Loom cleaning apparatus

Abstract: A weaving loom cleaning apparatus comprising a duct (7) extended across the loom and having upper and lower air-permeable walls, at least one fan (6) disposed within the duct (7) to produce an air current flowing from the upper wall toward the lower wall of the duct, a fly collecting endless filtering belt (2) disposed such that at least a part thereof runs along the upper surface of the duct, and a fly removing device (11) disposed contiguously with the endless filtering belt (2), for removing flies collected on the endless filtering belt (2), and a central loom cleaning system for use in combination with a plurality of groups each composed of a plurality of looms (1) each provided with the weaving loom cleaning apparatus. This weaving loom cleaning apparatus can be disposed in a compact space under the warp between the back beam (14) of the weaving loom and the heddles (16) of the same, and when the weaving loom cleaning apparatuses are used for a plurality of weaving looms, the equipment cost, power cost, and labour requirement for the disposal of the gathered flies can be reduced by the central loom cleaning system in accordance with the present invention.

Description: The present invention relates to a weaving loom cleaning apparatus. In particular, the present invention relates to a weaving loom cleaning apparatus for collecting and removing flies while the weaving loom is in operation, to prevent an accumulation of flies under the weaving loom and a scattering of flies around the weaving loom. Note, in the following description the weaving loom is referred to simply as a loom. Generally, flies produced by an operating loom are scattered by a draft around the loom. Namely, flies accumulated under the loom are often scattered by the draft around the loom, and the scattered flies are accumulated in lumps on warp yarns, to thereby become the cause of yarn breakages. This problem of scattered flies becomes more serious when a loom is operated at a higher weaving speed, such as a jet loom. Various loom cleaning apparatus have been proposed to solve this problem. For example, US-A-3,267,970 discloses a loom cleaning apparatus having a fly collecting endless belt and a fly removing device disposed contiguously with the endless belt for the removal of flies that have been collected thereon, whereas US-3,142,856 discloses a loom cleaning apparatus having a scraping-type fly-removing device. Also, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication (Kokai) No. 62-122885 discloses a loom cleaning apparatus employing a porous pipe extended under the warp to draw flies therewithin by suction, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 61-75849 discloses a loom cleaning apparatus which blows compressed air against the heddles and peripheral parts to blow flies off from the heddles and peripheral parts, and collects the scattered flies by suction. These previously proposed loom cleaning apparatuses have various disadvantages. The loom cleaning apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication (Kokai) No. 62-122885 is able to collect only flies that fall on the fly receiving surface and is unable to satisfactorily remove flies from the loom, and the loom cleaning apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 61-75849 is able to collect only some of the scattered flies. Accordingly, a loom cleaning apparatus capable of completely collecting and removing flies that are the cause of weaving problems has not been proposed to date. Therefore, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a loom cleaning apparatus capable of completely collecting and removing flies produced by the operating loom, and ensuring that the flies do not adhere to the warp yarns. According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a loom cleaning apparatus disposed under a warp between a back beam of a loom and heddles thereof, comprising a fly-collecting endless belt and a fly-removing device disposed contiguously with the fly-collecting endless belt for removing flies collected on the endless belt characterised by a duct extending across the loom and having upper and lower air-permeable walls and at least one fan disposed within the duct and in that the fly-collecting endless belt is a filtering belt that runs along an upper surface of the duct. Preferably, the endless filtering belt is extended between guide rollers in such a manner that the upper side thereof runs horizontally along the upper surface of the duct and the lower side thereof runs horizontally along the lower surface of the duct. Alternatively, the endless filtering belt is guided by a deflecting means to run horizontally along the upper surface of the duct, to run substantially vertically along the side surface of the duct, and then to run toward the starting position. In the latter arrangement, the lower surface of the duct faces an open space, and thus a diffuser or a nozzle can be attached to the lower surface of the duct. The provision of the diffuser enables a reduction of the electric energy required for the operation of the fan, and the nozzle enables the use of air discharged by the fan for cleaning the lower portion of the loom. The fans provided within the duct are axial fans arranged longitudinally of the duct, or tangential fans arranged longitudinally of the duct. The fly removing device may be either a suction type or scraping type. The suction type fly removing device may be provided with a suction nozzle disposed near one end of the endless filtering belt, and the scraping type fly removing device may be a stationary scraping type fly removing device or may be a movable scraping type fly removing device associated with a fixed filter. According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a loom cleaning apparatus disposed under a warp between a back beam of the loom and heddles of the loom to collect and remove flies produced during the weaving operation of the loom, the loom cleaning apparatus comprising a