Automatic lacing method and apparatus for making pieces with multidirectional woven reinforcement
AssigneeSociete Nationale Industrielle Aerospatiale
InventorGeorges J. J. Cahuzac
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention relates to the manufacture of woven pieces made by multidirectional weaving. A woven piece comprises, along one of the directions of weaving, temporary vertical rods which must be replaced by yarns joined to form a strand. The apparatus comprises to this end an upper assembly for detecting the position of the rods of the piece, rotating step by step, and actuating a needle with opening eye which, on descending through the woven piece, chases the rods one by one and hooks, in a lower assembly, a loop of the lacing strand and returns it into the woven piece in place of the chase rod.
Claims18
Method for automatically lacing reinforcements or woven pieces made by multidirectional weaving and composed of filiform textile elements disposed in several directions, one of the directions of weaving being initially materialised by temporary rigid rods which have to be replaced, in the course of lacing operations, by filiform textile elements, this method comprising the following steps of:
- passing a needle through the woven piece, which needle simultaneously pushes a preselected rigid rod outwardly and chases it from the woven piece,
- causing the needle to grip a textile element previously formed as a loop and
- causing the needle, provided with the textile element thus gripped, to pass through the woven piece in the opposite direction, said textile element thus gripped occupying the space vacated by the previously chased rigid rod,
- disengaging the needle from the woven piece, and
- releasing it from the textile element.
Apparatus for automatically lacing a reinforcement or woven piece formed by the multidirectional weaving of filiform textile elements on a plurality of rigid rods, a mechanism for advancing the woven piece step by step in a direction perpendicular to that of the rigid rods, two stationary assemblies placed on either side of the woven piece in the direction of the rigid rods, namely an upper assembly comprising a sub-assembly for detecting the position of the rods and a sub-assembly for actuating and guiding a lacing needle, a lacing needle having a normally closed opening eye, said lacing needle being operable by said upper sub-assembly to pass through the woven piece, chasing the rods one by one and, picking up a textile element at the end of said pass and return, bringing said textile element into the place vacated by each chased rod, and a lower assembly comprising a sub-assembly having a mobile member for forming, a loop of the textile element by the needle and a sub-assembly for presenting the textile element alternately to said mobile member and to lacing said needle, and a sub-assembly for opening the eye of the needle for said needle to grip the loop of the textile element.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.