US2357453A - Shuttle box construction - Google Patents

Description

B. W. BROUWER SKU'ETLE no; cous'mpcuon Original Filed April 2, 1942 Sept. 5, 1944.

INVENI'OR BENJAMIN W. BRouws-R Patented Sept. 5, 1944 SHUTTLE BOX CONSTRUCTION Benjamin W. Brouwer, Auburn, Mass., assignor to Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, Worcester, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Original application April 2, 1942, Serial No. 437,420, now Patent No. 2,300,199, dated October 27, 1942. Divided and this application September 4, 1942, Serial No. 457,248

Claims. (Cl. 139184) This is a division of my co-pending application Serial No. 437,420, filed April 2, 1942, now Patent No. 2,300,199.

This invention relates to improvements in shifting shuttle box mechanisms for looms and it is the general object of the invention to provide means for supporting the shifting shuttle boxes to arrest vibration thereof and give additional support to them at those times in the cycle of the loom operations during which weft replenishment can occur.

In filling mixing weft replenishing looms of a type which has recently gone into use shifting shuttle boxes are located at each end of the loom to cooperate with a set of shuttles which follow each other in rotation. The shuttle boxes at the replenishing end of the loom are shifted by a yieldable actuator which operates on a four-pick cycle to hold the boxes down for two successive picks and then up for the next pair of picks. Replenishment occurs when the shuttle boxes are raised and the latter should be temporarily at rest with respect to the lay to insure complete movement of the incoming bobbin into the shuttle in the upper box. It is an important object of my present invention to provide means to give support to the shuttle boxes additional to that derived from the yieldable actuator to prevent their vibration with respect to the lay and hold them temporarily at rest relatively to the lay so that should replenishment occur the full bobbin can be moved completely into the depleted shuttle by the transfer mechanism.

In my prior Patent No. 2,263,261 I have shown a bobbin chute connected to the shuttle boxes and the box lifter rod in such a way that the lifting force forthe boxes is transmitted through the bobbin chute. It is a further object of my present invention to provide the bobbin chute with means to cooperate with the aforesaid support.

The bunter which actuates the transferrer latch is customarily mounted on the shifting shuttle box mechanism in looms of the type to which my invention more particularly relates, being generally secured to the floor of the top box. It is another object of my present invention to connect the box carried bunter to the bobbin chut so that the latter will support the bunter.

In looms of the type mentioned the lower shuttle box is always empty with its binder in shuttle checking position during a replenishing operation. Before the shuttle boxes start to descend subsequent to a replenishing operation a second shuttle enters the lower box to move the binder outwardly, or forwardly as shown hereinafter. It is another object of my present invention to provide a support for the bobbin chute to be controlled by the binder of the lower shuttle box in such a way that when the lower box is empty the support can move into cooperative relation with respect to the bobbin chute, but when a shuttle enters the lower box the binder will move the support away from cooperating relationship with respect to the bobbin chute.

With these and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, my invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth.

. In the accompanying drawing, wherein a convenient embodiment of my invention is set forth,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the shuttle boxes, actuating mechanism therefor, and the support forming the subject matter of my present invention,

Fig. 2,is an enlargement of the shuttle boxes and support shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of the shuttle boxes showing th transfer latch operating bunter, the bobbin chute and the support for the latter.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1, I have shown a loom frame l0 and lay l l which swings back and forth on a rocker shaft l2. A rocker foot I3 secured to shaft l2 has slidably mounted therein a sleeve [4 attached at its lower end to a connector l5 which extends upwardly over a sheave I6 rotatably mounted on the lay. From sheave I6 the chain moves to well-known operating mechanism, such as a Knowles head not shown, which pulls on and releases a chain [1 forming part of connector l5 to raise and lower the sleeve. A box rod 20 extending through the sleeve M has the lower end thereof providedwith a collar 2| for engagement with the bottom of the sleeve. The rod extends upwardly from the sleeve and is attached as at 22 to a bobbin chute 23. A spring 24 surrounding the box lifter rod is located between the top of sleeve l4 and the bobbin chute. When the connector [5 raises the sleeve M an upward force is transmitted through the spring 24 to the bobbin chute, and under ordinary conditions the spring is sufficiently strong to raise the boxes. If, however, a shuttle should fail to be completely boxed and should project into the path of some part carried by the lay, the spring 24 will be compressed to prevent breakage of the shuttle as the sleeve rises.

the floor for the top box and the top for the bottom box. The lay end 38 secured to the lay has inner and outer box guides 40 and 4| to guide the gang G as it moves vertically with respect to the lay.

