US3732707A

US3732707A - Weft supplying device for a warp knitting machine

Info

Publication number: US3732707A
Application number: US00872705A
Authority: US
Inventors: S Furst
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1968-11-02
Filing date: 1969-10-30
Publication date: 1973-05-15
Anticipated expiration: 1990-05-15
Also published as: IT1044810B; ES372957A2; CS156455B4; NL6916440A; DD99402A6; FR2030555A6; BE741144A; GB1283946A; CH549676A

Abstract

Warp knitting machine having a zone wherein needles are disposed and means for supplying warp threads to the needles includes a device for filling a weft having first holder members for making the weft ready outside the needle zone, means for guiding the weft to the warp threads comprising a thread guide cooperating therewith for making the weft ready, the thread guide being displaceable in a closed travel path, means for feeding a plurality of wefts selectively to the thread guide for entrainment thereby in the closed travel path thereof, the thread guide having a clamping member for individually gripping the thread for each weft, second holder means located adjacent the travel path of the thread guide and adapted to receive from the latter the weft gripped by the clamping member, and a severing member coordinated with the first holder members for cutting into predetermined lengths the weft to be made ready, the severing member being connected to the displacement thread guide.

Description

United States Patent Furst 1 May 15, 1973 541 WEFT SUPPLYING DEVICE FOR A 900,408 7/1962 Great Britain ..66/85 WARP KNITTING MACHINE l58,530 4/1957 Sweden ..66/85 [75] Inventor: gtefan Furst, Moenchengladbach, Primary Examiner Robert R. Mackey ermany Attorney-Curt M. Aveny, Arthur E. Wilfond. Her [73] Assignee: Walter Reiners, Monchemgladbach, bert L, Lerner and Daniel J. Tick Germany [22] Filed: Oct. 30, 1969 [57] ABSTRACT [211 Appl. No.: 872,705 Warp knitting machine having a zone wherein needles are disposed and means for supplying warp threads to the needles includes a device for filling a weft having [30] Forelgn Apphcamm Pnonty Data first holder members for making the weft ready out- 1968 Germany 13 06 505-9 side the needle zone, means for guiding the weft to the v warp threads comprising a thread guide cooperating U-S. t [herewith for making the weft ready the thread guide Cl. t being displaceable in a losed travel path means for [58] Field of Search ..66/84, 85; 139/122, f di a plurality f ft Selectively to the thread 139/ 27 guide for entrainment thereby in the closed travel path thereof, the thread guide having a clamping member [56] References C'ted for individually gripping the thread for each weft, UNITED STATES PATENTS second holder means located adjacent the travel path of the thread guide and adapted to receive from the l,73l,369 10/1929 Baldwin ..l39/l27 latter the weft the clamping member and a mP f isevering member coordinated with the first holder izuno e a 3,498,338 3/1970 Lutze .i139/122ux members for cunmg predetermmed lengths the FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 2/l9l6 Germany .,66/84 weft to be made ready, the severing member being connected to the displacement thread guide.

5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PAIENTL'UHAYwma 3,732,707,

sum 2 BF 4 I f/// ll 3 WEFT SUPPLYING DEVICE FOR A WARP KNITTING MACHINE My invention relates to warp knitting machines and especially to Raschel knitting machines.

In my copending application Ser. No. 861,250, filed Sept. 26, 1969 now US. Pat. No. 3,620,048 granted Nov. 16, 1971, a warp knitting machine, especially a Raschel knitting machine, having a zone wherein needles are disposed and means for supplying warp threads to the needles comprises a device for filling a weft having a first holder members for making the weft ready outside the needle zone, means for guiding the weft to the warp threads comprising a thread guide cooperating therewith for making the weft ready, the thread guide being displaceable in a closed travel path, means for feeding a plurality of wefts selectively to the thread guide for entrainment thereby in the closed travel path thereof, a severing member located adjacent and coordinated with the first holder members for cutting into predetermined lengths the weft to be made ready, the thread guide having a clamping member for individually gripping the thread for each weft, and second holder means located adjacent the travel path of the thread guide and adapted to receive from the latter the weft gripped by the clamping member.

In a warp knitting machine of such construction, the individual threads made ready or applied to the thread guide by the holder members in the vicinity of the weft reversal locations i.e. in the vicinity of one of the edges of the knitted web, are seized by the thread guide in the course of its travel, are passed to the holder member located at the opposite edge of the knitted web, are transferred to the last-mentioned holder member, are severed by a severing member in lengths corresponding to the width of the knitted web, and are applied individually to the warp threads by means of a guide member. This operation can then be repeated with the'same or another thread by the returning thread guide or by additional thread guides further guided on the travel path thereof.

