| JP03019932 | YARN GUIDING HEDDLE AND ITS PRODUCTION |
| JP02293432 | LIFTING HEDDLE |
| JP2000314042 | HEALD |
VANDERJEUGT, Bram (Pannenhuisstraat 45, Ieper, B-8900, BE)
| C L A I M S
1. Heddte for a weaving machine, comprising a heddle eye part and at least one wire part, characterized in that at least one extremity of the heddle eye part is provided with a bore extending along the longitudinal axis of the heddle; at least one extremity of the wire part is provided with a part which is reduced in the radial direction which is provided to be inserted into the said bore; the transitional zone between the external circumference of the heddle eye part and the external circumference of the wire part is progressing smoothly.
2. Heddfe according to claim 1, characterized in that one extremity of the heddle eye part is provided with a bore extending according to the longitudinal axis of the heddle and the wire part comprises a part which is reduced in the radial direction which is inserted into the said bore.
3. Heddle according to claim 1, characterized in that foe two extremities of the heddle eye part are provided with a bore extending according to the longitudinal axis of the heddle and two wire parts are provided, each comprising a part which is reduced in the radial direction which is inserted in a respective bore,
4. Heddle according to any one of the claims 1 up to and including 3, characterized in that the said smooth transitional zone between the heddle eye part and the wire part is realized by making the external diameter of the heddle eye part at the extremities of the bores substantially correspond with the diameter of the non- reduced parts of the wire part.
5. Heddle according to any one of the claims 1 up to and including 4, characterized in that one or more of the said wire parts, at their other extremity, are provided with a part reduced in the radial direction, in order to enable the wire part to be inserted into a bore extending according to the longitudinal axis of the connecting element, the connecting element being provided to connect the heddle to the harness or the heald frame.
6. Heddle according to any one of the claims 1 up to and including 5, characterized in that the one or more bores in the heddle eye part have a cylindrical, oval, square, rectangular or any other geometrical form throughout the length of the axis of the bore.
7. Heddle according to any one of the claims 1 up to and including 6, characterized in that one or more of the parts reduced in the radial direction, situated at the extremity of the wire part, comprise at least one radial constriction near the place where, after the extremity of a wire part have been inserted info a bore extending in the longitudinal direction of the heddle eye part, the open extremity of the said bore fs situated.
8. Heddle according to any one of the claims 1 up to and including 7, characterized in that one or more of the bores of the heddte eye part have a section which is diminishing in the direction of the depth of the bores and one or more of the parts reduced in the radial direction situated at the extremity of a wire part have a correspondingly reduced section.
9. Heddle according to claim 8, characterized in that the extremity of the heddle eye part around one or more of the open extremities is thin-walled.
10. Heddle according to any one of the claims 1 up to and including 9, characterized in that one or more of the bores of the heddle eye part throughout part of their length have a lengthwise profiled surface and one or more of the parts reduced in the radial direction situated at the extremity of a wire part have a surface lengthwise profiled throughout part of their length which, after having been assembled, is situated near the profiled surface of the bore which is the counter profile of the said profiled surface of the bore.
11. Heddle according to any one of the claims 1 up to and including 10, characterized in that one or more of the bores of the heddle eye part are provided with thread throughout part of their length, and one or more of the parts reduced in the radial direction situated at the extremity of a wire part have a correspondingly opposite thread profile, in order to screw the part reduced in the radial direction into the bore.
12. Heddle according to any one of the claims 1 up to and including 11, characterized in that one or more of the bores of the heddle eye part have a lip at their open extremity, because of which the bore, in that particular place, has a diameter which is smaller than the diameter in the deeper lying part of the bore, and the wire part which is inserted into the said bore has, at the extremity of the part reduced in the radial direction, a radial constriction corresponding with the dimensions of the lip.
13. Heddie according to claim 12, characterized in that the said wire part which has to be inserted into ttie said bore being provided with a Up 1 at the free extremity of the part reduced in the radial direction, has a part provided with an increasing diameter, this increase being considered in a direction running from the free extremity of the reduced part towards the connected extremity of the reduced part which is connected to the rest of the wire part.
14. Heddle according to claim 13, characterized in that the closed extremity of the bore in the heddle eye part has a correspondingly diminishing diameter, its diminishing considered in a direction from the open extremity towards the closed extremity of the bore.
