EP 1 156 145 A1 Europdisches Patentamt European Patent Office (12) Office européen des brevets, (43) Date of publication 21.11.2001 Bulletin 2001/47 (21) Application number: 00304081.3 (22) Date of fing: 18.08.2000 a EP 1156 145 A1 EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION (61) intci7: DOSD 39/08 (84) Designated Contracting States: AT BE CH CY DE DK ES FI FR GB GRIE/TLILU MC NL PT SE Designated Extension States ALLTLV MK RO SI (71) Applicant: BRINTONS LIMITED Kidderminister Worcestershire DY10 1AG (GB) (72) Inventor: The designation of the inventor has not yet been filed (74) Representative: Rackham, Stephen Nell GILL JENNINGS & EVERY, Broadgate House, 7Eldon Street London EC2M 7LH (GB) (54) Carpet weaving (87) A carpet weaving loom including at least one tuft forming unt (1) for forming sequentially yarn tufts (7) 6f a number of different colours, means to receive ‘and hold at yarn tut holding sites (8) yarn tufts supplied sequentially by the tuft forming unit (1), and transfor ‘means (10) to transfer allo the tufts (7) held by the yarn tuft holding sites (8) simultaneously to thelr correspond: Ing weaving points. The or each tuft forming unit sup- plies yarn tuts (7) to at least twenty yarn tut holding Stes (8) botween successive operations of the transfer ‘means (10). When only a single tuft forming unit (1) is provided it preferably supplies tufts to atleast one hun dred and sixty tuft holding sites (8), When a plurality of tuft forming uns (1) are provided each preferably sup- plies tufts to between twenty and one hundred andtwen ty tuftholding sites (8). This configuration leads to acon siderable reduction in the size of creel with consequent reduction in waste and time taken to thread-up such a loom,1 EP 1156 145 A1 2 Description [0001] _Inmaking carpet, particularly patterned Axmin ster carpet, a yarn tuft forming unit Is used to provide yarn ofa particular colour to each weaving point of the carpet Inconventional Axminster weaving there are two principal ways which the yarn tuft formation is carried out. The first way is on a Jacquard Axminster loom, and the second ison spool Axminster loom, [0002] On a gripper Jacquard Axminster loom each weaving point includes a yarn carrier which is normally fed by eignt yarns usually of different colour andthe Jac: quar mechanism moves the carier to bring a selected yarn to the yarn selection position. A gripper moves to- Wards the carrie grips the yarn at the yarn selection position then relative movement apart ofthe gripper and the cartier pulls a predetermined length of yarn from the carrir. The yarn s then cut to form a tut and moved by the gripper to the weaving point. The tuft carried by tho Grippers of the appropriate colour forthe tuft to be sup- plied to the next row of carpet to be woven. For a con ventional 12 fot (4m) loom there are over & 1000 weew: Ing points across the loom and thus the ereel supplying yarn to the loom has to have the potential of carying ‘ver 8000 yam packages. Typically, when the crea! in cludes measured quantities of yarn in each yarn pack: ‘age, an allowance of an addtional eighteen metres of yarn is provided in each yarn package, Accordingly, the Greater the number of yarn packages the greater tho wastage. In spite of such a large creel size a designer (of such carpets is relatively limited since the number af colours availabe for each column of tufts extending in the warp direction ofthe inished.carpet andcorrespond: Ing to a single weaving point is limited to only eight throughout each pattern repeat. Jacquards are also known in which the yam carrier can hold sixteen dior font yarns. Thase require an evan larger crea! [0003] Spool Axminsterloomsprovide adesignor with ‘greater flexibly. In spool Axminster looms a separate ‘spe0l is provided for each row of the pattern repeat and ‘each spool has a separate yarn winding for each wea: ing point along each row. Therefore, at east theoretical ly, the designer has an infinite number of colour choices for each column and row of each paltern repel, How ‘eve, in practice, as the number of colour choices used for each column and row of the design increases, the ‘number of yarn packages needed forthe spool winging ‘operation also inoreases. Further, the spool winder must oe set up citferantly forthe winding of each spool which is ime consuming. When alarge number of diferent col ‘ours are used in both the column and row or warp and Wert direction of each pattern repeat the number of df ferent coloured yarn packages supplying the spool winder can be even larger than those on a creel of a typical Jacquard Axminster loom. The pattern repeat on ‘spool looms i limited by the number of spools available Inthe spool chain, Further, there is considerably greater yarn wastage from a spool Axminster loom than a grip per Axminster loom because, on completion of a run, waste is gonarated rom each weaving point of each row ofthe pattern repeat [0004] In both the Jacquard and spoo! Axminster looms a row of tufts for a complete row of the carpet is created simultaneously and transferred to the weaving point at which they are woven into a backing to produce the carpet. An entirely diferent approach to yarn selec: tion for carpet production has recently been proposed in WO 95/81594. In this, t's proposed that tuts of yarn to form a row of the carpet are produced by frst loading yar tufts nto a tuft carrier and then transferringthe yarn tufts from