METHOD FOR POSITIONING OF AUXILIARY MECHANISMS FOR WEAVING MACHINES, AND A DEVICE WHICH USES THIS METHOD

Abstract: Method for positioning auxiliary mechanisms for weaving machines, in particular in which auxiliary mechanisms (4) can be presented to several weaving machines (2) by means of an automatic device (3) which travels along a guide (1), characterized in that it consists essentially of carrying out a first positioning, achieved by positioning the automatic device (3) with respect to a point on the guide (1), and a second positioning, achieved by positioning the auxiliary mechanism or devices (4) with respect to the weaving machine (2).

Description: This invention concerns a method for positioning auxiliary mechanisms for weaving machines, in particular for auxiliary mechanisms which are carried by a transport device which travels along a guide. The invention also concerns a device which uses the method according to the invention. All sorts of mechanisms in weaving mills for carrying peripheral equipment and auxiliary mechanisms to the weaving machine concerned are already known. The auxiliary mechanisms carried by this mechanism can be of any type, for instance: a mechanism for removing an incorrectly inserted, already beaten-up weft thread from the shed; a mechanism for finding a broken warp thread; a drawing-through mechanism for automatically drawing a warp thread through the drop wires, the heddles and the reed; a mechanism for repairing a broken weft thread; mechanisms for loading weft packages and warp beams on weaving machines; cloth beam doffing mechanisms, etc. A mechanism for transporting warp beams, cloth beams, yarn packages and suchlike in a weaving mill and presenting them to weaving machines is known from European patent No. 104.298, which uses guides extending over the weaving machines, along which the mechanism can ride. This mechanism has the disadvantage that the accuracy with which the items are presented depends on the accuracy with which the guides are mounted with respect to the weaving machines. Clearly, when using a guide system mounted independently of the weaving machines, the above-mentioned auxiliary mechanisms cannot be positioned accurately with respect to their working position unless special measures are taken, because of the fact that mounting the guides parallel to the longitudinal axis of the weaving machine and at a certain distance from it is practically impossible for a complete weaving mill, and also because of the fact that the distance between the guide and the machine always tends to alter after a certain time, for example because of the guide becoming deformed as a result of use, because of the position of the machine altering as a result of the elastic shock-absorbers on which it is mounted becoming deformed, or because of the machine shifting a little as a result of vibration, etc. A mechanism for positioning auxiliary mechanisms for weaving machines is also known of EP-A-192.014, wherein an automatic device which travels along a guide is provided of auxiliary mechanisms which can be positioned with respect to the weaving machine. This mechanism shows the disadvantage that accurate positioning becomes difficult when deviations occurs between the location of the guide and the weaving machine. The aim of the present invention is to provide a method which permits accurate positioning of the auxiliary mechanisms with respect to a weaving machine, irrespective of any changes that may have occured in the relative positions of respectively the weaving machine and the location of the transport mechanism which carries the auxiliary mechanisms. To achieve this, the present invention concerns a method for positioning auxiliary mechanisms for weaving machines, in which auxiliary mechanisms can be presented to several weaving machines by means of an automatic device which travels along a guide, characterized in that it consists essentially of carrying out a first positioning, achieved by positioning the automatic device with repect to a point on the guide, and a second positioning, achieved by positioning the auxiliary mechanism or devices with repect to the weaving machine, whereby the first positioning consists of moving the automatic device up to a first detection device mounted along the guide, at which point the automatic device is connected to the guide by means of a supply coupling. In this way, the initial positioning situates the automatic device and the auxiliary mechanism in proximitiy to the weaving machine, while the second positioning consists only of positioning the auxiliary mechanism with respect to stops or detectors on the weaving machine itself. This invention also concerns a device which uses this method, the characteristics of which are contained in claim 9. In order to explain the characteristics of the invention, the following preferred embodiments of devices which use the method according to the invention are described below, by way of example only and without being limitative in any way, with reference to the accompanying drawings, where: figs. 1 to 3 are schematic diagrams showing three