scraping type fly-removing device and being characterised by a duct extending across the loom and having air-permeable upper and lower walls, at least one fan disposed within the duct to produce an air current flowing from an upper surface towards a lower surface of the duct and a filtering member fixedly extending along the upper surface of the duct, the scraping type fly removing device travelling along the filtering member to remove and collect flies collected on the filtering member. Six embodiments of loom cleaning apparatus in accordance with the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings of which: Fig.1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the loom cleaning apparatus in accordance with the present invention, from which the duct is omitted; Fig.2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II in Fig.1; Fig.3 is a schematic front view of an air jet loom incorporating the loom cleaning apparatus in accordance with the first embodiment; Fig.4 is a perspective view corresponding to Fig.3; Fig.5 is a sectional view, similar to Fig.2, of a loom cleaning apparatus in a second embodiment in accordance with the present invention; Fig.6 is a sectional view, similar to Fig.2, of a loom cleaning apparatus in a third embodiment in accordance with the present invention; Figs.7 to 9 are perspective views of loom cleaning apparatuses as fourth,fifth and sixth embodiments, respectively, in accordance with the present invention. Fig.1 is a perspective view of an essential portion of a loom cleaning apparatus in a first embodiment according to the present invention, and Fig.2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II in Fig.1. As shown in Figs.1 and 2, the loom cleaning apparatus 1 comprises a duct 7 which is omitted in Fig.1 to facilitate the reading of the drawing, an endless filtering belt 2 for collecting flies, a plurality of axial fans 6, i.e., axial fans 6a to 6n, arranged within the duct 7 to attract flies to the endless filtering belt 2, and a fly removing device 11 for removing flies collected on the endless filtering belt 2. As shown in Fig. 2, the duct 7 defines an elongated chamber 8 having the shape of a rectangular cylinder and extending across the loom. The upper surface 8a of the chamber 8 is bounded by a perforated plate having a high open area ratio, and the lower surface 8b of the chamber is provided with a large opening, and thus air is able to flow downward through the duct 7. Each axial fan 6 has an impeller 9, and a motor 10 for rotating the impeller 9. The axial fans 6a to 6n are arranged longitudinally at intervals in the chamber 8, to produce uniformly distributed air currents that flow across the chamber 8 to provide a suction force. The endless filtering belt 2 is disposed in such a manner that the upper side thereof runs substantially in a horizontal plane along the upper wall of the duct 7, and the lower side thereof runs substantially in a horizontal plane along the lower wall of the duct 7. The endless filtering belt 2 is extended between driving pulleys 4 with a built-in motor and tension pulleys 5. The endless filtering belt 2, in general, is an endless wire mesh belt, but the endless filtering belt 2 may be formed of any other suitable material provided that the endless filtering belt 2 is capable of collecting flies. Indicated at 3a and 3b in Fig. 1 are reinforcing bands for reinforcing the endless filtering belt 2, to lengthen the service life of the endless filtering belt 2. The fly removing device 11 is disposed near one end of the endless filtering belt 2 on the side of the tension pulleys 5, to remove flies collected on the outer side 2a of the endless filtering belt 2 with a suction nozzle 11a by suction as the endless filtering belt 2 turns in the direction indicated by an arrow. Figures 3 and 4 show the loom cleaning apparatus 1 incorporated into an air jet loom 12. As is generally known, a number of warp yarns Y let off from a warp beam 13 are advanced via a back beam 14, drop wires 15, and heddles 16. A weft yarn inserted in a shed formed by the heddles 16 is beaten with a reed, not shown, to weave a woven fabric F which, in turn, is rolled in a cloth roll 17 on a cloth roller. As the warp yarns Y pass the drop wires 15 and the heddles 16, the warp yarns Y are abraded by the drop wires 15 and the heddles 16 and rub against each other, to produce flies which fall down and are deposited on the floor under the loom. These flies deposited on the floor can be scattered by a draft and adhere to the warp yarns Y. As shown in Fig. 3, a space between the back beam 14 and the heddles 16 under the warp yarn Y is available for installing the loom cleaning apparatus 1. As mentioned previously, the loom cleaning apparatus 1 produces downward air currents, and thus the loom cleaning apparatus 1 allows the air to flow downward, together with flies, therethrough as indicated by arrows in Fig. 3. Accordingly, the flies produced by the drop wires 15 and the heddles 16 are trapped by the endless filtering belt 2 of the loom cleaning apparatus 1, and the trapped flies are removed from the endless filtering belt 2, and thus a deposit of flies on the floor under the loom cleaning apparatus 1 does not occur. Figures 5 and 6 show the loom cleaning apparatus 1 in second and third embodiments thereof according to the present invention, respectively. In these second and third embodiments, the upper side 22a of the endless filtering belt moves along the upper surface 8a of the chamber 8 of the duct 7, and is guided by a deflecting device disposed on one end of the loom cleaning device 1 to move substantially in a vertical direction along the side surface 8c of the chamber 8, as indicated at 22b. Then, the portion 22b is guided by a deflecting device, not shown, disposed at the other end of the loom cleaning apparatus 1 to again move horizontally, and thus an open space is formed under the lower surface 8b of the chamber 8. As shown in Fig. 5, a diffuser 23 may be provided in the open space under the