the tuft carrier to the weaving points. To achiove this a large number of different tut forming units, typically one per weaving point, are provided ‘along the length of apath with typically each tut forming ni Being supplied with yarn of onlya single colour, AS the tuft carror is moved along the path it receives tufts ‘of appropriate colour each ofits tut holdingsites, The tuft carrioris subsequently moved so that althe tufts for ‘each row can be gripped by grippers and transferred to the weaving point simultaneously. Thus, the ufts are not usually allformed simuftaneously and hence the ttt for- ‘mation is, atleast to some extent, decoupled from the weaving oporation, Therefore, tuft formation can take place at the same timo as the weaving operation and thus tuft formation can take place substantially continu ‘ously throughout the operation ofthe loom, This is to be contrasted with conventional spoo! or gripper type looms where tuft formation takes place over only about haif of each weaving cycle. [0005] In examples given in WO 95/31594 itis sug- gestedthat partly as a result of forming the tufts through Coutthe entire weaving cycleitis possibleto, forexample, increase the speed of the tuft forming operation by four times. itis also explained that if this were possible and It was intended to operate the loom at the samo speed ‘8 a conventional loom then It would be possible to ro- duce the size ofits cree! by a quarter since, in effect, ‘each tft forming unit would supply tuts forfour weaving points. Howover, nowhera inthis document doas it ox: ‘empliy an arrangement in which there are less yarn packages than the number of weaving points. [0006] Whilst the above document spectically exem- pllies only the supply of yarn ofa single colour to each tuft forming unk it does disclose the theoretical poss ity of providing yar of a number of cifferant colours to ‘each tuft forming unit and somehow, in an unspecified way, selecting yarn of an appropriate colour for each weaving point. I this teaching is followed the creel size Would not be reduced significantly. The dacument also discusses the theoretical possiblity of holding the yarn cartiar stationary whist moving the tuft forming unt. Howaver, neither of these theoretical possbiltios are exemplified nor is it explained how they could be achieved nor what advantages would accrue. [0007] According fo this invention a carpet weaving oom includes at least one tuft ferming unit fr ferming3 EP 1156 145 A1 4 sequentially yar tuts of a number of cfferent colours, ‘means to receive and hold at yarn tuftholding sites yarn tufts supplied sequentially by the tuft forming unt, and transfer means o transfer al ofthe tufts held by the yarn tuft holding sites simultaneously to their corresponding weaving points, the or each tuft forming unit supplying yarn tufts to at least twenty yarn tuft holding sites be: tween successive operations ofthe transfer means. [0008] The number of tut forming units provided on the loom varies with the width of the loom and its re uited operating speed, For example, on a loom used to mako carpet samples there will usualy only bea sin gle tut forming unit and this tuft forming unit may supply tufts to, for example, three hundred, ormore, tut holding sites. On a typical twelve foot (4m) loom there may be ‘wove tuft forming units each supplying tufts to less than ‘one hundred and twenty holding sites and typically ‘around eighty tuft holding stes. Howaver, to be able to ‘operate such a loom atthe highest possible speed tho ‘number of tuft forming units may be increased to twenty four or even thity with each supplying just over forty or ‘about thy fve tut holding sites, In the case of there being more than one tuft forming unit these are prefer: ably subsequently equidistantly spaced across the loom. [0009] Taking tho typical case given above of atwolve foot (4m) loom including twelve tuft forming units and ‘assuming an equal choice of diferent yarns, eight, a sed in atypical conventional gripper Axminster loom, the ereel of such a loom only requires ninety six different yarn packages. This is neatty a hundred-fold decrease inthe numberof yarn packages from that required inthe Conventional loom. Taking the case of tity tut forming Units this stl leads to at least a thiry-fold decrease in the number of yam packages. Reducing the size of tho creel by such amounts leads to an equivalent reduction Inthe sot-up time required to thread up the loom as well as potentially having significantly oss waste as a result ‘ofamuch smaller number of arn packages on the cree! [0010] Preferably the or each tuft forming unit is ppable of forming tufts from at loast eight diferent yarns and preferably at least ton. The number of different yarns fed tothe or each tuft forming unit ay be as high ‘as twenly four or even thirty two. Increasing the number of diferent yamns fed tothe or each tuft forming unit in creases the number of yam packages In the ereel but gives a carpet designer a greater number of colour choices in each column of tufts extending in the warp direction over a conventional loom. In spite of any in Crease due to the greater colour choice there is always @ significant reduction in the overall number of yarn packages in the creel, [0011] Preferably the or each tuft forming unit com: prises a yarn selector wheal with provision for holding a ‘umber of diferent yarns arranged around i, means to drive the selector whee! into