US3584659A

US3584659A - Loom having a stop-motion mechanism

Info

Publication number: US3584659A
Application number: US763733A
Authority: US
Inventors: Erwin Pfarrwaller
Original assignee: Sulzer AG
Current assignee: Sulzer AG
Priority date: 1968-09-30
Filing date: 1968-09-30
Publication date: 1971-06-15
Anticipated expiration: 1988-06-15

Abstract

The contact elements for the warp yarns are supported on holding devices which are mounted in cantilevered fashion on a single support tube. The support tube is located upstream of the contact elements with respect to the direction of movement of the warp yarns. The holding devices at the ends of the contact elements are pivotal in order to entrain the droppers of the broken warp yarns on the contact elements and thereby locate the broken warp yarns.

Description

United States Patent lnventor Erwin Pfarrwaller Winterthur, Switzerland Appl. No. 763,733

Filed Sept. 30, 1968 Patented June 15, 1971 Assignee Sulzer Brothers, Ltd.

Winterthur, Switzerland LOOM HAVING A STOP-MOTION MECHANISM 10 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

11.8. CI 139/369 Int. Cl D03d 51/28 Field of Search 139/369, 358, 353, 349; 66/163 References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 3,358,718 12/1967 Boger etal 139/358 951,487 3/1910 Began 139/369 1,760,967 6/1930 Shutt 139/369 2,322,385 6/1943 Payne..... 139/369 2,858,857 11/1958 Picano1.. 139/369 3,421,552 H1969 Sotek 139/369 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,416,593 9/1965 France 139/353 Primary Examiner-James Kee Chi Attorneys- Kenyon & Kenyon and Reilly, Carr & Chapin ABSTRACT: The contact elements for the warp yarns are supported on holding devices which are mounted in cantilevered fashion on a single support tube. The support tube is located upstream of the contact elements with respect to the direction of movement of the warp yarns. The holding devices at the ends of the contact elements are pivotal in order to entrain the droppers of the broken warp yarns on the contact elements and thereby locate the broken warp yarns.

LOOM HAVING A STOP-MOTION MECHANISM This invention relates to a loom having a stop-motion mechanism. More particularly, the invention relates to a loom having a stop-motion mechanism utilizing droppers on the warp yarns.

Looms have been known to utilize warp stop-motion mechanisms which contain raillike insulated electrical contact elements and stop-motion droppers. The contact elements have been mounted in holding devices and arranged at rightangles to the warp yarns traversing the loom while the droppers have been suspended on the warp yarns to cooperate with the contact elements. Upon breaking of a warp yarn, such droppers become unsupported and thus drop down so as to actuate various circuits to cause a shutdown of the loom until the broken warp yarn is repaired.

l-leretofore, the holding devices for the contact elements have been fixed between and to two support bars. These support bars, however, have straddled the contact elements with respect to the direction of warp advance. Thus, when a new warp beam with stop-motion droppers suspended on the warp yarns has been inserted in the loom, the droppers have required lifting over the support bar nearer the warp beam. Therefore, it has been practically impossible to insert the stopmotion droppers and contact elements safely in the holding devices.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to allow the mounting of new warp beams without interference from the supports of the contact elements of stop-motion mechanisms.

It is another object of the invention to facilitate the insertion of stop-motion droppers and associated contact elements in a loom.

It is another object of the invention to eliminate lifting of stop-motion droppers from warp yarns when changing warp beams.

It is another object of the invention to locate broken warp yarns in a rapid manner after actuation of a stop-motion mechanism.

Briefly, the invention provides a loom with a holding device for a plurality of electrical contact elements which is mounted on a single support disposed downstream of the contact elements with respect to the warp yarn advance. The holding device includes a pair of outer holding devices and at least one intermediate holding device which serve to support the contact elements. The outer holding devices are in fixed relation to the contact elements and are pivotal in the plane of the contact elements to move the contact elements across the warp yarns. The intermediate holding devices, on the other hand, are fixedly mounted on the support and permit the contact elements to slide therein. Also, the intermediate holding devices serve to support a plurality of guide rails over which the warp yarns travel below the contact elements.

Thus, when the warp beam is changed the various contact elements and the associated stop-motion droppers can be inserted one after the other into the holding devices for the contact elements from the rear of the loom without lifting either the contact elements or, above all, the stop-motion droppers to any substantial extent.

