US2171685A - Reserve shuttle control for shuttle-changing looms - Google Patents

Description

c. DARWIN 2,171,635

RESERVE SHUTTLE CONTROL FOR SHUTTLE CHANGING LOOMS Sept. 5, 1939.

a Invenior, T

Filed Nov. 22, 1938 fil EB EL) 0rd Darwm A? rn ey Patented Sept. 5, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RESERVE SHUTTLE CONTROL FOR SHUT- TLE-CHANGING LOOMS Application November 22, 1938, Serial No. 241,800

11 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in shuttle changing looms more particularly of the multicolor type and it is the general object of the invention to control a reserve shuttle moving from the shuttle magazine to the lay which shall preyent improper presentation of the shuttle to the In a well-known type of multicolor shuttle changing loom the reserve shuttle magazine comprises two stacks of shuttles located for cooperation with the lay when the latter is in its rearmost position. A common transfer compartment located below the front stack and in front of the bottom shuttle of the rear stack receives a shuttle from the front stack by gravity feed. A support finger is located under the bottom shuttle of the front stack and is rocked to shuttle releasing position when a transfer is to be made from the front stack, thereby releasing the bottom shuttle so that it may fall into the common compartment.

The shuttle in the common compartment is supported by rearwardly extending fingers mounted on the lay until the latter reaches: socalled back center, at which time the shuttle falls into a movable shuttle box on the lay. The shuttle box is normally down out of transfer position to cooperate with the active shuttle, but on changing operation of the loom the box is raised. A subsequent down motion of the boxes places the fresh shuttle in active position.

The bottom shuttle occasionally tends to turn on its longitudinal axis when passing into the common compartment. When this occurs the picker is likely to pass under the shuttle, leaving the latter on the lay so that on the ensuing rear motion of the lay the improperly placed shuttle will hold the shuttle box cover high enough to break the front part of the magazine. The front structure of the magazine includes a forwardly yieldable reserve shuttle guide forming the front part of the aforesaid common compartment. This guide is ordinarily so located as to exert little if any rearward force on a shuttle in the transfer compartment. It is an important object of my present invention to provide mechanism so located as to exert a yielding rearward force on the front wall of a reserve shuttle moving into the transfer compartment. This mechanism is so placed that it engages the shuttle after the latter has had a chance to start its downward motion due to release by the shuttle trip or support at the bottom of the front stack of reserve shuttles. The shuttle by its downward momentum is therefore able to slide along a rounded surface of the yielding support, thereby resisting the tendency of the shuttle to turn as it enters the compartment. The yielding support is so placed that it exerts a rearward force on the shuttle throughout a greater part of the time lapsing between arrival of the shuttle on the fingers and back center position of the lay, or in other words throughout substantially the full interval of time in which the reserve shuttle will normally be in the transfer compartment.

Since the rearward force is sufficient to hold the shuttle in proper position it will also be sufficiently strong to interfere with downward motion of the shuttle into the shuttle box. This is due to the fact that at this time the shuttle is substantially stationary and therefore has no momentum to overcome the force of the yielding support. The reserve shuttle magazine is made with several moving parts certain of which lend themselves readily to the release of the support. As shown herein, I choose to employ the box top or cover of the temporarily raised shuttle box for the purpose of momentarily moving said yielding support positively in a direction. away from the shuttle to relieve the latter of any resistance which would interfere with its gravitational descent into the shuttle box. This motion of the shuttle support is against a yielding force normally tending to hold the support in the path of a shuttle, and immediately upon completion of a shuttle changing operation the support returns to its normal shuttle guiding position.

The support already mentioned yields forwardly not only to permit the shuttle to move completely into the compartment but also to release it. Occasionally, however, a shuttle will not be completely transferred due to some defect of the shuttle box, and when this happens the shuttle will hold the box cover in an abnormal high position. Under these conditions the front part of the magazine as heretofore constructed has been subjected to breakage due to engagement with the cover, and it is a further object of my present invention to make the support mentioned hereinbefore not only yieldable forwardly but also constructed so that it will bend rearwardly should it be engaged by an improperly placed shuttle box cover on the rearward stroke of the lay. A convenient way of accomplishing this result is to make the support of a strip of spring sheet metal, although I do not Wish to be limited to that particular form of support.

In the description to follow I have illustrated a center support so placed that it cannot have accidental engagement with the weft carried by the shuttle but I do not wish to be limited in the practice of my invention to the use of a single support although it is desirable that such supports as are used be so placed that they cannot accidentally engage and damage the weft carried by the shuttle.

