Optical weft sensor for a loom
AssigneeNissan Motor Co., Ltd.
InventorYoshimi Wada
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An optical weft sensor for a loom in which the light-receiving and light receiving elements are fixed to the loom frame and only the flexible optical fibers are disposed on the reed frame. Since no shock or vibration is applied to these electronic elements, it is possible to obtain a relatively long life time, thus improving the sensor reliability. Additionally, since the weft sensor according to the present invention is supported by a sensor holder, it is possible to readily adjust the sensor position along the reed frame or reed holder when the width of the cloth is required to change. The optical weft sensor comprises a LED, a phototransistor, optical fibers, and a detection circuit, in addition to the sensor holder.
Claims11
An optical weft sensor for a loom with a frame for detecting the presence of a weft inserted into a shed formed by warp threads before the weft is beaten-up during a beat-up stage by a reed having reed wires arranged in a reed frame fixed to a reed holder, which comprises:
- (a) light emitting means fixed to the frame of the loom for emitting weft-sensing light;
- (b) light receiving means fixed to the frame of the loom for receiving the light emitted from said light emitting means and influenced by the presence of the weft;
- (c) a first optical fiber optically connected to said light emitting means for transmitting the emitted light therethrough;
- (d) a second optical fiber optically connected to said light receiving means for transmitting the received light therethrough;
- (e) optical signal processing means responsive to said light receiving means for processing the light received through said second optical fiber to stop the loom in case a weft is not inserted into the shed;
- (f) means for holding said first and second optical fibers, the open end surfaces of said optical fibers and said holding means being disposed out of the range within which the weft is relatively moved with respect to the reed at the beat-up stage;
- and
- (g) means for adjusting the position of the open end surfaces of said optical fibers along the longitudinal direction of the reed when the width of woven cloth is required to change.
An optical weft sensor for a loom comprising:
- light emitting means disposed on said loom at a location relatively free from vibration and shock for emitting weft-sensing light;
- light receiving means disposed on said loom at a location relatively free from vibration and shock for receiving said weft-sensing light emitted by said light emitting means;
- optical fiber means optically connected to said light emitting means for transmitting the emitted light therethrough and optically connected to said light receiving means for transmitting the received light therethrough;
- optical signal processing means responsive to said light receiving means for generating an indication according to whether light is received through said optical fiber;
- means for holding said optical fiber means, the open end surfaces of said optical fiber means and said holding means being disposed out of the range within which the weft is relatively moved with respect to a reed during a beat-up stage of operation of said loom;
- and
- means for adjusting the position of the open end surfaces of said optical fiber means along the longitudinal direction of the reed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.