The outer holding devices by pivoting permit the contact elements which are crenellated on the upper edge to engage the stop-motion droppers of broken warp yarns. Theengaged droppers can then be carried along by the contact elements for a short distance so as to cause an interruption in the normal pattern of the droppers. This interruption thus permits a rapid location of the broken warp yarns.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 diagrammatically illustrates a plan view of a part of a loom incorporating a contact element holder according to the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a view taken on line lI-II of FIG. 1; and

F IG. 3 illustrates a view taken on line Ill-Ill of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 1, a central support 1 of the loom connects two uprights 2 of the loom base between which a warp beam 3 and a warp stop-motion mechanism 5 are mounted. In addition, a support beam 5 which extends across the entire width of the loom is attached to the ends of the uprights 2 near the warp beam 3 and carries links 6 at the ends. The links 6 serve to carry a pivot 7 on which a tension beam 8 is rotatably mounted. The tension beam 8 also extends across the width of the loom.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the support beam 5 is in the form of a tube with a greater diameter at the ends than at the center and carries support arms 9, ill on each end and at the center, respectively. Each support arm 9 is fixed to the ends of the support beam 5 by means of screws 10 (FIG. 2) while the support arm 11 (FIG. 3) is clamped to the center by means of a U-bolt 12 enveloping the beam 5 and a crosspiece l3 cooperating with the U-bolt 12. The

support arms

9, 11 are disposed to extend from the support beam 5 into the space between the uprights 2 and carry

holders

14, 15 at the free ends, respectively. The

holders

14, 15 serve to carry a hexagonal support tube 16 which runs parallel to the longitudinal axis of the support beam 5. The support tube 16 in turn has a plurality of

holding devices

17, 18 fixed thereon which carry a plurality of parallel insulated electrical contact elements 19 of raillike shape.

The contact elements 19 are fixed to the outer holding devices 17 (FIG. 2) by a common crosspiece 20 which is attached to the holding device 17 by means of screws 21. In addition, the contact elements 19 are slidably mounted in the intermediate holding devices 18. Each contact element 19 contains two mutually insulated open mechanically connected rails which are connected to an electrical switch device (not shown) for deactivating the loom drive.

Referring to FIG. 2, the contact elements 19 rest inside the holding devices 17 on comblike bearings 22 made of insulating material, for example, a synthetic plastic material. The bearings 22 are attached by screws 24.- to the uprights of a U- shaped yoke 25, in such a way as to be pivotable about an axis perpendicular to the holding elements 19. The yoke 25 rests on a pivot 26 which is slidably displaceable in a sleeve 27. The pivot 26 ends approximately in the middle of the sleeve 27 and bears on a compression spring 29 mounted in the bottom of the sleeve 27. A threaded pin 28 engages in the bottom end of the pivot 26 and projects through the spring 29 and the bot tom of the sleeve 27 to carry a nut 30 on the outside of the sleeve 27. The sleeve 27 is mounted on a shaft 31 which is carried in a mounting 32 attached to the hexagonal tube 16. The shaft 31 is connected to a pivot lever 33 which extends upwardly and is pivotable in a plane parallel to the contact elements 19.

Referring to FIG. 3, the contact elements 19 also rest inside the intermediate holding devices 13 on similar comblike bearings 23 which are each attached to a bracket 38 of a hold ing device 34 by a screw 39. The bearings 23 are adjustable as to height by means of an elongated slot 40 which receives the screw 39. The bracket 38 is mounted on the hexagonal tube 16 by means of a forked end and by means of a crosspiece 41 which is disposed over the forked end and screws 42 which secure the crosspiece 41 to the bracket 38 in clamping relation to the tube 16. In addition, the bracket 38 carries a plurality of guide rails 35 which are situated on a line corresponding to the path of the warp yarns 36.

The warp yarns 36 pass from the warp beam 3 over the tension beam 8 in the direction indicated by the arrow 37 (FIG. 2) over the top edge of the hexagonal tube 16 towards the

healds

47, 48. The guide rails 35 are arranged so that the warp yarns 36 bear thereon in passing towards the hexagonal support tube 16.

Referring to FIG. 3, a plurality of stop-motion droppers 43 (only one of which is shown for clarity) are threaded onto the contact elements 19 by means of eyelike apertures 44 and are suspended on the warp yarns 36 by means of a forked end which passes over each warp yarn 36. Additionally, the drop pers 43 are disposed between pairs of adjacent guide rails 35 to be guided thereby. if a warp yarn is not broken, the dropper 43 thereon is supported and guided so that the lateral arms of the eyelike aperture as do not touch, or barely touch, the sidewalls of the contact element 19 and the crosspiece 45 of the dropper is maintained out of contact with the contact element 19.

In operation, should a warp yarn break, the stop-motion dropper 83 thereon drops onto the contact element 19 so that the cross-piece 45 bridges the two mutually insulated rail portions making up the contact element thereby closing a circuit and a signal is issued to stop the loom.

