Leesona Corporation

Charles W Brouwer

Larry C Cowan

Karl W Wueger

Edward L Maddox

Rene J Valois

H Gary Osbon

David T Guerin

Robert Horton

In a loom of the type in which a weft strand is projected in free flying fashion from one side of a warp shed to the opposite side thereof and which includes a lay rockable between a weft projecting position and a beat up position, a reed fixed on the lay for beating up the inserted weft strand into the fell of the fabric being woven when the lay moves to beat up position, and a strand reception tube carried on the lay for receiving the free end of the projected weft strand proximate to such opposite side, the improvement of a support for the reception tube which permits bodily pivotal displacement of the reception tube toward and away from the reed while pivoting with the lay.

Weft end reception system

A monitoring unit for a fluid weft insertion loom monitors the yarn supply withdrawal.

Fluid weft insertion loom monitoring system

The admission of pressurized fluid into the weft insertion nozzle of a loom is detected by an electrical signal generating means arranged in the nozzle in communication with the fluid delivery passage through the nozzle, the generating means generating a signal indicative of such fluid admission and applying the same to a conductor extending to an exterior point for use in monitoring the proper operation of the loom. Preferably, the signal generating means is fluid pressure responsive, such as a piezoelectric crystal exposed to the fluid pressure in the nozzle passage.

Air weft insertion nozzle control system

An intermittently-operating strand delivery system having:

Strand delivery system

A strand is furnished to a strand consuming unit, e.g. loom, having a periodic demand for a finite length of strand by:

Strand delivery and storage system

An improved solenoid actuated yarn clamp for controlling the flow of a moving strand of yarn particularly in conjunction with a fluid weft insertion loom. The improved clamp is double acting, being displaced positively between an operative yarn clamping position and an inoperative position releasing the yarn for further movement. The actuation of the clamp in both directions preferably occurs in two stages in which a relatively movable portion of the armature is first attracted into engagement with the energized solenoid, resulting in enhancement of the flux path of the solenoid, causing movement of the remainder of the armature. A preferred electronic circuit for regulating the actuation of the improved clamp is also disclosed which permits the adjustment of the clamping and nonclamping portions of the operative cycle of the clamp.

Yarn clamp

Increased resistance to unraveling is imparted to a fringe selvage of the type formed by weaving on a fluid weft insertion loom by means of a special selvage construction produced along the opposite side edges of the fabric which combines a pair of twisted binder threads and a juxtaposed leno chain stitch. The binder threads extending along the edges of the warp are opened or separated for the insertion of each weft thread therebetween and then closed and separated in the opposite direction to entwine around the corresponding end of each inserted weft thread while being simultaneously twisted about their own axis and preferably the timing of the closing of the binder threads during the weaving cycle is slightly in advance of the closing of the warp shed itself. The leno chain stitch is situated immediately interior of the binder threads and is constituted of two separate leno strands which are looped under alternating weft strands on either side of a multiplicity of warp strands at each fabric edge and criss crossed over the intervening weft strands, the criss crossing being achieved by reversing the locations of the leno threads preferably while the warp shed itself is in substantially fully open condition.

Fabric selvage forming

In a method and apparatus for weaving in which a weft strand is projected in substantially free flight into the warp shed of a loom and is guided across at least a portion of the shed by a plurality of guides, preferably annular in shapes disposed in operative position within the shed in interdigitating with the warp threads, the guides being moved to and fro along an arcuate path for withdrawal to an inoperative position substantially entirely outside the shed and return within the shed and having an opening at a common point thereon to permit the inserted strand to egress therefrom during their withdrawal from the shed, the improvement of (a) engaging the inserted weft strand at spaced points along its length while the strand is within the shed and within the guides and (b) bodily displacing the strand outwardly through such common opening before the guides are withdrawn from said shed. The strand is ordinarily displaced in timed relation to the movement of the guides along their path.

