US2999516A - Shuttle control mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 12, 1961 E. c. NICHOLS ETAL SHUTTLE CONTROL MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 28, 1959 INVENTOR-S E0 WARD G. NICHOLS. CHARLESPPUWELL.

ATTORNEY p 1 E. c. NICHOLS ET AL 2,999,515

SHUTTLE CONTROL MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 28, 1959 m a :mmP GEGOI. VDS mg M y m e N m 9 T m 6 Y 0 P \\G A TTORNE Y P 1961 E. c. NICHOLS ETAL 2,999,516

SHUTTLE CONTROL MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 28, 1959 INVENTORS EDWARD 6. NICHOLS. C/mRLEs F? POWELL Sept. 12, 1961 E. c. NICHOLS ET AL 2,999,515

SHUTTLE CONTROL MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 28, 1959 INVENTORS EDWARD 0. NICHOLS. C'HA mas R Po WEL 1.

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2,999,516 SHUTTLE C'QNTRQL MECHANISM Edward (I. Nichols, Upton, and Charles P. Powell, West Medway, Mass, assignors to Draper Corporation, Hopedale, Mass, a corporation of Maine Filed May 23, 1959, Ser. No. 816,518 15 Claims. (Cl. 139-455) This invention relates to looms for weaving, and, in particular, to a shuttle positioning mechanism for automatic looms. V

It is a general object of the invention to provide a mechanism effective to position a shuttle in a shuttle box very accurately and in a positive manner.

It is a more specific object to provide a shuttle boxing means for fly shuttle looms which is effective, after the shuttle has entered that boxing means and after the shuttle has been initially arrested in its motion, to move the shuttle to an extreme position outwardly of the loom before the shuttle is picked to the opposite side of the loom, thereby to position the shuttle very definitely at a precise reference point in a shuttle box on either side of the loom and in the identical position on successive picks of the shuttle into the shuttle box.

A further object is that of providing mechanism in a shuttle boxing means which shall be effective to correct for short picks, rebounding of the shuttle and general inaccuracy of boxing at each entry of the shuttle into th box so that at the next pick and at transfer, the shuttle shall always be at a definite and optimum position in its box.

It is a further object to eliminate entirely the use of check straps, thereby also dispensing with the need of periodic adjustment and replacement of these straps.

Other objects will be apparent from the description which follows.

One of the major problems in weaving on automatic fly shuttle looms is improper shuttle boxing which is usually due to a short pick or a rebounding of the shuttle after it strikes the picker and has moved as far as it can toward the end of the lay. Such a condition is primarily responsible for the so-called bang-off, which is a fairly common occurrence wherever a large number of looms are involved and fairly frequent in smaller installations. Practically all looms are equipped with mechanical stop means to effect a very sudden stopping of the loom upon an indication of improper shuttle boxing in order to prevent otherwise very serious damage to the loom parts as well as tearing out of large numbers of warp threads. These bang-oils can becostly in that weaving time is lost, the work load of the loom fixer is increased, and occasionally loom parts are damaged and have to: be replaced.

Improper shuttle boxing is further responsible for irregular transfer of bobbins into the shuttle. Bobbins are conventionally equipped with metallic rings on their butts which are engageable within grooves in the shuttle spring as the bobbin is transferred into the shuttle. If a shuttle is not accurately positioned in its box at the replenishing side of the loom at the time of transfer, a two-ring or even a one-ring condition may result whereby only two or only one ring may be held by the spring. The resultant variation in the locati n of the free end of the bobbin from the shuttle threading block or eye produces a corresponding increase in tension of the filling thread due to the increased angle at which it leaves the bobbin. This is undesirable in that these changes in tension are reflected in the fabric being woven. Also, a oneor two-ring condition increases wear on the spring and is often responsible for a shuttle flying out of the loom.

Improper boxing at the left side of the loom is further undesirable in that it leads to a false indication by the filling feeler mechanism to effect setting up the loom parts for transfer when too much or too little filling thread is left on the bobbin in the shuttle.

