Title of Invention	DRIVE DEVICE FOR PRODUCING BACK AND FORTH MOVEMENT
Abstract	The aim of the invention is to provide a drive device for producing a to-and-fro motion of driven part, particularly in weaving machines, which is characterized by having a high degree of efficiency and good dynamic properties with regard to the respective and, optionally, even changing operating conditions. To this end, the drive device comprises: a drive source (2), which is coupled to a part (50) and which produces the to-and-fro motion; an energy accumulator (22), which is assigned to the part and/or to the drive source and which is provided for accumulating potential energy during at least one portion of the to-and-fro motion of the part, and; a control device (20) for controlling at least the energy accumulator and/or the drive source according to measured and/or predetermined parameters for the course of motion of the part.

Title of Invention

DRIVE DEVICE FOR PRODUCING BACK AND FORTH MOVEMENT

Abstract

The aim of the invention is to provide a drive device for producing a to-and-fro motion of driven part, particularly in weaving machines, which is characterized by having a high degree of efficiency and good dynamic properties with regard to the respective and, optionally, even changing operating conditions. To this end, the drive device comprises: a drive source (2), which is coupled to a part (50) and which produces the to-and-fro motion; an energy accumulator (22), which is assigned to the part and/or to the drive source and which is provided for accumulating potential energy during at least one portion of the to-and-fro motion of the part, and; a control device (20) for controlling at least the energy accumulator and/or the drive source according to measured and/or predetermined parameters for the course of motion of the part.