The loom is provided with weft replenishing mechanism a portion of which is indicated in Figs. 2 and 3. This mechanism comprises. a

frame 45 secured to the loom frame in front of the shuttle boxes and carrying a stud 46 on which the transferrer arm 41 is pivoted. A do or latch 48 is pivoted to the transferrer arm at 49 and is normally in down position but can 'be raised by a connector 50 to transfer position when a replenishing operation of the loom is to occur. A reserve bobbin B will be under the transferrer arm at the time of transfer to be moved downwardly into shuttle S in the upper shuttle box when the latter is raised. At the time of replenishment the depleted bobbin from the shuttle S will move downwardly through the temporarily empty shuttle box 3|- and between the right and left hand flanges 52 and 53, respectively, of the bobbin chute toward a bobbin can not shown.

The matter thus far described of itself forms no part of my present invention and may be made and operated as set forth in my previously mentioned patent.

In carrying my present invention into effect I provide the lay end 33 with a stand 60 bolted thereto and carrying a stud 6| on which is pivoted an upwardly projecting support lever 62. A spring 63 having one end secured to the lever 62 and the other end held by a collar 64 on the stud tend to move the lever 62 rearwardly or in a right hand direction as viewed in Fig. 3. Lever 62 is provided with a supporting finger or arm 65 to extend under a lug 66 cast on and projecting from the left of flange 53 of the bobbin chute. The upper end of lever 62 is provided with a head 10 having a rearwardly projecting nose 1| which overhangs floor 35 of box 3| and is positioned for engagement with the binder 12 of the lower shuttle box 3|. The head is provided with an upwardly and forwardly extending incline 13 positioned for engagement with the floor 31 of the upper shuttle box. Lever 62 has a rear surface 14 below and forward of the nose for engagement with floor 31 when the boxes are down.

Secured to the lug 66 is an upwardly extending rod 15 which extends through the shelf or floor 31 and a wing of the bunter 18. Upper and lower nuts 19 and 86, respectively, secure the wing 16 to floor 31 and the latter to rod 15. Rod 15 is threaded into lug 66, see Fig. 4, and a nut 8| on therod under lug 66 cooperates with the latter to secure the rod to the lug. The bunter has a right hand wing 82 for attachment as at 83 to the floor 31. Between the wings is located the bunter proper designated at 84 and provided with an operating edge 65 for cooperation with the latch 48. The bunter is thus fastened to the floor 31 and rises and falls with the shuttle boxe and is the means by which force is transmitted from the lay to the, transferrer mechanism. The bunter will be in high position when the boxes are raised during a transferring operation of the loom and will be in low position when the shuttle boxes have dropped to permit picking of the replenished shuttle S. While I have shown a rod 15 connected to the bunter mechanism I do not wish necessarily to be limited to this particular construction, inasmuch as it is suificient for certain purposes of my invention if the rod 15 is connected to the floor 31 of box 30.

