Title of Invention

A TEXTIL MACHINE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF TEXTILE PRODUCTS FROM YARNS

Abstract ABSTRACT A yarn-processing device (8) of a textile machine has at least one yarn control device which moves a yarn (4) to and fro over at least two positions (12, 14) by means of a yarn guide member (30, 32, 34). The yarn guide member is capable of being moved in one direction of movement by fitting means of a form- / drive (2 8) and in the opposite direction by means of a negative drive (36) acting , fitting counter to the form- / drive (28). A substantial improvement in the textile machine is afforded by design- fitting mg the force- /drive (36) as a pneumatic drive. This drive has a gas volume in an individual gas chamber (64) , the said gas-volume being capable of being compressed by the form- / drive at the working frequency, and the gas chamber being connected to a compressed-gas source via a nonreturn valve. (Figure 1)
Full Text

The invention relates to a textile machine for the production of textile products from yarns according to the pre-characterizing clause of Claim 1.
Prior Art
Textile machines are known in large numbers, for example as weaving machines (US Patent specification 3,603,351, US Patent specification 3,695,304, Swiss Patent speci¬fication 531,588, European Patent specification 0,107,099, European Patent specification 0,325,547, European preliminary publication 0,363,311 and German Offenlegungsschrift 3120097) or as knitting machines (DE-A-27 58 421).
For shedding, weaving machines contain yarn-processing devices which move the warp yarns out of a middle-shed position into a high or low position, in order to open a shed, into which a weft yarn is introduced, the said weft yarn then being beaten up onto a selvedge by means of a weaving reed. A wide variety of devices, such as heald frames and individual heald controls, serve for shedding, crank mechanisms, cam discs, cam mechanisms, dobbies, jacquard machines or the like being used for driving these devices. A basic distinction is made, here, between two drive modes, a form— / drxve, such as, for example, a crank mechanism, in which the drive takes place in a non-slip manner, that is to say positively, in both directions of movement.
fitting In a force- / drive, for example cam discs, cam mechan¬isms, dobbies, jacquard machines and the like, the drive takes place in a non-slip manner, that is to say posi-

1
tively, in one direction of movement and frictionally, that is to say negatively, in the other direction of movement, for example via tension, compression, leaf or torsion springs.
fitting The disadvantage of a form- / drive is that, in particu¬lar at high rotational speeds, the bearing points are deflected and acquire play. This leads, on the one hand, to the generation of a great amount of noise and, on the other hand, to inaccuracies and ultimately to the failure of the drive. Such a drive is not suitable, for example, for rotational speeds of more than 2000 revolutions per minute.
f itti ng In a focce- / drive, to which category the present
invention belongs, the frictional drive takes place by
means of tension, compression, leaf or torsion springs
made from spring steel or rubber-based and synthetic
elastomers. Since the negative drive always acts counter
fitting to the form- / drive,^problems arise at relatively high
rotational speeds. Thus, for example, in many systems
sympathetic vibrations occur which put the drive parts
out of control, that is to say the drive parts are no
longer always in the prestressed state relative to one
another. This leads to the generation of a great amount
of noise, failure of the bearing points and fracture of
the springs and therefore, ultimately, to a complete
failure of the yarn control. Moreover, steel springs are
relatively long and heavy, thus resulting in a low
resonance speed. In the case of rubber and elastane
springs, the problems lie in the molecular friction of
the material, leading to high heating of the springs.
Such high heating results in premature ageing and to the
loss of the spring properties, and this leads, in turn,
to a low resonance speed, inadequate spring properties
and, ultimately, their failure. This results, finally, in
a drastic reduction in the usefulness, efficiency and
productivity of such textile machines. It has emerged
that clear limits are placed on yarn-processing devices

for shedding a weaving machine by the use of the following materials, specifically, in the case of
force-fitting drives with:
Steel tension springs: max. 1,500 revolutions per
minute
Steel compression springs: max. 2,000 revolutions
per minute
Rubber tension springs: max. 3,000 revolutions per
minute
Elastane springs: max. 2,500 revolutions per minute
In addition, such yarn-processing devices have, as a rule, a relatively large overall volume and cannot be adjusted, during operation, to the operating conditions of the textile machines.
Serman Auslegeschrift 2631175 discloses a weaving machine of the type mentioned in the introduction, in which the return for the healds of a jacquard machine is generated pneumatically. In this case, the healds are connected in each case to a piston/cylinder assembly, the cylinders being connected to a common large-volume gas chamber, so that a return force common to all the healds and constant over the entire return travel of the heald is available. An individual pneumatic control of each heald is thereby ruled out.
Presentation of the invention
The object of the invention is to provide a textile machine of the type mentioned in the introduction which has improved properties.
The object is achieved, according to the invention, by means of the characterizing features of Claim 1.
Since the yarn guide member is assigned an individual gas volume, substantial improvements to the textile machine

