US3168115A

US3168115A - Warp control mechanism for looms

Info

Publication number: US3168115A
Application number: US225056A
Authority: US
Inventors: Walter A Rheaume
Original assignee: Raymond Dev Ind Inc
Current assignee: Raymond Dev Ind Inc
Priority date: 1962-09-20
Filing date: 1962-09-20
Publication date: 1965-02-02
Anticipated expiration: 1982-02-02

Description

Feb. 2, 1965 w. A. RHEAUME 3,168,115

WARP CONTROL MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Filed Sept. 20, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR AJ 54 M/frflW/cauw Feb. 2, 1965 w. A. RHEAUME 3,168,115

WARP CONTROL MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Filed Sept. 20, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 if; ya

lhllhhhlll United States Patent 3,168,115 WARP (ZGNTROL MECHANEM FOR LGGMS Walter A. Rheaume, Huntington Park, Calif., assignor to Raymond Development Industries, line, Huntington Park, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 20, 1962, Ser. No. 225,056 4 Claims. (Cl. 139-24) The present invention relates generally to the art of weaving, and more particularly to a novel apparatus for controlling the movement of warp ends through a conventional loom.

Generally speaking, the invention resides in the provision of a unique warp or fabric take-up mechanism, a novel warp feed mechanism, and the combination of both. It is the purpose of the Warp take-up mechanism of the invention to provide means which will not only cause the warp ends to be indexed through the loom in the usual direction during normal weaving operations, but which will also cause the warp ends to backup lengthwise a preselected distance or number of picks at predetermined intervals so that additional weaving may take place in an area of the fabric which has previously been woven. This action is particularly useful in connection with the weaving of multiple ply expansible fabrics in which one or more rib plies extend back and forth between a pair of face plies in the warpwise direction of the fabric, such as those disclosed in copending application for patent Serial No. 91,264, now US. Patent No. 3,090,406 the present warp take-up mechanism being an improvement over the corresponding mechanism shown in this copending application. The rib plies in such fabrics must necessarily contain more picks per unit of fabric length or have a flattened length in the warpwise direction greater than the resultant expanded fabric simply by virtue of the geometry thereof, at least when the rib plies extend diagonally between the face plies. The warp take-up apparatus of the present invention facilitates the weaving of such fabrics by making it possible to program a loom to first weave all the plies simultaneously, then to discontinue the weaving of the face plies while continuing the Weaving of the rib ply or plies, then to backup the warp ends, and hence the fabric, and continue the simultaneous weaving of all the plies, and then to repeat the sequence after a predetermined interval. A fabric woven in accordance with this basic technique will thus have a greater number of picks in the rib ply or plies per unit length of the fabric in the warpwise direction than the face plies, thereby facilitating expansion of the fabric.

Although the warp take-up mechanism of the present invention is itself capable of accomplishing this manner of operation, in the weaving of certain types of fabric from certain types of yarn it has been found that more uniform fabrics can be woven if the rib warps are provided with slack during that portion of the weaving sequence when the rib plies are being woven. In the absence of such slack in the weaving of certain fabrics in which the rib ply or plies are interwoven at spaced intervals with the face plies, it has been found that normal warp tension on the rib warps, such as that created by the weights at the creels or by the warp beam, causes the woven rib plies to pull away from the woven face plies at the point where they are interwoven together. It also causes a non-uniform rib count. These are due to the fact that the tension force on the rib warps in a direction toward the warp end source is not opposed by the usual tension force in the opposite direction created by the warp or fabric take-up roll. This lack of tension is due to the fact that the woven rib plies are longer in the warpwise direction than the woven face plies, which are also engaged by the take-up roll, so that the take-up roll can tension only the face plies and the rib plies remain slack.

3,168,115 Fatented Feb. 2, 1965 The warp feed mechanism also forming a part of the present invention alleviates this problem by positively feeding the rib warps into the loom from the warp source at the proper time. As a result there is no tension on the rib warps in the direction of the warp source in excess of that necessary to facilitate shedding, and this amount is not great enough to cause the aforementioned pulling away of the woven rib plies from the woven face plies with which they are interwoven.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a novel warp-controlling mechanism of the type described which is simple and inexpensive in construction and which is extremely flexible or versatile in application in that it can beconveniently preset for the weaving of any number of extra picks in any desired ply or plies, for the interval between the weaving of such extra picks, for the pick or fill density, and so on.

