WO2016041885A1

WO2016041885A1 - Heald shaft coupling and heald shaft having such a coupling

Info

Publication number: WO2016041885A1
Application number: PCT/EP2015/070915
Authority: WO
Inventors: Christian Gerth; Bernd Pfeffer; Ralph Simmack
Original assignee: Groz-Beckert Kg
Priority date: 2014-09-16
Filing date: 2015-09-14
Publication date: 2016-03-24
Also published as: EP2998421A1; EP2998421B1; CN107075748A; CN107075748B

Abstract

A heald shaft coupling (1) for connecting a heald shaft (11) with a shaft drive is described and claimed, having the following features: a) the heald shaft coupling (1) comprises two coupling elements (2, 3), of which the first (2) is connectable with the heald shaft (11) and the second (3) with the shaft drive, b) the coupling elements (2, 3) are releasably connectable with each other via a relative movement between them, which takes place essentially in the shaft's direction of movement (z), c) at least one of the two coupling elements (2, 3) has a snap-in member (4) extending essentially in the direction of movement (z) of the heald shaft (11), d) the snap-in member (4) has a clamping surface (5) that extends additionally in at least one of the two spatial directions (x, y) running at right angles to the direction of movement (z) of the shaft, e) the other coupling element (2, 3) has at least one clamping element (8) for engagement with the clamping surface (5), the fact that f) the at least one snap-in member (4) is heterogeneous being considered as novel and inventive. In addition, a heald shaft 11 is described and claimed, which features a coupling element (2, 3) with a snap-in element (4) of such kind.

Description

Heald shaft coupling and heald shaft having such a coupling

Heald shaft couplings and heald shafts are known. Generic-type heald shaft couplings provide for a connection between the heald shaft and the heald shaft drive. A push rod that transmits power from the heald shaft drive is often connected to the heald shaft. The heald shaft couplings comprise two coupling elements, one for the heald shaft and the other for the shaft drive. The requirements made on a heald shaft coupling of such kind include fast decoupling and coupling ability and a connection guaranteed to be largely free of play.

The EP 01 17 826 B1 shows a generic-type heald shaft coupling. The coupling element for the heald shaft is a base component and has a support, which is bolted to the heald shaft. A hexagonally-shaped member is mounted rotatably on the support. The other coupling element - the one for the heald-shaft drive - has a ramp onto which the hexagonal member can be lowered, as a rule following a vertical movement downwards that corresponds to the downward movement of the heald shaft during operation. The end portion of the shaft drive's push rod is shaped like the mouth of a hex spanner and opens in the horizontal direction, i.e. at right angles to the heald shaft's direction of movement. The hexagonal member abutting on the ramp can easily be pushed horizontally into this mouth. To close the coupling, the hexagonal member is locked in the mouth by means of a pivotable locking element. More-advanced embodiments of heald shaft couplings are shown in the following publications: EP 0 407 335 A1 , DE 196 40 370 C1 , DE 43 43 882 C1 und DE 195 48 848 C1 . These publications disclose heald shaft couplings having two coupling elements with the following features:

a) the coupling elements are releasably connectable with each other via a relative movement between them, which takes place essentially in the shaft's direction of movement (z), b) at least one of the two coupling elements has a snap-in member extending essentially in the shaft's direction of movement (z),

c) the snap-in member has a clamping surface that also extends in at least one of the two spatial directions (x, y) running at right angles to the shaft's direction of movement,

d) the other coupling element has at least one clamping element for engagement - preferably free of play - with the clamping surface.

The heald shaft couplings disclosed in the last-mentioned publications enjoy a good reputation. However, they also have drawbacks:

The connection between the heald shaft couplings is often difficult to disengage. The couplings are also stiff to engage.

The object of the present invention is to remedy these drawbacks. The object is established by means of the claims 1 and 15.

It is suggested according to the invention that the snap-in member be heterogeneous. The term "heterogeneous" as used here includes cases where the snap-in member is formed integrally and has spatially-extending zones consisting of different materials or material combinations. A snap-in member of this kind may be made, for example, by means of sintering. In the area of the snap-in member's clamping surface, the concentration of hard-metal sintered components, such as tungsten carbide, is preferably especially high. In the area of the snap-in member's tip, which projects furthest towards the other coupling element in the shaft's direction of movement, it is advantageous to blend the sinter material with an increased amount of substances that will reduce friction on the outer surface of the snap-in element. These substances include bronze and also - as far as the sintering process permits the use thereof - graphite.

