Weft yarn end treating device for shuttleless loom

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates in general to a shuttleless loom of fluid jet type and more particularly to a device for treating the end portions of weft yarns picked into the shed of warp yarns.

A shuttleless loom of fluid jet type is usually equipped with a weft yarn end treating device which has been disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,297,057 to Yukio Mizuno et al, entitled "Device for Grasping and Guiding Travelling End of Wefts", in which a plurality of binding yarns are stretched adjacent and parallelly with the arrays of warp yarns. These binding yarns are arranged to separate or close to each other with the opening (shedding) operation or the closing operation of the array of warp yarns. The binding yarns securely catches the end portion of weft yarn which has been picked into the shed of the wrap yarns. The binding yarns which have caught the weft yarn end portion then passes through a guide member which is disposed adjacent the weave front of a woven fabric. Thereafter, the binding yarns are rotated to be twisted by a twisting device and consequently the caught end portion is pulled in tension.

In this weft yarn end treating device, the tensioned end portion of the picked weft yarn is in generally cut by a cutter after several picks of the weft yarns have been completed. The thus cut end portion is thereafter conveyed out of the shuttleless loom being involved in the twisted binding yarns.

However, such the weft yarn end treating device of the shuttleless loom has encountered the following problems. The cut end portions caught by the binding yarns are flourished by the twisting action of the binding yarns. The flourished cut end portions are liable to twine around the other portions of the binding yarns. Accordingly, if the cut end portions of the weft yarns twine around the other portion of the binding yarns bridging a projecting member of the shuttleless loom, such as the above-mentioned guide member, the binding yarns cannot run or move though being continued to be pulled at a certain speed, and accordingly the binding yarns are cut in case that the weft yarn is considerably strong as compared with the binding yarns.

Furthermore, whenever the binding yarns have been cut, the shuttleless loom is required to stop to connect the cut binding yarns. This stop of the stuttleless loom causes undesirable markings on the surface of the woven fabric (product). Moreover, in such a weft yarn end treating device, at least three binding yarns are necessary to securely binding the weft yarn ends and additionally the binding yarns are being pulled to move at a speed of about several times the moving speed of the warp yarns. Therefore, considerably large amounts of the binding yarns are unavoidably consumed, accompanying poor economy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is the prime object of the present invention to provide, in a shuttleless loom of fluid jet ype, an improved weft yarn end treating device which can solve the problems encountered in prior art, without using any binding yarns for catching and binding the end portions of weft yarns picked into the shed of warp yarns.

Another object of the present invention is to provide, in a shuttleless loom of fluid jet type, an improved weft yarn end treating device by which the end portion of a weft yarn picked into the shed of warp yarns can be mechanically and automatically conveyed out of the suttleless loom after being cut by a cutter.

A further object of the present invention is to provide, in a shuttleless loom of fluid jet type, an improved weft yarn end treating device by which the end portion of a weft yarn picked into the shed of warp yarns is first thrusted or put into a location at which the end portion is caught by conveying means, and thereafter the end portion is conveyed apart the weave front of a woven fabric in cooperation with holding means for holding the end portion to be caught by the conveying means.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide, a shuttleless loom of fluid jet type, an improved weft yarn end treating device, in which firstly the end portion of a weft yarn picked into the shed of warp yarns is caught by a catching device, secondly the caught end portion is thrusted to contact with a conveyer disposed along the side of a woven fabric, thirdly the end portion is conveyed by the conveyer along the side of the woven fabric, and lastly conveyed end portion is carried out of the shuttleless loom after cut by a cutter.

Other objects, features and advantages of improved weft yarn end treating device according to the present invention will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals and characters are assigned to the corresponding parts and elements throughout various embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perpsective view of essential parts of a shuttleless loom including a preferred embodiment of a weft yarn end treating device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the shuttleless loom of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the weft yarn end treating device of FIG. 1, showing a state of the treating device;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the weft yarn treating device of FIG. 1, showing another state of the treating device;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of essential parts of a shuttleless loom including another preferred embodiment of a weft yarn end treating device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the weft yarn end treating device of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a schematic perpsective view of essential parts of a shuttleless loom including a further preferred embodiment of a weft yarn end treating device in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a main part of the weft yarn end treating device of FIG. 7.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to FIGS. 1 to 4, there is illustrated essential parts of a shuttleless loom of fluid jet type, including a weft yarn end treating device 10 in accordance with the present invention. The shuttleless loom is composed of a frame 12 in which various moving parts are mounted. The reference character Y₁ indicates a weft yarn which is projected with a fluid under pressure from a nozzle 14 forming part of a weft yarn projecting unit which is mounted on the frame 12. The weft yarn Y₁ is picked into the shed of warp yarns Y₂ and then the leading end of the weft yarn Y₁ is sucked into a sucking device 16 mounted on the frame 12. The sucking device 16 comprises a cylindrical tube (no numeral) which is fluidly connected to a suction vacuum source (not numeral). Accordingly, an end portion E of the picked weft yarn Y₁ projecting from a side S₁ of the warp yarn array, is maintained in tension as shown in FIG. 1. The side S₁ is opposite to the other side S₂ of the array of the warp yarns Y₂ the side S₂ being adjacent the nozzle 14. Accordingly, the side S₁ is remote away from the nozzle 14. A woven fabric F is passed on spacedly and parallelly located two rollers (not shown) to be stretched between the two rollers. A reed 20 is movably supported by the frame 12, which reed functions to beat up the picked weft yarn Y₁ against the weave front W or so-called closs fell of the woven fabric F.