a selected one of a number ‘of angularly discrete positions to bring a selected yarn toa loading postion, a puller for engaging the selected yarn at the loading position and for puling a predeter: ‘mined length of the selected yarn from the selector \Whee!, anda cutting mechanism to cutthe selected yarn to form a tut of predetermined length [0012] The yarns may be arranged around the periph ‘ery ofthe selector wheel generally parallel to its ex's of rotation but preferably the yams extend gonerally rad ally to the periphery of the selector wheel. Typically, such a yam selector wheel has provision for containing ‘more than 10 different yams and typically 12, 18, 24 or 32 diferent yarns. Preferably the selector wheelis driv- feninto and between its predetermined angularpostions by a servomotor under the control of a computer. [0013] Preferably the motion required to operate the cutter, provide opening and closing movernents of the Jaws ofthe puller, and fo move the puller forwards and backwards to pull yarn from the selector wheel and in tur from the cree! ar all ven from a so-called "gear: box forming part of the tuft forming unit. The gearbox ‘may be driven by a sorvomotor under the control of a ‘computer and inthis way itcan be ensured that the tin ing of the puller and cutter movements can be synchro: rised with the rotation ofthe selector whee! [0014] Alternatively a separate computer controlled ‘servomotor may be provided to drive each motion ofthe cutter andpuller and, inthis case, the computer ensures the appropriate timing of the motions in synchronism with the rotation ofthe selector wheel, [0015] Preferably the or each tuft forming unit also in Cludes a yam detectorto ensure that yarn is presentbe- ‘tween the puller and the selactor whee! after the pullar has moved away from the selector wheel. Typically this yarn detectors formed by a simple light emitter and de~ tector arrangement on opposite sides of the path of the yar, In this way when the optical detector detects the presence of light emitted by the emitter this indicates that no yar is present. Typically, such an indication is Lsedto slop the operation ofthe loom un any problem has been reciied to ensure that each and every tut re- quired is formed correct [0016] The carpet weaving loom may be formed in a way which is generally similar to that descrived in WO (95/31594 in which the or each tuft forming unit remains generally staionary the means to receive and hold the yarn tufts at yarn tuft holding sites is formed by a tuft carrier which moves past the or each tuft forming unit, ‘tor being completely file the tuft carrer is then trane- ferred to a position to enable the tufts for @ whole row to be taken trom it simultaneously to be woven into carpet. Alternatively, the or each tuft forming unit is ar- ranged to traverse all of part of the width of the loom ‘and provide tufts for the weaving points passed as the tuft forming unit or units move transversely across the loom [0017] Asan example ofthe later ofthese, the means to receive and hold yarn tuts may be formed by a series of yarn tuft carters arranged around an axis which ex- tends transversely across the loom, The, or each tuft5 EP 1156 145 A1 6 forming unit moves along the yarn tutcarier filing each ofits tuftretenton sites in tum with sequentially cut tuts, ‘and, once al of the sites have been filed the yarn tuft cartier is rotated about the axis to bring an emply yarn tuftearrerto a postion adjacent the or each tut forming nit and to move the filed yam tuft carrer towards the transfer means. In this case the transfer means corre spond to the gripper arrangement of a conventional ‘Axminster gripper loom and grip the cut tufts held inthe yarn tuft carrier and move them to the weaving point at Which they are woven into the carpet and released, [0018] In another example the means to raccive and hold yam tufts may include a pocket which is associated with each weaving point and which receives the yarn tuft ater itis formed by the of each tuft forming unt. Each tuft may be directed towards its associated pocket by an airflow created by applying a vacuum to the partic ular pocket next to receive acut tuft. Preferably the vac: ‘um is applied tothe pockets in tum as the or each tft forming unit moves along the row of pockets. One way Cf achieving this commutation between the supply of vacuum and the pockets isto provide an elongate vao- ‘uum chamber with an apertured sliding front plate; the plate being arranged to move with the tuft forming unit (units transversaly across the loom so that the aper: ture orapertures inthe plate ae aligned with air exhaust ports ofa particular pocket or particular pockets as the tufts for that pocket or those pockets are cut, The air flow entrains each cut tuft and guides it into its respec: tive pocket [0019] Preferably the pockets are Bounded at their bases by retractable pins and whilst the tufts are boing formed the pins are in their forwards postion defining a floor for each ofthe pockets. The packets that hold each tuft are preferably formed atthe upper end of a channel ‘and when all ofthe packets have been loaded with cut tufts, the pin floor is retracted and then punchers, ono for each pocket, are rotated to engage each tuft and push it along ts respective channel to engage it with a rose board of the loom. As the punchers withdraw the tufls are then woven into the backing and once the punchers have withdrawn, tufts