Patent GB-190512373-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in Circular Looms for Weaving
Inventor: WILSON JAMES SOULE
Filed: 1905-06-14
Granted: 1906-06-14
Abstract: 12,373. Lake, H. H., [Wilson, J. S.]. June 14. Circular looms; stop-motions.-In a circular loom for weaving tubular fabrics or coverings upon cylindrical articles, the warp threads 207, Fig. 6, are drawn from bobbins, which are mounted upon a circular creel frame and are retarded by spring- pressed plates 204. The warps pass through guideeyes 206, 208, and through the eyes of spring- pressed arms 216, which are held away from pins 224 so long as the warps are unbroken and at the proper tension. The pins 224 are insulated from the arms 216, and when an arm touches its pin an electric circuit is eompleted and the loom stopped. The warps pass to the inner edge of a ring 58, Fig. 4, which acts as a former, and the wefts are laid in the sheds formed in the warps at the said former by four shuttles travelling round a circular race. The woven fabric or covering 300 is drawn through a horizontal or inclined tubular sleeve 10 by two concave feed-wheels, which are adjustable to the size of fabric woven and are driven by worm and belt gearing. Upon the sleeve 10 is loosely mounted a hub having four arms, which carry bearings for short shafts 29, Fig. 14. These shafts are provided at their inner ends with bevelwheels gearing with a stationary bevel-wheel on the sleeve 10, and at their outer ends with wheels 61 carrying fingers 62. The hub is rotated by bevel gearing, carrying with it the arms and short shafts 29, and, since the bevel-wheels on the short shafts gear with a stationary bevel-wheel, the wheels 61 are also rotated in the direction of the curved arrow, the hub being rotated in the direction of the straight arrow. The shuttles comprise upright frames 80, Figs. 4 and 14, and horizontal frames 90, and are provided with wheels 100 engaging a notch in an outer ring 46, wheels 109 engaging the inner surface of the ring, and projecting parts 120 engaging a notch in an inner ring 51. The shuttles are also provided at their rear ends with wheels 96, which lie between the rim of the wheels 61 and wheels 65 carried by arms 32 secured to the bearings of the shafts 29. As the hub and bearings of the shafts 29 rotate round the sleeve 10, the rims of the wheels 61 act on the shuttles, which are thereby caused to travel round their guide-rings 46, 51. The fingers 62 catch alternate warps 207, and raise them above the nose of the next shuttle, so that they pass over the upper edge of the frame 80. Each warp passing from the top edge of a shuttle is caught by a finger 320, and held long enough to enable a finger 62 to pass under it, when it falls on to the rim of the wheel 61 and passes under the lower edge of the next shuttle. The rings 46, 51 are slotted to allow for the shedding of the warps. The weft cop or bobbin 87 is mounted on a spindle 83, which is pivoted at one end to the frame 80 and is held in a catch at the other end. A spring-pressed plate 116 puts drag on the cop. The weft passes inwards through an eye 113, outwards round a finger 150, and inwards about pins 112 to a guide 91. The ring 51 is insulated from the ring 46, and, when the weft breaks, a spring wire carried by the shuttle moves to connect the rings electrically, so that an electric circuit is closed to stop the loom. The loom is driven by belt gearing acting through a clutch, which is connected and disconnected by a forked lever and a slide operated by a handle and by a spring. A catch carried by the slide is engaged by the armature of an electro-magnet when the loom is in operation, and a spring on the slide is in contact with a wire, thus completing an electric circuit except between the rings 46, 51 and between the arms 216 and their pins 224. When a warp on a weft breaks, the circuit is completed, the armature is withdrawn from the catch, and the slide is moved by the spring to disconnect the clutch and stop the loom. A bell or other alarm may be introduced into the circuit to call attention to the breakage of the warp or weft. The operative parts of the loom are mounted on suitable framework, with the plane of the circular creel frame and the rings 46, 51 at right-angles to the horizontal or inclined sleeve 10.