A further object resides in the provision of a unique apparatus of the type described which is particularly adapted to be operated and controlled by a conventional dobby head controller. A related object concerns the provision of such an apparatus which is ideally suited for use on most presently used production looms, including those referred to as harness looms, box looms, and so on, and which requires a minimum of alteration of the loom with which it is used.

Yet another object involves the provision of a novel warp or fabric take-up mechanism which will facilitate the weaving of extra picks in certain plies, a novel warp feed mechanism for positively feeding one or more warp ends from the warp source into a loom, and the novel combination of both such mechanisms.

These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from consideration of the specification, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which there is illustrated a single embodiment of the present invention by way of example, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic side elevational view of the portions of a conventional loom which embody the present invention, with the frame removed for clarity of illustration;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged front elevational view of Warp or fabric take-up means embodying the principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged perspective view of several parts of the take-up means;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged side elevational view, with certain parts broken away for clarity, of a warp feed means embodying the principles of the present invention; and

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view of a fabric representative of the types of fabrics which may be woven on looms constructed according to the present invention, the fabric being shown in an expanded condition.

Referring specifically to FIGURE 1, the conventional portions of the standard loom illustrated include: a plurality of heddles 10 connected by means of conventional harnesses 12 to the jacks (not shown) of a dobby controller 14 which is programmed to cause the heddles to move up and down with respect to each other in accordance with the program to shed a plurality of warp ends 16 so that they may be woven into a cloth or fabric 18, a reed 20 pivotally secured to the basic frame structure of the loom, indicated diagrammatically at 22, by means of a beatup frame or arm 24 which is caused to oscillate back and forth in a conventional manner by means of crank arms 26 and 28 driven by a motor 30 through

gears

32 and 34, fabric guide rolls 36, 38 and 40 for guiding the woven fabric to a fabric take-up roll 42 having a conventional needle-like cloth-engaging surface 44, a guide roll 46 positioned to maintain the woven fabric in engagement with a large portion of the circumference of take-up roll 42, and a fabric storage roll or beam 48 about which the finished fabric is collected. These elements of construction, as well as all those not shown which are necessary for conventional weaving; such as the shuttle mechanism, are in all respects of well known construction,- and since vthey arenot essential to a-description of the present invention they are either not shown or are illustrated only diagrammatically, for purposes of clarity. V v

The take-up meansof the present invention ,is illus trated diagrammatically at the left of FIGURE 1, and in greater detail in FIGURES 2 and 3. Generally speak ing, it comprises, in addition to the fabric take-up roll,

indexing means drivingly engaging the take-up roll, drive I a The indexing means includes a ratchet wheel 50 having a about its periphery a plurality of ratchet teeth 52 and on its inside face a pinion 54. The outside face of ratchet wheel 50 is generally planar, as indicated at 56 in FIG- URE 2, and the entire ratchet wheel is mounted for rotation upon a shaft 58 extending between two portions of the loom frame, indicated at 2 2a and 22b in "this figure. As best seen in FIGURESVI and 2, ratchet wheel 50 is adapted to drive fabric take-up roll 42 through pinion 54, a series of

idler gears

60, 62 and 64 rotatably supported by frame member 22a, and a gear 66 secured to a shaft 68 rotatably supported by a suitable bearing 70 in frame member 22a and forming a part of take-up roll 42.