According to the invention, these disadvantages are overcome by providing a mechanism which acts, after the shuttle has been picked into the box, to move that shuttle to its extreme possible position in the shuttle box in a direction outwardly of the loom. Mechanism has been provided whereby the shuttle box is reciprocated lengthwise of the lay, first, in a direction outwardly of the loom after the shuttle has been received by the box, and then, after the shuttle has been picked in a direction inwardly of the loom in readiness to again receive the shuttle. The amount of reciprocation in one direction is slightly greater than either the maximum rebound or the amount by which the shuttle is not fully boxed which is normally encountered in order to assure that the final atrest position will be identical on every pick into that shuttle box.

Reciprocation of the shuttle box lengthwise of the loom is accomplished by connecting the box to a lever system which is actuated by a constantly rotating cam in timed sequence with the lay and pick motion. Movement of the shuttle box laterally of its supporting structure is prevented by the provision of an extending rod member affixed parallel to the shuttle box which is slid-ably guided by a linear type bearing fixed to the supporting structure.

An additional advantage of the invention is that it makes possible the complete elimination of check straps and their attendant periodic adjustment or replacement, which in itself is a substantial savings.

Further advantages will be evident from the following description and drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a loom with parts removed therefrom and showing the invention applied thereto;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the right side shuttle box of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a portion of FIG. 1 as seen from the right side thereof;

FIG. 4 is identical to FIG. 3 but looking from the reverse side thereof;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the cam shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 for effecting reciprocation of the shuttle box lengthwise of the lay;

FIG. 6 is a front elevational view of a modified form of the invention applied to a loom employing a fixed type shuttle box;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a view taken on the line 8-8 of FIG. 7 and looking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 9 is a side elevational View of the apparatus shown in FIG. 6 as seen from the right side thereof.

In FIG. 1 the invention is seen as applied to a shuttle box of the type which is a part of and swings to and fro with the lay, although, as will be described hereinafter with respect to FIGS. 6 to 9, the shuttle box may be of the fixed type which does not move with the lay. The invention is most advantageously applied to both sidesof the loom as seen in FIG. 1 and since the two sides are complementary in that one is a mirror image of the other, a description of one will sufi'ice to convey a complete understanding of the invention. r

The loom lay is shown at 10 and left and right hand loomsides at 11 and 12, respectively. A cam shaft 13, pick motion 14, picker stick 15, parallel motion 16, and picker 17 are conventional parts of the loom.

In FIG. 2 the right hand shuttle box is denoted by the arrow 18 and comprises a front box plate 19 and rear binder 29. The front box plate is fixed at one end to a J-shaped bracket member 21 by retaining means 212. Extending forwardly of its opposite end the front box plate has fixed thereto a pair of projections 23 and 24 3 supporting a rod member 25 held stationary therebetween by cap screws 26 and 27 threaded into opposite ends of the rod. The latter is slidable in an opening in a linear type bearing 28 fixed to the forward side of the lay. The rear binder 20 is pivoted at one end to the bracket 21 at 29 and its opposite end is biased toward the front box plate by means of a leaf spring 30 which is mounted on an extension at the back side of the bracket 21. The back box plate 31 acts as a guide for the shuttle 32 as the latter is picked into the box. A rubber stop 33 is fastened to the lay end to receive the impact of the picker stick 15 and also acts as an aid in positioning the shuttle as will be explained. A second rubber stop 34 is attached by a bracket member 35 to the underside of the lay and limits movement of the picker stick in the opposite direction after it is picked. Thus, it may be seen that the whole shuttle box is freely mounted on the lay and can be reciprocated lengthwise thereof within certain limits. i

The mechanism for effecting such reciprocation will now be described. In FIG. 3 a yoke 36 has an arm 37 which is pivotally mounted at 38 to the front box plate and a second arm 39 pivotally mounted at 40 to the bracket '21 in line with the pivot at 38. The yoke is pivoted at its lower end at 4-1 to a fixed bracket 42 extending over the end of the lay. A third arm 43 extends from the yoke inwardly of the loom (see FIG. 1) and is connected by means of a Heim, Unibal or other suitable bearing 44 to one end of an adjustable link member 45. The other end of the latter is similarly connected to one arm 47 of a bell crank lever 48 which is fixedly pivoted at 49 to a stationary part of the loom. A cam follower 50 is rotatably mounted on the end of the second arm 51 of the bell crank lever and is actuated by a cam 52 mounted on the loom cam shaft 53 to be rotated in a counterclockwise direction thereby as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 3. A spring S maintains contact between follower and cam. A pair of cam segments 54 are fixed to the cam and serve to cam the follower toward the low side of the cam. The cam, as seen on enlarged scale in FIG. is shaped and located on the shaft so as to move the shuttle box to an extreme position to the right as indicated by the dotted line position in FIG. 4 at a time just prior to picking of the shuttle from the box and to move the box in the opposite direction just after the shuttle has been picked and to be held in this latter position until the shuttle is again received by the box. In FIG. 4 primes refer to similar elements of FIG. 3.