are obtained, these involving, in particular, an indi¬vidual control of each yarn guide member. The return force can thus be adjusted individually to the require¬ments of the relevant yarn guide member. This is particu¬larly important, since the yarn guide members have different control travels and/or different yarn qualities to be controlled, to which the return force must be adapted in order to achieve optimum results. The novel design of the yarn-processing device makes it possible, in textile machines, such as weaving and knitting machines, to have substantially higher rotational speeds, for example up to 6,000 revolutions per minute, along with a greatly reduced noise level, that is to say a reduced amount of noise being generated. The high rotational speeds become possible, since, by virtue of the pneumatic design of the force— / d^rve"*"/ n%he critical sympathetic vibrations are appreciably higher, specifi¬cally in the range above 6,000 revolutions per minute. Since the critical sympathetic vibrations are very high and higher than the desired speed range, the maximum return force required can be reduced, with the result that a lighter design is possible. Furthermore, the number of moved parts and their overall size can be reduced substantially, which not only leads to a simpler, more compact design, but also lowers the production costs of such a textile machine, and nevertheless the service times of the textile machine until unacceptable wear
occurs are longer. In particular, the pneumatic design of
i i i, t i n CL the force- / drive also makes it possible to adjust the
force of the force / to the individual operating
conditions, in particular even during operation.
Advantageous embodiments of the textile machine are described in Claims 2 to 13.
It is possible, in principle, to use any gas chamber, the gas volume of which can be compressed by means of the form- / drive at the working frequency of the textile machine. Thus, for example, it is possible to connect the

fitting form— / drive to a diaphragm of a gas chamber via a
tappet, in order to compress the gas volume by pressing
in the diaphragm towards the gas chamber and drawing it
out. However, an embodiment according to Claim 2 is more
advantageous. In this case, the gas chamber can be
located on the same side as the piston rod, but it is
more advantageous if the gas chamber is arranged on that
side of the cylinder which faces away from the piston
rod.
An embodiment of the textile machine according to Claim
3 is advantageous. With the textile machine at a stand¬
still, the yarn control device or the yarn can be brought
into an initial position, irrespective of the position of
the positive mechanism, for example a cam mechanism, by
bleeding the gas chamber. This allows simplified drawing-
in of the yarns into the yarn control device, this being
advantageous particularly when the yarn-processing device
is designed as a shedding device. The yarn repair times
and the resetting times of such a textile machine are
greatly reduced thereby.
An embodiment of the textile machine according to Claim
4 is also advantageous, and in this, by means of an
excess-pressure valve on the gas chamber, the maximum
pressure cannot be exceeded, for example in the event of
excessive heating or the like.
An embodiment of the textile machine according to Claim
5, and particularly in the development according to Claim
6, is especially advantageous, as a result of which the gas pressure in the gas chamber can be adjusted as a function of the operating state of the textile machine. This allows a completely new operating mode of the textile machine, and by operating state of the textile machine are to be understood not only the individual running phases, such as standstill, starting, fast mode, crawling speed and manual operation, but, in particular, also the type of textile product to be produced, such as

light or heavy fabric, highly patterned or lightly patterned fabric, and the type of yarns used, such as fine, coarse yarns, rubber yarns, wrapped yarns and yarns consisting of the most diverse materials. It results, further, from this that the individual components of the textile machine are loaded only to the extent immediately necessary, and that the energy demand of the textile machine can always be adjusted to the lowest possible load requirement, with the result that the production costs can be greatly reduced. This operating mode also makes it possible that manual operation for adjustment and repair work becomes easier by the fact that the force of the negative drive is reduced, as required. This leads to simplified handling, with the result that resetting times and repair times are greatly reduced. Advantageous operating conditions of the textile machine are described in Claims 7 to 10.
In specific instances, an embodiment of the textile machine according to Claim 11 may also be advantageous, and in this, by means of the second gas chamber, which can assist the functioning of the first gas chamber and/or counteract this, not only the functioning of the latter can be improved, but, if need be, the resonance behaviour of the pneumatic drive can also be further influenced positively. If need be, a positive control of the yarn-processing device can also be achieved by means of the second gas chamber and the control device, if, for example by applying a controllable overpressure in the second gas chamber, a yarn guide member no longer follows the :-f orce— / drive, for example a warp yarn remains in the low position and thereby contributes to patterning of the textile product to be produced.
Claim 12 describes the embodiment of the textile machine as a weaving machine, the shedding device being provided
with a -force-
drive. However, particularly in
ribbon-weaving machines, it is also conceivable that the drive of a weft insertion needle is equipped with such a

