A PRESENTATION ON

MODERN AIRJET & RAPIER LOOM

Md. Azmir Latif

MSc. in Textile Engineer
Keyword: General specification, yarn
passages, basic motions, shedding,
picking, beat up, let off, take up,
warp stop motion, others auxiliary
motion
A MODERN RAPIER LOOM
 Picanol Gammax (Rapier)
General Specification
Picanol
Name :
GamMax
Rapier
Type : Weaving
Machine
Double
Rapier Type : flexible
rapier
Shedding Positive cam
:
Mechanism shedding
Cam
Outside cam
arrangeme :
arrangement
nt
Cam
Manufactur : Staubly
er
 Yarn Passage

• Warp passage: • Weft Passage:

– Beam (Flanged beams) – Creel
– Backrest roller (Double backrest – Prewinder
roller) – Filling detector
– Warp breakage detector (Electrical – Finger Selector
drop wire mechanism) – Filling Cutter
– Heald frame – Wastage Cutter
– Reed – Gripper Head
– Fell of the cloth – Receiver Head
• Fabric Passage: – Wastage Cutter
– Temple Mechanism – Suction Head
– Spreader
– Take up roller
– Front Rest
– Guide roller
– Batcher
 Basic Motion
• Shedding Mechanism • Take up Mechanism
• Picking Mechanism • Let off Mechanism
• Beat up Mechanism
shedding mechanism
 Shedding mechanism
Possible Shedding
Mechanism:
– Cam Shedding
– Dobby Shedding
– Jacquard
– ELSY [for selvedge &
Waste Collection (False
Selvedge)]
– Leno (for selvedge
binding)
 Cam Shedding

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

• used to convert Various Types of Cam

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
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
 Harness Frame

Brand : GTP

Mode XLF extra

:
l Light 152 Features:
– Glued heddle rod
– Lightweight Aluminium profile
– R-flex corner connection system
– Integrated heald dumper
– Stainless steel corner reinforcement.
 Heald Wire
Brand : Grob Horgen

Origin : Switzerland
 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
 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
 Mechanical Leno

• Selvedge Type: Leno

type
• A simple hook
mechanism
• Needs to incorporate
with ELSY to produce
binding weave in the
fabric edge.
picking mechanism
 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
 Main Parts of Picking

• Creel: • Filling detector:

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

• Gripper & Receiver heads • Suction heads

– Carry the weft yarn – Prevents bouncing back of
inserted yarn
 Mechanism of Picking

• Yarn presenter is lowered to

present the thread
• The gripper head catches the Gripper head is carrying the weft
yarn
• Both the gripper and receiver
proceed towards the middle of
shed
• The yarn is then transferred Weft is transferring from gripper to receiver
from gripper head to receiver
head
• The receiver head then drags
the yarn through the rest of
the shed Weft is transferred

• Finally the filling cutter cuts

the thread

Receiver is carrying the weft

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

Link to toothed segment Toothed segment

View from top

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

Beat up Arrangement

Bowl
Gear train from main Motor

Cam Gear
 Main Parts of Beat Up

Reed
• Attached with sley
• Push the newly inserted
thread to fell
• Plain reed is used in rapier
 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
Let off mechanism
 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
 Main Parts of Let Off

ELO Motor

Let off wheel

Beam collar
take up mechanism
 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
 Take up mechanism

ETU Motor

Rollers

Batcher
 Wastage winder

• Used to wind
up wastage and
excess warp.
• One gets drive
from let off
gear (for warp).
Wastage winder (Excess warp take up)
• The other one
from take up
wheel
(wastage)
Wastage winder (wastage take up)
others motion
 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)
 Others Auxiliary Motion
• Weft stop Motion (By FD)
• Catch cord breakage
• Batcher stop
Keyword: General features, main parts, motions, shedding, picking, beat
up, let off, take up, warp stop motion, weft stop motion, others stop
motion