In a modification of the mechanism as shown in FIGS. 6 to 9, the invention is seen as applied to a fixed type shuttle box, that is, one that does not reciprocate with the lay, and 'wherein the front binder is pivoted instead of the rear one as 'in FIGS. 1 to 5. In FIG. 6 the lay is shown at 55 and the shuttle box assembly is mounted on a fixed horizontal support member 56. The box comprises a rear plate 57 and front binder 58. The former is fixed at one end to the bracket 59 by retaining means '60 and has extending rearwardly adjacent its opposite end a pair of projections 61 and '62 supporting a rod member 63 slidable in a linear type bearing 64 fixed to the support member 56, all in a manner similar to that of FIG. 2. The front binder is double pivoted at one end at 65 and 66 and is biased intermediate its ends toward the rear box plate by means of a rubber torsional bushing, generally indicated by the arrow 67, mounted on the support member 56 and having two arms 68 and 69, each of which bears against one of a pair of angularly disposed fiat surface portions 70 and 71, respectively, on the front face of the front binder. An enlarged crosssection of the bushing is shown in FIG. 8 and comprises a rubber bushing 72 split intermediate its ends and maintained in a tight fit against a central sleeve 73 by means of a pair of flat ring members 74 and 75 to which are attached the arms 68 and 69, respectively. Thus, here also, the shuttle box is slidably mounted upon its supporting member and is reciprocated lengthwise thereof by a lever system similar to that of FIGS. 1 to 5. Here, however, a connection is made to the rear plate intermediate thereof which includes a link member 76 having one end fixedly pivoted to the back plate at 77 and its other end freely pivoted at 78 to one arm 79 of a bell crank lever. The latter is pivoted on an extension from the underside of the support member 56 at 80 and has a second arm 81 which is connected to an adjustable link member 82. The other end of the link 82 is further pivoted to one arm 83 of a member which is pivoted intermediate its ends at 84 to a stationary part of the loom and which has a second arm 85 having a cam follower 86 rotatably mounted at its end adapted to be actuated by a cam 87 mounted on the cam shaft 88. A spring 89 maintains contact between the follower and cam.

The operation of the mechanism will now be described with respect to FIGS. 1 to 5, it being understood that the modification of FIGS. 6 to 9 functions similarly except that the shuttle box in that instance is mounted on a fixed mernber. As the shuttle 32 is picked from the left side of the loom into the shuttle box 18, the latter is in a position removed from its extreme right position by a distance of about an inch as determined by the cam 52 and its associated lever system. As the shuttle enters the box, it is placed under lateral tension due to the force exerted by the binder spring 30 and protector rod system P upon the rear binder. The shuttle normally enters the box, strikes the picker 17 and both move to an extreme position to the right substantially at the end of flight of the shuttle, but the shuttle almost always either rebounds from the picker a slight amount, usually not more than one-half of an inch, or else is not fully boxed due to a short pick. At this time the shuttle box is frictionally engaged with the shuttle and is moving toward the right taking the shuttle along with it until the latter again strikes the picker and moves as far as it can toward the end of the lay. The box then continues to move toward the right slidding along the sides of the shuttle until the box has moved the full distance marked X in FIG. 2. The shuttle is then picked from this fully boxed position and the same procedure takes place at the left side of the loom. In the case of the fixed type shuttle box of FIGS. *6 to 9, this further movement of the shuttle box after the shuttle has reached its predetermined reference point acts to relieve tension applied to the shuttle due to the angular displacement of surfaces 70 and 71. Of course, such a feature may also be applied to the species shown in FIGS. 1 to 5.