force-fitting pneumatic drive.
Claim 13 describes the embodiment of the textile machine as a knitting machine, the force-fitting pneumatic drive being assigned to a yarn guide rod, in particular a weft-yarn guide rod. If a knitting machine contains a plurality of yarn guide rods, each yarn guide rod can be assigned such a force-fitting pneumatic drive.
Air is used, as a rule, as gas. However, it is also conceivable that a particular appropriate operating behaviour can be achieved by the use of other gases.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a textile machine for the production of textile products from yarns, with a yarn-processing device having at least one yarn control device which moves at least one yarn to and fro over at least two positions by means of a yarn guide member, the yarn guide member being capable of being moved in one direction of movement by means of a form-fitting drive and in the opposite direction of movement by means of a force-fitting pneumatic drive acting counter to the form-fitting drive, characterized in that the pneumatic drive for the yarn guide has a gas volume in an individual gas chamber, the said gas volume being capable of being compressed by the form-fitting drive at the working frequency, said gas chamber is connected to a compressed-gas source preferably through a nonreturn valve.

Brief description of the drawings
Exemplary embodiments of the invention are described in more detail below with reference to the drawings, in which:
Figure 1 shows a weaving machine with a yarn-processing device for shedding, with a warp yarn in the high position;
Figure 2 shows the weaving machine of Figure 1, with a warp yarn in the low position;
Figure 3 shows a diagram plotting the gas pressure as a
function of the gas volume;
fitting Figure 4 shows the force- / pneumatic drive of the
shedding device of the weaving machine of
Figures 1 and 2 with a compressed-gas source; Figure 5 shows a diagram plotting the gas pressure as a
function of the operating state of the weaving
machine; Figure 6 shows the yarn-processing device of a knitting
machine with a yarn guide rod.
Embodiments of the invention
Figures 1 and 2 describe a textile machine which is designed as a weaving machine, the basic design of which

corresponds, for example, to that of the weaving machine of US Patent specification 3,603,351 or Swiss Patent specification 531,588 or European Patent specification 0,107,099. The weaving machine contains a warp beam 2, from which warp yarns 4 pass via a backrest 6 into the region of a yarn-processing device 8 which is designed as a shedding device, in order to deflect the warp yarns 4 respectively out of the upper-shed position 12 into the lower-shed position 14 and out of the lower-shed position 14 into the upper-shed position 12. This results in the opening of a shed 16, into which a weft yarn 18 is introduced and beaten up on a selvedge 22 by means of a weaving reed 20. The textile product 24 thus produced, that is to say the fabric, is drawn off via a cloth draw-off device 26.
The yarn-processing device 8 for producing the shed contains a yarn control device 27 with a form- / drive -* 28 which, as a yarn guide member, moves a heald frame 30
with a heald 32 and with a .heald eye 34 into the low
fitting
position, whilst a force- / pneumatic drive 36 counter¬acts this and moves the heald frame 30 into the high position.
The positive drive 28 contains a driven cam disc 38, with
which one arm 40 of a two-armed lever 42 cooperates via
a roller 44. The two-armed lever 42 is mounted pivotably
on the machine stand 48 via a fulcrum 46. The second arm
50 of the two-armed lever 42 cooperates via a fork 52
with a cam 54 which is fastened to the heald frame 30. A
piston rod 56 of a piston/cylinder assembly 58 of the
.fitting force- / pneumatic drive 36 also engages on this cam 54.
The piston rod 56 is connected to a piston 60 which is
guided so as to move up and down in a cylinder 62. On
that side of the piston 60 which faces away from the
piston rod 56, the piston/cylinder assembly forms a gas
chamber 64, to which are connected an excess-pressure
valve 66 for limiting the maximum pressure and, via a
nonreturn valve 68, a compressed-gas source 70. As