lower surface 8b, to reduce the amount of electric energy required for the operation of the axial fans 6, and as shown in Fig. 6, a nozzle 25 may be provided in the open space under the lower surface 8b to use air discharged from the loom cleaning apparatus 1 for cleaning the bottom portion of the loom. A high-speed, high-performance loom has a compact construction, and thus only a very small space, compared with that in the conventional loom, is available between the warp beam and the heddles. Nevertheless, the compact construction, for example, 150 mm wide and 90 mm high in cross section, of the loom cleaning apparatus in accordance with the present invention makes it applicable to all kinds of looms. Figure 7, 8, and 9 show loom cleaning apparatuses as fourth, fifth, and sixth embodiments according to the present invention. The loom cleaning apparatus 41 shown in Fig. 7 employs a fixed filter 42, and a scraping type moving fly removing device provided with a scraper 43. The fly removing device travels along the upper surface of the filter 42, and the scraper 43 is supported at opposite end thereof by brackets 44 and each bracket 44 is reciprocated along a guide rail 47 by a belt driven by a scraper driving motor 45. As the scraper 43 is moved from the upper right-hand side toward the lower left-hand side, as viewed in Fig. 7, the scraper 43 scrapes off and gathers the flies deposited over the filter 42, and finally, discards the gathered flies into a fly collecting case 48. The flies collected in the fly collecting case 48 are removed from the fly collecting case 48 through a fly gathering pipe 49. The fly removing device shown in Fig. 1 disposed at one end of the endless filtering belt may be replaced by a scraping type fly removing device. The loom cleaning apparatus 51 shown in Fig. 8 employs tangential fans 53 each provided with a motor 54, instead of the axial fans shown in Fig. 1. The tangential fans 53 are arranged in a space between the upper and lower sides of the endless filtering belt 2 as shown in Fig. 8, and uniformly blow out air in a tangential direction. Such a tangential fan is described in detail in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication (Kokoku) No. 01-25630. The loom cleaning device 61 shown in Fig. 9 employs the tangential fans 53 and a scraping type fly removing device. As apparent from the foregoing description, a loom cleaning apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention collects, gathers, and removes flies produced at the loom, to prevent an adherence of the flies to the warp yarns. Since only the filter and the fans for producing air currents through the filter are provided as the principal components, the loom cleaning apparatus of the present invention can be installed in a comparatively narrow space under the upper components of the loom.

Claims: A loom cleaning apparatus disposed under a warp between a back beam (14) of a loom and heddles (16) thereof, comprising a fly-collecting endless belt (2) and a fly-removing device (11) disposed contiguously with the fly-collecting endless belt (2) for removing flies collected on the endless belt (2) characterised by a duct (7) extending across the loom and having upper (8a) and lower (8b) air-permeable walls and at least one fan (6) disposed within the duct (7) to produce an air current flowing from an upper wall toward a lower wall of the duct, and in that the fly-collecting endless belt (2) is a filtering belt that runs along an upper surface of the duct (7). A loom cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the endless filtering belt (2) is extended between guide rollers (4,5) in such a manner that an upper side thereof runs horizontally along an upper surface of the duct (7), and a lower side thereof runs horizontally along a lower surface of the duct (7). A loom cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the endless filtering belt (2) is guided by deflecting means to run horizontally along the upper surface of the duct, to run substantially vertically along the side surface of the duct, and then to run toward a starting position thereof, and a means (23 or 25) for controlling air exhausting provided on the lower surface of the duct to control a discharge of the air. A loom cleaning apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a diffuser (23) is used as the air exhausting control means. A loom cleaning apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a nozzle (25) is used as the air exhausting control means. A loom cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one axial fan is disposed within the duct in such a manner that an axis thereof is extended longitudinally of the duct. A loom cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fly removing device is a suction type device provided with suction nozzles disposed at a position near to the endless filtering belt. A loom cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fly removing device is a scraping type device disposed at a position near to the endless filtering belt. A loom cleaning apparatus disposed under a warp between a back beam (14) of the loom and heddles (16) of the loom to collect and remove flies produced during the weaving operation of the loom, the loom cleaning apparatus comprising a scraping type fly-removing device (43) and being characterised by a duct extending across the loom and having air-permeable upper and lower walls, at least one fan (6) disposed within the duct to produce an air current flowing from an upper surface towards a lower surface of the duct and a filtering member (42) fixedly extending along the upper surface of the duct, the scraping type fly removing device (43) travelling along the filtering member (42) to remove and collect flies collected on the filtering member (42).

Inventors: KUWABARA SYOKICHI, YOSHIOKA TOYOTOSHI, KUWABARA, SYOKICHI, YOSHIOKA, TOYOTOSHI
Applicants: LUWA JAPAN, LUWA JAPAN LIMITED
Application year: 1990
Main classification: D03J1
IPC codes: B01D46, D03D51, D01H11, D03J1