It is an object of my invention to provide a warp knitting machine of improved construction with respect to the machine of my aforementioned copending application and especially such a machine having an improvement in the location of the weft-severing member.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, I provide such a warp knitting machine wherein the weftsevering member is connected to the thread guide which is displaceable in a closed travel path.

In accordance with'another feature of my invention, I provide such a warp knitting machine wherein the weft-severing member is secured to the thread guide at a location or in a region wherein the weft extends from the thread guide to the warp threads.

In accordance with a further feature of my invention, the thread guide is constructed as clamping shears, so that severing and clamping members are combined in the thread guide, which signifies a considerable simplification and increase in functional stability in the course of filling the weft.

A possible multiple scale of designing patterns for the Raschel knitting machine can be achieved if several wefts different from one another can be fed or applied selectively and in a given sequence to the thread guide in a relatively simple manner. Consequently, in accordance with an additional feature of my invention, I provide separate thread feeders for guiding wefts that are being fed to the thread guide, the thread feeders being mounted turret-like in a common adjusting member. The turret-like construction makes it possible to effect an exchange of the wefts by a simple turning movement and to prevent the wefts from twisting around one another.

In accordance with yet another feature of my invention, I dispose the first holder members and the thread feeders so as to define a feed path for the wefts extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the travel path of the thread guide.

Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.

Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in warp knitting machine, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.

The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view partly in section of a Raschel knitting machine constructed in accordance with my invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of FIG. 1 taken along the line IIII in the direction of the arrows showing the Raschel knitting machine in one phase of the operation thereof;

FIG. 3 is another view corresponding to that of FIG. 2 showing the Rashcel knitting machine in another phase of the operation thereof;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view of the device for filling a weft which includes two rotating thread guides and drive mechanism therefor as seen from the right-hand side of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view, partly in section, of a detail of FIG. 2 rotated through an angle of and depicting the feed of the weft to the thread guide; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of FIG. 5 taken along the line VI--VI in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawings and first particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, there is shown therein, as in my aforementioned copending application Ser. No. 861,250, a Raschel knitting machine having a frame side wall 1 to which connecting members or

crosspieces

66 and 67 and a traverse or cross beam 33 are secured. In the interest of clarity, the projecting arm on which a pair of cross-wound bobbins ro cheeses are carried to supply the weft to the knitting machine is not illustrated in FIG. I. The nonillustrated projecting arm can have any suitable shape for mounting the bobbins side-by-side as shown for example in FIGS. 2 and 3.

Partial warp beams

34 and 35 are rotatably mounted on the upper part of the side wall 1, and

warp threads

36 and 37 lead therefrom, respectively, through spring seesaws or rocker arms 38 and 38' to eye needles 39 and 40 and therefrom to latch needles 31 of the knitting machine. The latch needles 31 are secured by a needle bar 2l to a carrier rod 23. The knitting machine has a main drive shaft 17 which carries a cam 18 by means of which a lever 20 carrying follower rollers that are in engagement with the surface of the cam 18 is pivotable about a pivot shaft 19 fixed, for example, to the side wall 1. The lever 20 is pivotally connected to the carrier rod 23 supporting the needle bar 21 and raises and lowers the latter in accordance with the motion imparted thereto by the rotating cam 18. The carrier rod 23 is articulatingly connected at its lower end, as viewed in FIG. 1, to a pull lever 25 which is rotatably mounted on a pin 26 extending from the side wall I. A cutting plate 27 is fixed to the side wall 1 and extends transversely therefrom. Fabric material 28 which has been knitted in the Raschel knitting machine of the invention is withdrawn from the needles 31 by rotatably mounted

feed rollers

29 and 30, suitably driven, for example, through nonillustrated transmission mechanism, from the main drive shaft 17, and is wound on a beam 32.

FIG. 2 is a view of the Raschel knitting machine as seen from above and along the line II-II in FIG. 1, various details of the machine not required for explaining the invention and which would otherwise affect the clarity of the disclosure have been omitted.

