There are many classifications of looms. According to the weft insertion method of weaving, they can be divided into shuttle looms and shuttleless looms.
The weft insertion methods of shuttleless looms are also various, such as rapier, air jet, water jet, projectile and multi-shed (multi-phase).
1. Overview of shuttleless loom:
There are many classifications of looms. According to the weft insertion method of weaving, they can be divided into shuttle looms and shuttleless looms.
The weft insertion methods of shuttleless looms are also various, such as rapier, air jet, water jet, projectile and multi-shed (multi-phase).
The basic feature of the shuttleless loom is to separate the weft yarn package from the shuttle, or to carry only a small amount of weft yarn, and replace the large and heavy shuttle with a small and light weft inserter, which provides favorable conditions for high-speed weft insertion. In the supply of weft yarn, the bobbin package is directly used, and it enters the weft insertion mechanism through the weft storage device, so that the loom can get rid of the frequent filling action. Therefore, the use of shuttleless looms is of great significance for increasing fabric varieties, adjusting fabric structure, reducing fabric defects, improving fabric quality, reducing noise, improving working conditions and reducing energy consumption.
Second, the development history of shuttleless looms:
The shuttleless weaving technology originated in the 19th century, and the earliest research was rapier weft insertion.
In 1844 John Smith patented the rapier. The rigid rapier was invented in 1870, the rigid rapier technology was perfected in 1899, and the flexible rapier technology was invented in 1922.
In the 1930s, trial production of rapier looms began. In 1951, the rapier loom was exhibited for the first time at the first International Textile Machinery Exhibition, and it was gradually improved and gradually commercialized.
Projectile weft insertion was patented by American Poster in 1911. Since 1942, the projectile loom has been exclusively developed by Swiss Sulzer Rudy Company. The projectile loom was exhibited at the International Textile Machinery Exhibition and gradually commercialized.
Air-jet weft insertion was patented by American Byooks in 1914. It was trial-produced in the 1950s. At the 2nd International Textile Machinery Exhibition in 1955, air-jet looms and water-jet looms were exhibited and gradually commercialized. Different forms of multiphase looms originated in Europe and need to be improved.
3. Rapier Loom:
The rapier loom is a shuttleless loom that uses a reciprocating sword-shaped rod to fork or clamp the weft yarn into the shed.
Weft insertion method: The weft insertion method of the rapier loom is to use the reciprocating rapier to fork or clamp the weft yarn, and introduce the weft yarn on the fixed bobbin outside the machine into the shed.
Features: When weaving strongly twisted weft fabrics, it can suppress the untwisting of the weft yarn and the formation of weft shrinkage defects in the fabric; the rapier heads of most rapier looms are very versatile and can adapt to various raw materials, different thicknesses, and different cross-sections. Shaped weft without changing the rapier.
Variety adaptability:
(1). Rapier weft insertion is also widely used in the weaving production of natural fiber and artificial fiber filaments and the production of terry fabrics due to good weft holding and low tension weft insertion.
(2). It has a very strong weft color selection function, which can easily change the weft of 8 colors at any time, up to 16 colors, and the weft selection movement does not have any effect on the speed of the loom. Therefore, it is suitable for multi-color weft weaving, and has been widely used in decorative fabric processing, wool fabric processing and cotton dyed fabric processing, and is in line with the production characteristics of small batches and multiple varieties.
(3). The double-layer rapier loom is suitable for the production of double-layer fabrics and double-layer fabrics. Not only the weft insertion rate is high, but also the velvet fabrics produced have good hand and appearance, and have no back defects. It is suitable for processing plush, cotton velvet, natural silk and rayon velvet, carpets and other fabrics.
(4). In the production field of technical textiles, such as the weaving and processing of special industrial technical fabrics of glass fiber and some other high-performance fibers, rigid rapier looms are used.
Fourth, the projectile loom:
Gripper looms are looms in which the weft gripper (or gripper) introduces the weft into the shed.
Weft insertion method: The weft insertion method of the gripper loom is to introduce the weft yarn on the fixed bobbin into the shed with a sheet gripper, which is called a gripper.
Features: It has better control ability for the weft yarn; fewer faults and good quality of weft insertion; after the weft yarn is introduced into the shed, its tension is precisely adjusted. These properties are very beneficial to the processing of high-end products.
Variety Adaptation
(1). Because the gripper has a good gripping ability for the weft, the yarn used for weft insertion by the gripper has a wide range, but the yarn with weakly twisted warp and low strength is used for the fabric processing of the weft. It is said that the weft insertion of the gripper is obviously not suitable, and the weft yarn is easy to break.
(2). It has the function of changing the weft at will between 2-6 colors, and can carry out the mixed weft with a fixed weft mixing ratio of 1:1 and the color selection of 4-6 colors.
(3). The width is very large, which can meet almost all the width requirements of fabric processing. Processing extra-wide fabrics and screen fabrics is the feature of projectile weft insertion.
(4). It can cooperate with dobby opening mechanism or jacquard opening mechanism to process some high value-added decorative fabrics and high-grade wool fabrics.
5. Air-jet loom: Air-jet loom is a shuttleless loom that uses jet air to pull the weft through the shed.
Weft insertion method: The weft insertion method of the air-jet loom is to use compressed air to pull the weft yarn and bring the weft yarn through the shed.
Features: It can be used to process various types of fabrics from light to thin to heavy. The weft yarn can be selected from 4-6 colors, and the raw materials are mainly short fibers and chemical fiber filaments.
Variety adaptability:
(1). It is especially suitable for the processing of thin fabrics, and has obvious advantages in the production of low-ultra-high-density monochrome fabrics.
(2). Air-jet looms have high output, good quality and low cost, and are very suitable for the production of monochromatic fabrics with large quantities and wide areas, with good economic benefits.
(3). The use of pipeline jet weft insertion to carry out medium-speed production of mid-grade and some high-grade fabrics that are in great demand, the economic benefits and energy-saving effects are more obvious.
(4). Air jet weft insertion is a negative weft insertion method. The weft insertion airflow lacks sufficient control ability for some weft yarns, which is easy to produce weft insertion defects.
6. Water jet loom:
The water jet loom is a shuttleless loom that uses a jet of water to pull the weft yarn through the shed.
Weft insertion method: The water jet loom uses water as the weft insertion medium, and generates frictional traction on the weft yarn through the jet of water, so that the weft yarn on the fixed bobbin is introduced into the shed.
Features: Water jet weft insertion uses water flowing in one direction as the weft insertion medium, which is beneficial to the high speed of the loom. Among several shuttleless weft insertion looms, the water jet loom is the one with the highest speed and is suitable for fabric processing of large quantities, high speed and low cost.
Variety adaptability:
(1). It is usually used for fabric processing of hydrophobic fibers, and the processed fabric should be dried.
(2). On the water jet loom, the weft yarn is pulled by the one-time jet of the nozzle, and the rapid decay of the jet flow velocity according to the exponential law hinders the expansion of the loom width. Therefore, water jet looms are often used for narrow or medium fabric processing.
(3). It can be equipped with a dobby opening device, which is used for the processing of high-density and small-pattern weave fabrics. The weft selection function of the water jet loom is poor, and it can only be equipped with three nozzles at most for double-weft or triple-weft weaving.