The drive means for driving ratchet wheel 50 includes a drive pawl 72 pivotally secured to a driving arm'74 mounted for free rotation upon a stud shaft 76 secured to frame member 22b. As can be seen in FIGURE 1,

driving arm 74 is provided with an extension 78 having an elongated slot 75 into which is slidably received a suitable projection on one end of a link 80,-the opposite end of which is rigidly secured to a bracket 82 forming part of beatup arm 24. As can thus beseen, upon each oscillation of the beatup arm, drive pawl 72 is caused to advance ratchet wheel 50 in the counterclockwise direction, i.e. fabric take-up direction, as seen in FIGURE' 1. Bracket 82 is provided with a pluralityof apertures 83 into adjacent pairs of which the end of link 80 may be secured in any suitable manner. The effective length -of the linkage between the 'beatup arm and the driving arm may thus be varied to vary the drive stroke of pawl 72 upon each oscillation of beatup arm 24. To provide further meansfor adjusting this stroke, driving arm 74 is provided with'a plurality of apertures 85 into any one of which pawl 72 may be pivotally secured, as at 84, in any suitable manner. Drive pawl 72 is maintained in constant engagement with ratchet wheel 50 by means of a tension spring 86 extending between the pawl and a mounting lug 88 forming a portion of frame 'member 22]). c

Also secured to pawl 72 is a control cable 90 which extends to and is controlled by one of the jacks in dobby controller 14. Thus,'as can be seen, drive pawl 72 will 7 I 4 52 and rotatably supported by stud shaft 76. Holding pawl 92 is maintained in holding engagement with ratchet wheel 50 by means of tension spring 94 extending between an extension 96 of pawl 92 and a mounting lug 98 forming a portion of frame member 2212. Also secured to extension 96 is a control cable 98 extending to and controlled by another one of the jacks in dobby controller 14. As can thus be seen, for a given program, when control cables and 98 are not tensioned, each oscillation of beatup arm 24 will cause pawl 72 to index fabric take-up roll 42 in a fabric take-up direction and reverse ro- Itation, suchas would otherwise be caused'by the tension of the fabric, is prevented during the return strokes of pawl 72 by holding pawl 92. However, when the dobby controller operates to tension control cables 90 and. 98, both pawls 72 and 92 will be pivoted out of engagement with ratchet wheel 50 to thus allow the latter to be rotated in the opposite direction by the tension in fabric 18' acting through the gear drive, to reversethe direction of movement of the. warp ends through the loom. Thus, the tensioned fabric itself serves'as the return means.

This reverse motion of the woven fabric and warp ends is a desired objective of the present invention; however,

it is essential that its magnitude, be controlled. For this purpose, there isprovided stop means comprising a second .ratchet wheel 100 having a plurality of ratchet teeth102 about the periphery thereof and rotatably mounted upon threaded aperture in ratchet wheel 50. Surface 104 of ratchet wheel 106 is in turn provided with one or two stop members so positioned as to abut projection 106 on ratchet wheel 50 upon relative rotation of the two ratchet wheels. Although the stop members may be of any configuration, two of them are illustrated as being in the form of hexhead machine screws 108 and 1101 threadably secured within'any' two of a plurality of circularly arranged threaded apertures 112 in ratchet Wheel 100. Each of the threaded apertures is spaced a distance from the axis of shaft 58 equal to distance between proje'ction 100 and shaft 58.

To prevent rotation of ratchet wheel 100 in the clockwise direction as seen in FIGURE 1, i.e., in a direction opposite to the fabric take-up direction of ratchet wheel 50, there is provided a locking pawl 114 secured to' the free end of a resilient bracket 116 which is secured to frame member 22b. Bracket 116 is so prestress'ed and positioned so that it will bias pawl 114 into constant engagement with ratchet wheel 100 to prevent reverse rotation at any time,

The manner in which the take-upimeans operates can best be visualized by viewing FIGURE 3, the arrow shown on ratchet wheel 50 illustrating the fabric take-up direction of'rotation. The dobby controller is programmed so that while normal weaving is taking

place control cables

90 and 5 8 are not tensioned and drive pawl 72 operates to index ratchet wheel 50, and hence fabric take-up roll 42, in the take-up direction each cycle of operation, or each time reed 20 beats up the fabric. The distance the fabric is advanced each time depends upon the ratio of the gear train, the pitch of the ratchet teeth, and the stroke of drive pawl 72. Since projection 106 and stop members 188 and are positioned in interfering paths, projection 106 will eventually engage one of the stop members, for example, stop member 108 in the illustrated embodiment, and continued rotation of ratchet wheel 5i will cause ratchet wheel 190 to rotate simultaneously with it. The dobby controller is programmed so that when it is desired to reverse the.