FIG. 2 shows the finished woven material 28 in front of which a row of stitch-forming needles 31 on the needle bar 21 is disposed. The weftsfandj are withdrawn from the supply coils or

bobbins

530 and 531. A thread portion f" of the weftf is fed from the thread guide 613, which has the structure of a clamping shears, to a holder member 538, which serves simultaneously as guide member for filling the weft to the warp threads, and which is, for example, formed as a suction nozzle. This holder member 538, as seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, is secured to a shaft 540 which is pivotable by a lever arm 541. The lever arm 541 is biased by a tension spring 542 into engagement with the surface of a cam 543 which is mounted-on the main drive shaft 17. In the interest of clarity, the lever arm 541 is shown broken off in FIG. 1 and the cam 543 is omitted from that figure.

The weft f traveling from the weft bobbin 530, initially guided through the feed head 639 provided with

thread feeders

632 and 633 and made ready between the

holder members

635 and 636 is gripped by the thread guide 612 having the structure of a clamping shears.

In the interest of clarity, the turret head 639 is shown in the illustrated embodiment as having only

twp thread feeders

632 and 633, it being obvious, of course, that many more feeders may actually be provided therein, with a corresponding number or even greater number of bobbins accompanying the same. Depending upon the respective designing pattern, several threads can be guided by one thread feeder. The revolving motion of the turret head 639 can be effected by a transmission drive 345 in accordance with the particular momentum imparted thereto to achieve the desired pattern by a conventional adjusting member 638 which is not shown in detail since its structure is well known to the man of ordinary skill in the art of warp knitting machines.

In the operating stage of the warp knitting machine of my invention as illustrated in FIG. 3. the thread guide 612 traveling on its closed travel path with the weft fclamped therein has reached the center of the machine, after the weftfhas previously been caught by the thread guide 612 in the position shown in FIG. 2 wherein the weft f is located between the two

holder members

635 and 636, and has been clamped and severed, which can be seen from the presence of the remainder threadf" in FIG. 3. The severed weft portion f" is tightly held by the holder member 635 with the aid of a sliding clamp 661 on the opposite side of the holder member 635 and is made ready for binding into or filling the warp threads. From FIGS. 2 and 3, it is, moreover, apparent that the shaft 603 of the rotary transmission 600 is driven from the main drive shaft over the shaft 14 at a transmission ratio of 1:2 because, for each half rotation of the shaft 603, a respective weft is made ready by the

thread guide

612 or 613.

The rotary mechanism 600, as shown in FIG. 4, includes an inner rod portion 601 rotatably mounted on a shaft 603 carried by a cross-piece or beam 9 (FIG. I) which is secured transversely to the side wall 1. The inner rod portion 601 is provided at both ends thereof with bearings wherein

outer rod portions

604 and 605 are respectively pivotally mounted. Bearings are located respectively at the outer ends of the

rod portions

604 and 605, the

thread guides

612 and 613 being respectively rotatably mounted in those bearings. Transmission of rotary movements from the shaft 603 to the

outer rod portions

604 and 605 as well as to the

thread guides

612 and 613 is effected through a belt or

chain drive mechanism

602, 606 and 607. Due to the fact that the drive of the

thread guides

612 and 613 is effected through the

drive mechanisms

606 and 607, respectively with a transmission ratio of 1:2, the

thread guides

612 and 613 constructed as clamping shears, with the spaces thereof respectively located between the

clamping arms

612a and 612b, on the one hand, and between the arms 613a and 6131;, on the other hand, always point in the same direction i.e. toward the left-hand side of FIGS. 2 and 3. Furthermore, the

outer arms

604 and 605 are each provided with two

cam surfaces

610 and 611, on the one hand, and 614 and 615, on the other hand (FIG. 4) for suitably opening and closing the

thread guides

612 and 613 which are constructed in the form of clamping shears, as described more clearly hereinafter with regard to FIGS. 5 and 6.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show the operation of the

holder members

634, 635, 636 and 637 as well as the operation of the thread guide 612 when filling a weft. Of course, the thread guide 613 and the respective holder members operate in a similar manner.

