A faulty weft separating apparatus in a rapier loom for multiple colors

Abstract: A faulty weft separating apparatus in a rapier loom for multiple colors which separates a faulty weft from other normal wefts and removes the faulty weft by means of a weft removing apparatus when a faulty weft insertion occurs. A set of guiding members (11,12) are disposed on the insertion side of fabric and when a weft is inserted properly, the guiding members (11,12) are located at the retraction position to store the inserted weft in a storage section (11c). When a faulty weft insertion occurs, the guiding members (11,12) swing to the fabric winding side to allow the faulty weft to enter a positioning section (11d), thus separating the faulty weft from other normal wefts. The separated faulty weft is picked up by a hook (21) and wound by a weft removing apparatus (30).

Description: The present invention relates to a faulty weft separating apparatus in a rapier loom for multi-color yarns. Japanese Patent Laid open No.62-177258 (U.S. Pat. No.4,858,656) has disclosed a weft removing apparatus for a jet loom which automatically removes a faulty weft (which means the weft resulting from a faulty weft insertion) from the shed and restarts a loom when a faulty weft insertion occurs. The apparatus according to this invention has a winding drum from which a lever is protruded to be disposed on the insertion side of a fabric. The rear portion of a faulty weft is caught by the lever and the winding drum is driven to pull the faulty weft, thus winding the faulty weft around the drum so that the faulty weft which is beaten in cloth fell can be removed out of the shed. When a faulty weft insertion occurs, the loom inhibits a weft cutter from cutting the rear portion of the faulty weft and inhibits a new weft insertion during braking the loom, thus stopping the loom. After the loom stops, the shedding motion is reversed to pick find for the faulty weft and then the weft removing apparatus is actuated. Because the faulty weft remains in a continuous state with a weft supply package when the faulty weft is exposed in the shed, the weft removing apparatus is capable of catching the faulty weft easily by hooking it. Although the apparatus according to the prior art causes no problem when it was used in a jet loom, when such an apparatus was applied to a rapier loom for multiple colors, it is difficult to securely catch only the faulty weft, so that it is not possible to complete the weft removing operation. That is, in a rapier loom for multiple colors, normally, the weft to be inserted is selectively carried in front of an inserting rapier by means of a weft selecting finger, and until the weft is caught by the inserting rapier, the rear portion of the weft is not cut off, so that the weft remains in a continuous state with the weft supply package. Thus, when the loom stops due to a faulty weft insertion, the rear portion of the faulty weft is placed at almost the same position as the rear portions of the other wefts which have been inserted properly in the vicinity of cloth fell on the insertion side, making it difficult to distinguish the faulty weft from the properly inserted wefts and thus difficult to catch only the faulty weft. It is an object of the present invention to provide a faulty weft separating apparatus in a rapier loom for multiple colors which is capable of separating a rear portion or a tail end portion of a faulty weft from other wefts. The invention provides a faulty weft separating apparatus according to claim 1. Further features of the invention are claimed in claims 2-10. According to claim 2 the guiding member can have a positioning section which positions the rear portion of a faulty weft caught by the blocking section on the warp yarn feeding side. According to claim 3 or 4 the guiding member may form a driving section which moves the rear portion of a faulty weft caught by the blocking section or the positioning section to the warp yarn feeding side. According to the structure of the present invention, multiple guiding members are mutually moved relative to each other, to form a storage section, a guiding section and a blocking section. When a weft is inserted properly, the guiding member stores the rear portion of the inserted weft in the storage section via the guiding section so as to position the weft at a specified position to prepare for the next weft insertion. On the other hand, when a faulty insertion occurs, the guiding member blocks the rear portion of the faulty weft, that is, the weft which is continuous with the faulty weft from moving to the storage section by means of the blocking section, separating the weft which is continuous with the faulty weft from other wefts. Then, the weft removing apparatus is capable of catching only the separated faulty weft by means of a lever mounted on a winding drum and removing the faulty weft from the shed. In case that the guiding member forms the positioning section, the faulty weft is caught by the blocking section when a faulty weft insertion is detected, and after the loom completely stops the faulty weft can be transferred to the positioning section and removed by means of the weft removing apparatus via the positioning section. So the faulty weft can be separated sufficiently from a weft cutter until the loom has stopped, thereby preventing the weft cutter from cutting the faulty weft by mistake. In case that the guiding member forms a driving section, the guiding member is capable of moving the rear portion of the faulty weft positively to the warp yarn feeding side via the driving section. Thus, the faulty weft can be separated positively in the shed from cloth fell to the warp yarn feeding side. Consequently, when removing the faulty weft, the amount of tension to be applied to the faulty weft can be small, thus preventing the faulty weft from being cut during the removing of the faulty weft. The above, and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals designate the same elements. