US2406988A - Method of and apparatus for use in preparing weaving warps - Google Patents

Description

Sept-3, 1946. Y J. BOLTON ,9 8 METHOD OF AND AP-PARATUS FOR USE IN PREPARING WEAVING' WARPS Filed Aug. 22, i944 Patented Sept. 3, 1946 UNITED STATE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS" FOR USE IN PREPARING WEAVING WARPS James Bolton, New Bedford, Mass. Application August 22, 1944, Serial No. 550,540

This invention pertains to the manufacture of textile fabrics, specifically to a method of making fabrics, especially useful in the preparation of sheer fabrics from rayon or similar yarns, and to a novel method of preparing warps for use in weaving looms and to a novel means for use inv the practice of said method.

A completed weaving warp mounted on the loom beam often comprises many thousands of yarn ends, each of a length which may exceed 20,000 yards, and the preparation of this yarn mass has heretofore customarily involved a substantial number of handlings of each individual yarn subsequent to spinning, each of these several handlings being a potential source of knot formation so that in the completed warp a great many knots customarily occur. Such knotsappear in the woven fabric, particularly if the fabric is a thin or sheer material such as marquisette, as distinct and readily visible imperfections, thus detracting from the appearance and value of the material. Moreover, such prior methods, involving many handlings of the individual yarns, consume time, require much space for the necessary equipment, and thus substantially add to the cost of production.

Such prior methods of warp preparation, for instance, may involve winding the yarn from the spinning bobbin onto a twister bobbin, then winding the yarn onto a "spooler bobbin to form a yarn mass, for instance 4 x 5" and of a yarn length, for instance of 24,000 yards; then placing these spooler bobbins in a creel andwinding, for instance, 500 ends onto a section beam; and then assembling, for instance, four of these section beams and winding the yarns from them onto the loom beam. Another somewhat less complex prior method involves placing the twister bobbins in a creel; winding, for instance, 500 ends directly from these bobbins onto a warper reel or mill, these 500 ends passing through, for instance, a reed, then. moving the reed axially of the reel and winding on another of the 500 ends, etc., until the reel holds the entire number of ends desired, and then drawing the yarns from the reel, and winding them directly onto the loom beam, but it is easy to see that in each of these prior methods, the yarn is handled a substantial number of times between spinning and warp.

In windinga beam directly from yarn packages mounted in a creel, the yarns from the. several packages are passed through a comb which disposes them in a sheet. The comb disposes the yarns in very closely spaced relation in a sheet 11 Claims. (Cl. 2832) I whose width approximates the width of the desired warp.

However, a common difficulty encountered in the, winding of yarns onto a section or loom beam, in particular twisted yarns, results from the tendency of the yarns constituting the sheet to roll and thereby to become enmeshed with or to adhere to adjacent yarns. This tendency to roll or move transversely of the direction of yarn travel maybe partly due to the effects of static electricity, and partly to the stresses imposed up'on the constituent fibers during spinning and twisting, but whatever its cause, it is a common source of snarling and breaking. Thus, if it be attempted to employ a second comb, very closely adjacent to the beam, in order accurately to deliver the yarns to the beam in proper relation, many of the laterally displaced yarns, enmeshed with adjacent yarns and traveling at high speed, will be broken when they engage the second comb. When it is practical (as for instance in a loom, where the linear speed of the warps isvery low) toemploy separator rods and combs, or their equivalent, at frequent intervals along the length of the travelling yarns, this tendency to roll may thereby be controlled although the space necessary for such dividers or similar equipment and the expenseinvolved in its use is often prohibitive, but in a high speed warper this method of control can not be employed.

The present invention has for its principal object the provision of an improved method of preparing a warp whereby the entire number of ends 'requisiteto constitute the completed warp may be wound directly from bobbins (for example twister bobbins) onto the loom beam, thereby eliminating many of the steps previously considered necessary and incidentally so diminishing the number of.knots in the completed Warp that the woven fabric is far freer from defects (knots) than it has heretofore been possible to produce by any practical method. A further object is to provide an improved method of controlling yarns during winding even at high speeds, for instance while winding parallel yarns onto a loom beam, so as substantially to prevent the yarns from rolling and thereby becoming intermeshed or adherent to one another and thus to preventsnarling and breakage and also, if desir-ed, concomitantly to tension the yarns.

A further objectis to provide improved appa- 3 that the method is capable of performance by specifically different means.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed out in the following more detailed description and by reference to the accompanying drawing wherein Fig. l is a diagrammatic plan view of apparatus useful in the practice of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the apparatus shown in Fi 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective View to larger scale and in part in vertical section show me one of the yarn-positioning and tensioning elements;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal section through one of the yam-positioning elements; and r Fig. 5 is a fragmentary front elevation of a yarn-separating comb forming a part of the apparatus.