15. Heddle according to claim 12, characterized in that the said lip, at the open extremity of the bore has a helical progression, and the connected extremity of the part reduced in the radial direction has an opposite helical shape throughout its length, the helical shape considered in a direction from the free extremity of the part towards the connected extremity of the reduced part being composed of: a first part with an increasing diameter finishing in a core diameter, such that the open extremity of the bore is elastically pushed open; a second part with a constant core diameter such that the wire part is moved forward in a helical manner in trie bore of the heddle eye part with pressure only near the helical lip; a third part with a diminishing diameter with respect to the core diameter, the said helical lip fitting the helical counter shape of the part reduced in the radial direction of the wire part with a pre-tension which is lower than the pressure at which the part of the bore following the helical lip is fitting the part reduced in the radial direction.
16. Heddle according to any one of the claims 1 up to and including 11 , characterized Sn that the part reduced in the radial direction is earned out in a helical shape throughout the entire length of the said bore.
17. Heddle according to any one of the claims 12 up to and including 16, characterized in that in the open extremity of the bore in the heddle eye part axial grooves have been applied.
18. Heddle according to any one of the cfaϊms 1 up to and including 6, characterized in that the part reduced in the axial direction of one or more of the wire parts is consisting of a radial constriction.
19. Weaving machine equipped with one or more heddles according to any one of the claims 1 up to and including 18.
20. Method for manufacturing a heddle for a weaving machine comprising a heddle eye part and at least one wire part, characterized in that tfie method comprises the following stages: the manufacture of a heddle eye part provided with one or more bores; - the manufacture of one or more wire parts, the extremity of which is provided with a part reduced in the radial direction; the connection of the wire part to the heddle eye part, more specifically by one of the following techniques: β insertion of the said part, reduced in the radial direction, of the wire part into a said bore of the heddle eye part; o pressing together with plastic deformation;
° shrinking on by cooling down and/or heating up of the wire part and/or the heddle eye part;
0 screwing together; ° gluing; the transitional zone between the external circumference of the heddle eye part and the external circumference of the wire part is progressing smoothly.
21. Method for manufacturing a heddle for a weaving machine, characterized in that the heddle is made according to any one of the preceding claims. |
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On the one hand, the invention relates to a heddle for a weaving machine comprising a heddle eye part and one or more wire parts. On ttie other hand, the invention relates to a weaving machine provided with one or more of such heddles. Finally, the invention relates to a method for manufacturing a heddle for a weaving machine, comprising a heddle eye part and at least one wire part.
When weaving, heddles are used which are provided for positioning warp yarns by means of an imposed motion during shed forming. To that effect, a heddle is provided with a heddle eye through which a warp yam is extending. The motion imposed on the heddle may be realized on the one hand by driving the heddle separately, for instance, by means of a Jacquard heddle, the extremity of which is connected to a harness cord and the other extremity of which is connected to a return spring, the harness cord being moved up and down through a number of positions by moving one or more hooks of a Jacquard machine, and the return spring, the other extremity of which is connected to the bottom or to the frame of the weaving machine, realizing the downward motion operating in conjunction with the motion of the hooks. On the other hand, the motion imposed on the heddle may be realized by moving up and down several heddles simultaneously, for instance, several heddles each of which being connected to the same hook or to the same set of hooks of a Jacquard machine, or several heddles being incorporated in a heald frame, this heald frame being moved vertically by a driving or a selection device between two or several positions, in order to form a pattern desired in a fabric or in the texture of a fabric. The last mentioned method is customary for driving warp yarns in flat fabrics, in backing fabrics of pile fabrics or for driving pile warp yams in combination with a cam disc machine or a dobby device when a more limited designing is required.
When weaving flat fabric as well as pile fabrics, a tendency exists to weave fabrics with an increasing density. The number of warp yarns which extend next to one another in the weft direction is herewith increased. Furthermore, a tendency is observed to bring more colours into the fabrics. Primarily when weaving face-to-face pile fabrics, this means an additional increase of the number of warp yams extending next to one another in the weft direction, as in face-to-face weaving of pile fabrics usually all types of
pile warp yarns which may be used for pile, colour or pattern forming in the fabric, are provided in each warp yarn system in which the warp yarn forming the colour or pattern is extending between the upper and the lower fabric and in each of these fabrics is interlaced around a weft yam, whereas the pile warp yarns not producing the colour or pattern are hidden in the backing fabric of one of the fabrics as a dead pile. This means that when, for instance, a face-to-face carpet is woven with a reed density of 500 reed teeth per metre with 8 colours and 2 binding warp yams and 1 tension warp yarn per backing fabric, 7000 warp yams are involved per metre of weaving width in forming the shed, of which 4000 are pile warp yarns (8 colours x SOO reed teeth per metre) and 3000 backing warp yarns (3 backing warp yams per fabric x 2 fabrics x 500 reed teeth per metre). During shed forming, these warp yarns are changing their positions vertically by means of heddles which are driven (examples of driving methods are mentioned above). With face-to-face fabrics, in many cases also lancets are used in the shed forming zone, either as spacers, or as supports for loop weft yams. In turn, these lancets take up their places in the weft direction in the space available for each warp yam system. Consequently, the weft yarns and the heddles may also collide with these lancets during the shed forming.