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the entire structure of a first embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is an explanatory view illustrating the operation of the present embodiment. Fig. 3 is an explanatory view illustrating the operation of the present embodiment. Fig. 4 is an explanatory view illustrating the operation of the present embodiment. Fig. 5 is an explanatory view illustrating the operation of the present embodiment. Fig. 6 is an explanatory view illustrating the operation of the present embodiment. Fig. 7 is an explanatory view illustrating the operation of the present embodiment. Fig. 8 is a time chart of the present embodiment. Fig. 9 is an explanatory view illustrating the operation of the second embodiment. Fig. 10 is an explanatory view illustrating the operation of the third embodiment. Fig. 11 is a perspective view showing the structure of the fourth embodiment. Fig. 12 is an explanatory view illustrating the operation of the fourth embodiment. Fig. 13 is an explanatory view illustrating the operation of the fourth embodiment. Fig. 14 is an explanatory view illustrating the operation of the fourth embodiment. Fig. 15 is an explanatory view illustrating the operation of the fifth embodiment. Fig. 16 is an explanatory view illustrating a modified example of the third embodiment. Fig. 17 is an explanatory view illustrating another modified example of the third embodiment. Fig. 18 is an explanatory view illustrating a modified example of the fourth embodiment. Fig. 19 is an explanatory view illustrating another modified example of the fourth embodiment. Fig. 20 is an explanatory view illustrating still another modified example of the fourth embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to Fig. 1, a faulty weft separating apparatus 10 (hereinafter referred to as a separating apparatus) in a rapier loom for multiple colors comprises guiding members 11, 12 and is disposed between the end of fabric CL and a weft removing apparatus 30 at the insertion side of fabric CL. Assuming that the loom is a rapier loom for multiple colors which inserts weft Yi (i = 1, 2, ..) selectively according to a specified insertion pattern via an inserting rapier R and the weft Yi is selected by a selecting finger Fi (i = 1, 2...), that is, when the selecting finger Fi is located upward at a non-selecting position, the weft Yi is not caught by the inserting rapier R, so that the weft Yi is not inserted into a shed Pa formed by the warp P. When the selecting finger Fi descends to a selecting position downward and is carried in front of the inserting rapier, the weft Yi is caught by the inserting rapier R and then inserted into the shed Pa. The inserted weft Yi is beaten to a cloth fell F by means of a reed (not shown), forming fabric CL together with the warp P. The guiding member 11 is a peculiar shaped plate member disposed parallel to the warp P and has upper and lower protruded sections 11a, 11b respectively, which protrude substantially horizontally from the warp yarn feeding side (which means the warp P side) toward the fabric winding side (which means fabric CL side) (Fig. 2). The upper protruded portion 11a is higher than fabric CL, extending beyond the cloth fell F up to the fabric winding side and the front end of the upper protruded portion is bent slightly downward. The lower protruded portion 11b is lower than fabric CL, extending nearly up to the vicinity of the cloth fell F. A recess 11c which is open widely to the fabric winding side, facing slightly downward, is formed between the upper and lower protruded portions 11a, 11b, and an indentation 11d which extends deeply to the yarn feeding side is formed in the innermost portion of the recess 11c. The lower side 11e of the guiding member 11 is curved obliquely so it is smoothly continuous up to the front end of the lower protruded portion 11b. The guiding member 12 is disposed adjacent to the guiding member 11 (Fig. 1) and axially slidably connected to the guiding member 11 via a pin 13. An electromagnetic solenoid 14 which swings the guiding member 12 parallel to the guiding member 11 is mounted on the top end of the guiding member 11. A protruded portion 12a facing downward and a protruded portion 12b directed backward so it faces obliquely downward, are formed at the lower end of the guiding member 12 (Fig. 2). The protruded portion 12a must not extend beyond the lower side 11e of the guiding member 11. When the guiding member 12 is swung and retracted to the warp feeding side by shortening the plunger of the electromagnetic solenoid 14, the protruded portion 12a must be located slightly backward of the front end of the lower protruded portion 11b of the guiding member 11, relative to the warp feeding side (Fig. 2). At this time, the protruded portion 12b must be located above the indentation 11d of the guiding member 11. On the other hand, when the guiding member 12 is swung to the fabric winding side by stretching the plunger of the electromagnetic solenoid 14, the protruded portion 12a moves to the fabric winding side relative to the front end of the lower protruded portion 11b (Fig. 3) so as to form a narrow passage 11c1 between the protruded portion 12a and the lower protruded portion 11b and at the same time, the protruded portion 12b descends below the indentation 11d (Fig. 3), blocking the entrance of the indentation 11d. In other words, the guiding member 12 can be located at the retraction position shown in Fig. 2 or at the separation