A MODERN AIRJET LOOM

Picanol Omni Plus (Airjet Loom)
 Picanol Omni Plus (Airjet Loom)
Name : Picanol Omni Plus
Type : Airjet Weaving Machine
Machine Weight : 1900 Kg
Maximum Speed : 850 RPM
 E- Leno
Attachments :  AIC (Adaptive Incretion Control)
 PFT (Programmable filling tensioner)

Sand Roller
: 534 mm
Circumference
Shedding
: Positive cam shedding
Mechanism
Cam arrangement : Outside cam arrangement
Cam Manufacturer : Staubly
 Main Parts

• Bobbin break sensor • Easing arm

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

• Electrical boards • Various motors

• MCB • Sumo Motor
• AIB • Hydraulic Motor
• TRIAX-2 • Cutter Motor
• WEB X • ELCA Motor
• DDMP • ELSY Motor
• LDEC • PFT Motor
• FDCB • ETU Motor
• PB • ELO Motor
• E-leno Motor
 Motions

• Primary motions • Tertiary Motion

– Shedding – Auto Warp stop Motion
– Picking – Auto Weft stop Motion
– Beat Up – Batcher motion
• Secondary motions – Brake motion
– Let off
– Take up
Shedding mechanism
 Shedding
• Possible Shedding • Shedding Parameters
Mechanism:
– Cam Shedding Shed Angle : 22° to 34°
– Dobby Shedding
– Jacquard Heald Frame 72-87
:
Height mm
– ELSY [for selvedge & Waste
Collection (False Selvedge)] Back Rest
: 1-6
– E-Leno (for selvedge Depth
binding) Drop Wire Bar
: -7 to +5
• Cam Shedding: Height
– Same as rapier. Back Rest
: -8 to +19
Height
 Shedding Geometry
Shed angle
 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.
 Shedding Geometry
Shed Height

The optimal height setting depends on a number of factors:

 The article type
 The weave
 The machine speed (rpm).
Shedding Geometry
 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.
picking mechanism
 Picking
Weft passage
Weft passage
Creel : Supports the cone.

Add a tension on yarn

Disc-
: which is being unwounded
Tensioner
by pre-winder.

Detects yarn breakage

Bobbin between creel & Pre-
:
break sensor winder. Incorporated with
pre-winder.
Prevent large balloon
formation which leads to
Balloon-
: yarn breakage.
Breaker
Incorporated with pre-
 Weft passage
Prewinder
• Type: Can plus 2231
• Manufacturer: Picanol
 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.
 Nozzles
Fixed main nozzle

Movable main nozzle

 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.
 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.
 Air Supply accessories
Main nozzle modules and valve

• Buffer tank for relay nozzle

– Left Buffer Tank
– Right Buffer Tank
 Air Supply accessories
Relay valve
 Each valve controls 1 or 2 (Maximum
three) relay Nozzles.

Pressure regulator
 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.
Requirement of air supply for picking

• Main line pressure • Left relay valve pressure

– 7 to 9 Bar Required – Up to 5.5 Bar (Depends
• Main valve pressure on weft yarn Count &
M/C RPM)
– Up to 6 Bar
• Right Relay valve
• Auxiliary valve pressure
pressure
– 5 to 6 Bar (Fixed)
– Up to 0.5 Bar more than
left relay valve pressure
beat up mechanism
 Beat up
• Same as rapier. Only
difference is here
profile reed is used.
 Profile Reed

 To facilitate air passage, in

this reed a groove is made
by curving on dent wire.
 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
others motion
Same as rapier.

Same as rapier.

Same as rapier.
 Weft stop motion
Device : Filling
used detector
No of FD : 2 (FD1 &
FD2)
Mechani : Laser based
sm
Stop : If the thread
signal does not
reach FD1
If the thread
reach FD2
 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.
Weft stop motion
 Others stop motion
• Bobbin breakage
• Leno breakage
• Catch cord breakage
• Batcher stop
• Machine brake