direction of movement of the warp ends and woven fabric 18 control cable 9% and 98 are pulled or tensioned. This will cause pawls '72 and 92 to be moved out of engagement with ratchet wheel 59 and the normal tension in the fabric and the warp ends, constituting the return means, will cause ratchet wheel 50 to rotate in the opposite or a return direction. This reverse rotation will continue until projection 1% engages a stop member on ratchet wheel 1%, namely, stop member 110 in the illustrated embodiment. Since ratchet wheel 100 cannot rotate in the reverse direction because of pawl 114, when projection 1% engages stop member 1113 further reverse rotation of ratchet wheel d will be prevented. This return motion will of course, happen very rapidly and since the remainder of the loom may be programmed to continue normal weaving operations it will be possible, in effect, to pick up the weaving of any Warp ends or plies which for the last few picks were not woven. A specific weaving sequence which may thus be accomplished is described in detail in copending application for patent Serial No. 91,264, now U.S. Patent No. 3,090,406.

As soon as ratchet wheel 5% has returned the distance represented by the distance between the stop members on ratchet wheel 100 the tension on control cables 94 and 8 is released so that continued oscillation of beatup arm 24 will cause ratchet wheel St} to resume indexing in a fabric take-up direction. As soon as it is indexed the same distance that it previously returned projection 106 will again engage stop 1118 and the ratchet wheels will be conditioned for another reverse direction sequence whenever it is desired, depending on the program. As can thus be seen, the number of picks or distance that the fabric is returned may be preset by positioning stops 108 and 110 a proportional distance apart. If only one stop member is used ratchet wheel 56 will return until the projection thereon engages the back of the single stop member and that distance will depend, among other things, upon its width. Regardless of the number of stop members used, the magnitude of the distance or number of picks returned will also depend on the ratio of the gear drive, the stroke of drive pawl '72, the pitch of the ratchet teeth and the angular spacing of the stop members.

Turning now to the warp feed means of the present invention, as is best illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 4, the loom is provided with suitable vertical frame members 118 and 129 and horizontal frame members 122 and 124. The primary purpose of these frame members is to support a pair of mating and engaging feed rolls 126 and 128 between which pass the warp ends, indicated at 139, which are to be positively fed into the loom. These would be the rib warps in the type of weaving described in the above identified application for patent. As can be seen in FIGURE 1, warp ends 1311 extend from suitable creels or a separate warp beam, neither of which are shown, passing over a guide roll 132 secured to frame member 1241, around roll 128, between rolls 128 and 126, and over the top of roll 1%, from which they extend under suitable guide rolls 134. Guide rolls 134 are primarily supported by the warp ends themselves but are maintained in position by means of relatively weak tension springs 136 which extend from them to a convenient portion of the loom frame 22. The resultant tension on these warp ends is just suflicient to facilitate shedding.

The framework consisting of

members

118, 121i, 122 and 124 is provided on both sides of the loom for supporting rolls 126, 12%, and 132. Rolls 126 and 128 are mounted so that they are adjustable with respect to each other, by means of a pair of parallel threaded

members

138 and 14% mounted between horizontal frame members 124 and 122. Each end of the shaft of roll 1% is rotatably supported by a bearing assembly 142. which is adjustably secured to members 138 and 149 by means of nuts 144 which threadably engage the latter. Each end of the shaft of roll 12% is rotatably supported by a hearing assembly 146 adjusiably secured to

members

138 and 1 215 by means of nuts 148 which threadably engage the latter. Thus, each of the rolls 126 and 128 may be adjusted laterally with respect to each other to vary the degree of compression of the warp ends which pass therebetween. These rolls are preferably provided with a suitable frictional surface, such as rubber or the like, so that the warp ends will not slip therebetween.