different positions of a device according to the invention; fig. 4 shows a variant of the invention; fig. 5 is a cross-section showing a device according to the invention in more detail; fig. 6 illustrates the positioning of an auxiliary mechanism with respect to a stop mounted on a weaving machine; fig. 7 shows the part indicated in fig. 5 by F7, to a greater scale. As shown in fig. 1, the device according to the invention consists essentially of a combination of: an automatic device 3 which can be moved along several weaving machines 2 by means of a guide 1 and which in turn carries a mobile auxiliary mechanism 4 for the weaving machines; a first positioning mechanism 5 for positioning the automatic device 3 with respect to a point on the guide 1, and a second positioning mechanism 6 which partly forms part of the weaving machine 2 itself and which carries out positioning, with respect to the weaving machines 2, of the auxiliary mechanisms 4 connected to the automatic device 3. In the embodiment shown, the guide 1 consists of a rail mounted above the weaving machines on supports 7, along which the automatic device 3 travels by means of mechanisms which are common technology. Obviously, the guide 1 may also be attached to the ceiling or suchlike, so that the supports 7 do not obstruct the automatic device 3. In the first embodiment shown, the first positioning mechanism 5 consists of two sorts of detectors 8 and 9 which can act on the automatic device 3. The first detector 8 is located beside connections 10 mounted on the guide 1, for supplying electricity, compressed air etc. Each detector 9 is located beside a weaving machine 2. In order to present the auxiliary mechanism 4 to a weaving machine 2 at the correct point, in the method according to the invention a double positioning is carried out. In the embodiment shown, the first positioning consists of two steps, as shown in figs. 2 and 3 respectively. In the first step, the automatic device 3 moves until it acts on the detector 8, with the result that a connection is formed automatically between the automatic device 3 and the coupling 10. Once this connection has been formed, the automatic device 3 moves up to the second detector 9, such that as shown in fig. 3 the connection 11 between the automatic device 3 and the coupling 10 is maintained. This connection consists of e.g. a flexible connection formed by a compressed air line and the necessary electrical cables. As shown schematically in fig. 3, the second positioning is carried out by moving the auxiliary mechanism 4 towards the weaving machine 2, whereby use is made of a positioning mechanism 6 which forms part of the weaving machine itself and which more specifically consists of e.g. a detector or stop 12 solidly attached to the weaving machine 2. The second positioning will be described in more detail with reference to figs. 5 to 7. Fig. 4 shows a variant in which the automatic device consists of: a carrier 13 which travels along the guide 1, a guide 14 mounted on this carrier 13, parallel to the first guide 1, and a part 15 which can travel along the guide 14 and on which is mounted the auxiliary mechanism 4 which moves towards the weaving machine 2. In this case, the positioning mechanism also consists of two detectors 16 and 17, at least the first of which is mounted on the guide 1. The second detector 17 should preferably also be mounted on the guide 1, but can also be mounted on the carrier 13. The difference with the previous variant is that the first positioning is achieved by letting the carrier 13 act on the detector 16, making the automatic connection with the coupling 10 of the supply system, and then moving the part 15 until it acts on the detector 17. While this is being done, the carrier remains in its last position. The operation of said second positioning mechanism 6 is now described in more detail with the help of fig. 5, which shows a cross-section of a transport mechanism according to the invention. Fig. 5 also shows an example of a presentation mechanism 18 which with the help of the second positioning mechanism 6 accurately presents an auxiliary mechanism 4 to the weaving machine 2, in particular to the relevant part of the weaving machine. The presentation mechanism 18 consists essentially of e.g. a slide 19 which moves perpendicularly to the guide 1 along the automatic device 3, and an extendible arm 20 which is swivel-mounted on said slide 19. The mechanism 18 is of course equipped with the necessary drive elements 21, 22 and 23, for moving the slide 19, swivelling the arm 20 and extending the arm respectively. Said drive elements can consist of e.g. stepper motors or suchlike, but clearly pneumatic drives and/or other drive elements may also be used. The guide 1 is attached by means of supports 7A to a load-bearing construction, e.g. a ceiling or suchlike. If as is shown in fig. 5 the guide 1 is mounted on top of supports 7, the undercarriage or part 15A along which the slide 19 moves is swivel-mounted on the actual carrier 13. The swivel motion occurs round a vertical axis of rotation R, through an angle of 90 degrees, so that