Jumbo cloth take-up and inspection apparatus for textile loom

Claim 2

Jumbo cloth take-up and inspection apparatus for a textile loom having conventionally-mounted warp beam mechanisms at the rear of the loom and successively positioned weaving mechanisms terminating at generally the front of the loom and including drive means, said apparatus characterized by forming a largerthan-normal roll of woven cloth before doffing, providing on-theloom cloth inspection, and maintaining the woven cloth generally above the conventional loom warp beam and weaving mechanisms to prevent the cloth from becoming dirty and improve quality, said apparatus comprising: means for guiding the woven cloth from the front of the loom generally vertically upwardly to provide an inspection area for on-the-loom inspection of the woven cloth and then generally horizontally over the top of the loom toward the rear thereof; and take-up roll means mounted generally above the warp beam mechanisms at the rear of the loom a sufficient distance to provide space for receiving the woven cloth from said guiding means and forming a larger-than-normal jumbo roll of woven cloth before doffing is necessary.

Claim 3

Jumbo cloth take-up and inspection apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, in which said means for guiding the woven cloth from the front of the loom comprises frame members for being secured to the loom, and guide rolls rotatably mounted on said frame members for receiving and guiding the woven cloth in its path of travel through the inspection area and to said take-up roll means.

Claim 4

Jumbo cloth take-up and inspection apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, in which said take-up roll means comprises frame members for being secured to the loom and extending generally upwardly from the rear portion of the loom, a take-up roll rotatably mounted on said frame members for receiving the woven cloth from said guiding means and for forming a jumbo roll of the woven cloth, and drive means carried by said frame means and connected with said take-up roll for rotating said take-up roll to roll-up the woven cloth thereon.

Claim 5

Jumbo cloth take-up and inspection apparatus, as set forth in claim 3, in which said drive means comprises a reciprocating linkage for being reciprocated by the drive means of the loom, gear means connected with said reciprocating linkage for being rotated thereby during its reciprocating movements, and a slip clutch connected with said gear means and with said take-up roll for rotating said take-up roll during the rotating movements of said gear means when the tension on the woven cloth being rolled-up on said take-up roll is below a predetermined amount and for slipping and allowing rotation of said gear means with respect to said take-up roll and preventing rotation of said take-up roll when the tension of the woven cloth being wound on said take-up roll is above the predeTermined amount.

Claim 6

Jumbo cloth take-up and inspection apparatus, as set forth in claim 4, in which the loom includes a whip roll mechanism having a cam-operated, reciprocating, rocker device, said reciprocating linkage of said apparatus drive means comprises a first lever arm having one end thereof connected to said whip roll rocker device for reciprocating movement thereby, a second lever arm having one end thereof secured to said first lever arm for reciprocating movement thereby and being pivotally mounted at an intermediate portion thereof and having a pick member pivotally mounted on the other end thereof and biased into engagement with said gear means of said apparatus drive means, and said gear means of said apparatus drive means comprising a rotatably mounted pick gear having teeth around the outer circumference thereof for engagement by said pick member for sequential rotary movement thereof in one direction during each reciprocation of said pick member and including stop means biased into engagement with said gear means for preventing rotation of said gear means in the opposite direction.

Claim 7

Jumbo cloth take-up and inspection apparatus, as set forth in claim 5, including release means for releasing said pick member and said stop means from said gear means when it is desired to pull the woven cloth back off of the roll formed on said take-up roll for obtaining access to the loom from the front thereof.

Claim 8

Jumbo cloth take-up and inspection apparatus, as set forth in claim 6, in which said release means comprises a manually movable handle member pivotally mounted on said frame members for movement by an operator, connecting rod means extending from said handle member to said pick member and to said stop means for pivotally moving said pick member and said stop means against the bias thereof when said handle member is moved to release said gear member for rotation in the direction opposite to the take-up rotation and thus allow rotation of the take-up roll and the roll of woven cloth formed thereon in the opposite direction to the take-up rotation.

Claim 9

Jumbo cloth take-up and inspection apparatus, as set forth in claim 3, in which said take-up roll means further comprises means mounting said take-up roll for easy manual disengagement for doffing of a full jumbo roll of woven cloth from said apparatus comrising an aperture in each end of said take-up roll, a first stub shaft rotatably carried by said frame members and secured against longitudinal movement thereof, said first stub shaft being connected at one end with said take-up drive means for rotation thereby and having the other end received within said aperture in one end of said take-up roll and being keyed thereto for supporting and rotating said take-up roll and allowing longitudinal linear movement of said take-up roll with respect thereto, a second stub shaft longitudinally movably carried by said frame members and having one end received within said aperture in the other end of said take-up roll for supporting said take-up roll, means biasing said second stub shaft into reception within said aperture in the other end of said take-up roll and biasing said take-up roll and said aperture in the one end thereof into reception with said first stub shaft, stop means carried by said frame member and engageable with said second stub shaft for holding said second stub shaft against longitudinal movement and in a first position in which said first and second stub shaft are positioned within said apertures in said take-up roll for supporting and rotating said take-up roll and being disengagable for allowing longitudinal movement of said second stub shaft into a second position in which said take-up roll and the apertures in the ends thereof disengage from said first and second stub shaft for doffing of a full jumbo roll of woven cloth, and lever means pivotally mounted on said frame member and having one end thereof engagable with said roll Of woven cloth on said take-up roll so that the other end of said lever means may be manually moved by an operator to move said take-up roll and the full roll of woven cloth thereon against said biasing means to longitudinally move said take-up roll and said second stub shaft for disengaging said take-up roll from said first stub shaft and for disengaging said take-up roll from said second stub shaft when said stop means is in the disengaged position thereof.

Claim 10

Jumbo cloth take-up and inspection apparatus, as set forth in claim 8, in which said stop means comprises a cut-out portion in said second stub shaft, and a lever member pivotally mounted at one end on said frame members for positioning within said cut-out portion of said second stub shaft to hold said second stub shaft against longitudinal movement and being movable to a position out of engagement with said cut-out in said second stub shaft for allowing longitudinal movement of said second stub shaft.

Claim 11

Jumbo cloth take-up and inspection apparatus, as set forth in claim 8, in which said apparatus further comprises first cradle means carried by said frame members and positioned generally below the said other end of said take-up roll, and second cradle means forming said one end of said lever means and positioned generally below the said one end of said take-up roll and in position for engagement with the roll of cloth on said take-up roll, said first and second cradle means being positioned for receiving the ends of said take-up roll when said take-up roll is disengaged from said first and second stub shaft for allowing easy manual doffing and removal of the jumbo roll of woven cloth from said apparatus.