toform the next row are fed into the pockets. In this example the channels and ppunchers thus form the tuft transfer means, [0020] A rapier crive for welt insertion, the shedding ‘of the warp threads and a lay beam with beat up reeds for abeat up operation onthe woven in tuftsare provided inboth of the above examples and, in general, they are entirely conventional in arrangement and operation [0021] By providing sufficient tuft forming units the oom can operate as fast as a conventional gripper ‘Axminster loom and so weave at a rate of about forty rows oftuftsperminuto. Withthe time savedin threading up the loom and creel there is a great reduction in ‘downtime’ which leads to a considerable increase in carpet production from each loom which also typically provides an increase in the choice of colours throughout the woven carpet with less waste of yam. Its also pos- sible to have Fewer tut forming units and have the loom ‘operating at a slower weaving speed than a convertion loom andstil achieve a similar carpet output as a re- sult of the shorter “downtime offseting the slower weaving speed, [0022] One of the most significant contributions tothe speeding up ofthe tuft forming operation and hence to the practicality of the present invention is the arrange ‘ment of the so-called "gearbox’ that provides the puller ‘and cutter motions in the or each tuft forming unit. Pret- erably the gearbox comprises a housing carrying three parallel shafts on which ara mountad three equal size pinions meshed together. One of the shatts is driven, ‘ypically by a servomator, and all three pinions or shafts ccamy eccentric pins. One end ofthe puller is pivoted to the housing and is other ond is bifurcated to provide a pair of jaws, One ofthe eccentric pins is connected to a od mounted fr slicing movement along the pullar body ‘and carrying an orthogonal jaw operating pin. Tho ec: contic pin causes the pulloro pivot backwards and for- wards and the orthogonal jaw operating pin to move up ‘and down, The up and down movement ofthe jaw op erating pin between facing cam surfaces ofthe bifureat €d jaws causes the jaws to open and close. Thus the puller moves forward, tho jaws close, the puller maves backwards, the jaws open and the cycle is repeated for ‘each rotation of the shaft. Another ofthe eccentric pins drives akife blade via alink tocutthe yarntoform atu [0023] Another important preferred feature ofthe tut forming unt i to handle the tuft positively at alltimes so that tis always under control. One way of achiavingthis isto include a pair of cheeks spaced apart and mounted ‘on and perpendiculerty tothe knife blade. As the knife biade is lowered to cut the yarn to form a tut, the yarn te form tho tut is trapped between the cheeks so that, when cut, tis sil held positively In this case the tuft forming unit preferably includes a pusher which passes between the checks to push the tuft out from between them. The pusher is driven via link and a centrally pi- ted frst ofder lever from the remaining eccentric pin The eccentric pins are timed with respect to one another so that the pusher initially engages the yarn whist iis held between the cheaks; then the yarn is cut o form the tuft; the tut is released from the Jaws of the puller butis still heldbetween the cheeks; and then the pusher finally pushes the cut tut out from between the cheeks, [0024] Panioular examples of a loom in accordance With this invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of a frst ex- ‘ample of loom during the tut forming process and ‘showing the puller in a frst postion: Figure 2is a sectional side elevation ofthe first x- ‘ample of loom during the tut transfer operation and ‘showing the puller in a second positon:7 EP 1156 145 A1 8 Figure is a partial ront elevation ofthe fist exam: ple of loom Figure 4 is an underplan of the selector wheel to a larger scale: Figure 6 is a sectional sido elevation of a frst ex: ample of tut forming unit drawn to a larger scale ‘and from the opposite direction; Figure 6 isa front elevation ofthe first example of tuft forming unt drawn toa larger scale showing the cutter; Figure 7 isa front elevation similar to Figure 6 but with part ofthe cutter cut away fo show the puller in ‘more detail Figure 8 is a sectional side elevation of a second ‘example of loom during the tuft forming process: Figure 8 Is a simplified sectional side elevation of a ‘second example of tuft forming unit, drawn toa larg ‘erscale and ftom the opposite rection, at the start ‘ofthe tut forming operation Figure 10 is a simplified sectional side elevation of fa second example of tuft forming unit, drawn to a larger soale and from the opposite direction, atthe ‘end ofthe tuft forming operation; and, Figure 11 is a simplified front elevation showing two ‘of the second examples of tuft forming units. [0025] Both examples of Axminster loom are capable ‘of weaving 12 foot (4 metre) wide Axminster carpet at a pitch of seven tuts per inch (25.4 mm). Tut yarns sup- pled from acreel (not shown) ro weve tuft forming units 1, equidistantly spaced across the loom. The tuft form ing units 1 are mounted on a common framework. The framework and tuft forming units are moveable trans: versely backwards and forwards across the loom by a recirculating ball nut assembly § driven from a servomo- tor 6 (shown in Figures 3 and 11) [0026] In the first example the framework includes plate 2, shaft 3 and hangers 4, and can also