Full Text	Drive device for producing a to-and-fro motion of a driven part, particularly in weaving machines By way of example, the heald frames, the batten and the reed, as well as the weft thread insertion elements carry out in a conventional loom a back and forth movement which, for example, as is the case for the batten with the reed, may be a back and forth oscillatory movement about a stationary horizontal axis or, for example, as is the case for weft thread insertion elements in the form of gripper rods in a gripper loom, may be a linear back and forth movement on a predetermined path. The driving actions- for producing these back and forth movements are gerieratily* derived from a main drive shaft of the loom by means of cam or crank mechanisms. A basic disadvantage of these known drive devices consists in that their level of efficiency is relatively low since the energy which has to be supplied in order to accelerate the masses which are to be moved back and forth is lost for the most part during the subsequent deceleration. These so-called reversible drives are also limited in terms of the control possibilities thereof for construction reasons, whilst the dynamic behaviour of the drives can be optimised only to a very limited extent. These disadvantages are becoming increasingly significant with the development of increasingly efficient looms having higher speeds. Examples of loom drives of this type using a main drive shaft are described with reference to various configurations in WO 9831856, EP 1 266 988 A2, EP 0 741 809 Bl and EP 0 514 959 Bl, to name only a few. It is known to adjust the speed of the main drive shaft of the loom in an appropriate manner during the weaving operation by adjusting or controlling the driving electric motor according to the load and/or the required speed of the components to be driven in each case, for example, during low-speed operation. In particular in order to increase the efficiency of such reversible drive solutions, to reduce the mechanical stress of the structural elements of the drives and to improve the dynamic properties, drive devices have already been proposed in which an energy store in the form of resilient elements is associated with a component which carries out a back and forth movement or an actuation means which is coupled to the component to be driven, in such a manner that a system is produced which is capable of oscillating. The operation of an oscillating system of this type close to the resonance point leads to a high level of efficiency since substantially only the friction losses which occur in the system during the back and forth movement still have to be counteracted. This advantage of a high level of efficiency is, however, lost to a rapidly increasing degree if the drive device functions with an oscillatory movement whose frequency is increasingly further away from the resonance point. Examples of such drive devices which produce a back and forth oscillatory movement for the shed-forming means of a loom are described in JP 2002-022747 and DE 10 111 017 Al, whilst a method and a device for controlling the movement of the reed of a loom are known from DE 28 08 202 Al, and an arrangement for relieving the drive mechanisms, for example, the gripper rod drive and the reed drive in looms, is known from DE 33 25 591 Al. Common to these drive devices is the fact that they function with a more or less rigidly predetermined path/time graph and that the position of the operating point close to the resonance point of the oscillating system, which position is desired with regard to a high level of efficiency, cannot therefore be achieved in practice, or achieved only in a very incomplete manner, since the operating conditions change greatly, depending on the technical circumstances relating purely to weaving, such as the yarn material used, type of weave and the like, but also the mechanical operating conditions, such as operating temperature, speed, etcetera. As the distance between the operating point and the resonance point increases, the dynamic properties of the drive device which produces the back and forth oscillatory movement also deteriorate considerably. Finally, many of the known solutions require a significant level of structural complexity which is linked to a corresponding spatial requirement in the loom, which often cannot be complied with in practice. In principle, similar problems also apply to other machines, in particular textile machines, such as, for example, flatbed or straight-bar knitting machines with masses which have to be moved back and forth rapidly. The object of the invention is, therefore, to provide a drive device for producing a back and forth movement of a driven component, in particular in looms, which is characterised by a high level of efficiency and good dynamic properties under the respective operating conditions, which may also change. In order to achieve this object, the drive device in accordance with the invention has the features of claim 1. The new drive device has a drive source which is coupled to a component supported so as to be movable back and forth, and which produces a back and forth movement, and which can in principle be of any mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic or electromechanical type. An energy store for storing potential energy during at least part of the back and forth movement of the component is associated with the driven component which can be moved back and forth and/or the drive source. This energy store may have mechanical storage means, for example, in the form of resilient means or pneumatic and/or hydraulic storage means, or may contain electromagnetic or electromechanical storage means. This energy store and/or the drive source can in any case be controlled. A control device for controlling in accordance with measured and/or predetermined parameters for the movement sequence of the driven component is associated therewith. Measured parameters may in particular be the angle of the path or rotation, the speed or acceleration of the driven component or a component which is connected or coupled thereto. The path/time graph, the speed/time graph or the acceleration/time graph of the driven component can therefore be influenced freely and/or in accordance with a program so that it is directly adapted to the practical operating requirements even when the operating conditions change. In this manner, it is in particular possible for the drive device, which forms an oscillating system with driven means which are coupled to the drive device, to be adjustable in terms of its natural frequency by influencing the energy store and using the control device in such a manner that the oscillating system operates at least substantially close to the resonance point. The invention allows the movement profile, that is to say, the path/time graph, to be freely defined within the maximum available reversing range of the back and forth movement of the actuation means. The control device, which acts on the drive source and/or has an effect in the energy store, assumes complete control over the oscillating system. Taking into account the actual data for position, speed and acceleration of the driven component, or a component which is connected or coupled thereto, the control device co-ordinates the entire movement sequence thereof. This also includes if necessary determining the reversal points of the back and forth movement, that is to say, the amplitude of the oscillatory movement, this amplitude also being able to be adjustable in a time-dependent manner. The energy store and the drive source can also be intermittently switched on and off and can be continually adjustable at least over portions between these two extreme states. This is significant, for example, for the starting and stopping operation of a loom or the individual drives thereof. The starting or initial state (energy content at time t = 0) of the energy store can be freely selected, whilst the possibility mentioned above of freely configuring the path/time graph and the speed/time graph or the acceleration/time graph allows the stroke, speed and acceleration of the coupled load to be freely determined as a function of time. In an advantageous configuration, in which the energy store contains permanent-magnet and/or electromagnetic storage means, the arrangement can be carried out in such a manner that the electromagnetic storage means have at least two magnetic poles which are supported so as to be movable relative to each other, the polarity and/or the magnetic induction of at least one of the magnetic poles being able to be influenced by means of the control device. In practice, the arrangement is, for example, carried out in such a manner that an air gap is provided between the magnetic poles and the air gap changes in terms of its geometric dimensions in the direction of the movement reversal of the component. By correspondingly controlling the magnetic induction of at least one of the magnetic poles, it is thus possible to achieve a very sensitive influence on the movement of the driven component which is coupled to at least one of the magnetic poles- At least one of the magnetic poles may be constructed so as to be permanently magnetic, whilst the other is excited electromagnetically by means of an excitation coil whose electric loading can be controlled by correspondingly adjusting the current within wide limits using simple means. Additionally or alternatively, the energy store may also have mechanical storage means which can be influenced by the control device. These mechanical storage means may comprise resilient means whose characteristic of resilience can be changed by the control device. To this end, the resilient means may contain at least one resilient element which is loaded in terms of bending and whose effective bending length can be changed by means of the control device. Also in an alternative or additional manner, the energy store may have pneumatic and/or hydraulic storage means which can be influenced by the control device. This can, for example, be achieved by the storage means having a space which contains a storage fluid and which is closed by means of a movable wall, the movable wall being able to be influenced by the control device. The various storage means (hydraulic, pneumatic, electric, permanent-magnet or electromagnetic, mechanical) can be used individually or in combination with each other. The drive source may be of the electrical, hydraulic or pneumatic type. Depending on the desired operating behaviour of the drive device, the restoring force/path characteristic of the energy store may have a linear, progressive, degressive, constant and/or discontinuous form and be adjustable in terms of its gradient at least over portions by the control device. The energy store may also contain storage means which, controlled by the control device, have a hysteresis. For specific driving requirements, it is advantageous if, for example, during part of the back and forth movement of the driven component, damping of the movement occurs, which can in particular be constant, speed-dependent, or time-dependent. For this purpose, the drive device may have damping means for the back and forth oscillatory movement, these damping means being able to be influenced by the control device. The drive device in accordance with the invention can be used in particular for those driving requirements in looms in which it is important to bring about a back and forth movement of driven components. This requirement arises not only when driving the batten with the reed, the gripper of a gripper loom, the heald frames, the breast beam, etcetera, but also with Jacquard drives and when driving nap-forming devices, and with other components which move back and forth, such as, for example, those of a weft insertion device, a weft thread brake and in shed-forming elements of Jacquard machines. In addition, however, it is also possible to use the new drive device for flatbed and straight-bar knitting machines and needle-felting machines and other machines and devices in which similar requirements occur. It is also possible to envisage applications outside the field of textile technology. The dependent claims relate to further developments and configurations of the invention. Embodiments of the subject-matter of the invention are illustrated in the drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a first configuration of a drive device in accordance with the invention, shown as a schematic sectioned view in order to illustrate the operating principle of an energy store containing electromagnetic storage means, Figure 2 comprises graphs for illustrating the basic operating principle of the drive device according to Figure 1, showing the angle of rotation and the rotation speed and the exciter current, in each case dependent on time, Figure 3 is a second configuration of a drive device in accordance with the invention, shown as a schematic sectioned view similar to Figure 1 in order to show the operating principle of an energy store containing mechanical storage means, Figure 4 is a third configuration of a drive device in accordance with the invention, having an energy store which contains mechanical storage means, shown as a schematic side view, Figure 5 is a modified configuration of the drive device according to Figure 4, shown as a corresponding schematic side view, Figure 6 illustrates the drive device according to Figure 4, having an energy store which contains electromagnetic storage means, shown as a corresponding schematic view, Figure 7 illustrates the drive device according to Figure 5 having an energy store which contains electromagnetic storage means, in a corresponding configuration, Figure 8 is a schematic drawing illustrating the reed movement in a loom, as a cross-section and as a side view, with two different reed positions being illustrated, Figure 9 illustrates the drive device according to Figure 4, together with a reed of a loom that is driven thereby, shown as a schematic side view corresponding to Figure 4, Figure 10 illustrates the drive device according to Figure 5, together with a reed of a loom that is driven thereby, shown as a schematic side view corresponding to Figure 5, Figure 11 illustrates two drive devices according to Figure 9, together with a section of a reed of a loom that is driven thereby, shown as a perspective, schematic illustration, Figure 12 illustrates two drive devices according to Figure 4, together with a heald frame of a loom that is driven thereby, as a schematic, perspective illustration, Figure 13 illustrates an arrangement similar to Figure 12, with three drive devices according to Figure 4 being illustrated for driving a heald frame of a loom, in a manner corresponding to Figure 12, Figure 14 illustrates a plurality of drive devices according to Figure 4, arranged in one arrangement plane, for driving heald frames of a loom, as a partially sectioned, schematic, perspective illustration, Figure 15 is an arrangement similar to Figure 14 illustrating drive devices according to Figure 4 in two arrangement planes as a schematic, perspective illustration similar to Figure 14, Figure 16 illustrates the drive device according to Figure 5 in a configuration for driving a heald of a loom, with three different positions during the shed forming operation being illustrated, as a schematic side view similar to Figure 5, Figure 17 is a drive device in accordance with the invention, in a configuration similar to Figure 4 for driving a gripper rod of a gripper loom, as a schematic side view, Figure 18 illustrates a drive device in accordance with the invention, in a configuration for producing a linear back and forth movement, as an axial section, a side view and a schematic illustration, respectively, Figures 19 and 20 illustrate two different pneumatic energy stores for a drive device in accordance with the invention, as an axial section, a side view and a schematic illustration, respectively. The configuration illustrated in Figure 1 of a drive device in accordance with the invention is constructed as an electromotive reversible drive. The illustration is purely schematic and serves in particular to explain the operating principle of the invention. The device has a stationary cylindrical stator 1, which is surrounded with radial spacing by a concentric, hollow cylindrical impeller or rotor 2 whose arrangement is not illustrated in detail. The rotor 2 carries, at the inner wall thereof, permanent magnetic poles 3 which are arranged in the division ratio of the maximum reversing stroke of the rotor 2. Of the permanent-magnetic poles 3, only two mutually diametrically opposed poles 3 are illustrated in Figure 1, which, owing to the pole width, corresponds to a reversing stroke of the rotor 2 of slightly less than 180°. The permanent magnetic poles 3 are, as indicated in the drawings with the letters "N(orth)" and "S(outh)", polarised in the peripheral direction and have substantially planar pole faces 4. Magnetic poles 5 which are arranged on the cylindrical stator 1 are associated with the rotor poles 3 and co-operate with the permanent magnetic poles 3 of the rotor 2 in the manner visible in Figure 3- The stator poles 5 preferably carry planar pole faces 6 which are directed in such a manner that, when the rotor 2 is in a corresponding position, they face the pole faces 4 of the permanent-magnetic rotor poles 3, preferably over a large surface-area, with an air gap 9 being formed, that is to say, are aligned substantially parallel therewith- The stator poles 5 are also polarised in the peripheral direction, as indicated in Figure 1 by the letters "N" and "S". Instead of the two mutually diametrically opposed stator poles 5 illustrated, it is also possible for a plurality of pole pairs of this type to be provided. The stator poles 5 are not permanent-magnetic but are provided with excitation coils which are indicated at 7, and which allow a magnetic flow to be produced which produces the polarisation indicated in Figure 1 at the pole faces 6. The excitation coils 7 are supplied with an exciting current Ie which is supplied through lines indicated at 8 and which allows the magnetic induction present in the air gaps 9 between mutually opposed pole faces 4, 6 to be controlled. The rotor 2 is surrounded by a hollow cylindrical, coaxial outer stator 10 which carries corresponding stator coils 11 which are indicated at the inner side thereof and which are generally distributed in a uniform manner all the way around the periphery and of which only a few are indicated in Figure 1. The stator coils 11 co-operate with the rotor 2 in the manner of a DC motor or an AC motor in such a manner that it is possible to apply to the rotor 2 a torque whose direction and size can be controlled by means of corresponding excitation of the stator coils 11. The stator current is supplied to the stator coils 11 via lines 12. Alternatively and/or in addition to the outer stator 10, it would also be possible to provide a separate drive source which is coupled to the rotor 2 and which is constructed, for example, as a separate coaxial electric motor, or the like, and which allows a torque to be applied to the rotor 2 in a time-controlled manner in one direction of rotation or the other. This separate drive source is schematically indicated at 13; the power supply thereof is illustrated at 14 with a dot-dash line. A sensor which is indicated at 15 is further associated with the rotor 2 and can be constructed, for example, as a rotary resolver or an encoder, and transmits, via a line 16, electrical signals which are characteristic of the angular position and/or the angular speed or the angular acceleration and/or the respective position of the rotor 2. The sensor 15 can naturally also be coupled to a component which is coupled to the rotor and which is driven thereby, so that it detects the signals which are characteristic of the movement state and the position of the rotor 2 not directly, but indirectly. Damping means may act on the rotor 2 or on a driven component which is connected or coupled thereto, which damping means are indicated in Figure 1 in the form of a friction brake device 17 whose operating cylinder 18 can be controlled via electrical signals which are supplied via lines 19. All the components of the stators 1, 10 and the rotor 2 located in magnetic closure circuits, as well as the magnetic poles 3, 5, are produced from a magnetically conductive material, it also being possible for them to be laminated in a manner known per se, if necessary. The device has a central electronic control device 20 which functions based on a microprocessor and is generally program-controlled. The control device 20 is connected to the line 8, 12, 14, 16, 19 and controls in particular the excitation of the excitation coils 7 of the stator poles 5 and the excitation of the stator coils 11 and, where applicable, the damping means 17, 18 and, if provided, the separate drive source 13. It receives from the sensor 15 information regarding the respective rotor position and/or parameters which are characteristic of the respective rotational movement of the rotor, as already mentioned above. Alternatively, it is also possible for individual values to be calculated in the control device from the information provided by the sensor 15, for example, it is possible for the angular speed and acceleration to be derived from the information of the sensor 15 relating to the rotation angle. An input unit 21 which is connected to the control device 20 allows the program of the control device 20 to be influenced externally and/or allows predetermined data to be input into the control device. The operating method of the drive device which has been described in principle above for producing a back and forth rotational movement of the rotor 2 is as follows: The rotor 2 has, together with components which are coupled thereto and which are driven thereby, a specific mass m, which must be accelerated and decelerated during a reversing movement in each movement cycle. As illustrated in Figure 1, the pole faces 4, 6 of the rotor poles and the stator poles 3, 5 facing each other are polarised in the same direction so that, when the rotor poles 3 are moved towards the stator poles 6, repulsion forces acting counter to the rotational movement are produced between the rotor poles and the stator poles 3, 5. The kinetic energy stored during a rotational movement of the rotor 2 in one rotation direction is stored, when the pole faces 4, 6 are moved together, in the form of magnetic energy in the air gap 9 between the pole faces 4, 6 which are moving together. The magnetic poles 3, 5, therefore, form an energy store having electromagnetic storage means. The restoring force k, which increases steeply as adjacent pole faces 4, 6 are moved closer together, is dependent on the magnetic induction present in the air gap 9 and can therefore be controlled by the electric loading of the excitation coils 7 of the stator 1. If the rotor 2 is caused to carry out rotational oscillatory actions by the control device 20 by means of corresponding time-controlled excitation of the stator coils 11 (or the drive source 13), it executes rotational oscillation with the natural frequency Q = V k/m. This natural frequency can be adjusted by adjusting the excitation of the excitation coils 7 and, therefore, the induction in the air gaps 9 of the control device 20, as.the graphs set out in Figure 2 show. The graphs illustrate from the top the path of the rotation angle co of the rotor 2 dependent on time. The rotation angle stroke is approximately 170°; owing to the pole width, it is less than 180°. With a specific excitation of the excitation coils 7, the rotor 2 carries out a rotational oscillatory action with has a specific natural frequency and which is substantially sinusoidal (cf. drawing a) of Fig. 2). Therefore, the angular speed is also sinusoidal and of the same frequency, as drawing b) of Figure 2 shows. This condition applies until time ti, up until which the exciting current Ie according to drawing c) of Figure 2 is constant at the value Ieo* At time ti, the control device 20 increases the loading of the excitation coils 7, that is to say, the exciting current increases, as drawing c) illustrates, to the value Iei- The restoring force k output from the energy store formed by the magnetic poles 3, 5 therefore also changes, with the result that the natural frequency of the system increases, as illustrated by drawings a) and b). At the same time, however, the amplitude of the oscillatory movement also decreases slightly, as indicated by drawing a). The time ti, at which the exciting current Ie of the excitation coils 7 and therefore the natural frequency of the oscillating system are adjusted, can be selected and/or predetermined, depending on the requirements of the driven component, in accordance with a program, dependent on the position, speed or acceleration or generally dependent on time. The control influence on the excitation of the excitation coils 7 and, therefore, on the restoring force/path characteristic of the energy store formed by the magnetic poles 3, 5 can in particular also be carried out at the reversing points of the oscillatory movement. In particular applications, it may also be advantageous to change the properties of the energy store during a backward and/or forward movement at a specific time, this time also being able to be influenced or determined by the information originating, for example, from the sensor 15 or a program. In addition, it is also possible, by controlling the damping device 17, 18, to introduce into the oscillatory movement of the rotor 2 a mechanical damping action which can also be controlled in a time-dependent manner by the control device 20. The rotor 2 can carry out substantially free oscillatory actions, with it then receiving, via the external stator 10 and the stator coils 11 thereof, only a supply of the energy required to counteract the friction losses, which means that the torque applied to the rotor 2 by the stator coils 11 is effective only for a short time during a backward and forward movement of the rotor 2. In principle, however, the same relationships also apply to applications in which the stator coils 11 and/or the drive source 13 are controlled in such a manner that the rotor 2 carries out a forced oscillatory action. In any case it is possible, using the control device 20, to configure practically any desired path(rotation angle)/time graph for the oscillatory movement of the rotor 2 and the driven components which are coupled thereto and therefore to take into account in a relatively simple manner different or changing operating conditions for the driven components. In particular, the conditions at the beginning and end points of the oscillatory movement can also be adjusted in an advantageous manner. The energy store can be charged or discharged at the beginning and end points, which is important for the start-up or