Modern looms still weave by repeating in sequence the operations of shedding, picking, and beating. In weaving technology, modern looms means shuttle less loom. Air jet and Rapier both are performed automatically with high production and commonly used in Bangladesh.

1. A PRESENTATION ON
MODERN AIRJET & RAPIER LOOM
Md. Azmir Latif
MSc. in Textile Engineer

2. A MODERN RAPIER LOOM
Keyword: General specification, yarn
passages, basic motions, shedding,
picking, beat up, let off, take up,
warp stop motion, others auxiliary
motion

3. Picanol Gammax (Rapier)
General Specification
Name :
Picanol
GamMax
Type :
Rapier
Weaving
Machine
Rapier Type :
Double
flexible
rapier
Shedding
Mechanism
:
Positive cam
shedding
Cam
arrangeme
nt
:
Outside cam
arrangement
Cam
Manufactur
er
: Staubly

4. Yarn Passage
• Warp passage:
– Beam (Flanged beams)
– Backrest roller (Double backrest
roller)
– Warp breakage detector (Electrical
drop wire mechanism)
– Heald frame
– Reed
– Fell of the cloth
• Fabric Passage:
– Temple Mechanism
– Spreader
– Take up roller
– Front Rest
– Guide roller
– Batcher
• Weft Passage:
– Creel
– Prewinder
– Filling detector
– Finger Selector
– Filling Cutter
– Wastage Cutter
– Gripper Head
– Receiver Head
– Wastage Cutter
– Suction Head

5. Basic Motion
• Shedding Mechanism
• Picking Mechanism
• Beat up Mechanism
• Take up Mechanism
• Let off Mechanism

6. shedding mechanism

7. Shedding mechanism
Possible Shedding
Mechanism:
– Cam Shedding
– Dobby Shedding
– Jacquard
– ELSY [for selvedge &
Waste Collection (False
Selvedge)]
– Leno (for selvedge
binding)

8. Cam Shedding
Main Parts
– Bevel gear
– Repeat gear
– Cam shaft
– Cam
– Bowl
– Wheel lever
– Short lever
– Long lever
– Harness frame

9. Main Parts of Cam Shedding

10. Cam
• used to convert
the rotary motion
of shaft to
reciprocating
motion
• entire cam
arrangement is
placed on an oil
bath
• Cams are
supported by
guard cam for
safety
Various Types of Cam

11. Wheel lever, Short lever & Long Lever
• Convey the reciprocating motion
• drive the heddle frame
• two sets of link carrying the drive bracket are
pivoted on each side of long lever
• brackets allow easy mounting and dismounting of
harness frame

12. Harness Frame
Features:
– Glued heddle rod
– Lightweight Aluminium profile
– R-flex corner connection system
– Integrated heald dumper
– Stainless steel corner reinforcement.
Brand : GTP
Mode
l
:
XLF extra
Light 152

13. Heald Wire
Brand : Grob Horgen
Origin : Switzerland

14. Cam Shedding Mechanism
• According to pattern cams are added and
adjusted to their respective position
• As the camshaft rotates cams also rotate
• When the bowl is pressed, the wheel lever swing
upward
• Via long lever, harness frame is pushed upward to
its upper position
• Again after cam nose has passed the bowl, the
harness is pulled to its bottom position
• It is a positive shedding mechanism

15. ELSY
• Stands for Electronic Leno
Selvedge System
• Don’t need any extra heald
frame to make selvedge.
• Laws of motion can be
changed without hampering
the fabric quality.
• Shed crossing can be set as
required.
• Selvedge weave can be
inputted differently.
• Used for selvedge and false
selvedge.
• Selvedge Type: Fringed

16. Mechanical Leno
• Selvedge Type: Leno
type
• A simple hook
mechanism
• Needs to incorporate
with ELSY to produce
binding weave in the
fabric edge.

17. picking mechanism

18. Picking Mechanism
General features
– Flexible rapier
– Double (2 rapiers)
– Sprocket type wheel drive
– 2 heads (gripper &
receiver)
– Side housing, fixed
(unmovable)
• Main parts
• Creel
• Prewinder
• Filling detector
• Filling Presenter
• Filling Cutter
• Gripper
• Receiver
• Suction head
• Wastage cutters

19. Main Parts of Picking
• Creel: • Filling detector:

20. Main Parts of Picking
Prewinder:
– Type: Luna X2
– Pre wind yarn on drum from
package
– Supply the required length of yarn
at required tension for weft
insertion

21. Main Parts of Picking
• Filling Presenter:
– lower the appropriate filling
yarn so that it can be taken
by gripper head
• Filling Cutter & Wastage Cutters
– Filling Cutter Cuts the inserted weft yarn
after beat up
– Wastage Cutter Cuts the excess length of
weft yarn outside the fabric edge

22. Main Parts of Picking
• Gripper & Receiver heads
– Carry the weft yarn
• Suction heads
– Prevents bouncing back of
inserted yarn