One end of the shaft of roll 126 has keyed thereto a ratchet wheel 151) having about the outer periphery thereof a plurality of ratchet teeth 152. To prevent rotation of ratchet wheel in a direction opposite to the warp feed direction there is provided a suitable locking pawl 154 pivotally secured to frame member 118, as at 156. Ratchet wheel 159 is driven in a warp feed direction by means of a drive pawl 158 secured to a generally vertically extending drive rod 161) which is reciprocated up and down by means of a cam 162 acting upon a cam follower 164- at the lower end of the drive rod and driven by motor 39 through suitable gearing 166. Cam 162 is illustrated as being of a contour such that it will reciprocate drive rod once for every cycle of beatup arm 24, however, other ratios may be provided for if desired. Drive rod 16% is guided at its lower end by means of a suitable sleeve-like guide 168 secured to a convenient portion of loorn frame 22, and at its upper end by means of a guide 170 which provides for up and down movement as well as fore and aft movement of the drive rod. Secured to the upper end of the drive rod is a control cable 172 which extends to and is controlled by a suitable jack in dobby controller 14.

During normal operation of the loom the dobby controller may be programmed to maintain tension on control cable 172 to maintain drive pawl 153 out of engagement with ratchet wheel 159. A tension spring 174, however, is provided between frame member 118 and the upper end of drive rod 160 to urge the latter, and hence drive pawl 158, towards the ratchet wheel when the tension in control cable 172 is released. In addition, a tension spring 176 is provided between the upper end of the drive rod and locking pawl 154 to maintain the latter in constant engagement with ratchet wheel 150. Spring 17d is secured to the guide rod simply for convenience and it is not intended that its tension be released when the guide rod moves toward the ratchet wheel.

As can thus be seen, the dobby controller may be programmed so that whenever it is desired to positively feed rib or other warp ends into the loom, the tension on control cable 172 will be released so that guide rod 160, which continually reciprocates up and down, will be brought into engagement with the ratchet wheel to index or drive roll 126. This positive feeding will continue until control cable 172 is again tensioned to pull the drive rod and pawl out of engagement with the ratchet wheel. The magnitude of feeding movement will be established by the pitch of ratchet teeth 152 and the stroke of pawl 158. Reverse rotation of the ratchet wheel will at all times be prevented by the continuous engagement therewith of locking pawl 154.

A fabric which is representative of those which may be woven with looms embodying the present invention is illustrated in FIGURE 5 in an expanded condition. The fabric consists of a first face ply 180 made up of banks of warp ends 16:: and 16b, and fill ends 182; a second face ply 184 made up of banks of warp ends 160 and 16d, and till ends 186; and finally, an intermediate rib ply 187 which zig zags diagonally across from one face ply t0 the other and is itself similarly constructed of banks of Warp ends 136a and 13%, and fill ends 188. At areas 190 the warp ends of the rib ply are interwoven with those of one of the face plies 180 or 184, sharing the face ply fill ends 182 or 186 for several picks. In the example shown in FIGURE 5, rib ply 187 shares the face ply fill ends for two picks at each interwoven area 1%, but obviously this number may be varied if desired to provide more or less interweaving between the face and rib plies.

As can be clearly seen, to enable the multi-pl y fabric to be expanded to the extent illustrated, the rib ply must necessarily be provided with several additional picks, indicated at x, at least if uniform fill and pick density is to be maintained between the plies. As discussed briefly above and in detail in the above-identified copending application for patent, the fabric may be woven by the loom disclosed herein by programming the dobby controller to cause the loom to operate in the following manner: Starting from a point of interweaving, as at 190, the three plies are simultaneously woven in the conventional manner using one or three shuttles for a predetermined number of picks, i.e. seven in the illustrated example. At this point the weaving of face plies 186 and 184 is terminated while the weaving of rib ply 187 continues for four more picks, i.e. those indicated at x. At this point the dobby controller tensions control

cables

90 and 98 to cause ratchet wheel 50, and hence fabric 18, to return a distance corresponding to the four picks, whereupon the tension on the control cables is released and the weaving of all three plies again commenced. At this point rib ply 187 is interwoven with face ply 180 for two picks, in the illustrated example, after which weaving continues on the three plies separately for seven more picks, and on the rib ply for an additional four picks. The warp take-up mechanism then again operates to return the fabric after the four extra picks indicated at x have been woven, and the interweaving of rib ply 187 and face ply 187 takes place, whereupon the cycle may repeat.