Finally, in order to be able to produce more economically, the tendency still exists to increase the speeds at which the fabrics are realized.
Consequently, it is dear that with increasing densities, an increasing number of colours and increasing weaving speeds, the loads on tine heddles during shed forming are increasing, having as a consequence that it becomes more critical to provide heddles satisfying the required demands.
The heddles have to meet the following requirements:
To realize a vertical positioning of the warp yarn;
To avoid any obstruction of the motion of the driven warp yarn in warp direction (to avoid any hitch, damage and breakage);
To avoid as much as possible any obstruction of the motion of adjacent heddles and warp yarns (to avoid any hitch, damage and breakage);
To restrict as much as possible any interference with the lancets;
To show a good wear-resistance to the motion of the warp yam through the heddle eye;
To show a good wear-resistance to any obstructions with respect to adjacent
heddles, warp yarns and lancets.
In order to be able to comply with the requirements mentioned above, the following evolutions have been observed in the state-of-the-art:
Initially, heddles were manufactured out of wire, most of the time two wires being used next to one another, wherein in the central zone of the heddle a heddle eye is formed though which the warp yarn is extending and wherein the two wires outside the heddle eye are connected to one another in a number of places. Such a heddle has the advantage that it can be manufactured at a low cost and that the two wire heddle leaves ample free space outside the heddle eye for the adjacent warp yams and lancets. When the heddle eye that has been formed will be turned, due to a collision with the adjacent package of warp yams, the parts outside the heddle eye will leave a passage which will be sufficient for the adjacent warp yams and the lancet. However, this embodiment has the disadvantage that the wire in the heddle eye is not very suitable to resist to the wear and tear caused by the warp yarn being passed through it. Neither will the connections of the two wires outside the heddle eye always resist to the action of the warp yams moving along the heddle.
For this reason, embodiments have been chosen which are provided with wear-resistant insertion eyes which are inserted in a recess formed in the two wires. In this manner, the wear caused by the warp yarn in the heddle eye will be strongly reduced, however, the adjacent warp yarns will cause rapid wear to the wires of the heddle surrounding the insert eye, so that the insert eye will come loose when the wire of the heddle around the heddle eye will be worn through.
In a next stage, the heddles were made out of strip material. In order to obtain a sufficient width in order to form a heddle eye, the heddle was produced out of normally obtainable standard strip material, the material of which was removed above and below the heddle eye. This, however, is an expensive stage of the production, having the additional disadvantage that after the material has been removed above and below the heddle eye, quite some finishing is required to provide smooth transitional zones between the machined lateral surfaces, so that the warp yarns extending along these zones will not be obstructed in their movements or might be damaged.
Therefore, heddles were chosen which were manufactured out of commerciafly
obtainable strip material in which, in the centre, an opening was provided to serve as a heddle eye and where eyes were provided to hang up the heddle at the top and at the bottom. To that effect, no additional machining is required to realize smooth transitional zones, because these transitional zones will be realized during the manufacturing process of the commercially available material and will be maintained. However, the width of the strip material required will still be considerable.
It has been possible to limit this disadvantage by taking a narrower strip material as the starting material for these heddles and to apply additional treatments near the heddle eye in order to realize the heddle eye and/or to facilitate the motion of the adjacent warp yams and lancets from above the heddle eye to below the heddle eye or inversely. To this effect, an opening or a cut had to be made in the central area where the heddle eye should be applied and this central zone had to be twisted at the top and/or the bottom of the heddle, preferably the top and the bottom of the heddle being brought into line again. However, the disadvantage of this operation is that this twisting has to be considerable in order to be able to pass a pile waφ yam through the heddle eye, for example, so that at slightly higher densities the adjacent waφ yarns will collide with the outside of the heddle eye which has been formed involving the risk of wear and breakage of the yarn as a consequence. In order to solve this problem, in US 5,348,055 for instance, it is described how, instead of twisting the top and bottom end of the heddle, the two lips which are situated around the heddle eye have been moved in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the strip material such that they will be positioned in a plane running parallel to the strip material. The disadvantage of such a heddle is that the space thus realized between the two lips for a waφ yam to be passed in a plane parallel to the strip material however, still has to be large enough to obtain an easy passage of the warp yarns through the heddle eye. This method still has the additional disadvantage that the eye of the heddle thus formed, at the top and at the bottom, is considerably narrowed, so that there will be a risk that the waφ yarn will get jammed, most certainly at those moments when a knot will occur in the waφ yarn passing through.