be pivoted about the shaft S by @ proumatic ram (not shown) 50 thatthe yarn transfer units 1 move between thepasiions shown in Figures 1 and2. The tuft forming units 1, which willbe described in more detail subsequently, form tufts 77 which fall nto pockets & formed inthe top of afin pack assembly 9. The fin pack assembly 9 consists of a ‘number of parallel plates separated by shaped spacers to provide clearance between adjacent plates for pas: sage of punchers 10 andbeat up reeds 11. The spacers also define an alr channel 12 between each pocket 8 ‘and a vacuum chamber 13. The air channels terminate in a series of rounded apertures 14 located at the side Cf each of the pockets 8, The fin pack 9 also includes fan aperture 15 for the needle or rapier 16 and welt threads, [0027] After the tuft forming units 1 have loaded tufts into each of the pockets 8, the tuft forming units 1 are pivoted into the position shown in Figure 2 and then the ppunchers 10 rotate in the clockise direction, as shown In Figure 1, to transfer the cut tuts 7 from the pockets 8 to apostion against a nose board 17 where they are Woven into the backing of a carpet by weft threads in serted by tho rapier 16. The punchers 10 return to their initial position to allow the tuft forming units + to pivot backwards and start loading the pockets 8 with further {ufte 7 to form the next row whilst the reeds 11 perform fa beat up operation on the row of tufts that have just been woven in to produce the finished carpet 18. Stutfar ‘and chain warp yarns 19 pass through a conventional shedding arrangement 20 shedthe warp yarns 19be- ‘ween each lash ofthe rapier 16. [0028] Each uft forming unit includes a rotatable se- lector wheel 20, shown most clealy in Figure 4, which is mounted on a shaft ativan by a servomotor 21. The solectorwhee!20 includes twenty-four generally radially ‘extending channels 22 each of which carrios a tft form Ing yarn 28 of a aifferent colour. The tuft forming yarns 28 ate fed trom the cree! tothe tut forming units using fentirely conventional yarn tubes and guides and then pass through multi-aperture quides 24,25 and 26 before passing through a saries of apertures 27 formed in a portion ofthe selector wheel 20, The yaens are held in place in the channels 22 by spring fingers (not shown) [0029] Each tuft forming unt + also includes a cutter 28.and puller29 which are shown most clearly in Figures 5,8and7. Thecutter 28 comprises afixed blade 30 with ‘an aperture 31 and a moving blade 32. The aperture 3t 's adjacent the edge of the selector whee! 20 and the free ends of the yarns 23 extending radially outwards from the selector wheel 20 extend into the aperture 31 The moveable blade 22 is pivoted arounda pivot 33 and driven by a pivoted link $4, pivotally connected to crank 35 forming part of the moving blade 32 and acrank 36 mounted on shaft 37. The puller 28 comprises a gen cerally U-shaped portion 38 with elongate parallel limbs 39 and 40 and gripping jaws 41 and 42 secured to thelr free ends, This is shown most clearly in Figures § and 7.The gripping jaws 41 and 42 are normally held closed by the resilience ofthe U-shaped portion 38. However, by moving a pin 43 downwards as shown In Figure 7 between @ pair of raised carn-surfaces 44 and 45, the limbs 39 and 40 move apart and so open the jaws 41 ‘and 42. The puller 29 is also mounted for rotation about shalt 48, shown in Figure , between the postion shown in Figure 5 and a forwards postion shown in Figure t with the gripping jaws 41 and 42 extending into the ap- erture 3 in the fixed cutting knife Blade 30 and adjacent the selector wheel 20,8 EP 1156 145 A1 10 [0030] The rotation of the shaft 97, the up and down ‘movement ofthe pin 49 and the oscillation ofthe shaft 48 are all riven through a gear box 47 which will be described in more deta subsequently. The gear boxes 47 are all driven from a toothed pulley 48 mounted on a shaft, not shown. The pulleys 48 of all ofthe tut forming Unis 1 are driven via toothed belts 60 trom pulleys 81 ‘mountedon a shaft 52 driven by a servornotor 59, shown in Figure 3. The shaft §2 and servomotor 58 are mount- ced on the frame 2, 3 and 4 and so move transversely with the tuft forming units + [0031] light emitting diode and photo detector (nat shown) aro coupled to ends of optical fibres which aro locatedin apertures 54 located between tho jaws 41 and 42 and the knife 28. When the puller 23 has gripped the free end of one of the yarns 23 and pulled it out, and before the knife 28 operates, the yarn 23 Is positioned inbetween the optical fibre coupledtothe photo detector ‘and that coupled to the photo omittr and so blocks ight from the emitter reaching the detector. Provided light from the photo emitter is prevented trom reaching the pphoto detector a this time itis assumed thal a yam has ‘been successfully pulled out of the selector wheel 20 by the puller 29. However, if at this time in the operating cyele ofthe tuft forming unit ligt from the photo emittar is detected by the photo receiver then itis assumed that the tuft has not been correctly formed and a stop signal 's given tothe loom to prevent is further operation until the situation has been rectified. [0032] During each tuft forming cycle the servomotor 21 drives the selector wee! 20 into a predetermined an (ular position so that ether a blank space 55 at contral postion is adjacent the puller 29 or one ofthe yams 23 's adjacent the puller 29. During