Method and apparatus for creating an array of weft yarns in manufacturing an open scrim non-woven fabric
First Claim
1. A method of manufacturing a fabric comprising:
- reciprocating a weft carrier laying a set of weft yarns in a lateral, weftwise, direction across a weftspace between two sets of weft retainers and moving said weft carrier in a longitudinal, warpwise, direction relatively to the weft retainers at at least one end of its weftspace traverse to lay the set of weft yarns across the weftspace at each lateral traverse, causing said weft carrier to hook each weft yarn around at least two weft retainers at at least one side of the weftspace, the relative warpwise movement between said weft carrier and said weft retainers being such that at each traverse of said weft carrier, after a first traverse, some, but not all, of the laid weft yarns are interdigitated with weft yarns previously laid by the weft carrier or another weft carrier, the reaming weft yarns laid at that traverse being spaced from each other to permit a further set of weft yarns to be interdigitated with them on a subsequent traverse of the or another weft carrier.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The invention relates to the production of non-woven fabrics in which an array of weft threads is created and then combined with a substrate, which may in itself comprise a set of warp threads. In the method according to the invention, the array of weft threads is formed by traversing a weft carrier which has a plurality of weft guides, across the weftspace between two sets of weft retainers. At the end of each traverse, the weft carrier is jogged (that is to say moved in the warpwise direction), so that at the next traverse, it lays a further set of weft yarns across the weftspace, and the weft yarns are hooked around the weft retainers. The jogging motion is such, that at each traverse of the weft carrier after the first traverse, some, but not all of the laid weft yarns are interdigitated with weft yarns previously laid by the weft carrier or another weft carrier, the remaining weft yarns laid at that traverse being spaced from each other to permit a further set of weft yarns to be interdigitated with them on a subsequent traverse of the or another weft carrier.
58 Citations
24 Claims
-
1. A method of manufacturing a fabric comprising:
- reciprocating a weft carrier laying a set of weft yarns in a lateral, weftwise, direction across a weftspace between two sets of weft retainers and moving said weft carrier in a longitudinal, warpwise, direction relatively to the weft retainers at at least one end of its weftspace traverse to lay the set of weft yarns across the weftspace at each lateral traverse, causing said weft carrier to hook each weft yarn around at least two weft retainers at at least one side of the weftspace, the relative warpwise movement between said weft carrier and said weft retainers being such that at each traverse of said weft carrier, after a first traverse, some, but not all, of the laid weft yarns are interdigitated with weft yarns previously laid by the weft carrier or another weft carrier, the reaming weft yarns laid at that traverse being spaced from each other to permit a further set of weft yarns to be interdigitated with them on a subsequent traverse of the or another weft carrier.
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 12)
-
5. A method of manufacturing a fabric comprising reciprocating two weft carriers each laying a set of weft yarns, in a lateral, weftwise, direction across a weftspace between two sets of weft retainers and further moving each weft carrier in a longitudinal, warpwise, direction relatively to the weft retainers at one or both ends of said weft carrier'"'"'s weftwise traverse so that each of said two weft carriers lays said weft carrier'"'"'s set of weft yarns across the weftspace at each lateral traverse and hooks each weft yarn around at least two weft retainers at at least one side of the weftspace, so that the weft retainers retain the weft yarns at the selvedges in which said two weft carriers are arranged 180°
- out of phase so that they move in opposite directions when traversing the weftspace and the arrangement is such that at least some of the weft yarns laid by one weft carrier are, at each traverse of that carrier, other than a first traverse, interdigitated with weft yarns previously laid by the other weft carrier.
- View Dependent Claims (6)
-
7. A method of manufacturing a fabric comprising:
- moving at least one weft carrier laying a set of weft yarns in a lateral direction across a weft space between two sets of weft retainers and moving said weft carrier in a longitudinal direction relative to the weft retainers at one or both ends of said weft carriers weftwise traverse to lay the set of weft yarns across the weft space at each lateral traverse and hook each weft yarn around at least two weft retainers, in which the relative warpwise movement between said at least one weft carrier and the weft retainers is such that during the formation of a weft array, each weft retainer is engaged on one of said weft retainers leading and trailing sides by a weft yarn laid in one traverse of a weft carrier and the other of said weft retainers leading and trailing sides by a weft yarn laid in subsequent traverse of a weft carrier.