The addition of softish materials, such as brass, has advantages in those portions of the snap-in member that are subject to impacts with other components. As a rule, the snap-in member is exposed to a high tensile load. If the tensile load poses a problem regarding the use of certain sinter materials, largish and, in particular, longish components made of solid material may be introduced into the sintering mould to accommodate the tensile load. These may consist of metals, carbon or glass. In the present context, the term "heterogeneous" also includes cases where the snap-in member is made up of different components. These components may be different or identical in terms of their composition and/or production method and may differ in shape. Where different components are used to produce a snap-in member, joints are formed as a rule between these components. These snap-in members are preferably not integral and may comprise a plurality of parts.

Producing at least one snap-in member from different materials offers several advantages, among which are lower costs compared to production from a solid material - in particular a homogeneous solid material.

Hollow components may be combined with solid components. Solid metal parts may be combined with sintered parts and/or plastic injection-moulded parts.

The tip of the first snap-in member, which projects furthest towards the other coupling element, to which the first snap-in member is not assigned, is often made of a different material than the clamping surface. Teflon may be used to produce the component that at least partially defines the tip. This component may be a plastic injection-moulded part or it may be made of sheet metal.

Still to be mentioned in connection with the term "snap-in member" is that a longish component is generally meant, which may have partially rounded corners. As already mentioned, advanced embodiments of heald shaft couplings described in the publications EP 0 407 335 A1 , DE 196 40 370 C1 , DE 43 43 882 C1 and DE 195 48 848 C1 have snap-in members of this kind. These snap-in members are often pivotably mounted by means of a through hole through which an axle passes. In some instances, sliding rings and bearing rings are provided to ensure pivotability of the snap-in member about the axle. The last-mentioned parts are not components of the "snap-in member" in the context of this publication. The same applies to the axle. All of these parts are often integrally formed.

The above-mentioned components of the snap-in member may be secured to another component, often a base component, via snap-in connections. The base component is advantageously linked with another component of its coupling element. This linkage, which often constitutes the connection with the heald shaft or its drive may be permanent or separable (e.g. a threaded connection). The linkage may include a through hole through which an axle passes, thereby ensuring that the snap- in member is pivotable. The base component of the snap-in member advantageously includes at least one clamping surface. The snap-in member advantageously includes U-shaped components. According to an advantageous refinement of this idea, the U-shaped components may be mounted on the base component and may have additional latching elements for this purpose. Shoes that can be pushed onto stop edges of the snap-in member, and/or the "tip" of the snap-in member (the part that projects furthest towards the other coupling element in the direction of the shaft's movement), may be shaped in this way. The fact that the various components of the snap-in element are not integral is a further development of the invention. The different components or the different zones of the snap-in member's spatial extension may be made of different materials with different physical properties. For example, the tip may have a low adhesion and/or slip coefficient (e.g. Teflon). The component that embraces the clamping surface is advantageously hard (that is, harder than the others). Rubbing or impacting edges may be made of softish materials, such as brass, or may have a highish concentration of brass.

The stop edges of the snap-in member may be protected by shoes that can be slipped onto or pushed onto them. The shoes may be made of relatively soft material. Embodiments of the present invention are explained in more detail below by reference to the drawings. Advantageously, the features described for the individual embodiments can generally be applied to the invention in its most general form.

Fig. 1 : Figure 1 is a side view of a heald shaft coupling with two uncoupled coupling elements.

Fig. 2: Figure 2 is a side view of the same heald shaft coupling with two coupled coupling elements; the heald shaft is also indicated.

Fig. 3: Figure 3 is an exploded diagram of the shaft-side coupling element.

Fig. 4: Figure 4 is an exploded diagram of the shaft-side coupling element's snap-in member.

Fig. 5: Figure 5 is a diagram of a cap for a snap-in member.

Fig. 6: Figure 6 shows a cross section through a stop shoe for a snap-in member.

Fig. 7: Figure 7 shows a perspective view of a stop shoe for a snap-in member. Fig. 8: Figure 8 is an exploded diagram of a second, slightly modified embodiment of a shaft-side coupling element.

Fig. 9: Figure 9 is a front view of the base component of the snap-in member of the second embodiment of the shaft-side coupling element.

Fig. 10: Figure 10 is a perspective view of the cap for the snap-in member of the second embodiment of the shaft-side coupling element.

Fig. 1 1 : Figure 1 1 is a front view of the snap-in member of a third embodiment of the shaft-side coupling element.

Figure 1 shows an uncoupled heald shaft coupling 1 having a shaft-side coupling element 2 and a drive-side coupling element 3. The shaft-side coupling element 2 is provided with a snap-in member 4 that includes the clamping surface 5 and is pivotably linked to other components of the shaft-side coupling element 2 at the linkage 6.

The drawings of the drive-side coupling element 3 show the base plate 7, the latch 8, the guide rod 9 and the rod 10. A (female) coupling element 3 of this kind is normally also provided with a second base plate. However, this would prevent a person viewing the drawings from seeing the interior of the drive-side coupling element 3 and has therefore been omitted from the drawings.

