U.S. patent number 3,809,130 [Application Number 05/283,058] was granted by the patent office on 1974-05-07 for arrangement for driving weft insertion means.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Ruti Machinery Works Ltd.. Invention is credited to Charles Karcher, Edgar Strauss.
United States Patent |
3,809,130 |
Strauss , et al. |
May 7, 1974 |
ARRANGEMENT FOR DRIVING WEFT INSERTION MEANS
Abstract
An arrangement for driving weft insertion means on a wave type
loom having a multiplicity of lamellae for driving the insertion
means, the lamellae arranged in a row, juxtaposed at their wide
sides and, in operation, adapted to pivot, whereby one follows
after the other so that, in their entirety, they perform a
"wave"-like movement, with the pivoting lamellae impinging in the
zone of one of their ends obliquely against an edge of the
insertion means so as to displace the latter.
Inventors: |
Strauss; Edgar (Ruti,
CH), Karcher; Charles (Kusnacht, CH) |
Assignee: |
Ruti Machinery Works Ltd.
(Ruti/Zurich, CH)
|
Family
ID: |
4387726 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/283,058 |
Filed: |
August 23, 1972 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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|
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Sep 3, 1971 [CH] |
|
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12931/71 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
139/436;
139/192 |
Current CPC
Class: |
D03D
47/266 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
D03D
47/26 (20060101); D03D 47/00 (20060101); D03d
047/26 () |
Field of
Search: |
;139/12,13,188,192 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Jaudon; Henry S.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Denton; Donald D.
Claims
1. An arrangement for driving weft thread insertion means on a
wave-type loom by means of a plurality of lamellae arranged in a
row, juxtaposed at their wide sides, and, in operation, adapted to
be pivoted in the zone of one of their ends whereby one follows
after the other and the said lamellae produce in their entirety a
wave-like movement, and the said pivoting lamellae impinge in the
zone of the other of their ends against an obliquely positioned
edge of said insertion means so as to displace the latter, there
being attached to at least some of said lamellae in the zone of
their ends said other spacer means, said spacer means presenting
for each lamella a spacer element, said spacer elements being all
alike and providing predetermined mutual spacing of these ends of
the lamellae during operation thereof, thereby preventing bending
of the lamellae which would otherwise be caused by their impinging
against said obliquely
2. The arrangement according to claim 1 in which said spacer
elements comprises small plates positioned so as to bear on a
lateral wall of each lamella so as to provide uniform, reciprocal
spacing between lamellae
3. The arrangement according to claim 2 in which said small plates
are of circular shape and their diameter is at least approximately
equal to the
4. The arrangement according to claim 2 in which said plates are of
elongate shape and extend in their longitudinal direction at least
over
5. The arrangement according to claim 2 in which said small plates
are secured by being pressed into an aperture formed in said
lamellae and are
6. The arrangement according to claim 1 in which said spacer means
comprises a plurality of spacer elements, each of which is formed
with a slot, and through the agency of its slot, a spacer element
is pushed over said other end of each second lamella and is applied
in cap-like manner thereon so as to produce mutual spacing between
the ends of adjacent
7. The arrangement according to claim 1 in which said spacer means
comprises a coil spring arranged along the row of lamellae, each of
said lamellae being surrounded by a turn of said coil spring so as
to produce adjacent, said other ends of said pivoted lamellae
predetermined, mutual spacing in the direction of the warp threads
and uniform, mutual
8. The arrangement according to claim 7 in which coil spring
positioning means is provided for preventing displacement of said
spring in the
9. The arrangement according to claim 8 in which said coil spring
positioning means is in the form of notches in the zone of said
other end of each of the lamellae extending parallel in the
longitudinal direction of said lamellae for retaining said coil
spring to prevent displacement
10. The arrangement according to claim 8 in which said coil spring
positioning means comprises a stop attached to said each lamellae
in the zone of said other end and disposed externally of the turns
surrounding said lamellae, and each stop is secured to said lamella
at that side at
11. The arrangement according to claim 8 in which said spring
positioning means is formed from stops positioned on said lamellae
and disposed within
12. The arrangement according to claim 11 in which said stops
further remote from said other ends of the lamellae are so
dimensioned that they extend over the intermediate space between
adjacent lamellae and serve as spacer means.
Description
In arrangements for driving weft insertion means on wave type
looms, which are shown and disclosed in U. S. Pats. Nos. 3,263,705
and 3,477,475, at the location of the oblique rear edge of the weft
insertion or picking means, the lamellae travel vertically
upwardly. As they do so, they impinge against the obliquely
arranged rear edge of the insertion means, thereby imparting a
forward movement to the latter. In this way, there is set up a
reaction force due to which the lamellae are pressed away
laterally, i.e., in the direction opposite to that of movement of
the insertion means, so that they are thereby flexed. This flexing
of the lamellae results in somewhat uneven running of the weft
insertion means and also in increased wear of the latter or of the
lamellae. In order to reduce such flexing or binding and to
decrease wear and in order to keep the spacing between the lamellae
as uniform as possible, it is known to arrange the lamellae between
flat guide elements in a manner so that one of the ends of the
lamellae extends out of the guide elements only as far as is
necessary. In this manner, it is possible to keep the lamellae
relatively straight.
