Needle Loom Asymmetric Speed Profile for Fibre Hooking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing needle looms face challenges in achieving high production rates while maintaining or improving the quality of consolidated webs or laps of fibres, due to complex designs and insufficient hooking of barbs, which affects consolidation quality.
Innovation Solution
The needle loom incorporates a back-and-forth movement mechanism where the maximum speed vertical component during extraction is higher than during insertion, and the duration of extraction is shorter than insertion, allowing the needles to effectively hook and enmesh fibres without cutting them, thereby enhancing consolidation quality and production rate.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the needles move with equal speed profiles during insertion and extraction, then the design is simpler, but the barbs are not sufficiently hooked to the lap due to inclination, adversely affecting consolidation quality
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by creating different speed profiles for needle insertion and extraction. The extraction phase uses a higher maximum vertical speed component and shorter duration compared to insertion, optimizing barb hooking effectiveness while resolving the contradiction between consolidation quality and design simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the speed parameters during the needle cycle. Specifically, it modifies the vertical speed component profile to have different maximum values and durations for insertion versus extraction phases, thereby improving consolidation quality without requiring fundamental design changes to the needle loom structure.
2Productivity
If the needle loom operates at higher production rates, then productivity increases, but the quality of the web or lap leaving the needle loom may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by implementing variable speed profiles during the needle cycle. The extraction phase operates at higher speeds with shorter duration, enabling faster production rates while maintaining quality through optimized barb hooking mechanics that adapt to the dynamic motion requirements.
3Manufacturing precision
If the needles spend equal time in the lap during insertion and extraction, then the motion is more balanced, but the barbs cannot sufficiently hook the fibres due to inclination effects
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates asymmetry in the time duration of insertion and extraction phases. The extraction phase is designed with shorter duration and higher speed, allowing barbs to effectively hook fibres during the critical extraction interval when inclination effects are minimized, thereby improving fibre hooking effectiveness.
Data Source
AI summary
Method for operating a needle loom comprising at least one needle board in which a web or lap of fibres is passed in front of the needles, said web or fibre moving in a so-called feed direction, or machine direction or MD, between two end positions in which the free ends of the needles have a zero speed, and the at least one needle board and/or needles are driven in a back-and-forth movement in a direction other than the feed direction, particularly in the perpendicular direction, or a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the plane of the lap or web, such that the free ends of the needles have, in a first interval extending in the lap or web between an outer surface of the web or lap of fibres and an end position, a first movement having a first speed profile as an absolute value for a first duration, then, in a second interval extending in the lap or web between said one end position and said one outer surface, a second movement having a second speed profile as an absolute value for a second duration, is characterised in that the maximum speed of the second profile is higher than the maximum speed of the first profile and/or the second duration is shorter than the first duration.