US2087873A - Filling feeler - Google Patents

Description

Patented July 20, 1937 y 2,087,873 FILLING ranma Horace H. Burdett, Hopedale, Mass., assigner to Draper Corporation, Hopedale, Mass., a corporation of Maine Application February Z4, 1937, Serial No. 127,375

y 2 Claims.

The present invention pertains to. lling feelers forA looms and has more particular reference to filling feelers of the mechanical type including a feeler blade having a filling-engaging tip which is directly engaged by the filling supply in the shuttle.

AsV commonly constructed, the filling feeler blade of such feelers is movably mounted on a feeler stand and is adapted, when moved in a predetermined manner, to control the lling replenishing mechanism of the loom. The movement of the feeler blade is effected by engagement of the filling supply, or a bare filling carrier, with the tip of the feeler blade.

An object of the present invention is to provide a filling feeler including a movable feeler blade as aforesaid, which feeler blade shall have a novel and improved feeler tip as will more 'fully appear.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated on the accompanying drawing, of which:

' Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my improved filling feeler in position on a loom;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of said lling feeler with the cover removed, this view also showing in dotted lines a second position which the feeler blade assumes in operation of the loom; and

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but illustrating the action of the feeler when the filling supply becomes substantially depleted.

The drawing shows the left hand end of a lay l, which reciprocates toward and from the front of the loom and which is provided with a shuttle box 2 for receiving a shuttle 3. The shuttle contains a filling carrier, such as bobbin 4, which carries the supply of lling F., The shuttle is picked back and forth along the lay to form picks of the lling thread in the shed (not shown), as is well known in the art. When the filling supply on the bobbin 4 is substantially exhausted the bobbin is automatically ejected from the shuttle and replaced by a fesh bobbin, by mechanism not shown which is controlled by the filling feeler mechanism to be described.

Such filling feeler mechanism operates to determine the condition of the lling supply by feeling of the same through a slot 5 in the front wall of the shuttle and when a predetermined state of exhaustion of the filling supply is detected a rod B is moved to initiate operation of the bobbin changing mechanism as above stated.

The feeler mechanism shown includes a feeler stand 1 and cover plate 8 secured thereto, the stand being xed to a bracket 9 at the front of the loom in front of the shuttle box 2. The filling feeler blade includes a rearwardly extending portion l, a laterally extending arm l l at the front of the portion Il), and a feeler tip I2 at the rearward end thereof. This blade is mounted directly on the feeler stand for movements forwardly and rearwardly of the loom and for side slipping movements against the action of a spring i3, as is more fully disclosed in patent to Brown and Repass, No. 1,593,426, granted July 20, 1926.

The operation of the feeler is well known in the art but may be briefly stated. When the lay moves forwardly with the shuttle 3 in the shuttle box 2, the feeler tip l2 enters the slot E in the shuttle. If, at such time, there is ample lling on the bobbin the filling supply F strikes the feeler tip l2 and moves the feeler blade forwardly from the full line position of Fig. 2 to the dotted line position thereof, without moving the rod 6. When the lling supply F becomes substantially exhausted, the feeler tip is struck by the bobbin t and will slide therealong, thereby moving rod Ei, as suggested by Fig. 3.

The feeler tip l2 is of novel construction devised particularly to prevent damage to the filling thread from the repeated striking of the filling supply F against the feeler tip, and to prevent premature sliding or side-slipping of the feeler blade. To this end, the feeler tip l2 comprises a strip of leather bent into a loop the bight l of which extends rearwardly from the feeler blade and the rounded exterior surface i6 of which is adapted to engage the filling supply F in the shuttle. The legs il, Il of the loop are xed to the rearward end of the feeler blade.

A strip of leather, when formed into a loop, is more or less resilient or yieldable, according to the nature of the material and the thickness of the strip. Such a loop is, therefore, less apt to injure the filling thread. In the particular embodiments shown on the drawing, the feeler tip l2 is formed of a strip of flexible leather. The strip of material of which the feeler tip is formed may be of sufficient thickness that the loop is self-sustaining, i. e., the loop will keep its shape and will not be materially deformed by the blows to which it is subjected in operation. The thickness of the strip must be determined in accordance with several factors such as the nature of the leather and its degree of flexibility, the strength of the spring i3, and possibly the speed of operation of the loom. I nd that if the feeler tip is made of leather it will have the desired characteristics if it is constructed substantially in the proportions shown on the drawing.

The legs il of the feeler tip extend forwardly from the bight M of the loop and, in the form shown, are substantially in parallelism. These legs are positioned on opposite sides of the rearward end of the portion i of the feeler blade. Fastening means such as rivets i8 pass through the legs il and the portion [il of the feeler blade to secure the feeler tip to the feeler blade. Such rivets may be removed should it be desired to provide a new feeler tip for the feeler blade.

I nd that the lling thread often operates more satisfactorily if the rounded lling engaging surface I6 is provided with filling engaging teeth as shown. I also find that the leather tip may be prevented from abrading or catching the filaments of sorne artificial silk filling threads if the tip is coated with a solution of cellulose dissolved in acetone.

Having fully disclosed the preferred embodi ment of my invention, I claim:

1. A lling feeler including a side-slipping feeler blade having a substantially straight rearwardly extending stern and a feeler tip at the rearward end of said stern, said tip comprising a strip of leather bent into a loop the lo ht of which extends rearwardly from said stein and is provided with iilling-engaging teeth, the legs of said loop extending forwardly and being xed to said stem.

2. A lling feeler including a side-slipping eeler blade having a substantially straight rearn wardly extending stern and a feeler tip at the rearward end of said stern, said tip comprising a loop formed from a strip of leather of sufficient thickness that said loop is substantially selfsustaining, the bight of said loop extending rearwardly from said stern and the rounded exterior surface thereof being provided with liing-engaging teeth, the legs of said loop extending forwardly in substantial parallelism and being fixed to opposite sides of said stem.

HORACE I-I. BURDETT.

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