediate opening near its upper end for receiving a thread and the like that may suspend the drop wire in an elevated position within the corresponding guide, and a slot having a first portion extending from a point along one edge of the drop wire below the opening inclinedly inward and upward of the drop wire, a second reversely curving portion and a third upwardly extending portion communicating with the opening, the bottom end of the drop wire being notched and provided with a limiting projection for preventing the upward withdrawal of the drop wire from the corresponding guide, an electric circuit, a pair of normally disconnected terminal strips connected to opposite terminals of the electric circuit and disposed within the housing in the path of slidable movement of the drop wires to limit the downward sliding movement of the same in response to the breaking of the thread and the like in order to maintain the drop-wire slots above the housing, the terminal strips being straddled by and connected together through the notch of the drop wire limited thereby.

7. In a warp-knitting machine and the like, a beam for enabling the feeding of a plurality of substantially parallel longitudinally extending threads and the like, a comb for receiving the ends of the threads and the like, a transverse housing disposed between the beam and the comb provided at its upper end with a plurality of substantially parallel guides, one corresponding to each thread and the like, a plurality of similar substantially planar drop wires constituted of conductive material, one disposed to slide within each guide, each drop wire being provided with an intermediate opening near its upper end for receiving a thread and the like that may suspend the drop wire in an elevated position within the corresponding guide, and a slot having a first portion extending from a point along one edge of the drop wire below the opening inclinedly inward and upward of the drop wire, a second reversely curving portion and a third upwardly extending portion communicating with the opening, the bottom end of the drop wire being notched and provided with a limcircuit, a pair of normally disconnected terminal strips connected to opposite terminals of the electric circuit and disposed within the housing in the path of slidable movement of the drop wires to limit the downward sliding movement of the same in response to the breaking of the thread and the like in order to maintain the drop-wire slots above the housing, the terminal strips being straddled by and connected together through the notch of the drop wire limited thereby.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES Technologie Der Kettenwirkerie, by Emil Michael,

iting projection for preventing the upward withdrawal of published by Konradinverlog, Berlin W and Stuttgart,

the drop wire from the corresponding guide, an electric Germany, 1942, pages 54, and 56.