stopping operation of the loom. If advantageous, the energy store can also be controlled in such a manner that it has a hysteresis, that is to say, the restoring force k has a different path during the forward movement from that during the backward movement. A significant advantage of the invention in particular also consists in that the natural frequency of the oscillating system explained above can be influenced so that, in the case of a forced oscillatory movement, the resonance can advantageously be set in such a manner that particularly favourable dynamic movement relationships are produced with a high level of efficiency. This applies to forced oscillatory actions having harmonic excitation, impact excitation, periodic and non-periodic excitation, and for parameter-excited oscillatory actions. Whilst an electromagnetic energy store formed by the magnetic poles 3, 5 is associated with the rotor 2 in the embodiment described above with reference to Figure 1, in the configuration schematically illustrated in Figure 3 there is provided a mechanical energy store which, at the reversing points of the oscillatory movement of the rotor 2, converts the kinetic energy thereof into potential energy in a short time, in order to then accelerate the rotor 2 in the other movement direction in each case. Identical components in Figures 1 and 3 are given the same reference numerals and are not explained again. The rotor 2 which is constructed in a hollow cylindrical manner carries, in this configuration, leaf springs 22 which protrude radially from the inner wall thereof and which form mechanical storage means and of which four are in each case arranged in pairs facing each other. The number of leaf springs 22 can also be selected to be different. The leaf springs 22 comprise resilient steel or preferably carbon fibre material. They are securely clamped at one end to the rotor 2 at 23 and, at the other end, received in the clamping location of a roller pair 24 which is supported on a stationary actuator 2 6 by corresponding guiding means 27. The actuator 26 can be controlled by the control device 20 via a line 8a in such a manner that it adjusts the roller pairs 24 in the radial direction of the associated leaf springs 22 and/or changes the clamping force applied to the respective leaf spring 22 by the roller pairs at the clamping line thereof. During a rotational oscillation of the rotor 2 brought about by the stator coils 11 or the energy source 13, the leaf springs 22 form a mechanical energy store which temporarily stores the kinetic energy of the rotor 2 and the components which are coupled thereto in the form of potential energy. Using the actuator 26, the clamping location of the leaf springs 22 and, therefore, the effective bending length of the leaf springs 22 can be changed. There is, therefore, a direct influence on the characteristic of resilience, that is to say, the restoring force/path characteristic of the energy store, whereby a substantially freely controllable or programmable path(rotation angle) characteristic of the rotor 2 can be achieved during the oscillatory movements thereof. The leaf springs 22 can also be arranged on the rotor 2 with an alignment which deviates from the radial position, and it is also possible to construct them with variable thickness and/or width over the length thereof, for example, thicker/and or wider at the secure clamping location than in the region of the clamping line of the rollers 24. Practical configurations of the drive device in accordance with the invention, illustrated purely schematically in Figure 3, are shown in Figures 4 and 5. In Figures 1 and 2, identical components are again provided with the same reference numerals. In the configuration according to Figure 4, the cylindrical stator 1 is constructed in a hollow cylindrical manner and is provided with an inner wedge tooth arrangement 29 which allows the stator 1 to be fitted in a rotationally secure manner to a spline shaft which is not illustrated in greater detail. The stator 1 is surrounded with radial spacing by the cylindrical rotor 2 which co-operates with the stator 1 in the manner of a conventional DC or AC motor, the associated electromagnetic poles and/or coils being schematically indicated at 30. This motor which is generally designated 31 is an external impeller motor as known per se (cf. DE 101 11 17 Al). By correspondingly exciting the electromagnetically operated windings 30 thereof using a reversing control means 32 which is connected thereto, the rotor 2 is caused to carry out a reverse rotational movement of predetermined amplitude relative to the stator 1, indicated by a double-headed arrow 33. A drive lever 34 is fixed to the outer side of the rotor 2 and has, at the end, an articulation location 35 for a component which is to be driven, in particular a loom. At the side diametrically opposed to the drive lever 34, the rotor 2 is constructed with a formed-on fixing clamp 36, into which a leaf spring 22 is inserted which is securely clamped at the clamping location thereof by means of screws 37. In the vicinity of the clamping location, at both sides of the leaf spring 22, there are located two reinforcement plates 38 which protect the leaf spring against stress fracture directly at the clamping location. The leaf spring 22 is received, in the vicinity of the free end thereof, in the clamping location 39 of the associated roller pair 24 whose rollers can be adjusted in the longitudinal direction of the leaf spring 22 by means of associated adjustment devices 40 which are, for example, constructed as spindle or wedge-type mechanisms, between the position illustrated with solid lines and the position illustrated with dotted lines in Figure 4. The two adjustment devices 40 are controlled by means of electromechanical adjustment means 41 which, together with the adjustment devices 40, form the actuator 26 of Figure 3. The control device 20, whose input component 21 is not illustrated in Figure 1, on the one hand controls, by the control means 32, the reversing movement of the rotor 2 and, therefore, the drive lever 34 by determining the amplitude thereof, whilst it acts, on the other hand, by the adjustment means 41, on the adjustment devices 40 of the roller pair 24 in order to adjust these in the direction of the double-headed arrow 42. Owing to this adjustment, the free clamping length of the leaf spring 22 is changed, which leads to a corresponding change in the characteristic of resilience of the energy store formed by the leaf spring 22. Furthermore, the rollers 24 can also be braked, if necessary, the braking effect being controllable by the control device 20. In this manner, it is possible to introduce a controlled damping operation into the system, as illustrated by the damping device 17, 18 in Figures 1 and 2. The characteristic of resilience of the leaf spring 22 is, incidentally, non-linear. The configuration according to Figure 5 differs from that of Figure 4 substantially only in terms of the construction of the motor 31. The motor which is designated 31a in this instance is constructed as a so-called circle sector linear motor. The schematic construction and the operating method of circle sector linear motors of this type are known, for example, from DE 198 49 728 Al so that these do not need to examined in greater detail. In this configuration, the rotor 2 is rotatably supported on the cylindrical stator 1 which is constructed with the inner wedge tooth arrangement 29 of Figure 4 by means of a roller bearing 43, the drive lever 34 thereof being movable back and forth between the angular position illustrated with a solid line and the angular position illustrated with dashed lines in Figure 5. The electromagnetic drive winding 30a is arranged so as to be distributed in the form of sectors and is controlled using the reversing control means 32 of the control device 20. The rotor 2 is again provided, according to Figure 4, with the radially protruding leaf spring 22 which is received in the clamping location 39 of the associated roller pair 24. In this instance, the leaf spring 22 is arranged relative to the drive lever 34 at an angle which is not equal to 180°. The operating method of the mechanical energy store formed by the leaf spring is the same as that of the configuration according to Figure 4. Figures 6 and 7 illustrate drive devices in accordance with the invention which are constructed in a similar manner to the configurations described above according to Figures 4, 5, but which are constructed with an electromagnetic energy store instead of the leaf springs 22, in principle in a similar manner to Figure 1. Identical components are again provided with the same reference numerals as in Figures 4 and 5 and are not explained again. The configuration according to Figure 6 corresponds to that of Figure 4 with the difference that, instead of the leaf spring 22, an elongate plate-like pole piece 44 is connected in a radially protruding manner to the impeller 2 at the fixing clamp 36. The sensor 15 is omitted for reasons of simplification. Using the reference numerals according to Figure 1, the pole piece 44 carries a permanent-magnetic plate-like magnetic pole 3 whose planar, lateral pole faces which are parallel with the radial axis of symmetry 45 are designated 4. Symmetrically relative to the axis of symmetry 45 of the pole piece 44 which is located in the centre position illustrated in Figure 6, there are arranged the two stationary poles 5 which are excited by means of excitation coils 7 and whose pole faces are designated 6 and are inclined in such a manner relative to the axis of rotation of the rotor 2 that the pole faces 4, 6, at the limit positions of the back and forth oscillatory movement indicated by the double-headed arrow 33 are located facing each other over a large surface-area, with an air gap 9 being formed. The excitation coils 7 are controlled by a driver switch 20a which forms a part of the control device 20 and is controlled thereby. As already explained with reference to Figure 1, the excitation coils 7, controlled by the control device 20, are excited in such a manner that they at least intermittently produce identical magnetic polarities during the reversing movement of the rotor 2, so that the restoring force required for the oscillatory movement of the rotor 2 at the pole faces 4, 6 facing each other is produced, the kinetic energy of the mass m associated with the rotor 2 being stored as potential energy in the magnetic field which is present in the air gap 9. The configuration according to Figure 7 corresponds to that of Figure 5, with the difference explained above with reference to Figure 6 that the energy store functions with electromagnetic storage means. The function and construction of the energy store are as in the configuration according to Figure 6, so that it is sufficient to refer to these in this respect. Identical components have the same reference numerals. Figures 8 to 16 below illustrate, by way of example, the use of the drive device in accordance with the invention, as explained above, for typical driving requirements in a loom. In this regard, Figure 8 illustrates a section from a loom, with the movement relationships of the reed during weft thread beat-up operation being illustrated. The reed designated 50 can be pivoted between the two pivot positions illustrated in Figure 8, the left-hand position of which illustrates the weft thread beat-up position. The weft threads which are to be beaten up to the fabric indicated at 51 are designated 52. The warp threads are indicated at 53 and are in the open-shed position. The fabric expander is schematically indicated at 54. In order to impart the oscillatory movement which can be seen in Figure 8 to the reed 50, it is possible to use, for example, the configurations of the new drive device illustrated in Figures 4 and 5, as shown in Figures 9 and 10. In these Figures, identical components are provided with identical reference numerals and are not explained again. Only the rotor 2 with the components which are arranged thereon is illustrated. The stator 1 and the winding 30 which is used for coupling to the rotor 2 are not shown again for reasons of simplification. A clamping rail 55 having a U-shaped cross-section is positioned on the drive lever 34 of the drive device formed on the rotor 2, into which clamping rail the reed 50 is inserted directly. The reed 50 is releasably fixed with the frame thereof, by suitable fixing means, such as clamping screws or the like, in the clamping rail 55 so that it can be exchanged if necessary. It is possible to provide a plurality of drive devices, as illustrated in Figure 11, distributed over the axial length of the reed. The stators 1 of these drive devices rest with the inner wedge tooth arrangement 29 thereof in a rotationally secure manner on a continuous spline shaft which is indicated at 56 in Figure 11 and whose outer wedge tooth arrangement is not illustrated in greater detail and extends over the length of the reed 50. The shaft 56 is retained in a rotationally secure manner in the machine frame which is not illustrated in detail. The number and spacing of the drive devices are dependent on the weaving width, that is to say, the length of the reed 50. The drive devices can naturally also be constructed according to Figure 7. Figures 12 to 15 illustrate the use of the drive devices according to the invention in accordance with Figure 4 as so-called heald frame lever motors for moving the heald frames of a loom. In this regard, reference is made to DE 101 11 017 Al in which the basic construction of a drive of this type for the shed-forming means of a loom is illustrated. A heald frame designated 60 is in each case coupled, by means of at least two push/pull rods 61, to the drive lever 34 of the rotor 2 of an associated drive device according to Figure 4, each push/pull rod 61 being coupled at 35 to the drive lever 34 thereof. The rotors 2, controlled by the control device 20, carry out the back and forth oscillatory movement explained with reference to Figure 1 in accordance with the double-headed arrow 33, whereby the coupled heald frame 60, in accordance with a double-headed arrow 62, is moved up and down to the extent required for the shed formation. Whilst Figure 12 illustrates the relationships for the case in which only two drive devices are coupled to the heald frame 60, Figure 13 illustrates the relationships in a loom for a relatively large weaving width, in which three drive devices, distributed in a uniform manner over the length of the heald frame, act on the respective heald frame. According to Figure 14, the drive devices for the mutually adjacent heald frames 60 can be alternately arranged in an arrangement plane at one side and the other of the respective push/pull rod 61, whilst Figure 15 illustrates that two arrangement planes can also be used for the drive devices. In this manner, it is possible to increase the axial length of the rotors 2 and the associated stators 1 beyond the limitation determined by the predetermined distance measurement 63 (generally 12 mm) of adjacent heald frames 60, as indicated in Figure 13, in order thereby to achieve greater stroke output. It should be noted from Figures 12 to 15 that the energy stores associated with the rotors 2 in accordance with the invention, for example, in the form of the illustrated leaf springs 22 having the associated clamping or securing rollers 24, does not increase the axial width of the drive devices in the direction of the spline shafts 64 (cf. Figures 14, 15) which carry the stators 1 and which extend transversely relative to the heald frames 60. At the same time, the Figures indicate that the energy stores can be accommodated in the loom, without the inconvenience of the need for additional space. This also applies to the basic configuration of the drive devices according to Figure 7, as will be shown by an examination of Figure 16. In the illustration of the drive device, the stator 1 is omitted in this instance for reasons of simplification. The drive lever 34, to which the push/pull rod 61 is coupled at 35, carries out a back and forth oscillatory movement between the limit positions illustrated in Figure 16 with dashed lines. One of these limit positions corresponds to the formation of the upper shed and the other to the formation of the lower shed. Control of the energy store using the control device 20 can also in this instance be pre-programmed and controlled as desired within a predetermined range in accordance with the requirements of the shed movement. Figure 17 schematically illustrates the use of a drive device in accordance with the invention and according to Figure 4 for driving the gripper rod of a gripper loom. For identical components, the same reference numerals are used as in Figure 4 and are not explained again. In this instance, instead of the drive lever 34 of Figure 4, the rotor 2 carries, at the side opposite the leaf spring 22 of the energy store, a lever arm 34a on which a toothed segment 65 is formed which is coaxial with the axis of rotation of the rotor and which is in engagement with a pinion 66 of an angular gear 68 which is arranged on a frame portion 67. The angular gear 68 drives a toothed drive wheel 69 whose axis of rotation extends at right angles to that of the pinion 66 and whose sets of teeth engage in the toothed-rod-like tooth arrangement of a gripper rod 70 which is indicated in Figure 17 in cross-section. A back and forth movement of the toothed segment 65 produces, therefore, a back and forth rotational movement of the toothed drive wheel 69 and, therefore, a back and forth movement of the gripper rod 70 occurring at right angles to the plane of projection of Figure 17. During this back and forth movement, the kinetic energy of the moved masses in the region of the reversing points of the movement is temporarily stored in the leaf spring 22 as potential energy, as has already been explained above. Although, with reference to the disclosed new drive device configurations, the invention has been described with regard to the production of a back and forth oscillatory movement about an associated pivot or rotation axis, the concept of the invention is not limited thereto. It can be used in the same manner in drive devices which produce, for example, a linear back and forth movement. An example of this is schematically indicated in Figure 18. The drive device has a driven component which is constructed substantially in the manner of a rod 71 and which extends through an electric, pneumatic or hydraulic linear drive source 72 which confers thereon a linear back and forth oscillatory movement of predetermined amplitude, Coaxially relative to the drive source 72, there is arranged at both sides in each case an energy store in the form of a cylinder 73, in which a piston 74 which is provided on the rod 71 is displacably guided. The cylinder 73 is closed at both end faces thereof, the closure being produced in each case at the outer end face by means of a cylinder cover 75 which is screwed into the cylinder 73. By rotating the cylinder cover 75, therefore, the cylinder volume can be changed since the cylinder cover 75 forms a "movable wall" for the cylinder 73. The cylinder 73 is filled with a storage medium which is resiliently compressible, for example, air or a gas. However, it is also possible to use, as a storage medium, a so-called rheological medium whose viscosity changes in the electrical field. The cylinder 73 which is illustrated at the right-hand side in Figure 18 is therefore provided with a device 7 6 which allows an electrical field of variable strength to be produced in the cylinder space 77 which is filled with the rheological medium. The associated field-producing circuit is indicated at 78. The drive device has an electrical control device 20 which allows, in a manner similar to that explained with reference to Figure 1, the properties of the pneumatic energy store in this instance to be changed in accordance with parameters of the back and forth movement of the rod 71, and/or predetermined or program-dependent parameters. The sensor 15 illustrated in Figure 18 according to Figure 1 transmits, by way of example, path-dependent signals which are characteristic of the back and forth movement of the rod 71 and which contain information relating to the position, speed, acceleration, movement state and the like, of the rod 71. In the configuration according to Figure 18, only the energy store indicated at the right-hand side of the drive source 72 is controlled by the control device 20. In the same manner, the other cylinder 73 which forms the energy store located at the left-hand side of the drive source 72 can also be controlled correspondingly. There are, however, cases in which the left-hand cylinder 73 is omitted or is filled with a damping medium which can then, if applicable, be controlled again. Figures 19 and 20 schematically illustrate further possibilities for a pneumatic or hydraulic energy store in the form of a cylinder 73a which is closed, for example, by a movable wall in the form of a membrane 75a (Figure 19) which, controlled by the control device 20, can be changed in terms of its thickness and rigidity, as can be seen from a comparison of Figures 19 and 20. Finally, it should be noted that the leaf springs 22 can also be replaced by differently constructed resilient means, for example, helical or torsion springs whose effective length or characteristic of resilience can be changed accordingly. Claims 1. Drive device for producing a back and forth movement of a component (50, 60, 70), in particular in looms, having - a drive source (2) which is coupled to the component and which produces the back and forth movement - an energy store (3, 5; 22) which is associated with the component and/or the drive source for storing potential energy during at least part of the back and forth movement of the component and - a control device (20) for controlling at least the energy store and/or the drive source in accordance with measured and/or predetermined parameters for the movement sequence of the component. 2. Drive device according to claim 1, characterised in that the energy store contains permanent-magnet and/or electromagnetic storage means (3, 5) . 3. Drive device according to claim 2, characterised in that the magnetic storage means have at least two magnetic poles (3, 5) which are supported so as to be movable relative to each other, and in that the polarity and/or the magnetic induction of at least one of the magnetic poles can be influenced by the control device (20). 4. Drive device (3, 5) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that an air gap (9) is provided between the magnetic poles (3, 5), and in that the air gap changes in terms of its geometric dimensions in the direction of the movement reversal of the component. 5. Drive device according to claim 1, characterised in that the energy store has mechanical storage means (22) which can be influenced by the control device (20). 6. Drive device according to claim 5, characterised in that the mechanical storage means have resilient means (22) whose characteristic of resilience can be changed by the control device. 7. Drive device according to claim 6, characterised in that the resilient means have at least one resilient element (22) which is loaded in terms of bending and whose effective bending length can be influenced by the control device (20) . 8. Drive device according to claim 7, characterised in that the resilient element is a leaf spring element (22) which is arranged between two clamping locations (23, 39) which can be adjusted relative to each other in accordance with the back and forth movement of the component, and in that the effective length of the leaf spring element between the two clamping locations can be changed by the control device (20) . 9. Drive device according to claim 8, characterised in that, at least at one of the clamping locations, the leaf spring element (22) is clamped between two clamping elements (24) which are supported so as to be able to be adjusted relative to the leaf spring element by the control device (20) . 10. Drive device according to claim 1, characterised in that the energy store has pneumatic and/or hydraulic storage means which can be influenced by the control device (20). 11. Drive device according to claim 10, characterised in that the storage means have a space (77) which is closed by a movable wall (75, 75a) and which contains a storage medium, and in that the movable wall can be influenced by the control device (20). 12. Drive device according to claim 10, characterised in that the storage medium can be influenced in terms of its physical characteristics by means of electromagnetic fields. 13. Drive device according to claim 11, characterised in that the movable wall (75a) is constructed so as to be resiliently flexible, and in that the restoring force which is transmitted therefrom to the storage medium can be influenced by the control device (20) . 14. Drive device according to claim 11, characterised in that the storage means have a cylinder (73) which has at least one cylinder chamber (77) which contains the storage medium and which contains a cover (75) which delimits the cylinder chamber and which can be adjusted by the control device. 15. Drive device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the restoring force/path characteristic of the storage means (3, 5; 22) is, at least over portions, non-linear. 16. Drive device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the energy store contains storage means which, controlled by the control device, have a hysteresis. 17. Drive device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised by damping means (17, 18) for the back and forth movement, and in that the damping means can be influenced by the control device (20)„ 18. Drive device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it forms, with driven means which are coupled thereto, an oscillatory system whose natural frequency can be changed by the energy store (3, 5; 22) being influenced by the control device (20). 19. Drive device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it is at least part of the batten drive of a loom. 20. Drive device according to claim 19, characterised in that the driven component (50) is positioned directly on a component (2) of the drive device that carries out a back and forth rotational movement and the energy store is coupled directly to this component (2). 21. Drive device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it is at least part of the drive of the shed-forming elements of a loom. 22. Drive device according to claim 21, characterised by being arranged, together with the energy store associated therewith, so as to be located with other drive devices in a common arrangement plane. 23. Drive device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it is at least part of the gripper drive of a gripper loom. . .