23. Mechanism of Picking
• Yarn presenter is lowered to
present the thread
• The gripper head catches the
yarn
• Both the gripper and receiver
proceed towards the middle of
shed
• The yarn is then transferred
from gripper head to receiver
head
• The receiver head then drags
the yarn through the rest of
the shed
• Finally the filling cutter cuts
the thread
Gripper head is carrying the weft
Weft is transferring from gripper to receiver
Weft is transferred
Receiver is carrying the weft

24. Hook Opener
• The gripper opener: Opens
the gripper clamp to facilitate
lint removal
• The receiver opener: Opens
the receiver. Its position is
critical so that it opens the
hook at the exact time of
weaving cycle

25. Rapier Track
To prevent rapier slippage a rapier track is made with
hooks
This hooks do:
– The minimization of the gripper sole wear.
– The break of the gripper.
– The reduction of the filling stops

26. Rapier Drive Mechanism
Rapier driving arrangement
consists of:
• Main shaft
• Rocker arm
• Oscillating link
• Drive lever
• Adjustable link
• Conical Toothed segment
• Rapier driving pinion
• Rapier wheel

27. Rapier Drive Mechanism
View from top
Drive lever
Toothed segmentLink to toothed segment

28. Beat up mechanism

29. Beat up mechanism
• Cam beat up
• No of Cam: Two on each side
• Beat up angle: 0o
Main Parts
o Sumo motor (Main Motor)
o Motor gear & Drive wheel gear
o Beat up cam
o Sley
o Reed

30. Main Parts of Beat Up
Beat up Arrangement
Bowl
Cam Gear
Gear train from main Motor

31. Main Parts of Beat Up
Reed
• Attached with sley
• Push the newly inserted
thread to fell
• Plain reed is used in rapier

32. Beat Up Mechanism
• main motor rotates the
drive shaft
• This rotation is
converted to
reciprocating motion in
sley
• The reed is fixed with
sley
• As a result, it pushes the
newly inserted pick to
the fell

33. Let off mechanism

34. Let off Mechanism
• Servo motor aided let off.
• Speed of let off motor
gradually increases with
the decrease of beam
diameter.
• Main Parts
– ELO Motor
– Reduction wheel
– Gear box
– Let off wheel

35. Main Parts of Let Off
ELO Motor
Let off wheel
Beam collar

36. take up mechanism

37. Take up Mechanism
• Servo motor aided take up
• Batcher mechanism
• Main Parts
– ETU Motor
– Gear train
– Take up roller
– Spreader
– Double pressure roller
– Guide roller
– Batcher

38. Take up mechanism
Rollers
ETU Motor
Batcher

39. Wastage winder
• Used to wind
up wastage and
excess warp.
• One gets drive
from let off
gear (for warp).
• The other one
from take up
wheel
(wastage)
Wastage winder (wastage take up)
Wastage winder (Excess warp take up)

40. others motion

41. Warp Stop Motion
• Electrical drop wire mechanism.
• If a warp is severed drop wire falls
on contact bar and complete the
circuit which stops the machine.
• Main parts:
– Drop wire.
– Contact bar.
– Guide bar.
– Main circuit (Circuit box)

42. Others Auxiliary Motion
• Weft stop Motion (By FD)
• Catch cord breakage
• Batcher stop

43. A MODERN AIRJET LOOM
Keyword: General features, main parts, motions, shedding, picking, beat
up, let off, take up, warp stop motion, weft stop motion, others stop
motion

44. Picanol Omni Plus (Airjet Loom)

45. Picanol Omni Plus (Airjet Loom)
Name : Picanol Omni Plus
Type : Airjet Weaving Machine
Machine Weight : 1900 Kg
Maximum Speed : 850 RPM
Attachments :
 E- Leno
 AIC (Adaptive Incretion Control)
 PFT (Programmable filling tensioner)
Sand Roller
Circumference
: 534 mm
Shedding
Mechanism
: Positive cam shedding
Cam arrangement : Outside cam arrangement
Cam Manufacturer : Staubly

46. Main Parts
• Bobbin break sensor
• Pre-winder (weft Feeder)
• Balloon Breaker
• PFT
• Main nozzle (Fixed & Movable)
• Relay nozzle
• Weft cutter
• Waste cutter
• Filling detector
• Pressure control regulator
• Cam with cam box.
• Lever and Puller.
• Reed.
• Easing arm
• Back rest
• Take up roller
• Cloth roller
• Catch Cord
• Disk type tensioner
• Drop wire and Dropper bar.
• Leno selvedge attachment (e-
Leno)
• Temple
• ELSY (Electric Leno Selvedge
System)
• Batcher
• Waste winder

47. Main Parts
• Electrical boards
• MCB
• AIB
• TRIAX-2
• WEB X
• DDMP
• LDEC
• FDCB
• PB
• Various motors
• Sumo Motor
• Hydraulic Motor
• Cutter Motor
• ELCA Motor
• ELSY Motor
• PFT Motor
• ETU Motor
• ELO Motor
• E-leno Motor

