US3695306A - Yarn carrier for a weaving machine - Google Patents

Abstract

A yarn carrier for a weaving machine which has two arms including a yarn gripping portion which grips the yarn by means of contact between the two arms which are resiliently biased toward each other at the front of the yarn carrier in the flying direction. The yarn carrier also has a mechanism for releasing the depression of the two arms of the yarn gripping portion by a force applied from outside against the resiliency so as to freely pass the yarn through a gap made between the arms. Also, the yarn carrier has a guide groove formed in such a manner that width gradually decreases from the front to the rear of the feeding direction of the yarn carrier so as to feed the yarn to the yarn gripping portion and that the yarn gripping portion is formed in parallel with the flying direction of the yarn at the end portion at the inlet portion of the yarn to the yarn gripping portion of the yarn carrier.

Description

United States Patent Kimura et al.

[2]] Appl. No.: 49,476

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data June 24, 1969 Japan ..44/59605 Mar. 31, 1970 Japan ..45/27539 Mar. 31, 1970 Japan ..45/27540 [52] US. Cl ..'..l39/l25 51 rm. Cl. ..D03j 5/06 [58] Field of Search.....l39/I3R, 122 R, l22-N, 123, 139/125, 126, 127, 197

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,072,158 3/1937 Dewas 1 39/126 [451 Oct. 3, 1972 2,738,810 3/1956 Varkonyi et a1. ..139/ 126 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,488,508 5/1967 France 139/125 Primary Examiner-Henry S. Jaudon Attorney-Sughrue, Rothwell, Mion, Zinn 8L Macpeak ABSTRACT A yarn carrier for a weaving machine which has two arms including a yarn gripping portion which grips the yarn by means of contact between the two arms which are resiliently biased toward each other at the front of the yarn carrier in the flying direction. The yarn carrier also has a mechanism for releasing the depression of the two arms of the yarn gripping portion by a force applied from outside against the resiliency so as to freely pass the yarn through a gap made between the arms. Also, the yarn carrier has a guide groove formed in such a manner that width gradually decreases from the front to the rear of the feeding direction of the yarn carrier so as to feed the yarn to the yarn gripping portion and that the yarn gripping portion is formed in parallel with the flying direction of the yarn at the end portion at the inlet portion of the yarn to the yarn gripping portion of the yarn carrier.

2 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures PATENTEDntra I972- SHEET 1 BF 3 v PATENTEDMI'B m2 saw 3 of 3 FIG. 80

. 1 YARN CARRIER FOR A WEAVING MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a yarn carrier for a weaving machine, and more particularly to improvements of the yarn carrier used for a feeding of weft yarn 'to a weaving machine, and further to a yarn carrier which carries a weft yarn from one or more cheeses disposed at one or both sides of a weaving machine.

2. Description of the Prior Art One type of the conventional yarn carrier inserts a shuttle opener between two flat springs disposed oppositely to open the flat springs, grips the yarn to feed the weft yarn, and stops the yarn carrier at a predetermined location at the other end so as to open the flat springs by the shuttle opener to remove the weft yarn.

Another of the conventional yarn carriersjengages the weft yarn at. the initial point-of the feeding thereof and brakes .theyarn :by the yarn carrier. itself at the same timefeedingth'e'y a A still further type of the conventional yarn carrier has a small hole at the rear of theyarn carrier and the yarn passes through this small hole underthe force of a device such as an air gun, flying the yarn carrier in a state that the end of the yarn is gripped by a gripper so that when the yarn carrier is disposed at a predetermined place the" gripper of the end of the yarn is opened so that the yarn of hair pin state is braked so as to feed the weft yarn.

In still another embodiment the yarn carrier has a pair of right and left books at one side thereof so that when it flys by the yarn carrier having a blade at the root of the hook, the weft yarn is stretched by a high tension from an ear to a cheese is engaged at the position of 2 cm from the selvage so as to insert into the warp yarn wherein the yarn is cut by the blade of the hook and shorter yarn is remained so as to grip the end of theyam atthe sideof cheese.