With these and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, my invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein a convenient embodiment of my'invention is set forth,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a shuttle changing magazine having my invention applied thereto,

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 showing a reserve shuttle in a common transfer compartment awaiting completion of transfer into the shuttle box,

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but with the shuttle completely transferred into the shuttle box,

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing rearward yielding of the support by engagement with an improperly placed shuttle.

In the accompanying drawing, I have shown a magazine M having front and rear stacks of shuttles l0 and II, respectively, which feed downward by gravity. The rear stack 'of'shuttles is supported by a platform l2 and transfer from this stack is effected with the'aid of a shuttle plunger |3 movable forwardly, or to the right as viewed in Fig. 2, when a transfer is to be made from a rear stack of shuttles. A common transfer compartment designated at C is in front of the bottom shuttle of the rear stack and below the bottom shuttle of the front stack and a shuttle which is moved forwardly by the plunger I3 will slide off the platform I2 and rest on fingers 4 on the lay L, one of said fingers being shown in the drawing.

The front stack of shuttles is guided by a front magazine plate and a center partition 2| defining a downwardly extending guideway leading to the common compartment 0. A rock shaft is journaled on the front plate 20 and is surrounded by a torsion spring 26 one end of which is fastened to a bearing 21 on the magazine plate 20 and the other end of which is received by a collar 28 angularly adjustable on the shaft 25 by a set screw 29. I-Ieretofore the shaft 25 has had secured thereto a rigid downwardly extending shuttle support such as shown for instance at H0 in prior Turner Patent No. 2,054,171. In the present instance I omit this rigid guide but retain the rock shaft for the purposes of my present invention.

The lowest shuttle in the front stack, desigfiat-ed in dotted lines in Fig. 2, is normally supported by a finger 30 on a stub shaft 3| journaled on the front plate of the magazine and controlled by a link 32 extending upwardly to be raisedfon a shuttle changing operation of the loom. The finger 30 is secured to the shaft 3| as indicated in Fig. 1 while a friction pad 33 is journaled for free motion on the shaft 3|. A torsion spring 34 surrounding the shaft 3| acts on the pad 33 and,

has its tension varied by a collar 35 held in angularly adjustable position on the shaft 3| by set screw 33. A finger 31 depending from the pad tion to state that when a shuttle changing operation is to occur the rod 32 is raised to move the support finger 30 forwardly, or to the right as viewed in Fig. 2, while at the same time pad 33 moves rearwardly against the next shuttle above the bottom shuttle. By this operation the shuttle designated in dotted lines in Fig. 2 descends but all shuttles thereover are held by the pad 33. When released by the finger 30 the lowest shuttle in the forward box passes into the common compartment C.

. The shuttle changing mechanism includes a 1 pair of vertically shiftable shuttle boxes B and B which are normally down so that the box B is in active position. When a transfer or shuttle changing operation is to occur, however, a box lifter rod 40 is raised to place box B in active position and at the same time raise the upper box B to a position where it can receive a shuttle from the compartment C.

The upper box B includes in its construction a cover 4| movable about an axis 42 carried by the 2 box B. The cover has a roll 43 which cooperates with a lifting cam 44 secured to and extending forwardly from the magazine plate 20. This cam has an actuating face 45 for cooperation with the roll. The latter normally passes under the cam 2 when the boxes are down, but when the boxes are up the roll cooperates with the face .45 as the lay nears its rearmost position to rock the cover in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2 around its pivot 42 and against the action of a 3 spring 46 shown in Fig. 1.

Except as indicated the matter thus far described may beas set forth in the aforesaid patent to Turner and also in the Patents Nos. 2,082,919 and 2,103,800. 7 3

In carrying my present invention into effect I eliminate the rigid metallic guide for the front of the transfer compartment C as heretofore used and in its place substitute yielding fingers or the like which can be bent rearwardly when occasion at demands and be moved forwardly positively at the time of a shuttle changing operation. As

shown in the drawing I secure to the shaft 25 a downwardly'extending finger 5|] having therein an adjustable set screw 5| to engage the plate 25. 4

The spring 26 holds the screw against the plate but permits the arm 5|] to bemoved forwardly, or to the right as viewed in Fig. 2. Secured to the bottom of the finger 20 is a spring 52 formed preferably of resilient sheet steel and shaped sub- 5 compartment C and resting on the fingers [4 as 5 shown in Fig. 2.