A solution to the problem last mentioned may be found in GB 448,723, where an additional treatment is earned out in order to deform the heddle eye to such an extent that the top and bottom of the heddle eye are running parallel so that it will become difficult for the waφ yarn passing through to get jammed. However these additional treatments are delicate to be carried out and moreover, they are expensive.
In US 1,932,350, it is described how twisting the heddle at the bottom may be combined with moving the two lips next to the opening or cut for the heddle eye and in US 5,474,110 how twisting the heddle both at the bottom and the top is done in combination with moving the two lips next to the opening or cut for the heddle eye. These methods will enable to obtain a sufficiently large eye of the heddle with a more limited motion and a more limited twist, so that interference with the adjacent warp yam will be decreased, but the presence of the strip material above and below the heddle eye will remain an inconvenience as far as the easy passage of the adjacent warp yarn is concerned. Moreover, twisting the strip material has to be performed at a reasonably long distance from the heddle eye, in order not to distort the heddle eye. Due to this, the part containing the heddle eye has to be rather sizeable.
In DH 432,018 and US 2,019,822, heddles are described with which the advantages of the use of wire outside the eyes of the heddle are combined with the advantages of strip material near the heddle eye. In DE 432,018 a heddle eye is described which is made of strip material in which at the top and at the bottom recesses are provided into which, both at the top and at the bottom, wires are inserted which both are in line with one another and which, in that position, are welded or soldered to the heddle eye. However, soldering or welding in this manner is difficult and expensive and may cause transitional zones which are not sufficiently smooth, will cause damage to the adjacent warp yams or will collide with the lancets. If this has to be prevented an expensive finishing treatment is required. This method likewise causes the problem of keeping both extremities of the wire well in line during the production process. In US 2,019,822 the heddle eyes made of strip material have recesses provided with two grooves which are parallel, beginning with an entry and finishing in the shape of a dovetail. The extremities of the wire connected to the heddle eye are provided with axial grooves, so that the two lips which, leaning against the parallel groove of the heddle eye, will slip into the grooves of the extremities of the wire ends. After this positioning, the wire ends are pressed together, so that they will undergo a plastic deformation and will fill the dovetail extremity of the groove. However, this method has the following disadvantages: providing the wires with the axial grooves is expensive and labour consuming; the treatment of the grooves in the heddle eye and the axial grooves in the wire ends has to be done with precision, such that the wire parts of the heddle will be in line; - the wire material should be rather soft in order to allow the plastic deformation of the wire to fill the dovetail openings and this will be accompanied by a low
resistance to wean frie wire ends pressed together are enclosing the heddle eye in order to secure the connection which will result in protruding parts of the (soft) wire material causing interferences with the yarns (leading to yam breakage) and with the lancets (causing malfunctioning and breakage of the heddle or the lancet).
In EP 1 405 940 a method is described in which the wires and the heddle eye are connected by making use of a welding technique, the cross sections of the different parts being hardly modified, and no noticeable imprecisions in the composition will occur. However, this welding method is expensive and delicate as far as keeping control of the imprecisions is concerned. Furthermore, this method will cause local modifications of the properties of the material.
On the one hand, the purpose of the invention is to provide a heddle for a weaving machine comprising a heddle eye part and a wire part, wherein the heddle during weaving uses a large number of colours at a high density and at a high speed, yet realizing the vertical positioning of the warp yam without impeding the motion of the warp yam driven in the warp direction, obstructing the motion of the adjacent heddles and warp yams as little as possible and interfering with the lancets as little as possible, and moreover, achieving a good resistance to wear with respect to the motion of the warp yarn moving through the heddle eye and with respect to any obstruction caused by the adjacent heddles, warp yams and lancets. On the other hand, the purpose of the invention is to provide a weaving machine with one or more heddles presenting the advantages mentioned above,
On the one hand, this purpose of the invention is achieved by providing a heddle for a weaving machine comprising a heddle eye part and a wire part wherein at least one extremity of the heddle eye part is provided with a bore extending according to the longitudinal axis of the heddle; - at least one extremity of the wire part is provided with a part reduced in the radial direction, which is provided to be inserted into the said bore; the transitional zone between the external circumference of the heddle eye part and the external circumference of the wire part will be progressing smoothly.
