1

Weaving Technology

Weaving Lab # 1: NOMINAL AND ACTUAL SHUTTLE AND PICKER

MOTIONS

Name: Shoaib Wahab

Course: Weaving Technology
Year: 2nd Year BSc
Group: Textile Technology Business management (TTBM)

Experiment Conducted: 27th Sptember 2010

Lab # 1

Weaving Technology

Objectives
Following report will help the reader to examine the methods being performed to present
the Actual and Nominal Motion of a Shuttle-loom, and the significance of a Picking Stick
and Picking Stick compliance in the process, with the help of analytical and graphical
representation.

Equipments
To perform this experiment the equipments we require are;
i

Shuttle-loom

ii Stroboscope
iii Tachometer
iv Measuring Scale

Measures
Provided with the general strategy in the instruction sheet the experimentation is
alienated in two halves.
i

Nominal Motion

ii Actual Motion
To obtain the best results and outcome of the experimentation each part of the experiment
is conducted under the supervision of an Instructor.
To perform the experiment, Weaving Machine has been modified with an addition of a
wheel attached to the crank shaft so that, a nominal motion could be given to the machine
manually by simply turning the wheel to a desired angle by hand.
Stroboscope: Its a device necessary to perform this experiment. A Stroboscope as
defined by its name helps the viewer to see a high pace running device still. The device
has a mechanism attached to it which increases and delays the speed of flash, which
results in helping the viewer to see a running object at different instances.
Tachometer: It is a small electronic device used to measure the speed of the weaving
machine. The device is connected to the crank shaft while it rotates and display on its
Lab # 1

Weaving Technology

screen the speed of the crank shaft rotation in terms of RPM or PPM. This speed is
referred as speed of the machine.
Measuring Scale: For this experiment a measuring scale is attached to the shuttle box
which carries a paint mark to measure the shuttle position at different instances of the
crank shaft rotation.

Methodology and Procedure

Nominal Motion
The shuttle was pushed fully into the left hand shuttle box and the crank shaft was turned
by hand to a timing before the shuttle displacement begins (identify this position by the
left hand picking cam). Then with the help of paint mark on the shuttle box
measurements were recorded of the shuttle position at every five degrees until the shuttle
stopped moving. The experiment was then repeated to obtain two consistent sets of data.
i) Reading 1
Angle at Crank Shaft

Shuttle position in cm

50

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

6
Lab # 1

Weaving Technology

90

10

95

13

100

14

105

15.5

110

16

115

17

120

17

ii) Reading 2
Angle at Crank Shaft

Shuttle position in cm

50

55

60

65

70

75

Lab # 1

Weaving Technology

80

85

90

10

95

13

100

14

105

15.5

110

16

115

17

115

17

iii) Average for reading 1 and 2

Angle at Crank Shaft

Shuttle position in cm

50

55

60

Lab # 1

Weaving Technology

65

70

75

80

2.75

85

90

9.25

95

11.75

100

14

105

15

110

16

115

16.75

120

17

125

17

Discussion:
The curve in fig 1.1 for the nominal motion clearly indicates that with the gradual
crankshaft rotation the shuttle is provided with a force i.e. with a help of a picking stick.
As the shuttle starts moving it over comes its state of rest and momentarily starts
Lab # 1

Weaving Technology

accelerating. As it moves on its own the force diminishes causing the curve to decline
after some time.
Actual Motion
This half of the experiment was conducted while the loom was running; the shuttle
position was observed with the help of a stroboscope triggered by the loom. While
viewing the crank shaft timing scale, the flash was adjusted so that the stroboscope
flashes at the timing of interest. Then observations were recorded with the corresponding
shuttle position, using the reference mark on the shuttle (by flashing the stroboscope on
the shuttle box), at the shuttle position of every five degree interval, from just before start
of the picking until the shuttle moves off the scale. The following data was tabulated;
Angle at Crank Shaft

Shuttle position in cm

50

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

9
Lab # 1

Weaving Technology

100

14

105

21

110

25

Discussion:
The curve in fig 1.1 for actual motion shows that there is an immediate bent in the curve
at the start that indicates that in an actual motion when the picking stick hits the shuttle,
the shuttle takes time to overcome the inertia present in it. But by the time it over comes
it the curve forms a steep slope indicating its free fall motion across the shed.

Outcome
Lag and the picking stick compliance:
As we interpret the displacement curves in fig 1.1, for both the nominal and actual
motion we can see that there is a significant distance that exists between both the curves
before the point where these curves intersects. In the year 1949 Thomas and Vincent who
conducted this experiment for the first time and published the report at Shirley Institute
named the phenomena as Lag. According to them the lag between the nominal and
actual motion displacements is a result of the force required to overcome the inertia of the
shuttle.
This phenomenon of lag also help us to understand the nature of the picking stick and
picking stick compliance in the process of shuttle loom weaving. Thomas also suggested
this nature of the curves as the Catapult Effect. The nature of the picking stick is
somewhat similar to the one of the catapult where the slag strap and the picking stick help
to strike the shuttle in a very similar fashion.
With the help of fig 1.1 we can also comprehend that the point of intersection of both the
curves is actually the point where the contact of the picking stick expires with the shuttle.
The ratio between Maximum Actual and Maximum Nominal shuttle velocity:
Nominal Curve,
Change in L / Change in (o)
= 2.5 / 4.0
= 0.625
Actual Curve,
Change in L / Change in (o)
Lab # 1

Weaving Technology

= 4.4 / 3.5
= 1.257
Ratio,
Actual / Nominal
= 1.257 / 0.625
= 2.01
Maximum Actual shuttle velocity:
Velocity = Distance / Time
=m/s
Maximum Actual shuttle velocity,
= Change in (L) / Change in (o)
= cm / o
= 4.4 / 3.5
To gain the maximum actual shuttle velocity we will have to convert the units, (cm) into
(m) and (o) into (sec). For this conversion we had to use the tachometer which gave us the
speed of the weaving machine i.e. 164 PPM of RPM.
Converting (o) into (sec);
= 164 picks
1 min
o
= 164 * 360
60 sec
= 59040o / 60
1 sec
o
= 984
1 sec
= 1o
1 / 984 sec
= 3.5o
3.5 / 984 sec
-3
= 3.56 * 10 sec
Converting (cm) into (m);
= 100cm
1m
= 1cm
1 / 100 m
= 4.4cm
4.4 / 100 m
-2
= 4.4 * 10 m
Maximum Actual Shuttle Velocity;
= (4.4 * 10-2) / (3.56 * 10-3)
= 12.359 m/s

Lab # 1