Device for removing waste products from textile machines

A device for removing waste products from weaving machines consists essentially of two air-moving parts: a first part 9 which travels along the machine or machines to be cleaned; and a second part 10 which is mounted on the machine or machines concerned, so that the first and second parts can operate together. The parts 9, 10 establish a moving air stream or streams such that waste products are transported away from the weaving machine by the air stream(s). A single one of the parts can be moveable along different weaving machines while the other part is fixed on the weaving machines.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention concerns a device for removing waste products from textile 
machines, i.e. a device for creating an airstream for removing dust and/or 
thread ends and/or similar materials from machines. 
2. Description of the Related Art 
It is known that on textile machines, and in particular on weaving 
machines, a relatively large amount of dust is generated, in particular 
textile dust as waste material. Obviously, such dust can interfere with 
the correct operation of the machine and can also cause faults in the 
textile, and so has to be regularly removed. 
It is also known that, on such machines, thread ends are formed; these are 
generally collected in receptacles which have to be emptied at regular 
intervals. 
Until now, two main types of cleaning devices have been known for removing 
dust, such as textile dust, from textile machines. The first type, in 
which the cleaning device makes up a fixed part of the textile machine 
concerned, is known from patents or patent applications DE No. 1,710,296; 
DOS No. 2,063,521; GB No. 2,027,878; U.S. Pat. No. 2,400,792; and U.S. 
Pat. No. 4,543,999, among others. These devices have the disadvantage of 
taking up lots of space in the machine. As a result--for example on 
weaving machines--little space is left for automatic devices, such as are 
becoming more and more common. 
The second type uses cleaning devices which can move along the textile 
machines, completely independently of said machines, and which can blow 
away and/or suck up dust by presenting air conduits, which may or may not 
be movable, to the machine. Such cleaning devices are known from documents 
EP No. 192,014; DOS No. 1,919,229; DAS No. 2,815,188; and U.S. Pat. No. 
3,429,746, among others. However, they have the disadvantage of not being 
able to clean parts of the machine that are difficult to reach. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention concerns a completely new type of cleaning device for 
textile machines which avoids all the abovementioned disadvantages and 
which also offers the possibility of removing threads ends and the like 
from the recipients mentioned earlier. For this purpose, the device 
according to the invention consists of a two part air conduit system, 
namely a first part which can travel along the machine or machines to be 
cleaned, and a second part which is mounted on the machine or machines 
concerned, so that the first and second parts can operate together. This 
provides the advantage that the second part can be located in areas of the 
machine(s) that otherwise would not be accessible to the usual external 
cleaning hoses used in the prior art. 
In the most preferred embodiment, the first part consists of a blower 
and/or suction device together with associated air conduits with blower 
and/or suction nozzles, while the second part consists essentially of air 
conduits which are mounted in the machine and which also have blower 
and/or suction nozzles, so that, when the first and second parts work 
together, the air conduits of the second part essentially act as 
extensions of a number of the air conduits of the first part. Clearly, in 
this way the number of components of the cleaning device incorporated in 
the machine concerned is reduced to a minimum, while fine dust, thread 
ends and suchlike can be efficiently removed from the most inaccessible 
places.

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a weaving machine 1, showing the 
most important components such as the warp beam 2, the harnesses 3 which 
form the shed 4, the sley 5 and the cloth beam 6. The warp threads 7 and 
the woven cloth 8 are also shown. 
The device according to the invention consists essentially of an airstream 
transporting conduit system including a first part 9 and a second part 10 
which can operate together as a cleaning system for a weaving machine. 
The first part 9 of the system can travel along the weaving machine 1 and 
can also be presented successively to several other weaving machines in a 
similar way, as shown in FIG. 4. The travel of the first part 9 can be, 
for example, by means of a transport mechanism 11 which travels along 
guides or rails 12 mounted above the weaving machines 1. 
The first part 9 consists essentially of a blower and/or suction device 13, 
e.g. a compressor or an air pump, to which are connected air conduits 14 
and 15 fitted respectively with blower nozzles 16 and suction nozzles 17, 
arranged so that the nozzles can be presented close to the weaving machine 
1. 
The second part 10 of the system preferably comprises a number of second 
air conduits 18 and 19 integrated in and around the weaving machine 1 and 
which are also fitted with blower nozzles 20 and/or suction nozzles 21, so 
that when the first part 9 of the device is presented to the weaving 
machine 1, the air conduits 18 and 19 of the second part 10 form 
extensions of the air conduits 14 and 15 of the first part 9 i.e., a 
continuous air-transporting conduit. 
The second set of air conduits 18 and 19 of the second part 10 are of 
course arranged so that the blower nozzles 20 and suction nozzles 21 are 
appropriately situated so as to provide an airstream 22 to blow or suck 
away waste materials at all necessary points in the weaving machine 1. The 
dust and suchlike are blown out of the weaving machine 1 at the bottom and 
removed at the sides by at least one of the suction nozzles 17 of the 
first part 9, which is mounted near the floor 23. 
The air conduits 14-15 and 18-19 of the first part 9 and of the second part 
10 may be fitted with closures A to prevent unwanted airstreams and/or 
penetration of unwanted dust during the phase in which the parts 9 and 10 
are not working together (i.e., when part 9 is in transit and not yet 
presented to part 10). The closures may take any appropriate form known to 
the art, including conventional valves. 
FIG. 2 shows a variant of the device according to the invention. FIG. 2 
illustrates schematically how the transport mechanism 11 (shown in 
continuous lines) may be replaced by a transport mechanism 24 (shown in 
dotted lines) with a supporting structure which rolls along the floor 23. 
It is also possible to use rails or suchlike mounted on adjacent weaving 
machines. 
In another variant, as shown in FIG. 3, the device can incorporate various 
displacement mechanisms which enable particular components of the first 
part 9 and/or the second part 10 to carry out certain movements in order 
to reach all parts of the weaving machine 1. Such a mechanism can for 
instance consist of a telescopic suspension 25 for the first part 9, or 
also of other telescopic joints 26, translation mechanisms 27 or rotation 
mechanisms 28 or 28' for the purpose of moving a number of air conduits. 
The displacement mechanisms may be programmed or may carry out motions 
guided by templates in order to perform a particular cleaning cycle. 
Finally, FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a waste receptacle 29 for thread 
waste or suchlike which can operate with air conduit 15 of the first part 
9 and which may also have a waste receptacle opening 19. 
Instead of a compressor or air pump, the blower and/or suction device 13 
can also consist of connections to an external compressed air or suction 
installation. 
Clearly, the transport mechanisms 11 or 24 can provide a continuous or 
discontinuous movement of the first part 9, and clearly also the 
displacement mechanisms 25 to 28 may or may not be controlled in 
combination with the movement of the first part 9. 
In order to obtain a better cleaning effect, the device may use air pulses. 
The travelling part 9 may of course carry all sorts of other equipment, 
for example a tying-in device. 
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described in the 
text and shown in the figures; on the contrary, such a device for removing 
waste materials on textile machines can be made in all sorts of forms and 
dimensions while still remaining within the scope of the invention.