The dobby controller should be programmed so that the warp feed means causes the rib warps to positively advance every time a pick is woven in the rib ply. if the rib warps are fed from creels, it is preferable that the tensioning weight hung on each rib warp end at the creel be as minimal as possible, i.e. just enough to main tain the warp end relatively straight. Weights of conventional size may, of course, be used on the other warp ends. This manner of operation has been found to yield an expansible fabric of excellent quality when practiced on a standard box loom such as that manufactured by Crompton Knowles Weavers, Inc, under the trade name Cotton King, modified by the addition of the present invention.

It is to be understood that the above described mode of operation is only exemplary of the many which are possible. For example, the invention is also applicable to the weaving of expansible fabrics comprising more than three plies or more than one rib ply, or to weaving on needle-type looms, and so on.

Thus, there is disclosed in the above description and in the drawing an exemplary embodiment of the invention which fully and effectively accomplishes the objects thereof. However, it will be apparent that variations in the details of construction may be indulged in without departing from the sphere of the invention herein described, or the scope of the appended claims. 7

What is claimed is:

1. A warp control mechanism for a loom adapted to weave a multi-ply fabric including a first ply and a second ply having a greater flattened length than the first ply, comprising: a warp take-up roll adapted to engage woven fabric as it comes from the loom; first means normally drivingly connected to said roll for rotating it at predetermined intervals in a fabric take-up direction and holding it against the normal tension in the fabric urging it in the opposite direction; means for disconnecting said first means from said roll at predetermined intervals to allow it to be rotated in the opposite direction by the tension in the fabric; stop means for limiting the return movement of said roll; a pair of mating warp feed rolls rotatably mounted upon the loom between the heddles and warp source thereof and adapted to have the second ply warp ends frictionally engaged therebetween; means for preventing rotation of said rolls in a direction op- 8 x posite to the direction of positive warp feed into the loom; and second drive means adapted to drivingly engage said rolls at predetermined intervals to positively feed the second ply warp ends passing between said rolls into the loom.

2. A warp control mechanism for a loom having a dobby controller and adapted to weave a multi-ply fabric including a first ply and a second ply having a greater flattened length than the first ply, comprising: a warp take-up roll adapted to engage woven fabric as it comes from the loom; first means normally drivingly connected to said roll for rotating it at predetermined intervals in a fabric take-up direction and holding it against the normal tension in the fabric urging it in the opposite direction; means extending between said first means and the dobby controller for disconnecting said first means from said roll at predetermined intervals in response to the program of the dobby controller to allow it to be rotated in the opposite direction by the tension in the fabric; stop'means for limiting the return movement of said roll; a pair of mating warp feed rolls rotatably mounted upon the loom between the heddles and Warp source thereof and adapted to have the second ply warp ends frictionally engaged therebetween; means for preventing rotation of said rolls in a direction opposite to the di rection of positive warp feed into the loom; second drive means adapted to drivingly engage said rolls to positively feed the second ply warp ends passing between said rolls into the loom; and control means extending between said second drive means and the dobby controller for causing said second drive means to drive said rolls at predetermined intervals in response to the program of said dobby controller.

3. A warp control mechanism for a loom adapted to weave a multi-ply fabric including a first ply and a second ply having a greater flattened length than the first ply, comprising: a warp take-up roll adapted to engage Woven fabric as it comes from the loom; a firstrotary member drivingly connected to said roll; first means normally engaging said first rotary member for rotating it at predetermined intervals in a fabric take-up direction and holding it against the normal tension in the fabric urging it in the opposite direction; means for disengaging said first means from said first rotary member at predetermined intervals to allow it to be rotated in the opposite direction by the tension in the fabric; a projection extending from said first rotary member parallel to the rotational axis thereof; a second rotary member rotatably mounted concentric to said first rotary member and having adjustable stop means thereon positioned in the path of movement of said projection; means preventing said second rotary member from rotating in a direction opposite to the fabric take-up direction of said first rotary member, whereby when said first means is disengaged from said first rotary member the return motion of the latter will be limited by the abutment of said projection with said stop means; a pair of mating warp feed rolls rotatably mounted upon the loom between the heddles and warp source thereof and adapted to have the second ply warp ends frictionally engaged therebetween; means for preventing rotation of said rolls in a direction opposite to the direction of positive warp feed into the loom; and second drive means adapted to drivingly engage said rolls at predetermined intervals to positively feed the 'second ply warp ends passing between said rolls into the loom.

