US3369571A - Loom and method of weaving - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 20, 1968 N. A. BEDUHN LOOM AND METHOD OF wEAvING 4 Sheets-Sheet, 1

Filed Sept. 12, 1966 Q m Q ATTORNEYS Feb. 20, 1968 N. A. BEDUHN LOOM AND METHOD OF WEAVING Filed Sept. 12, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Noe/WANG. 55944 W W, M

AT OENEEV5 Feb. 20, 1968 N. A. BEDUHN LOOM AND METHOD OF WEAVING Filed Sept. 12, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 M 7 {W M Z N m a M w M m I m M N Feb. 20, 1968 N. A. BEDUHN LQOM AND METHOD OF WEAVING 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 12, 1966 INVENTOR v Nae/WW H. asow'w AT ORNEYS ire tats atent 3,35%,571 Patented Feb. 20, 1%58 nice AESTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE The instant loom is specifically designed for weaving Fourdrinier wire belts for paper making machines. The lay is guided for reciprocable movement on a predetermined path which may be either arcuate or angular.

Guides on the sides of the loom have channels for rollers connected with the lay. In general the lay moves parallel to the lower warp wires of the shed. Instead of being stationary, the shuttle race moves with the lay and is so close to the lower warp wires that it would contact these wires near the fell if it were not for an arrangement by which the angle of the lay changes slightly as it approaches the fell.

The lay is preferably made strong but is as light in weight as possible. Since beat-up is preferably effected by the base portions of the reed dents, the common heavy lay cap may be omitted. In contrast with conventional looms for making comparable products, the lay does not depend on gravity for beat-up. Required kinetic energy is achieved by greater speed with lower mass. Moreover, control of mass is desirably provided by weights which are mounted on a rock shaft connected with the lay, the weights preferably (but not necessarily) being radially adjustable with respect to the axis of oscillation of the shaft. The lay movement is preferably effected pneumatically in both directions, the lay advance being effected by constant air pressure in a cylinder in which the air acts as an air spring in the return of the lay to cushion its retractive movement. The return is also preferably brought about by supplying an opposing air pressure. The lay, being relatively light, moves sharply toward and from the fell.

The shuttle boxes are mounted on the frame independently of the lay. This is very desirable to relieve the lay of their inertia and momentum, which, being concentrated rather than distributed, tends to produce deflection when beat-up occurs. They are movable parallel to the warp but have only very limited movement compared to that of the lay. The arrangement is such that the shuttle boxes are biased forwardly. As the lay approaches its retracted position, it engages the shuttle boxes to move them rearwardly in registry with the race, thereby assuring alignment between the shuttle and the race at the time the shuttle is picked.

The shuttle is preferably picked pneumatically, although this is not essential. Regardless of how the shuttle is picked, it is an important feature of the present invention to speed up loom operation by picking the shuttle while the lay is still in course of retraction away from the fell. Theoretically, at least, the picking operation could even be done by hand. In the preferred method of operation, the shuttle is in movement rearwardly with the lay and is picked just as soon as the race reaches a point at which there is clearance in the shed for the shuttle to pass through from one side of the loom to the other.

Elimination of the suspension usually provided by swords greatly reduces the over-all height of the loom frame, the height being determined in the instant loom by the supports for the shed-forming heddles. The heddles function conventionally and are used in any desired numher and activated in any desired sequence to effect the desired pattern of weave.

The shed will be changed immediately following beatup. Because there is normally an immediate retraction of the lay, there need be no rebound, as in a gravity-actuated lay, although rebound may occur if desired for special purposes. Retraction of the lay occurs substantially instantly following the movement of the heddles. The new shed will have been formed and the shuttle boxes engaged by the retracting lay before the clearance is adequate to pass the shuttle. As soon as the race reaches that point at which shed clearance is adequate, the shuttle is picked,

. the lay and race then coming to rest subject to air spring cushioning.

