The fabrics control in cloth mills that is known up to day consists in that the weaver, while he controls a number of weaving looms, regularly controls visually the fabric produced in order to discover weaving defects in the warp, for instance due to a faultily passed warp thread, or pick defects which repeat themselves.

After this one may act in the suitable way.

It is however clear that due to the machines which work more and more speedily and to the great number of machines which are to be served by one weaver, it becomes impossible to exert a suchlike human visual quality control. The invention thus provides a procedure for ensuring an automatic fabric control.

Therefore the process according to the present invention mainly consists in guiding the fabric alongside a control plan between the weaving machine and fabric roll, letting an optic feeler pass along this control plan, whereby the latter systematically feels the entire control plan; comparing the measured signal of the feeler with one or more set comparison values, and the indication of defaults and/or the stopping of the weaving loom when the detected signal differs considerably from the set value.

The invention also relates to control devices which may be used in order to achieve the aforesaid procedure.

• Figure 1 schematically represents a first control device according to the invention;


• Figure 2 represents a second control device according to the invention;


• Figure 3 shows schematically how a suchlike control can be exerted on more than one weaving loom by means of one feeler.

In figure 1 there is represented a weaving installation consisting of an assembly known in itself of a warp loom 1, of the weaving machine 2 properly speaking, of guiding rolls 3, of a fabric roll 4 and of a weaver's stand 5. Also, schematically, there is represented a control device 6 according to the invention.

In the kind of execution of the figure 1 the control device 6 mainly consists of a vertical control stand which is formed by a number of guiding rolls 7 over which the fabric 8 is being conducted in order to form a control plan 9 which in this form of execution consists of two parts. Furthermore, the control device 6 comprises an optical feeler 10 which, by means of a device 11, which is movable over the weaving installations along a determined way 12, can be moved along the control plans of a plurality of weaving devices.

The optical feeler 10 detects irregularities in the fabric 8. Hereby, it is possible to work by means of reflection, but preferably a source of light is provided for, for instance a light box 13 which is placed behind the control plan 9, whereby the feeler 10 then exclusively contains only one detector.

In the form of execution according to figure 2, the control plan 9 is horizontally situated under the weaver's platform 14. The light box 13 is situated on the underside of the weaver's platform 14, whilst the optical feeler 10 is fixed on a small carriage 15 which can move back and forth under the weaver's platform 14.

This construction offers the advantage that the weaver is not hindered, whilst carrying out his task, by the control installation and that also there remains a free sight on the weaving machines in the cloth-mill. An other advantage consists in that such a small carriage 15 can work with enormous speeds, more especially move between the various weaving machines without exposing the weavers to a serious danger.

The functioning of the installations described hereinbefore can easily be deduced from the figures. Whilst the fabric 8 moves continuously farther, with a higher moving speed by means of the feeler 10 the part A-B of the fabric which is situated on the control plan 9 is being explored. The exploration can hereby be effected in various ways. According to a first method it is done by means of a point per point explorationthe feeler 10 moves back and forth in zigzag over the control plan 9. According to another method a feeler 10 which can exert a control simultaneously on the whole width of a fabric is provided for. When the part A-B of the fabric has been explored, the feeler 10 moves, or thus in the second form of execution the small carriage 15 moves towards the following weaving loom. It goes without the saying that the working speeds of the control devices 6 are so adapted to the size of the control plan 9 that a plurality of fabrics 8 from a plurality of weaving installations can be controlled by one control device 6 without parts of one of the fabrics 8 thereby being omitted.

The figures 3 schematically represent the way 16 which, for example, the installation movable over the weaving looms 1 may follow in order to reach the various vertical control stands. The feeler 10 is thereby guided for instance in zigzag between the control plans 9 of a plurality of weaving machines 2. At each control plan 9 the feeler 10 effects a control on the whole part A-B.

The signal measured at the feeler 10 is being compared with a set comparison value. By a fabric 8 with patterns, one works, unnecessary to say, with a plurality of comparison values. When detecting a defect, this is being automatically signalled or the weaving loom 2 is being automatically stopped.

As schematically shown in Figure 1, the control device 6 can also comprise a stopper 16 in order to maintain the fabric 8 temporarily between the weaving loom
₂ and the control plan
^9. Due to this, there is a gain of time whereby it becomes possible to use one and the same feeler 10 for even a greater number of weaving looms.

The present invention is absolutely not limited to the execution described as an example and represented in the attached drawings, but a control device of this kind can be realized in various shapes and dimensions without falling outside of the frame of the invention.