position shown in Fig. 3 by contracting or stretching the plunger of the electromagnetic solenoid 14, respectively. Further, a hook 21, a yarn guide 22, a weft cutter 23 and a weft removing apparatus 30 are disposed on the insertion side of fabric CL (Fig. 1). The hook 21 is disposed so as to face downward and may be situated at the upper retraction position (indicated by a solid line in Fig. 1) or at the lower hooking position (indicated by a double-dotted and dashed line in Fig. 1). The yarn guide 22 is a bent rod in the form of a crank. The yarn guide 22 may be located at the upper retraction position (indicated by the solid line in Fig. 1) and advanced downward so as to be at the position where the upper portion of the bent part is rotated by about 90° to the fabric winding side relative to the front end (indicated by a single-dotted and dashed line in Fig. 1). The weft cutter 23 comprises a fixed blade 23a and a movable blade 23b. The fixed and movable blades 23a, 23b ascend and descend together with the yarn guide 22, and may be located at the upper retraction position (indicated by a solid line in Fig. 1) or the lower action position (indicated by a single-dotted and dashed line in Fig. 1). The movable blade 23b is capable of independently moving further downward when the fixed and movable blades 23a, 23b are located at the action position to cut the weft Yi which is nipped between the fixed blade 23a and the movable blade 23b. The weft removing apparatus 30 is disposed above the fabric CL and is constituted mainly of a winding drum 31, a motor 32 which drives the winding drum 31 and a suction nozzle 33 which is open to the winding drum 31. A lever 31a is mounted on the circumference of the winding drum 31. A groove 31b is formed axially in the winding drum 31 and a slide cutter 31c is encased in the groove 31b. The above weft removing apparatus is well known with reference to the prior technical reference aforementioned. When the loom is operated normally, the plunger of the electromagnetic solenoid 14 of the separating apparatus 10 is contracted, so that the guiding member 12 is located at the retraction position shown in Fig. 2. The hook 21 is located at the upper retraction position and the weft removing apparatus 30 is not actuated. On the other hand, the yarn guide 22 and the weft cutter 23 are each placed at the upper retraction position and the lower action position, each time a weft is inserted. As for the selecting finger Fi, each time a weft is inserted, only the selecting finger corresponding to a specific weft Yi descends to the selecting position according to the specified insertion pattern while the other selecting fingers remain at their non-selecting upward positions. Now, assume that a weft Y4 is to be inserted (Fig. 1). First, the selecting finger F4 which corresponds to the weft Y4 descends to its selecting position and then the inserting rapier R starts advancing. At the same time, the yarn guide 22 and the weft cutter 23 descend to their action positions. Thus, the weft Y4 caught by the inserting rapier R is bent by the yarn guide 22 which is located at its action position (as indicated by a single-dotted and dashed line in Fig. 1) accompanied by the advancement of the inserting rapier R and introduced so as to enter in between the fixed blade 23a and the movable 23b of the weft cutter 23 which is located at the action position. The selecting finger F4 is returned to its non-selecting position at the same time when the inserting rapier R catches the weft Y4. Then, if only the movable blade 23b of the weft cutter descends to cut the weft Y4, the inserting rapier R advances catching the front end of the cut weft Y4, thereby inserting the weft Y4 into the shed Pa. When insertion of the weft Y4 is completed, the inserting rapier R retracts to its original position outside of the shed and the reed (not shown) beats the weft Y4 against the cloth fell F. At this time, the rear portion of the inserted weft Y4 remains continuous up to a weft supply package not shown via the selecting finger F4. At the insertion side of fabric CL, the weft Y4 advances along the lower side 11e of the guiding member 11 (direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2) while the reed advances, and when beating by the reed is completed, the weft Y4 goes across the front end of the lower protruded portion 11b of the guiding member 11, so that it can be positioned in the recess 11c of the guiding member 11. At this time, the recess 11c is intercepted from the indentation 11d innermost by the guiding member 12. Therefore, the weft Y4 can be positioned together with other wefts Yi (i≠4) inserted previously at a specified position in a small area partitioned mainly by the front edge of the guide member 12 and the lower edge of the upper protruded portion 11a. At this time, the recess 11c acts as the storage area for the inserted weft for positioning the weft Yi together with the guiding member 12. The lower side 11e of the guiding member 11 acts as a guide for introducing inserted weft Yi to the storage area when the weft is beaten by the reed. Assume that the weft Yi positioned in the recess 11c in the above manner does not interfere with the yarn guide 22 located at the retraction position and the weft cutter 23 located at the retraction position as long as the selecting finger Fi is located at the non-selecting position. The yarn guide 22 pushes down the weft yarn Yi, selected by the selecting finger Fi by means of the bent part, to the same height as the advancement path of the inserting rapier R when the yarn guides 22 descends to its action position. Consequently, the yarn guide 22 positions the weft Yi together with the selecting finger Fi positioned at the selecting position, in front of