yThe first and third of the aforementioned yarn carriersfeed the yarn at steady state conditions, and accordin'gly it takes time to feed the yarn so that it lowers the efficiency of the machine. The second and third carriers allow the yarn to fly by while they are broken by the yarn carrier itself so that the tension of the weft yarn becomes irregular and therefore a nappy state is introduced resulting occasionally in cutting the weft yarn or slacking it. Accordingly, a material for the weft yarn is restricted with the result that the latter carriers carriers are not preferable for a weaving machine. Further, the fourth yarn carrier grips and cuts the yarn at the same time, so that it imparts high tension to the yarn and reduces the gripping function of the weft yarn so that this carrier is restricted to use only woolen yarn or thick spun yarn and it is not proper for weaving fine spun yarn or filament yarn. I

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the object of the present invention to eliminate the aforementioned disadvantages of the conventional yarn carriers and to provide a novel and improved yarn It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel small-sized yam carrier which at the initiation of its flying motion, exactly holds a weft yarn fed from'o'ne or more cheeses disposed on one or both sidesof a weaving machine (this state of the yarn will be referred to hereinafter as the straightening of yarn) at approximate its forward end. The yarn carrier carries the yarn in this state and upon reaching the other end of the weaving machine, automatically releases'the weft yarn from its grip.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a yarn carrier for a weaving machine which comprises two arms including a yarn gripping portion which grips the yarn by-means of the pressure on the two arms caused by the resiliency of the arms at the front of the yarn carrier with respect to the flying direction and a mechanism for releasing thedepression of the two armsof the yarn gripping portion when the yarn carrier is urged from outside against the'resiliency so as to pass freely the yarn through the gap made between the arms,.and also having a yarn guide groove formed in such a manner that its width becomes gradually narrower from the front to the rear of the feeding direction of the yarn carrier and that the opening structure is formed in the same direction as the yarn gripping portion and that the yarn gripping portion is formed in parallel with the flying direction of the yarn at the end portion at the inlet portion of the yarn to the yarn gripping portion of the yarn carrier.

The other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a yarn carrier of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the inner structure of the yarn carrier shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are plan views of other embodiments of the yarn carrier of this invention;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a further embodiment of the yarn carrier of this invention;

' FIG. 6 is a plan view of the yarn carrier of the inner structure thereof;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a yarn standing and gripping device used for the yarn carrier;

FIGS. 8a to 8d are explanatory views of the steps of the operation of the carrier shown in FIG. 5 and the device in FIG. 7 to feed the weft yarn;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of still another embodiment of the yarn carrier of this invention; and

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the inner structure of the yarn carrier shown in FIG. 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the drawings, the like parts and components are designated by the same reference numerals.

' Reference is now made to the drawings, particularly to FIGS. 1 through 4, which show one embodiment of the present invention.

In the multiple embodiment, like elements carry like numerals. The yarn carrier comprises holder plates 1 and 2 which include guide groove or cutout 3 of V shape being narrower gradually from the front to the rear direction with respect to the flying direction of the yarn carrier or to the yarn gripping portion. The nip arm is rotatably held by the holder plates 1 and 2, and fixed to either or both of the holder plates 1 and 2, by the pins or screws gauge plates 7, 8 and 9 provide spacing between the holder plates 1 and 2, and nip arm and enable the nip arm to be rotatable. The gauge plates are fixed to the holder plates 1 and 2 by screws 17 and pins 18. Nip arm 5 is fixed.

The yarn carrier shown in FIG. 2 comprises a long bent groove in the nip arm 4, and a short groove 11 in the fixed nip arm 5. A bent resilient member 6 fixedly disposed mostly in the long groove 10 and extends some in the short groove 11. The nip arm 4 is pivotally supported rotatably at the fulcrum A fixed to the holder plates 1 and 2 so that the yarn gripping portion 4a is urged onto the yarn gripping portion 5a of the fixed nip am 5 by the elasticity of the resilient member 6 and the yarn gripping portions 4a and 5a pass through the end portion 3a of the yarn guide groove to be disposed on a line in parallel with the flying direction of the yarn carrier. Space is provided between the arms 4 and 5 at the rear with respect to the flying direction of the yarn carrier of the nip arm so that if the rear end B of the nip arm 4 is urged against the elasticity of the resilient member 6, it may rotate around the fulcrum A to release the contact of the yarn gripping portions 4a and 5a.