Referring to the drawing the numeral I designates a suitable support, for example a creel designed to support yarn packages, in number at least as great as the number of ends in the desiredwarp. Preferably the creel is so arranged that these yarn packages may turn, thus permitting the yarn to be unwound without removing or imparting twist to the unwinding yarn. Individual tensions may be provided for these unwinding packages, if desired, as is customary in creels in which the yarn packages rotate and each of these yarn packages 2 may, for example, be a twister bobbin containing a length of yarn, for instance 24,000 yards, more than sufficient to form one end of the desired completed warp.

The warper 3 may in general be of a more or less conventional type designed removably to support a loom beam having spaced heads 4 and 5, the beam being fixed to a shaft 6 whose opposite ends are supported in bearing brackets l and 8, preferably relatively adjustable to accommodate beams of different lengths. The shaft 6 is provided with a gear 9 which mesheswith a pinion driven by a shaft H] which receives its motion, through an endless belt H, from a motor-driven variable speed device [2, for example a mechanism such as is commonly known as a Reeves drive, the speed ratio of this drive being variable by the actuation of a hand wheel l3 or equivalent device. Thus by manipulation by the hand wheel l3 the angular velocity of the warp beam shaft 6 may be varied.

From the packages 2 the yarns Y are led through suitable guide eyes to a collecting comb l4, usually of a length substantially greater than the Width of the desired warp and with this comb M (which is an end-and-end lease comb enabling the operator to put in a full end-and-end lease at the end of each warp which is made) lease rods l5 and It may be associated, if desired. After passing the collecting comb l4 and lease rods l5 and I6, the yarns pass through a yarnpositioning or guide comb I7. This comb I! (Fig. 5) has dents D in each of which one and sometimes two yarns Y may be placed and is of such length that the endmost yarns of the warp sheet are spaced apart a distance substantially exactly the width of the desired warp, the endmost dents of the comb being disposed substantially in the parallel planes of the respective inner surfaces of the heads 4 and 5 of the warp beam. Thus after passing the comb I! the yarns form a sheet S in which the yarns are all side by side and sub stantially parallel. Preferably after passing the comb I! the yarns extend partially around smooth surfaced, accurately cylindrical rolls i8 and I9 whose axes are parallel to the length of the comb I! and to the axis of the warp beam. In order to control the yarns after passing the roll I 9 and before they reach the winding-on point of the warp mass on the loom beam, there is provided a controller device 20 which, as here shown, more or less resembles the usual Warper mill or reel.

Thus this controller comprises a shaft 2i mounted to turn in suitable bearings and with its axis paryarn is drawn over the outer surface of the element and is subjected to tension, the yarn tends to embed itself in the substance of the positioning element as shown for example in Fig. 4, so that lateral movement or rolling of the yarn is thereby prevented. The controlling element or reel 29 is not driven except by the frictional drag of the yarns in contact with the elements 25, but is preferably furnished with a brake drum 26 which is engaged by a flexible brake band fixed at one end at 28 and having a weight 29 at its opposite end. By varying the mass of the part 29 the braking effect may be varied, thereby to determine the density of the Warp mass on the beam or to accommodate yarns of different materials.

In the operation of the apparatus and assuming that the yarns Y have been threaded through the combs M and I1 and passed about the reel 20 and connected to the barrel of the drum, the operator, in starting the warp beam, will first so manipulate the hand wheel I3 as to impart a low angular velocity to the beam, thereby slowly starting the beam into operation so as to avoid overtensioning and breaking of any of the yarns. However, as soon as the beam has picked up speed, the operator will manipulate the wheel [3 so as to turn the warp beam shaft 5 at its maximum velocity as determined by the characteristic of the yarns to be wound. Thereafter as the diameter of the winding mass on the beam increases the operator will, from time to time, so manipulate the wheel l3 as gradually to reduce the angular velocity of the warp beam thereby to maintain a substantially uniform but high linear speed of the yarn during the entire winding operation, after first starting up. It will be understood, however, that if at any time during the warping operation it be necessary to stop the machine, the operator will again start up at slow speed before resuming the previous high and substantially uniform winding speed.

The entire tension placed on the winding yarns is produced by the pull developed b the power driven loom beam and by the retarding action of the yarn-engaging elements 25 which resist the forward movement of the yarns to an extent depending upon the load placed on the brake band 21.

It is to be noted that from the time the yarns Y engage the first of the series ofyarn-controlling elements 25 until the yarns are about to wind onto the warp beam they are kept under constant restraint against sidewise movement or rolling so that the parallel relation imparted by the comb I1 is substantially maintained until they are incorporated in the winding mass on the beam. Thus even though the linear winding speed of the yarns be veryhigh there is no danger of their becoming enmeshed with each other so that upon the subsequent unwinding of the beam they will be snarled and broken. On the other hand, by the employment of this simple controlling device 20, the accurate parallel relation of the yarns is insured without resort to complicated, expensive and space-using separator devices such as have heretofore been proposed and most of which are inapplicable to high speed operations.