Method and apparatus for positively removing weft from air insertion

A quality monitoring system for looms is disclosed. The system includes a plurality of signal producing units disposed at various loci on the loom. These units operate to detect faults in the warp or filling yarns being woven into the fabric. Detection of such faults produce signals which are registered and accumulated in a counter. Signals provided from different sources can be weighted at different values so that a fault from one source can excite the counter to a different level than a fault from another source The accumulation of these values thus provides a quality point index indicative of the probable quality of the fabric being woven. Since a useful application of the quality point index is to assess this index or value in terms of faults in the woven fabric per unit length of loom operating time, or unit length of fabric woven, a divider circuit is provided to divide either of the aforementioned units by faults detected. A display is provided as a visual readout for the quality point index per unit length after this division step is completed.

Quality monitoring system for looms

A first sensor comprising interspersed light emitting and receiving fibers is situated at the egress slot of an air containment element on a fluid weft insertion type loom and retroreflectively senses filling yarn as it egresses from the element. The first sensor, placed along the length of the air containment tube, together with a second sensor outboard of the shed is used to discriminate filling yarn condition and the impact of those conditions on fabric quality. Signals from the first and second sensors are employed in a logical method to permit continued operation of the loom when particular faults are sensed but do not represent conditions warranting stopping of the loom, while said sensors do produce loom stopping signals when faults of predetermined values are sensed. Loom output efficiency is thus improved by allowing a controlled number of defects to enter the finished fabric.

Means and method for sensing loom conditions indicative of potential

A monitoring system for a fluid weft insertion loom monitors the significant operative events of each weaving cycle of the loom, e.g. yarn supply withdrawal, insertion nozzle actuation and yarn end arrival, and indicates the occurrence of each such event, preferably in terms of the elapsed time of such occurrence from a fixed reference point of the loom cycle, for example front dead center. The indications of the relative timing of the occurrences of such events is preferably retained on corresponding visual displays until the successful completion of each weaving cycle or in the event of a defective cycle until the defect is corrected and the loom is restarted. Preferred individual sensing units for the respective significant operative events are also disclosed.

A method and apparatus for inserting a weft strand into the shed of a loom or the like in which a confined zone is provided in proximity to the shed serving as a guide for a weft strand passing through the zone, and a sustained pulse of a supersonic gaseous medium is abruptly expelled from the zone directed toward said shed to thereby pass the weft strand through at least a portion of the shed. The strand is preferably confined to a pre-selected path during passage of the pulse of medium and the strand through at least the stated portion of said shed.

Air weft insertion system

The disclosure relates to a system and method for correlating strand withdrawal speed from a strand supply package and utility means such as a shuttleless loom thereby reducing the possibility of supply package sloughs and strand breakage caused by conditions such as large changes in loading on an intermediate stationary drum type strand feeding and storage device. Thus, the loom operates to withdraw strand from the feeding device at a first average rate. A flyer withdraws strand from the supply package at a second rate which is slightly higher than the first average rate and wraps that strand onto the drum of the feeding device. Withdrawal of the strand by the flyer generates a balloon in the strand intermediate the strand supply and the flyer. Flyer drive speed is controlled by a feedback system which avoids changes in speed of the flyer except when occurrences of an overfill of strand on the drum occur. An overfill detector is provided for the drum and operates an on-off circuit in response to detection of an over-accumulation of strand on the drum to interrupt current flow to the flyer drive. When the overfill condition is relieved current is restored to the flyer drive. The frequency and duration of current interruptions is controlled so that the balloon of strand between the strand supply and the flyer is maintained at all times when the loom is operating. Consequently, strand sloughs and strand breakage which could result from frequent starts and stops of the feeding device are avoided. The system and method are equally applicable to strand feeding devices of the rotary drum type, in which case the motor is employed to control drum drive speed.

Loom storage feeder improvement

Low-cost fluid-operated electric relay type logic elements are provided with an elastomeric conductive diaphragm flexed out of a stable taut intermediate position by means of differential pressures of fluid signals directed into respective chambers on opposite sides to provide thereby break or make connections with cooperating conductive contacts. Thus fluid logic, switching circuit logic or hybrid logic operations may be effected directly with attendant advantages of reliability and more powerful logic capabilities. Alternatively the elements may serve as interfacing members to produce electrical signals from fluid systems. The elements have further advantages as servicing monitor means where access is provided to conductive circuits displaying more servicing information relating to operational characteristics of the fluid logic devices than possible with fluid indicators.

Growing community of inventors

East Greenwich, RI, United States of America

Charles W Brouwer