Abstract: An automatic strand winding unit having a plurality of stations each comprising a strand supply such as glass roving, guide/traverse means, a horizontally positioned spindle for taking up strand material and automation for servicing the winding unit is described. The winding unit, including the automation, is programmed whereby, inter alia, the automation moves into a station having a full spindle, cuts the strand between the strand supply and the horizontally positioned full spindle and, while retaining the strand end from the strand supply, doffs the full spindle by pivoting the spindle to a substantially vertical or down position, and thereafter engages the strand end with a horizontally positioned empty spindle and restarts the winding operation. In a preferred embodiment the automatic winding unit is for winding glass roving using an improved coreless, expandable spindle having an automatic strand engaging and releasing mechanism.

Abstract: A take-up unit for winding strand material comprising a strand-tensioning device having a compensator arm and a compensator wheel at a free end thereof for carrying a strand material to be wound and an air cylinder having means for receiving air under pressure is described. The air cylinder is interconnected with the compensator arm, thereby compensating for a change in tension of the strand material being wound. A plurality of strand-tensioning devices are interconnected with a common air supply, permitting the adjustment of the tension in the plurality of strand-tensioning devices by regulating the air feed from the common supply.

Abstract: A winding unit having intelligence built into the winder and automation of the winder are described. The winders automatically perform functions such as open the roller bail of the winder, release a package on a winding spindle, secure a new package tube on the spindle, and set the machine to a pre-set speed through activation of a single switch. The winders are utilized either manually or with automation which will interface with the winder, cut and aspirate a strand, remove a full package from a spindle on the winding unit, install a new package tube on the spindle, and then re-thread the spindle. Since the intelligence is divided between the winding unit and the robot, the robot can be relatively simple in construction.

Abstract: A take-up mechanism for simultaneously winding a plurality of yarns, tapes, or other strands on a plurality of take-up spindles is described. The mechanism comprises a support unit, a plurality of yarn take-up spindles positioned in substantially vertical alignment on the support unit, and a motor or the like in cooperation with the take-up spindles for driving separately each of the plurality of spindles. A compensator arm assembly comprising a plurality of compensator arms with each having a guide roll is positioned in substantially vertical alignment relative to the take-up spindles, with each of the compensator arms of the assembly individually controlling the speed of the drive motor for a take-up spindle. The plurality of yarn strands are fed to the compensator arm guide rolls at an angle of at least 60 degrees and no greater than 90 degrees. The take-up mechanism can be arranged in a compact manner which is of critical concern in a factory.

Abstract: This relates to the provision of a stall shutdown circuit for a brushless direct current motor wherein energization of the windings of the stator of the motor is controlled by transistors. By providing a stall shutdown circuit for shutting down power to the transistors when a stall condition exists, the capacity of the power supply transistor may be reduced to one-third of that presently required, thereby greatly reducing the cost of the motor. The brushless direct current motor utilizing the stall shutdown circuit of the present invention is particularly useful in a textile machine such as a take-up device where it is necessary to stop a spindle to doff and don yarn packages.

Abstract: In a loom of the type in which a weft strand is projected in free flying fashion from one side of a warp shed to the opposite side thereof and which includes a lay rockable between a weft projecting position and a beat up position, a reed fixed on the lay for beating up the inserted weft strand into the fell of the fabric being woven when the lay moves to beat up position, and a strand reception tube carried on the lay for receiving the free end of the projected weft strand proximate to such opposite side, the improvement of a support for the reception tube which permits bodily pivotal displacement of the reception tube toward and away from the reed while pivoting with the lay.

Abstract: The admission of pressurized fluid into the weft insertion nozzle of a loom is detected by an electrical signal generating means arranged in the nozzle in communication with the fluid delivery passage through the nozzle, the generating means generating a signal indicative of such fluid admission and applying the same to a conductor extending to an exterior point for use in monitoring the proper operation of the loom. Preferably, the signal generating means is fluid pressure responsive, such as a piezoelectric crystal exposed to the fluid pressure in the nozzle passage.

Abstract: A monitoring unit for a fluid weft insertion loom monitors the yarn supply withdrawal.

Abstract: An intermittently-operating strand delivery system having:(1) a nozzle passageway through which the strand is guided;(2) a supply for pressurized medium;(3) conduit means connecting between said nozzle passageway and said supply including a pressure-operated on-off flow valve; and(4) separate servo valve units for independently applying and releasing control pressure, respectively to and from the pressure-operated flow valve to move the cam between alternately open and closed positions to admit medium from the supply to the nozzle passageway for a controlled interval and thereby permit a pulse of medium to pass through the nozzle passageway and project a length of the weft strand therefrom. The servo units can take the form of separate solenoids or rotary spool valves. The opening of the pressure-operated valve preferably incorporates an avalanching effect to accelerate its opening action.

Abstract: The actuation of a nozzle utilized for propelling the yarn in an air weft insertion weaving system is controlled by means of a single rotary servo valve having an arrangement of ports adapted to be brought during valve rotation into registration alternately with an air pressure source and with the atmosphere for alternately pressurizing and venting a pilot chamber for opening and closing the nozzle. Preferably, the rotary valve includes a rotary spool enclosed within a sleeve of air permeable material to provide an air bearing for the spool.