Preferably, in accordance with this improved method and as above suggested, each of the yarn packages 2contains a length of yarn substantially greater than that required to form one end of the completed warp. Since these yarns from the packages 2 are thus delivered directly to the loom beam, and since although this apparatus winds the warps at very high speed, very little breakage results, the number of knots in the completed warp is thus very much smaller, for example 50% less than is commonwhen a warp is prepared in accordance with usual prior methods. After the warp has been completed, the yarn remaining on the packages 2 is then preferably wound directly onto the weaving bobbin and is used with the warp from the beam in weaving the desired cloth. Thu the filling also contains less knots than usual and the resulting fabric, both in warp and weft has much fewer knots than customary. By thus using the remainder of the yarn on packages 2 inwinding not greatly exceed the longest of the desired warps, since this remainin yarn on the package 2' is not wasted.

.As a specific example of the practice of this novel method, nineteen thousand yards of rayon yarn of 70'denier, having twenty turns of twist per inch, are wound on each of the requiste number of twister bobbins and used in winding warps, each of a length of three thousand yards. Each twister bobbin thus provides enough yarn to form one warp end for six full loom beams, with enough yarn remaining to wind a full filling bobbin. In order to avoiod the necessity for sizing the yarns, in accordance with the present invention they are preferably twisted to provide the requisite strength, acrepe or voil twist being used.

In Winding, and after first starting the beam into motion, a uniform linear yarn speed of, for example, sixty yards per minute is safe andpractical, and may be maintained throughout the winding operation, although if preferred, as the yarn masses on the bobbins become very small, the speed of win-ding may be reduced for instance to fifty yards per minute to avoid undue bobbin speed.

Since beams of different lengths may readily be substituted one for another merely by changing the relation between the beam supports 1 and 8, and since the positioning elements 25, traveling with the yarns from the comb ll toward the beam, exactly maintain the width of the warp sheet as determined by the comb ll, it is possible to wind any width of loom beam in this apparatus simply by Varying the effective length of the comb ll.

While one desirable embodiment of the invention is herein disclosed by way of example, it is to be understood that other and equivalent means and method steps may be used within the scope of l the invention as defined by the appended claims. i

I claim:

1. In apparatus for winding a Warp on a loom beam-in combination, means for supporting yarn masses in number at least equal to the number of ends in the desired warp, a comb operative to. dispose the yarns in side by side relation, the length of the comb being substantially equal to the width of the desired warp, a loom beam and means for rotating the beam, the axis of the beam being parallel to the length of the comb, and a series of spaced yarn-positionin elements which move with the yarns as the latter appreach the winding mass on the beam, said positioning elements being constructed and arranged to prevent the yarn from rolling.

2. In apparatus for winding 3, warp on a loom beam in combination, means for supporting and for turning a loom beam and a loom beam mounted in said supporting means, means for supporting spaced yarn packages in number at least equal tothe number of ends in the desired Warp, a comb having dents each designed to receive one or more warp ends and of such length as to dispose said ends in a sheet of a width of the desired warp, and an endless series of yarnengaging elements interposed between the comb and the beam and which are operative to deliver the yarns directly to the beam, each' of said elements being of soft, resilient material in which each yarn embeds itself, and means for moving said elements in the direction of yarn travel.

3. In the apparatus for winding a warp on a loom beam in combination, a creel having provision for holding yarn masses in number at least equal to the number of ends in the desired Warp, a comb having dents each designed to receive one or more warp ends and of such length as to dispose said ends in a sheet of the width 0f the de-- sired warp, and a reel interposed between the comb and the beam, theatres of the reel and beam being substantially parallel to the length of the comb, the reel having spaced peripherally arranged yarn-engaging elements which deliver the yarn directly to the beam and which are so constructed and arranged as to prevent the yarns from rolling as they move toward the winding warp mass on the beam.

4. In apparatus for winding a warp on a loom beam in combination, means for supporting and for turning a loom beam and a loom beam mounted in said supporting means, means for rotatably supporting yarn packages in number at least equal to the number of ends in the desired warp, a creel having provision for rotatably supporting yarn packages in number at least equal to the number of ends in the desired warp, a comb constructed and arranged to dispos the yarns in parallel relation, the length of the comb substantially equalling the width of the desired warp, a rotatable reel of a diameter substantially larger than that 'of the beam and which turns on an axis parallel to that of the beam, the reel being so arranged that the yarn on its way from the comb to the beam embraces a portion of the periphery of the rim, the reel having peripherally spaced yarn-engaging elements each of resiliently yieldable material and from which the yarns are delivered directly to the beam, and means opposing free rotation of the reel thereby to tension the yarns.

