Shuttle Weaving

Shedding
Chapter 4
Weft insertion by rapier
Weft insertion by air jet
Hand Loom: This is mainly used in unorganized sector. Operations like shedding and picking is done by
using manual power.This is one of the major sources of employment generation in rural areas.

 
Power Loom: It was designed by Edmund Cartwright in 1780s (during the industrial revolution). All the
operations of the loom are automatic except the change of the pirn.
 
Automatic Loom: In this power loom, the exhausted pirn is replenished by the full one without
stoppages. Under-pick system is a requirement for these looms.
 
Multiphase Loom: Multiple sheds can be formed simultaneously in this looms and thus productivity can
be increased by a great extent. It has failed to gain commercial success.
 

Shuttle-less Loom: Weft is carried projectiles, rapiers or fluids in case of shuttle-less looms. The rate of
production is much higher for these looms. Besides, the quality of the products is also better and the
product range much broader compared to that of Power looms. Most of the modern mills are equipped
with different types of shuttle-less looms based on the product range.

 
Circular Loom: Tubular fabrics like hose-pipes and sacks are manufactured by circular looms.
 

Narrow Loom: These looms are also known as needle looms and used to manufacture narrow width
fabrics like tapes, webbings, ribbons and zipper tapes.
 Primary Motions
• Shedding:
 The operation by which the warp is divided into two sheets so that
sufficient gap is created for the uninterrupted passage of the weft
from one side of the loom to the other.
 Separates the warp threads into two layers or divisions to form tunnel
known as “shed”. The shed provides room for passage of the shuttle.
• Picking: Picking is the operation to transfer the weft yarn (pick) into
the shed from one side of the loom to the other. In shuttle loom,
picking is done from both sides of the loom. However, in shuttle less
looms, it is done from only one side of the loom.
• Beat up: Beat up is the operation of pushing the newly inserted weft
yarn back into the cloth fell by using the reed.
 Types of shedding(In a plain looms, tappets are
used to form sheds)
• Negative shedding
In a tappet shedding mechanism, if the tappet controls only
one movement, either an upward or downward movement
of the heald shafts, then the shedding is known as negative
tappet shedding. The heald shafts are returned be some
external devices like spring, dead weights, rollers….
• Positive shedding
In a tappet shedding mechanism, if the tappet controls both
upward and downward movements of the heald shafts,
then the shedding is known as positive tappet shedding.
 Throw of a tappet

The difference between the heal s1 and toe s2 of a tappet is equal to its throw. If the
difference is high then the throw of tappet is also high. Higher-throw tappets apply
more force to treadle lever. A higher-throw tappet is always connected to the back
heald shaft. This is mainly to compensate for the difference in leverage in the treadle
levers.
 Timing of shedding
• The shedding mechanism is set according to the picking and beat-up
mechanisms. Timing of shedding is set with respect to crank position.
• Three timings
1. Normal shedding
2. Early shedding
3. Late shedding
 Normal shedding
• If the heald shafts are at the same level when
the crank comes to the top centre that is 0
degree or 360 degrees, then it is known as
normal shedding. 
 Early shedding
• A shed is said to be early when the pick insertion is effected after the shed is
completely open. If the heald shafts are at the same level when the crank comes to
355 degrees or 5 degrees before the top centre, then it is known as early shedding.
• Advantages of early shedding:
• Fabric cover is improved, because during beat-up, the warp yarns are evenly
distributed.
• It assists in clearing the shed while weaving fibrous warp like woollen & worsted. So
entanglements are avoided.
• Heavy weft yarn can be easily inserted. So hard weaves like corkscrew weaves can
be woven.
• Disadvantages:
• As the warp yarns are open widely during beat-up, strain on the warp yarn is high.
Early shedding causes chaffing of warp yarn (yarn abrasion) & end breakage may
occur.
 Late shedding:
• If the shafts are at the same level when the crank comes to 5
degrees after top centre, then the shedding is known as late
shedding.
• Advantages of late shedding:
• Late shedding allows the weft yarn to get beaten up before the
shed has been properly crossed. During beat-up opening the shed
is minimum. So strain on the warp yarn is low.
• Disadvantages of late shedding:
• As the warp yarns are not distributed evenly during beat-up, fabric
cover is low.
• It causes a very weak fell of the cloth because the weft may roll
back.
 shed
• Shed is broadly into two classes namely. They are…
• Open shed 
• Closed shed
• Closed shed: In the closed shed, the mechanism
employed places all the warp threads level after
the insertion of each pick of weft. 