the inserting rapier R. Then, the weft cutter 23 is placed at its action position, the same height as the inserting rapier R, so as to cut the weft Yi which is introduced and advanced by the inserting rapier R. After the weft cutter 23 cuts the weft Yi, the yarn guide 22 and the weft cutter 23 retract to their original position immediately. Consider the case when insertion of the weft Y4 fails for some reason. When a faulty weft insertion occurs, a weft feeler (not shown) transmits a faulty weft insertion signal, so that the plunger of the electromagnetic solenoid 14 of the separating apparatus 10 is stretched corresponding to the faulty weft insertion signal, driving the guiding member 12 to its separating position (Fig. 3). The weft Y4, that is, the rear portion of the faulty weft Y4a, slides along the lower side lle of the guiding member 11 (in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3) while being beaten by the reed and extends beyond the front end of the lower protruded portion of the guiding member 11. Then, the weft Y4a enters in a passage 11c1 formed by the protruded portion 12a of the guiding member 12 and the front end of the lower protruded portion 11b, and is kept in the vicinity of the entrance of the indentation 11d of the guiding member 11 by the protruded portion 12b of the guiding member 12 (Fig. 3). That is, the passage 11c1 with the protruded portion 12b of the guiding member 12 act as a blocking section for blocking the faulty weft Y4a from moving to the storage area. On the other hand, the loom automatically stops after a rotation by inertia of about 1 cycle because the faulty weft insertion signal is present. During this rotation, the selecting finger Fi is inhibited from being actuated, thereby preventing a new weft Yi from being inserted subsequent to the faulty weft Y4a. After the yarn guide 22 and the weft cutter 23 take their normal action positions, they retract to the retraction positions, and the weft cutter 23 only idles because there is no weft Yi to be cut. The inserting rapier also idles. When the loom stops completely, the plunger of the electromagnetic solenoid 14 is contracted so as to retract the guiding member 12 to its retraction position (Fig. 4). The faulty weft Y4a which has been caught by the protruded portion 12b in the vicinity of the indentation 11d is released from being caught by the protruded portion 12b and moved in the direction which reduces tension of the faulty weft Y4a, that is, to the warp feeding side (the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4), and enters the indentation 11d, so that the faulty weft Y4a is completely separated from the other wefts Yi. Namely, the protruded portion 12b temporarily blocks the faulty weft Y4a from entering the indentation 11d, and after the loom stops completely subsequent to the rotation by inertia, permits the faulty weft Y4a to enter the indentation 11d. Thus, the indentation 11d acts as an area for positioning the faulty weft Y4a caught by the passage 11c1 which acts as a blocking section, on the warp feeding side. Next, the loom reverses its shedding motion by a pick finder and the faulty weft Y4a is exposed in the shed Pa. The selecting finger F4 corresponding to the faulty weft Y4a is forcibly moved to the selecting position (Fig. 5). When the yarn guide 22 and the weft cutter 23 are moved to the action positions (Fig. 5), the yarn guide 22 presses down only the weft Y4 which is continuous to the faulty weft Y4a, so that the weft Y4 is positioned appropriately via the indentation 11d of the guiding member 11, the yarn guide 22 and the selecting finger F4 (as shown by the solid line in Fig. 5). That is, the weft Y4 is positioned just in front of the hook on the warp feeding side and just below the position where the lever 31a of the weft removing apparatus 30 can reach (Fig. 6). The other wefts Yi (i≠4) remain sufficiently pushed to the fabric winding side by the yarn guide 22 which is located at the action position. Next, the hook 21 is descended to the hooking position and retracted to the upper retraction position. Consequently the hook 21 picks up the faulty weft Y4a and following weft Y4 in the form of a mountain (as shown by the two-dotted and dashed line in Fig.5). Then, the motor of the weft removing apparatus 30 is started so as to rotate the winding drum in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 5 so that the lever 31a catches the picked faulty weft Y4a and weft Y4 to wind the faulty weft Y4a and the weft Y4 around the winding drum 31. That is, the faulty weft Y4a in the shed Pa, which has caused a faulty weft insertion, can be pulled apart from the cloth fell F, wound around the winding drum 31 and removed from the shed Pa. At this time, the same quantity of the weft Y4 is assumed to be supplied from the weft supply package (not shown) via the selecting finger F4. Therefore, the winding drum 31 is capable of winding the faulty weft Y4a and the following weft Y4 at the same time. When the entire length of the faulty weft Y4a in the shed Pa is wound around the winding drum 31 (Fig. 7), the loom is restarted. Completion of winding of the faulty weft Y4a is detected by means of a detector (not shown) which detects the front end of the faulty weft Y4a, or by a timer which measures the rotation time of the winding drum 31 or by a detector which measures the amount of rotations of the winding drum 31. When the loom is restarted, the inserting rapier R advances to catch the weft Y4 (Fig. 7) and after this, the weft cutter 23 is actuated to cut the weft Y4. The yarn guide 22 and the weft cutter 23 are retracted to their retraction positions. The weft removing apparatus 30 winds the remainder of the weft Y4 extending from the winding drum 31 to the weft cutter 