In this manner, a heddle is obtained having the following advantages: the abovementioned known advantages of using wire will be maintained, i.e. a
reduced volume, freedom to turn and twist, low oost and the disadvantages of using wire near the heddle eye are eliminated, i.e. a difficult and hardly durable realization of the heddle eye; a small heddle eye part which may be manufactured economically having an advantageous shape and properties both to function as a heddle eye as well as a connecting element to the wire part; the treatment of the wire part may be ratationally symmetrfc, due to which manufacture will be simple and with great precision; when assembled, no obstructive transitional zones occur, because of which interference problems in relation to the surrounding warp yarns and the lancets are strongly reduced and yam breakage strongly reduces as well as the life span of the heddles strongly increases; a wear-nesistant material may be used both for the wire part and for the heddle part.
Jn a first preferred embodiment of a heddle according to the invention, one extremity of the heddle eye part is provided with a bore extending according to the longitudinal axis of the heddle and the wire part comprises a part which is reduced in the radial direction which is inserted into the said bore. Such an embodiment of a heddle according to the invention is used, for instance, in a harnessless Jacquard machine and without return springs.
In a second preferred embodiment of a heddle according to the invention, the two extremities of the heddle eye part are provided with a bore extending according to the longitudinal axis and two wire parts are provided, each comprising a part which is reduced in the radial direction which is inserted in a respective bore.
In order to realize the said smooth transitional zone between the heddle eye part and the wire part after having connected the heddle eye part to the one or more wire parts, the external diameter of the heddle eye part at the extremities of the bores preferably substantially correspond with the diameter of the non-reduced parts of the wire part.
In an advantageous embodiment of a heddle according to the invention, one or more of the said wire parts are at their other extremity provided with a part reduced in the radial direction, in order to enable the wire part to be inserted into a bore extending according to the longitudinal axis of the connecting element, the connecting element being
3 provided to connect the heddle to the harness or the heald frame.
In a preferred embodiment of a heddle according to the invention, the one or more bores in the heddie eye part are provided with a cylindrical, oval, square, rectangular or any other geometrical form throughout the length of the axis of the bore.
In a favourable embodiment of a heddle according to the invention, one or more of the wire parts reduced in the radial direction, situated at the extremity of the wire part, comprise at feast one radial constriction near the place where, after the extremity of the wire part has been inserted into a bore extending in the longitudinal direction of the heddle eye part, the open extremity of the said bore is situated.
In an advantageous embodiment of a heddle according to the invention, one or more of the bores of the heddle eye part have a section which is diminishing in the direction of the depth of the bores, and one or more of the parts reduced in the radial direction situated at the extremity of a wire part have a correspondingly reduced section.
The extremity of the heddle eye part around one or more of the open extremities of the bores are preferably thin-walled. In this manner, it will be possible for the heddle eye parts with the thin-walled extremities to be installed easily as the clearance between the wire part and the extremity of the heddle eye part around the bore becomes only small when both parts are pushed together. A thin-walled extremity around a bore will enable to realize a plastic deformation of the heddle eye part around the extremity of the wire part, exerting only a limited force, in order to obtain the smooth transitional zone between the heddle eye part and the diameter of the wire part not having been reduced in the radial direction.
In a preferred embodiment of a heddle according to the invention, one or more of the bores in the heddle eye part are provided throughout part of their length with a lengthwise profiled surface and one or more of the parts reduoed in the radial direction situated at the extremity of a wire part have a surface lengthwise profiled in the throughout part of their length which, after having been assembled, is situated near the profiled surface of the bore which is the counter profile of the said profiled surface of the bore. This has the advantage that the two lengthwise profiled surfaces are meshing after the heddle eye part and the wire part having been connected.
Furthermore one or more of the said bores in the heddle eye parts can be provided with thread throughout part of their length, and one or more of the parts reduced in the radial direction situated at the extremity of a wire part will have a correspondingly opposite thread profile in order to screw the part reduced in the radial direction into the bore.
In a preferred heddle according to the invention, one or more of the bores of the heddle eye part are having a lip at their open extremity, because of which the bore, in that particular place, has a diameter which is smaller than the diameter in the deeper lying part of the bore, and the wire part which is inserted into the said bore, at the extremity of the part reduced in the radial direction, has a radial constriction corresponding with the dimensions of the lip. In this manner, the lip will engage the radial constriction when the wire part will be completely installed in the bore. When, in doing so, the radial constriction is made sufficiently deep, the heddle eye part fits to the wire part under a certain pressure.
