US2409961A - Fault detector and automatic stop device for textile machines - Google Patents

Description

- 1946. DE HART G. scRANToM 2,409,961

FAULT. DETECTOR A ND AUTOMATIC STOP DEVICE FOR TEXTILE MACHINES Filed Aug. 26, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet '1 INVENTOR.

Oct. 22, 1946. DE HART s. scRAN'roM I 2,409,961-

FAULT DETECTOR AND AUTOMATIC S-TOP DEVICE FOR TEXTILE MACHINES Filed Aug. 26, 1944' s Slieets-She'et 2 0 Oct. 22, 1946; DE HART G. SCRANTOM 7 2,409,961

FAULT DETECTOR AND AUTOMATIC STOP DEVICE FOR TEXTILE MACHINES Filed Aug. 25, 1944 u 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 V o 17g giF /A INVENTOR. j. G'- Scramam flTT ORNEY' Patented Oct. 22, 1946 FAULT DETECTOR AND AUTOMATIC STOP DEVICE FOR TEXTILE MACHINES De Hart G. Scrantom, Maplewood, N. J assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application August 26, 1944, Serial No. 551,336

This invention relates to an automatic fault detector for knitting, braiding, weaving, stranding, twisting and like machines and more particularly to an electrically controlled stopping device for a textile machine wherein a knitted material is produced or a knitted covering is applied over a core such as an electric conductor.

Some of the limiting factors in operating knitting machines are the breaking of threads and the dropping of stitches in the knitting opera- An object of the present invention is to provide a small compact device for promptly stopping a textile machine upon the occurrence of undesirable conditions or faults, such as the breaking of a. yarn or thread, the breaking of the needle and/ or the dropping of a stitch.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an electrical stop device which may be applied readily to machines already in use without ma terial changes in the construction thereof.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, an automatic stop device is applied to a knitting machine so that a control arm of the device is moved by the knitted material or by a conductor or core being covered with the knitted material when the material is moved transversely to its direction of travel because of an unbalanced tension in the textile strands caused by the breaking of a strand or the occurrence of a dropped stitch during the knitting process.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following de tailed description taken in connection with the drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a conventional type knitting machine disclosing the electrical stop device of this invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged part-sectional View of the needle operating mechanism for applying a knitted covering over an electrical conductor and the application of the automatic stop device thereto;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view showing a modified bifurcated control arm of the electrical stop device in operative position with the conductor being covered with a knitted fabric;

Fig. 4 is a sectional View taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the knitting mechanism disclosing the production of a smooth knitted fabric over a conductor and the position of the control arm of the stop device;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an insulated conductor covered. with a smooth knitted fabric;

. Fig. 7 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view 11 Claims. (Cl. 66166) of the knitting mechanism showing the production of a rough knitted fabric over a conductor and the position of the control arm of the stop device;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an insulated conductor covered with a rough knitted fabric;

Fig. 9 is a front elevational View of a modified stop device wherein the birfurcated control arm may be moved into and out of operative position;

Fig. 10 is an end view of the modified stop device shown in Fig. 9, and V a Fig. 11 is a schematic circuit diagram disclosing one adaptation of the electrical stop device of this invention.

Referring now to the drawings, the reference numeral It designates a frame of a knitting machine on which is mounted a motor l I. This motor drives a pulley l2 and a belt l3, which in turn drives suitable gearing l4 enclosed in a gear box IE secured to the frame In of the machine by bolts I6. The gearing l4 rotates a hollow tubular shaft ll (Fig. 2) through which a core or electrical conductor 20 passes to or. from a knitting mechanism 2|.

The knitting mechanism to which this invention is applied is disclosed more in detai1 in B. W. Lerch et al., Patent 2,236,183, and S. E. Brillhart Patent 2,239,378, and only so much of this mechanism is disclosed and described hereinafter as is necessary for a'full understanding of the present invention.