31c and then actuates the slide cutter 31c to cut the faulty weft Y4a and the weft Y4 wound aroung the winding drum 31 into short pieces. The short pieces can be removed as waste yarn via the suction nozzle 33. The timing chart of Fig. 8 schematically shows a sequence of the operation of each member. In Fig. 8, the x-axis indicates the crank angle  during the operation of the loom and the time axis during a stop. According to Fig. 8, after a faulty weft insertion occurs, it is assumed that the loom stops at  = 20°∼ 45° after a rotation by inertia of about 1 cycle. The selecting finger F4 corresponding to the faulty weft Y4a and the weft Y4 are moved to the selecting position at the same timing as during normal operation before the loom is stopped. Further, according to Fig. 4, the hook 21 is temporarily stopped for the lever 31a of the weft removing apparatus 30 to securely catch the faulty weft Y4a and the weft Y4 midway between the hooking position and the retraction position. The above description also applies when any weft Yi (i≠ 4) other than the weft Y4 undergoes faulty weft insertion. The weft Yi may be any number of two or more. Other Embodiments In the guiding member 11 of the separating apparatus 10, the recess 11c opening downward and the indentation 11d receding deep to the warp feeding side are formed by the upper protruded portion 11a tilted slightly toward the yarn feeding side and the lower protruded portion 11b protruding to the fabric winding side (Fig. 9 (A)). On the other hand, in the guiding member 12, the shallow indentation 12c opening downward is formed by the protruded portion 12a facing downward while curved to the warp feeding side and the protruded portion 12b which is shorter, facing downward. The guiding member 12 ascends and descends so that it can be located at the upper retraction position (Fig. 9 (A)) or the lower separation position (Fig. 9 (B)). The weft Y4 which is inserted properly slides along the lower side 11e of the guiding member 11 in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 9 (A) while being beaten by the reed and positioned in the recess 11c by means of the front edge of the protruded portion 12a of the guiding member 12. The faulty weft Y4a is made to enter the indentation 12c by driving the guiding member 12 to the separation position (Fig. 9 (B)). When the guiding member 12 is retracted to the retraction position after the loom is stopped, the faulty weft Y4a is released from being caught by the protruded portion 12b, so that it can enter the indentation 11d (in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 9 (C)) and is separated from the other wefts Yi (i ≠ 4) (Fig. 9 (C)). The recess 11c with the protruded section 12a corresponds to the storage area aforementioned. The lower side 11e corresponds to the guiding section and the protruded portion 12a with the protruded portion 12b corresponds to the blocking section. The protruded portion 11d corresponds to the positioning section. As shown in Fig. 10, the guiding member 11 does not have to have the deep indentation 11d. When the guiding member 12, which forms the protruded portion 12a protruding downward, is located at the upper retraction position, the protruded portion 12a is above the lower protruded portion 11b of the guiding member 11 (as shown by the solid line in Fig. 10), the weft Y4 which has been inserted properly slides along the lower side 11e corresponding to the guiding section in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 10 and can be positioned in the recess 11c which corresponds to the storage area. On the other hand, by moving the guiding member 12 downward to the separation position to make the protruded portion 12a protrude below the lower protruded portion 11b (as shown by the two-dotted and dashed line in Fig. 10), the faulty weft Y4a can be prevented from entering in the recess 11c. That is, the protruded portion 12a corresponds to the blocking portion aforementioned. The faulty weft Y4a is returned in a reverse to the arrow in Fig. 10, along the lower side 11e, when the reed retracts. Thus, when the loom stops, the faulty weft Y4a can be separated from the other wefts Yi (i≠4) which have been inserted properly. In the embodiment of Fig. 1 aforementioned, the guiding member 11 may be swingable like the guiding member 12. The guiding members 11, 12 are swingably mounted onto a common bracket 17 via pins 13, 15 so that they may be driven by the electromagnetic solenoids 14, 16. The upper protruded portion 11a of the guiding member 11 is short (Fig. 12 (A)) and a hook section 11f directed downward is formed at the front end. The guiding member 12 has a long upper protruded portion 12d which is directed to the fabric winding side, so that a recess 12e is formed between the upper protruded portion 12d and the protruded portion 12a directed downward. The guiding member 12 may be located at the retraction position shown in Fig. 12 (A) or at the separation position shown in Fig. 12 (B) by contracting or stretching the plunger of the electromagnetic solenoid 14. By contracting and stretching the plunger of the electromagnetic solenoid 16, the guiding member 11 may be located at the waiting position, where the upper protruded portion 11a and the lower protruded portion 11b almost overlap the guiding member 12 which is located at the retraction position, or at the driving position where the guiding member 11 is greatly swung to the weft feeding side, respectively. If the loom is operated when the guiding members 11, 12 are located at the waiting position and the retraction position, respectively, the weft Yi which has been inserted properly advances along the lower side 11e of the guiding member 11 while being beaten by the reed and may be stored in the