US2563579A - Needle loom - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 7, 1951' G. w. c; CHAPMAN 2,563,579

NEEDLE LOOM Filed Aug. 4, 1947 s Sheets-Sheet 1 EWELhgprEan INVENTDR 5 flfi /fiwj, ATTEENEY Aug. 7, 1951 G. w. c. CHAPMAN 2,563,579

' NEEDLE LOOM Filed Aug. 4, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ELWE. Chapman ATTURNEY G. W. C. CHAPMAN NEEDLE LOOM Aug. 7, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 4, 1947 EWE. Chapman Patented Aug. 7, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 14 Claims.

This invention relates to looms of the type in whicha needle orreciprocating arm carries the weft thread into the warp in the form. of a loop, the bight of which is-heldby a shuttle thread at the opposite side of the warp from that at which the arm or needle enters.

The primary object t thisinvention is to provide a high speed needle loom. in which two weft thread carriers supplied. from separate sources and operating from opposite sides of the warp cooperate to weave a tubular fabric.

A fuither'object of" the invention is to provide a needle loom inwhich weft thread carriers on opposite sides of a warp may be adjusted to weave a tubular fabric and in which the mechanism in: another adjustment of the weft thread carriers may weave two separate flat widths of fabric.

Other objects and. advantages of the invention will appear in connection with the description of a preferred form of the inventionselected for illustration.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of the loom; Fig. 2 is a plan View; Fig. 3' is an end elevation of the loom as seen from the right in Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view showing the needles in their most advanced positions; Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic plan view of a; portion of a flat web produced by the loom; Fig. 6' is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of a tubular web produced by the loom; Fig. '7 is a side view of a shuttle; Fig. 8 is a front elevation of a shuttle; Fig. 9' is a fragmentary longitudinal section at the fell of the fabric showing the relation of the warp: and weft threads in the upper and lower shedsof a tubular fabric; Fig. 10 is a side elevation of a cam. actuating. the-needle carriage; Fig. 1-1 is a side elevation of; onecam of the two: that operate the lathe; and Fig. 12 is a side elevation of one of the cams that cause the crank lever having. itsother arm-'1. connected. by

Each of these. levers, is connected. at its.

a link 8 with a lever B on a. shaft l0 pivoted on the frame of the machine. The bell crank is pivoted at H.

Each lever B is slotted to receive a cross pin [2: of an H -shaped slide l3 movable along fixed guide rods l4. Each slide carries a box 15 having a vertical guideway for a bar 16 on a table I? which has a rear extension passing through a slot l8 in the lift plate I S whichthus supportsthe table. A pivot 22 on each table I! carries the rear end of a needle 23 which has a guide stud 24 engaging a slot 25 in a bracket 26 on the front of the lift plate IS. The needle, preferably made of a light alloy, is bent forward near its front end and has a passage 21 formed through the bent portion from front to back. Along the rear edge of the needle, a. groove 28 with a rounded bottom extends several inches back from the passage 21. Diagonally across this groove, lies a small piece of metal, either flat or round, made fast on top of the needle and having its rear end free and pointing toward the back end ofthe needle. thread to be inserted beneath the free end into the groove and prevents thread from accidentally looping over the end of the needle. The thread 29 comes to the needle through an opening 30 formed in the lift plate I9. Along thetop of each plate [9, there-are thre upstanding pairs of ears 3| to which'are pivoted the lower ends of rods 32. Each of these rods is carried by the frontend' of an arm- 33 on a rockshaft 34 which has an arm 35 extending to the rear and pivoted to a vertical link 36-, which in turn, is pivoted: at its lower end to a lever 31'. This lever 37 has a roller engaging in a slot formed in the face of a cam 38. shown in Fig. 3, the slot having twodwellsto hold the plate l9 alternately at the top and at the bottom of its path of movement. Each plate hasend flanges 23 guided in vertical channels 21. guide rods M= lie parallelwith the plates andthe rearward extensions of the tables ll remain in the slots l S in the platesduring the entire travel of the slides up and downas lifted by the cams 38, and during the entire longitudinal travel of the needles as moved backward and forward by" the cams 2 in both the upper. and. lower positions This detent is spaced to permit the.

