US3328864A - Expanding reed - Google Patents

Description

July 4, 1967 EXPANDING REED Filed Oct. 21, 1965 5 vJ//ll' 70., /f 8 I Inventor m// 69mm 5 @Mams United States Patent O 3,328,864 EXPANDRNG REED David C. Cumbers, Glascoed, Pontypool, England, as-

signor to British Nylon Spinners Limited, Pontypool, England, a corporation of Great Britain Filed Oct. 21, 1965, Ser. No. 499,490 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Nov. 7, 1964, 45,497/ 64 1 Claim. (Cl. ZS-SS) ABSTRACT OF THE DSCLOSURE A variable spacing reed comprising a multiplicity of base members disposed side-by-side and in sliding contact, each member carrying a reed wire upstand-ing from its upper surface that may be separated from adjacent reed wires by slidably changing the position of the base members between expandable bars.

Disclosure The present invention relates to reeds used in warp beaming to space the warp ends one from another -as they are drawn onto a revolving beam.

Reeds invariably comprise a large number of parallel spacer members [that define between them slots through which lthe warp ends are caused to pass. The spacer members are, -of necessity, of narrow widths, and, in order that they sha1-l have :adequate strength, they usually take the form of narrow strips, 'although they could be rods.

The spacer members may be held in a rigid surrounding frame or they may merely upstand from a base.

Because of differing requirements lthroughout the textile industry, no single reed of fixed dimensions will be suitable for use in every circumstance because the distances between slots will not always accord with a consumers specification. T-hus, in a given case passing a yarn through every slot may result in too many yarns pe-r unit width of warp beam and passing yarns through alternate slots only may -result in too few yarns per unit width of warp beam.

To allow of somewhat greater versatility, reeds have been formed with slots inclined to the base so that by using different levels and/or by passing a plurality of yarns through each slot at different slot levels variation in lateral spacing of yarns can be obtained. The use of such reeds needs, of course, great skill.

The present invention provides a variable spacing reed that is of suitable dimensions for use Ias a yarn-spacer in warp beaming, which comprises a base formed of a multiplicity of members of uniform and narrow widths disposed side-by-side with side surfaces parallel and in sliding conftact, control means for ensuring that the members are capable -of sliding movement with respect -to one another only in such ordered manner that colinear points on the upper surface of the base (one point being on the upper surface of each member) remain colinear throughout the sliding movement, and Ia multiplicity of parallel yarnspacer members mounted on respective base members and upstanding from the upper surface of the base substantially in a plane, the spacer members dening between them slots, and the dimensions of the reed are such that the distance between the centre lines of adjacent slots varies as the base members so slide with respect to one another between a value not less than 0.040 inch and a value preferably not greater than 0.125 inch, with the lateral separation between adjacent spacer members measured in Ithe plane of the spacer members never being less than 0.003 inch throughout.

Every base member need not carry a spacer member.

From `a practical viewpoint, it is best `that the upper sur- 3,328,854 Patented July 4, 1967 face of the base be at and that the base be no bulkier than is required for it properly and adequately to perform its necessary functions. The base members are advantageously of uniform length, the base then having an upper surface of overall form that of a parallelograrn.

Advantageously the control means comprises a pair of parallel bars that extend across, and in engagement with the ends of the base members on opposite sides of the base, and the arrangement is such that movement of the parallel bars lengthwise and in opposite directions (while maintaining engagement along their lengths with the ends of the base members) brings about the said sliding movement of the base members, and means is provided for altering the separation between the parallel bars to any value within a given range of values so as to set the separation between the centre lines of adjacent yarn slots at any value within said given range of values therefor.

Preferably, the bars provide spaced abutment surfaces that locate the base members both against movement in a direction normal to the upper surface of the base and against movement in their directions of extent, sliding movement in the aforesaid manner being allowed, and separation of the base members one from another being prevented, by resilient means tending to urge fthe base members towards one another. Clearly resilient means acting on the rst and last base members of the side-by-side array land tending to move one towards the other will suffice to prevent intervening members moving apart.

The bars may take a number of distinct forms, all functioning in essentially the same manner. Thus, the bars may be slotted plates through the slots in which stub projections on the ends of the base members project with small upper and lower clearance, and shoulders on .the base members abut against the facing surfaces of the plates. Alternatively, the bars may be tubes slotted along their lengths to desired extent, stub projections at the ends of the base members being inserted into the slots with abutment either of shoulders on the base members against the outside surfaces of the tubes, or, alternatively, of the ends of the base members against the far inside surfaces of the tubes. Advantageously, the bars are tied together by rigid rods pivotally fixed at their ends to the ba-rs, the rods extending parallel to the direction of extent of the base members.

The resilient means may take the form of tension springs acting directly between portions of the rst and last base members of the side-by-side array of such members. Where the said bars are slotted tubes, the tension springs may be enclosed within the tubes and act between stub projections at the ends of the said first and last base members. The arrangement and form of the tension springs may be such that stub projections on the end base members are clamped between adjacent helient turns of the spring. If desired stub projections at the ends of alternate base members may be inserted between the helient turns of the tension springs, the ends of the remainder of the base members stopping short of the springs.