A cutter 22 of the form of scissors is disposed adjacent a side F₁ of the fabric F which side corresponds to the side S₁ of the array of the warp yarns Y₂. The cutter 22 functions to cut the projected end portion E of the picked weft yarn Y₁ in close proximity to the side F₁ of the fabric F.

A resilient plate member 24 is disposed generally parallelly with respect to and elongates along the fabric side F₁. The resilient plate member 24 forms part of the weft yarn end treating device 10 which is arranged and constructed to automatically treat the projected end portion E of the picked weft yarn Y₁. The plate member 24 is made of a spring material such as a spring steel and formed with a higher portion 24a and a lower portion 24b. The higher portion 24a is adjacent the weave front W and the lower portion 24b is remote from the weave front W. The higher portion 24a lies generally in the same level as the fabric F and accordingly the lower portion 24b lies below the level of the fabic F. The plate member 24 is further formed with a bent portion 24c which is contactable with a projected portion (no numeral) of the frame 12 as shown in FIG. 3. The plate member 24 is secured at its lower portion on the frame 12 with a small screw 26 so that the plate member 24 is maintained in the state of a cantilever.

Two pulleys 28 and 30 are spacedly disposed adjacent the plate member 24 so that the axes of the pulleys are arranged parallel with the weave front W of the fabric F. The pulley 28 is rotatably supported on a bracket 32 secured to the frame 12. The other pulley 30 is fixedly mounted around a rotatable shaft 34 which is rotated in accordance with the operation of the shuttleless loom. A loop-shaped belt 36 is passed on the two pulleys 28 and 30 to be stretched between the two pulleys. The lower surface of the belt 36 is contacted with the surface of the higher portion 24a. Accordingly, when the pulley 30 is rotated in a direction of an arrow indicated in FIG. 1, the belt 36 slidably moves on the surface of higher portion 24a of the plate member 24 in a direction generally parallel with the side F₁ of the woven fabric F. The belt 36 is arranged to move at a certain speed of about six times the moving speed of the woven fabric F in consideration of sliding caused between the surface of the belt 36 and the end portion E of the weft yarn to be contacted with the belt 36. The plate member 24 is formed at its bent portion 24c with a cut-out portion 38 which elongates parallelly with the side F₁ of the fabric F.

A thrust rod member 40 is rotatably mounted at its central portion on a pin 42 having a head portion (no numeral). The pin 42 is securely inserted into a support member 46 which is fixed to the frame 20a of the reed 20. The rod member 40 is biased clockwise by means of a torsion spring 48, but is normally kept parallel with a dent 20b or a comb-like portion of the reed 20 by the action of a stopper (not shown) for restricing the clockwise movement of the rod member 40. The reference numeral 50 represents a push rod having a head portion 50a which is arranged to strike and push the upper portion 40a of the thrust rod member 40 counterclockwise when the thrust rod member 40 is advanced in the direction of an arrow shown in FIG. 3 with the advancing movement of the reed 20 to beat up the picked weft yarn against the weave front W of the woven fabric F. The push rod 50 is slidably disposed through a bracket 52 secured to the plate member 24. The push rod 50 is further provided with a nut 54 on its one end which is opposite to the other end at which the head portion 50a is formed. As shown, a compression spring 56 is disposed around the push rod 50 and between the head portion 50a and the bracket 52 to normally bias the push rod 50 in the direction that the nut 54 contacts the bracket 52.

Two guide threads 58 and 60 are stretched generally parallelly with a lower array L (shown in FIG. 3) of the warp yarns by means of thread guides 62a and 62b. The two guide threads 58 and 60 slidably contact with flat surface of the higher portion 24a of the plate member 24 from the bent portion 24c of the plate member 24, and elongate in the direction generaly parallel with the side F₁ of the woven fabric F. The guide thread 58 is located closer to the side F₁ of the fabric F than the pulley 28, while the guide thread 60 is located further from the fabric side F₁ than the cut-out portion 38. These guide threads 58 and 60 are replaceable with a stationary guide member (not shown) of a rigid structural member, in which the corresponding portion at the dent 20b of the reed 20 is removed.