As shown in Fig. 2, the mechanisms so far described are arranged in duplicate groups on opposite sides of a central space, the width of which will correspond with that of the fabric being woven. Within this space, the warp threads are held tranversely of the loom, in four groups, two of which form an upper shed and the other two form a lower shed, as best seen diagrammatically in Fig. 3 and on a larger scale in the section in Fig. 9.. The lower threads 39 of the upper shed and the upper threads 40 of the lower shed lie substantially horizontal and close to each other. The upper threads 4| of the upper shed and the lower threads 42 of the lower shed are on a slant, upwardly and downwardly respectively, from the fells of the fabric through the reed 43.

The harnesses controlling the weft threads to move the two groups in each of the upper and the lower sheds alternately in reverse directions to form, in each extreme position, a shed, have not been illustrated, but it will be understood that when the reversal of positions occurs, the upper threads 4| will be lowered to the lower horizontal position previously occupied by 39 and the threads 39 will have been lifted to the upper slanting position previously occupied by 4!. At the same time, the threads 40 will move down to the lower positionof 42 and the threads 42 will be raised to the horizontal position of 4!]. The two sheds remain independent and the adjacent threads are substantially parallel in both open positions of the sheds.

As seen in Fig. l, the lift plate [9 and the needle 23 at the right is in the lowermost position with the front end of the needle opposite the lower open shed, while the needle 23 and its lift bar l9 at the left is in the uppermost position with the front end of the needle opposite the open end of the upper shed. When the needles are moved forward simultaneously, into and through the sheds from opposite sides, and the slides 13 approach the ends of their travel, the studs 24 encounter curved end portions 44 of the slots 25 and swing both needles on their pivots 22 laterally of their axes, so that the free ends of the needles move sidewise to the positions shown in Fig. 4 with the loops of the weft threads completely through the sheds and with the bights of the loops a slight distance beyond the outermost warp threads on both sides of the warp.

Closely adjacent to each side of the fabric being woven, is a shuttle guide or bar made in two sections, an upper piece 45 and a lower piece 46, secured together by U-shaped connectors 41 on opposite sides of the pieces with a space left open at 48 between the adjacent ends to permit easy passage of the thread 29 carried by the needle. As shown in Fig. 3, the adjacent ends of the pieces are beveled or cut away to leave room for the ends of the needles to swing forward until the thread extends in front of the opening 48.

Above and below the space, guide strips 49 are arranged to engage opposite edges of a shuttle 50, shown on a larger scale in Figs. '7 and 8, the flat face of which slides along the outer surface of the pieces 45 and 46 from a position above the space 48 to a position below it, or vice versa.

When the needles have reached the positions shown in Fig. 4, the shuttles are caused to slide up or down as the case may be, behind the bight portion of the thread that has passed through the space 48 and is held outward by the curved front end of the needle.

Each shuttle has formed in its outer curved. surface near each end, a depression or socket t these studs being moved by links 54 or 55 carried by levers 56 or 51 actuated by cams 58, shown in side elevation in Fig. 12. During this period in which the shuttles are being moved through the bights, the cams 2 act to hold the needles in their advanced position with the rollers 3 in one of the two outermost of the four dwells of the cam grooves.

After the shuttle thread has been passed through the bight of the loop between the needle 23 and the shuttle bar, the needles are withdrawn to their original position outside of the sheds leaving a double pick of two weft threads in the open warp shed. The shuttle thread that has been passed through the bight acts to retain the end of the loop of the double pick just beyond the outermost warp thread on the side of the shed opposite that at which the needle enters. The cam38 .then acts to lift the right hand plate I9 and lower the left hand plate. The right hand needle will then be oppostie the upper shed and the left hand needle opposite the lower shed. Each needle thus supplies alternating pairs of weft threads for both the upper and lower sheds.

The rockshaft 34 on each side has an arm 59 connected by a link 60 to a bell crank lever 6| which is connected by a vertical rod 62 with the top of the adjacent shuttle bar to raise and lower each bar into proper position to receive the needle on its next run.