each tuft forming cycle tho pullor rotatos in the anti-clockwise direction as shown in Figure § around the axis of shaft 48 so thatthe Jaws 41, 42 move forward and close tagether, then, tho pullerotates clockwise about the axis of shalt 46 so that the jaws move backwards and then the jaws 41 and 42 ‘open, Thus, during each tft forming eyele elther a cen tral blank position 85 is adjacent the puller when no.car: Pot is to be woven, or yamn of a selected colour is pro: Sented to the puller 28 upon indexing of the selector Whee! 20 to the required angular position. Thereupon the puller 29 grabs the yarn end presented toi, pulls a predetermined length of yam, typiealy half of an inch (12.5 mm), from the yar supply on the reel and then the yarns severed by the knife 28 to produce a yarn tuft 7. The selector wheel 20 is then free to rotate to a dit ferent angular position to provide the next tuft to be formed, The puller 28 then releases the yarn before ‘moving forward again to form the next yarn tuft 7 [0033] The operation of the servomatar21, the servo: ‘motor 6, the servomotor §3 are all controlled by a com: puter driven controller to ensure that appropriate col ‘ured yarns are provided to each weaving point to pro- Vide the required pattern in the resulting carpet 18. The computerised controller has inputs corresponding the transverse position ofthe tut forming units + aoross the wiath ofthe loam and for any particular row ofa pattern whichis obe woven atany instant, enabeitto control the tut forming units 1 effectively. [0034] Arter the tut 7 i formed, cut by the knife 28 and released by tho jaws 41, 42 ofthe puller 29k is pulled down into the roquired poston in tho pockot 8 by an airflow gonerated by the vacuum chamber 13. The front ofthe vacuum chamber 13 is cased by a sliding shutter plate 67 containing weve slots, tenumbercor- responding to a number ofutt forming units 1. The si ing shutter plate 67 is connected tothe framework 2, 3 ‘and 4 and 80 moves with tho tut forming units 1. Each of the apertures inthe sliding shutter plate $7 is gener aly aligned with its respective tut forming unit so that when the tuftforming unit 1 is in place above aparicular pocket & the aperture inthe shutter is aligned withthe ‘oar edge of tho arcuate channel *2 to apply a vacuum to the rear of channol 12 and henco to tho apertures 14 0 that airis drawn into the pocket 8, through the aper tures 14, through the arcuate channel 12 and into the vacuum chamber 18. itis his alow which erirain the {utt7 after itis eut by the cutter 28 and released by the puller 28 to pul he tut down ito the pocket 8. The bot- tom of each packet Bis defined by a retractable in (not shown). As the tut forming unis 1 mave along so the siting shutter commutes the vacuum from the charn- ber 13 tothe next pocket 8, and so on across the wicth of the loom. [0035] Once all ofthe pockets 8 have beon loaded with tuts 7 the tut forming uns + are pivoted ito theie position shown inFigure2 andthe pins forming the foor of each of the pockets are retracted. The punchers 10 than rotate in a clockwise direction and s0 move for wards and downwards, An angled face 68 on oach of the punchers 10 engages its corresponding tut 7 to pushitdownwardsbotweon adjacontfins afte fn pack ago 10. By providing a predetermined angle onthe con- tact face 8 ofthe puncher 10 and, in particular a notch 859 at the end ofthe contaet face 68, whilst the puncher 10 is forcing th tut 7 betwoon adjacent fins of tho fin package th tuft 7 moves along the angled face 8 of the punchor 10 unt its ends stopped by the notch 68. “This precisely locates the ttt 7 in a predetermined po- sition so that when it reaches the weaving point defined by the nose board 17 ti in the correct location. At the woaving point tho punchors 10 push tho cut tuft 7 against the nose board 17 and thon the tuft is woven into positon by the application of weft threads using the rapier 16 as the puncher 10 returns anti-clockwise tits staring positon Tocomplete he formation ofthe carpet 17 alay-beam with attached reeds 11 beats up the tut ‘and weft yams to completo the formation ofthat row of carpetwhilst tho ttts 7 forthe next row aro beingplacod inthe pockets 8 {0096} The second example of lom shown in Figure 8s gonorally simiarto the fst, especialy in operation, but instead ofthe inpack and punches for transferring" EP 1156 145 A1 the cut tufts to the weaving point, itincludes @ pair of tuft carriars 70 mounted for rotation about an axis 71 and a set of conventional grippers 72 that are entirely conven tional in construction and use, As the tuft forming units + traverse the loom, tuts are placed in tft retention sites ‘T3formed along the top edge ofthe tuft cariar70. When all ofthe tuft retention sites have been loaded, the tuft cartior 70 rotates clockwise (as seen in Figure 8) about the axis 71 to move the loaded tuft carrier 70 into the lowermost position andte move an empty tuft carrier 70 Infothe uppermost position, The tuft ferming units 1 then load tufts 7 into the uppermost tuft carrier 70 as they traverse backwards across the loom. The grippers 72 ‘move upwards, clockwise as seen in Figure B, with their bbeaks open and then close to grip all ofthe tufts 7 held by the lowermost tuft carrier 70. The grippers 72 then rotate inthe opposite direction to move the tuts 7 tothe weaving point where the tuts 7 are woven into the car: pat and the grippers 72 open torolease the tuts 