US3599678A

US3599678A - Thread parting, clamping and detecting mechanism

Info

Publication number: US3599678A
Application number: US808464A
Authority: US
Inventors: William E Turner; Albert R Ferrier
Original assignee: North American Rockwell Corp
Current assignee: Draper Corp; Boeing North American Inc
Priority date: 1969-03-19
Filing date: 1969-03-19
Publication date: 1971-08-17
Anticipated expiration: 1988-08-17

Abstract

A filling yarn parting and clamping mechanism for automatic filling replenishing looms including means for sensing the presence of yarn held by said mechanism and for automatically stopping the loom upon indication of yarn absence.

Description

United States Patent [72] 'lnventors William E. Turner RelerencesCited UNITED STATES PATENTS Spartanburg, S.C.;

Albert R. Ferrier, Woonsoeket, R.I. [21] P 2,444,285 6/1948 Doss..... [22] 2748 808 6/1956 Lovely ,[45] Patented: Aug.17,1971 I 1 l [73] Assignee North American Rockwell Corporation m y Ex n -H nry J au n Pittsburgh, Pa. 4 Attorney-John R. Bronaugh [54] THREAD PARTING, CLAMPING AND DETECTING MECHANISM 5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

ABSTRACT: A filling yam parting and clamping mechanism for automatic filling replenishing looms including means for sensing the presence of yarn held by said mechanism and for automatically stopping the loom upon indication of yarn absence. i

[51] Int.Cl................... [50] Field of 48 4 653% on 3 wd36 33 m u 6 3 3 PATENIED AUG! 7 l97| SHEU 1 BF 2 m T N E V m WILLIAM [TURNER ALBERT RFERRIER ATTORNEY PATENTEUAucmsn 3599.878

sum 2 [1F 2 INVENTOR WILLIAM E.TURNER BY ALBERT R.FERRIER 0M (2 W ATTORNEY THREAD PARTING, CLAMPING AND DETECTING MECHANISM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to fly-shuttle looms of the automatic filling replenishing-type which upon indication for filling replenishment, a filling yarn parting and clamping mechanism is automatically moved to a position for receiving, cutting and holding the length of yarn which extends from the nearly exhausted bobbin to the edge of the fabric.

Complaints on failure of the parting and clamping mechanism to hold an end of filling ya'rn after it has been severed isno't uncommon and is considered a very serious and undesirable condition. This length of fillingyarn, which extends from the shuttle box where it was severed to the fabric edge, if not held, will become entangled with the moving lay and component parts thereof and result, as has been experienced on many occasions, with said filling yarn being cartied into the fabric.

. Yarn carried into the fabric in this manner is termed a dragin which requires excessive time for its removal and excessive numbers thereof results in fabric of inferior quality.

The thread parting, clamping and detecting mechanism according to the instant invention is provided with a means for sensing the. presence of filling yarn being held by the blade member thereof. Should these blade members fail to hold the filling yarn, the means for sensing is adapted to cooperate with an element carried by the loom which initiates the automatic cessation thereof.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The thread parting, clamping and detecting mechanism of the present invention includes the usual fixed and movable blade members that are carried on a slidablesupporting bracket which is adapted to move said blade members to and away from filling parting position.

An arm member is carried by the supporting bracket and being movable therewith is caused to pivot in timed relation with the opening and closing of the mechanisms blade members. The end of the arm member defines a sensing element that forms a part of the loom 's stop motion circuitry and is arranged to pivot in the direction of the filling yarn after it has been cut and held. If the filling yarn is being held, the sensing element will make contact with it and further pivoting movement thereof is restricted. If the blade members fail to hold the end of filling yarn the sensing element will pivot beyond the normal position of the held end of filling yarn and make contact with a switching contactmember carried by the loom to I complete the circuitry for stopping said loom.