Full Text

Drive device for producing a to-and-fro motion of a driven
part, particularly in weaving machines
By way of example, the heald frames, the batten and the reed, as well as the weft thread insertion elements carry out in a conventional loom a back and forth movement which, for example, as is the case for the batten with the reed, may be a back and forth oscillatory movement about a stationary horizontal axis or, for example, as is the case for weft thread insertion elements in the form of gripper rods in a gripper loom, may be a linear back and forth movement on a predetermined path. The driving actions- for producing these back and forth movements are gerieratily* derived from a main drive shaft of the loom by means of cam or crank mechanisms. A basic disadvantage of these known drive devices consists in that their level of efficiency is relatively low since the energy which has to be supplied in order to accelerate the masses which are to be moved back and forth is lost for the most part during the subsequent deceleration. These so-called reversible drives are also limited in terms of the control possibilities thereof for construction reasons, whilst the dynamic behaviour of the drives can be optimised only to a very limited extent. These disadvantages are becoming increasingly significant with the development of increasingly efficient looms having higher speeds. Examples of loom drives of this type using a main drive shaft are described with reference to various configurations in WO 9831856, EP 1 266 988 A2, EP 0 741 809 Bl and EP 0 514 959 Bl, to name only a few. It is known to adjust the speed of the main drive shaft of the loom in an appropriate manner during the weaving operation by adjusting or controlling the driving electric motor according to the load and/or the required speed of the

