GB2313132A - Carpet loom - Google Patents

Abstract

In a carpet loom of the gripper Axminster type the tuft carriers 16 are reciprocated in a generally horizontal direction by generally vertically moving drive members 10. The members 10 may be coupled to the carriers through bell-crank levers 20 or through cables.

Description

CARPET LOOM This invention relates to carpet looms and, in particular, to Axminster carpet looms.

In Axminster carpet looms tuft yarns are held in a yarn carrier or guide bar so that a plurality of yarns are presented of various colours. The yarn is selected for use by reciprocation of the carrier to a selected position according to the colour required. A gripper is moveable to engage and grip the selected yarn according to the position of the carrier and the gripper draws off yarn of the required length which is then cut off and the gripper transfers the cut length to the weaving position at which the length of yarn is woven into the carpet.

A plurality of carriers and associated grippers are mounted across the width ofthe loom, there being a carrier and a gripper for each pile row of carpet. The tuft for each position on the carpet may be chosen according to controls and selection means, usually a Jacquard selector.

Usually the carriers are arranged to extend vertically and to be moveable in a common vertical plane and the grippers move to grip horizontally directed tufts. However with this arrangement the weaver or operator can have difficulty in dealing with missing tufts because the tufts on the carrier must be located behind the loom since the yarn extends to the rear of the carriers to the creel.

It has been proposed to provide an Axminster loom in which the carriers may be disposed horizontally in GB A 1075082 and GB A 1554620.

An object of the present invention is to provide a carpet loom in which the carriers are generally horizontal.

According to the invention there is provided a carpet loom comprising yarn selection means, a reciprocal drive from the selector means, carrier means for supporting a plurality of yarns, the carrier being moveable in a generally horizontal direction between a plurality of positions according to the operation of the selector means, the reciprocal drive operating in a generally vertical direction, and translating means for translating the vertical movement of the reciprocal drive into horizontal movement of the carrier means so that the carrier means presents the tufts of yarn downwardly.

The translating means may include a bell crank lever connected between the reciprocal drive and the associated carrier. In this case the bell crank lever is pivotable about a generally horizontal axis with one arm connected to the drive means and the other arm connected to the associated carrier means. The arms extend outwards from the axis subtending an angle of 90 " to one another.

In this way the vertical reciprocating movement of the drive from the selector means is translated into a horizontal reciprocal movement of the carrier means, the amount of movement determining which of the yarn tufts is selectable by the associated gripper.

In practice a large number of reciprocal drives each have an associated bell crank lever and carrier.

Instead of the translating means being in the form of a bell crank lever there may be provided an endless wire or cable to which the reciprocal drive is connected, the wire passing around pulleys arranged at the corners of an equilateral triangle, the yarn carrier being connected to the wire along a horizontal portion of the wire. In this way when the reciprocal drive is moved (in the vertical direction) the wire moves around the pulleys and the carrier moves in the horizontal direction a corresponding amount.

Further features of the invention will appear from the following description of an embodiment of the invention given by way of example only and with reference to the drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a sectional side view of an embodiment of the invention, Figure 1 A shows a detail of part of the embodiment of Fig 1, Figure 1B is an alternative to the detail of Fig 1A, and Figure 2 is a view, similar to Fig 1, of another embodiment.

Referring to the drawings in each case the arrangement is applicable to an Axminster loom having a plurality of vertically moveable lifters 10 which are caused to be reciprocally moveable in the vertical direction according to the operation of selector means (not shown) which may be of any convenient form such as a Jacquard selector having punched cards to select the required movement of the lifters 10 according to the colour of pile yarn to be used, or other computer controlled selector means.

Usually the upper ends of the lifters 10 are connected by wires (not shown) to the Jacquard mechanism and the lifters 10 are guided for vertical movement in guides 11 and 12 carried on a cross beam 13.

In practice a large number of lifters 10 are provided closely spaced from one another and extending across the width of a loom. Each of the lifters 10 is connected at its lower end 15 to means for translating the reciprocal movement of the lifters 10 to a horizontal movement of associated tuft carriers 16.

In the case of the Figure 1 embodiment the translating means is a bell crank lever 20 having two arms 21 and 22 which subtend an angle of 90" to one another about an axis of pivoting 23, the pivot 24 of the lever 20 being carried on a downward extension 20A from the beam 13.