Since the

respective holding devices

17, 18 and 34 are mounted on the hexagonal tube 16, the position of the contact elements 19 and of the guide rails 35 relative to the path of the warp yarns 36 is adjustable with great precision. For example, with a preliminary adjustment being carried out when the

support arms

9, 11 are attached to the support beam 5, the position of the hexagonal support tube 16 and therefore the holding devices l7, l8 and 34 can then be selected according to the path of the warp yarns 36.

The height of the holding devices 17 can be changed by turning the respective nut 30. That is, if the nut 30 is loosened the pivot 26 is raised due to the expansion of the compression spring 29 in the sleeve 27. If the nut 30 is removed, the whole holding device 17 can be removed from the sleeve 27. The contact elements 19 and their holding devices 17 can therefore be inserted and removed as a single unit.

Alternatively, in one embodiment of the invention, the hexagonal tube 16 with all the holding devices l7, 18, 34 attached thereon can be inserted and removed as a single unit in the loom.

In order to be able to find a broken warp quickly, the contact elements 19 are provided with crenellationlike recesses along the top surfaces and the lever 33 and therefore the sleeve 27 with the holding device 17 is tilted backwards and forwards. The contact elements 19 which are attached to the bearing 22 and displaceably mounted in the holding devices 18 are thus moved backwards and forwards in their longitudinal directions. Since the stop-motion droppers 43 suspended on the intact warp yarns touch the contact rails 19 in their eyes 44 only laterally, they remain in substantially the same position as before. The dropper for the broken warp yarn, however, either catches on the associated contact element upon dropping or catches in one of the crenellationlike recesses along the top of each contact element as it is displaced. The dropper is therefore entrained by the moving contact element so as to push the adjacent droppers suspended on the intact warp yarns closer together. The position of the broken warp yarn can therefore be determined immediately by the consequent interruption in the usual pattern of the droppers.

I claim:

1. in combination with a loom having a warp beam for delivering a plurality of warp yarns in a predetermined path and a plurality of healds, a stop-motion mechanism including a single support disposed across the plane of the path of the warp yarns upstream of said healds, a plurality of holding devices mounted on said single support, a plurality of raillike insulated electrical contact elements mounted in said holding devices over the path of the warp yarns in perpendicular relation to said path at a point upstream of said single support, and a plurality of stop-motion droppers suspended on respective warp yarns, each stop-motion dropper being mounted on a respective one of said contact elements for dropping into said contact element in response to breaking of the respective warp yarn.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said stopmotion droppers are threaded onto said contact elements.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 2 which further comprises a plurality of raillike guide elements mounted in at least the intermediate ones of said holding devices under the path of the warp yarns in parallel relation to said contact elements for guiding the warp yarns, said droppers being disposed between adjacent airs of said guide elements.

. The combination as se forth in any of claims 1 to 3 which further comprises a support beam disposed upstream of said contact elements, and a pair of support arms adjustably pivotably mounted on said support beam and connected to said single support whereby said single support is adjustable relative to the path of the warp yarns.

5. The combination as set forth in any of claims 1 to 4 wherein said contact elements are fixedly mounted in the outer of said holding devices and slidably mounted in the intermediate holding devices and which further comprises a support member in each said outer holding device fixed to said contact elements and means for moving said support member in a plane transverse to said contact elements whereby said contact elements are adjustable with respect to the warp yarns.

6. The combination as set forth in claim 5 wherein said contact elements are pivotally fixed to said support member and recessed on the top surface, and which further comprises means for pivoting said support member longitudinally in the plane of said contact elements whereby a stop-motion dropper of a broken warp yarn can be entrained on the respective contact element during movement thereof.

7. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said holding devices and said contact elements are removable as a unit from said loom.

8. The combination as set forth in claim 1 having three of said holding devices distributed over the length of said single support.

9. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the top edge of said single support is positioned in the plane of the warp yarns.

10. The combination as set forth in claim 3 wherein the top edge of said single support and said guide elements are in the same plane.

Claims

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said stop-motion droppers are threaded onto said contact elements.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 2 which further comprises a plurality of raillike guide elements mounted in at least the intermediate ones of said holding devices under the path of the warp yarns in parallel relation to said contact elements for guiding the warp yarns, said droppers being disposed between adjacent pairs of said guide elements.

4. The combination as set forth in any of claims 1 to 3 which further comprises a support beam disposed upstream of said contact elements, and a pair of support arms adjustably pivotably mounted on said support beam and connected to said single support whereby said single support is adjustable relative to the path of the warp yarns.