the part 15A can be brought parallel to the guide 7 in order for it to pass the support 7. Shown schematically on the weaving machine 2 in fig. 5 are the warp beam 24, the shed 25, the frames 26, the drop wires 27, the warp threads 28 and the cloth beam 29, as well as a known apparatus 30 which can move underneath the drop wires 27 in order to detect a fallen drop wire automatically, for example as described in Dutch patent application No. 8600372 made by the present applicant. By way of example, a device such as described in Belgian patent application No. 8700254 made by the present applicant is shown for the auxiliary mechanism 4, where the suction nozzles 31 are lowered between the different rows of drop wires 27 at the point where there is a broken warp thread, in order to grip the broken thread by means of suction at the corresponding fallen drop wire. The positioning mechanism 6 may be any of various types of mechanisms, including for example the above-mentioned fixed stop 12 and a number of detection devices or mechanisms, including devices 32 and 33 consisting of e.g. proximity switches, or it may consist of stops which are designed to work in conjunction with proximity switches or optical detectors. The special characteristic of all these second positioning mechanisms 6 is that they are least partly a fixed part of the weaving machine 2, in order to obtain correct positioning. As shown in fig. 5, the above-mentioned stop 12 consists of an L-shaped sectional bar mounted across the weaving width over the warp threads 28. The detection device 32 can act on the arm 20 and can be mounted either on the arm or on the stop, or on any other suitable place on the weaving machine. The two detection devices 33 interact with each other and are mounted one on the auxiliary mechanism 4 and/or the end of the arm 20 and the other on the apparatus 30. Positioning of the auxiliary mechanism 4 with respect to the weaving machine 2 can for example be carried out by in the first instance swivelling the arm 20 downwards through an angle B until it acts on the detection device and/or the stop 32, thus achieving an initial adjustment. Then, as shown in fig. 6, the required adjustment of the end A of arm 20 is achieved by an XY adjustment made by controlling the above-mentioned drive mechanisms 21, 22 and 23, by means of proximity switches or suchlike (not shown). At the same time, the angle B can also be further adjusted to the required value. Once this positioning has been carried out, the auxiliary mechanism 4 is in the right area, i.e. in the embodiment shown the suction nozzles are positioned just between the drop wires 27. However, the auxiliary mechanism 4 is still to one side of the warp. In the second instance, positioning relative to the weaving width is then carried out by moving the automatic device 3 and/or the part 15 sideways until the above-mentioned detection devices 33 interact with each other, so that the auxiliary mechanism 4 comes to a halt above the device 30, which is situated at the point of the broken warp thread. In order to prevent deviations occurring during the movement accross the weaving width as a result of the rows of drop wires 27 or the stop 12 not being parallel with the guide or rail 1, a guide mechanism attached to the arm 20 may be used, consisting of a roller 34 which can act on the sectional bar stop, together with the required spring devices 35 and/or 36 which exert spring pressure on the slide 19 and the extendible part of the arm 20. By switching off the above-mentioned drive mechanisms 21 to 23, the spring pressure of the springs will result in the roller 34 following the stop 12 during the sideways movement of the automatic device 3, so that the auxiliary mechanism 4 wil move parallel to the stop 12. This arrangement is illustrated to a larger scale in fig. 7. The rate of movement of the automatic device 3 and/or of the above-mentioned part 15 should preferably be regulated. The rate of movement of the automatic device 3 and/or said part 15 along the guide 1 while the automatic device 3 is moving up to the weaving machine 2 concerned will be greater than the rate of movement applied during the second positioning while moving along the stop 12. Clearly, in order to achieve this the mechanism must be equipped with a suitable control unit. When approaching or leaving a positioning point, e.g. the dectors and detection devices 8, 9, 16, 17 and 33, the above-mentioned rate of movement is increased or decreased respectively. This is achieved by using sensors which measure the distance by means of e.g. reflection of sound or infrared light. Clearly, in a variant of the invention the second positioning can also be carried out by purely mechanical means, such as the roller 34 and the sectional bar stop 12, i.e. without detectors. The present invention is not limited to the variants described by way of example and shown in the accompanying drawings; on the contrary, such a method and invention for positioning auxiliary mechanisms for weaving machines can be made in different variants while still remaining within the scope of the invention.