In the yarn carrier shown in FIG. 3, the bent resilient member 6 is at one end inserted into the short groove 11' provided at one end of the fixed nip arm 5 and at the other into the long groove 10' of the nip arm 4' so that the yarn gripping portion 4a of the nip arm 4' is always urged into contact with the yarn gripping portion 5a of the fixed nip arm 5. The engaging point at end 4b of the nip arm 4' and the gauge plate 9 acts as a fulcrum due to the tension of the resilient member 6. Accordingly, if the neighborhood of the rear end B of the nip arm 4' is depressed, it may rotate about point C of the yarn gri'pping portion 4a as a fulcrum and release the contact between the yarn gripping portions 4a and 50 except the point C.

In the yarn carrier shown in FIG. 4, the movable nip arm 4" has a projection 12 and movable nip arm 4' has a groove 13 for engaging the projection 12. Pins 15 are fixed to the holder plates 1 and 2, respectively within guide grooves 14 for the pins 15, and a pin 16 which is fixed to the holder plates 1 and 2 at the rear engages an eye 6a of a resilient fork member 6' so that the rear portions of the holder plates 1 and 2 are urged by both legs 6b and 6c of the fork member 6' with the result that the yarn gripping portions 4a and 40" are urged into contact with each other. If the rear ends B" and B' of the nip arms 4" and 4" are urged in the neighborhood thereof, the arms are rotated at the projection l2 and the engaging groove 13 of the projection 12 as a fulcrum with each other so that the yarn gripping portions 4a" and 4 a' are released from contact. In this case, the guide grooves 14 effect a guiding action for positively rotating the arms. Though in this embodiment the rear ends B" and B of the nip arms 4" and 4" project from the holder plates 1 and 2, they need not always project as long as they may be depressed from the outside.

The yarn carrier shown in FIGS. 1 through 4 may be driven by means of a solenoid instantaneously magnetized by a pulse electric current or by a torsion spring whence the end of the yarn ejected previously across the flying line of the yarn carrier (not shown) is guided by the guide groove 3 to the movable nip arms 4, 4', 4" and 4", and the end of the fixed nip arm 5, is positively inserted between the yarn gripping portions 4a and 5a or 40' and 5a and 4a and 4a" of the high speed flying yarn carrier and flys along with the yarn carrier to feed the weft yarn. When the yarn carrier arrives at the other end, the weft yarn is released from engagement therewith since the rear portions B, B, B" and B' of the nip arms 4, 4, 4" and 4" are urged by a fixed projection or pusher (not shown) thereby rotating the nip arms 4, 4', 4", 4" respectively against the tension of resilient members 6 or 6'.

The yarn carrier shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 comprises nip arms 54 and 54' which include projections 54b and 54b, respectively projecting above the holder plates. Enough hollow portion 57 is provided to allow the arms to open or close. The nip arms 54 and 54' open or close about the fulcrums 55 and 55 as a center, and the yarn gripping portions 54a and 54a of the nip arms are depressed by the plate springs 56 and 56'. Of course, any member such as spring, rubber material may be used instead of the plate springs 56 and 56'.

FIG. 7 shows one embodiment of a yarn feeding device incorporated with the yarn carrier of this invention particularly used for a yarn easy to grip such as glass filament yarn. In FIG. 7, a pipe 71 comprises an inlet portion 72 which is wide enough to pass the yarn carrier without affecting its projections and a main portion 73 having narrower width which passes the yarn carrier but contacts the projections 54b and 54b projecting from the holder plates 1 and 2 and a proximity switch 75 is provided on the upper wall of the main portion 73. The device also comprises a yarn collecting device 76 and a yarn gripping device 78 using a magnet to intermittently grip the yarn 79. The interaction of the yarn carrier and yarn supplying device is shown in FIGS. 8a through 8d. FIG. 8a shows the state of the yarn carrier and yarn supplying device when the yarn carrier is stationary. The yarn gripping device 78 of the yarn supplying device is closed and the yarn 79 is held and straightened. The yarn carrier is driven by the attracting force of the magnet (not shown) upon energization thereof by a pulsating current or action of a spring (not shown), and is introduced into the tube 71 (shown in FIG. 8b). As it approaches the switch 75 provided in the tube 71, this switch will operate to shut off the current to the magnet of the gripping device 78 through a control device (not shown) separately provided so as to open the gripping device. As shown in FIG. 80 at the next moment, the end of the yarn carrier passes through the switch 75 so that the projecting portions 54b and 54b from the holder plates of the nip arm of the yarn carrier are urged in contact with the main part 73 of the tube 71 with the result that the gripping portions 54a and 54a of the nip arms are opened against the force of the plate springs 56 and 56'. The force required for the nip arms may vary depending upon the change of the position of the fulcrum, but generally the supporting position may be better if as near as possible to the gripping portion.

