Yarn feed roller assembly
First Claim
1. In a yarn feed roller assembly including a plurality of drive shafts, a feed roller on each of said shafts comprising, an inner race mounted on the drive shaft for rotation therewith, an outer race associated with the inner race, bearing means intermediate the inner and outer race for journally supporting the outer race on the inner race for rotation relative thereto, said outer race having a yarn engaging surface in the outer periphery and a drive coupling member at the inner periphery, a plurality of drive coupling segments rotatably carried by the inner race and radially movable relative thereto, biasing means for normally urging said segments radially away from the outer race, and actuating means for selectively forcing the segments to overcome the urging of the biasing means and move radially into coupling engagement with said drive coupling member to drive the outer race at the speed of the shaft, whereby yarn wound about corresponding rollers of said shafts may be fed at a rate determined by the speed of one or the other of the drive shafts.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A yarn feed roller assembly for a tufting machine pattern attachment for controlling the amount of yarn supplied to the needles of the machine in accordance with a pattern. The assembly includes a plurality of roller sets, each roller of the set having an inner race secured for rotation to a shaft driven at a different speed than the other rollers of the set. The roller also has an outer race journally supported on the inner race for rotation relative thereto. The outer race has a toothed ring at the inner circumference and the inner race carries a plurality of toothed segments adapted for coupling engagement with the ring to drive the outer race. The segments are comprised of magnetic material and an external magnetic field is selectively energized to attract the segments of one or the other rollers into engagement with its ring to feed yarn at the rate of the selected roller.
48 Citations
17 Claims
- 1. In a yarn feed roller assembly including a plurality of drive shafts, a feed roller on each of said shafts comprising, an inner race mounted on the drive shaft for rotation therewith, an outer race associated with the inner race, bearing means intermediate the inner and outer race for journally supporting the outer race on the inner race for rotation relative thereto, said outer race having a yarn engaging surface in the outer periphery and a drive coupling member at the inner periphery, a plurality of drive coupling segments rotatably carried by the inner race and radially movable relative thereto, biasing means for normally urging said segments radially away from the outer race, and actuating means for selectively forcing the segments to overcome the urging of the biasing means and move radially into coupling engagement with said drive coupling member to drive the outer race at the speed of the shaft, whereby yarn wound about corresponding rollers of said shafts may be fed at a rate determined by the speed of one or the other of the drive shafts.
- 14. A roller for a feed roller assembly comprising an inner race having a central bore adapted for mounting on a shaft, an outer race, bearing means intermediate the inner and outer race for journally supporting the outer race on the inner race for rotation relative thereto, said outer race having a drive coupling member at the inner periphery, a plurality of drive coupling segments carried by the inner race and radially movable relative thereto, said segments comprising magnetic material susceptible to be moved by magnetic force, and biasing means for normally urging said segments radially away from the outer race.
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17. In a multi-needle tufting machine having a yarn feed roller attachment for feeding controlled amounts of yarn to each needle in accordance with a pattern, said attachment including a roller assembly comprising a plurality of drive shafts each rotatably driven at a different speed, at least one corresponding roller on each of said shafts, each roller comprising an inner race mounted on the drive shaft for rotation therewith, an outer race, bearing means intermediate the inner and outer race for journally supporting the outer race on the inner race for rotation relative thereto, said outer race having a yarn engaging surface on the outer periphery and a drive coupling member on the inner periphery, a plurality of drive coupling segments rotatably carried by the inner race and radially movable relative thereto, biasing means for normally urging said segments radially away from the outer race, and actuating means for selectively forcing the segments to overcome the urging of the biasing means and to move radially into coupling engagement with said drive coupling member to drive the outer race at the speed of the shaft, whereby yarn wound about corresponding rollers may be fed at a rate determined by the speed of one or the other of the drive shafts.
Specification