components to be driven in each case, for example, during low-speed operation.
In particular in order to increase the efficiency of such reversible drive solutions, to reduce the mechanical stress of the structural elements of the drives and to improve the dynamic properties, drive devices have already been proposed in which an energy store in the form of resilient elements is associated with a component which carries out a back and forth movement or an actuation means which is coupled to the component to be driven, in such a manner that a system is produced which is capable of oscillating. The operation of an oscillating system of this type close to the resonance point leads to a high level of efficiency since substantially only the friction losses which occur in the system during the back and forth movement still have to be counteracted. This advantage of a high level of efficiency is, however, lost to a rapidly increasing degree if the drive device functions with an oscillatory movement whose frequency is increasingly further away from the resonance point. Examples of such drive devices which produce a back and forth oscillatory movement for the shed-forming means of a loom are described in JP 2002-022747 and DE 10 111 017 Al, whilst a method and a device for controlling the movement of the reed of a loom are known from DE 28 08 202 Al, and an arrangement for relieving the drive mechanisms, for example, the gripper rod drive and the reed drive in looms, is known from DE 33 25 591 Al.
Common to these drive devices is the fact that they function with a more or less rigidly predetermined path/time graph and that the position of the operating point close to the resonance point of the oscillating system, which position is desired with regard to a high level of efficiency, cannot

therefore be achieved in practice, or achieved only in a very incomplete manner, since the operating conditions change greatly, depending on the technical circumstances relating purely to weaving, such as the yarn material used, type of weave and the like, but also the mechanical operating conditions, such as operating temperature, speed, etcetera. As the distance between the operating point and the resonance point increases, the dynamic properties of the drive device which produces the back and forth oscillatory movement also deteriorate considerably. Finally, many of the known solutions require a significant level of structural complexity which is linked to a corresponding spatial requirement in the loom, which often cannot be complied with in practice.
In principle, similar problems also apply to other machines, in particular textile machines, such as, for example, flatbed or straight-bar knitting machines with masses which have to be moved back and forth rapidly.
The object of the invention is, therefore, to provide a drive device for producing a back and forth movement of a driven component, in particular in looms, which is characterised by a high level of efficiency and good dynamic properties under the respective operating conditions, which may also change.
In order to achieve this object, the drive device in accordance with the invention has the features of claim 1.
The new drive device has a drive source which is coupled to a component supported so as to be movable back and forth, and which produces a back and forth movement, and which can in principle be of any mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic or

electromechanical type. An energy store for storing potential energy during at least part of the back and forth movement of the component is associated with the driven component which can be moved back and forth and/or the drive source. This energy store may have mechanical storage means, for example, in the form of resilient means or pneumatic and/or hydraulic storage means, or may contain electromagnetic or electromechanical storage means. This energy store and/or the drive source can in any case be controlled. A control device for controlling in accordance with measured and/or predetermined parameters for the movement sequence of the driven component is associated therewith. Measured parameters may in particular be the angle of the path or rotation, the speed or acceleration of the driven component or a component which is connected or coupled thereto.
The path/time graph, the speed/time graph or the acceleration/time graph of the driven component can therefore be influenced freely and/or in accordance with a program so that it is directly adapted to the practical operating requirements even when the operating conditions change. In this manner, it is in particular possible for the drive device, which forms an oscillating system with driven means which are coupled to the drive device, to be adjustable in terms of its natural frequency by influencing the energy store and using the control device in such a manner that the oscillating system operates at least substantially close to the resonance point.
The invention allows the movement profile, that is to say, the path/time graph, to be freely defined within the maximum available reversing range of the back and forth movement of the actuation means. The control device, which acts on the

drive source and/or has an effect in the energy store, assumes complete control over the oscillating system. Taking into account the actual data for position, speed and acceleration of the driven component, or a component which is connected or coupled thereto, the control device co-ordinates the entire movement sequence thereof. This also includes if necessary determining the reversal points of the back and forth movement, that is to say, the amplitude of the oscillatory movement, this amplitude also being able to be adjustable in a time-dependent manner. The energy store and the drive source can also be intermittently switched on and off and can be continually adjustable at least over portions between these two extreme states. This is significant, for example, for the starting and stopping operation of a loom or the individual drives thereof. The starting or initial state (energy content at time t = 0) of the energy store can be freely selected, whilst the possibility mentioned above of freely configuring the path/time graph and the speed/time graph or the acceleration/time graph allows the stroke, speed and acceleration of the coupled load to be freely determined as a function of time.
In an advantageous configuration, in which the energy store contains permanent-magnet and/or electromagnetic storage means, the arrangement can be carried out in such a manner that the electromagnetic storage means have at least two magnetic poles which are supported so as to be movable relative to each other, the polarity and/or the magnetic induction of at least one of the magnetic poles being able to be influenced by means of the control device. In practice, the arrangement is, for example, carried out in such a manner that an air gap is provided between the magnetic poles and the air gap changes in terms of its geometric dimensions in

the direction of the movement reversal of the component. By correspondingly controlling the magnetic induction of at least one of the magnetic poles, it is thus possible to achieve a very sensitive influence on the movement of the driven component which is coupled to at least one of the magnetic poles- At least one of the magnetic poles may be constructed so as to be permanently magnetic, whilst the other is excited electromagnetically by means of an excitation coil whose electric loading can be controlled by correspondingly adjusting the current within wide limits using simple means.
Additionally or alternatively, the energy store may also have mechanical storage means which can be influenced by the control device. These mechanical storage means may comprise resilient means whose characteristic of resilience can be changed by the control device. To this end, the resilient means may contain at least one resilient element which is loaded in terms of bending and whose effective bending length can be changed by means of the control device.
Also in an alternative or additional manner, the energy store may have pneumatic and/or hydraulic storage means which can be influenced by the control device. This can, for example, be achieved by the storage means having a space which contains a storage fluid and which is closed by means of a movable wall, the movable wall being able to be influenced by the control device.
The various storage means (hydraulic, pneumatic, electric, permanent-magnet or electromagnetic, mechanical) can be used individually or in combination with each other. The drive source may be of the electrical, hydraulic or pneumatic type.

Depending on the desired operating behaviour of the drive device, the restoring force/path characteristic of the energy store may have a linear, progressive, degressive, constant and/or discontinuous form and be adjustable in terms of its gradient at least over portions by the control device. The energy store may also contain storage means which, controlled by the control device, have a hysteresis.
For specific driving requirements, it is advantageous if, for example, during part of the back and forth movement of the driven component, damping of the movement occurs, which can in particular be constant, speed-dependent, or time-dependent. For this purpose, the drive device may have damping means for the back and forth oscillatory movement, these damping means being able to be influenced by the control device.
The drive device in accordance with the invention can be used in particular for those driving requirements in looms in which it is important to bring about a back and forth movement of driven components. This requirement arises not only when driving the batten with the reed, the gripper of a gripper loom, the heald frames, the breast beam, etcetera, but also with Jacquard drives and when driving nap-forming devices, and with other components which move back and forth, such as, for example, those of a weft insertion device, a weft thread brake and in shed-forming elements of Jacquard machines. In addition, however, it is also possible to use the new drive device for flatbed and straight-bar knitting machines and needle-felting machines and other machines and devices in which similar requirements occur. It is also possible to envisage applications outside the field of textile technology.

The dependent claims relate to further developments and configurations of the invention.
Embodiments of the subject-matter of the invention are illustrated in the drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a first configuration of a drive device in accordance with the invention, shown as a schematic sectioned view in order to illustrate the operating principle of an energy store containing electromagnetic storage means,
Figure 2 comprises graphs for illustrating the basic operating principle of the drive device according to Figure 1, showing the angle of rotation and the rotation speed and the exciter current, in each case dependent on time,
Figure 3 is a second configuration of a drive device in accordance with the invention, shown as a schematic sectioned view similar to Figure 1 in order to show the operating principle of an energy store containing mechanical storage
means,
Figure 4 is a third configuration of a drive device in accordance with the invention, having an energy store which contains mechanical storage means, shown as a schematic side view,
Figure 5 is a modified configuration of the drive device according to Figure 4, shown as a corresponding schematic side view,

Figure 6 illustrates the drive device according to Figure 4, having an energy store which contains electromagnetic storage means, shown as a corresponding schematic view,
Figure 7 illustrates the drive device according to Figure 5 having an energy store which contains electromagnetic storage means, in a corresponding configuration,
Figure 8 is a schematic drawing illustrating the reed movement in a loom, as a cross-section and as a side view, with two different reed positions being illustrated,
Figure 9 illustrates the drive device according to Figure 4, together with a reed of a loom that is driven thereby, shown as a schematic side view corresponding to Figure 4,
Figure 10 illustrates the drive device according to Figure 5, together with a reed of a loom that is driven thereby, shown as a schematic side view corresponding to Figure 5,
Figure 11 illustrates two drive devices according to Figure 9, together with a section of a reed of a loom that is driven thereby, shown as a perspective, schematic illustration,
Figure 12 illustrates two drive devices according to Figure 4, together with a heald frame of a loom that is driven thereby, as a schematic, perspective illustration,
Figure 13 illustrates an arrangement similar to Figure 12, with three drive devices according to Figure 4 being illustrated for driving a heald frame of a loom, in a manner corresponding to Figure 12,

