Design and Development of Picking Mechanism of Shuttle Loom

Abstract

Shuttle Loom is widely used in Indian Power loom industry due to its versatility to weave nearly all kind of fabrics. It is a cost effective machine for the small sectors. The only problem with this machine is lower speed as compared to the other weaving machines. Technology enhancement was observed in the shuttle loom industry in early 1990’s in Europe. Then the textile industry observed a shift from Europe to Asia. So development in textile industry has lost a pace with the modernization. Enhancing the speed of shuttle loom will be beneficial to the Indian textile industry. The foremost requirement of the industry is enhanced production rate. It can be enhanced by improving the speed of shuttle loom .This needs to increase the speed of picking mechanism which plays the main role in weaving of fabric, a shuttle is used to insert the weft through the warp, and this whole operation is known as a picking operation.

Detailed study has been carried to study working of the picking mechanism of present loom. Experiments have been carried out to study the motion of a shuttle in the present machine. Kinematic and Dynamic analysis have been done for the present loom. It has been observed that in order to increase the speed of picking mechanism a new cam has to be designed.

The present loom is working at 98 r.p.m. with loom size of 62 inch. Aim of reaching 180 r.p.m. with loom size of 72 inch is taken in account for new picking mechanism. In picking mechanism the shuttle stays in contact with the picker until constant acceleration, as the picker decelerates the shuttle leaves the picker and travels through the weft. Here the motion of the picker constraints the motion of follower ,so total rise of follower should give constant acceleration to the picker .In order to give constant acceleration to the picker a parabolic cam is designed. Kinematic and Dynamic analysis are carried out for high speed picking mechanism. Cam profile is generated using MATLAB; generated profile is imported to Solid-edge and modeled in it. Kinematic and Dynamic Analysis are carried out using MATLAB for cam design. A prototype is manufactured from SS 304 plate. It has been observed that the speed and force of picking mechanism have increased. The vibration and noise level have been found to be lower than the industry norms.