indentation 12e (Fig. 12 (A)). That is, the indentation 12e acts as the storage area and the lower side 11e acts as the guiding section. The yarn guide 22 ascends and descends between the upper retraction position (indicated by the solid line in Fig. 11) and the lower action position (indicated by the single-dotted and dashed line in Fig. 11) together with the weft cutter 23 while the yarn guide 22 does not rotate. Namely, when the yarn guide 22 descends to the action position, the bent part pushes the weft Yi down entirely between the indentation 12e and the selecting finger Fi. Only the weft Yi corresponding to a specific selecting finger descended to the selecting position is carried in front of the inserting rapier R and inserted. When the weft Y4 becomes the faulty weft Y4a, the guiding member 12 is immediately moved to the separating position (Fig. 12 (B)) and the loom stops. At this time, the rear portion of the faulty weft Y4a is made to enter the passage 11c1 and caught. Thus, the passage 11c1 acts as the blocking section. When the loom is stopped, the guiding member 12 is retracted to the retraction position (Fig. 12 (C), Fig. 13), the rear portion of the faulty weft Y4a is made to enter the recess 11d which corresponds to the positioning section aforementioned (in the direction of the arrow as shown in Fig. 12 (C)). After that, the faulty weft Y4a is exposed in the shed and the hook 21 is descended to the hooking position (indicated by the two-dotted and dashed line in Fig. 13) and then raised to the retraction position. Consequently, the hook 21 is capable of picking the faulty weft Y4a and the following weft Y4 in the form of a mountain (indicated by the two-dotted and dashed line in Fig. 13). The above operation is basically the same as the embodiment of Fig. 1 except that the recess 12e of the guiding member 12 corresponds to the storage area aforementioned. Next, the weft removing apparatus 30 is started. When the lever 31a captures the faulty weft Y4a and the weft Y4 which are picked up by the hook 21, the guiding member 11 is swung to the driving position (Fig. 14). As a result, the rear portion of the faulty weft Y4a which was located in the recess 11d is caught by the hook section 11f and moved more to the warp feeding side, so that the guiding member 11 is capable of applying a force which separates the faulty weft Y4a in the shed from the cloth fell. Because the faulty weft Y4a is separated more from the cloth fell F at this time, the faulty weft Y4a can be wound around the winding drum 31 of the weft removing apparatus, 30 with a very small tension. The guiding member 11 and the hook section 11f form a driving section which moves the rear portion of the faulty weft Y4a captured by the recess 11d corresponding to the positioning section aforementioned to the warp feeding side. When the entire length of the faulty weft Y4a is wound around the winding drum 31, the guiding member 11 which was swung to the driving position may be restored to the waiting position to prepare for restarting the loom. The guiding member 11 may be swung to its driving position before the lever 31a catches the faulty weft Y4a and the weft Y4, but after the faulty weft Y4a is exposed in the shed; it may be before the hook 21 picks up the faulty weft Y4a and the weft Y4. The upper protruded portion 12d of the guiding member 12 in the previous embodiment can be substituted by a fixed type guiding member 18 (Fig. 15 (A) - Fig. 15 (D)). In this case, properly inserted weft Yi is stored in the recess 18a formed between the guiding members 12 and 18 (Fig. 15 (A)). The recess 18a corresponds to the storage area aforementioned. After the faulty weft Y4a is caught by the passage 11c1 corresponding to the blocking section (Fig. 15 (B)), it is positioned in the indentation 11d corresponding to the positioning section (Fig. 15 (C)). By swinging the guiding member 11 to the driving position, the faulty weft Y4a located in the recess 11d can be caught by the hook section 11f, moved to the warp feeding side and separated from the cloth fell F. The guiding member 12 shown in Fig. 10 may be moved to the driving position (indicated by the single-dotted and dashed line in Fig. 16) after it is moved to its separating position (indicated by the two-dotted and dashed line in Fig. 16). By moving the guiding member 12 to the driving position, the faulty weft Y4a captured by the protruded portion 12a of the guiding member 12 is caught by the stepped portion 12a1 of the base of the protruded portion 12a and moved to the warp feeding side, so that the faulty weft Y4a can be separated from the cloth fell F. At this time, the guiding member 12 and the stepped portion 12a1 act as a driving section for moving the rear portion of the faulty weft Y4a captured by the protruded portion 12a corresponding to the blocking section to the warp feeding side. In the previous embodiment, another guiding member 19 which corresponds to the driving section can be provided (Fig. 17). In the guiding member 12, a hook 12a2 is formed at the front end of the protruded portion 12 so it faces the warp feeding side, and the protruded portion 12a and the hook 12a2 act as the blocking section which captures the faulty weft Y4a. The guiding member 19 is kept at the waiting position apart from the protruded portion 12a and the hook 12a2 in the fabric-winding-side direction (as shown by the solid line in Fig. 17). When the guiding member 19 is driven to the driving position (shown by the single-dotted and dashed line in Fig. 19), it is capable of moving the faulty weft Y4a to the warp feeding side so as to separate the faulty weft Y4a from the cloth fell F. When the guiding member 12 is located at the retraction position, the lower side 12f may be in a continuous