A specific object of the invention is to provide a filling yarn detecting device adapted to function in cooperation with the looin's thread parting and clamping mechanism which will automatically stop said loom upon failure of saidmechanism to hold a cut end of filling.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a loom showing the mechanism according to the invention applied thereto.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the thread parting, clamping and detecting mechanism illustrated in FIG. 1 showing the means for pivoting the sensing element in an upwardly direction. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the mechanism illustrated' in FIG. 2 showing the spring member for biasing the sensing element in a downwardly direction.-

FIG. 4 is a view in side elevation and partially in section showing further detail of the spring member in FIG. 3 and s is-a schematic view of the circuitry of which the sensing element forms a part for automatically stopping the loom.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1 wherein only as much of convenunderstanding of the invention, there is shown generally at 10 a portion of the loombattery which includes a bobbin disc 11, small end disc 12 and a thread guide 13. A plurality of filling bobbins. 14 are positioned between the bobbin disc and small end disc, the latter of which are rotated in a known manner on each filling replenishment indication for maintaining a new bobbin position for each subsequent transfer.

A portion of the transferrer is shown at 15 and is pivotably assembled on a transferrer stud 16. This transferrer studincludes a torsion type spring 16. for providing the necessary biasing force on the transferrer l5 and a collar 17 for fixedly positioning one end of said spring. One end of the transferrer stud 15 is supported by the battery's hopper stand 18 which in the usual manner is attached to the upper and forward righthand side of a loom. The transferrer stud extends outwardly pending arm 23 to which a filling knife carrier bracket 24 is assembled by means of a bolt 25.

A horizontally disposed filling knife carrier slide 26 attaches to the underside of the filling knife carrier bracket by means of

capscrews

27 and 28 and includes a channellike groove 29 in which a supporting bracket 30 is assembled for sliding movement. supporting bracket 30, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is provided with an integrally formed, laterally and upwardly directed arm 31 which adjacent its upper end is adapted to support a well-known filling thread parting and clamping mechanism generally indicated by numeral 32. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, this mechanism includes a plurality of blade members held in juxtaposed relation by means of a bolt 33 and nut 34. Certain blade members are fixedly positioned as those indicated by numeral 35 and other pivotable such as those depicted by numeral 36.

A blade member 37 as shown in FIG. 2 provides the means for moving the pivotable blade members in a known manner by a laterally extending ear 38 which forms the forward most end thereof. This ear is angularly disposed and as the thread parting and clamping mechanism is caused to move to and fro on transfer indications the ear makes contact with a cam member or so-called filling knife trip 39 to effect a scissors motion of the blade members. I n V The filling knife trip 39 is journaled in a boss 40 that forms the inner and upper ends of the filling knife carrier slide 26. This filling knife trip is pivotable and in a known manner the ear 38 is caused to move over the top thereof to open the blade members when the partingand clamping mechanism is caused to be moved to thread parting position. When returning to its initial position, the ear 38 contacts' the lower surface of the filling knife trip which is effective inclosing the blade members and the scissor action parts the filling and holds the end of filling all of which is well-known to those conversant in the art. A portion of the looms lay beam is shown at H and ineludes the usual lay end 42 and front box plate 43 that forms a part of the shuttle box on the right-hand side of the loom. Upon indication for filling replenishment the shuttle (not shown) enters the right-hand shuttle box which moves with the lay to a position where the shuttle is in properalignr'nent with the battery It) for receiving a new bobbin I4. Prior to the actual transfer of a new bobbin, the thread parting and clamping mechanism is caused to move in a known mannei to that position where the open blade members receive the length of filling extending from the nearly exhausted bobbin to the edge of the fabric. As the mechanism moves toward its initial posi- The means for detecting the presence of yarn being held by the blade members and means for automatically stopping the loom upon failure of said blade members to hold the yam will now be described.