48. Motions
• Primary motions
– Shedding
– Picking
– Beat Up
• Secondary motions
– Let off
– Take up
• Tertiary Motion
– Auto Warp stop Motion
– Auto Weft stop Motion
– Batcher motion
– Brake motion

49. Shedding mechanism

50. Shedding
• Possible Shedding
Mechanism:
– Cam Shedding
– Dobby Shedding
– Jacquard
– ELSY [for selvedge & Waste
Collection (False Selvedge)]
– E-Leno (for selvedge
binding)
• Cam Shedding:
– Same as rapier.
• Shedding Parameters
Shed Angle : 22° to 34°
Heald Frame
Height
:
72-87
mm
Back Rest
Depth
: 1-6
Drop Wire Bar
Height
: -7 to +5
Back Rest
Height
: -8 to +19

51. Shedding Geometry
Shed angle

52. Shedding Geometry
Conversion Table of Shedding angle
 Here “α” between 22° to 26° used for filament yarn
 28° to 34° angle used for spun yarn weaving.

53. Shedding Geometry
Shed Height
The optimal height setting depends on a number of factors:
 The article type
 The weave
 The machine speed (rpm).

54. Shedding Geometry

55. E-Leno
• Produce leno selvedge
for edge binding.
• Two leno box, one for
each side.
• Drive by a single motor
(Omni plus) or separate
motor (Omni plus 800).
• Each box support two
leno bobbin, these two
bobbins are rotated in a
circular path to produce
a one up one down leno
selvedge.

56. picking mechanism

57. Picking
Weft passage

58. Weft passage
Creel : Supports the cone.
Disc-
Tensioner
:
Add a tension on yarn
which is being unwounded
by pre-winder.
Bobbin
break sensor
:
Detects yarn breakage
between creel & Pre-
winder. Incorporated with
pre-winder.
Balloon-
Breaker
:
Prevent large balloon
formation which leads to
yarn breakage.
Incorporated with pre-

59. Weft passage
• Type: Can plus 2231
• Manufacturer: Picanol
Prewinder

60. Prewinder
• The pre-winder contains
the following components:
– The motor and control unit
– The drum with 7
independently adjustable
fingers
– The magnetic winding
blocking unit for controlling
the filling length
– The yarn-supply sensor
– The positioning sensor
– The winding sensor
– The bobbin break sensor
– PFT used to stretch the
floating filling inside the shed.

61. Nozzles
Fixed main nozzle
Movable main nozzle

62. Nozzles
• Relay nozzle
– Total No of relay nozzles
28.
– Divided into 2 groups.
– Left (Contain 14 nozzles).
– Right (Contain rest of the
nozzles).
– Contains 1 to 17 opening
(holes) for air supply.

63. Nozzles
• Relay nozzles should be set as
high as possible to clear the
relay nozzle openings earlier
when entering the shed, and
keeping them clear longer
when leaving the shed.
• The more the relay nozzle is
turned towards the reed, the
higher the yarn flight in the
insertion channel.
• The height of the relay nozzle
is critical, if it is low, the flight
of the filling will be low, if the
height is very high it will leave
nozzle mark on fabric.

64. Air Supply accessories
• Buffer tank for relay nozzle
– Left Buffer Tank
– Right Buffer Tank
Main nozzle modules and valve

65. Air Supply accessories
Relay valve
 Each valve controls 1 or 2 (Maximum
three) relay Nozzles.
Pressure regulator

66. Filling Cutter
• Filling cutter cut the yarn
after each filling and
start a new filling
insertion cycle
• Generally, at 10° position
the cutter cut the yarn.

67. Requirement of air supply for picking
• Main line pressure
– 7 to 9 Bar Required
• Main valve pressure
– Up to 6 Bar
• Auxiliary valve pressure
– 5 to 6 Bar (Fixed)
• Left relay valve pressure
– Up to 5.5 Bar (Depends
on weft yarn Count &
M/C RPM)
• Right Relay valve
pressure
– Up to 0.5 Bar more than
left relay valve pressure

68. beat up mechanism

69. Beat up
• Same as rapier. Only
difference is here
profile reed is used.

70. Profile Reed
 To facilitate air passage, in
this reed a groove is made
by curving on dent wire.

71. Profile Reed
• Commonly used reed count:
• 590 DM
• 652 DM
• 739 DM
• 985 DM
• 869 DM
• 787 DM
• 1190 DM
• 1085 DM
• 931 DM
• DM: DENTS PER METER

72. others motion

73. Same as rapier.
Same as rapier.
Same as rapier.

74. Weft stop motion
Device
used
: Filling
detector
No of FD : 2 (FD1 &
FD2)
Mechani
sm
: Laser based
Stop
signal
: If the thread
does not
reach FD1
If the thread
reach FD2

75. Weft stop motion
• Mechanism
– FD is constructed with a
light emitting diode and
photo electric sensor.
– The filling yarn interrupt
the continuity of light
and photo electric
sensor convert it into an
electronic signal.

76. Weft stop motion

77. Others stop motion
• Bobbin breakage
• Leno breakage
• Catch cord breakage
• Batcher stop
• Machine brake