US3415290A - Integrally formed textile loom picker stick and picker head - Google Patents

Description

P. P; LACEY ETAL 3,415,290

Dec. 10, 1968 INTEGRALLY FORMED TEXTILE LOOM PICKER STICK AND PICKER HEAD Filed Feb. 8, 1967 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,415,290 INTEGRALLY FORMED TEXTILE LOOM PICKER STICK AND PICKER HEAD Philip Patrick Lacey and Wilbur Langley Pridgen, Charlotte, N.C., assignors to Nemo Engineering Co., Charlotte, N.C., a corporation of North Carolina Filed Feb. 8, 1967, Ser. No. 614,579

6 Claims. (Cl. 139-159) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An integrally formed textile loom picker stick and picker head, comprising respectively a core member and an encasing layer of polymeric material and a body of polymeric material integral with the picker stick, enhance the ease and economy of operation of a textile loom by the avoidance of recurrence adjustment and of the introduction of weakness, as have heretofore been necessitated by conventional maintenance practices.

In the operation of a conventional textile loom, the force necessary to drive a shuttle to and fro through a shed of warp yarns is provided by a pick motion. Considerable elfort has been expended by loom designers in obtaining proper action for the pick motion, with the objective being the travel of a picker head which engages the point or tip of a shuttle in a substantially straight line, parallel to the path of shuttle movement. Such travel for the picker head has been obtained through carefully designed parallel linkage mechanical movements, which engage a picker stick and guide the picker stick in a predetermined path so as to guide the picker head attached to one end thereof.

As heretofore known, the picker stick and picker head are separately formed and are assembled on a loom at the location of use, usually by means of a screw or other type fastener which penetrates a portion of the picker head and enters into the picker stick. Once the picker head is attached to the picker stick, the parallel linkage is then carefully adjusted in order to assure that the picker head traverses the desired straight line path of travel upon operation of the loom. When maintenance of the pick motion is required, such as replacement of a picker head upon wear resulting from repeated impact thereof with the tip of a shuttle, the subsequently replaced picker head must be positioned on a portion of the picker stick where the penetrating fastener will engage a fresh portion of the picker stick. Two results flow from such a change in location of the picker head along the length of the picker stick, namely that the parallel motion must be reset in order to assure proper straight line movement of the newly installed picker head and that an area of weakness in the picker stick is introduced by the repeated penetration of the stick by fasteners for successively installed picker heads, ultimately resulting in failure of the picker stick by fracture.

With the aforementioned difiiculties and deficiencies particularly in mind, it is an object of this invention to provide an integrally formed textile loom picker stick and picker head, formed in accordance with this invention, so that only a single adjustment of the pick motion at the initial installation of the picker stick and picker head is necessary for the entire duration of the life of the picker stick and picker head. In accomplishing this object of this invention, use is made of a core member having a layer of polymeric material formed thereabout to define therewith a picker stick and of a body of polymeric material adjacent one end of the picker stick to form a picker head integral therewith. The picker stick and picker head may further comprise a readily detachable nosepiece, to permit replacing that portion of the picker 3,415,299 Patented Dec. 10, 1968 head which becomes most quickly worn as a result of contact with the tip of a shuttle, without disturbing theoperational positional arrangement of the picker stick and picker head.

Some of the objects and advantages of the invention having been stated, others will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a perspective vieW of an integrally formed textile loom picker stick and picker head in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged section view through the picker stick portion of the entity of FIGURE 1, taken substantially along the line 2-2 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged section view through the picker head portion of the entity of FIGURE 1, taken substantially along the line 33 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged elevation view of the picker head of FIGURES 1 and 3;

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 of a modified form of integrally formed picker stick and picker head;

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 4 of the picker head of FIGURE 5; and

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of the elements of the picker head of FIGURES 5 and 6.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, an integrally formed textile loom picker stick and picker head is there shown (FIGURE 1), and the entity is generally indicated at 10. The picker stick and picker head include a picker stick portion 11 and a picker head portion 12 formed integrally therewith. Preferably, the picker stick portion 11 is of predetermined dimensions intended to facilitate installation of the picker stick and picker head 10 in a known textile loom structure. The picker stick 12 is located at one end of the picker stick portion 11 to project outwardly to one side thereof (FIGURES 3 and 4) and includes a generally conical depression 14 therein, for receiving a shuttle tip as the shuttle is driven back and forth through a shed of warp yarns.

In order to permit obtaining satisfactory physical characteristics for the picker stick portion 11, such as elasticity or whippiness and fracture strength, this invention contemplates that the picker stick portion 11 be contructed as a composite of a core member 15 and a layer 16 of polymeric material at least substantially encasin'g the core member to form therewith the picker stick. In the integrally formed picker stick and picker head 10, the core member 15 is wood, such as second quality or poorer hickory, and is cut with exterior dimensions slightly less than the predetermned dimensions chosen for the finished picker stick portion 11. The core member .15 has an oversize mounting opening extending therethrough and preferably has an overall configuration substantially similar to that of a conventional picker stick. The layer of polymeric material 16 preferably is molded polyurethane, which entirely encases the wooden core member '15, so as to preclude penetration of the core by moisture, and enters the oversize mounting opening to line the same and provide a smooth bearing surface for engagement with portions of the pick motion of the loom (FIGURE 2). A body of polymeric material is formed integrally with the picker stick portion in order to provide the picker head 12 (FIGURE 3 and 4). Preferably, the polymeric material forming the body, and thus the picker head 12, is the same polymeric material chosen for the layer 16 which encases the core 15, and may be molded polyurethane cast simultaneously with the layer 16.