Upon each shaft I0 is an arm 63 having a rod 54 pivoted thereto at its lower end, the upper end of each rod being pivoted near the upper end of the frame to an arm 65 of a rockshaft -66 on which is secured a long, downwardly extending arm 61. The lower ends of these arms are at about the height of the central portion of the needle lift plates I9. The threads 29 on each side, pass through openings 68 near the lower end of arm 61 and thence through. the opening 30 of the adjacent lift plate.

With the linkage shown, it will be evident that as the needles move forward into the sheds, the corresponding arms 6'! will swing in the same direction giving out filling thread and when the needles withdraw from the sheds, the arms will swing back to take up the slack.

A rockshaft 69 mounted in bearings 10 has at its forward end a crank arm H for engagement within a slot 12 formed in the upper end of a rod 73, the lower end of which is pivoted to the lever 4 that actuates the needle slide I3. Near the rear end of each rcckshaft is secured a clamp member 14 which swings toward and away from a stationary clamp member 15 as the rockshaft is turned on its bearings. Near its center, the shaft is bent to form a crank 16 engaged by a coiled spring 71 which acts to hold the rockshaft on one side or the other of a dead center, with the clamp either open or shut. In the upper end of the slot 12, is an adjustable set screw 18 with a lock nut 19 to maintain the desired adjustment.

The adjacent faces of the clamp members 14 and 15 are covered with suitable pads, such as a woolen cloth, to hold without injury each thread 29 guided between the clamp members by guides on their way from the cops 8| to the holes in the arms 51 and on through the openings 30 to the needles.

The arrangement just described provides a means for causing the clamp to close as the lever 4 nears the lowermost limit of its downward movement. The needles at that time are approaching the ends of their forward travel into the" sheds, and the set screw can be" adjusted to come'into contact withthe arm H to swing the rockshaft in its bearings so that the spring 11 will close theclamp member 14 on the tread at the precise instantto bring the desired tension on the weft thread just being inserted into the shed as it comes to the end of its travel in posi tion for the shuttle thread. Upward movement of the lever 4 and rod 13 causing the lower end of the slot 12 to comeinto contact with the arm H as the needle slide nears to the rear out of the way during the travel of the needles and having two outward projections of the cam slot each to move the levers'to causethe reed to make a rapid forward stroke followed by an immediate return.

The sectional view shown in Fig. 9 is primarily intended to show the relative positions of the warpthreads of the upper and lower sheds after the reed has driven the double picks left by the right hand and left hand needles into the fell close to the preceding weft threads and after the warp threads have been reversed ready toreceivethe next weft threads.

Assuming that the uppermost pair of weft threads to the right in Fig. 9, designatedas 29R have been laid by the needle at the right inFig's; 1' and 2, then the pair of threads 29L just below will have been laid simultaneously by the needle at the left, and since the needles alternate in their travel between the upper and lower sheds, the successive pairs of weft threads through each shed will also alternate longitudinally of the fabric as indicated bythe corresponding numerals, all those designated'by 29R having been laid by the right hand needle and all the others by the left hand needle. The double picks of weft threads coming from one source and inserted from one edge into one of the sheds and interlaced with the warp threads of that shed, alternate with double picks of weft threads coming from another source and inserted from the other edge.

The fragmentary plan view shown'in- Fig; 6 is to illustrate the appearance and-the'arrangement of the threads of a portion of a tubular fabric produced by the loom at the right side: in Figs. 1 and 2, as it would appear if flattened out with the right hand shuttle thread at the center. In this view, the vertical threads are warp threads with the exception of the central thread 88 laid by the right hand shuttle. Tp the right are the warp threads All and 42 which formed the lower shed in Fig. 9-. The vertical threads to the left of 88 are those that formed the upper shed. The threads 29L that lie beneath" the threads 4! and over the threads39 are the double picks carried into the upper shed from the left by the left needle. The threads 29L on the right that lie beneath the threads Mland above the threads A2, are thedouble. picks carried into the lower shed from the left by the left needle. In each case, the shuttle thread 88 These links are actuated by 6. passed throughthebightrof the pick, alternately: from above and from below.

The threads 29R on the left lie beneath 39 and over4l, while to the right,.they lien-laeneath. 42 and above 40, butthis is because the portion of the fabric to the right. of the thread. 88 hasbeen turned upside downfromthe position in which it was woven, in. the lower shed. These threads 29R were inserted by the right hand needle and the shuttlethread that engaged them. does not appear in this. view because it lies: on the other side of the tubular fabric.

