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Patent Searching and Data


Title:
JACQUARD EMULATOR
Document Type and Number:
WIPO Patent Application WO/1986/006421
Kind Code:
A1
Abstract:
A Jacquard emulator for operating the pins (1) of a Jacquard mechanism as is used in the textile industry. The emulator has a number of disks (2) mounted on the shafts of respective stepper motors (3). The disks have a number of holes therein so that when the disks are brought into contact with the pins (1) by axial movement, predetermined pins align with holes in the disk so that required patterns of pins are actuated. The stepper motors (3) are controlled to orientate the disk to vary the pattern of pins actuated as required by a desired programme.

Inventors:
PONGRASS ROBERT GABOR (AU)
BUCHEN MARK ALEXANDER (AU)
Application Number:
PCT/AU1986/000105
Publication Date:
November 06, 1986
Filing Date:
April 18, 1986
Export Citation:
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Assignee:
WILCOM PTY LTD (AU)
International Classes:
D03C3/00; D03C3/20; D03C15/04; (IPC1-7): D03C3/20
Foreign References:
AU8852082A1983-03-31
GB1304683B
US3828826A1974-08-13
US4134432A1979-01-16
DE313906C
Other References:
See also references of EP 0219545A1
Download PDF:
Claims:
CLAIMS
1. Apparatus for actuating predetermined patterns of pins in a Jacquard mechanism of a textile machine, said apparatus comprising: at least one disk located on a shaft parallel to the axis of the pins such that the face of the disk is adjacent the ends of the pins; rotation means operable by control means to rotate the disk about the axis of the shaft to a desired orientation, the face of the disk being provided with holes arranged in predetermined locations; and an actuator arranged to axially advance and retract the or each disk relative to the pins, into and out of contact with the ends of the pins such that predetermined pins are axially depressed by the face of the disk and other pins align with the holes in the disk and are not depressed.
2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1. wherein the rotation means comprises at least one stepper motor coupled to the or each disk respectively.
3. Apparatus as defined in either claim 1 or claim 2. wherein the or each disk is fitted to the respective shaft for rotation therewith but movable therealong by the actuator. 4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2. wherein the actuator is adapted to move the or each disk and the or each stepper motor as a unit.
4. 6 Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising securing means arranged to prevent the rotation of the or each disk when the Jacquard pins are in contact with or penetrating the or each disk.
5. 7 Apparatus as defined in any preceding claim, the control means includes a sensing element for sensing the orientation of the or each disk. θ. Apparatus as defined in any preceding claim, wherein the control means comprises a microprocessor.
Description:
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JACQUARD EMULATOR" TECHNICAL PIELD This invention relates to a device for replacing Jacquard card or Jacquard paper tape on machines using Jacquard mechanism as is used extensively throughout the textile industry.

BACKGROUND ART In the past devices have been constructed to emulate the Jacquard card so that existing machines may be improved by the replacement of the paper tape with a device which will allow existing machine to operate with less down time due to the handling and storage of the Jacquard card. The sheer physical size of the Jacquard card causes storage problems. The cards also require punching machines for punching new programmes and for repunching worn cards.

Solenoid emulators have been produced in which the "hole" or "no hole" in the paper tape is emulated by a plunger controlled by the solenoid to open or close a hole formed in a metal block which is presented to the Jacquard pins (fingers or feelers) the solenoids being controlled by electronic means to emulate the programme on a paper tape.

The solenoids however, have a limited life cycle and in one programme, may operate many hundreds of times thus creating reliability problems through failure of a solenoid to operate which may not be noticed immediately affecting the final pattern produced-.. Also, the number of solenoids required make the detection of the failed solenoid difficult. When solenoids are nearing the end of their life, they tend to fail at a seemingly random occurence.

A drum controller was proposed to emulate the paper tape. In this arrangement the paper tape was replaced by a mechanism having a series of drums, each drum being independently rotatable and being rotated by respective stepper motors via gearing. The drums had holes therein

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to emulate the holes in the paper tape. The stepper motors were controlled electronically to rotate the drums to the required position having the same hole pattern as that part of the paper tape which was being emulated at that particular point in time. However, this proved to be unsatisfactory due to the closeness of the Jacquard pins, requiring the drums to be physically located very close together, and acceptable machining tolerances. This resulted in the drums rubbing on each other causing friction losses, thus increasing the load on the drive motors and reducing their operational life, effectiveness and reliability. The relatively large inertia of the drums presented a speed limitation on the control of the drums both at the starting and stopping of the rotation of the drum. The allowable size of the motors was small due to the limited space available in the compact design of the device. Therefore, while the drum controller did overcome most of the disadvantages of the paper tape, it still had some disadvantages. DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Thus, the object of this invention is to provide a mechanism that will allow more efficient operation of machines using Jacquard mechanism. The machines using the Jacquard mechanism often represent a large capital investment in a textile factory and replacement of the entire machine to improve efficiency is usually not commercially viable.

Accordingly, the present invention consists in apparatus for actuating predetermined patterns of pins in a Jacquard mechanism of a textile machine, said apparatus comprising: at least one disk located on a shaft parallel to the axis of the pins such that the face of the disk is adjacent the ends of the pins; rotation means operable by control means to rotate the disk about the axis of the shaft to a desired orientation, the face of the disk being provided with

holes arranged in predetermined locations; and an actuator arranged to axially advance and retract the or each disk relative to the pins, into and out of contact with the ends of the pins such that predetermined pins are axially depressed by the face of the disk and other pins align with the holes in the disk and are not depressed.