The arm 31 of the supporting bracket 30 is provided on its upper end with a laterally extending and integrally formed extension 44 (FIG. 3) which overlies a portion of the filling thread parting and clamping mechanism 32. The top of this extension 44 is provided with a pair of aligned and integrally formed.

lug elements

45 and 46 which are disposed in spaced relation and which include axial aligned

apertures

47 and 48 respectively. A stud 49 is journaled for oscillating movement within

apertures

47 and 48 and is disposed so as to extend in a plane normal to the longitudinal extent of the blade members 35 and '36.

A pin 50 (FIGS. 2 and 3) is fixedly attached to and extends from the side of the stud 49 adjacent one end thereof and is adapted to maintain contact with the ear 38 of the blade member 37. A torsion-type spring 51 assembles on stud 49 inthe area

intermediate lug elements

45 and 46 with one end thereof adapted to assemble in a hole 52 (FIGS. 3 and 4) provided in said stud. The spring encircles stud 49 with the opposite end thereof in pressing contact with the side of extension 44 and continually urges this stud in an anticlockwise direction as viewed in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. Stud 49 extends outwardly from each side of

lug elements

45 and 46 and that end which extends beyond element 45 is threaded as at 53. By means of a nut 54 an arm 55 is fixedly assembled on this'end of stud 49 and is disposed so as to extend in a plane normal to the axis'thereof. The end of arm 55 most remote from stud 49 carries a filling yarn sensing element 55' and being movable with said am is continually urged in a downwardly direction as illustrated by the indicating arrow 56 in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.

in FIGS. 2 and 3 the filling yarn is identified by numeral 57 and is adapted to restrict the downward movement of the sensing element 55. If the blade members fail to hold the end of filling yarn 57 the arm 55 will pivot with the sensing element 55', beyond the point at which it normally senses the v filling and will engage a switching contact member 58 that completes an electrical circuit for automatically stopping-the loom. This circuitry is shown schematically in FIG. and

numerals

55 and 58 therein denotes the sensing element and a switching contact member respectively.

Point 59 is connected to the looms auxiliary power source on thecold side of the shipper handle switch (not shown) and power is applied to the circuit only when the loom is in operation. A diode 60 and capacitor 61 form a DC power supply that furnishes volts at 62. A resistor 63 is connected to the switching contact member 58 provides approximately 100 milliamperes of current through said member to break down any oxide film on the contact surfaces. Point 64 is connected to the base of a transistor 65 as at 66 through a current limiting resistor 67. The time constant of resistor 67 and a capacitor 68 is sufficiently long enough to provide noise rejection and prevent false triggering of the circuit by unwanted signals on the wire from the switching contact member 58.'When the switching contact member is closed, transistor 65 is forward biased by resistor 63 and point 69 will be raised to approximately 20 volts. Point 69 is connected to the gate 70 of a silicon controlled rectifier 71 through a current limiting resistor 72. Raising the voltage of point 69 will trigger the silicon controlled rectifier 71 on," and raise point 73 19 volts. Because of the DC potential applied to this silicon controlled rectifier, it will, once triggered remain in a conducting state.

Noise rejection is provided at the silicon controlled rectifier 71 by a capacitor 74. With point .73 at 19 volts, a triac 75 is triggered on" by the current flowing through a resistor 76 into a triac gate 77. This triac which is depicted by numeral 78 is connected to the loom s warp stop motion (not shown) and, when triggered, will energize a solenoid (not shown) that forms a part of the warp stop motion and stop the loom. Noise ,rejection is provided at the triac 78 by a resistor 79 and capacitor 80.

Once the above mentioned solenoid is energized, the loom will stop and the shipper handle switch (not shown) will open, removing power from the circuit and resetting the silicon controlled rectifier 71 to the ofi state.-

The switching contact member 58 is attached to the underside of the lay end 42 by means of a screw 81 and extends in a forwardly direction so as to come within range of the sensing element during transfer of a bobbin l4. g I

In operation replenishment indications are initiated in a well-known manner by the loom's feeler mechanism (not shown) and through the linkage interconnecting said'feeler mechanism with the thread parting and clamping mechanism, the latter is caused to move rearwardly toward the shuttle on such indications.