Abstract: A strand is furnished to a strand consuming unit, e.g. loom, having a periodic demand for a finite length of strand by:(a) continuously advancing the strand from a supply source for winding onto a first surface,(b) continuously advancing the strand from the first surface onto one end of a second surface for rewinding thereof on the second surface,(c) periodically operating the consuming unit to withdraw the strand from an opposite end of such second surface while continuing the advance of the strand both to such first surface and from the first surface toward the first end of the second surface, and(d) halting withdrawal of the strand when a finite length thereof has been withdrawn from the opposite end of the second surface by the consuming unit.

Abstract: An improved solenoid actuated yarn clamp for controlling the flow of a moving strand of yarn particularly in conjunction with a fluid weft insertion loom. The improved clamp is double acting, being displaced positively between an operative yarn clamping position and an inoperative position releasing the yarn for further movement. The actuation of the clamp in both directions preferably occurs in two stages in which a relatively movable portion of the armature is first attracted into engagement with the energized solenoid, resulting in enhancement of the flux path of the solenoid, causing movement of the remainder of the armature. A preferred electronic circuit for regulating the actuation of the improved clamp is also disclosed which permits the adjustment of the clamping and nonclamping portions of the operative cycle of the clamp.

Abstract: Increased resistance to unraveling is imparted to a fringe selvage of the type formed by weaving on a fluid weft insertion loom by means of a special selvage construction produced along the opposite side edges of the fabric which combines a pair of twisted binder threads and a juxtaposed leno chain stitch. The binder threads extending along the edges of the warp are opened or separated for the insertion of each weft thread therebetween and then closed and separated in the opposite direction to entwine around the corresponding end of each inserted weft thread while being simultaneously twisted about their own axis and preferably the timing of the closing of the binder threads during the weaving cycle is slightly in advance of the closing of the warp shed itself.

Abstract: In a method and apparatus for weaving in which a weft strand is projected in substantially free flight into the warp shed of a loom and is guided across at least a portion of the shed by a plurality of guides, preferably annular in shapes disposed in operative position within the shed in interdigitating with the warp threads, the guides being moved to and fro along an arcuate path for withdrawal to an inoperative position substantially entirely outside the shed and return within the shed and having an opening at a common point thereon to permit the inserted strand to egress therefrom during their withdrawal from the shed, the improvement of (a) engaging the inserted weft strand at spaced points along its length while the strand is within the shed and within the guides and (b) bodily displacing the strand outwardly through such common opening before the guides are withdrawn from said shed. The strand is ordinarily displaced in timed relation to the movement of the guides along their path.

Abstract: A quality monitoring system for looms is disclosed. The system includes a plurality of signal producing units disposed at various loci on the loom. These units operate to detect faults in the warp or filling yarns being woven into the fabric. Detection of such faults produce signals which are registered and accumulated in a counter. Signals provided from different sources can be weighted at different values so that a fault from one source can excite the counter to a different level than a fault from another source The accumulation of these values thus provides a quality point index indicative of the probable quality of the fabric being woven. Since a useful application of the quality point index is to assess this index or value in terms of faults in the woven fabric per unit length of loom operating time, or unit length of fabric woven, a divider circuit is provided to divide either of the aforementioned units by faults detected.

Abstract: A first sensor comprising interspersed light emitting and receiving fibers is situated at the egress slot of an air containment element on a fluid weft insertion type loom and retroreflectively senses filling yarn as it egresses from the element. The first sensor, placed along the length of the air containment tube, together with a second sensor outboard of the shed is used to discriminate filling yarn condition and the impact of those conditions on fabric quality. Signals from the first and second sensors are employed in a logical method to permit continued operation of the loom when particular faults are sensed but do not represent conditions warranting stopping of the loom, while said sensors do produce loom stopping signals when faults of predetermined values are sensed. Loom output efficiency is thus improved by allowing a controlled number of defects to enter the finished fabric.

Abstract: A monitoring system for a fluid weft insertion loom monitors the significant operative events of each weaving cycle of the loom, e.g. yarn supply withdrawal, insertion nozzle actuation and yarn end arrival, and indicates the occurrence of each such event, preferably in terms of the elapsed time of such occurrence from a fixed reference point of the loom cycle, for example front dead center. The indications of the relative timing of the occurrences of such events is preferably retained on corresponding visual displays until the successful completion of each weaving cycle or in the event of a defective cycle until the defect is corrected and the loom is restarted. Preferred individual sensing units for the respective significant operative events are also disclosed.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for inserting a weft strand into the shed of a loom or the like in which a confined zone is provided in proximity to the shed serving as a guide for a weft strand passing through the zone, and a sustained pulse of a supersonic gaseous medium is abruptly expelled from the zone directed toward said shed to thereby pass the weft strand through at least a portion of the shed. The strand is preferably confined to a pre-selected path during passage of the pulse of medium and the strand through at least the stated portion of said shed.

Abstract: The disclosure relates to a system and method for correlating strand withdrawal speed from a strand supply package and utility means such as a shuttleless loom thereby reducing the possibility of supply package sloughs and strand breakage caused by conditions such as large changes in loading on an intermediate stationary drum type strand feeding and storage device. Thus, the loom operates to withdraw strand from the feeding device at a first average rate. A flyer withdraws strand from the supply package at a second rate which is slightly higher than the first average rate and wraps that strand onto the drum of the feeding device. Withdrawal of the strand by the flyer generates a balloon in the strand intermediate the strand supply and the flyer. Flyer drive speed is controlled by a feedback system which avoids changes in speed of the flyer except when occurrences of an overfill of strand on the drum occur.