The setting of the screw 5| issuch that the spring finger will exert a rearward force on the front wall of the shuttle S in the compartment C.

The curve 53 is such that a shuttle descending of from the dotted position shown in Fig. 2 will have sufficient momentum to slide along said surface and assume the full line position shown in Fig. 2, pushing the finger forwardly either by bending it or causing yielding of spring 26. rived from the rear cell will be pushed forwardly by the plunger I3 against the action of the spring finger.

Secured also to shaft 25 is an operating arm which extends downwardly to a position in front of the rear ledge 6| of the box cover 4|. The arm 60 is so related to the cover ledge that as the cover rises due to rolling of the roll 43 along the 'cam face 45 the ledge will engage the arm 60 and rock the shaft 25 slightly in a counter-clockwise di- A shuttle de- 65 rection as viewed in Fig. 2, thereby moving the finger 50'to the right and drawing the spring finger 52 forwardly away from the shuttle. This action is timed to occur either slightly before or at the time that the shuttle S is to drop into the upper raised box B.

In operation, when a shuttle changing operation is to take place and assuming that the incoming shuttle is to be derived from the front cell I9, the support finger 30 will be rocked as already described, This releases the bottom shuttle of the front stack and it descends, acquiring enough momentum before striking surface 53 to push the spring 52 forwardly and fall on fingers M as shown in Fig. 2. The spring 52 acts to steady the shuttle and prevent turning thereof, and exerts a rearward force on the shuttle tending to hold it against the bottom shuttle of the rear stack, also as shown in Fig. 2.

As the lay moves rearwardly, or to the left as viewed in Fig. 2, the front edge of the lay ends H, marking the forward ends of the fingers M, will slide under the shuttle so that the forward part of the latter will extend forwardly from and therefore be unsupported by the fingers. Under these conditions a shuttle would tend to turn on its longitudinal axis, but the spring finger 52 acts to hold the shuttle rearwardly, thereby resisting this tendency of the shuttle to turn. When the lay has reached its rearmost position so that the surface 10 is in alignment with the rear wall of the shuttle S, or the left wall as viewed in Fig. 2, the spring finger will be moved forwardly away from the shuttle by cooperation of the arm 60 and the ledge 6|, as shown in Fig. 3. The shuttle will therefore be free to drop into the box B by positive release of finger 52.

On the following forward beat of the lay the roll 43 will move down the surface 45 to lower the cover, thereby disengaging the ledge 6| from the arm 60 and permitting the spring 26 to return the spring finger 52 to its normal shuttle steadying or guiding position. The vertical distance between the bottom of the spring finger 52 and the fioor of box B will ordinarily be a little greater than the height of the shuttle so that the latter may move forwardly with the lay without engaging the finger 52. Later the shuttle boxes descend to place the fresh shuttle in active position and the changing operation is complete.

It may occasionally happen that the transfer of the reserve shuttle is imperfect due either to an accidental turning over of the shuttle so that it assumes the position in the top shuttle box as set forth in Fig. 4, or due to the fact that the connections for the box lifter rod 40 slip out of position and allow the box B to remain in abnormally high position. In either of these events there is likely to be some part carried by the lay which will be high enough to strike the finger 52 on the next succeeding rear motion of the lay. When the shuttle is on its side the picker P will slide under it to raise the same, thereby lifting the cover 4| to a sufficiently high position to engage the finger 52 and bend the same rearwardly into the common compartment on the next rear motion of the lay. This bending of the finger 52, due to its inherent resilience, avoids breakage such as had occurred in the past under similar conditions when the part corresponding to the finger 52 has been made rigid and held against movement rearwardly behind its normal position. Should the connections to the box lifter rod Ml slip, the box B will remain in high position, in which case the shuttle in the box B will hold the cover in a raised position somewhat similar to that shown in Fig. 4. In this latter instance also the cover will engage and bend the finger 52 without damage to any of the parts concerned.

While I have described one spring finger to be located adjacent the left end of the magazine as viewed in Fig. 1 at a point where it will engage a shuttle between the ends of the latter, I nevertheless do not wish to be limited to this construction.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a shuttle changing magazine with yielding shuttle guide means constructed so that a shuttle in motion may slide along the surface 53 to assume a temporary stationary position on the fingers M, in which position the spring finger will exert a rearward force on the shuttle tending to maintain it in proper position while the fingers I slide rearwardly. It will also be seen that the finger 52 is capable of flexing rearwardly if engaged by an abnormally high box cover on a rearward beat of the lay subsequent to a shuttle changing operation. It will further be noted that cooperation between the box cover and arm 60 acts positively to move the spring finger forwardly a sufiicient amount to release the shuttle when the lay is on back center, thereby permitting the shuttle to drop in box B unhindered by frictional contact with the finger.