emerges particularly from Figure 4, the gas chamber 64
can also be provided with a pressure relief valve 72
capable of, being actuated by hand. Figure 1 shows the
fitting force- / pneumatic drive 36 in the case of an expanded
gas volume VE at the pressure PE in the gas chamber 64
when the heald frame.assumes the high position. Figure 2
shows the force- /pneumatic drive 36 in the case of a
compressed gas volume VK and the pressure PK when the
heald frame 30 assumes the low position.
The diagram of Figure 3 shows the gas pressure P as a function of the gas volume V and of the corresponding position L of the piston 60 in the cylinder 62. When the piston is displaced from the expanded position LB to the compressed position LK, the gas volume V changes from the expanded state VE to the compressed volume VK, the gas pressure PB rising from the expanded state to the gas pressure PK in the compressed state. The diagram of Figure 3 also indicates the maximum pressure P^ which is
specified by the excess-pressure valve 66 and at which
* i*t incj the excess-pressure valve 66 opens. The force- / pneu¬matic drive 36 is expediently designed in such a way that, in the compressed state of the gas chamber, the gas pressure PK is:

fitting Figure 4 shows in detail the force- / pneumatic drive 36
of Figures 1 and 2, in particular the compressed-gas
source 70 also containing a control device 74 which is
connected to a control unit 76 of the weaving machine.
The compressed-gas source 70 contains a compressor 78
which supplies compressed gas, preferably air, to the
control device 74. The latter contains various pressure-

reducing valves 80a-e which correspond to the various operating states I-V of the weaving machine. The control unit 76 controls opening valves 82 located downstream of the pressure-reducing valves 80a-e, in order to connect the compressor 78 to the piston/cylinder assembly 58 via the selected pressure-reducing valve 80a-e.
Figure 5 shows the pressure profile which the compressed-gas source 70 feeds into the gas chamber 64 as a function of various operating phases of the weaving machine. In the article-changing phase I, the gas pressure Px corre¬sponds to the ambient pressure of the atmosphere, that is to say it is virtually zero. In the starting phase II, the gas pressure PZI is at its highest and then decreases in the fast-mode phase III to the gas pressure PIH. When the weaving machine is operated in the crawling-speed phase IV, the gas pressure PIV drops further. In the manual operation phase V, the gas pressure Pv can be equal to or lower than the gas pressure PIV of the crawling-speed phase IV.
fitting The force- / pneumatic d^ive 36 normally works only
counter to the form— / drive 28, that is to say the cylinder 62 is open on the side facing the piston rod 56 and is under ambient pressure P0. In Figure 4, a further embodiment is indicated by dot-and-dashed lines, that side of the piston 60 which is located opposite the gas chamber 64 also being provided with a gas chamber 84, that is to say being closed, and being connected to a pressure control device 86 which has a compressor 88. In this case, the pressure control device 86 can be designed in such a way that this second gas chamber 84 assists the functioning of the first gas chamber 64 and/or counter¬acts this. A more sensitive adjustment and control of the force- / pne"untatic drive 36 is thereby possible. If need be, the pressure control device can also be connected to the control unit 76 of the weaving machine and be designed in such a way that the pressure in the second gas chamber 64 is periodically higher than the gas

pressure in the first gas chamber 64, with the result
that the heald frame 30 can be held in the low position
fitting and therefore no longer follows the form- / drive 28. It
is thereby possible to control the heald frame according
to the particular pattern.
Figure 6 shows a yarn-processing device 90 of a knitting machine, for example a warp knitting machine, in particu¬lar a crochet galloon machine, the basic design of which emerges, for example, from German Offenlegungsschrift 27 58 421. Figure 6 shows a guide rod 92, for example for a weft yarn not shown in any more detail. The guide rod 92 is guided in carriers 94 so as to move up and down and be longitudinally displaceable and, on one side, cooperates with a form- / 96 which has a driven rotating cam disc 98 acting on a roller 100 fastened to a rocker lever 102. The rocker lever 102 is mounted pivotably on the machine stand 104 and, at its end facing away from the machine stand 104, cooperates with the guide rod 92 via a coupling member 106. The coupling member 106 is con¬nected, on the one hand, via a joint 110 to the rocker lever 102 and, on the other hand, via a second joint 108 to the guide rod 92, so that the latter can execute an up-and-down movement. The other end of the guide rod 92 is connected to a force- /pneumatrc drive 112, the guide rod 92 being designed as a piston 114 which penetrates into a cylinder 116 of a piston/cylinder assembly 118. There is thus formed inside the cylinder 116 a gas chamber 120, to which are connected, on the one hand, an excess-pressure valve 112 and, on the other hand, via a nonreturn valve 124, a compressed-gas source 126. The cylinder 116 can also be provided, in the region of the gas chamber 120, with a manually actuable pressure relief valve, in a similar way to the pressure relief valve 72 of Figure 4. Fastened to the guide rod are yarn guides 128 which are movable to and fro between the position represented by unbroken lines and the position repre¬sented by broken lines and cooperate with knitting needles 130, in order to insert a weft yarn, not shown in

any more detail, between at least two knitting needles 130. The displacement travel can also extend over two or more knitting needles.
The knitting machine according to Figure 6 can be con¬trolled according to principles similar to those of the control of the weaving machine according to Figures 1 to 5.