7. The bat up reeds 11 and rapier welt insertion mechanism have been omitted from Figure 8 for clarity but are en tirely conventional and similar to those used on conven tional gripper Axminster carpet looms, [0037] Another difference between the first and sec: ‘ond examples is the mounting of the tuft forming units 1. In the second example the tuft forming units 1 are ‘mounted on a framework 80 including grooved rollers {81 which run on bevoled ralls 82. This permits the tft forming units 1 and the framework 80 to move trans: versely across the loom and once again it is driven by €@ recirculating ball-nut/ecrew mechanism 83 diven by servomotor 5. [0038] The second example of tuft forming unit 1 shown in simplified form for ease of explanation in Fig: Lures 8 to 11 provides positive handling of each yarn tft 7 during its formation and upon insertion into each tuft holding site on yarn carrier 70 or into each pocket 8 80 Avoiding the need for the vacuum chamber 1S and air flow arrangements described previously. Each yarn tlt forming uni Includes a gear box shown in a simplified fashion in Figures 9 to 11, It consists of three parallel shafls 90, 91, 92 on which aro mounted three equal sized pinions 93, 94, 95 which are meshed together. (One of the shalts 90, 81, 92s driven directly by the ser vomotor 83 or via the toothed belt and pulley arrange: ‘ment already described or by a further pinion 96 a8 shown in Figuro 11. Allthroe shafts 90, 91, 92 are driled to carry eccentric pins. Pin 97 is mounted in shaft 90 {and is connected to rod 98 and pin 99. Rod 98 is jour railed into body 100 ofthe puller 29 so that itcan slide ‘up and down as seen in Figures 9 and 10. The body 100 's pivoted at its upper end on pivot 101, Consequenty, ‘a shaft 90 rotates, counterclockwise as sean in Figure 9, the pin 97 and rod 88 move up and down with respect to the body 100 and the body 100 is caused to pivot backwards and forwards about is pivot 101. In this ex: ‘ample the puller includes a pair of pivoted limbs 102, 403 with jaws 104, 105 mounted at their lowermost 12 fends. The upper ends of the limbs are urged together by @ spring 106 to cause the limbs to pivot and open the Jaws 104, 105. The pin 98 moves up and down wit re- spect to cam surfaces 107, 108 on the limbs 102, 108 tourge the jaws 104, 105 together when nits uppermost postion and, in its lowermost position, allow the limbs 4102, 103 to respond to the bias exerted by the spring 108, to open the jaws 104, 105. [0039] The moveable blade 32 of the knife assembly 's driven up and down by a link 109 connected between the moveable blade $2 and an eccentric pin 110 mount: €d in the shaft 91. The rear faca of the moveable knife blade carties a pair of guide cheeks 112 which locate between the limbs 102, 103 when thay are in their for- wards position. An eccentric pin 118in the third shaft 32 drives one ond of a fist order lever 114 via a link 118. ppusher 116 located atthe other end of the fst order le- Vor 114 moves up and down between the guide checks 112, [0040] To produce each tut, the yarn selector motor 21 rolales the selector wheel 20 to bring the selected yarn toa location adjacent the puller 28, The body 100 (ofthe puller is pivoted forwards with the pin 99 towards its lowermost position so that the jaws 104, 105 are ‘open. As the shaft 90 continues to rotate the pin 99 its ‘and is moved between the cam surlaces 107, 108 s0 closing the Jaws 104, 105 and clamping the free end of the yar between them, Further rotation ofthe shaft 90 ‘causes the body 100 ofthe puller 291 pivot backwards 0 pulling yarn from the selector wheel 20. Rotation of shaft 91 causes the moveable blade 32 of the knife as: sembly 28 10 move downwards. As the blade moves ‘downwards the length of yarn being pulled by the puller 29 is trapped between the guide cheeks 112. Once the puller 29 has moved backwards to its maximum extent the continued downwards movement ofthe knife blade 32 cuts the yam to form a tuft 7 which is hald between the guide cheeks 112 as the knife blade 82 continues to move downwards on an overtravel. Meanwhile rotation (of shaft 92 causes the pusher 116 te meve downwards bbotwoen the guide cheeks 112. Further rotation of shaft 90 causes the pin 99 to be lowered away from the cam surfaces 108, 107 so that he jaws 104, 105 open under the action ofthe spring 108. Further rotation ofthe shaft 92 brings the pusher into contact with the top ofthe tft held between the gulde cheeks 112 and continued ro- tation of the shaft 92 causes the tuft 7 to be pushed into tuft retention site 73 on the tuft cartier 71 or into the pocket 8 in the first example. Continued rotation ofthe shaft 91 moves the moveable knife blade 32 upwards, Meanwhile the yar selector motor 21 moves the selec- tor whee! 20 to bring the next yarn to be selected into postion. Continued rotation of shafts 90 and 92 move the puller 29 forwards into position to grip the next yarn ‘and move the pusher 116 upwards ready for the next cycle of operation. [0041] With this second arrangement of tuft forming Ln, since the tut is positively held at all times, whether13 by the jaws 104, 105, the guide cheeks 112, orthe push €or 116 the tut is always at a known and fixed position, This leads to improvements in tut placement inthe car pet and hence to less waste of tut yatn as a result of less material being removed during @ subsequent shearing stop, Positive handling of the cut tut, particu larly