Open shed: In open shed, the warp is only moved

when the pattern requires a change of position. 
•
Geometry of Shed
A simplified geometry of the shed is shown Figure 6.7.

The main shed parameters are as follows:

•  L 1: length of the front shed
•  L2: length of the back shed
•  H : shed height
Calculation of heald frame movement (by similar triangle method)
•Keep the loom crank at back center to get a fully opened shed and measure the following

A-Distance between cloth fell to the front heald frame in cm

A1- Distance between the fell to back heald frame in cm
B-Distance between cloth fell to reed in cm
C-Shed height at in front of the reed in cm

Vertical movement of front heald frame in cm, FH =

Vertical movement of back heald frame in cm, BH =

Thus the stroke of the tappet operating the back heald shaft should be greater than
that operating the front heald shaft.

The relative diameter of the top rollers should be

Hence the diameter of the top reversing roller of the back heald will be greater than
the front one.
• When the healds are on the warp line (healds are levelled), the path
taken by the warp is the shortest. However, as the healds move
away from the warp line, the warp takes a longer path. Thus, warp
yarns are extended which has to be compensated either by the
extensibility of the warp or by the regulation of the yarn delivery
system. If the length of the back shade is increases, then yarn
extension is reduced and this if preferred for weaving delicate yarns
like silk. However, shorter back shed creates clearer shed and it is
preferred for weaving coarser and hairy yarns. It is important to
understand the factors which influence the degree of yarn extension
during the shed formation. A simplified mathematical model has
been presented to relate the warp strain with the shed parameters.
 Heald Staggering
• Heald staggering is done to reduce the abrasion between the warp yarns when the
healds are crossing each other. When the ends per inch value in the warp sheet is
very high, it is pragmatic to use four or more healds even for plain weave. If the
fabric width is 150 cm and end/cm value in the fabric is 40, then total number of
ends in the warp sheep is 6000. If four healds are used, then a single heald will be
controlling 1500 ends. In case of straight draft, four cams will be required to
control four healds. At a particular instance, two cams will raise two healds
whereas two other cams will lower the remaining two healds. Now, at the middle
of the shed depth, the four healds will cross each other at the same time. This will
happen if four cams are paired in two groups such that there is no phase
difference between the two cams of same group whereas the phase difference of
two cams belonging to the two different groups will be 180 0 on the bottom shaft.
If the shedding cam profile is drawn following the simple harmonic motion (SHM),
then the velocity of the healds at the middle of the shed depth will be the
maximum. Thus, when the healds are crossing each other, enormous amount of
yarn to yarn friction will be created which may lead to end breakage. This can be
prevented by heald staggering which ensures that all the ends (or healds) are not
crossing each other at the same time.
 Distinct (clear) and Indistinct (unclear) Shed
• If the extent of vertical movement of the healds during shedding is same then indistinct or unclear shed is
produced as depicted in left hand side of Figure 6.5. In case of indistinct shed, the position of the top shed
line is different for different healds. Therefore, the shuttle actually get lower amount of space through which
it has to travel. So, the possibility of abrasion and collision between shuttle and shed line is higher.
• In case of distinct or clear shed, shown in the right hand side of Figure 6.5, the position of top shed line at
the front part of the shed is same irrespective of the healds. This type of shed can be formed if the extent of
vertical movement of the healds during shedding is changed based on their position. The first heald, which is
nearer to the cloth fell, has the minimum vertical movement and the last heald has the maximum vertical
movement. The shuttle gets more space to travel in case of distinct shade as ( α1 +α2) > α.
Negative Tappet Shedding Mechanism
Positive Tappet Shedding Mechanism
The dobby is a shedding device placed on the top of a loom in order to produce a
pattern by using a large number of healds than the capacity of a tappet. In fancy
weaving the dobby is used to produce small pattern by means of warp threads and
healds. The shed which is produced by a dobby is called dobby shedding.
  Dobby is generally used to control 8-36 number of heald shaft for shedding.
 Keighley Dobby