state with the lower side 11e of the guiding member 11 (Fig. 18 (A) - Fig. 18 (C)). The lower sides 11e and 12f form a guiding section which is capable of introducing the properly inserted weft Yi into the recess 12e corresponding to the storage portion (Fig. 18 (A)). The faulty weft Y4a may be positioned and captured in the indentation 11d via the passage 11c1 (Fig. 18 (B)). After that, the faulty weft Y4a may be moved to the warp feeding side by the hook 11f by driving the guiding member 11 to the driving position (Fig. 18 (C)). In this embodiment, it is permissible to fix the guiding member 12 and place another guiding member 19 between the guiding member 12 and the guiding member 11 which is located at the waiting position (Fig. 19 (A) - Fig. 19 (C)). The guiding member 19 may be in the retraction position (Fig. 19 (A)) where the lower side 19a remains in a continuous state with the lower sides 11e, 12f of the guiding members 11, 12, respectively, and the separation position (Fig. 19 (B)) where the passage 11c1 is open. The lower sides 11e, 19a and 12f form a guiding section. The faulty weft Y4a caught by the protruded portion 11d is moved to the warp feeding side via the hook section 11f by driving the guiding section 11 to the driving position (Fig. 19 (C)). The guiding member 19 of the previous embodiment may be placed at the retraction position (Fig. 20 (A)) where the lower side 19a remains in a continuous state with the lower side 11e of the guiding member 11, and at the separating position (Fig. 20 (B)) located on the fabric winding side, where the passage 11c1 is formed. At this time, the recess 19b formed by the protruded portions 12a, 12b of the guiding member 12 and the guiding member 19 corresponds to the storage location. The faulty weft Y4a in the recess 11d may be moved to the warp feeding side by the hook section 11f when the guiding member 11 is moved to the driving position (Fig. 20 (C)). In each of the aforementioned embodiment, the shapes of the guiding members 11, 12, 18 and 19 are not restricted to the shapes shown in the drawings as long as they can be moved relative to each other so as to form a prescribed storage area, guiding section, and blocking section and when required, a positioning section, and a driving section. Although the guiding member 12 is moved to the separating position to form the passage 11c1 between the guiding members 11 and 12, instead of the guiding member 12, it is permissible to move the guiding member 11 (for example, as shown in Fig. 3, Fig. 12 (B), Fig. 15 (B), Fig. 18 (B)). Likewise, as shown in Fig. 20 (B), when the passage 11c1 is formed, instead of the guiding member 19, it is permissible to move the guiding member 11. Further, whether the yarn guide 22 is to be rotated when it is moved from the retraction position to the action position may be selected arbitrarily. The contents of the loom stop operation when a faulty weft insertion occurs and the pick finding operation of exposing the faulty weft Y4a in the shed after the loom stops are not always restricted to those explained above, but may instead be changed arbitrarily. For example, in order to perform the pick finding operation of the rapier loom, it is possible to reverse only the shedding motion by means of the pick finder instead of entirely reversing the loom. Thus, the required number of the reverse rotations of the shedding motion must only be equal to the number of the rotation by inertia until the loom stops. As for the hook 21, the yarn guide 22, the weft cutter 23 and the weft removing apparatus 30, the respective shapes and the operational sequences may be changed arbitrarily. For example, the hook 21 may be in the downward retraction position so as to push up only the weft Y4 which remains in a continuous state with the faulty weft Y4a to the vicinity of the weft removing apparatus 30. Further, instead of the hook 21, it is permissible to suck the weft Y4 up to the weft removing apparatus 30 by an appropriate suction pipe. As described above, according to the present invention, multiple guiding members which are mutually moved relative to each other on the fabric insertion side are disposed to form the storage area, the guiding section and the blocking section. The storage section stores properly inserted wefts and the blocking section blocks the faulty weft from being moved to the storage section via the guiding section. Consequently, the rear portion of the faulty weft can be separated from the other properly inserted wefts and the weft removing apparatus is capable of capturing only the separated faulty weft and removing it securely from the shed. When the guiding member forms the driving section, the driving section moves the separated faulty weft more to the warp feeding side, pulling the faulty weft in the shed widely apart from the cloth fell. Thus, when the faulty weft is removed, the required amount of tension may be minimized, so that there is no possibility that the faulty weft is cut, and thus the faulty weft can be removed more smoothly. A faulty weft separating apparatus in a rapier loom for multiple colors which separates a faulty weft from other normal wefts and removes the faulty weft by means of a weft removing apparatus when a faulty weft insertion occurs. A set of guiding members are disposed on the insertion side of fabric and when a weft is inserted properly, the guiding members are located at the retraction position to store the inserted weft in a storage section. When a faulty weft insertion occurs, the guiding members swing to the fabric winding side to allow the faulty weft to enter a positioning section, thus separating the faulty weft from other normal wefts. The separated faulty weft is picked up by a hook and wound by a weft removing apparatus.

