US2489609A - Thread-feeding mechanism - Google Patents

Description

NOV- 29, 1949 R. c. AMIDoN THREAD-FEEDING MEcHAN'IsM Filed Feb. 17, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 www, Ray A m'on,

Mowag.

Filed Feb. 17, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Ray (Z Anidow,

Patented Nov. 29, 1949 UNITED sfrAT ENT orFlcE Boy Amidon',` Reading., Rawassignor` to. Vanity Fai'r Mills, Inc., a corporati'on o'f Pnnsylvania ApplicationFebruary 17, 194.73 Serial: No. 729,102

(of rie-86) 10. Cl'aiin's.

The invention particularh7 relates to the mechproduction of fabricsX made upontricot or so-` called fast warp machines, or in any process of. using the warp. principle, the density of the fabric or tghtness ofthestitches-islargely determined by the feeding (portion of'v thread" or yarn allotted to each4 knittingv cycle) In order toprevent thev formation: of so-called stop marks, frequently found in fabricswhe-n thefbeam let-off is uneven or irregular it has been found desirable to. provide some means of effectingb a continuous rotation of the beam in a manner to-let=oif en-4 actiy the amount of thread. or y-arn' that isgreb ured by thev need-les.l v

' In knitting: machinesin which the let-off of. the yarnis effected' bythe pu-llf. of the. needles for starting the. rotation of the beam, the move:` ment of the beam is not: continuousa but isintera mittent andbrake devices have; heretofore4 been provided tooperateon the beaml and prevent. its; overrunning. various methods-havebeen proposed'withfmore or less success,.toldrve the beam through suitable: speed adiusting. devices so as todeliver, the thread or yarn .at-a fixed. linear speed. Ali such devicesheretofore de'vised, and` have. come. to: my know-- ledge are open to more. or less objection as, for; instance, they are too-complicatedy or too expert-- sive, or both.

.Mypresent inventiom, therefore, has. forV its: obiectto provide asimple, inexpensive and efiec-fltire mechanism for directly`v driving: the beam: regardless of the varying; diameter of theV thread; or yarn soas to let-off. the. thread' oryarn at: a predeterminedlinear speed ,directly related: to; the rate of thread being used by the needles in knitting process: ThisI accompli'sh by driving two rollers. in contactwith the: thread: om the beam. andat a constant speed and so mountin'g the. rollers as to exertV a pincers action-i on. the bearnl,I thereby maintaining uniform and con-- stant (non-slipping) contact between the rol-lers: and the thread on the: beam at all. times, and thereby feeding off thev thread or. yarn from the; beam at a uniform. linear speed regardless of the decreasing diameter of the beam from maxi-4 mum to minimum.

V To the attainment of the aforesaid objects and ends the invention. further resides in those novels details of constructom. combination andarrange-i ment of parts, all of which. shall first be fully 2 .pointed out in theV appended -claims, reference being-.v had, to the accompanying drawings in: which: Fig. L is an elevation of a-portion of a knitting. machine illustrating my invention. Fg'., 24 is a side elevation of the same looking, from left to right in Fig. 1'.

` Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view of a modification wherein only one roller contacts the thread on the beam. i i

' Fig. 4 is a. diagrammatic view of a modificatiozi in which a speed changer isy employed between the. main or cam shaft of a machine andy the. beam driving means.

In .the drawings in which like numerals and letters of reference indicate like parts in all theE figures, i represents a portion of the frame of a knitting machine which carries the bearings v to shaft". One pair of arms H cai'ries a roller,

shaft on which is a beam-thread-contacting and turning, roller 2I` while a similar shaft 14 and rollerZl are carried by the other pair of arms; I'Z.

Atleast one sprocket i5 is secured to each' shaft 116' over which sprockets 15 and [3 and: over a spring-loaded idler sprocke't I8 a chai f6 passies, by virtue of which when shat 5b isf turned shafts ili, Ili will likewise be turned.

The" arms H andv IZ are so positioned that their rollers [4 will engage. the thread on the;- beam at opposite sides of a plane containing the' ax'es of S'h'afts 3 and 5 (see Fig. 2). The lengthsl of arms I l and !2 should preferably be the same; and notlonger than the distance from shaft, 3 to shaft 5, so, that a straight line drawn from. one shaftto the other will lie between shafts 3' and 5.

The. sprocket is. has its shaft H journalled in ai block' lil mounted to slide in a slideway 211:V I Qcated between the axes of shafts 3 and 5,, a4 pring 2.0 serving to press theY block in a direcfe. tion; to, keepV the chain. it taut and also to.y pressI the rollers HiV in contact with the: thread on thev described, hereinafter and. then be speeifical1-y beam ll'in directions toexert, Somewhat of;l

pincers action and thereby tend to force the beam in a direction to maintain it in its bearing against riding out of the same.

If desired, a change-speed mechanism 22 of suitable character may be introduced between shaft 9b and shaft b (see Fig. 4). By suitably adjusting the mechanism 22, the thread or yarn may be fed to the needles at predetermined increased or decreased speeds to produce a variety of different patterns and eifects. Such a speedchanging or adjusting mechanism is well known in the art and need not be specifically described herein but see Fig. 3 of the Bassist Patent No. 2,303,903, issued December 1, 1942.