Keighley dobby is known to be a double acting dobby as most of the

operations is done at half speed as compared to the loom speed
(picks per minute). The basic components of Keighley dobby are as
follows:

•Stop bars
•Baulk
•Hooks (two per heald)
•Knives (two for the entire dobby)
•Pegs on pattern chain
• The motion to the reciprocating knives (K1 and K2) originates from the bottom shaft
of loom. As one revolution of bottom shaft ensures two picks, each of the two knives
completes the cycle of inward (towards the left) and outward (towards the right)
movements during this period. The two reciprocating knives are in complete phase
difference. When one knife is moving inward, the other knife is moving outward.
In Figure 6.35, knife 2 (K2) has pulled hook 2 (H2) towards the right side. This has
happened as there is a peg in the lag corresponding to the feeler 2 (F 2). The peg has
pushed the right end of the feeler 2 in the upward direction. Thus the left end of the
feeler 2 has been lowered. So, the hook 2 was also lowered on knife 2 when the
latter moved inward. So, the lower end of the baulk (B) moves away from the stop
bar 2 (S2). Thus the heald shaft is raised as it is connected at the midpoint of the
baulk.
• In the next part of the cycle, knife 2 will move inward and knife 1 (K 1) will move
outward. Now, there is no peg corresponding to the position of feeler 1 (F 1). So, right
end of feeler 1 is lowered and left end of it is raised. As a result, the connecting rod
(R) has pushed the hook 1 in the upward direction. So, when the knife 1 will perform
its outward movement, it will not be able to catch the hook 1. The top part of baulk
will be resting on stop bar 1 and thus the heald will not be lifted for the next pick.
• It is important to note here that when the heald is in lower position for two
consecutive picks, the top as well as the bottom end of the baulk will be
resting on the respective stop bars i.e. S1 and S2. So, the midpoint of the
baulk will not have any significant movement. On the other hand, if the
heald is in raised position for two consecutive picks, then one end of the
baulk will move away from the stop bar and another end of the baulk will
move towards the stop bar. Thus the middle point of the baulk will not
experience any significant movement as schematically shown in Figure 6.36.
Thus the amount of wasted movement is very nominal. Therefore, the
system will produce open shed.
 System of Pegging
Twill weave (3/3/1/1) which repeats on eight ends and
eight picks (Figure 6.37) has been considered here for
demonstrating the pegging plan. The system of pegging is
depicted in Figure 6.38. This design can be produced by
using eight healds and straight draft. The selection for
heald movement is controlled by wooden pegs which can
be inserted within the circular holes made on the wooden
lags. The wooden lags inked together into a lattice which
is mounted on the pattern wheel (or barrel). The pattern
barrel is rotated by a certain degree once in two peaks.
For example, if the barrel is hexagonal then it must rotate
by 60° after every two picks. The presence of a peg within
the hole results raised position of the heald and vice
versa. The position of two holes corresponding to the
same heald is not on the same line. The lateral shifting of
holes is done so that two adjacent feelers can be
accommodated.
Figure 6.37: Point paper representation of
3/3/1/1 twill weave
Figure 6.38: Peg plan for 3/3/1/1 twill
weave
Negative hook and knife dobby (Climax)/Double jack lever Double lift Dobby
Mechanism
Positive Dobby
 In Keighley dobby, knives and hooks cause movement in the baulk and as a
result, the heald is raised. The lowering of heald is done by the reversing
motion. However, the upward and downward movements of the healds are
completely controlled by the positive dobby. This can be achieved by the
rotary dobby as shown in Figure 6.39.
Figure 6.39 depicts the simplified view of a rotary type positive dobby. The systems
utilises specially designed toothed gears for causing engagement or disengagement of
gears and transmission of motions. Each and every heald is controlled by a specially
designed toothed gear shown in red colour. This gear can be rotated either by the green
or by the blue gear which are having teeth only over the half of their periphery.
However, the red gear can mesh only with one of the driver gears (blue or green) at a
time. The green and blue gears complete one revolution in every pick. As they rotate in