Claims: Method for positioning auxiliary mechanisms for weaving machines, in which auxiliary mechanisms (4) can be presented to several weaving machines (2) by means of an automatic device (3) which travels along a guide (1), characterized in that it consists essentially of carrying out a first positioning, achieved by positioning the automatic device (3) with repect to a point on the guide (1), and a second positioning, achieved by positioning the auxiliary mechanism or devices (4) with repect to the weaving machine (2), whereby the first positioning consists of moving the automatic device (3) up to a first detection device (8,16) mounted along the guide (1), at which point the automatic device (3) is connected to the guide (1) by means of a supply coupling (10). Method according to claim 1, characterized in that after the first positioning the automatic device (3), still connected to the coupling (10), is moved up to a second detector (9) situated at the location of the weaving machine (2) to which the auxiliary mechanism (4) is to be presented. Method as in claim 1, characterized in that it uses an automatic device (3) consisting of a carrier (13) which can move along the above-mentioned guide (1), and of a part (15) which can move along this carrier (13) parallel to the guide (1), and that after the first positioning the carrier (13) is connected to a supply coupling (10), after which the carrier (13) is held in this position, and then the part (15) which can move along the carrier (13) is postioned with respect to a second detector (17). Method as in any of the above-mentioned claims, characterized in that the second positioning consists of moving the auxiliary mechanism (4) towards the weaving machine (2) and letting said automatic device (4), and/or the presentation mechanism (18) used with it, act on the weaving machine (2) by means of one or more stops (12) and a number of detection devices or mechanisms (32, 33), where said detection devices (32, 33) form part of the presentation mechanism (18). Method as in any of the above-mentioned claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the second positioning consists of moving the auxiliary mechanism (4) towards the weaving machine (2) and letting said auxiliary mechanism (4) and/or the presentation mechanism (18) used with it act on the weaving machine (2) by means of one or more stops (12) and/or detection devices or mechanisms (32, 33) which are mounted on the weaving machine. Method as in claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the second positioning consists of using detectors to position the auxiliary mechanism (4) with respect to a particular point on the weaving machine (2), and then moving said auxiliary mechanism (4) to the required point on the weaving width (4) by letting it travel along a mechanical guide. Method as in claim 1, characterized in that during the above-mentioned first positioning the automatic device (3) travels along the guide (1) with greater speed than during the second positioning. Method as in any of the above-mentioned claims, characterized in that the rate of travel of the automatic device (3) is reduced when it approaches a positioning point, and may also be increased as it leaves a positioning point. Device (3,1) which uses the method according to claim 1, comprising an automatic device (3) which can travel along several weaving machines (2) by means of a guide (1), and which carries an auxiliary mechanism (4) which can act in turn on the weaving machines (2); characterized in that it further comprises a first positioning device (5) mounted along the guide which positions the automatic device (3) with respect to a point on the guide (1) consisting of a first detector (8,16) by means of which the automatic device (3) is located at a supply coupling (10) and automatically connected to the guide (1) by means of said supply coupling (10) and a second positioning device (6) which positions the auxiliary mechanism (4) connected to the automatic device (3) with respect to the weaving machines (2). Device according to claim 9, characterized in that said first positioning means comprise a second detector (9) by means of which the automatic device (3) is located at the corresponding weaving machine (2) after making the connection with the said coupling (10). Device as in claim 9, characterized in that the automatic device consists of a carrier (13) which can travel along the above-mentioned guide (1), and a movable part (15) which can move along the carrier (13) parallel to the above-mentioned guide (1) and on which the auxiliary mechanism (4) is mounted. Device as in claim 11, characterized in that the first positioning device consists of a first detector (16) in order to position the carrier (13) with respect to a supply coupling (10), and a second detector (17) in order to position the above-mentioned movable part (15) with respect to the corresponding weaving machine (2). Device as in claim 12, characterized in that the second detector (17) for positioning the above-mentioned part (15) of the automatic device is mounted on the guide (1). Device as in claim 12, characterized in that the second detector (17) for positioning the above-mentioned part (15) of the automatic device is mounted on the carrier (13). Device as in any of claims 9 to 14, characterized in that the auxiliary mechanism (4) is connected to the automatic device (3) proper by means of a presentation mechanism (18), where said presentation mechanism (18) consists essentially of a slide (19) which can move transversely with respect to the guide (1), and an extendible arm (20) which is swivel-mounted on said slide. Device as in claim 15, characterized in that the above-mentioned slide (19) moves within a part (15A) of the automatic device (3) which in turn is swivel-mounted by means of a vertical rotation axis (R) on the carrier (13) which moves along the guide (1) of the automatic device (13), where said part (15A) can swivel through 90 degrees. Device as in any of the above-mentioned claims, characterized in that the second positioning device (6) consists of at least a stop (12) which is mounted on the weaving machines (2) and which consists of a sectional bar accross the weaving width. Device as in claim 15 or 16, characterized in that: the second positioning device (6) consists of at least a stop (12) formed by a sectional bar mounted accross the weaving width on the weaving machine; that the arm (20) of the presentation mechanism (18) which is joined at its end (A) to the auxiliary mechanism (4) has a guide (34) which can act on the stop (12); and that the arm (20) and the slide (19) are equipped with spring devices (35, 36) which continuously force the guide (34) against the stop (12) during the movement accross the weaving width. Device as in any of the claims 9 to 18, characterized in that the automatic device (3) has a control unit such that it moves towards the first positioning device (5) faster than it moves towards the second positioning device (6, 33). Device as in any of claims 9 to 19, characterized in that the automatic device (3) has or can interact with sensors which can determine a distance, where said sensors result in at least a decrease in the speed of the automatic device (3) as it approaches a positioning point.

Inventors: SHAW, HENRY
Applicants: PICANOL N.V.
Application year: 1988
Main classification: D03J1
IPC codes: D03D51, D03J1, B65H54