Sulzer Brothers Limited

Sulzer Rueti Ag

Angelo Stacher

Rudolf Vogel

Theo Thalmann

Kurt Gunther

Heribert Weber

A weft yarn presentation apparatus has a weft sequence control having weft thread presenting devices (1), a controlled thread clamping device (2) with several clamps (3a-3f) and a guide member (4) with a slit (5). The association of the weft thread presenting devices (1) with the clamps (3a-3f) guarantees that there is no cross-over of the tracks of the weft threads, and the displacement of the clamps in the reference plane (6) does not influence these tracks. The weft thread is presented to the gripper in the reference plane (6), through matching of the movements of the clamp and of the associated weft thread presenting device (1) so that contact between the weft threads is prevented.

Clamp type arrangement for presenting weft threads to a gripper

A rapier tape gripper loom having inserter rapier tapes driving inserter and taker gripper heads has the warp threads only provide gripper head support over at least part of the insertion path. The insertion path occupies a width of the shed defined by the path of insertion and retraction of the gripper heads. It is the warp threads of the lower shed which act exclusively as direct support to the gripper heads over the part of the insertion path. During the insertion of the weft yarn, at least one bearer member supports the warp threads alongside of but not in the insertion path. This support effected by the at least one bearer member is outside the insertion path over which the gripper heads travel, leaving the warp threads as adjacently supported by the bearer member as the sole supporting members for the gripper heads.

Gripper loom having warp thread bearer members

A rapier loom has a picking mechanism in which one rapier (a giver rapier) transfers a weft yarn to another rapier (a taker rapier) in mid-shed. Each rapier is oscillated toward and away from one another by a drive and includes a yarn clamp which is actuated by a clamp opener to provide reliable yarn transfer from one rapier to the other. The rapier drives and/or clamp openers are driven by programmed servomotors. In this way, the velocities of the rapiers and/or the interval in which the clamp openers are opened can be adjusted according to the properties of the particular weft yarns used to ensure reliable transfer without damaging the yarn.

Rapier loom having a picking mechanism adjustable to yarn properties

A rapier loom has rapier heads which are moved by picking tapes into an open shed. Spacing elements are provided for the rapiers to ensure that when the shed is fully opened, a space is present between the tape and the bottom shed to reduce frictional contact between the warp yarns and the picking tape edges when the shed closes. The spacing elements can be in the form of slidable members which are disposed on the underside of the rapier head and/or in the form on spacing teeth which are secured to the sley and which can enter the shed between the warp yarns of a bottom shed.

Rapier loom having picking tapes and spacers

A giver for a gripper loom having horizontal weft feeding has a head open at the top. A wide slideway ensures gentle treatment of the warp yarns and the low center of gravity reduces the tendency of the head to disengage from the slideway when the weft yarn is being drawn into the shed. A yarn clamp which keeps the weft yarn horizontal has a fin-like member which deflects the weft yarn downwards before entry into the clamp.

Giver for a gripper loom

A sley drive for a loom has a shaft which is eccentric to an axis of rotation in order to provide partial weight balancing for the pivoting movement of the sley. Sley levers are mounted on the sley shaft with each having a clip-shaped part for clamping about the shaft by a screw which passes through legs of the sley levers on the side of the reed relative to the axis of the rotation. Intermediate bearings may also be secured to the sley shaft in the same manner as the sley levers.

Loom sley drive

A carriage which is movable into a position over a loom carries a manipulator for drawing a replacement yarn through a reed. A tracing element moves across the width of the warp yarns at a point downstream of the reed to detect a gap in the warp yarns corresponding to the position of a broken yarn. The manipulator moves into alignment with the gap and a guide on the manipulator pivots through the reed to receive an end of the replacement warp yarn. Return pivoting of the guide pulls the replacement warp yarn through the reed and a yarn clamp is activated to faciliatate tieing in of the warp yarn during subsequent operation of the loom.

Apparatus and method for clearing a warp yarn break in a loom

A tensioning device of a loom is embodied by a tensioning element rotatably mounted on a plurality of rollers which, in turn, are supported at spaced apart bearing places on a drive shaft. The drive shaft is biased by a torsion bar acted on its end by an adjusting mechanism driven by means of an eccentric. The tensioning device comprises a reduced number of parts of reduced dimension and can therefore adapt very rapidly to changes in the position of the warp yarns. The tensioning device is particularly suitable for high-speed looms which process delicate warp yarns.

Torsion bar type warp tensioning device for a loom

The reed of an air jet loom has a passage for guiding the weft yarn to be picked which in cross-section is trough-shaped with substantially parallel walls and a base which extends transversely to the walls. The cloth support extends so far into the weft-guiding passage that the shortest distance between the weft-guiding surface and the passage base is less than one-third of the average distance between the passage walls. Consequently, the cloth is guided so accurately between the weft-guiding passage and the cloth support during the beating-up of the weft yarn that a very uniform fabric is produced.

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Arbon, Switzerland

Angelo Stacher