At the end of the arm 21 is formed a pivotal connection 25 to the end 15 of the associated lifter 10. The outer end of the arm 22 is operatively connected to the associated carrier 16 by the arrangement of Fig 1A or Fig 1B. In Fig 1A the outer end of the arm 22 is formed with a circular bearing surface 27 which is received in a hardened seating 28 whereby as the arm 22 is pivoted and the carrier 16 is moved the bearing surface 27 rotates in the seating 28.

In the Fig 1B arrangement the outer end of the arm 22 is bifurcated and defines inner bearing surfaces 29 between the bifurcated limbs. Such surfaces 29 locate around a cylindrical pin 30 formed on the carrier 16 whereby the arm 22 is rotatable relative to the pin 30 during translation of the carrier 16 in the horizontal direction.

Each carrier 16 is located side-by-side with other carriers at pitches of, say, 1/7" apart and is of generally conventional construction having towards one end a series of longitudinally spaced yarn locating positions in which the yarns 32 from a plurality of bobbins on a creel (not shown) are gripped.

The carriers 16 are carried in guides 31 for reciprocal, horizontal movement longitudinally of their length. On the under side of each carrier 16 is formed a series of notches 33 arranged for engagement by a carrier locator arm 34 pivotable about an axis 35 and having a locator dog 36 engageable with a selected notch 33 upon the carrier 16 reaching the desired position.

The carriers 16 are each moveable by the Jacquard mechanism between a series of selected positions in which a selected yarn length 32 may be gripped by a gripper 40 which may be of conventional form. In the usual manner the gripper 40 pivots towards the end of the selected yarn length 32 located in the carrier 16, grips the yarn end projecting downwards from the carrier, draws the yarn through the carrier by a pivoting action of the gripper until the desired length of yarn is exposed. The yarn length is then severed by a cutter (not shown) to form a tuft and the tuft is placed or woven into the carpet being formed on the loom.

Upon the release of a tuft from the carrier 16 the carrier is free to be moved for another yarn length to be selected.

As an alternative to the bell crank lever of Fig 1 other means may be used to translate the vertical movement of the lifters into a horizontal movement of the carriers. Referring to Fig 2 there is shown translation means comprising a cable 45 arranged to pass around three pulleys 46, 47 and 48, an upper pulley 46 being carried on the cross beam 13 and lower, horizontally spaced pulleys 47 and 48 being carried on cross beams 49 and 50.

Along the length of cable 45 passing between pulleys 46 and 47 is a connector 52 by which the cable 45 is attached to the associated lifter 10. A similar connector 53 attaches the cable 45 to the associated carrier 16 at a position located between the pulleys 47 and 48. The cable 45 also has an adjuster 54 along its length extending between pulleys 48 and 46 whereby the cable 45 may be adjusted in length to adopt the required tension.

It will be seen that by the arrangement of Fig 2 the vertical movement of the lifter 10 is translated into a horizontal movement of the associated carrier 16 in a similar manner to the arrangement of Fig 1.

The invention provides means for Axminster loom carriers which extend and reciprocate in the horizontal direction or, if required, at an angle to the horizontal. By this means access to the carriers by the operator is made easier so that should faults arise the operator can access the faults from a usual operating position.

Moreover the invention may be applied to existing Axminster looms leaving the existing Jacquard selector intact.

Claims (5)

1. A carpet loom comprising yarn selection means, a reciprocal drive from the selection means, carrier means for supporting a plurality of yams, the carrier means being movable in a generally horizontal direction between a plurality of positions according to the operation of the selection means, the reciprocal drive operating in a generally vertical direction and translating means for translating the vertical movement of the reciprocal drive into horizontal movement of the carrier means so that the carrier means presents the tufts of yarn downwardly.

2. A carpet loom according to Claim 1 wherein the translating means includes a bell crank lever connected between the reciprocal drive and the associated carrier means.

3. A carpet loom according to Claim 2 wherein the bell crank lever is pivotable about a generally horizontal axis with one arm connected to the reciprocal drive and the other arm connected to the associated carrier means, the arms extending outwards from the horizontal axis subtending an angle of approximately 90" to one another.

4. A carpet loom according to Claim 1 wherein the translating means comprises an endless wire or cable attached to the reciprocal drive, the wire or cable passing around pulleys arranged at the comers of an equilateral triangle, the carrier means being connected to the wire or cable along a horizontal portion of the wire or cable, so that when the reciprocal drive is moved the wire moves around the pulleys and the carrier means moves in a horizontal direction.

5. A carpet loom substantially as described with reference to Fig 1 or Fig 2 of the drawings.