METHOD FOR PREPARING A WEFT THREAD ON WEAVING MACHINES, AND WEAVING MACHINES WHICH USE THIS METHOD

Abstract: Method for preparing a weft thread on weaving machines, in which as is known a weft thread (11) is released, intermittently and each time with a determined length, from the thread supply, characterized in that it consists essentially of leading the weft thread (11) successively through two thread accumulators, in particular first through a prewinder (1) which at each insertion releases a length of thread equal to the thread length required, and then through a thread accumulator (2) which has a lower draw-off resistance than that of the prewinder, where said accumulator (2) provides a thread accumulation (17) consisting of at least part of said length released.

Description: This invention concerns a method for supplying a weft thread on weaving machines, i.e. a method for presenting weft threads of a particular length intermittently to a thread insertion mechanism, so that on each weaving cycle a particular length of weft thread is inserted into the shed on the weaving machine. This invention also concerns a weaving machine equipped to use this method. A known method of providing a particular length of weft thread on each weaving cycle is to wind weft threads on a prewinder, and at each insertion to release a certain number of windings from said prewinder, as known from amongst others American patent No. 4673004 of the present applicant. Such prewinders however have the disadvantage that the force necessary to draw the weft thread from the prewinder drum is relatively high, so that there is a high tension on the thread during its insertion into the shed, and that the thread is braked during its insertion into the shed, so that the speed with which the thread is inserted into the shed is limited. Another known method for providing weft threads is to use a weft accumulator in which the weft thread is laid against a wall. An example is a thread accumulator in which the weft thread is laid spirally against the inside wall of a tube by means of a blower nozzle, after which lengths of weft thread can be drawn intermittently from said tube. The adjustment for releasing exactly one length of weft thread each time is obtained by means of e.g. a thread clip and suitably-controlled thread feed rollers, such that, as known from NL-A-.86.02741 of the present applicant, the correct length of thread is released by the thread feed rollers at the moment the thread clip is closed. Weft supplying devices using an accumulator of the abovesaid second type, namely whereby the thread is laid spirally against the inside wall of a tube, are for example described in SU 867.954 and EP 299.553. Although such a weft accumulator mechanism has the advantage that the resistance that has to be overcome in order to draw the weft thread from the tube is very low, it has the disadvantage that very precise control of the above-mentioned thread feed rollers and thread clip are necessary in order to release exactly one length of weft thread. The present invention has as its aim to provide a method for supplying a weft thread on weaving machines which systematically avoids the above-mentioned disadvantages. For this purpose the invention concerns a method for supplying a weft thread on weaving machines, in which a weft thread is released, intermittently and each insertion with a determined insertion length, from a thread supply to a thread insertion mechanism, characterized in that it consists essentially of leading the weft thread successively through two thread accumulators, in particular first through a first thread accumulation which at each insertion releases a length of thread equal to the said insertion length, and then through a second thread accumulator which has a lower draw-off resistance than that of the first thread accumulator, where said second accumulator provides a thread accumulation such that the beginning of each insertion is determined by means of the release of thread at the second thread accumulator, whilst the ending of the insertion is determined by means of the first thread accumulator. In a preferred embodiment, the second thread accumulator is of the type in which the weft thread is laid spirally against the inside wall of the tube by means of a blower nozzle. As a result of using the method according to the invention, there is attained that at each insertion the first section of weft thread is taken from the accumulation in said second thread accumulator, while the last section of weft thread is taken from the prewinder. This method has the particular advantage that the first section of thread can be inserted into the shed by the thread insertion device with very low draw-off resistance, so that there is very little braking of the thread, thus enabling it to be inserted into the shed with very high speed. Once all of the accumulation from the second thread accumulator has been inserted into the shed, the remaining required length of thread can be drawn directly from the prewinder. This in turn has the advantage that the length of thread can be controlled by means of the magnetic pin of the prewinder, and also that because of the higher resistance to which the thread is subjected as it is drawn off the prewinder, the weft thread can be braked gradually at the end of the insertion, so that the chance of a thread break at the end of the insertion is relatively small. In order to explain the characteristics of the invention, by way of example only and without being limitative in any way, the method of the invention is described below, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the various steps of the method are illustrated by figs. 1 to 5. As shown in fig. 1, the invention essentially uses a combination of two thread accumulators, for example a prewinder 1 which on each insertion releases one length of thread, thus determining the insertion length, followed in the direction of motion of the thread by a tube-shaped thread accumulator 2, which partly takes up said length (i.e. up to a maximum of one insertion length) and which determines the draw-off resistance. The prewinder 1 used here consists, as is known, of a winding arm 3 and a prewinder drum 4 which can rotate with respect to each other. Along the prewinder drum 4 there is a magnetic pin 5 which determines the end of insertion of the weft thread and which controls the number of windings released. There is nothing to prevent there being several pins 5 along the circumference of the prewinder 1. The tube-shaped thread accumulator 2 consists essentially of a perforated tube 6 with a blower nozzle 7 before it and a thread clip 8 after it, where said thread clip determines the beginning of the insertion. In order to carry out the method according to the invention, both thread accumulator devices 1 and 2 and in particular the magnetic pin 5 and the thread clip 8 are suitably controlled by means of a control unit 9, as described below. The pin 5 and/or the clip 8 may be operated electromagnetically. Finally, fig. 1 also shows a number of other components, namely the thread supply 10, taken from e.g. a supply package (not shown), the weft thread 11, a thread insertion mechanism such as a main nozzle 12, the sley 13, the reed 14, the shed 15 and a cutter 16. The aim of the method according to the invention is to insert the correct length L of weft thread into the shed at each weaving cycle. This is achieved preferably as described below. In fig. 1 a thread accumulation 18 is being continuously formed on the prewinder 1. Since the magnetic pin 5 is open, the weft thread 11 is also being led from the prewinder 1 into the tube 6. Note that the thread clip 8 remains closed at this stage, thus forming a thread accumulation 17. The thread clip 8 is then opened, so that as shown in fig. 2 insertion of the weft thread 11 into the shed 15 begins. During insertion of the weft thread 11 the state shown in fig. 3 is reached, in which the weft thread 11 stretches in a taut condition through the weft accumulator 2 and in which the leading end of the thread 19 is still a little way from the receiving side of the shed 15. As a direct result, the last section of the weft thread 11 is taken directly from the prewinder 1. This results in a gradual decrease in the velocity of the weft thread 11, since the prewinder 1 has greater draw-off resistance, which is favorable at the end of insertion. At the moment the number of windings corresponding to the above-mentioned insertion length L has been released, the magnetic pin 5 is closed, as shown in fig. 4, with the result that the leading end 19 is located at the end of the shed 20 and the required insertion length L is inserted. By then closing the thread clip 8 once more, as shown in fig. 5, and opening the magnetic pin 5 a new thread accumulation 17 can be started in the tube 6, so returning once more to the state shown in fig. 1. Clearly, in this way all the advantages mentioned in the preamble are obtained, namely that precise control of the thread clip 8 is not necessary and that the weft thread 11 is inserted into the shed 15 essentially with very low draw-off resistance. During the operation of the method according to the invention the magnetic pin 5 determines the end of the weft insertion while the thread clip 8 determines the beginning of this insertion. The relative positions of the magnetic pin 5 and the thread clip 8 are successively as follows: thread clip 8 closed - magnetic pin 5 closed thread clip 8 closed - magnetic pin 5 open thread clip 8 open - magnetic pin 5 open thread clip 8 open - magnetic pin 5 closed thread clip 8 closed - magnetic pin 5 closed. For the sake of completeness, it should also be noted that the blower nozzle 7 only operates when the magnetic pin 5 is opened, for example. The blower nozzle 7 will in any case cease to operate just before the magnetic pin 5 closes. The main injector nozzle 12 operates either as soon as the thread clip 8 opens, or from slightly before the thread clip 8 opens until the magnetic pin 5 closes or until slightly before or after the magnetic pin 5 closes. The cutter 16 cuts the weft thread 11 slightly after the thread clip 8 closes, for example. Clearly, the magnetic pin 5 and the thread clip 8 can be controlled in various ways, for example in a similar manner to that described in US 4673004.