In order to insert, in a simple manner, the said wire part into the said bore being provided with a lip, this wire part, at the free extremity of the part reduced in the radial direction, preferably has a part provided with an increasing diameter, this increase being considered in a direction running from the free extremity of the reduced part towards the connected extremity of the reduced part which is connected to the rest of the wire part. Thus, it is possible for the extremity of the heddle eye part to gradually expand elastically near the said lip, so that in a completely assembled position of the parts, the lip may return into its original position when reaching the place of the radial constriction. This will enable a connection without compressing the heddle eye on the wire part.
The closed extremity of the bore in the heddle eye part preferably has a correspondingly diminishing diameter, its diminishing considered in a direction from the open extremity towards the closed extremity of the bore.
In a more preferred heddle according to the invention, the said lip, at the open extremity of the bore, has a helical progression and the connected extremity of the part reduced in the radial direction has an opposite helical shape throughout its length, the helical shape considered in a direction from the free extremity of the part reduced in the radial direction towards the extremity of the reduced part which has been connected, being composed of: a first part with an increasing diameter finishing in a core diameter such that the
open extremity of the bore is elastically pushed open, a second part with a constant core diameter such that the wire part is moved forward in a helical manner in the bore of the heddle eye part with pressure only near the helical lip; - a third part with a diminishing diameter with respect to the core diameter, the said lip fitting the helical counter shape of the part reduced in the radial direction of the wire part with a pre-tension which is lower than the pressure at which the part of the bore following the helical lip is fitting the part reduced in radial direction, fn this manner, a connecting technique is realized between the heddle eye part and one or more wire parts wherein a clamping between the various parts is realized only by screwing. However, after this connection by screwing, it is also possible to use a connection by pressing, or during or after the connection by screwing has been carried out, the parts may be heated or cooled down, or it is even possible to use both methods.
In a further preferred heddle according to the invention, the part reduced in the radial direction is carried out having a helical shape throughout the entire depth of the said bore. This gives the opportunity to make the connection between the heddle eye part and one or more wire parts to become detachable.
In order to increase the elastic behaviour of the heddle eye part at the open extremity of the bore in the heddle eye part, preferably axial grooves have been applied.
In order to obtain a heddle according to the invention requiring only a simple treatment as well as a low manufacturing cost of ttie wire par, preferably, the part reduced in the radial direction of one or more of the wire parts is consisting only of a radial constriction.
On the other hand, the purpose of the invention is attained by providing a weaving machine with one or more of such heddles.
A further purpose of the invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a heddle comprising a heddle eye part and a wire part, providing a heddle having the advantages mentioned above.
This further purpose of the invention is attained by providing a method for manufacturing a heddle for a weaving machine comprising a heddle eye part and at least one wire part, wherein the method comprises at least the following stages:
the manufacture of a heddle eye part provided with one or more bores; the manufacture of one or more wire parts, the extremity of which is provided with a part reduced in the radial direction; the connection of the wire part to the heddle eye part, by means of one or more of the following techniques;
0 the insertion of a said part reduced in the radial direction of the wire part into a said bore of the heddle eye part; 0 pressing together using plastic deformation;
0 shrinking on by cooling down and/or heating up of the wire part and/or the heddle eye part;
0 screwing together; 0 gluing the transitional zone between the external circumference of the heddle eye part and the external circumference of the wire part is progressing smoothly.
In a preferred method according to the invention, a heddle is manufactured as described above *
In order to further clarify the characteristics of the present invention and to indicate its additional advantages and particulars, a more detailed description of various embodiments of heddles for weaving machines according to the invention will now follow. It may be obvious that nothing in the following description may be interpreted as being a restriction of the protection of the heddle, the method of its manufacture and a weaving machine provided with one or more heddles according to the invention, as demanded for in the claims.
A heddle according to the invention comprises a heddle eye part and at least one wire part. An embodiment of a heddle according to the invention has two such wire parts.
In the heddle according to the invention, the heddle eye part, at least at one extremity, is provided with a bore extending along the longitudinal axis of the heddle. In an embodiment of a heddle according to the invention, the heddle eye part is provided with two such bores. The one or more bores in the heddle eye part may be of a cylindrical, oval, square, rectangular or any other shape throughout the length of the axis of the bore. Throughout the length of the bore, this shape may also pass from one geometrical form into another, for instance, from oval to cylindrical.