WE CLAIM;
1. A textile machine for the production of textile products from yams, with a yam-processing device (8, 90) having at least one yam control device (27) which moves at least one yam to and fro over at least two positions by means of a yam guide member (34, 128), the yam guide member being capable of being moved in one direction of movement by means of a form-fitting drive (28, 96) and in the opposite direction of movement by means of a force-fitting pneumatic drive (36, 112) acting counter to the form-fitting drive, characterized in that the pneumatic drive for the yam guide has a gas volume in an individual gas chamber (64, 120), the said gas volume being capable of being compressed by the form-fitting drive (28, 96) at the working frequency, said gas chamber (64, 120) is connected to a compressed-gas source (70, 126) preferably through a nonretum valve (68, 124).
2. The textile machine according to claim 1, wherein the force-fitting pneumatic drive (36, 112) has a piston/cylinder assembly (58, 118) containing a piston (60, 114) which, on the one hand, delimits a cylinder chamber forming the gas chamber (64, 120) and, on the other hand, is coupled via a piston rod (56, 92) to the form-fitting drive (28, 96).
3. The textile machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an actuable pressure relief valve (72) is connected to the gas chamber (64, 120).
4. The textile machine according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein an excess-pressure valve is connected to the gas chamber (64, 120).

5. The textile machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the
compressed-gas source (70, 126) has a control device (74) which is preferably connected to a control unit (76) of the textile machine and by means of which the gas pressure (P) in the gas chamber (64, 120) can be adjusted as a function of the operating state of the textile machine.
6. The textile machine according to claim 5, wherein the said control device (74) is provided with adjusting means for adjusting the gas pressure in the gas chamber (64) during the operation.
7. The textile machine according to one of claims 2 to 6, wherein the cylinder part (62) located on the second side of the piston (60) is also designed as a gas chamber (84) and is connected to a pressure control device (86) in such a way that the gas pressure (P) in the second gas chamber (84) assists the functioning of the first gas chamber (64) and/or counteracts this.
8. The textile machine according to any one of the claims 1 to 7, is a weaving machine having a formation device with a force-fitting pneumatic drive (36).
9. The textile machine according to any one of the claims 1 to 7, is a knitting machine, preferably a warp knitting machine having at least one yam guide rod (92), preferably weft-yam guide rod, provided with a force-fitting pneumatic drive (112).

10. A textile machine for the production of textile products from yams, substantially as herein described with reference to the figures 1,2,4 and 6 of the accompanying drawings.


Documents:

1778-mas-1996 abstract duplicate.pdf

1778-mas-1996 abstract.jpg

1778-mas-1996 abstract.pdf

1778-mas-1996 claims duplicate.pdf

1778-mas-1996 claims.pdf

1778-mas-1996 correspondence others.pdf

1778-mas-1996 correspondence po.pdf

1778-mas-1996 description (complete) duplicate.pdf

1778-mas-1996 description (complete).pdf

1778-mas-1996 drawings duplicate.pdf

1778-mas-1996 drawings.pdf

1778-mas-1996 form-1.pdf

1778-mas-1996 form-26.pdf

1778-mas-1996 form-4.pdf

1778-mas-1996 petition.pdf


Patent Number 198860
Indian Patent Application Number 1778/MAS/1996
PG Journal Number 23/2006
Publication Date 09-Jun-2006
Grant Date 20-Feb-2006
Date of Filing 08-Oct-1996
Name of Patentee M/S. TEXTILMA AG
Applicant Address SEESTRASSE 97, CH-6052 HERGISWIL,
Inventors:
# Inventor's Name Inventor's Address
1 FRANCISCO SPEICH BLEUMATTSRASSE 10, CH-5264 GIPF-OBERFICK,
PCT International Classification Number D3C 3/44
PCT International Application Number N/A
PCT International Filing date
PCT Conventions:
# PCT Application Number Date of Convention Priority Country
1 NA