Figure 14 illustrates a plurality of drive devices according to Figure 4, arranged in one arrangement plane, for driving heald frames of a loom, as a partially sectioned, schematic, perspective illustration,
Figure 15 is an arrangement similar to Figure 14 illustrating drive devices according to Figure 4 in two arrangement planes as a schematic, perspective illustration similar to Figure 14,
Figure 16 illustrates the drive device according to Figure 5 in a configuration for driving a heald of a loom, with three different positions during the shed forming operation being illustrated, as a schematic side view similar to Figure 5,
Figure 17 is a drive device in accordance with the invention, in a configuration similar to Figure 4 for driving a gripper rod of a gripper loom, as a schematic side view,
Figure 18 illustrates a drive device in accordance with the invention, in a configuration for producing a linear back and forth movement, as an axial section, a side view and a schematic illustration, respectively,
Figures 19 and 20 illustrate two different pneumatic energy stores for a drive device in accordance with the invention, as an axial section, a side view and a schematic illustration, respectively.
The configuration illustrated in Figure 1 of a drive device in accordance with the invention is constructed as an electromotive reversible drive. The illustration is purely schematic and serves in particular to explain the operating principle of the invention. The device has a stationary

cylindrical stator 1, which is surrounded with radial spacing by a concentric, hollow cylindrical impeller or rotor 2 whose arrangement is not illustrated in detail. The rotor 2 carries, at the inner wall thereof, permanent magnetic poles 3 which are arranged in the division ratio of the maximum reversing stroke of the rotor 2. Of the permanent-magnetic poles 3, only two mutually diametrically opposed poles 3 are illustrated in Figure 1, which, owing to the pole width, corresponds to a reversing stroke of the rotor 2 of slightly less than 180°. The permanent magnetic poles 3 are, as indicated in the drawings with the letters "N(orth)" and "S(outh)", polarised in the peripheral direction and have substantially planar pole faces 4.
Magnetic poles 5 which are arranged on the cylindrical stator 1 are associated with the rotor poles 3 and co-operate with the permanent magnetic poles 3 of the rotor 2 in the manner visible in Figure 3- The stator poles 5 preferably carry planar pole faces 6 which are directed in such a manner that, when the rotor 2 is in a corresponding position, they face the pole faces 4 of the permanent-magnetic rotor poles 3, preferably over a large surface-area, with an air gap 9 being formed, that is to say, are aligned substantially parallel therewith- The stator poles 5 are also polarised in the peripheral direction, as indicated in Figure 1 by the letters "N" and "S". Instead of the two mutually diametrically opposed stator poles 5 illustrated, it is also possible for a plurality of pole pairs of this type to be provided.
The stator poles 5 are not permanent-magnetic but are provided with excitation coils which are indicated at 7, and which allow a magnetic flow to be produced which produces the polarisation indicated in Figure 1 at the pole faces 6. The

excitation coils 7 are supplied with an exciting current Ie which is supplied through lines indicated at 8 and which allows the magnetic induction present in the air gaps 9 between mutually opposed pole faces 4, 6 to be controlled.
The rotor 2 is surrounded by a hollow cylindrical, coaxial outer stator 10 which carries corresponding stator coils 11 which are indicated at the inner side thereof and which are generally distributed in a uniform manner all the way around the periphery and of which only a few are indicated in Figure 1. The stator coils 11 co-operate with the rotor 2 in the manner of a DC motor or an AC motor in such a manner that it is possible to apply to the rotor 2 a torque whose direction and size can be controlled by means of corresponding excitation of the stator coils 11. The stator current is supplied to the stator coils 11 via lines 12.
Alternatively and/or in addition to the outer stator 10, it would also be possible to provide a separate drive source which is coupled to the rotor 2 and which is constructed, for example, as a separate coaxial electric motor, or the like, and which allows a torque to be applied to the rotor 2 in a time-controlled manner in one direction of rotation or the other. This separate drive source is schematically indicated at 13; the power supply thereof is illustrated at 14 with a dot-dash line.
A sensor which is indicated at 15 is further associated with the rotor 2 and can be constructed, for example, as a rotary resolver or an encoder, and transmits, via a line 16, electrical signals which are characteristic of the angular position and/or the angular speed or the angular acceleration and/or the respective position of the rotor 2. The sensor 15

can naturally also be coupled to a component which is coupled to the rotor and which is driven thereby, so that it detects the signals which are characteristic of the movement state and the position of the rotor 2 not directly, but indirectly.
Damping means may act on the rotor 2 or on a driven component which is connected or coupled thereto, which damping means are indicated in Figure 1 in the form of a friction brake device 17 whose operating cylinder 18 can be controlled via electrical signals which are supplied via lines 19.
All the components of the stators 1, 10 and the rotor 2 located in magnetic closure circuits, as well as the magnetic poles 3, 5, are produced from a magnetically conductive material, it also being possible for them to be laminated in a manner known per se, if necessary.
The device has a central electronic control device 20 which functions based on a microprocessor and is generally program-controlled. The control device 20 is connected to the line 8, 12, 14, 16, 19 and controls in particular the excitation of the excitation coils 7 of the stator poles 5 and the excitation of the stator coils 11 and, where applicable, the damping means 17, 18 and, if provided, the separate drive source 13. It receives from the sensor 15 information regarding the respective rotor position and/or parameters which are characteristic of the respective rotational movement of the rotor, as already mentioned above. Alternatively, it is also possible for individual values to be calculated in the control device from the information provided by the sensor 15, for example, it is possible for the angular speed and acceleration to be derived from the information of the sensor 15 relating to the rotation angle.

An input unit 21 which is connected to the control device 20 allows the program of the control device 20 to be influenced externally and/or allows predetermined data to be input into the control device.
The operating method of the drive device which has been described in principle above for producing a back and forth rotational movement of the rotor 2 is as follows:
The rotor 2 has, together with components which are coupled thereto and which are driven thereby, a specific mass m, which must be accelerated and decelerated during a reversing movement in each movement cycle. As illustrated in Figure 1, the pole faces 4, 6 of the rotor poles and the stator poles 3, 5 facing each other are polarised in the same direction so that, when the rotor poles 3 are moved towards the stator poles 6, repulsion forces acting counter to the rotational movement are produced between the rotor poles and the stator poles 3, 5.
The kinetic energy stored during a rotational movement of the rotor 2 in one rotation direction is stored, when the pole faces 4, 6 are moved together, in the form of magnetic energy in the air gap 9 between the pole faces 4, 6 which are moving together. The magnetic poles 3, 5, therefore, form an energy store having electromagnetic storage means. The restoring force k, which increases steeply as adjacent pole faces 4, 6 are moved closer together, is dependent on the magnetic induction present in the air gap 9 and can therefore be controlled by the electric loading of the excitation coils 7 of the stator 1.

If the rotor 2 is caused to carry out rotational oscillatory actions by the control device 20 by means of corresponding time-controlled excitation of the stator coils 11 (or the drive source 13), it executes rotational oscillation with the natural frequency Q = V k/m. This natural frequency can be adjusted by adjusting the excitation of the excitation coils 7 and, therefore, the induction in the air gaps 9 of the control device 20, as.the graphs set out in Figure 2 show.
The graphs illustrate from the top the path of the rotation angle co of the rotor 2 dependent on time. The rotation angle stroke is approximately 170°; owing to the pole width, it is less than 180°. With a specific excitation of the excitation coils 7, the rotor 2 carries out a rotational oscillatory action with has a specific natural frequency and which is substantially sinusoidal (cf. drawing a) of Fig. 2). Therefore, the angular speed is also sinusoidal and of the same frequency, as drawing b) of Figure 2 shows. This condition applies until time ti, up until which the exciting current Ie according to drawing c) of Figure 2 is constant at the value Ieo*
At time ti, the control device 20 increases the loading of the excitation coils 7, that is to say, the exciting current increases, as drawing c) illustrates, to the value Iei- The restoring force k output from the energy store formed by the magnetic poles 3, 5 therefore also changes, with the result that the natural frequency of the system increases, as illustrated by drawings a) and b). At the same time, however, the amplitude of the oscillatory movement also decreases slightly, as indicated by drawing a).

The time ti, at which the exciting current Ie of the excitation coils 7 and therefore the natural frequency of the oscillating system are adjusted, can be selected and/or predetermined, depending on the requirements of the driven component, in accordance with a program, dependent on the position, speed or acceleration or generally dependent on time. The control influence on the excitation of the excitation coils 7 and, therefore, on the restoring force/path characteristic of the energy store formed by the magnetic poles 3, 5 can in particular also be carried out at the reversing points of the oscillatory movement. In particular applications, it may also be advantageous to change the properties of the energy store during a backward and/or forward movement at a specific time, this time also being able to be influenced or determined by the information originating, for example, from the sensor 15 or a program. In addition, it is also possible, by controlling the damping device 17, 18, to introduce into the oscillatory movement of the rotor 2 a mechanical damping action which can also be controlled in a time-dependent manner by the control device 20.
The rotor 2 can carry out substantially free oscillatory actions, with it then receiving, via the external stator 10 and the stator coils 11 thereof, only a supply of the energy required to counteract the friction losses, which means that the torque applied to the rotor 2 by the stator coils 11 is effective only for a short time during a backward and forward movement of the rotor 2. In principle, however, the same relationships also apply to applications in which the stator coils 11 and/or the drive source 13 are controlled in such a manner that the rotor 2 carries out a forced oscillatory action.

In any case it is possible, using the control device 20, to configure practically any desired path(rotation angle)/time graph for the oscillatory movement of the rotor 2 and the driven components which are coupled thereto and therefore to take into account in a relatively simple manner different or changing operating conditions for the driven components. In particular, the conditions at the beginning and end points of the oscillatory movement can also be adjusted in an advantageous manner. The energy store can be charged or discharged at the beginning and end points, which is important for the start-up or stopping operation of the loom. If advantageous, the energy store can also be controlled in such a manner that it has a hysteresis, that is to say, the restoring force k has a different path during the forward movement from that during the backward movement.
A significant advantage of the invention in particular also consists in that the natural frequency of the oscillating system explained above can be influenced so that, in the case of a forced oscillatory movement, the resonance can advantageously be set in such a manner that particularly favourable dynamic movement relationships are produced with a high level of efficiency.
This applies to forced oscillatory actions having harmonic excitation, impact excitation, periodic and non-periodic excitation, and for parameter-excited oscillatory actions.
Whilst an electromagnetic energy store formed by the magnetic poles 3, 5 is associated with the rotor 2 in the embodiment described above with reference to Figure 1, in the configuration schematically illustrated in Figure 3 there is