by the pusher 116 also enables the jaws 104, 105 to have matching serrated teeth so that they grip the yarn more positively whilst drawing the yarn through the selector wheel 20 and rom the creel, Preferably the ser. rated teeth are similar to those used on the grippers of ‘a conventional Axminster loom. Claims 1. A carpet weaving loom including at least one tuft forming unt (1) for forming sequentially yarn tufts (7) of a number of ctferent colours, means to ro: Coive and hold at yarn tuft holding sites (8,73) yarn tufts (7) supplied sequentialy by the tuttforming unit (1), and transfer means (10,72) 0 transfer all of the tufts (7) held by the yam tut helding sites (8,73) si ‘mutaneously to their corresponding weaving points, characterized in that the or each tut form: ing unit (1) supplies yar tufts to at least twenty yarn tuft holding sites 8,79) between successive opera- tions of the transfer means (10,72) 2. A carpet weaving loom according to ciaim 1, in Which there is only a single tut forming unit (1) and the single tuft forming unit (1) supplies tufts to at least one hundred and sixty tuft holding sites (8,73) 3, A carpet weaving loom according to claim 1, in hich a plurality of tuft forming units (1) are provi: 26, 4. A carpet weaving loom according to claim 9, in Which the tuft forming units (1) are substantially ‘equidistantly spaced in the transverse direction ‘across the loom, 5. Acarpet weaving loom according to claim 3 oF 4, in \which each tuft forming unt (1) supplies tufts to be- ween wenty and one hundred and twenty tuft hol: ing sites. 6. Acarpet weaving loom according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the or each tut forming Unit (1) is capable of forming tuts from at least eight diferent yarns and preferably at least ten, 7. Acarpet weaving loom according to any one ofthe preceding claims, in which the or each tut forming unit (1) is capable of forming tufts from at least twen ty four diferent yams EP 1156 145 A1 10. 1" 2, 14 ‘A carpet weaving loom according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the or each tut forming unit (1) comprises a yarn selector wheel (20) with provision for holding a number of different yarns ar- ranged around it, means (21) to dive the selector Whee! (20) into a selected one of @ number of an: ularly ciscrete postions to bring a solected yarn to loading positon, @ puller (28) for engaging the se- lected yarn atthe loading position and for pulling @ predetermined lenath ofthe selected yarn from the Selector whee! (20), and a cutting mechanism (28) to cut tho selected yarn to form a ttt (7) of prado: termined length ‘A carpet weaving loom according to any one of the preceding claims, In which the or each tut forming Unit (1) remains stationary and the means to receive ‘and hold the yarn tufts at yam tuft holding sites (€.73) is formed by a tut carror which moves lon ilucinaly past the or each tuft forming unt (1) ‘A carpet weaving loom according to any one of Claims 1 t0 8, in which the or each tuft forming unit (1) is arranged to traverse all or part ofthe width of the loom and provide tuts (7) for the weaving points passed as the tuft forming unit or units (1) move transversely across the loom A carpet weaving loom according to claim 10, in hich the means to receive and hold yarn tufts are formed by aseris of yarntutcarriors (70) arranged around an axis (71) which extends transversely ‘cross the loom, the carriers being (70) rotatable aboutthe axis ater all ofthe tft retention sites (73) in one of tho tuft carriers (70) have been Tile. ‘A carpet weaving loom accorting to claim 11, in Which the transfor means comprise a gripper as- ‘sembly (72) arranged to grip al ofthe tufts (7) held by atutt carer (70) and move them simultaneously to the weaving pointEP 1156 145 A1EP 1156 145 A1EP 1156 145 A1 Fig.4.EP 1156 145 A1 cryEP 1156 145 A1 ‘9BI4EP 1156 145 A1 ar LF “264 18EP 1156 145 A1EP 1156 145 A1 "7EP 1156 145 A1 ve t T 4OF OOF ‘OL 64EP 1156 145 A1 19EP 1156 145 A1 European Patent EUROPEAN SEARCH REPORT ee once EP 00 30 4081 DOCUMENTS CONSIDERED TO BE RELEVANT lcm ination wher eprom vont | GuasprrcaTioNOr Te] Cage On On pee ae Senn | Seetehon mre A |DE 15 35 770 A (ALFA-LAVAL) 1003039/08 30 July 1970 (1970-07-30) A,D Wo 95 31594 A (ULSTER CARPET MILLS) 23 November 1995 (1995-11-23) A |6B 2 190 107 A (CRABTREE) 11 Novenber 1987 (1987-11-11) aE, 0030 | | | Tepenencrentetmemnetncin | {Le sae TNovender 2000 | Boutelegter, ¢ |] ares or reson Treen 4) s pemepemeet ma eee 1) ee a Saeiores ) en aces 20EP 1156 145 A1 ANNEX TO THE EUROPEAN SEARCH REPORT ON EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION NO. EP 00 30 4081 ‘Thi annoc im me patent andy meoersrlaing 10 ha pata document cedin he abore-reritonad European search pert ‘Tho amber ar as conan nthe Europes Pate Os EP fe on ‘ha Eiepaan Pater Ones inne way abl for hese arcuate which ate mere given or he puree of ntomaton. 1-11-2000 Part cont Publeaton Panty Pubcon cdinsowan pot oe members) = DE 1535770 A 30-07-1970 Dk 119289 B 30-11-1970) GB 1109224 A us 3379222 A 23-04-1968 Wo 9531594 A 23-11-1995, AU 681968 B 11-09-1997 AU 2450995 A 05-12-1995 CN 1143396 A,B 19-02-1997 DE 69508936 D 12-05-1999 DE 69508936 T 05-08-1999 Dk 759101 T 18-10-1999 EP 0759101 A 26-02-1997 ES 2132664 T 16-08-1999 ae 10503246 T 24-03-1998 US 5743306 A 28-04-1998 6B 2190107 ALL 11-1987 NONE For mor ele abut his annex 90 Oia! Journal of he Evopean Patent Oe, No, 1182 a