Claims: A faulty weft separating apparatus in a rapier loom for multiple colors in which multiple guiding members (11, 12, 18, 19) which are movable relative to each other are disposed at the edge of the insertion side of fabric (CL), a set of said combined guiding members (11, 12, 18, 19) including: a storage area (11c, 12e, 18a) in which the tail end of an inserted weft (Yi) is stored to be positioned at a specified position; a guiding section (11e) which introduces the tail end of said inserted weft (Yi) to said storage area (11c, 12e, 18a) when said inserted weft (Yi) is beaten by a reed; and a blocking section (11c1, 12a) which blocks the tail end portion of a faulty weft (Y4) from being moved to said storage location (11c, 12e, 18a) when a faulty weft insertion occurs. A faulty weft separating apparatus according to claim 1, in which one of said guiding members (11) further includes a positioning section (11d) which positions the tail end portion of said faulty weft (Y4) caught by said blocking section (11c1, 12a) on the warp feeding side. A faulty weft separating apparatus according to claim 1, in which a set of said guiding members (11, 12, 19) are structured so as to be able to move the tail end portion of said faulty weft (Y4) caught by said blocking section (11c1, 12a) to the warp feeding side to separate said faulty weft (Y4) from a cloth fell (F). A faulty weft separating apparatus according to claim 2, in which one of said guiding members (11) is structured so as to be able to move the tail end portion of said faulty weft (Y4) caught by said positioning section (11d) to the warp feeding side to separate said faulty weft (Yi) from a cloth fell (F). A faulty weft separating apparatus according to claim 1, characterized by a second guiding member (11) having an indentation (11d) which is located in the vicinity of said cloth fell (F) and open to said cloth fell (F), a protruded portion (11b) formed at a downward position such that it remains in a continuous state with said indentation (11d) and said guiding section (11e) stretching from the bottom of said protruded portion (11b) to the warp feeding side such that it remains in a continuous state with said- protruded portion; and a first guiding member (12) which is located at a waiting position for blocking the opening of said indentation (11d) when a weft (Yi) is inserted properly, forming said storage area (12e) which catches and stores inserted wefts, wherein, when a faulty weft insertion occurs, at least one of said first and second guiding members (11, 12) is moved to the separating position where the blocking of said indentation (11d) is released and the tail end of a faulty weft (Yi) to be beaten by the reed is introduced into said indentation (11d) via said blocking section (11c1) so as to separate said faulty weft (Yi) from normal wefts (Yi). A faulty weft separating apparatus according to claim 1, characterized by a first guiding member (11) having a storage area (11c) in which an indentation (11d) open to a cloth fell (F) in the vicinity of said cloth fell (F) is formed for storing the tail end of inserted wefts (Yi), a protruded portion (11b) formed at a downward position such that it remains in a continuous state with said storage area (11c) and a guiding section (11e) stretching from the bottom of said protruded portion (11b) to the warp feeding side such that it remains in a continuous state with said protruded portion (11b), and a second guiding member (12) said blocking section (12a) of which is located at a waiting position where it is above said guiding section (11e) when a weft (Yi) is inserted properly and which catches a faulty weft (Y4a) moved along said guiding section (11e) when said faulty weft (Y4a) is beaten by a reed and moves to the separating position where said blocking section (12a) is below said guiding section (11e) as to separate the faulty weft (Y4a) from the other wefts (Yi). A faulty weft separating apparatus according to claim 1, characterized by a first guiding member (12) having an indentation which is located in the vicinity of the cloth fell (F) and open to said cloth fell (F) to form said storage area (12e) for storing inserted wefts (Yi), a protruded portion formed at the bottom of said storage area such that it remains in a continuous state with said storage area and a guiding section (12f) stretching from the bottom of said protruded portion to the warp feeding side such that it remains in a continuous state with said protruded portion; a second guiding member (11) being arranged on the yarn feeding side relative to said first guiding member (12) such that there is a specified gap (11c1) as said blocking section between said first guiding member (12) and said second guiding member (11), having an indentation (11d) which is open to said first guiding member (12), a protruded portion formed at a downward position such that it remains in a continuous state with said indentation (11d) and a guiding section (11e) stretching from the bottom of said protruded portion to the warp feeding side such that it remains in a continuous state with said protruded portion; and a third guiding member (19) which is located at the waiting position between said first (12) and second guiding members (11) when a weft is inserted properly to interconnect said first (12) and second guiding members (11), and which, when a faulty weft insertion occurs, is moved such that said gap (11c1) appears between said two guiding members (11, 12). A faulty weft separating apparatus according to claim 5 or 7, in which a hook section (11f) is formed at a protruded portion (11a) formed on the upper side of said indentation (11d) such that said protruded portion (11a) remains in a continuous state with the indentation (11d) and after a faulty weft is separated, said second guiding member (11) having said indentation (11d) is moved to the warp feeding side so as to catch the tail end of a faulty weft (Y4a) on said hook section (11f) and separate said faulty weft from the cloth fell (F). A faulty weft separating apparatus according to claim 6, in which said second guiding member (12) which catches a faulty weft (Y4a) moved along said guiding section (11e) when said faulty weft (Y4) is beaten by the reed and which separates said faulty weft (Y4) is moved to the warp feeding side so as to separate said faulty weft (Y4) from the cloth fell (F). A faulty weft separating apparatus according to claim 1, including a fourth guiding member (19) which, after a faulty weft (Y4) that is beaten to be moved along said guiding section (11e) by the reed is caught and separated, moves said faulty weft (Y4) to the warp feeding side in order to separate said weft from the cloth fell (F).

Inventors: ODA KIYOYASU, YAMAMOTO AKIHIKO, ODA, KIYOYASU, YAMAMOTO, AKIHIKO, Oda, Kiyoyasu, c/o TSUDAKOMA KOGYO K.K., Yamamoto, Akihiko, c/o TSUDAKOMA KOGYO K.K.
Applicants: TSUDAKOMA IND CO LTD, TSUDAKOMA KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1993
Main classification: D03D51
IPC codes: D03D51