The plate member 24 is formed at its lower portion 24b with an opening (no numeral) which meets an opening (no numeral) formed through the wall of the frame 12 as viewed in FIG. 4. A pipe 64 is securely disposed bridging the openings of the lower portion 24b and the frame 12, defining a suction opening 66 therein. The pipe 64 is fluidly connected through a flexible tube 68 to a filter 70a which is disposed at the suction side of a blower 70.

The operation of the weft yarn end treating device 10 of the present invention as illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4 will be now explained. After picking operation of the weft yarn Y₁ is completed, and the leading end of the yarn Y₁ is caught by the sucking device 16, the reed 20 begins to operate to beat up or batten the picked weft yarn Y₁ against the weave front W. During this beating or battening operation of the reed 20, the upper portion 40a of the thurst rod member 40 strikes against the head portion 50a of the push rod 50 to rotate the thrust rod member 40 unticlockwise around the pin 42. Then, the lower portion 40b moves to enter the cut-out portion 38, pushing the end portion E of the picked weft yarn Y₁ in the state of FIG. 4 on and along the guide threads 58 and 60.

As a result, the pushed end portion E of the weft yarn Y₁ is thrusted between the belt 36 and the higher portion 24a of plate member 24. The end portion E of the weft yarn Y₁ is then carried by the moving belt 36 which is moved by the driven pulley 30, being urged to contact with the surface of the belt by the action of the higher portion 24a of the plate member 24. At this moment, the end portion E of the picked weft yarn Y₁ is forced to move at a speed of more than three times the moving speed of the woven fabric F, and therefore the end portion of the weft yarn Y₁ is held in tension to prevent the end portion E from slacking. The end portion E of the weft yarn Y₁ is cut by a cutter 22 as illustrated in FIG. 2 after several picks of the weft yarns Y₁ are completed. The cut end portion E is further conveyed sliding on the higher portion 24a, and released when conveyed beyond the higher portion 24a. Then, the cut end portion E drops on the surface of the lower portion 24b of the plate member 24 to be sucked into the suction opening 66 by the action of vacuum generated in the pipe 64. It is to be noted that the sucked end portion E is lastly caught by the filter 70a.

While the picked weft yarn sucking device 16 has been shown and described only to suck the end portion E of the picked weft yarn Y₁, it will be understood that the sucking device 16 may be constructed and arranged to suck also water when the shuttleless loom is of a water jet type wherein the picking of the weft yarn Y₁ is accomplished by the action of water jet. In such a case, the sucking of the sucking device 16 may begin when the picking of the weft yarn Y₁ has just been finished. Moreover, it will be appreciated that the sucking device 16 is replaceable with any other devices for catch the end portion of a weft yarn picked into the shed of warp yarns.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate another preferred embodiment of a weft yarn end treating device 10 according to the present invention. The weft yarn end treating device 10 of this instance comprises an upper loop-shaped belt 72 which is passed on pulleys 74, 76, 78 and pulleys (each having three gooves for receiving belts) 80, 82a, 82b, 84 and 86. As shown, the upper belt 72 is passed on the central grooves of the pulleys 80, 82a, 82b, 84 and 86. A first lower loop-shaped belt 88 is passed on pulleys 90, 92, a pulley 94 (having three grooves for receiving belts), and the pulleys 80, 82a, 82b, 84 and 86. The first lower belt 88 is passed on one of two side grooves formed on each of the pulleys 94, 80, 82a, 82b, 84 and 86. Similarly, a second lower loop-shaped belt 96 is passed on pulleys 98, 100, the pulleys 94, 80, 82a, 82b, 84 and 86. As seen, the second lower belt 96 is passed on one of two side grooves of each of the pulleys 94, 80, 82a, 82b, 84 and 86. The side groove on which the first lower belt 88 is passed is opposite to the side groove on which the second lower belt 96 is passed, with respect to the central groove. It will be seen that all the belts 72, 88 and 96 run together in the substantially same direction as the moving direction of the woven fabric F within the region from the pulley 80 to the pulley 86. However, the belts 72, 88 and 96 turn back in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the woven fabric F by means of the pulleys 74, 90 and 98, respectively.