Having thus described my invention it will be seen that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

1. In a shuttle changing loom having a lay movable backwardly and forwardly therein and having a multicolor magazine having a plurality of stacks of reserve shuttles located adjacent the rear position of the lay, means in the magazine defining a common compartment to be occupied by a reserve shuttle drawn from any of the stacks, a shuttle box on the lay to receive a shuttle from the common compartment and capable of upward motion relatively to the lay to shuttle receiving position, a yieldable finger to engage and position a shuttle in the common compartment to hold the same yieldingly in position for passage into the shuttle box. and means operated by the shuttle box when in reserve shuttle receiving position to move the yieldable finger away from the shuttle in the compartment.

2. In a shuttle changing loom having a lay movable backwardly and forwardly therein and having a multicolor magazine having a plurality of stacks of reserve shuttles located adjacent the rear position of the lay, means defining a common compartment for a reserve shuttle derived from any stack, shuttle supporting fingers on the lay extending under the compartment to support a shuttle in the compartment when the lay is forward of its rearmost position, a shuttle box on the lay normally in low position but movable to high position to receive the shuttle in the compartment when the lay is in rearmost position, a yieldable finger to engage the shuttle and hold the same with the longitudinal ax s thereof in substantial alignment with the longitudinal axis of the shuttle box, a cover for the shuttle box, means to lift the cover as the lay moves rearwardly when the shuttle box is in high position, and connections between the cover and the yieldable finger to move the latter forwardly relatively to a shuttle in the compartment to release the latter at the time the shuttlemoves from the compartment into the shuttle box.

3. In a shuttle changing loom having a lay movable backwardly and forwardly therein and having a multicolor magazine with a plurality of stacks of reserve shuttles located adjacent the rear position of the lay, means to limit rearward motion of a reserve shuttle in transfer position relatively to the magazine, shuttle supporting fingers extending rearwardly from the lay to support the shuttle when said lay is in front of its rearmost position, said fingers to move from under the reserve shuttle in transfer position as the lay reaches-rearmost position, a yieldable finger to engage a shuttle in transfer position and assist in maintaining the same with the longitudinal axis thereof substantially aligned with the lay, a shuttle box on the lay in front of said fingers normally in low'position but movable to high position to receive a shuttle from the magazine, a cover for said shuttle box, means to lift the cover when the box is inhigh position and the layis moving rearwardly, and connections between the cover and the yieldable finger to move the latter forwardly with respect to a shuttle to be transferred when the coveris raised.

4. In a-shuttle changing loom having a lay movable backwardly and forwardly therein and having a multicolor magazine with a plurality of stacks of reserve shuttles located adjacent the rear position of the lay, a shuttle box on the lay normally in low position and movable to high position ,to assist in a shuttle changing operation of the loom, rearwardly extending shuttlesupporting fingers on the lay, means defining a compartment above said fingers to receive a reserve shuttle to be transferred from any of the stacks, a finger yieldable forwardly from normal posi tion and normally positioned to engage a shuttle in said compartment to limit forward motion of a shuttle in said compartment, a cover for the shuttle box, means effective during the rearward motion of the lay to raise said cover when the box is in high position, and-means operated by the cover and connected to the yieldable finger to move the latter forwardly relatively to said' common compartment when the cover is raised.

5. In a shuttle changing loom having a lay movable backwardly and forwardly therein and having a multicolor magazine With a plurality of stacks of reserve shuttles located adjacent the rear position of the lay, means in the magazine defininga common compartment to be occupied by a reserve shuttle drawn from any of the stacks, a shuttle box on the lay to receive a shuttle from the common compartment and capable of upward motion relatively to the lay to shuttle receiving position, a fiexiblefing-er to engage and position a shuttle in the common compartment to hold the same yieldingly in position for passage into the shuttle box, and means operated by the shuttle box when in reserve shuttle receiving position to' move the flexible finger away from the shuttle in the compartment, said flexible finger being yieldable rearwardly in the event of an engagement with an improperly transferred shuttle on a subsequent rearward motion of the lay.