It will be noted that. the relative upper and lower positions of thetwo. groups of warp threads in each of the sheds will always be the samefor each travel of the needle from agiven sidethrough that shed. A shift in positionof. the two groups in a shed is followed by the passage of the other needle from the other side. When a needle on either side is withdrawn from one shed and is then raised or lowered to aposition opposite the other shed, and then enters the other shed, the thread. carried by that needle moves across the same outermost warp threads,

regardless of whether its movement was up or down. Thus, as" seen in Fig. 6, the threads 29R always lie outside-threads 40 and 4|.

Thisarra'n'gement of the loom with the lifting and lowering of the needles on opposite sides of thewarp caused by the action of the cams 38 produces a tubular fabric, the two sheds being connected at their edges on each side not only by the threads 29R and 29L that are carried across theouter weft threads from one shed to I the other'at each travel of the needles, but also by the shuttle threads 88 and 89 passing through: the successive loops at the end of each needle as it emerges beyond the side edge of a shed and swings forward to the position of Fig. 4.

If the cams 33 were disconnected from. the. shaft I so they would not rotate, or if they were slid. sidewise on the shaft to remove the. rollers from the cam grooves, or'if the rods 36 were disconnected from the levers 35 or 31, or therods 32 released from their pivotal connection with the ears 3| of the plates l9, there would beno shifting of the vertical positions of either needle 23 from a fixed position opposite either shed. With a corresponding release of the shuttle bars and a proper adjustment of the shuttle operators, each needle would operate with a single shed only to Weave a flat fabric shown in Fig. 5.

In the tape or strap of this figure, the thread 89 at the left is the thread from the left hand shuttle, and the horizontal. threadsZSR- are those inserted by the. right hand'needle. The selvage at the left is formed by the shuttle thread 39 engaging the bights of the loops of the double picks of ZSR'ine serted by the right hand needle and interlaced with the Warp threads at and 33. The selvage at the right is formed by the threads 29R passing over and. under the outermost warp thread 6|.

The shuttle threadsfifi or 89'. leave the side of the shuttle adjacent to the fabric being woven. On the opposite side, the flange of each of the shuttles has a. notch Sii formed therein near the longitudinal center of the shuttle for engagement by a spring-pressed detent 9! when the shuttle has been moved either up or down to the limit of it's travel; The guide strips 39 on the side of the shuttle bar away from the fabric are cut away at the pointsabove and below the space 48 reached by the notch 56 and a detent St is set at 7 each of. the cut-away places't'o engage the notch.

. I claim:

1. A loom comprising means for dividing a warp into four groups of threads, two groups being movable oppositely alternately to form one shed, and the other two groups being movable oppositely alternately to form a second shed, the two sheds having their adjacent groups of warp threads substantially parallel in each open position of each of the sheds, two needles, each mounted for movement transversely of its length and transversely of the planes of the parallel groups of warp sheds froma position opposite one open shed to a position opposite the other open shed, each needle travelling alternately through each of the sheds, each through a separate shed and carrying a weft thread in a loop to bring the bight of the loop a slight distance beyond the outermost thread of the shed in which the loop is laid, and a shuttle for each needle movable to carry a thread through each of the loops.

2. A loom of that type in which the weft filling is drawn from yarns at opposite ides of the warp 7 fed from separate supply sources, warp threads arranged in two separate sheds, two weft-carrying needles movable from opposite sides of the warp transversely of the warp, each needle alternating from a position opposite one open shed to a position opposite the other shed, means for actuating the needles from opposite directions each through a separate shed, laying double loops and bringing the bights of each of the loops a slight distance beyond the outermost thread of the shed in which the loop is laid, a shuttle on each side of the warp, adjacent to each shed, arranged to carry a thread through each loop and means for positioning the needles alternately opposite each of the sheds.