Preferably, the rotation means comprises at least one stepper motor coupled to the or each disk respectively. Preferably, the or each disk is fitted to the respective shaft for rotation therewith but movable therealong by the actuator.

Alternatively, the actuator is adapted to move the or each disk and the or each stepper motor as a unit. Preferably, the apparatus further comprises securing means arranged to prevent the rotation of the or each disk when the Jacquard pins are in contact with or penetrating . the or each disk.

Preferably, the control means includes sensing element for sensing the orientation of the or each disk. Preferably, the control means comprises a microprocessor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Notwithstanding any other forms which may fall within the scope one preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a schematic view of" a disk, motor and Jacquard actuation pins according to the invention; Figure 2 shows a face of a typical disk illustrating a typical series of hole patterns;

Figure 3 illustrates the method of detecting a hole or no hole by the Jacquard actuation pins, 3A represents the rest position. 3B illustrates detecting "a hole" and 3C illustrates detecting "no hole";

Figure 4 illustrates how a plurality of disks may be used when there are numerous Jacquard pins involved; and

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Figure 5 illustrates one method of moving the disks into contact with the Jacquard mechanism.

MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In a typical Jacquard mechanism the operation of the device requires the actuation pins 1 to detect the absence of a "hole". This is achieved by moving the device incorporating the "holes" towards the Jacquard mechanism, thus engaging the actuation pins. In this embodiment the holes and no holes previously represented by holes and no holes on a paper tape are represented by holes and no holes in a disk (2). As illustrated in Figure 3 as the disk (2) is moved towards the detecting position (Figure 3A) the actuating pins either pass through a hole in the disk (Figure 3B) thus detecting a hole and remaining stationary, or come into contact with the disk (Figure 3C). thus detecting a "no hole" and are moved longitudinally by the disk to cause some defined mechanical action. The action will of course depend.on the function controlled by that particular actuation pin. The combination of functions actuated define the overall function performed by the machine being operated by the Jacquard mechanism, e.g. an embroidery machine or a weaving loom.

The various functions being performed in a sequence results in a design being created by the machine. The complete sequence being called a programme. Each programme step requires the sensing of holes or no holes by the Jacquard pins, therefore the ioles formed in the disk are arranged into a series of patterns for presentation to the Jacquard pins so that the machine performs the correct function.

In Figure 2. the face of a disk is shown illustrating a possible series of hole patterns formed along various lines, each line 4 representing the possible combination of holes for the Jacquard mechanism to detect as the

Jacquard pins are arranged in similar straight lines. Of course, each pattern of holes in the disk (2) is adapted

to align with the Jacquard pins 1 of the particular ■machine on which the controller is to be deployed.

Normally, the imaginary line on the disk along which the holes are aligned is offset from the axis of the disk as if a pin was aligned with the centre of rotation of the disk (the axis) that pin would always detect. the same condition, i.e. either always a "hole" or always a "no hole", thus making that pin redundant. If the axis was aligned between two pins such that the pins could detect either holes or no holes or if the disk was sufficiently large to operate the required pins in less than a radius, i.e. all the "holes" were displaced along a radius, then the imaginary line may pass through the axis of the disk. The total number of hole combinations in theory is the total number of permutations of the number of pins involved, however, not all combinations result in valid Jacquard commands and thus are not required. Therefore the total number of different hole combinations which equals the number of different disk orientations required equals the number of valid Jacquard commands for the pins concerned.

As can be seen from Figure 4. for Jacquard mechanisms with numerous actuation pins, a series of disks (2) located side by side may be required, each disk (2) acting upon a series of pins (1). The actual detection of

"holes" only requires the disks to interact with the pins (2). On some machines the pins themselves move and therefore require no axial movement of the disks. However, most machines will require the disks to move towards the pins. This may be achieved by moving the entire device including the disks, motors and mounting frame or may simply involve the movement of the disks alone. This may be achieved by sliding the disks along the drive shafts of their respective motors into and out of the detection position as illustrated in Figure 5.

Naturally the disks and shafts will need to be splined to allow the longitudinal movement of the disks on the shafts

while maintaining rotational integrity. This arrangement reduces the physical mass of the moving parts, thus placing less strain on the actuation machinery.

Each disk is rotated by a respective direct coupled stepper motor, each motor is in turn controlled by electronic means to step the motor to align the disk in the desired orientation between successive detection steps. A number of sensing elements may be deployed to sense the orientation of each disk to ensure the correct orientation of the disks. Preferably, securing means, not shown, in the form of a brake, holds the disks in their desired orientations during each detection step.

The electronic means for controlling the stepper motors in this embodiment is a microprocessor, being particularly suited to this type of use. The microprocessor has the required programme stored in its memory or be able to calculate the required steps from _. that information. The desired programme could be loaded in its memory by any of the usual techniques. It is the function of the microprocessor to output signals to the stepper motors to rotate the disks to the required orientation to produce the desired end result. The timing of the rotation is also controlled by the microprocessor so that rotation only occurs during the periods between successive detection steps.

The advantages of the disk over previous devices relates to the increased reliability and efficiency of the device. Normally as the speed of the mechanism increases (as is needed to attain higher output figures thus reducing the unit cost per output item) reliability decreases. The prior art drum controller suffers greatly from too much inertia to attain the -speeds attainable by the disk controller. The use of stepper motors is vastly more reliable than solenoids when used over the enormous number of cycles experienced within this industry.