Claims: Method for supplying a weft thread on weaving machines, in which a weft thread (11) is released, intermittently and each insertion with a determined insertion length, from a thread supply (10) to a thread insertion mechanism (12), characterized in that it consists essentially of leading the weft thread (11) successively through two thread accumulators, in particular first through a first thread accumulator (1) which at each insertion releases a length of thread equal to the said insertion length, and then through a second thread accumulator (2) which has a lower draw-off resistance than that of the first thread accumulator (1), where said second accumulator (2) provides a thread accumulation (17) such that the beginning of each insertion is determined by means of the release of thread at the second thread accumulator (2), whilst the ending of the insertion is determined by means of the ending of thread supply from the first thread accumulator (1). Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the second thread accumulator (2) is of the type in which the weft thread (11) is laid spirally against the inside wall of a tube (6) by means of a blower nozzle (7). Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the maximum thread accumulation (17) in the thread accumulator (2) shows a thread length which is equal to the said insertion length (L). Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the maximum thread accumulation (17) in the thread accumulator (2) shows a thread length which is less than the said insertion length (L). Method according to claim 1 or 2, in which use is made of a prewinder (1) in which thread drawing off is controlled by means of at least one magnetic pin (5) and in which after the thread accumulator (2) there is a thread clip (8), after which the weft thread (11) is inserted into the shed (15) by means of at least one main nozzle (12), characterized in that it consists of successively on each insertion: keeping the magnetic pin (5) open and the thread clip (8) closed, so that a thread accumulation (17) is formed in the thread accumulator (2); opening said thread clip (8) at the beginning of thread insertion into the shed (15); closing the magnetic pin (5) at the moment the insertion length (L) has been released; and closing the above-mentioned thread clip (8), so that the complete cycle can begin once more as soon as the magnetic pin (5) on the prewinder (1) is opened again. Weaving machine which uses the method according to one of the foregoing claims, consisting in that it is fitted with two thread accumulators in series, in which the first thread accumulator is formed by a prewinder (1) consisting of a prewinder drum (4) on which windings are wound by means of a winding arm (3) and released by means of a magnetic pin (5), and in which the second thread accumulator is formed by a thread accumulator (2) in which the weft thread (11) is laid against a wall by means of a blower nozzle (7), and which at its free ehd has a thread clip (8). Weaving machine according to claim 6, characterized in that the second thread accumulator (2) consists of a tube (6) in which the weft thread (11) is laid up spirally. Weaving machine according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the first thread accumulator (1) is fitted with at least one magnetic pin (5). Weaving machine according to claim 6, 7 or 8, characterized in that the second thread accumulator (2) is fitted with a thread clip (8).

Inventors: AMPE, FRANK, VERHULST, JOZEF, WALLEGHEM, FRANS
Applicants: PICANOL N.V.
Application year: 1988
Main classification: D03D47
IPC codes: B65H51, D03D47