Background of the invention The patent to MacKay 3,017,904 discloses a lay guided for rectilinear movement to eliminate suspending swords. While the MacKay patent teaches means for greatly reducing the height of the loom, it does not disclose any means for keeping the bases of the dents as close to the warp wires as is possible in the instant loom in which the lay is kept very close to the warp wires as it approaches the fell, being thereupon tilted at the last moment to avoid contact between the race and the fell. Whether the path of the lay is rectilinear or arcuate, this procedure may be used to keep the bases of the dents in extremely close proximity to the warp wires so that the beat-up pressure occurs at those points at which the dents are strongest, next to the supporting lay beam.

The instant invention also differs from MacKay in that the shuttle race is carried by the lay, the shuttle boxes being yieldably mounted on the frame to have only limited movement in the direction in which the lay operates, the shuttle boxes nevertheless being engaged to move with the lay just before the shuttle is picked.

It is possible to speed up the weaving operation by a third and more on the basis of the improvements herein disclosed. In addition, improved cold-working of the wire in the knuckle forming operation results from the faster, sharper beat-up. The lay being approximately thirty to seventy percent lighter than the lay of a comparable prior art loom, can be controlled more easily and accurately than heretofore.

Description of the invention In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary plan view embodying the invention, portions being broken away.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged detail view fragmentarily showing a front elevation on the line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary detail view partially in side elevation but primarily in longitudinal section of the line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary detail view taken on the line 44 of FIG. 2, the lay being shown in retracted position.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 showing the lay in its advanced position.

FIG. 6 is a view in perspective of one of the guides upon which the lay supporting carriage operates.

FIG. 7 is a view in side elevation on the line 7-7 of FIG. 2, the longitudinally y-ieldable shuttle box and picker being shown in full and the frame and other parts of the loom being fragmentarily illustrated.

FIG. 8 is a detail showing the drive from the cam shaft to the picker shaft and including the cam and switch for controlling air flow to one of the picker air cylinders.

Support on the loom frame 10 of the warp supply roll 12, roll 14, breast beam 16 and cloth roll 18 may be conventional. The overhead heddle beam 20 supports any desired number of heddles, three of which are shown at 22, 24 and 26 connected to be operated from a heddle control box 28 in any desired manner.

The lay comprises a transverse beam 32 upon which the reed or comb 34 is mounted to carry the dents 36 between which the warp wires 38, 40 are passed. .If a lay cap 42 is used, it may span the warp wires and be carried by end plates 44 from the beam 32. Supported by bracket 46 from the lay beam 32 is the shuttle race 48, which lies within a small fraction of an inch beneath the lower warp wires 38 of the shed 50 as defined by the heddles 22, 24 and 26.

It is important that the beat-up at the fell 52 be in very close proximity to the bases of the dents 36, where these are mounted in the fell 52, thus making it possible to use a very light lay cap 42 or to dispense with this completely, as in MacKay {3,017,904.

In order to operate the shuttle race in extremely close proximity to warp wires 38, while avoiding contact between the shuttle race 48 and the fell 52, a slight change in angle of the lay is desirable. The simplest way of achieving the desired results is to mount the lay on carriages which are so guided that the lay changes its position or direction of movement slightly either on an arcuate path or upon angularly related paths. FIG. 4 shows the lay in a retracted position in which the carriage 56 supports the end thereof at one side of the loom. The carriage plate has a rear roller 58 which operates in channel 60 of cam plate 62. At the forward end of the carriage is a roller 64 operating in channel 66. The channels 60 and 66 are angularly related as clearly appears in FIGS. 4 and 5. In the retracted position of the lay shown in FIG. 4, each of the rollers 58 and. 64 is near the rear end of its respective channel. In the advanced position of the lay as shown in FIG. 5, each of the rollers is near the forward end of its respective channel. The difference in angle has tilted the entire lay slightly to hold the shuttle race 48 free of the fell 52 but still in immediate proximity thereto so that beat-up occurs near the bases of the respective dents 36.