Figure 2 shows the same coupling 1 . Here, the coupling elements have been mutually engaged via a relative movement in the direction of movement of the heald shaft 1 1 . During the relative movement, the snap-in member 4 has slid along the right-hand flank of the guide rod 9 towards its end position. When the two coupling elements 2 and 3 reach the end/snap-in position, the latch 8, which is pivotable about the linkage 12, anchors the heald-shaft coupling element 2 by blocking the clamping surface 5 of the snap-in member 4. A spring force exerted by a spring not illustrated is required to produce the necessary swivelling movement and to keep the latch in its blocking end position. Figure 2 also shows, schematically, part of the heald shaft 1 1 , which is secured via the support 13 to the rest of the shaft-side coupling element 2. This connection is often a bolted connection.

In all, one can say that the (generic-type) heald shaft couplings 1 referred to above create a separable connection between heald shafts 1 1 and their drives, with the drive power generally being transmitted to the coupling 1 via a rod 10. It is common practice for the shaft-side coupling element 2 to have the male snap-in member 4 and for the drive-side coupling element 3 to have the female part. However, this role distribution may also be the other way round in the context of this invention.

Figure 3 shows an exploded diagram of the shaft-side coupling element 2. It is evident from this diagram that the lateral plates 14 are attached to the aforementioned support 13. The large through-hole in these lateral plates 14 accommodates the linkage 6 for the aforementioned snap-in member 4, for which purpose the pin 15 passes through this and other holes. In the assembled state, the end of the pin 15 is capped with the nut 16. The sliding ring 17 and the bearing ring 18 ensure that the snap-in member 4 is pivotable. As already mentioned in the introductory part of the description, the two last-mentioned parts 17 and 18 and the constituent parts 15 and 16 of the axle do not belong to the snap-in member 4 and, for purposes of this publication, are not components thereof.

In the exploded diagram (Figure 3), the snap-in member 4 separates into the base component 20, the stop shoes 21 and the cap 22, which is also shown in Figure 4. It is also evident from Figure 4 that the cap 22, which is also shown in Figure 5, has latching elements 23 that can engage the recesses 24 in the snap-in member 4 in order to lock the cap 22 in position. The cap 22 and the stop shoes 21 (also see Figs. 6 and 7) have a U-shaped profile that enables them to grip around parts of the snap- in member 4 and to clamp these parts as necessary. The cap and the stop shoes are quickly exchangeable if they are held against the base component 20 only by means of latching and/or the restoring force of the U-shaped cross-sections. However, alternatively or additionally, these parts may also be glued, soldered, bolted or welded to the base component.

The stop shoes 21 may be pushed onto the stop edges 26 of the snap-in member 4. They are preferably made of soft materials, such as brass. It is generally of advantage if the base component 20 of the snap-in member includes both the clamping surface 5 and the through-hole 25 for accommodating the linkage 6 (also see Figure 9).

Figure 8 is an exploded diagram of a further embodiment of a shaft-side coupling element 2, in which almost all the components are identical with the embodiment shown in Figure 3, for example. However, the cap 22 has no latching elements 23, and no recess 24 is provided for engaging such elements. The purpose of the recess 27 is much rather to save weight. The cap 22 may accordingly be anchored to the base component 20 by means of adhesive bonding or welding (also see Figure 10). A cap 22 of this kind may be made of plastic and is preferably manufactured by injection moulding. Teflon, too, may be used here. The caps 22 may also be made of sheet metal.

Figure 1 1 is a side view of the integrally formed snap-in member 4 of a third embodiment of the invention. This member 4 was manufactured by sintering. However, the concentration of the sinter material was varied zonewise. A particularly large amount of brass was added in the area of the stop edge 26 of the snap-in member 4. A particularly large amount of bronze was added in the area surrounding the hole 25. Low-friction materials, such as bronze or carbon, were added to the sinter material in the zone around the tip of the snap-in member. Sinter components that form hard metals, such as tungsten carbide, were added in the area of the clamping surface 5. The just-mentioned zones of the spatial extension of the snap-in member 4 are shown as bold lines.

