Classifications

• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D03—WEAVING
  • D03C—SHEDDING MECHANISMS; PATTERN CARDS OR CHAINS; PUNCHING OF CARDS; DESIGNING PATTERNS
  • D03C3/00—Jacquards
  • D03C3/20—Electrically-operated jacquards

Definitions

• This invention relates to a device for replacing Jacquard card or Jacquard paper tape on machines using Jacquard mechanism as is used extensively throughout the textile industry.
• Solenoid emulators have been produced in which the "hole” or “no hole” in the paper tape is emulated by a plunger controlled by the solenoid to open or close a hole formed in a metal block which is presented to the Jacquard pins (fingers or feelers) the solenoids being controlled by electronic means to emulate the programme on a paper tape.
• solenoids however, have a limited life cycle and in one programme, may operate many hundreds of times thus creating reliability problems through failure of a solenoid to operate which may not be noticed immediately affecting the final pattern produced-.. Also, the number of solenoids required make the detection of the failed solenoid difficult. When solenoids are nearing the end of their life, they tend to fail at a seemingly random occurence.
• the object of this invention is to provide a mechanism that will allow more efficient operation of machines using Jacquard mechanism.
• the machines using the Jacquard mechanism often represent a large capital investment in a textile factory and replacement of the entire machine to improve efficiency is usually not commercially viable.
• the present invention consists in apparatus for actuating predetermined patterns of pins in a Jacquard mechanism of a textile machine, said apparatus comprising: at least one disk located on a shaft parallel to the axis of the pins such that the face of the disk is adjacent the ends of the pins; rotation means operable by control means to rotate the disk about the axis of the shaft to a desired orientation, the face of the disk being provided with holes arranged in predetermined locations; and an actuator arranged to axially advance and retract the or each disk relative to the pins, into and out of contact with the ends of the pins such that predetermined pins are axially depressed by the face of the disk and other pins align with the holes in the disk and are not depressed.
• the rotation means comprises at least one stepper motor coupled to the or each disk respectively.
• the or each disk is fitted to the respective shaft for rotation therewith but movable therealong by the actuator.
• the actuator is adapted to move the or each disk and the or each stepper motor as a unit.
• the apparatus further comprises securing means arranged to prevent the rotation of the or each disk when the Jacquard pins are in contact with or penetrating . the or each disk.
• control means includes sensing element for sensing the orientation of the or each disk.
• control means comprises a microprocessor.
• Figure 1 is a schematic view of" a disk, motor and Jacquard actuation pins according to the invention
• Figure 2 shows a face of a typical disk illustrating a typical series of hole patterns
• Figure 3 illustrates the method of detecting a hole or no hole by the Jacquard actuation pins, 3A represents the rest position. 3B illustrates detecting "a hole” and 3C illustrates detecting "no hole”;
• Figure 4 illustrates how a plurality of disks may be used when there are numerous Jacquard pins involved; and -4-
• Figure 5 illustrates one method of moving the disks into contact with the Jacquard mechanism.
• Jacquard pins are arranged in similar straight lines.
• each pattern of holes in the disk (2) is adapted to align with the Jacquard pins 1 of the particular ⁇ machine on which the controller is to be deployed.
• the imaginary line on the disk along which the holes are aligned is offset from the axis of the disk as if a pin was aligned with the centre of rotation of the disk (the axis) that pin would always detect. the same condition, i.e. either always a "hole” or always a "no hole", thus making that pin redundant. If the axis was aligned between two pins such that the pins could detect either holes or no holes or if the disk was sufficiently large to operate the required pins in less than a radius, i.e. all the "holes" were displaced along a radius, then the imaginary line may pass through the axis of the disk.
• the total number of hole combinations in theory is the total number of permutations of the number of pins involved, however, not all combinations result in valid Jacquard commands and thus are not required. Therefore the total number of different hole combinations which equals the number of different disk orientations required equals the number of valid Jacquard commands for the pins concerned.
• pins only requires the disks to interact with the pins (2). On some machines the pins themselves move and therefore require no axial movement of the disks. However, most machines will require the disks to move towards the pins. This may be achieved by moving the entire device including the disks, motors and mounting frame or may simply involve the movement of the disks alone. This may be achieved by sliding the disks along the drive shafts of their respective motors into and out of the detection position as illustrated in Figure 5.
• disks and shafts will need to be splined to allow the longitudinal movement of the disks on the shafts while maintaining rotational integrity. This arrangement reduces the physical mass of the moving parts, thus placing less strain on the actuation machinery.
• each disk is rotated by a respective direct coupled stepper motor, each motor is in turn controlled by electronic means to step the motor to align the disk in the desired orientation between successive detection steps.
• a number of sensing elements may be deployed to sense the orientation of each disk to ensure the correct orientation of the disks.
• securing means not shown, in the form of a brake, holds the disks in their desired orientations during each detection step.
• the electronic means for controlling the stepper motors in this embodiment is a microprocessor, being particularly suited to this type of use.
• the microprocessor has the required programme stored in its memory or be able to calculate the required steps from _. that information.
• the desired programme could be loaded in its memory by any of the usual techniques. It is the function of the microprocessor to output signals to the stepper motors to rotate the disks to the required orientation to produce the desired end result. The timing of the rotation is also controlled by the microprocessor so that rotation only occurs during the periods between successive detection steps.
• the advantages of the disk over previous devices relates to the increased reliability and efficiency of the device. Normally as the speed of the mechanism increases (as is needed to attain higher output figures thus reducing the unit cost per output item) reliability decreases.
• the prior art drum controller suffers greatly from too much inertia to attain the -speeds attainable by the disk controller.
• the use of stepper motors is vastly more reliable than solenoids when used over the enormous number of cycles experienced within this industry.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Textile Engineering (AREA)
• Treatment Of Fiber Materials (AREA)
• Sewing Machines And Sewing (AREA)
• Looms (AREA)

Priority Applications (4)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=3771059

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (6)

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Citations (4)

Family Cites Families (7)

• 1986
  • 1986-04-18 IN IN349/DEL/86A patent/IN166253B/en unknown
  • 1986-04-18 JP JP61502998A patent/JPH0686693B2/ja not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1986-04-18 EP EP86903119A patent/EP0219545B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1986-04-18 DE DE86903119T patent/DE3689024T2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1986-04-18 WO PCT/AU1986/000105 patent/WO1986006421A1/en active IP Right Grant
• 1989
  • 1989-03-16 US US07/325,134 patent/US4903738A/en not_active Expired - Fee Related

Patent Citations (4)

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