6. In a shuttle changing loom having a lay movable backwardly and forwardly therein and having a multicolor magazine with a plurality of stacks of reserve shuttles located adjacent the rear position of the lay, means defining a common compartment to hold temporarily a shuttle drawn from" any stack, a shuttle supporting finger above said compartment to support reserve shuttles over said compartment, a yieldable finger extending to a position below the first named finger and in front of the compartment to exert a rearward force on a reserve shuttle in the compartment, a shuttle box on the lay normally in low position and movable to high position on shuttle changing operations of the loom to receive a shuttle from the compartment, a cover for the shuttle box normally in down position, means operative on a rearward motion of the lay to raise said cover when the shuttle box is in high position, and connections between the cover and the yieldable finger to move the latter forwardly with respect to the compartment and relieve the pressure exerted by the yieldable finger on the reserve shuttle as the shuttle box in high position moves toward the reserve shuttle in the compartment.

7. In ashuttle changing loom having a lay movable backwardly and forwardly therein, a multicolor reserve shuttle magazine with a phi-- rality of stacks of reserve shuttles located adjacent the rear position of the lay, means defining a common compartment in the magazine to receive a reserveshuttle drawn from any stack, a flexible member to engage the front wall of a reserve shuttle in the compartment, means to limit the normal rearward position of the flexible means, and mechanism to move a shuttle from the compartment to the lay when the latter is in its rearmost position, said fiexible member yieldable rearwardly behind the normal position thereof if engaged by'any part carried by the lay on the next backward stroke of the lay following the beat on which transfer of a shuttle from the compartment to the lay occurs.

8. In a shuttle changing loom having a lay movable backwardly and forwardly therein, a I multicolor reserve shuttle magazine with a plurality of stacks of reserve shuttles located adjacent the rear position of the lay, means defining a common compartment'in the magazine to receive a reserve shuttle drawn from any stack, a flexible member to engage the front wall of a reserve shuttle in the'compartment, means to limit the normal rearward position of the flexible means, and mechanism to move a shuttle from the compartment to the lay when the latter is in its rearmost position, said flexible member yieldable rearwardly into the compartment behind the normal position thereof if engaged by any part carried by the lay on the next backward stroke of the lay following the beat on which transfer of a shuttle from the compartment to the lay occurs.

,9. Ina shuttle changing loom having a lay movable backwardly and forwardly therein, a multicolor magazine with a plurality of stacks of reserve shuttles located adjacent the rear position' of the lay, a shuttle box on the lay normally in low position and movable to high position to assist in a shuttle changing operation of the loom, means defining a common compartment in the magazine to receive reserve shuttles from any of the stacks, a flexible finger extending to a position in front of the compartment to engage a reserve shuttle in said compartment, means to limit the normal rearward position of 7 the flexible finger, and a cover for the shuttle box to be raised to receive a reserve shuttle from the compartment, said flexible finger yieldable rearwardly from the normal position thereof when engaged bythe cover when the latter is 7 held in an abnormally high position by an improperly transferred shuttle on the succeeding backward motion of the lay.

10. In a multicolor shuttle changing loom, a lay movable backwardly and forwardly therein, a magazine having a plurality of stacks of reserve shuttles located adjacent the rear position of the lay, means defining a common compartment in the magazine to receive a reserve shuttle from any stack, a flexible finger extending to a position in front of the compartment to as sist in holding a reserve shuttle in the compart- Inent, means to limit normal rearward motion of the flexible finger, a shuttle box on the lay to receive a reserve shuttle from the compartment, and a cover forming part of the shuttle box to be raised prior to and lowered subsequent to a normal shuttle changing operation of the loom, said flexible finger yieldable rearwardly behind the normal position thereof on the next succeeding backward motion of the lay if engaged by the cover when the latter is held in raised position by an improperly transferred shuttle.

11. In a multicolor shuttle changing loom, a lay movable backwardly and forwardly therein, a magazine having a plurality of stacks of reserve shuttles, means on the magazine defining a common compartment to receive a shuttle from any stack, a flexible finger pivotally supported to the magazine at a point above the compartment and extending to a position in front of the compartment to assist in holding a reserve shuttle in said compartment, mechanism on the lay below the compartment to receive a reserve shuttle from the compartment, and means to limit normal rearward movement of the flexible finger, said finger being yieldable rearwardly into the compartment behind the normal position thereof when engaged by any part of the mechanism in abnormally high position due to an improper shuttle changing operation of the loom.

CLIFFORD DARWIN.

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