provided a mechanical energy store which, at the reversing points of the oscillatory movement of the rotor 2, converts the kinetic energy thereof into potential energy in a short time, in order to then accelerate the rotor 2 in the other movement direction in each case. Identical components in Figures 1 and 3 are given the same reference numerals and are not explained again.
The rotor 2 which is constructed in a hollow cylindrical manner carries, in this configuration, leaf springs 22 which protrude radially from the inner wall thereof and which form mechanical storage means and of which four are in each case arranged in pairs facing each other. The number of leaf springs 22 can also be selected to be different. The leaf springs 22 comprise resilient steel or preferably carbon fibre material. They are securely clamped at one end to the rotor 2 at 23 and, at the other end, received in the clamping location of a roller pair 24 which is supported on a stationary actuator 2 6 by corresponding guiding means 27. The actuator 26 can be controlled by the control device 20 via a line 8a in such a manner that it adjusts the roller pairs 24 in the radial direction of the associated leaf springs 22 and/or changes the clamping force applied to the respective leaf spring 22 by the roller pairs at the clamping line thereof. During a rotational oscillation of the rotor 2 brought about by the stator coils 11 or the energy source 13, the leaf springs 22 form a mechanical energy store which temporarily stores the kinetic energy of the rotor 2 and the components which are coupled thereto in the form of potential energy. Using the actuator 26, the clamping location of the leaf springs 22 and, therefore, the effective bending length of the leaf springs 22 can be changed. There is, therefore, a direct influence on the characteristic of resilience, that is

to say, the restoring force/path characteristic of the energy store, whereby a substantially freely controllable or programmable path(rotation angle) characteristic of the rotor 2 can be achieved during the oscillatory movements thereof. The leaf springs 22 can also be arranged on the rotor 2 with an alignment which deviates from the radial position, and it is also possible to construct them with variable thickness and/or width over the length thereof, for example, thicker/and or wider at the secure clamping location than in the region of the clamping line of the rollers 24.
Practical configurations of the drive device in accordance with the invention, illustrated purely schematically in Figure 3, are shown in Figures 4 and 5. In Figures 1 and 2, identical components are again provided with the same reference numerals.
In the configuration according to Figure 4, the cylindrical stator 1 is constructed in a hollow cylindrical manner and is provided with an inner wedge tooth arrangement 29 which allows the stator 1 to be fitted in a rotationally secure manner to a spline shaft which is not illustrated in greater detail. The stator 1 is surrounded with radial spacing by the cylindrical rotor 2 which co-operates with the stator 1 in the manner of a conventional DC or AC motor, the associated electromagnetic poles and/or coils being schematically indicated at 30. This motor which is generally designated 31 is an external impeller motor as known per se (cf. DE 101 11 17 Al). By correspondingly exciting the electromagnetically operated windings 30 thereof using a reversing control means 32 which is connected thereto, the rotor 2 is caused to carry out a reverse rotational movement of predetermined amplitude relative to the stator 1, indicated by a double-headed arrow

33. A drive lever 34 is fixed to the outer side of the rotor 2 and has, at the end, an articulation location 35 for a component which is to be driven, in particular a loom.
At the side diametrically opposed to the drive lever 34, the rotor 2 is constructed with a formed-on fixing clamp 36, into which a leaf spring 22 is inserted which is securely clamped at the clamping location thereof by means of screws 37. In the vicinity of the clamping location, at both sides of the leaf spring 22, there are located two reinforcement plates 38 which protect the leaf spring against stress fracture directly at the clamping location.
The leaf spring 22 is received, in the vicinity of the free end thereof, in the clamping location 39 of the associated roller pair 24 whose rollers can be adjusted in the longitudinal direction of the leaf spring 22 by means of associated adjustment devices 40 which are, for example, constructed as spindle or wedge-type mechanisms, between the position illustrated with solid lines and the position illustrated with dotted lines in Figure 4. The two adjustment devices 40 are controlled by means of electromechanical adjustment means 41 which, together with the adjustment devices 40, form the actuator 26 of Figure 3.
The control device 20, whose input component 21 is not illustrated in Figure 1, on the one hand controls, by the control means 32, the reversing movement of the rotor 2 and, therefore, the drive lever 34 by determining the amplitude thereof, whilst it acts, on the other hand, by the adjustment means 41, on the adjustment devices 40 of the roller pair 24 in order to adjust these in the direction of the double-headed arrow 42. Owing to this adjustment, the free clamping

length of the leaf spring 22 is changed, which leads to a corresponding change in the characteristic of resilience of the energy store formed by the leaf spring 22. Furthermore, the rollers 24 can also be braked, if necessary, the braking effect being controllable by the control device 20. In this manner, it is possible to introduce a controlled damping operation into the system, as illustrated by the damping device 17, 18 in Figures 1 and 2. The characteristic of resilience of the leaf spring 22 is, incidentally, non-linear.
The configuration according to Figure 5 differs from that of Figure 4 substantially only in terms of the construction of the motor 31. The motor which is designated 31a in this instance is constructed as a so-called circle sector linear motor. The schematic construction and the operating method of circle sector linear motors of this type are known, for example, from DE 198 49 728 Al so that these do not need to examined in greater detail. In this configuration, the rotor 2 is rotatably supported on the cylindrical stator 1 which is constructed with the inner wedge tooth arrangement 29 of Figure 4 by means of a roller bearing 43, the drive lever 34 thereof being movable back and forth between the angular position illustrated with a solid line and the angular position illustrated with dashed lines in Figure 5. The electromagnetic drive winding 30a is arranged so as to be distributed in the form of sectors and is controlled using the reversing control means 32 of the control device 20. The rotor 2 is again provided, according to Figure 4, with the radially protruding leaf spring 22 which is received in the clamping location 39 of the associated roller pair 24. In this instance, the leaf spring 22 is arranged relative to the drive lever 34 at an angle which is not equal to 180°.

The operating method of the mechanical energy store formed by the leaf spring is the same as that of the configuration according to Figure 4.
Figures 6 and 7 illustrate drive devices in accordance with the invention which are constructed in a similar manner to the configurations described above according to Figures 4, 5, but which are constructed with an electromagnetic energy store instead of the leaf springs 22, in principle in a similar manner to Figure 1. Identical components are again provided with the same reference numerals as in Figures 4 and 5 and are not explained again.
The configuration according to Figure 6 corresponds to that of Figure 4 with the difference that, instead of the leaf spring 22, an elongate plate-like pole piece 44 is connected in a radially protruding manner to the impeller 2 at the fixing clamp 36. The sensor 15 is omitted for reasons of simplification. Using the reference numerals according to Figure 1, the pole piece 44 carries a permanent-magnetic plate-like magnetic pole 3 whose planar, lateral pole faces which are parallel with the radial axis of symmetry 45 are designated 4. Symmetrically relative to the axis of symmetry 45 of the pole piece 44 which is located in the centre position illustrated in Figure 6, there are arranged the two stationary poles 5 which are excited by means of excitation coils 7 and whose pole faces are designated 6 and are inclined in such a manner relative to the axis of rotation of the rotor 2 that the pole faces 4, 6, at the limit positions of the back and forth oscillatory movement indicated by the double-headed arrow 33 are located facing each other over a large surface-area, with an air gap 9 being formed. The excitation coils 7 are controlled by a driver switch 20a

which forms a part of the control device 20 and is controlled thereby.
As already explained with reference to Figure 1, the excitation coils 7, controlled by the control device 20, are excited in such a manner that they at least intermittently produce identical magnetic polarities during the reversing movement of the rotor 2, so that the restoring force required for the oscillatory movement of the rotor 2 at the pole faces 4, 6 facing each other is produced, the kinetic energy of the mass m associated with the rotor 2 being stored as potential energy in the magnetic field which is present in the air gap 9.
The configuration according to Figure 7 corresponds to that of Figure 5, with the difference explained above with reference to Figure 6 that the energy store functions with electromagnetic storage means. The function and construction of the energy store are as in the configuration according to Figure 6, so that it is sufficient to refer to these in this respect. Identical components have the same reference numerals.
Figures 8 to 16 below illustrate, by way of example, the use of the drive device in accordance with the invention, as explained above, for typical driving requirements in a loom. In this regard, Figure 8 illustrates a section from a loom, with the movement relationships of the reed during weft thread beat-up operation being illustrated.
The reed designated 50 can be pivoted between the two pivot positions illustrated in Figure 8, the left-hand position of which illustrates the weft thread beat-up position. The weft

threads which are to be beaten up to the fabric indicated at 51 are designated 52. The warp threads are indicated at 53 and are in the open-shed position. The fabric expander is schematically indicated at 54. In order to impart the oscillatory movement which can be seen in Figure 8 to the reed 50, it is possible to use, for example, the configurations of the new drive device illustrated in Figures 4 and 5, as shown in Figures 9 and 10. In these Figures, identical components are provided with identical reference numerals and are not explained again. Only the rotor 2 with the components which are arranged thereon is illustrated. The stator 1 and the winding 30 which is used for coupling to the rotor 2 are not shown again for reasons of simplification.
A clamping rail 55 having a U-shaped cross-section is positioned on the drive lever 34 of the drive device formed on the rotor 2, into which clamping rail the reed 50 is inserted directly. The reed 50 is releasably fixed with the frame thereof, by suitable fixing means, such as clamping screws or the like, in the clamping rail 55 so that it can be exchanged if necessary. It is possible to provide a plurality of drive devices, as illustrated in Figure 11, distributed over the axial length of the reed. The stators 1 of these drive devices rest with the inner wedge tooth arrangement 29 thereof in a rotationally secure manner on a continuous spline shaft which is indicated at 56 in Figure 11 and whose outer wedge tooth arrangement is not illustrated in greater detail and extends over the length of the reed 50. The shaft 56 is retained in a rotationally secure manner in the machine frame which is not illustrated in detail. The number and spacing of the drive devices are dependent on the weaving width, that is to say, the length of the reed 50. The drive

devices can naturally also be constructed according to Figure 7.
Figures 12 to 15 illustrate the use of the drive devices according to the invention in accordance with Figure 4 as so-called heald frame lever motors for moving the heald frames of a loom. In this regard, reference is made to DE 101 11 017 Al in which the basic construction of a drive of this type for the shed-forming means of a loom is illustrated.
A heald frame designated 60 is in each case coupled, by means of at least two push/pull rods 61, to the drive lever 34 of the rotor 2 of an associated drive device according to Figure 4, each push/pull rod 61 being coupled at 35 to the drive lever 34 thereof. The rotors 2, controlled by the control device 20, carry out the back and forth oscillatory movement explained with reference to Figure 1 in accordance with the double-headed arrow 33, whereby the coupled heald frame 60, in accordance with a double-headed arrow 62, is moved up and down to the extent required for the shed formation. Whilst Figure 12 illustrates the relationships for the case in which only two drive devices are coupled to the heald frame 60, Figure 13 illustrates the relationships in a loom for a relatively large weaving width, in which three drive devices, distributed in a uniform manner over the length of the heald frame, act on the respective heald frame. According to Figure 14, the drive devices for the mutually adjacent heald frames 60 can be alternately arranged in an arrangement plane at one side and the other of the respective push/pull rod 61, whilst Figure 15 illustrates that two arrangement planes can also be used for the drive devices. In this manner, it is possible to increase the axial length of the rotors 2 and the associated stators 1 beyond the limitation determined by the