In FIG. 8d, the yarn carrier passes the main portion 73 of the tube 71 and the yarn 79 is introduced between the gripping portions 54a and 54a of the nip arm. Since the contacting pressure of the nip arm to the projections 54b and 54b is released when the yarn 79 passes through the main portion 73 of the tube 71, the plate springs 56 and 56' of the yarn carrier are reset so that the nip arms 54 and 54' positively grips the yarn 79. The yarn carrier then carries the warp yarns opened to the end of the weaving machine.

At the end of the weaving machine, the yarn carrier is introduced into the tube (not shown) with the same structure as the tube 71 and a magnet of a yarn gripping device (not shown) is energized by the operation of the switch provided in the tube so as to close the gripping device thus cutting off the yarn at a predetermined position in the neighborhood of the outlet of the yarn supplying tube 71. These operations are repeated so that quick and positive weaving operation may be done. As previously described, the tube 71 is used in the particular case, to-actuate the yarn carrier, but it need not always beused.

In FIGS. 9 and l0, the yarn carrier comprises holder plates 91 and 92, and a slide plate 93 slidable in parallel with respect to thefeeding direction of the yarn carrier on the holder plates '91 and 92 and is held by the resilient member 94. In this embodiment, the slide plate is projected from the end of the holder plates 91 and 92 in the amount of approximately 1mm at its ends 93a. Further, the slide plate 93 comprises long holes 93b, and engaging grooves 930 for engaging with the projections 95a of the nip arms 95. The device also comprises pins 92' for slidablyguiding the slideplate 93; which pins are fixed to the holderplates 91 and 92 within the long holes 93b. The nip arms 95 are round at their ends and are mounted to freely rotate by the contact between the engaging grooves 930, and the projections95a, upon sliding of the slide plate 93 with pins 95b acting as a fulcrum. The holder plates 91 and and slide plate 93 comprise guide groove 96 of V shape gradually narrowing from the front end to the rear end, respectively. The device also has a spring holder plate 97 fixedly carrying a pin 98 on which a resilient member such as spring 94 is mounted. A gauge plate 99 is spaced between the holder plates 91 and 92, said gauge plate being fixed to the holder plates 91 and 92 by the pins 990 and screw 910. The spring holder plate 97 is formed to the same height as gauge plate 99 so as to allow the slide plate 93 to smoothly rotate the nip arms 95. Screws 911 and 912 fixedly engage the holder plates 91 and 92, and screws 913 and 914 fix the holder plates 91 and 92 and spring holder plate 97.

The yarn carrier thus constructed is driven by the solenoid instantaneously when magnetized by the pulse current or may be driven by a torsion spring. The end of the yarn is straightened across the flying line of the yarn carrier prior to the initiation of the flying of the yarn. The high speed initial flying of the yarn carrier causes the yarn to be positively gripped between the nip arms 95. When the yarn carrier arrives at the other end, the ends 93a of the slide plate 93 are depressed by a member such as a wall of the yarn carrier receiving device (not shown) so that they are compressed to the end position of the holder plates 91 and 92. If the ends 93a do not project, a projection is provided in the receiving device so that this may depress it inwardly at the end. Thus, the engaging grooves 930 of the sliding plate 93 lowers the engaging projection of the nip arms 95 against theresiliency of the resilient member such as spring 94 whereby the nip arms 95 rotate on the pins 95b as a fulcrum so that the gripped weft yarn is released from engagement.

In order to straighten the yarn before the yarn carrie of this invention grips the weft yarns, it is preferable to hold the yarn in a straightened state.

If the tension is large, in order to prevent the yarn from passing through the yarn gripping portion, the end of the groove provided in the holder plate may be in register with the yarn gripping portion.

In all the embodiments described above the yarn carrier of this invention is compact, for example, 50 mm in length, 12 mm in width and 6 mm in thickness. Further, it is preferable that the surfaces of the yarn gripping portion of the nip arms be rough depending upon the type of the yarn, or have material of large friction coefficient coated thereon or adhered thereonto.