The reference numeral 102 indicates a hook member which reciprocally move in the directions of a twohead arrow in accordance with the weaving operation of the shuttleless loom. In this instance, the hook member 102 is constructed and arranged to first hitch the end portion E of the picked weft yarn Y₁ caught by the sucking device 16, and then to thrust or put it between the upper belt 72 and the two lower belts 88 and 96, passing through a space between the pulleys 78 and 94. It is to be noted that the three belts 72, 88 and 96 are arranged to move at a speed slightly higher than the moving speed of the woven fabric F.

With the thus arranged weft yarn end treating device 10, when the end portion E of the weft yarn Y₁ is caught by the sucking device 16 after picking operation of the weft yarn Y₁, the hook member 102 hitches the end portion E to bring and thrust it between the upper belt 72 and the lower two belts 88 and 96 immediately before the beating operation of the reed (not shown). Then, the end portion E is pulled in the direction same as the moving direction of the woven fabric F being kept between the upper belt 72 and the lower belts 88 and 96. It is to be noted that the end portion E is pulled to move at a speed higher than the moving speed of the woven fabric F and therefore kept in tension. The pulled end portion E is cut by the cutter 22 when several picks of the weft yarns are completed after the end portion E is inserted between the upper belt 72 and the lower belts 88 and 96. The cut end portion E or a waste yarn is conveyed by the cooperation of the upper belt 72 and the lower belts 88 and 96, successively passing through the pulleys 80, 82a, 82b, 84 and 86, and then released when the waste yarn is conveyed beyond the pulley 86 to drop into a container (no numeral) for accumulating the waste yarns therein.

FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate a further preferred embodiment of a weft yarn end treating device 10 in accordance with the present invention. The weft yarn end treating device 10 of this instance comprises an upper cylindical roller 104 which is formed at its cylindrical surface with a continuous spiral groove 104a which is formed substantially the same as that of a so-called left hand screw. The upper roller 104 is integrally formed at its one end with a smooth cylindrical portion 106 which is rotatably supported by a support bracket 108. A cylindrical toothed portion 110 is formed integrally with the cylindrical portion 106. Securely mounted on the toothed portion 110 are a gear 112 and a drive pulley 114 through which the upper roller 104 is rotated in accordance with the weaving operation of the shuttleless loom.

A lower cylindrical roller 116 is disposed in close proximity to the upper cylindrical roller 104, and formed at its cylindrical surface with a continuous spiral groove 116a which is formed substantially the same as that of a so-called right hand screw. It is to be noted that the spiral groove 116a of the lower cylindrical roller 116 is located opposite to the spiral groove 104a of the upper cylindrical roller 104, defining therebetween a plurality of generally circular (in section) spaces S as clearly shown in FIG. 8. The lower cylindrical roller 116 is formed with a smooth cylindrical portion 118 which is rotatably supported by the support bracket 108. The smooth cylindrical portion 118 is provided with a cylindrical toothed portion 120 on which a gear 122 is mounted to be meshed with the gear 112. It will be understood that the cylindrical rollers 104 and 116 are rotated at the same rotational speed and in opposite directions to each other as indicated by arrows shown in FIG. 8. It is to be noted that the tip of each of the cylindrical rollers 104 and 116 is formed generally into a cone-shape in order that the end portion E of the picked weft yarn Y₁ is easily thrusted between the upper and lower cylindrical rollers 104 and 116.

In this instance, the hook member 102 is arranged to first hitch the end portion E of the picked weft yarn Y₁ and thereafter thrust or put it between the upper and lower cylindrical rollers 104 and 116, moving in the directions indicated by the two-head arrow in FIG. 7. A loop-shaped conveyor 124 is provided adjacent and along the side F₁ of the woven fabric F. The belt conveyor 124 is moved in the direction same as the moving direction of the woven fabric F.

With the thus arranged weft yarn end treating device 10, the end portion E of the picked weft yarn Y₁ is hitched by the hook member 102 immediately before the beating operation of the reed (not shown), and then thrusted or put into the first formed circular space defined between the grooves of the upper and lower cylindrical rollers 104 and 116. Thereafter, the end portion E is carried or conveyed toward the support bracket 108 with the rotations of the upper and lower rollers 104 and 116, being movably kept in the succeeding spaces S formed between the cylindrical surface of the upper and lower rollers 104 and 116. At this moment, the end portion E of the picked weft yarn Y₁ is pulled to be held in its tensioned state. The pulled end portion E is cut by the cutter 22 when several picks of the weft yarns Y₁ are completed after the end portion E is inserted into the first formed space S. Meanwhile, the cut end portion E or a waste yarn gets out the grooves 104a and 116a of the upper and lower cylindrical rollers 104 and 116. Thereafter, the waste yarn drops onto the surface of the belt conveyor 124 and conveyed in the direction same as the moving direction of the woven fabric F to be collected in a container (no numeral).