System and method for controlling the stopping operations of weaving machines

Claim 3

A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said preference controlling means comprises a logic gate means associated with said first and second detectors for permitting the passage of the high priority emergency signal to the brake actuator of the associated weaving machine and timing means associated with the second detector for permitting the passage of the low priority emergency signal to said brake actuator after the elapse of a predetermined time period from the time of occurrence of the last-mentioned signal in the presence of another high priority emergency signal generated from the first detector associated with another weaving machine.

Claim 4

A system as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said preference controlling means comprises: a pulse generator for generating clock pulses; a timing means responsive to said low priority emergency signal for generating an output after the elapse of a predetermined time period; a counter means for each one of said weaving machines for counting a train of clock pulses in response to the output of said timing means; a maximum detecting means associated with each one of said weaving machines for detecting the maximum value of the counts respectively stored in the counter means associated with the other weaving machines; a comparator means; and a logic circuit means for providing one of first and second logic states depending upon the presence of another high priority emergency signal and the presence of another low priority emergency signal to cause said comparator means to compare said count stored in said counter means with a predetermined value in response to said first logic state and cause said comparator means to compare said stored count with the detected maximum value in response to said second logic state; and a switching means responsive to an output from said comparator means to activate said associated brake actuator.

Claim 5

A system as claimed in claim 3, wherein said logic circuit comprises means associated with each one of said weaving machines to respond to the presence of a high priority emergency signal and to the absence of any other low priority emergency signal to generate a first signal representing said first logic state and respond to the absence of a high priority emergency signal which occurs simultaneously with the presence of any other low priority emergency signal to generate a signal representing said second logic state.

Claim 6

A system as claimed in claim 3, wherein said logic circuit means comprises: means for detecting the number of said low priority emergency signals generated from the second detectors associated with all of said weaving machines; means for multiplying said detected number of the low priority emergency signals by a predetermined multiplication factor which represents the number of maintenance personnels required for attending to a single weaving machine under the low priority emergency condition; means for providing summation of said multipled number and the number of the high priority emergency signals generated from the first detectors associated with all of said weaving machines; and second comparator means for comparing the summation output with a reference value representing the maximum number of maintenance personnels to generate a first signal representing said first logic state when said summation output is greater than said reference value and a second signal representing said second logic state when said summation output is smaller than said reference value.

Claim 7

A system as claimed in claim 1 or 2, further comprising a third detector associated with each one of said weaving machines for generating an emergency signal of a priority level intermediate the levels of said high and low priorities, and means for counting the number of occurrences of said intermediate priority level signal within a predetermined period of time to activate the brake actuator of the associated weaving machine when said counted number reaches a predetermined value.