While one embodiment and a modification of the invention have been disclosed, it is to be understood that the inventive concept may be carried out in a number of ways. This invention is, therefore, not to be limited to the precise details described, but is intended to embrace all variations and modifications thereof falling within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims.

We claim:

1. In a fly shuttle loom having a lay, shuttle boxing means at opposite ends of said lay, a shuttle movable along said lay and adapted to be arrested by said shuttle boxing means, the improvement which comprises means in contact with both sides of said shuttle effective to move said shuttle outwardly of said lay to a predetermined position after said shuttle has been picked into said boxing means.

2. In a fly shuttle loom having a lay, shuttle boxing means at opposite ends of said lay, a shuttle movable along said lay and adapted to be arrested by said shuttle boxing means, the improvement which comprises means for effecting reciprocation of said boxing means lengthwise of the lay.

3. In a fiy shuttle loom having a lay, shuttle boxing means at opposite ends of said lay, a shuttle movable along said lay and adapted to be arrested by said shuttle boxing means, the improvement which comprises means effective to move said shuttle in a direction outwardly of said lay after said shuttle has been picked into said boxing means and further effective to reciprocate said boxing means lengthwise of said lay.

4. In a fly shuttle loom, a lay, a shuttle reciprocable along said lay, shuttle boxing means, and means for reciprocating said boxing means lengthwise of said lay which comprises a continuously rotating cam means, and means fixed to said boxing means adapted to be actuated by said cam means.

5. In a fly shuttle loom, a lay, a shuttle reciprocable along said lay, shuttle boxing means, and means for reciprocating said boxing means lengthwise of said lay which comprises a continuously rotating cam, a follower actuated by said cam, and lever means connecting said follower to a yoke member fixed to an end of said boxing means.

6. The mechanism of claim 5 wherein said boxing means has a forwardly extending rod member affixed parallel thereto, said rod member being slidable in a bearing fastened to the lay, thereby to prevent lateral displacement of said boxing means with respect to said lay.

7. The mechanism of claim 5 wherein said boxing means is fixed so that it has no movement in a lateral direction.

8. In a fly shuttle loom having a lay, shuttle boxes at opposite ends of said lay into and from which a shuttle may be picked, means forming a part of said shuttle boxes for arresting the shuttle as it enters thereinto, said shuttle boxes each being mounted to reciprocate lengthwise of said lay at predetermined intervals.

9. In a fly shuttle loom having a lay, shuttle boxes'at opposite ends of said lay into and from which a shuttle may be picked, means forming a part of said shuttle boxes for arresting the shuttle as it enters a box, said shuttle boxes being movable endwise of the lay and means for moving each said box toward the outer end of the lay after the shuttle has entered it and substantially all the kinetic energy in the shuttle dissipated.

10. The mechanism of claim 8 wherein said shuttle boxes are supported by the lay at each end thereof so as to reciprocate with said lay.

11. The mechanism of claim 8 wherein said shuttle boxes are supported by stationary means at opposite ends and independently of said lay.

12. The mechanism of claim 10 wherein said shuttle boxes each have a forwardly extending rod member affixed parallel thereto, said rod member being slidable in a bearing fastened to the lay end, thereby to prevent lateral displacement of said shuttle boxes with respect to said lay.

13. The mechanism of claim 11 wherein said shuttle boxes each have a rearwardly extending rod member affixed parallel thereto, said rod member being slidable in a bearing fastened to said stationary means, thereby to prevent lateral displacement between said shuttle boxes and said supporting means.

14. In the method of weaving in a fly shuttle loom, the steps of picking a shuttle into a shuttle box to be frictionally engaged thereby to arrest movement of said shuttle, then moving said shuttle box and shuttle endwise outwardly to a predetermined reference point from which the shuttle is picked, and continuing movement of the shuttle box while the shuttle is held at said reference point.

15. In the method of weaving in a lily shuttle loom, the steps of picking a shuttle into a shuttle box to be frictionally engaged thereby to arrest movement of said shuttle, then moving said shuttle box and shuttle endwise outwardly to a predetermined reference point, and picking said shuttle from said reference point.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,868,128 Badia July 19, 1932 2,012,051 Payne Aug. 20, 1935

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