It has been found that, despite this measure, it is still possible
for a small amount of flexing to take place. In order to avoid also
this, it is already known to once again guide the ends of the
lamellae projecting out of the guide elements between further guide
elements. Such an arrangement has, however, the considerable
disadvantage that it is an extremely difficult matter to gain
access to the weft insertion means located in the shed.
Furthermore, in such an arrangement, visual monitoring of the
functioning of the insertion means is made difficult.
The above discussed disadvantages are obviated by means of the
present invention in which there is attached in the zone of these
ends on the lamellae, spacer means establishing predetermined
mutual spacing of these ends of the lamellae.
In one special embodiment, the spacer means comprises a spring, one
turn of which surrounds each such lamella end. On movement of the
lamellae, the spring is drawn apart in a direction substantially
perpendicular to its axis. As this takes place, the spring produces
the result that the lamellae are, in this direction, retained with
"mutually compensated" or equalized spacing. The movement of the
lamellae is produced by pivoting the latter about an axis. The
pivoting movement is produced by rotating two screw shafts at which
the lamellae bear and which have an appropriate profile. Due to
this construction of the present invention, there is therefore
achieved the supplementary advantage that any inaccuracy in the
screw shafts driving the lamellae (which may result for example
from irregular wear) is compensated for by the spring. Furthermore,
it becomes possible thereby to leave some clearance between the
said screw shafts and the lamellae bearing thereon, whereby
assembly of the screw shafts and of the lamellae is greatly
facilitated.
The invention will now be discussed with reference to examples of
preferred embodiments shown in the drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is an elevational view as seen from the front of lamellae
and of weft insertion means driven by the lamellae on a loom having
"wave-motion" shuttle drive;
FIG. 2a shows a lateral elevation of a lamella according to FIG. 1,
and the position of the drive shafts;
FIG. 2b shows a plan view of the lamella of FIG. 2a without the
drive shafts;
FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a portion of lamellae showing spacer
means and an insertion means;
FIG. 4 shows an embodiment in which spacer means consist of small
plates attached to a lamella;
FIG. 5 shows an embodiment in which spacer means is of a cap
type;
FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic perspective view showing the spacer means
designated as a spring and the mode of securing the spring to the
lamellae; and
FIG. 7 is an enlarged schematic plan view of a portion of the
lamellae showing the spacer means designated as a spring and an
alternate mode of securing it to the lamellae.
In all the figures, like elements have been given the same
reference numerals.
FIG. 1 shows a plurality of lamellae 11 arranged in a row,
juxtaposed at their wide sides. The lamellae 11 are made from a
thin material; the shape thereof can best be seen in FIGS. 2a and
2b. FIG. 2a shows a lamella 11, as viewed in the direction of the
wide side thereof, and FIG. 2b shows the same lamella as viewed in
the direction of its narrow side. FIG. 1 shows the lamellae 11 from
the front, i.e., the figure shows the right-hand end of the
lamellae 11 in FIG. 2. Each lamella 11 is formed with an aperture
12 through which extends a shaft. The lamella may be pivoted about
the said shaft. The pivoting of the lamellae 11 can for example be
effected by driving them by rotating appropriately profiled screw
shafts 13, the lamellae bearing continuously against the screw
shafts 13 and being thus positively guided by the latter. FIG. 2a
shows a cross-section of the shafts 13.
If the lamellae 11 are so pivoted that their forward free ends
travel upwardly, then the forward free ends impinge as shown in
FIG. 1 against the oblique rear edges 14 of the inserter means 15.
Thereby, the insertion means are displaced towards the left. They
travel through the sheds formed by the warp threads 16 and each
such insertion means inserts during its movement a weft thread 17.
The warp threads 16 are, for the sake of clarity, shown arranged
less dense in the drawing than they actually are. Reference numeral
18 designates the cloth being woven.
On the front lamella ends impinging against the oblique rear edges
14 of the insertion means 15, a force directed towards the
right-hand side in FIG. 1 acts on each of the said ends. In order
to prevent flexing or bending of the lamellae 11 by such force,
according to this invention spacer means are attached to the latter
at their front free end. Said spacer means consists, as shown in
FIG. 1, of small round plates (i.e., discs) 20. Each lamella 11 is
provided with such a disc 20. Due to the provision of such spacer
means, each lamella impinges against the disc 20 of the lamella
arranged adjacent it to the right. In this way, the lamellae 11
acquire in their entirety a degree of rigidity such that, even if
they are extremely thin, they no longer flex or bend laterally.