-
8. A method of manufacturing a fabric comprising:
- reciprocating a weft carrier laying a set of weft yarns in a lateral, weftwise, direction across a weft space between two sets of weft retainers and moving said weft carrier in a longitudinal, warpwise, direction relatively to the weft retainers at at least one end of its weftspace traverse to lay the set of weft yarns across the weftspace at each lateral traverse, causing said weft carrier to hook each weft yarn around at least two weft retainers at at least one side of the weftspace, the relative warpwise movement between said weft carrier and said weft retainers being such that at each traverse of said weft carrier, after a first traverse, some, but not all, of the laid weft yarns are interdigitated with weft yarns previously laid by the weft carrier or another weft carrier, the remaining weft yarns laid at that traverse being spaced from each other to permit a further set of weft yarns to be interdigitated with them on a subsequent traverse of the or another weft carrier in which the relative warpwise movement between the weft carrier and the weft retainers is such that during the formation of a weft array each weft retainer is engaged on one of its leading and trailing sides by a weft yarn laid in one traverse of the or a weft carrier and on the other of its leading and trailing sides by a weft yarn laid in a subsequent traverse of the or a weft carrier.
-
9. A method of manufacturing a fabric comprising:
- reciprocating a weft carrier laying a set of weft yarns in a lateral, weftwise, direction across a weft space between two sets of weft retainers and moving said weft carrier in a longitudinal, warpwise, direction relatively to the weft retainers at at least one end of its weftspace traverse to lay the set of weft yarns across the weftspace at each lateral traverse, causing said weft carrier to hook each weft yarn around at least two weft retainers at at least one side of the weftspace, the relative warpwise movement between said weft carrier and said weft retainers being such that at each traverse of said weft carrier, after a first traverse, some, but not all, of the laid weft yarns are interdigitated with weft yarns previously laid by the weft carrier or another weft carrier, the remaining weft yarns laid at that traverse being spaced from each other to permit a further set of weft yarns to be interdigitated with them on a subsequent traverse of the or another weft carrier in which the weft retainers are provided on a pair of laterally spaced weft store devices, each of which moves to cause its weft retainers to move in the longitudinal direction through a weft array forming station, where the weft carrier(s) lay the weft yarns across the weft space.
- View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
-
13. A fabric producing machine comprising:
- a longitudinal substrate let-off and take-up mechanism;
a weft store device movable in the direction of travel of the longitudinal substrate;
an arrangement for bringing an array of weft picks formed on the weft store into overlying contact with the longitudinal substrate, and a weft array-forming mechanism which includes two weft carriers traversing the weft store device in opposite reciprocatory motions between selvedges in a manner such that at least some weft yarns laid by one carrier, are at each traverse of that carrier interdigitated with weft yarns previously laid by the other weft carrier, and means for retaining weft yarns at the selvedges. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
- a longitudinal substrate let-off and take-up mechanism;
- 21. A fabric producing machine comprising means for forming an array of weft yarns on a longitudinally moving weft store comprising two laterally spaced sets of weft retainers, in which there is a weft carrier mounted for lateral, weftwise, sliding motion on a beam and in which there is a cam-operated mechanism for moving the beam when the weft carrier is at the ends of its lateral motion in a warpwise direction through a distance greater than the longitudinal distance moved by the weft store during the longitudinal motion of the weft carrier.
-
23. A method of manufacturing a fabric comprising:
- reciprocating a weft carrier laying a set of weft yarns in a lateral, weftwise, direction across a weftspace between two sets of weft retainers and moving said weft carrier in a longitudinal, warpwise, direction relatively to the weft retainers at at least one end of its weftspace traverse to lay the set of weft yarns across the weftspace at each lateral traverse, causing said weft carrier to hook each weft yarn around at least two weft retainers at at least one side of the weftspace, the relative warpwise movement between said weft carrier and said weft retainers being such that at each traverse of said weft carrier, after a first traverse, some, but not all, of the laid weft yarns are interdigitated with weft yarns previously laid by the weft carrier, the remaining weft yarns laid at that traverse being spaced from each other to permit a further set of weft yarns to be interdigitated with them on a subsequent traverse of the weft carrier.
-
24. A method of manufacturing a fabric comprising:
- feeding a substrate in a longitudinal warpwise direction reciprocating a weft carrier laying a set of weft yarns in a lateral, weftwise, direction across a weft space between two sets of weft retainers and moving said weft carrier in the longitudinal, warpwise, direction relatively to the weft retainers at at least one of its weft space traverse to lay the set of weft yarns across the weft space at each lateral traverse, causing said weft carrier to hook each weft yarn around at least two weft retainers at one side of the weft space, the relative warpwise movement between said weft carrier and said weft retainers being such that at each traverse of said weft carrier, after a first traverse, some, but not all, of the laid weft yarns are interdigitated with weft yarns previously laid by the weft carrier, or another weft carrier, on the same side of the substrate as the weft carrier, the remaining weft yarns laid at that traverse being spaced from each other to permit a further set of weft yarns to be interdigitated with them on a subsequent traverse of the or another weft carrier.
Specification