As shown in FIG. 5, the

holder members

634, 635, 636 and 637 are hook-shaped and mounted in a transmission drive system so that the points of all the hooks always face in common in the same direction. The rotary motion of the holder members for the purpose of making ready the weft, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, is effected from the main drive shaft 17 through the transmission 345 and the shaft 348 in the housing 354 fastened to the frame of the warp knitting machine of the invention. An entrainer pin 349 is secured by means of a disc 3480 to the shaft 348 and cooperates with the disc 353 like a maltese cross. The disc 353 is connected through the shaft 355 with a disc 650 in which

shafts

6510, 651b, 6516 and 651d are secured which are rotatably mounted in levers 6520, 652b, 652s and 652d, respectively. The levers 6520 to 652d are firmly connected to the holder members 634 to 637, respectively, which in turn are rotatably mounted in a cover 357 for the housing 354. The cover 357 is rotatable with respect to the housing 354 by means of ball bearings 356.

The

holder members

634 and 637 are furthermore provided with clamping pins 660 to 663, respectively, whose clamping position and open position are controlled by a cam member 664 in the manner clearly shown in FIG. 5.

It is also apparent from FIGS. 5 and 6 that the thread guide 612 can be in the form of a clamping shears similar for the tie beaks of thread knotting devices. The thread guide 612 is formed of a middle portion 612a cooperating on one hand with a severing member 61% as well as on the other hand with a clamping member 612C. The middle portion 612a is rotatably mounted on a pin 670 and receives from a compression spring 671 the prestressing biasing force required for clamping the weft. The movement of the middle portion 612a is controlled by the cam surfaces 610 and 611 located on the outer rod portion 604. The severing member 612a is moreover provided with an elongated slot 672 wherein the bell crank 673, which is moved in accordance with the

cams

610 and 611, is received. The bell crank 673 is pivotally mounted on a pin 674 and is biased by the torsion spring 675 toward the

cams

610 and 611.

As mentioned hereinbefore, the thread f traveling from he weft bobbin 530 and guided through the thread feeder 632 and made ready between the

holder members

635 and 636, is caught by the thread guide 612 in the operating stage shown in FIGS. 2, 5 and 6. The thread portion 1 previously made ready by the thread guide 613 extends along the already knitted fabric web and has been fed to the holder member 538. The clamping member 661 has simultaneously tightly gripped this threadf in the holder member 635. If the thread guide 612 is closed by dropping the middle portion 612a directly after the operating stage shown in FIG. 5, the thread f leading to the respective supply bobbin is clamped firmly between the middle portion 612a and the clamping member 6120 while the thread f is severed by the severing member 612b so that only the remainder thread portion f'" remains hanging in the clamp 661.

The thread guide 612 can then draw the thread 5 from the respective weft supply bobbin through the holder member 636 whose clamp 662 is open until the thread f reaches the position of the thread guide 613 as shown in FIG. 2.

In this operating stage, the Maltese cross or star wheel transmission has turned the holder members 634 to 637 in the direction of the arrow A in FIG. 6 counterclockwise through an angle of 90 so that the holder member 635 reaches the position of the holder member 634. The process can then be repeated wherein the clamping member 662 firmly grips the thread in the holder member 636. The clamping of the thread f" in the holder member 635 by means of the clamping member 661 is released after the threadj" is placed behind the needle row 31 and is filled by the warp threads and is stitched. During the last-described process of catching and making ready the thread f, the thread portionf from the thread feeder 633 is held in such a position that it cannot be captured by the thread guide 612. If, during the next weft feed, the weft portionf' is fed instead of the weft f, the turret head 639 is rotated through an angle of 180 so that the thread portionf attains the position of the threadfshown in the figures. In this case, obviously when the thread guide 612 is closed, the end of the thread portion 1" leading to the warp threads or to the fabric web being finished is severed while the thread fremains connected to the fabric web for a period of time long enough so that it can be again filled or inserted as weft thread.

As has been aforementioned, to facilitate the understanding of the process, the drawing only shows the exchange of a pair of wefts. However, many additional thread feeders, such as

thread feeders

632 and 633 can be distributed in the turret head 639 which can be controlled respectively in accordance with the desired designing pattern so that the selected threads are fed to the thread guide 612 so as to be caught thereby. In order to prevent twisting of the threads that are being made ready, care must be taken that the turret head 639 is not always turned in one direction, but rather is reciprocatingly turned between two extreme rotary positions in opposite rotary directions. Moreover, it is advantageous if in accordance with the disclosure in FIG. 6, the axis 6390 about which the turret head 639 rotates is so displaced that the length of the thread is not altered when the weft is exchanged.