In using the integrally formed picker stick and picker head 10, the stick and head are inserted into the pick motion of a conventional textile loom, and the pick motion is adjusted to parallel the movement of the picker head portion 12 in the desired line of travel relative to the lay of the loom. With such adjustment, the attention required by the integrally formed picker stick and picker head 10 is at an end, until the unit fails either through fracture of the picker stick portion 11 or from destructive wear of the picker head portion 12. Replacement of the picker head portion 12, with resulting disturbance of the proper operational positioning of the picker stick and head entity 10, is not required through the useful life of the stick.

In order to facilitate replacement of the portion of the picker stick and head entity which receives wear from a shuttle tip, this invention contemplates that the entity may further comprise a replaceable nosepiece 30 (FIG- URES -7), detachably secured to the picker head portion of a second picker stick and head entity 20. In FIG- URES 57, portions of the second picker stick and head entity 20 corresponding to portions of the first picker stick and head entity described above are identified by secand and third decade numbers having the corresponding terminal digit. As there shown, the detachable nosepiece 30 is removably secured to the picker head 22 by a plurality of screws 37 spaced about the conical depression 34 and penetrating the nosepiece to engage the material of the picker head 22. Preferably, the nosepiece 30 is formed of a polymeric material similar to or the same as that used for the body of material forming the nosepiece 22 and the layer of material 26 enclosing the core member 25. In order to cushion the impact of a shuttle tip into the conical depression 34, a layer 33 of an elastomeric material such as butyl rubber is preferably interposed between the depression 34 and the picker head 22, and a portion of the shank of the screws 37 adjacent the heads thereof is left unthreaded to permit relative movement of the nosepiece 30 with respect to the screws 37 as the elastomeric layer 33 is compressed upon shuttle impact.

In the picker stick and head entity illustrated in FIGURES 5-7, the core member is preferably formed of resin bonded glass fibers, such as a plurality of layers of Woven glass fiber fabric cut to configuration and superposed for resin impregnation, while both the layer 26 and the body 22 of polymeric material are formed of molded polyurethane. In order to obtain both the desired physical characteristics of fracture strength and elasticity or whippiness for the picker stick portions '11 and 21, and to obtain satisfactory wear for the picker head portions 12 and 22, it is preferred that the molded polyurethane material chosen as the polymeric material be a polyurethane which has specific gravity in the range of from about 1.03 to about 1.13 and a Durometer value within the range of from about 90 on the A scale to about 65 on the D scale. The relative dimensions of the core members 15 and 25 and the layers of polymeric material 16 and 26 formed thereabout are preferably such that, when the desired external dimensions are obtained for the picker stick and picker head entities 10 and 20, the thicknesses of the layers 16 and 26 of polymeric material are within the range of from V inch to about inch.

In the drawings and specification, there have been set forth preferred embodiments of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

We claim:

1. An integrally formed textile loom picker stick a d picker head comprising:

a core member having the overall configuration of a picker stick,

a layer of polymeric material at least substantially enclosing said core member and forming therewith a picker stick, and

a body of polymeric material integrally formed with and projecting outwardly from the picker stick adjacent one end thereof and forming a picker head.

2. An integrally formed picker stick and picker head according to claim 1 and further comprising a nosepiece detachably secured to said picker head for facilitating replacement thereof without disturbing the operational positional arrangement of said picker stick and head.

3. An integrally formed picker stick and picker head according to claim 1 wherein said core member is Wood and said layer and body of polymeric material are molded polyurethane.

4. An integrally formed picker stick and picker head according to claim 3 wherein said polyurethane has a specific gravity within the range of from about 1.03 to about 1.13 and a Durometer value within the range of from about 90 on the A scale to about on the D scale, and wherein said layer has a thickness Within the range of from about i inch to about A inch.

5. An integrally formed picker stick and picker head according to claim 1 wherein said core member is resin bonded glass fibers and said layer and body of polymeric material are molded polyurethane.

6. An integrally formed picker stick and picker head according to claim 5 wherein said polyurethane has a specific gravity within the range of from about 1.03 to about 1.13 and a Durometer value within the range of from about on the A scale to about 65 on the D scale, and wherein said layer has a thickness within the range of from about inch to about A inch.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 574,112 12/1896 Railton 139159 X 730,476 6/1903 Rodgers 139l59 2,389,595 11/1945 Carter et al. 139-157 2,440,182 4/1948 Muller 139159 2,471,532 5/1949 Menking 139-157 2,503,711 4/1950 Bullard et al 139157 2,968,322 l/1961 Downs 139l59 3,021,307 2/1962 Csendes 2814 3,116,763 1/1964 Nill 139-159 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

J. KEE CHI, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 1 39157

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