predetermined distance measurement 63 (generally 12 mm) of adjacent heald frames 60, as indicated in Figure 13, in order thereby to achieve greater stroke output.
It should be noted from Figures 12 to 15 that the energy stores associated with the rotors 2 in accordance with the invention, for example, in the form of the illustrated leaf springs 22 having the associated clamping or securing rollers 24, does not increase the axial width of the drive devices in the direction of the spline shafts 64 (cf. Figures 14, 15) which carry the stators 1 and which extend transversely relative to the heald frames 60. At the same time, the Figures indicate that the energy stores can be accommodated in the loom, without the inconvenience of the need for additional space.
This also applies to the basic configuration of the drive devices according to Figure 7, as will be shown by an examination of Figure 16. In the illustration of the drive device, the stator 1 is omitted in this instance for reasons of simplification. The drive lever 34, to which the push/pull rod 61 is coupled at 35, carries out a back and forth oscillatory movement between the limit positions illustrated in Figure 16 with dashed lines. One of these limit positions corresponds to the formation of the upper shed and the other to the formation of the lower shed. Control of the energy store using the control device 20 can also in this instance be pre-programmed and controlled as desired within a predetermined range in accordance with the requirements of the shed movement.
Figure 17 schematically illustrates the use of a drive device in accordance with the invention and according to Figure 4

for driving the gripper rod of a gripper loom. For identical components, the same reference numerals are used as in Figure 4 and are not explained again.
In this instance, instead of the drive lever 34 of Figure 4, the rotor 2 carries, at the side opposite the leaf spring 22 of the energy store, a lever arm 34a on which a toothed segment 65 is formed which is coaxial with the axis of rotation of the rotor and which is in engagement with a pinion 66 of an angular gear 68 which is arranged on a frame portion 67. The angular gear 68 drives a toothed drive wheel 69 whose axis of rotation extends at right angles to that of the pinion 66 and whose sets of teeth engage in the toothed-rod-like tooth arrangement of a gripper rod 70 which is indicated in Figure 17 in cross-section. A back and forth movement of the toothed segment 65 produces, therefore, a back and forth rotational movement of the toothed drive wheel 69 and, therefore, a back and forth movement of the gripper rod 70 occurring at right angles to the plane of projection of Figure 17. During this back and forth movement, the kinetic energy of the moved masses in the region of the reversing points of the movement is temporarily stored in the leaf spring 22 as potential energy, as has already been explained above.
Although, with reference to the disclosed new drive device configurations, the invention has been described with regard to the production of a back and forth oscillatory movement about an associated pivot or rotation axis, the concept of the invention is not limited thereto. It can be used in the same manner in drive devices which produce, for example, a linear back and forth movement. An example of this is schematically indicated in Figure 18.

The drive device has a driven component which is constructed substantially in the manner of a rod 71 and which extends through an electric, pneumatic or hydraulic linear drive source 72 which confers thereon a linear back and forth oscillatory movement of predetermined amplitude, Coaxially relative to the drive source 72, there is arranged at both sides in each case an energy store in the form of a cylinder 73, in which a piston 74 which is provided on the rod 71 is displacably guided. The cylinder 73 is closed at both end faces thereof, the closure being produced in each case at the outer end face by means of a cylinder cover 75 which is screwed into the cylinder 73. By rotating the cylinder cover 75, therefore, the cylinder volume can be changed since the cylinder cover 75 forms a "movable wall" for the cylinder 73. The cylinder 73 is filled with a storage medium which is resiliently compressible, for example, air or a gas.
However, it is also possible to use, as a storage medium, a so-called rheological medium whose viscosity changes in the electrical field. The cylinder 73 which is illustrated at the right-hand side in Figure 18 is therefore provided with a device 7 6 which allows an electrical field of variable strength to be produced in the cylinder space 77 which is filled with the rheological medium. The associated field-producing circuit is indicated at 78.
The drive device has an electrical control device 20 which allows, in a manner similar to that explained with reference to Figure 1, the properties of the pneumatic energy store in this instance to be changed in accordance with parameters of the back and forth movement of the rod 71, and/or predetermined or program-dependent parameters. The sensor 15

illustrated in Figure 18 according to Figure 1 transmits, by way of example, path-dependent signals which are characteristic of the back and forth movement of the rod 71 and which contain information relating to the position, speed, acceleration, movement state and the like, of the rod 71.
In the configuration according to Figure 18, only the energy store indicated at the right-hand side of the drive source 72 is controlled by the control device 20. In the same manner, the other cylinder 73 which forms the energy store located at the left-hand side of the drive source 72 can also be controlled correspondingly. There are, however, cases in which the left-hand cylinder 73 is omitted or is filled with a damping medium which can then, if applicable, be controlled again.
Figures 19 and 20 schematically illustrate further possibilities for a pneumatic or hydraulic energy store in the form of a cylinder 73a which is closed, for example, by a movable wall in the form of a membrane 75a (Figure 19) which, controlled by the control device 20, can be changed in terms of its thickness and rigidity, as can be seen from a comparison of Figures 19 and 20.
Finally, it should be noted that the leaf springs 22 can also be replaced by differently constructed resilient means, for example, helical or torsion springs whose effective length or characteristic of resilience can be changed accordingly.

Claims
1. Drive device for producing a back and forth movement of a component (50, 60, 70), in particular in looms, having
- a drive source (2) which is coupled to the component and which produces the back and forth movement
- an energy store (3, 5; 22) which is associated with the component and/or the drive source for storing potential energy during at least part of the back and forth movement of the component and
- a control device (20) for controlling at least the energy store and/or the drive source in accordance with measured and/or predetermined parameters for the movement sequence of the component.

2. Drive device according to claim 1, characterised in that the energy store contains permanent-magnet and/or electromagnetic storage means (3, 5) .
3. Drive device according to claim 2, characterised in that the magnetic storage means have at least two magnetic poles (3, 5) which are supported so as to be movable relative to each other, and in that the polarity and/or the magnetic induction of at least one of the magnetic poles can be influenced by the control device (20).
4. Drive device (3, 5) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that an air gap (9) is provided between the magnetic poles (3, 5), and in that the air gap changes in terms of its geometric dimensions in the direction of the movement reversal of the component.

5. Drive device according to claim 1, characterised in that the energy store has mechanical storage means (22) which can be influenced by the control device (20).
6. Drive device according to claim 5, characterised in that the mechanical storage means have resilient means (22) whose characteristic of resilience can be changed by the control device.
7. Drive device according to claim 6, characterised in that the resilient means have at least one resilient element (22) which is loaded in terms of bending and whose effective bending length can be influenced by the control device (20) .
8. Drive device according to claim 7, characterised in that the resilient element is a leaf spring element (22) which is arranged between two clamping locations (23, 39) which can be adjusted relative to each other in accordance with the back and forth movement of the component, and in that the effective length of the leaf spring element between the two clamping locations can be changed by the control device (20) .
9. Drive device according to claim 8, characterised in that, at least at one of the clamping locations, the leaf spring element (22) is clamped between two clamping elements (24) which are supported so as to be able to be adjusted relative to the leaf spring element by the control device (20) .
10. Drive device according to claim 1, characterised in that
the energy store has pneumatic and/or hydraulic storage means
which can be influenced by the control device (20).

11. Drive device according to claim 10, characterised in that the storage means have a space (77) which is closed by a movable wall (75, 75a) and which contains a storage medium, and in that the movable wall can be influenced by the control device (20).
12. Drive device according to claim 10, characterised in that the storage medium can be influenced in terms of its physical characteristics by means of electromagnetic fields.
13. Drive device according to claim 11, characterised in that the movable wall (75a) is constructed so as to be resiliently flexible, and in that the restoring force which is transmitted therefrom to the storage medium can be influenced by the control device (20) .
14. Drive device according to claim 11, characterised in that the storage means have a cylinder (73) which has at least one cylinder chamber (77) which contains the storage medium and which contains a cover (75) which delimits the cylinder chamber and which can be adjusted by the control device.
15. Drive device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the restoring force/path characteristic of the storage means (3, 5; 22) is, at least over portions,
non-linear.
16. Drive device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the energy store contains storage means which, controlled by the control device, have a hysteresis.
17. Drive device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised by damping means (17, 18) for the back and

forth movement, and in that the damping means can be influenced by the control device (20)„
18. Drive device according to any one of the preceding claims,
characterised in that it forms, with driven means which are
coupled thereto, an oscillatory system whose natural
frequency can be changed by the energy store (3, 5; 22) being
influenced by the control device (20).
19. Drive device according to any one of the preceding claims,
characterised in that it is at least part of the batten drive
of a loom.
20. Drive device according to claim 19, characterised in that
the driven component (50) is positioned directly on a
component (2) of the drive device that carries out a back and
forth rotational movement and the energy store is coupled
directly to this component (2).
21. Drive device according to any one of the preceding claims,
characterised in that it is at least part of the drive of the
shed-forming elements of a loom.
22. Drive device according to claim 21, characterised by
being arranged, together with the energy store associated
therewith, so as to be located with other drive devices in a
common arrangement plane.
23. Drive device according to any one of the preceding claims,
characterised in that it is at least part of the gripper
drive of a gripper loom. . .

Documents:

0151-chenp-2006 abstract-duplicate.pdf

0151-chenp-2006 claims-duplicate.pdf

0151-chenp-2006 description (complete)-duplicate.pdf

0151-chenp-2006 drawings-duplicate.pdf

0151-chenp-2006-abstract.pdf

0151-chenp-2006-claims.pdf

0151-chenp-2006-correspondnece-others.pdf

0151-chenp-2006-correspondnece-po.pdf

0151-chenp-2006-description(complete).pdf

0151-chenp-2006-drawings.pdf

0151-chenp-2006-form 1.pdf

0151-chenp-2006-form 3.pdf

0151-chenp-2006-form 5.pdf

0151-chenp-2006-form18.pdf

0151-chenp-2006-pct.pdf

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Patent Number

229088

Indian Patent Application Number

151/CHENP/2006

PG Journal Number

12/2009

Publication Date

20-Mar-2009

Grant Date

13-Feb-2009

Date of Filing

12-Jan-2006

Name of Patentee

LINDAUER DORNIER GESELLSCHAFT mbH

Applicant Address

RICKENBACHER STRASSE 119, D-88129 LINDAU,

Inventors:

#	Inventor's Name	Inventor's Address
1	VON ZWEHL DIETMAR	AM WIESENRAIN 22, 88147 ACHBERG,
2	SCHILLER, PETER	KEMPTENER STRASSE 46, 88131 LINDAU,
3	KRUMM, VALENTIN	MOLLENBURG 38, 88131 LINDAU,

PCT International Classification Number

D03D51/02

PCT International Application Number

PCT/DE04/00902

PCT International Filing date

2004-04-29

PCT Conventions:

#	PCT Application Number	Date of Convention	Priority Country
1	103 31 916.6	2003-07-15	Germany