different directions, they can rotate the red gear in clockwise or in anti-clockwise
direction which is required to raise or lower the heald shaft through the links.
The selection mechanism presents cylinders of different diameters for different
pick. If the diameter of the cylinder is low, then the yellow lever carrying the red
gear is lowered on the blue gear as shown in Figure 6.39. A missing tooth on the
red gear facilitates the meshing between the two gears. The blue gear now rotates
the red gear in anti-clockwise direction by half revolution causing the heald to be
lowered through links. The heald will retain its lowered position as long as
cylinders with lower diameter will be presented by the selection mechanism to the
yellow lever. This happens because the red gear has a portion where three teeth
are missing and it is now at the zone of contact between the red and blue gears.
Therefore, the meshing is not possible and no further rotation is caused to the red
gear though the blue gear is continuously rotating in every pick. If a cylinder with
higher diameter is fed by the selection mechanism, then the yellow lever will be
raised and thus the red gear will move in the upward direction to mesh with green
gear. The single missing tooth of the red gear, which is now at the zone of contact
between blue and green gears, will again facilitate the meshing between red and
green gears. The red gear will now rotate in clockwise direction causing the heald
to be raised.
Modern Rotary dobby
• Rotary dobby converts the rotational movement to linear movement, which is required
for lifting and lowering of healds. Rotary dobby can operate at high speed up to 1500
r.p.m. The operating principle of Fimtextile RD 3000 rotary dobby is shown in Figure
6.40. The cam shaft rotates by 180° and then stops momentarily and thus the motion is
called as irregular rotary motion. The cam unit is mounted on the cam shaft but not
fixed on it. The pawl, which is placed on the outside of the cam, connects it with the
driver and then the cam rotates by 180° causing the movement to the heald shaft. The
crank unit encloses the cam with ball bearings. Link (L 1) can rotate around its pivot by
the action of the electromagnet through link L 2. If link L1 rotates in an anticlockwise
direction, then the pawl rotates in the clockwise direction and its bottom tip engages
with the groove on drive. If link L 1 rotates in a clockwise direc­tion, it presses the upper
tip of the pawl and disengages it from drive. When the engagement happens, the jack
rotates in an anticlockwise direction during the 180° rotation of the dobby shaft. The
jack dwells at its foremost position during the 180° rota­tion of the dobby shaft, if the
engagement does not occur. The dobby shaft stops after every 180° degree rotation,
and the pattern selection mechanism engages or disengages the ratchet with the drive.
 Jacquard Shedding Systems
• Jacquard shedding system was developed by Joseph Marie Jacquard
   (1752–1834) who was a French weaver and merchant . In case of cam
and dobby shedding systems, large number of yarns passing through a
heald is controlled as a group. Thus it precludes the possibility of
controlling individual ends independently. Therefore, complicated
woven designs cannot be made using cam or dobby shedding systems.
With jacquard shedding system, individual ends can be controlled
independently and thus large woven figures can be produced in fabrics.
• Mechanical jacquard systems can be classified under three categories:
• Single lift and single cylinder (SLSC)
• Double lift and single cylinder (DLSC)
• Double lift and double cylinder (DLDC)
Single-Lift Single-Cylinder (SLSC) Jacquard

Features of SLSC Jacquard

500 end machine will have 500 needles and 500 hooks
Cylinder should turn in every pick
Knives must complete the cycle of rise and fall in every pick
Bottom closed shed is produced
 Double-Lift Single-Cylinder (DLSC) Jacquard

Features of DLSC Jacquard

500 end machine will have 500 needle and 1000 hooks
Two sets of knives rise and fall in opposite phase
Cycles of movement (rise and fall) of each set of knives spans over two picks
Cylinder should turn in every pick
Semi open shed is produced
 Double-Lift Double-Cylinder (DLDC) Jacquard

Features of DLDC Jacquard

500 end machine will have 1000 needles and 1000 hooks
Two sets of knives rise and fall in opposite phase
Cycles of movement (rise and fall) of each set of knives spans over two picks
Cylinder should turn in alternate pick
Semi open shed is produce