At time of transfer the lay beam 41 is forward so as to position the shuttle, which is in the shuttle box, in alignment for receiving a fully wound bobbin from the battery 10. Prior to the actual transfer of a bobbin the thread parting and clamping mechanism is moved to thread parting position. During this movement the ear 38 of the blade member 37 is caused to ride over the upper surface of the filling-knife trip 39 and pivot the forward end of said blade' member upwardly thereby separating the blade members for receiving the length of filling extending from the nearly exhausted bobbin to the edge of the fabric.

As the forward end of blade member 37 is pivoted upwardly, ear 38 acts upon pin 50 so as to pivot arm 55 and its sensing element 55 a sufficient distance in an upwardly direction so as to clear the front box plate 43. Afterthis length spring 51 to pivot arm 55 and its sensing element 55' also in a downwardly direction. If the end of filling yarn 57 is being held by the blade members, full pivotal movement of arm 55 is restricted by means of its sensing element 55' making contact with said filling yarn. Should the blade members fail to hold the end of filling yarn, the arm 55 will pivot beyond the normal position of sensing the filling yarn and make contact with the switching contact member 58 thereby completing the circuitry for automatically stopping the loom.

If it is desirable not to stop the loom but only indicate failure of the blade members to hold an end of filling yarn, arm 55 when making contact with the switching contact member can be arranged to complete a circuit that will illuminate a tell-tale bulb mounted on the loom or other convenient location.

We claim:

1. A filling yarn parting and clamping mechanism for automatic filling replenishing looms having a slidable supporting bracket for moving said mechanism to and away from filling parting position, said mechanism including a. fixed and movable blade members for receiving, cutting and holding an end of filling yarn during replenishment of the latter,

b. detecting means comprising an arm member having a laterally extending support rod for pivotably supporting said arm member on said supporting bracket, and

c. a yarn sensing element forming a part of the loom's stop motion circuitry defining one end of said arm member and movable with the latter to and from a position for sensing the presence of an end of filling yarn being held by said blade members.

2. The filling yarn parting and clamping mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said arm member includes a biasing means for continually urging said arm member and sensing element in the direction of the blade members of said mechanism.

3. The filling yarn parting and clamping mechanism according to claim 2 wherein said support rod includes a pin member having one end thereof fixed in said support rod and adapted 5. The filling yam parting and clamping mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said detecting means further includes a switching contact member carried by the loom and disposed so as to be contacted by said sensing element upon failure of said blade members to hold the filling yarn, thereby completing the circuitry for stopping said loom.

Claims

1. A filling yarn parting and clamping mechanism for automatic filling repleNishing looms having a slidable supporting bracket for moving said mechanism to and away from filling parting position, said mechanism including a. fixed and movable blade members for receiving, cutting and holding an end of filling yarn during replenishment of the latter, b. detecting means comprising an arm member having a laterally extending support rod for pivotably supporting said arm member on said supporting bracket, and c. a yarn sensing element forming a part of the loom''s stop motion circuitry defining one end of said arm member and movable with the latter to and from a position for sensing the presence of an end of filling yarn being held by said blade members.

3. The filling yarn parting and clamping mechanism according to claim 2 wherein said support rod includes a pin member having one end thereof fixed in said support rod and adapted to be pivoted by one of said blade members for actuating said arm member.

4. The filling yarn parting and clamping mechanism according to claim 2 wherein said biasing means comprises a torsion spring having one end attached to said support rod and the opposite end thereof in contact with said support bracket.

5. The filling yarn parting and clamping mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said detecting means further includes a switching contact member carried by the loom and disposed so as to be contacted by said sensing element upon failure of said blade members to hold the filling yarn, thereby completing the circuitry for stopping said loom.