List of reference numerals

Heald shaft coupling

Heald-shaft coupling element

Drive-side coupling element

Snap-in member

Clamping surface of snap-in member

Snap-in member linkage

Base plate of drive-side coupling-element

Latch on drive-side coupling-element

Guide rod of drive-side coupling-element

Drive-side coupling-element rod

Heald shaft

Latch linkage on drive-side coupling element

Shaft-side coupling-element support

Lateral plates of shaft-side coupling element

Nut for pin

Sliding ring

Bearing ring

Zone around tip of snap-in member

Base component of snap-in member

Stop shoe for snap-in member

Snap-in member cap

Latching element on snap-in member cap

Recess for engagement of the latching element

Hole for snap-in member linkage

Stop edge of snap-in member

Recess in snap-in member (to reduce weight)

Direction of heald-shaft movement

Other (orthogonal) spatial directions of a right-handed system

Claims

1 . Heald shaft coupling (1 ) for connecting a heald shaft (1 1 ) with a shaft drive, having the following features:

a) the heald shaft coupling (1 ) comprises two coupling elements (2, 3), of which the first (2) is connectable with the heald shaft (1 1 ) and the second (3) with the shaft drive,

b) the coupling elements (2, 3) are releasably connectable with each other by means of a relative movement between them, which takes place essentially in the shaft's direction of movement (z),

c) at least one of the two coupling elements (2, 3) has a snap-in member (4) extending essentially in the direction of movement (z) of the heald shaft (1 1 ),

d) the snap-in member (4) has a clamping surface (5) that extends additionally in at least one of the two spatial directions (x, y) running at right angles to the direction of movement (z) of the shaft.

e) the other coupling element (2, 3) has at least one clamping element (8) for engagement with the clamping surface (5),

characterised in that

f) the at least one snap-in member (4) is heterogeneous.

2. Heald shaft coupling (1 ) according to the preceding claim,

characterised in that

the at least one snap-in member (4) is integrally formed yet features zones that differ in their material compositions.

3. Heald shaft coupling (1 ) according to the preceding claim,

characterised in that the at least one snap-in member (4) is made up of different components (21 , 22).

Heald shaft coupling (1 ) according to the preceding claim,

characterised in that

the coupling elements (2, 3) are releasably connectable with each other via a linear relative movement.

Heald shaft coupling (1 ) according to any one of the preceding claims,

characterised in that

the at least one snap-in member (4) is hook-shaped.

Heald shaft coupling (1 ) according to any one of the preceding claims,

characterised in

that the clamping surface (5) of the at least one snap-in member (4) is a constituent part of a first component (2),

whereas the snap-in member's tip, which projects furthest towards the other coupling element (3) in the direction (z) of the heald shaft's movement, contains constituent parts of a second component (22).

Heald shaft coupling according to any one of the preceding claims,

characterised in that

the snap-in member features the following components:

a) components with recesses (24) for engagement with latching elements (23),

b) components with latching elements (23).

Heald shaft coupling according to any one of the preceding claims,

characterised in that

the snap-in member (4) features a base component (20) that contains the clamping surface (5) and at least one receiving means (25) for the linkage (6) to at least one other constituent part (14) of the coupling element (2) to which the snap-in member belongs.

9. Heald shaft coupling (1 ) according to the preceding claim,

characterised in that

the linkage (6) is a pivotable linkage.

10. Heald shaft coupling according to the preceding claim,

characterised in that

the snap-in member (4) has a through-hole (25) for receiving the linkage (6).

1 1 . Heald shaft coupling according to any one of the preceding claims,

characterised in that

the snap-in member (4) features components (21 , 22) that are preferably U- shaped and can be slipped or pushed onto other components (20) of the snap- in member.

12. Heald shaft coupling (1 ) according to any one of the preceding claims,

characterised in that

the snap-in member (4) features components (20, 21 , 22) having the following properties:

• differing degrees of hardness

• differing coefficients of adhesion and/or sliding friction

• differing densities

13. Heald shaft coupling according to the two preceding claims,

characterised in that

• the snap-in member (4) features at least one component (21 , 22) with a preferably U-shaped profile,

• which is/are slipped or pushed onto another component (20),

• the pushed-on component (21 , 22) being made of a softer material than the other component, preferably a soft metal material such as brass.

14. Heald shaft coupling (1 ) according to the two preceding claims, characterised in

• that the snap-in member (4) features a component (21 , 22) that contains a material with a low coefficient of friction, preferably Teflon

• and that at least part of this component (21 , 22) is at the tip of the snap- in member (4), said tip facing - when the heald shaft coupling (1 ) is in the coupled state - towards the coupling element (3) that does not have the snap-in member (4).

15. Heald shaft (1 ) on which at least one coupling element (2) having the following features is mounted:

a) the at least one coupling element (2) is releasably connectable with a second coupling element (3) via a relative movement between them, which takes place essentially along the direction of movement (z) of the shaft (1 1 ) in the loom,

b) the at least one coupling element (2) has a snap-in member (4) extending essentially in the direction of movement (z) of the shaft (1 1 ), c) the snap-in member (4) has a clamping surface (5) that extends additionally in at least one of the two spatial directions (x, y) running at right angles to the direction of movement (z) of the shaft,

d) the clamping surface (5) enabling the snap-in member (4) to be latched to the other coupling element (3) with a clamping element (8), characterised in that

e) the at least one snap-in member (4) is heterogeneous.