Letoff for looms

Claim 1

A letoff for a loom comprising a support frame attachable fixedly to a loom, an upper variable diameter pulley shaft journaled on said support frame on a fixed rotational axis, input drive means for said upper variable diameter pulley shaft operating while the loom is in operation, a lower variable diameter pulley shaft journaled on said support frame on a fixed rotational axis substantially parallel to the rotational axis of said upper pulley shaft and substantially in a common vertical plane therewith, variable diameter pulley transmission means including a transmission belt interconnecting said upper and lower shafts, yielding control linkage means for said transmission means having a connection with the whip roll of the loom, a letoff shaft journaled on the support frame on a fixed rotational axis near the elevation of said lower pulley shaft and spaced from one end of the lower pulley shaft, the rotational axes of the lower pulley shaft and said letoff shaft being substantially at right angles, said letoff shaft adapted to drive a warp beam on the loom through gearing, a worm gear on said letoff shaft adapted to be driven, a drive shaft journaled upon said support frame above and parallel to the axis of the lower pulley shaft and disposed on a fixed rotational axis substantially at right angles to the axis of the letoff shaft spaced thereabove, a worm on said drive shaft in fixed meshed relation with the worm gear of the letoff shaft, adjacent end portions of said lower pulley shaft and drive shaft overlapping, and additional gearing drivingly interconnecting said overlapping end portions.