5. Apparatus for use in p p n weavin warps comprising a support for bobbins in number at least as great as the number of warp ends, a loom beam and means for rotating it at a variable angular velocity such that the linear speed of the winding yarn is substantially constant throughout the winding operation, a comb-guide for disposing the several yarns in substantially parallel relation, a rotary support turning about an axis parallel to that of the beam, said support carrying a plurality of peripherally yarn-engaging spaced friction elements from which the yarns are delivered directly to the beam, means operative to cause the parallel yarns partially to wrap about said rotary support on their way from th comb-guide to the beam and to engage said friction elements, and means to restrain the free rotation of said rotary support thereby to tension the yarn.

6. Apparatus for use in preparing weaving warps comprising a support for bobbins in number at least as great as the number of warp ends, a loom beam and means for rotating it, a combguide for disposing the several yarns in substantially parallel relation, a reel arranged to turn about an axis parallel to that of the beam, said reel having a plurality of peripherally spaced transverse bars each provided with a friction pad from which the yarns contact and from which the yarns are delivered directly to the beam, guide means constraining the yarn on its way from the comb-guide to the beam partially to wrap about the reel and thereby concomitantly to engage a plurality of said pads, and a brake cooperable with the reel to retard rotation thereof whereby the linear speed of said pads is less than that of the traveling yarn.

7. In apparatus for winding a warp on a loom beam in combination, means for supporting and turning a loom beam, a loom beam mounted in said supporting beams, a creel having provision for rctatably supportin yarn packages in numa ber at least equal to the number of ends in the desired warp, a comb having'dents for the reception of the warp ends and of a length substantially equalling the width of the desired warp, the warp beam having its axis parallel to the length of the comb, and a series of spaced movable pads of yielding resilient material, each of a length at least equal to that of the comb, and which are parallel to the latter and which engage each of the several yarns as they are moving from the comb toward the beam and from which the yarns are delivered directly to the beam and into which each individual yarn embeds itself, and means for moving said pads toward the beam while keeping them parallel to the comb thereby to constrain each individualyarn to move in a path located in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the beam.

8. That method of preparing a weaving warp which comprises as steps providing yarn masses in number equalling the desired number of yarn ends in the completed warp and each consisting of a single yarn whose length at least equals the length of the desired warp, simultaneously drawing off the yarns from the several yarn masses and passing them between separator elements thereby to dispose them side by side to form a sheet of a width substantially equal to that of the desired warp, winding the several yarns directly onto a loom beam while engaging each individual yarn with a soft, resilient element in which the yarn is partially embedded thereby to keep it from rolling and from which the yarn passes directly to the beam, and bodily moving said element with the yarn as the latter approaches the winding yarn mass.

9. That method of preparing a weaving warp which comprises as steps providing yarn masses in number equalling the desired number of yarn ends in the completed warp and each consisting of a single yarn whose length at least equals the length of the desired warp, simultaneously drawing off the yarns from the several yarn masses and passing them between separator elements thereby to dispose them side by side to form a sheet of a width substantially equalling the width of the desired warp, winding the several yarns under substantially equal tension upon a loom beam, and partially embedding each individual yarn, during its travel from the separator elements to the winding yarn mass, in a series of spaced resiliently yieldable parts which travel in succession with the yarns toward the beam, thereby to prevent rolling of the yarns.

10. That method of preparing a weaving warp which comprises as steps providing yarn masses in number equalling the desired number of yarn ends in the completed warp and each consisting of a single yarn whose length at least equals the length of the desired warp, simultaneously drawing off the yarns from the several yarn masses and passing them between separator elements thereby to dispose them side by side to form a sheet of a Width substantially equal to that of the desired warp, winding the several yarns directly onto a loom beam while preventing them from rolling during their passage from the separator elements to the winding warp mass by embedding each yarn individually in a series of spaced yieldable positioning elements which move with the yarns toward the winding warp mass, the angular velocity of the m beam being gradually accelerated, when starting empty, up to its maximum value and then being gradually diminished as the winding mass increases in diameter.

11. In apparatus for winding a warp on a loom beam in combination, means for supporting and for turning a loom beam and a loom beam mounted in said supporting means, means for supporting yarn masses in number at least equal to the number of ends in the desired warp, a comb operative to dispose the yarns in parallel relation, the length of the comb substantially equalling the width of the desired warp, a rotatable reel interposed between the comb and beam and turning on an axis parallel to that of the beam, said reel having peripherally spaced yarnengaging elements from which the yarns are delivered directly to the beam, each of said elements having the characteristic resilience of sponge rubber so that the moving yarns embed themselves in said elements.

JAMES BOLTON.

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