4. A warp control mechanism for a loom having a dobby controller and adapted to weave a multi-ply fabric including a first ply and a second ply having a greater flattened length than the first ply, comprising: a warp take-up roll adapted to engage woven fabric as it comes from the loom; a first rotary member drivingly connected to said roll; first means normally engaging said first rotary member for rotating it at predetermined intervals in a fabric take-up direction and holding it against the, normal tension in the fabric urging it in the opposite direction; means extending between said first means and said dobby controller for disengaging said first means from said first rotary member at predetermined intervals in response to the program of the dobby controller to allow it to be rotated in the opposite direction by the tension in the fabric; a projection extending from said first rotary member parallel to the rotational axis thereof; a second rotary member rotatably mounted concentric to said first rotary member and having adjustable stop means thereon positioned in the path of movement of said projection; means preventing said second rotary member from rotating in a direction opposite to the fabric take-up direction of said first rotary member, whereby when said first means is disengaged from said first rotary member the return motion of the latter will be limited by the abutment of said projection with said stop means; a pair of mating warp feed rolls rotatably mounted upon the loom between the heddles and warp source thereof and adapted to have the second ply warp ends frictionally engaged therebetween; means for preventing rotation of said rolls in a direction opposite to the direction of positive warp feed into the loom; second drive means adapted to drivingly engage said rolls at predetermined intervals to posi- 10 tively feed the second ply warp ends passing between said rolls into the loom; and control means extending between said second drive means and the dobby controller for causing said second drive means to drive said rolls at predetermined intervals in response to the program of said dobby controller.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS DONALD W. PARKER, Primary Examiner.

RUSSELL C. MADER, Examiner.

Claims

1. A WRAP CONTROL MECHANISM FOR A LOOM ADAPTED TO WEAVE A MULTI-PLY FABRIC INCLUDING A FIRST PLY AND A SECOND PLY HAVING A GREATER FLATTENED LENGTH THAN THE FIRST PLY, COMPRISING: A WRAP TAKE-UP ROLL ADAPTED TO ENGAGE WOVEN FABRIC AS IT COMES FROM THE LOOM; FIRST MEANS NORMALLY DRIVINGLY CONNECTED TO SAID ROLL FOR ROTATING IT AT PREDETERMINED INTERVALS IN A FABRIC TAKE-UP DIRECTION AND HOLDING IT AGAINST THE NORMAL TENSION IN THE FABRIC URGING IT IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION; MEANS FOR DISCONNECTING SAID FIRST MEANS FROM SAID ROLL AT THE PREDETERMINED INTERVALS TO ALLOW IT TO BE ROTATED IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION BY THE TENSION IN THE FABRIC; STOP MEANS FOR LIMITING THE RETURN MOVEMENT OF SAID ROLL; A PAIR OF MATING WRAP FEED ROLLS ROTATABLY MOUNTED UPON THE LOOM BETWEEN THE HEDDLES AND WRAP SOURCE THEREOF AND ADAPTED TO HAVE THE SECOND PLY WRAP ENDS FRICTIONALLY ENGAGED THEREBETWEEN; MEANS FOR PREVENTING ROTATION OF SAID ROLLS IN A DIRECTION OPPOSITE TO THE DIRECTION OF POSITIVE WRAP FEED INTO THE LOOM; AND SECOND DRIVE MEANS ADAPTED TO DRIVINGLY ENGAGE SAID ROLLS AT PREDETERMINED INTERVALS TO POSITIVELY FEED THE SECOND PLY WRAP ENDS PASSING BETWEEN SAID ROLLS INTO THE LOOM.