Patent GB-190310692-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in Shuttleless Looms for Weaving.
Inventor: HUNT ROBERT HERBERT HOWARD
Filed: 1903-05-11
Granted: 1904-05-11
Abstract: 10,692. Hunt, R. H. H. May 11. Shuttleless looms.-The weft is supplied from a number of balls at each side of the loom, the outer end of the thread of one ball being attached to the inner end of the thread of the next; or it may be wound on large bobbins or spindles at each side of the loom. The weft at each side is cut into doubled lengths, the ends of each length being carried to the opposite side of the loom, and being separated by one half of a length supplied from the other side, as shown diagrammatically in Fig. 31. The weft from each side passes through a conical guide 14, Fig. 3, mounted on a swinging feed-plate secured to a shaft 38, which is rocked in the required manner by means of a crank, connecting-rod, and cam-groove. The weft passes over pins 21 between the feed-plate and a spring tension plate 17 moving with the feed-plate and normally in contact therewith. The feed and tension plates are forked, and in the fork are mounted shears 19, of which the inner blade is fixed and the outer blade is pivotally mounted and actuated by means of an arm carrying a roller working in a switch cam-groove as the feed-plate is swung up and down. When the shears are open, the back of the movable blade presses against a bridge 26 on the plate 17, and separates the tension and feed-plates. A loop of spring wire is attached to each blade of the shears, and enters a groove in the opposite blade when the shears are closed, thus gripping both ends of the severed weft. When the feedplate is swinging upwards, the shears are open ; they close when the feed-plate swings downwards, and opens when it reaches its lowermost position. A measuring-arm 46 is swung in the opposite direction to the feed-plate by means of a pinion 45 and a toothed segment 44 on the shaft 38. When the weft d, Fig. 31, is about to be inserted, its end is held by a wire loop in the upper blade of the shears. When the nipper jaws of a weft carrier take the weft end, the feed-plate is in its lowest position, as shown in Fig. 3, the shears are opened, and the tension plate separated from the feed-plate, so that the weft passes freely between the plates as it is carried to the other side of the loom. After this weft is beaten up, and as the weft carrier is returning, inserting a weft c from the other side the feed-plate moves upwards, and the arm 46 moves downwards, and a V-shaped recess in its front edge catches the weft extending between the guide 14 and a wire guide 11 on the lay. A loop of weft is drawn from the ball or other supply, and, passing between the feed and tension plates, enters a slot in a fixed measuring-tube 47. When the arm 46 is about to return, the shears close, sever the weft, and grip both ends. The feed-plate moves downwards but stops short of its first position, so that the nipper jaws of the weft carrier will take the weft on the far side of the shears. The weft carrier moves to the other side of the loom taking the last end b of the loop of weft, the feed-plate moves on the short distance necessary to bring it into its first position, and, after the weft a has been inserted from the other side, the operation is repeated. The weft carrier 9, Fig. 18, comprises a body portion and spring fingers at each end. One of each pair of fingers has a rib arranged to enter a groove in the other to grip the end of the weft, and the fingers are separated to release the weft or to grasp it by spreaders 56, 66 carried by springs fixed to the lay, and depressed by rearwardly extending fixed bars 53, 69 as the lay beats up the weft. The carrier is actuated by a picker 74, which slides in a channel 75 in the lay, and is operated through a link 73, an angle-lever or picking-stick 72, and a strap from a crank on a rock-shaft operated by a cam acting on an attached arm. The picking- stick 72 is arrested by a stop 80 on a pivoted lever 81, which is acted upon by a fixed arm 82 as the lay moves forward, so that the picking-stick may move on with the picker. The weft carrier is checked by a spring plate 93, and is prevented from rebounding by a spring latch attached to the picker, and engaging a cross-pin 71 in a recess 70 in the carrier. When the picker moves inwards, the latch is depressed by the overhanging top of the channel 75. When the weft carrier is checked, it is moved on slowly to lead the weft thread into the selvage by an arm 95 on a shaft 96, which is operated by a cord passing round a pulley on the shaft and attached to a lever acted upon by a suitably-shaped cam. Modified arrangements of the weft carrier and picker are described, in which other devices are adopted to check the carrier and prevent its recoil, open the nipper jaws, and move on the carrier to lead the weft end into the selvage. If a weft carrier fails to reach home, the loom is stopped. Normally, the carrier at the end of its travel raises a lever 126, and, through an arm 127, a link, and an arm 129, rocks a shaft 130 mounted in bearings on the lay and extending across the loom. A cam-lever on the shaft 130 moves a spring arm to one side, so that it misses and fails to raise a finger on a plate, but, if the carrier has been stopped in the shed, the finger and plate are raised and engaged by a tongue on the lay. The plate is pivoted on a slide, which is thus moved forward, and acts through a bar to apply a brake to a wheel on the driving-shaft. At the same time, a finger on an extension of the plate knocks off the shipper lever. In the Provisional Specification, it is stated that a warp stop-motion may be provided. Thin plates pass between the warps behind the reed, and have holes forming a channel across the loom. Through this channel a device is moved in the same manner as the weft carrier. If a warp breaks it falls out of position, and lying across the channel delays the reciprocating device, and causes a stop-motion to be actuated in the same way as when the weft carrier is stopped.