Rotatable with the tubular shaft ll. of the knitting mechanism, is a jack cylinder which is also driven by the gearing l4. Needle jacks 26 are reciprocated in the jack cylinder through their butts 28 which engage wobbler cams'29 operated by driven shaft IT as shown in Fig. 2. The upper end of the knitting head is provided with a needle guide cylinder 39 in which a plurality of knitting needles 3| are reciprocated. by bifurcated ends 32 of the needle jacks 2'6 engaging projections 33 on the knitting needles. The strands, threads or yarn 35 (Fig. l) for th knitting operation are supplied from a plurality of stationary cops 36 supported on a stand 31 swingably mounted on the frame ll] of the knitting machine.

The strands of yarn or threads 35 are fed from the cops 36 through guides 38 and 39 to a yarn guide spider 40 positioned immediately above and concentric with the knitting needles 3|. The guide spider 46 is adjustably mounted on an upright 4! which is secured to the upper surface of the gear boX l5. Thisspider carries a plurality of yarn guides d5 which are concentrically arranged and equally spaced around a cylindrical tube or web holder adjustably mounted in a vertical direction within'a central opening in the spider 49 (Fig. 2). The conductor 20 passes up or down through this cylindrical tube 46 and a knitted tubular covering of yarn is applied over the conductor by the knitting needles.

Thus the strands of yarn are led to the needles from equally spaced points about a circle in a symmetrical pattern to converge into a knitted covering or web around the conductor and the conductor will under normal conditions invariably travel in a central position relative to the knitting mechanism because of approximately equal tension of the strands of yarn on all sides thereof. However, in the event a strand of yarn breaks or a drop stitch occurs due to a broken needle or other cause to disturb the symmetrical pattern, the tension or pull on the knitted material and on the conductor from the various sides will be unequal thereby causing the knitted material and the conductor to oscillate or shimmy out of its normal central position of travel. If the material is knitted without acore then the knitted material alone will oscillate as above described on the occurrence of a defect therein.

This oscillating movement of the knitted material and the conductor on the occurrence of a fault provides the operating basis'of the present invention for automatically and promptly arresting the movement of a knitting or similar machine.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a hooked control arm ll (Figs. 2, 5 and 7) or a bifurcated control arm t8 (Figs. 3 and 4) is positioned to contact the knitted material or the conductor 25 When in its normal central position relative to the knittin needles arranged in a circle. This control arm 41, or 48 is slidably mounted in a support 5! which is secured by a bolt and nut to the spider it as shown in Fig.2. The straight end of the control arm 47 or 48 is provided with an insulator member 56 which engages a vertical leaf spring contact 57 suitably secured to the support 59' and insulated therefrom. Mounted in two upturned lugs 5859 of the support 5%! are two threaded contacts Ei6l spaced on each side of the contact 51.. The threaded contacts SKI-61 can be individually adjusted relative to the common contact 51 to give any desired degree of sensitivity.

,As shown in the controlcircuit diagram of Fig. 11 the adjustable contacts 6t6l are connected to ground and the contact is connected through a conductor 62 to grounded battery 63. Themotor H of the knitting machine is ordinarily controlled by a hand switch t4 (Figs. 1 and 11) which, when closed against the pull. of a spring 55, completes a circuit from ground through a conductor 66, a solenoid Bl, a conductor 68 to grounded battery 63 to energize solenoid B1. The energization of solenoid 6i pulls up an armature 69 against the tension of a spring to close a circuit through the motor I i from a source of power H to eifect operation of the knitting machine. Hand switch fi l is also an armature of solenoid 6'5 and hence upon energization of the solenoid the switch armature Ed is held in circuit closing position against the pull of spring 65 to provide a locking circuit for the solenoid.