The lay is advanced and retracted by link 68 in the course of oscillation of the rock shaft 70 and its rocker arm 72 to which the link 68 is pivoted. Another rocker arm 74 on the rock shaft 70 is pivotally connected by link 76 with the piston rod 78 of a piston 80 in an air cylinder 82. This air cylinder is supplied with air through pipe 84 at a constant pressure determined by the pressure regulating valve 86. The air pressure on piston 80 acts constantly in a direction tomove the lay toward the beat-up point and fell 52. Retraction is effected by intermittently effective opposing air pressure. As an example, the piston 90, operating in cylinder 92, is connected with the lay. Piston operates in air cylinder 92. Air is supplied throughpipe 94 subject to the control of solenoid valve 96 energized by switch 98 closed periodically by earn 100 and cam shaft 102.

Through conventional means not shown, the cam shaft 102 may be used to control the mechanism in heddle control box 28 for the operation of the heddles which change the positions of the warp wires constituting the shed. Other conventional loom operations may also be performed subject to control of cam shaft 102. The pressure supplied periodically by the solenoid valve 96 is sufiicient to overcome the fixed thrust of the air in cylinder 82, thus acting for the retraction of the lay. As soon as the cam 100 ceases to hold valve 96 in its pressure supplymg position, the lay movement is retarded and cushioned by the fixed pressure in cylinder 82, which then acts as an air spring to bring the lay to rest.

As the lay approaches its said retracted position, arms 104 on the ends of lay beam 32 pick up floating shuttle boxse 106 at opposite sides of the loom to cause these to moye momentarily with the lay and to maintain them in registry with the shuttle race during the picking of the shuttle. The shuttle boxes are floated on guide rods 108 (FIGS. 1 and 2) which are reciprocable in bearing 110 and biased forwardly by compression springs 112.

When the respective shuttle boxes are picked up by the fingers 104, they are in registry with the race 48. Thus side with a pivotally mounted braking flange 124 which.

can be retracted by the piston 126 in pneumatic cylinder 128.v Preliminary to the picking of the shuttle, the braking flange 124 is withdrawn from pressure contact with the side of the shuttle, leaving the shuttle free for abrupt picking projection across the race. While picking may be done in any desired manner, it is contemplated and preferred that the picking be pneumatic. This is effected in this exemplification by the admission of compressed air to the cylinder 138 which lies beside the shuttle box (FIG. 2) and has its piston rod 132 equipped with a shuttle projecting head 134.

Control of the picking operation may conveniently be accomplished by means of a solenoid valve 136, which is energized by switch 138 when the latter is closed by a cam 140 on a picker shaft 142 operated at half the speed of the cam shaft 102 as shown in FIG. 8.

While fully pneumatic operation of the lay as above described has proved entirely satisfactory, the particular embodiment herein disclosed has been equipped, as a precaution, with a cam 146 on the cam shaft 102 which, in the event of failure of the pneumatic ram 90, 92 will engage cam follower roller 148 on the arm 150 to retract the lay. Provision is made for mechanical retraction only, since this is a switch-controlled function. The advance is effected by the constant air pressure in cylinder 82 and does not require a switch such as might be susceptible to breakdown. It will be noted in FIG. 3 that the cam follower roller 148 is slightly out of contact with cam 146. Normally it plays no part in the operation of the devices.

Endwise movement of the lay is prevented by rollers 154 supported from the lay by brackets 156 and bearing on cam plates 62.

I claim:

1. In a wire weaving loom comprising a frame, and means including heddles for holding warp wires spaced as upper and lower warp wires to provide a shed to receive a shute wire, the warp wires of the shed converging toward a fell line;

the combination of a lay, substantially fixed guide means for supporting and guiding the lay formove ment between advanced and retracted positions in general parallelism with the lower warp wires, means for changing the angle of the lay as it approaches the fell line, a shuttle race mounted on the lay in immediate proximity to the lower warp wires, and a reed mounted on thelay and having dents interposed between said wires and constituting means for the beat-up of a shute wire at said fell line, beat-up being effected by the lower portions of said dents in immediate proximity to said lay.