Consequently, the ends of the lamellae 11 bear accurately along the
rear edge 14, thereby affording the desired distribution of the
drive forces along the said edge to smoothly move the insertion
means 15. This has an advantageous effect with regard to wear of
the edge 14 of the insertion means 15 and of the screw shafts
13.
In the plan view of FIG. 3 which, thus, relative to FIG. 1 is a
view in the direction from the cloth 18 towards the inserter means
15, there are seen insertion means 15, warp threads 16 and lamellae
11. Each of the lamellae 11 is arranged to be displaceable between
two guide elements 19. The latter consist of plates and it is their
purpose to prevent lateral flexing of the lamellae 11. The spacer
means 21 shown in FIG. 3 consists of small round plates or discs 21
the diameter of which is substantially equal to the width of the
lamellae. Each disc 21 is pressed into an associated aperture
formed in the front end of a lamellae. Advantageously, during this
pressing procedure, the small discs 21 are simultaneously brought
to their precise thickness.
The spacer means shown in FIG. 4 consists of small plates 22 welded
onto the lamellae 11. The length of the plates 22 is larger than
the width of the lamellae 11.
In the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, a spacer element 23
is provided and is applied in cap-like manner on the front end of
every second lamella 11. For this purpose, each element 23 is
formed with a slot 27, the size of which is adapted to the end
portion of the lamellae 11.
For the sake of completeness, it should also be mentioned that the
small plates 20, 21, 22 or the caps 23 must, width-wise of the
lamella 11, extend at least for such a distance that during all
operational phases they bear continuously on the adjacent lamella
or on the adjacent lamellae, in order that it may not be possible
for these elements to "foul" each other.
Referring to the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the spacer means
comprises a or coil spring 24. From the diagrammatic perspective
view of this figure, it will be perceived how each lamella 11 is
embraced by a turn of the spring 24. If the spring 24 is designed
to be adequately thick, it will produce the result (to correspond
to the effect of the elements 20 to 23 of the preceding
embodiments) that permanently predetermined mutual spacing is
available between the ends of the lamellae 11.
On providing a spring as spacer means, however, there is above all
achieved a different form of spacing of the lamellae 11. In the
zone of upward and downward movement of the front ends of the
lamellae 11, the turns of the spring 24 are drawn apart in the
direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the spring.
This has the effect that the spring 24 endeavors to compensate or
equalize the spacing of the front lamella ends in the warp yarn
direction, which is more or less perpendicular to the longitudinal
direction of the lamellae 11. If, for example, an individual
lamella 11 should, in consequence of faulty operation, cut a groove
into a drive shaft (13 shown in FIG. 2a) so that the privoting
movement thereof becomes inaccurate, then not only is such faulty
operation compensated for by the spring 24, but furthermore the
formation of such a groove is substantially prevented from the
outset due to the presence of the spring 24.
The notches 24 formed in the lamellae 11 as shown in FIG. 6 have
the result that the spring 24 cannot be displaced in the
longitudinal direction of the lamellae 11.
FIG. 7 shows, once again, the front ends of lamellae 11, as a plan
view drawn to an enlarged scale. As spacer means, once again a
spring 24 is provided. According to this embodiment, there are
attached on each lamella two abutments or small plates 26 in the
form of a spring positioning means, whereof one prevents the spring
24 from sliding forward and the other prevents it from sliding
rearward. It is of course also possible to "make do" with a single
abutment per lamella. In this case, the abutments or stops are
disposed within the turns of the spring 24, i.e., they are arranged
coaxial to the axis of the spring 24 and a stop or abutment is
secured to each lamella. It is also possible to so dimension the
stops 26 that they exactly fill the spacing between two lamellae.
Then, the stops 26 act as spacer means for the mutual spacing of
the ends of the lamellae 11. The spring 24 serves, in this case,
for equalizing the lamella spacings parallel to the warp direction.
For spacing the lamellae 11 by means of stops 26 arranged to
correspond to the example of FIG. 7, it is per se adequate if at
least those of the stops 26 which are more remote from the front
ends of the lamellae and thus nearer to the inserter means 15
extend to the desired extent, as a rule completely, over the
intermediate space between adjacent lamellae 11.
The drawing-in or drafting of the warp threads between the lamellae
11 is greatly facilitated if the thickness of the small plates 20,
21 and 22 is smaller by a minimum value than the intermediate
spaces between adjacent lamellae. The same applies also to the caps
23.
It will be appreciated that various changes and modifications may
be made within the skill of the art without departing from the
spirit and scope of the invention illustrated herein.
* * * * *