3. In a needle loom, means for forming a pair of warp sheds, oppositely movable needles, means effecting alternate movement of each of said needles singly in both of said sheds, a pair of shuttles disposed one at each lengthwise edge of said sheds, vertical guide means for said shuttles, a pair of actuators for each shuttle, means for operating said shuttle actuators, and springpressed means for holding each of said shuttles at the end of each stroke, and means holding a filler thread engaged with the needle in position to interpose a bight of the thread in the path of movement of a shuttle, whereby a thread carried bythe shuttle will be passed through the bight.

4. In a loom, means for forming two warp sheds, a pair of oppositely movable needles for disposing filler threads in said sheds, means for moving said needles singly endwise through the warp sheds, a pair of shuttles, one at each lengthwise edge of the sheds, means for shifting the thread carrying end of each needle sidewise toward its cooperating shuttle, and means for shifting the shuttle between a needle and its thread whereby to retain the bights of the filler threads at the edges of the sheds.

5. A structure as in claim 4, having means for shifting each needle from a position opposite one shed to a position opposite the other alternately between endwise movements, whereby to weave a tubular fabric.

6. A structure as in claim 4, having means for shifting each needle from a position opposite one shed to a position opposite the other, alternately, and means for moving each shuttle into position to cooperate with its needle in each of its alternate positions.

7. In a needle loom, a needle, a vertically shiftable plate formed with an elongated horizontal slot therein, stationary guide members below said plate and substantially parallel therewith, a slide engaging said guide members, a table vertically movable on the slide and having a portion engaging in the said slot whereby the table will shift vertically with the plate, a horizontal flange carried by the plate and formed with an elongated cam slot, the needle being pivotally mounted on the table and having a stud engaging in the cam slot whereby to swing the needle on its pivot as it approaches the end of its forward stroke, and cam means for causing reciprocating movement of the needle and for holding it motionless at each end of its reciprocation.

8. A structure as in claim 7, in which cam means cause the plate to be alternately raised and lowered and to be held motionless in both the raised and lowered positions during the forward and backward reciprocation of the needle.

9. In a needle loom, a vertically shiftable lift plate for the needle, means for moving the needle horizontally of the lift plate, means for vertically shifting the lift plate, and correlated means carried by the lift plate and the needle for swinging the needle horizontally near the forward end of its movement.

10. In a loom, means for forming a pair of warp sheds having their adjacent threads substantially parallel, a pair of oppositely slidable needles movable simultaneously toward and from each. other from opposite longitudinal edges of the warp, each in a separate shed, a vertically slidable plate for each needle supporting it for reciprocation and means for causing each plate to be raised and lowered alternately and to be held in each upper or lower position during the reciprocation of the needle, whereby each shed receives a needle alternately first from one edge and then from the other and whereby at each edge, the needle leaving one shed is carried across the planes of the parallel adjacent warp threads and enters the other shed.

11. A structure as in claim 10 having means adjacent to each longitudinal edge of the warp to carry a thread through successive bights of the weft threads carried by the needles.

12. In a loom, means for forming a pair of warp sheds having their adjacent threads substantially parallel, reciprocating needles disposing weft threads in the sheds from opposite edges, and means at each edge of each of the sheds engaging weft threads entering from the opposite edge, to connect the longitudinal edges of the pairs of sheds together to weave a tubular fabric.

13. In a loom, means for forming two substantially parallel warp sheds, a shuttle support at each side of the warp sheds, each support having guides thereon for a shuttle, each shuttle carrying a thread, a plate at each side of the two warps, each plate supporting a needle for reciprocation thereon, each needle carrying a weft thread, means for moving each needle horizontally of its supporting plate to bring its weft thread through a shed and adjacent to a shuttle, means to move each shuttle longitudinally of its guides to pass the shuttle between the weft thread and the needle, each plate having means for shifting it alternately between an upper and a lower position to bring each needle opposite a shed different from that of the other needle, means for holding each plate motionless during the reciprocation of the needles and for holding each needle motionless during the passage of its shuttle, and each shuttle support having correlated means for shifting it alternately between upper and lower positions to bring the shuttles into operative position for each forward movement of the needles into the warps.

14. A structure as in-olaim 13, having cam means for reciprocating the needle and for holding it motionless while the shuttle is being passed between the weft thread and the needle.

GEORGE W. C. CHAPMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the me 0! this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Earnshaw July 9, 1867 Number Number Number

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