In the above description of the present invention, the holder plate has been described as planar. It may, however, not always be planar, but may be any shape in section, such as, for example, having an arcuate raised portion. Or, it may be cast or ground integrally with the gauge plate. However, if the section in the direction normal to the feeding direction is circular, the yarn carrier tends to rotate while it is flying so that this shape is not preferred. The end of the nip arm may preferably be circular so as not to deflect the yarn. In addition, though a groove has been provided above on the holder plate, the end of the nip arm may be formed broadly to form a groove to the yarn gripping portion and the groove dispensed with.

The yarn straightening device may preferably be provided near the initial flying position.

Though the nip arm is exemplified in contact with another resilient member, the nip arm itself is formed by a resilient member so that when any force is not applied from the outside, the yarn gripping portion is in contact therewith, but when the part of the nip arm is supplied with a depressing force from the outside, the force is imparted against the resilient force of the nip arm itself thereto with the result that the contact of the yarn gripping portion is released.

It should be understood from the foregoing description that the yarn carrier of this invention guides the weft yarn in the guide groove to the yarn grippingportion of the arms so as to positively grip it without any mispick. In addition, the compact volume of the yarn carrier requires only a small force so as to accelerate the weaving.

It should be also understood that according to the present invention the tension of the weft yarn is uniform and the volume of the weaving machine may be saved.

We claim:

1. A yarn carrier for a weaving machine comprising:

spaced holder plates,

a yarn guide in the form of an inwardly tapering opening at the front of the spaced holder plates relative to the sliding direction of said carrier,

relatively movable nip arm means positioned between said plates and having opposed yarn 7 gripping edges within said opening for grasping the yarn by means of contact between said edges,

a slide plate mounted between said holder plates for limited oscillation relative to said holder plates along a line parallel to the direction of advancement of said carrier,

resilient means normally biasing said slide plate to a forward position relative to the direction of advancement of said carrier, and

means responsive to sliding motion of said plate relative to said nip arm means for opening and closing said yarn gripping edges of said relatively movable mp arm means.

2. The yarn carrier as claimed in claim 1, wherein said nip arm means includes at least one nip arm mounted for pivotal movement between said holder plates about an axis at right angles to the direction of advancement of said carrier, said means for opening and closing said yarn gripping edges of said nip arm means comprising: longitudinally extending slot means formed within said slide plate, pin means fixed to said holder plates and positioned within said slot means permitting limited slidable movement of said slide plate, a projecting lug on said pivotable nip arm, a cut-out formed within said slide plate to receive said lug, with said lug and said cut-out being located relative to the pivot axis of said pivotable nip arm, such that abutment of the leading edge of said slide plate depresses said slide plate rearwardly against the bias of said resilient means to open said nip arm means and to thereby release said yarn.

I. II I II t

Claims (2)

1. A yarn carrier for a weaving machine comprising: spaced holder plates, a yarn guide in the form of an inwardly tapering opening at the front of the spaced holder plates relative to the sliding direction of said carrier, relatively movable nip arm means positioned between said plates and having opposed yarn gripping edges within said opening for grasping the yarn by means of contact between said edges, a slide plate mounted between said holder plates for limited oscillation relative to said holder plates along a line parallel to the direction of advancement of said carrier, resilient means normally biasing said slide plate to a forward position relative to the direction of advancement of said carrier, and means responsive to sliding motion of said plate relative to said nip arm means for opening and closing said yarn gripping edges of said relatively movable nip arm means.

2. The yarn carrier as claimed in claim 1, wherein said nip arm means includes at least one nip arm mounted for pivotal movement between said holder plates about an axis at right angles to the direction of advancement of said carrier, said means for opening and closing said yarn gripping edges of said nip arm means comprising: longitudinally extending slot means formed within said slide plate, pin means fixed to said holder plates and positioned within said slot means permitting limited slidable movement of said slide plate, a projecting lug on said pivotable nip arm, a cut-out formed within said slide plate to receive said lug, with said lug and said cut-out being located relative to the pivot axis of said pivotable nip arm, such that abutment of the leading edge of said slide plate depresses said slide plate rearwardly against the bias of said resilient means to open said nip arm means and to thereby release said yarn.

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