In operation, the boxes will rise and fall as already described, rising when the lay is in the forward part of its stroke and being in fully raised position on the next forward stroke of the lay. When the upward shift is completed a shuttle in the lower box 3| is picked out to the opposite end of the loom and the binder 12 will move rearwardly to the shuttle checking position shown in Fig. 3. The lever 62 will therefore move rearwardly with the binder under the action of spring 63 to move the supporting finger 65 under the lug 66. Since lever 62 is pivoted to a part fixed with respect to the lay end, the bobbin chute will temporarily be held against downward motion with respect to the lay by the parts 65 and 66. This operation occurs regularly during loom operation and if transfer should occur during the aforesaid second forward beat of the lay the lever 62 will support the bobbin chute and the latter, acting through rod 15, will support floor 31 to prevent vibration or downward motion of the shuttle boxes. Durin the third forward beat of the lay, or the one occurring subsequent to transfer, a shuttle will enter the lower box to move the binder 12 forwardly, the effect of which is to move the finger 65 forwardly from under lug 66. This operation occurs prior to the time in the loom cycle when the connector I5 operates to effect lowering of the shuttle boxes, and the latter are therefore free to descend without interference on the part of the lever 62. Should the forward part of the shelf 31 overhang the nose 1| as the boxes descend it will engage the inclined surface 13 and give the lever an additional forward motion. As the boxes move to their lowest position the lever 62 will move rearwardly until surface 14 engages floor 31. The lever will remain in this position, see dotted lines of Fig. 4, until the boxes start to rise, whereupon floor 31 will engage rearwardly and upwardly extending incline 81 connecting nose 1| with surface 14 and rock lever 62 forwardly. Further ascent of floor 31 will permit hose 1| to move rearwardly toward binder 12.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided simple means for providing temporary support for the shifting shuttle boxes during that point in the cycle of loom operations when transfer can occur. It will further be seen that the sup-port is controlled by the binder of the lower box and cooperates with the bottom chute which is directly connected to the lower shuttle box and is connected to the floor 31 by rod 15, hence when finger 65 is under lug 66 the entire box and chute structure is temporarily held against downward motion with respect to the lay. It will further be seen that the rod 15 assists in holding the bunter mechanism fixed to the floor 31 and that because of this construction the bunter derives temporary support from lever 62 during the transferring operation and cannot move downwardly with respect to the latch pivot 49. The specific relation between the lock member and the bobbin chute disclosed herein is not claimed in this application but is the subject matter of the parent application Serial No. 437,420.

Having thus described my invention it will be seen that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled 'in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

1. In a shuttle box mechanism for a weft replenishing loom, a gang of two vertically arranged shuttle boxes, a floor for the upper shuttle box, a bobbin chute secured to said gang and extending downwardly therefrom, an actuator for the shuttle boxes connected to the bobbin chute, a transfer bunter, and means secured to the bobbin chute and extending upwardly therefrom to secure said bunterto said floor and support the latter from the bobbin chute.

2. In a shuttle box mechanism for a weft replenishing loom, a gang of two vertically arranged shuttle boxes, a floor for the upper shuttle box, a bobbin chute secured to said gang and extending downwardly from the shuttle boxes, an actuator for the shuttle boxes connected to the bobbin chute, a bunter for said floor, and a rod having the lower endv thereof secured to the bobbin chute and having the upper end thereof secured to said floor and to said bunter to support said floor and bunter from the bobbin chute.

3. In a shuttle box mechanism for a weft replenishing loom having a transferrer arm to push a reserve bobbin into a shuttle and expel a spent bobbin downwardly from the shuttle, upper and lower shuttle boxes with a floor between them on which said shuttle rests, a bobbin chute secured to and depending from said shuttle boxes to guide the expelled bobbin along a downward path, a flange on said bobbin chute to guide the expelled bobbin, anda vertical brace outside of said path connecting said flange and floor at points adjacent to said path to support the floor from. said chute.

4. In a shuttle box mechanism for a weft replenishing loom having top and bottom shuttle boxes separated by a floor and connected to a depending bobbin chute, the loom having a transferrer arm exerting a downward force to push a reserve'bobbin into a shuttle in thetop box resting on said floor and expel a spent bobbin downwardly in a given path extending along said chute during a replenishing operation, a flange on said chute to guide the expelled bobbin, and a brace carried by said flange and extending upwardly adjacent to said path and connected to said floor to support the latter from said chute.

5. In a shuttle box mechanism for a weft replenishing loom having top and bottom shuttle boxes separated by a floor and connected to a depending bobbin chute, the loom having a transferrer arm exerting a downward force to push a reserve bobbin into a shuttle on said floor in the top box and expel a depleted bobbin from said shuttle and cause one end of the expelled bobbin to travel along a line extending along said chute,

- a bobbin guide flange on said chute for said expelled bobbin, and a brace secured to and extending upwardly from said flange adjacent to said line and connected to said floor to support the latter from said chute at a point near said line when the transferrer arm exerts said downward force.

BENJAMIN W. BROUWER.

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