When a strand s5 breaks or a stitch is dropped by a broken needle or by an other cause, the conductor or core 25 being covered with a knit ted textile is thrown from a balanced central position of travel into an oscillatory movement. The oscillating core 25 and/or the knittedteX- tile moves control arm 47 or 48 to close either contacts 51, 60 or El, 6!. The closure of either of these' contacts by the control arm'establishes a shunt from ground through either contact at or 6! through conductor 62 to grounded battery 63 to thus shunt out or by pass the solenoid 61 thereby tie-energizing it. The coil spring 19 then moves the armature 65 to open position to disconnect the motor from the source of power 58 to stop the machine. The shunting of solenoid 67 de-energizes it and spring 85 then moves switch 64 to open position to prevent restarting of the machine until the defect is corrected and switch 64 is again manually closed.

From the foregoing it will be evident that the textile machine will be automatically controlled and stopped when any defect occurs in the knitted fabric to cause it to move out of its normal line of travel or to cause the core being covered to fluctuate out of its normal line of travel.

The knitting machine disclosed in Fig; i. of the drawings is designed to produce a smooth covering as shown in Fig. 6 with knots l2 on the inside or to produce a rough covering as shown in Fig. '2 with the knitted knots E2 on the outside.

In the production of the smooth covering the conductor or core 2i] enters the top of the knitting mechanism and travels downward as indicated by the arrows in Figs. 5 and 3. In knitting a smooth covering, the cylindrical tube Or web holder 66 is moved upwardly from the position shown in Figs. 2 and 7 to that shown in Fig. 5 so that the control arm 4? or 48 of the stop de vice is positioned below the web holder 46.

In knitting a rough covering, the conductor or core 20 enters the bottom of the knitting mechanism and travels upwardly as indicated bythe arrow in Fig. 7. This knitting operation requires that the web holder 45 be positioned closer to the knitting needles 3| as shown in Fig. 7 and that the control arm ll or 48' be positioned Within a cut out in the web holder 45 as shown in Figs. 2 and 7.

A modified structure for moving the control arm of the stop device into and out of engagement with the conductor or core 213 is disclosed in Figs. 9 and 10. In this modification the support 51] of the stop device is provided with a movable lever is which is pivoted at M on the support. -The lever 13 has mounted on it a leaf spring contact which is similar to and performs the same function as the leaf spring contact El shown in Figs. 2 and 11. Contact 15 is bifurcated at its lower end to form forks l6 (Fig. ,10) which are positioned in a slot in the insulator member 56 secured to the right hand end (Fig. 9) of a control arm Tl. Control arm 'l'l performs the same function and is somewhat similar to controlarrn '38 in that it has a modified forked endl8 and is slidably mounted in an upturned lug 19 of the support 55. Also mounted on and carried by the pivoted lever F3 are the two adjustable contacts 6El- 6| (Figs. 9 and 11) which are mounted in lugs 39 integral with the lever. 7

When the lever 13 is manually moved counterclockwise to the position indicated in dotted outline in'Fig. 9 the leaf spring contact '55 mounted thereon is also moved and through its forks 15 move the insulator 56 and control arm ii to the right as indicated in dotted outline. This movement of the control arm moves its forked end 13 out of engagement with theconductor 20 so as to expedite the making of repairs when a defect ocours in the knitting operation. 7

The'lever 13 is held in its dotted'line position of Fig. 9 by a tensioned coil springtZ; one-end of which is secured to a portion 83 of the support 5t and the other end of which is secured to an upturned lug 84 on the lever 13. Since the lower end of the spring 32 is thus moved about pivot is to shorten the distance between 83 and 8d the spring becomes shorter and holds the lever 13 in the indicated dotted line position. Likewise, when lever 13 is manually moved to its operative or full line position of Fig. 9 to bring the forked end 18 of the control lever i! into engagement with the conductor 28, the spring 82 is again shortened to hold lever l3 in that position.

When support 50 with its modified structure (Figs. 9 and 10) mounted thereon is secured to the knitting machine in the position shown for the support 553 in Fig. 2, the control arm Ti will likewise operate the circuit shown in Fig. 11 to stop the machine when a defect occurs as has been described.

t is to be understood that the nature of the embodiment of the invention herein disclosed is merely illustrative and that the invention can be applied to braiding, knitting, weaving, stranding, twisting and like machines and that changes and 'modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine of the types indicated, means for combining a plurality of strands to form a covering over a traveling core which moves out of its normal path of travel when a defect occurs in the covering, and machine stopping means operated by the core when a defect occurs in the covering.