In the heddle according to the invention, the wire part, at least at one extremity, Is provided with a part which is reduced in the radial direction which is provided to be inserted into a respective bore. In the heddie according to the invention, the transitional zone between the external circumference of the heddle eye part near the open extremity and the external circumference of the wire part with the diameter of the non-reduced part is progressing smoothly.
fn a harnessfess Jacquard machine without return springs, the heddle eye part is preferably, at one extremity, provided with a bore extending according to the longitudinal axis of the heddle and the wire part comprises a part reduced in the radial direction which is inserted into the said bore.
As already stated above, the two extremities of the heddle eye part may be provided with a bore extending according to the longitudinal axis of the heddle and be provided of two wire parts each comprising a part reduced in the radial direction, which is inserted into a respective bore.
The said smooth transitional zone between the heddle eye part and the wire part is realized by making the external diameter of the heddle eye part, at the extremities of the bores, substantially corresponding with the diameter of the non-reduced parts of the wire parts. On the insertion of the wire parts which, for instance,, have another diameter out of reach of the warp yams, the external diameter of the wall around the extremity with the bore of the heddle eye part is substantially the same as the diameter of the non-reduced part of the wire part where it is changing into the part, reduced in the radial direction, of the wire part.
The method for manufacturing a heddle according to the invention comprises at least the following stages: - the manufacture of a heddle eye part provided with one or more bores; the manufacture of one or more wire parts, the extremities of which are provided with parts reduced in the radial direction; the connection of the wire part to the heddle eye part by means of one or more of the following techniques: β insertion of a said part, reduced in the radial direction, of the wire part into a said bore of the heddle eye part;
o pressing together with plastic deformation;
0 shrinking on by means of cooling down and/or heating up of the wire part and/or the heddle eye part; « screwing together; » gluing the transition from the external circumference of the heddle eye part to the external circumference of the wire part is progressing smoothly.
One or more of the said wire parts may be provided of a part, reduced in a radial sense, also at their other extremities, in order to allow the wire part to be inserted into a bore extending according to the longitudinal axis of a connecting element, the connecting element being provided to connect the heddle to the harness or to the weaving frame.
In an embodiment of a heddle according to the invention, one or more of the parts reduced in the radial direction situated at the extremities of a wire part comprise at least one radial constriction near the place where, after the extremity of a wire part has been inserted into a bore extending in the longitudinal direction of the heddle eye part, the open extremity of the said bore is situated.
In an embodiment of a heddle according to the invention, the part reduced in the radial direction of one or more of the wire parts is only existing of a radial constriction. Therefore, based on the wire profile commercially available, only a radial constriction will be applied near the place where, after insertion of the extremity of a wire part into a bore extending in the longitudinal direction, of the heddle eye part, the open extremity of the said bore is situated. The technique for attaching the heddle eye part and the one or more wire parts consists in, for instance, deforming the extremity of the heddle eye part, so that it will engage the radial constriction because of which a smooth transitional is obtained between the external circumference of the heddle eye part and the external circumference of the one or more wire parts.
In an embodiment of a heddle according to the invention, one or more of the bores the heddle eye part have a cross-section which is diminishing in the direction of the depth of the bores, and one or more of the parts situated at the extremity of a wire part which are reduced in the radial direction, have a corresponding diminishing cross-section. Preferably, the extremity of the heddle eye part around one or more of the open extremities of the bores is thin-walled. The external diameter(s) of the extremity
(extremities) of the heddle eye part are chosen such that, after having applied the manufacturing technique (for instance plastic deformation) when manufacturing the heddle, they will be adapted as closely as possible to the diameter of the non-reduced parts of the wire parts, so that, after having been connected a smooth transition zone will be realized. A restricted thickness of the wall around the bore enabling plastic deformation to be used, as already mentioned above, likewise allows the diameter of the non-reduced parts (the starting material of the wire part), to be kept within certain limits, so that the space taken up by the wire part in the weaving machine may be kept limited,
Furthermore, one or more of the bores of the heddle eye part may have a surface which is profiled lengthwise throughout part of their length and, one or more of the parts reduced in a radial direction situated at the extremity of a wire part, after having been assembled, may have a surface which is profiled lengthwise throughout the part of their length, which after assembly, will be situated near this profited surface of the bore, which is the counter profile of the said profiled surface of the bore. The connection between the heddle eye part and the one or more wire parts may be realized, for instance, by pressing together or shrinking. This will increase the adhesion between the heddle eye part and the one or more wire parts.
The profiled surfaces may be toothed, provided with trapezium-shaped profiles or any other suitable profile.
Furthermore, in an embodiment of a heddle according to the invention, one or more of the said bores of the heddle eye part may be provided with thread throughout part of their length or throughout their entire length and one or more of the parts situated at the extremity of a wire part and reduced in a radial direction, may have an opposite threaded profile, in order to screw the part, reduced in the radial direction, into the bore.