Those parts in Fig. 4 corresponding to like parts in the preceding figures bear the same reference numeral plus the index letter b and need not be further described.

'In Fig. 3 I have shown a single arm drive for the beam. In this figure those parts which are the same as corresponding parts in the preceding figures bear the same reference numerals plus the index letter a and need not be further described here. When the single arm (or pair of arms) is used a suitable tensioning device similar to that shown in the preceding iigures may be used to tension the chain IiiEL and keep roller Ela against the beam 4.

While I have illustrated the single arm and roller embodiment of my invention (Fig. 3) I prefer the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 2 as being more practical and accurate in Operation than where a single contact roller is employed.

The rollers ZI, 2!a are of suificient length to function properly but they need not and preferably do not extend over the full length of the beam.

It will be seen that the rollers 21 and their drive mechanism do not interfere with the travel of the thread from the beam to the needles.

While my invention has been devised principally for use on knitting machines, it can also be adapted to other uses as well, for example, Weaving machines.

Since the shaft 5 is driven at a Constant speed the rollers 2! will likewise be turned at a constant speed and as they are held in pressure contact with the thread on the beam they will turn the beam so that the thread leaves the beam at the same linear speed all the time the machine is in Operation or until all the thread has been let-off the beam. As the thread is rolled oif and the diameter of the thread on the beam progressively lessens, the speed at which the beam turns will correspondingly be increased all without the use of cumbersome brake or lever operated beam controls such as have heretofore been proposed.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings it is thought that the construction, Operation and advantages will be clear to those skilled in the art.

What I claim is:

1. In a thread-feeding mechanism, means for letting-off the thread from a beam continuously at a predetermined linear speed, said means including a power driven shaft, at least one arm pivoted on said shaft, a beam-thread-engaging and turning roller carried by said arm, means continuously acting to maintain said roller at all times in operative contact With the thread on the beam, and means operatively connecting said roller with said driven shaft to turn said roller at a predetermined speed.

2. In a thread-feeding mechanism wherein thread is fed from a rotatable beam or the like mounted to turn in suitable bearings, the improvement which includes a suitably mounted driven shaft, two arms pivotally mounted at one end and each carrying at its other end a beamthread-engaging and driving roller, said arms being disposed so that the respective beamthread-engagng and driving rollers engage the thread on the beam at opposite sides of a plane containing the beam axis and the arm pivot axis, said rollers having shafts, a driving connection between said driven shaft and said roller shafts to turn said rollers at the same speed, and means causing said rollers to maintain rolling contact with the beam at all times.

3. In a thread-feeding mechanism wherein thread is let-off from a body on which it is wound, the improvement which comprises a supporting frame having U-shaped bearings in which said body is mounted to turn about its axis, means including a pivoted arm which carries a bodythread-engaging roller simultaneously engaging the thread, turning said body and forcing said body in a direction to hold it down in its bearings;

4. In a thread-feeding mechanism wherein thread is let-off a cylindrical body on which it is wound, said body having a shaft, the improvement which comprises a suitable frame having suitable bearings for said shaft to turn in, two pairs of arms pivotally mounted in said frame, rollers having shafts, one journalled in each pair of arms and disposed to engage the winding on said cylindrical body at opposite sides of a radius of said body, means continuously urging said rollers into rolling contact with said winding and means for turning said rollers at the same constant speed to let-off the thread at a predetermined linear speed regardless of the changing diameter of the wound body.

5. A mechanism according to claim 1 wherein a speed adjusting mechanism for said driven shaft is provided.

6. A mechanism according to claim 4 wherein the arms are pivoted on a common axis.

7. In a mechanism of the class described wherein is provided a supporting frame having bearings, a beam rotatably mounted in said bearings, and a first motion shaft journalled in bearings in said frame, the invention which comprises. a driven shaft also journalled in bearings in said frame, a suitable driving connection between said shafts, two roller carriers pivoted each on said driven shaft, beam-thread-engaging and turning rollers carried one on each roller carrier for engaging the thread on the beam at opposite sides of a plane containing the axis of said beam and the axis of said driven shaft, an endless driving connection between said driven shaft and each of said rollers for turning said rollers both at the same speed, and means continuously urging said rollers toward said beam and maintaining the rollers in rolling contact with the thread on the beam.

8. A mechanism according to claim 7 wherein the last named means includes said endless driving -connection and a spring-pressed roller over which said driving connection passes and by.. which said driving connection is kept taut.

9. A mechanism according to claim 7 wherein the length of said arms is not in excess of the distance between the axis of said driven shaft and the axis of the beam, by virtue of which the pressure of said rollers against the thread on the 5 beam results in a force tending to hold the beam down in its bearings.

10. In a thread-feeding mechanism wherein thread is fed from a rotatable beam or the like mounted to turn in suitable bearings, the improvement which includes a suitably mounted driven shaft, two arms pivotally mounted at one end and each carrying at its other end a beamthread-engaging and driving roller, said arms being disposed so that the respective beam-threadengaging and driving rollers engage the thread at opposite sides of a plane containing the beam axis and the arm pivot axis, said rollers having shafts, means for driving said shafts at the same speed from said driven shaft to turn said rollers at the same speed, and continuously acting means for drawing said arms toward one another to maintain said rollers in contact With the beam during the Operation of the machine.

- ROY C. AMIDON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

10 UNITED STATES PATENTS

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