2. A loom according to claim 1 in which the means for changing the angle of the lay comprises channels in said guide means having angularly related portions, said lay having a carriage at each end and provided with 'rollers riding in the angularly related channels.

3. A loom according to claim 1 having lay advancing means subject to substantially constant bias and having lay biasing retracting means with means for varying the bias thereof intermittently between values alternately greater and less than the bias of said advancing means.

4. In a wire weaving loom comprising a frame, and means including heddles for holding warp wires to provide a shed to receive a shute wire, the warp wires converging toward a fell line;

the combination of a lay, means guiding the lay for movement between a retracted position behind the fell line and an advanced beat-up position at the fell line, an air cylinder having a piston provided with a motion transmitting connection to said lay for movement thereof toward said advanced position, means for subjecting the piston in said cylinder to substantially constant pneumatic pressure in a direction to bias the lay toward its adv-anced position, and means for subjecting the lay periodically to a momentary opposing bias toward its retracted position, said opposing bias being sufliciently great to overcome for the duration thereof the substantially constant bias exerted by the pneumatic pressure in said cylinder.

5. A loom according to claim 4 in which said cylinder and the piston therein constitute an air spring effective after termination of the opposing bias to retard the movement of said lay as it approaches its retracted position.

6. A combination according to claim 4 in which the lay comprises a beam disposed transversely of the shed, and the motion transmitting connections to the lay include a rock shaft having at least one arm projecting therefrom, and a weight on said arm for increasing the momentum and inertia of the lay.

7. A loom according to claim 6 in which said arm is provided with means on which the weight is adjustable, and the weight has means for fixing its position of adjustment with respect to the axis of said rock shaft, whereby to provide an adjustable moment for said weight.

8. A wire weaving loom comprising a frame having side members, means for supplying warp wires between the side members and toward a fell line, and means including heddles for holding selected said wires spaced as upper and lower warp wires to provide a shed, shuttle means for supplying a shute wire for projection through the shed, a lay, means guiding the lay for advancing and retracting movement to and from the fell line, a shuttle race connected with the lay to partake of said movement and disposed immediately beneath the lower warp wires of said shed, shuttle boxes at opposite sides of the frame and in which the shuttle is receivable, means supporting respective shuttle boxes for limited movement along the frame side members in general parallelism with the movement of the lay, means biasing the respective shuttle boxes toward the fell line, and means connected with the lay for transmitting motion of the lay to the shuttle boxes in opposition to said biasing means as the lay approaches its retracted position, said means aligning the respective shuttle boxes with the shuttle race in the final movement of the lay toward its retracted position, said shuttle being movable along the race through the shed from one shuttle box to the other, and means for picking the shuttle during retractive movement of the lay and the shuttle boxes.

9. A loom according to claim 8 in which the means supporting the shuttle boxes comprise short guide members beside the frame side members, and the means for biasing the shuttle boxes toward the fell line includes springs individual to the respective shuttle boxes, the means connected with the lay including fingers projecting from the lay to engage the shuttle boxes for movement thereof in opposition to their respective springs.

10. A loom according to claim 8 in which the lay is provided with air springs, and means subjecting the air springs to substantially constant pressure to provide a substantially constant bias acting on the lay in a direction to urge the lay toward the fell line, said lay being further provided with means for intermittently exerting momentarily a lay retracting pressure on the lay in opposition to the constant pressure aforesaid, said intermittently exerted pressure exceeding the bias of said air spring during the period for which the intermittent pressure is exerted, said air spring thereupon serving to cushion the remaining retractive movement of the lay.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,747,722 2/1930 Lucas 139-190 2,159,865 5/1939 Shimwell et al. 139-190 2,428,313 9/1947 Hindle 139-190 2,839,092 6/1958 Purdy et al. 139-190 2,865,407 12/1958 Billing et al. 139-188 FOREIGN PATENTS 942,380 5/ 1956 Germany.

HENRY S. JAUDON, Primary Examiner.

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