2. In a machine of the types indicated, means for applying a textile covering over a traveling core which moves laterally when a defect occurs in the covering, control means in contact with the traveling core and movable therewith in a lateral direction when a defect occurs in the covering, and stopping means for the machine controlled by the said control means.

3. In a machine of the types indicated, means for combining strands to form a covering over a traveling core which oscillates out of its normal line of travel when a defect occurs in the covering, and means for stopping the machine including a control arm operated by the core when a defect occurs in the covering.

4. A stop device for machines for applying a covering of strands over a traveling core which automatically varies its movement when a defect occurs in the covering, comprising an arm positioned near the traveling core and adapted to be actuated by the core when a defect occurs in its covering, and electric contacting means operated by the actuated arm to stop the machine.

5. Electrically operated stop devices for machines of the types indicated for applying a textile covering to a traveling core which oscillates when a defect occurs in the textile covering, comprising normally open contacts, means controlled by the oscillation of the core to close the contacts, and means controlled by the closure of the contacts to stop the machine.

6. In a machine of the types indicated, a motor,

means operated by the motor for combining strands to form a moving tubular fabric which oscillates out of its normal path of travel when a defect occurs in the fabric, a control arm in contact with the traveling fabric, and a control circuit for the motor which is operated by the control arm when a defect occurs in the fabric to oscillate the arm to disconnect the motor and stop the machine.

7. In a machine of the types indicated, means for combining a plurality of strands to form a covering over a traveling core which moves out of its normal path of travel when a defect occurs in the covering, and machine stopping means operated by the core when a defect occurs in the covering including a control arm for engaging the core, and means for moving the control arm out of engagement with the core.

8. In a machine of the types indicated, a motor, means operated by the motor for combining strands to form a moving tubular fabric which oscillates out of its normal path of travel when a defect occurs in the fabric, a control member in contact with the traveling fabric, a control circuit for the motor which is operated. by the control member when a defect occurs in the fabric to oscillate the member to disconnect the motor and stop the machine, and means for moving the control member out of contact with the traveling fabric.

9. In a machine of the types indicated, means for combining strands to form a covering over a core normally traveling without oscillating but which oscillates when a defect occurs in the covering, an electric motor for driving the strandcombining means, an arcuate feeler, means for urging the arcuate feeler into contact with the traveling core, a switch in circuit with the electric motor for stopping the motor, and means operable by the arcuate feeler when the traveling core oscillates for actuating the switch to stop the electric motor.

10. In a machine of the types indicated, means for continuously combining strands into a covering over a core normally traveling without oscillating but which oscillates when a defect occurs in the covering, means for driving the strandcombining means, a relay for stopping the driving means when actuated, a pair of contacts in circuit with the relay and connected in parallel with each other, said contacts being spaced a predetermined distance apart, a contactor in circuit with the relay for actuating it when in engagement with one of the contacts, and means including a feeler for engaging the covering for holding the contactor out of engagement with the contacts when the core does not oscillate and. for moving the contactor into engagement with one of the contacts when the core oscillates.

11. In a machine of the types indicated, means for continuously combining a plurality of strands into a covering over a core being advanced through the strand-combining means normally without being oscillated but which is oscillated when a defect occurs in the covering, an electric motor for driving the strand-combining means, an electrical circuit for controlling the motor and including a pair of contacts spaced a predetermined distance apart and connected in parallel and a contactor positioned between the contacts, said motor controlling circuit serving to deenergize the motor when the contactor engages one of the contacts, a slidably mounted feeler for holding the contactor out of engagement with both the contacts when the core is not oscillated, and means controlled by the feeler for moving the contactor into engagement with one of the contacts when the core is oscillated. whereby the electric motor is deenergized.

DE HART G. SCRANTOM.

Images