In a manner not much dissimilar to that described in the aforementioned copending application Ser. No. 861,250, filed Sept. 26, 1969, during the movement of the thread guide 612 from the edge of the knitted fabric or web shown at the left-hand side of FIGS. 2 and 3 to the edge of the knitted fabric shown at the right-hand side thereof, the thread f is severed by the severing member 612b, and the remaining thread is transferred by the

holder members

635 and 538 from the position thereof in FIG. 2 to the position thereof in FIG. 3, wherein the severed thread f" has been seized by the knitting needles and intermeshed or knitted with the warp threads. Simultaneously with the movement of the thread guide 612 from the edge of the knitted fabric at the left-hand side to the edge thereof at the righthand side of FIG. 2, the position of the turret head 639 is reciprocatingly turned through a predetermined angle so that the thread)" returns to the ready position thereof, in order to be seized by the thread guide 613 which had in the interim traveled from the edge of the fabric at the right-hand side to the edge of the fabric at the left-hand side of FIG. 2. The turret head 639 is suitably turned, as aforementioned, by the conventional adjusting member 638. As the thread guide 613 is traveling toward the left-hand side of FIG. 3 to seize the thread)", the thread guide 612, as shown in FIG. 3, has seized the severed end of the thread fand has moved it halfway toward the holder member 538 from the holder member 636. By the time the thread guide 612 will have moved the end of the threadfcompletely toward the right-hand side of FIG. 3, the holder member 538 will have returned to-the position thereof, shown in FIG. 2, and the end of the threadfwill be transferred from the thread guide 612 to the holder member 538, while the holder member 636 will have been indexed to the position occupied by the holder member 635 in FIG. 2. At the same time, the holder member 637 will have been indexed to the position previously occupied by the holder member 636 in FIG. 2. The thread guide 613 seizes the thread j in the same member as the thread guide 612 seizes the thread f. The thread guide 613 is moved due to the rotation of the rod portion 601 and'605 thereof in the same manner as the thread guide 612, in order to feed the threadf seized thereby to the

holder members

637 and 538. During the swinging movement of the thread guide 613 from the edge of the knitted fabric at the left-hand side to the edge of the knitted fabric at the right-hand side of FIG. 2, he thread ffed in the interim by the thread guide 612 is seized by the

holder members

538 and 637 and is transferred to the knitting needles to be intermeshed or knitted with the warp threads. By the time the thread guide 613 has moved the severed end of the thread f to the edge of the knitted fabric at the right-hand side of FIG. 2 and transferred it to the holder member 538, and has then returned through the intermediate position shown in FIG. 3 to the position occupied by the thread guide 612 in FIG. 2, the holder member 634 will have been indexed to the position now occupied by holder member 636 in FIG. 2. Consequently, the thread guide 613 will then sever the thread f between the

holder members

637 and 634 and will then draw the threadf' from the edge at the left-hand side to the edge at the right-hand side of the knitted fabric between the

holder members

634 and 538, to complete the cycle.

Due to the revolving movement of both thread guides 612 and 613 on the travel path 616, an the simultaneous turning of the turret head 639, the threadsfand f, as aforedcscribed, are alternately fed to the knitting needles so as to be intermeshed or knitted with the warp threads.

I claim:

1. Warp knitting machine having a zone wherein needles are disposed and means for supplying warp threads to the needles comprising a device for filling a weft having first holder members for making the weft ready outside the needle zone, said first holder members having a thread guide cooperating therewith for making the weft ready, said thread guide being displaceable in a closed travel path, means for feeding a plurality of wefts selectively to said thread guide for entrainment thereby in said closed travel path thereof, said thread guide having a clamping member for individually gripping the thread for each weft, second holder means located adjacent the travel path of said thread guide and adapted to receive from the latter the weft gripped by said clamping member, and a severing member coordinated with said first holder members for cutting into predetermined lengths the weft to be made ready, said severing member being connected to said displaceable thread guide.

2. Warp knitting machine according to claim 1 wherein said weft-severing member is secured to said thread guide in a region wherein the weft extends from said thread guide to a location at which finished fabric web is disposed.

3. Warp knitting machine according to claim 1 wherein said thread guide is constructed as a clamping shears.

4. Warp knitting machine according to claim 1 wherein said means for feeding a plurality of wefts comprises a plurality of separate thread feeders mounted turret-like in a common adjusting member.

5. Warp knitting machine according to claim 1 wherein said means for feeding a plurality of wefts comprises a plurality of separate thread feeders, said first holder members and said thread feeders being disposed so as to define a feed path for the wefts therebetween extending in direction substantially perpendicular to said travel path of said thread guide.