A variable spacing reed constructed in accordance with the Iinvention will now be described by way of example in greater detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings (which are not t-o scale) in which FIG. 1 shows in isometric view a series of yarn spacer members (pins) and base members (segments) arranged as they are in the reed,

FIG. 2 is Ia plan View lof the reed (part only shown) lin an expanded condition; and

FIG. `3 is a cross-section taken along the line A-A in FIG. 2 and viewed in the direction of the arrows.

Referring especially to FIG. 1, the reed comprises a large number of base members, or segments, 1 stacked side-by-side which are slidable lengthwise one with respect to another. The segments 1 carry yarn spacer members (pins) 2 that upstands from the upper edges of the segments 1 at points mid-way along those edges and dene between them gaps, or dents, through which warp ends pass. Particular well-spaced segments 1 carry stub projections 3 at their ends between which tension springs 4 act so as to maintain the intervening segments 1 as a compact unit. The remaining segments` 1 are identical and rectangular.

The projections 3, and springs 4 as well as end portions of all the segments 1 are located in guide members each indicated generally by the reference numeral 5. The guide members 5 include shaped bars 6 and cover plates 7 which coact to provide abutment surfaces locating the segments 1 (see FIG. 3). The cover plates 7 are not shown in FIG. 2 in order to reveal the underlying segments 1 as they are arranged when the reed is expanded.

The pins 2 are of such cross-sectional shape (see FIG. 2) that dent Widths remain substantially constant over a wide range of reed spacings. (The shape required can readily be derived geometrically in any given case.)

One of the guide members 5 (the left-hand one in FIG. 3) is xed to a base plate 8 but the other guide member 5 is smoothly slidable thereon. The guide members 5 are coupled together by links 9 which maintain the guide members 5 parallel to one another throughout lengthwise sliding movement of the one guide member 5 with respect to the other. Thus, the links 9 and the guide members 5 are aligned with respect to one another as are the sides of a parallelogram. Y

Additionally, the links are so dimensioned and arranged (see FIGS. 2 and 3) that when one guide member 5 is moved relatively to the other (necessitating distortion of the stacked segments 1 from an arrangement such as that shown in FIG. 1 to another arrangement such as that shown in FIG. 2) engagement of the guide members 5 with the ends of the segments 1 is maintained so that the segments have substantially no lengthwise freedom of movement. It will be noted that during such controlled distortion of the array of stacked segments 1 the pins 2 remain coplaner despite the distances between their centres, or axes, increasing in accordance with the simple relationship x=x/c0s 0 where x is the distance between the centres, or axes, of adjacent pins 2 when the segments are inclined at an angle 0 to the guide members 5, and x0 is the minimum value of x (when 6=90 The guide members are moved relatively to one another in controlled manner by the following described arrangement: A hand wheel 10 is fixed to a screw-threaded shaft 11 which is journalled in an end plate 12 (see FIG. 2-part only being shown). The plate 12 is rigidly secured to the base plate S of the reed. The shaft 11 carries a nut 13 from which upstands a pin 14. The pin 14 passes in close t up through a slot in the end link 9. Hence rotating the shaft 11 in either direction moves the nut 13 along the length of the shaft 11 and engagement between the pin 14 and the slot 15 forces the end link 9` to pivot about its coupling to the non-moveable guide members 5. Such pivoting forces the stacked array of segments 1 to be distorted to greater or lesser, as the case may be, reed spacings.

The guide members 5 must be of a suflicient length to accommodate the maximum desired overall increase in the dimensions ofthe stacked array of segments 1 as measured across the ends of the segments 1 adjacent either guide member 5. A segment 1 (not shown) at the middle of the whole stacked array is mounted on an underlying link 9 so as to be non-slidable with respect thereto (as by a boss on the under edge of the segment 1 seated in a socket in the link 9). Expansion of the reed then occurs in both directions about its middle instead of, for example, from one end.

The pins 2 and segments 1 may suitably have the following dimensions:

Inches Minimum pin diameter approx 0.05 Maximum pin diameter do 0.08 Thickness of segments 1 do 0.063 Length of segments 1 do 4 (Excluding projections 3) It will be realised that the overall reed width may be reduced when desired by removing terminal blocks of segments 1.

What I claim is:

A variable spacing reed that is of suitable dimensions for use as a yarn-spacer in Warp beaming, which comprises a base formed of a multiplicity of identical members of uniform, narrow widths disposed side-by-side with side surfaces parallel and in sliding contact, control means for ensuring that the members are capable of sliding movement with respect to one another only in such ordered manner that colinear points on the upper surface of the base, one point being on the upper surface of each member, remain colinear throughout the sliding movement, and a multiplicity of parallel yarn-spacer members mounted singly on respective base members and upstanding from the upper surface of the base substantially in a plane, the spacer members dening between them slots, and the dimensions of the reed are such that the distance between the centre lines of adjacent slots varies as the base members so slide With respect to one another between a value not less than 0.040 inch and a value preferably not greater than 0.125 inch, with the lateral separation between adjacent spacer members measured in the plane of the spacer members never being less than 0.003 inch throughout.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,924,002 2/ 1960 Ibbs 28-55 2,950,519 8/ 1960 Gilstrap 28-55 FOREIGN PATENTS 146,245 1903 Germany.

MERVTN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

L. K. RIMRODT, Assistant Examiner.

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