In an embodiment of a heddle according to the invention, one or more of the bores of the heddle eye part, may be provided with a lip at their open extremities due to which the bore in that particular place will have a diameter which is smaller than the diameter in the deeper lying part of the bore and the wire part which will be inserted into the said bore may have, at the extremity of its part which is reduced in the radial direction, a radial constriction corresponding to the dimensions of the lip.
The said wire part that has to be inserted into the said bore which is provided with a lip
may have at the free extremity of the part reduced in the radial direction, a part with an Increasing diameter the increase being considered in a direction from the free extremity of the reduced part towards the connected extremity of the reduced part which is connected to the rest of the wire part. In an embodiment of a heddle according to the invention, the closed extremity of the bore in the heddle eye part, may have a corresponding diminishing diameter, its being diminished considered in a direction from the open extremity towards the closed extremity of the bore.
Furthermore, in an embodiment of a heddle according to the invention, the said lip at the open extremity of the bore, may have a helical progression, and the connected extremity of the part reduced in the radial direction may have an opposite helical shape throughout its length, the helical shape being considered in the direction of the free extremity of the part reduced in the radial direction towards the connected extremity of the reduced part being composed of: a first part having an increasing diameter finishing in a core diameter, such ttiat the open extremity of the bore is elastically pushed open; a second part with a constant core diameter, such that the wire part is moved forward in the bore of the heddle eye part in a helical fashion, the pressure being exerted only near the helical shaped lip; - a third part with a diameter diminishing with respect to the core diameter, the said helical shaped lip fitting the counter helical shape of the part reduced in the radial direction of the wire part with a pre-tension which is lower than the pressure with which the part of the bore following the helical-shaped Hp is fitting the part reduced in a radial direction.
In order to improve the elastic behaviour of the heddle eye parts at the open extremity of the bore, in an embodiment of a heddle according to the invention, axial grooves may be applied in the heddle eye part at the open extremity of the bore.
When the heddle eye part as manufactured from strip material according to the state-of- the-art, it is important, especially with Jacquard heddles, that the heddle eye part has to move through a multitude of adjacent yarns. For the heddle eye part it is of great advantage when this turning is guided by a torsion of the strip material. In the absence of this guiding torsion, the heddle might turn in the wrong direction, due to which, it might cause even a greater obstruction to the passage of the packet of adjacent warp yams. However, heddle eye parts made of strip material have the disadvantage that in case of
torsion, the torsion should be performed at a certain distance from the heddle eye, in order to avoid a disadvantageous deformation of the heddle eye. Because of this, heddle eye parts that are made of strip material are rather long. For a strip material with a thickness of 1.3 mm, if combined with a wire part of 0.9 mm, the torsions above and below the heddle eye will be usually about 50 mm apart and between the torsion in the heddle eye part and the wire part about 15 mm should be estimated. Therefore, in the actual state-of-the-art, the total length of the heddle eye part, carried out with a double torsion and which means an enlargement with respect to the wire part, will usually be 80 mm. A heddle eye part according to the invention may be shaped or tooted from any other material and freely designed, so that a good guiding of the warp yarn will be realized during its passage through the guide eye and the free design is simulating a torsion, due to which a favourable turning of the heddle eye is occurring as a result of a collision with a package of adjacent warp yams, the distance between the centre of the heddle eye and the integrated torsion being limited to less than 10 mm for a heddle with a wire part of 0.9 mm due to which the total length of the heddle eye part may become shorter than 50 mm and preferably shorter than 30 mm.
As materials, preferably materials capable of being hardened are used, and as hardening techniques preferably such techniques are used enabling local hardening. Trie hardness is important in and round the heddle eye and in the points of contact with surrounding warp yarns and lancets, whereas preferably the extremities of the heddle eye part around a bore will not be hardened. In applications with slightly loaded warp yams also plastics and fibre strengthened plastics may be used for heddle eye parts.
As production techniques for free designing of the heddle eye part, all production techniques being available to that can be used, such as, among others, (injection) moulding, sintering, milling, drilling, deformation and combinations of these techniques. In this heddle eye part the side view cross-sections are represented counterphased next to the heddle eye facing one another, so that the warp yam will be passing easily. The sections have an elliptical shape, so that the surface of the cross-section will remain constant when a tensile strength will be applied, but the wear resistance will increase in those areas where the contact with yams outside the heddle eye is occurring frequently by situating the longest axis of the ellipse in that direction.
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