EXPERIMENT NO.

OBJECT:
To study the weft insertion system of an air jet loom.

THEORY:
Air jet is the type of a shuttleless weaving system in which the fluid (air) is used to insert the
weft in shed by the action of kinetic energy of the air.

MAIN COMPONENTS:

• Yarn feeders/weft accumulators

• Main nozzle

• Relay nozzle

• Profile reed

• Solenoid

• Regulator

• Air tank

WORKING:

The air jet loom consists of 5 sets of nozzles. Each set further comprises of five relay nozzles
The main function of relay nozzle is to guide the yarn to the receiving end.There is a profile reed
to guide to yarn for smooth flow and according to width of fabric Yarn feeders are used which
accumulates the incoming weft yarn
Air is supplied to the nozzles through compressor the air then goes air filtration chamber then to
the junction. At the junction the air is split into two tubes C1 and C2 which represents two colors
of weft yarns. The air coming in C1 and C2 tubes leads to the air tank via regulators. The
distribution of air is done to develop the cut pressure. There is an inlet and outlet regulator to
control the pressure The air pressure is maintained at 4 bar and the speed of this machine is
1500m/min
The air passes through solenoid valves and is led into the main nozzle. M1 and M2 are the tubes
from air tank leads to the main nozzle.
There is a third tube which leads to the sub regulator the sub tank provides the cutting pressure
and the jet pressure to the relay nozzle. Both pressures are divided into two cutting pressures C1,
C2 and jet pressures J1, J2 for two colored weft yarns The jet pressure from the sub tank leads
directly to the main nozzle through the regulator.

When the yarn passes through first set it is activated, when the yarn crosses the first set the
second set gets activated and the first set got deactivated The 5 sets of weft insertion of main
nozzle are as follows:

• 1st set is activated from : 86-166 ̊

• 2nd set is activated: 100-180 ̊

• 3rd set is activated: 132-212 ̊

• 4th set is activated: 162-242 ̊

• 5th set is activated: 194-270 ̊

RELAY NOZZLE
 AIR JET WEAVING MACHINE

PRACTICAL NO. 07

OBJECT:

To study the take up mechanism of air jet loom and set the required pick density.

THEORY:

Types of take-up mechanism:

There are two main types of take up mechanism.

1. Positive take up.

2. Negative take up.

The air jet loom we studied had positive take up mechanism, in which the cloth is drawn forward
by frictional contact with a take up roller , which is driven through gearing at the required
uniform rate, the cloth being wound up onto a separate roller. This is called indirect take up.
Alternately , the cloth may be wound directly onto the driven roller. This is called the Direct take
up. In this case the rate of rotation of the driven roller has to be reduced progressively as the
cloth builds up so as to maintain a constant linear rate of take up.
Since the indirect take relies on friction between the cloth and the surface of the take up roller to
draw the cloth forward, slippage produces severe variation in pick spacing. To prevent slippage,
the take roller is always covered with a material having a high coefficient of friction.
1) Torque to the friction roller:

The torque of the crank shaft (1) on the yarn supply side is transmitted through timing pulley (2)
and belt (3) to the speed reducer (4). The output from speed reducer goes through standard gear
(5), change gear b (6) compound pinion (7), idle gear (8), compound gear (9), compound shaft
(10) and friction roll gear (11) to the cloth roll shaft. Through the gears, speed is reduced. On the
shaft, friction roll (12) rotates at uniform speed.
The front roll (13) and under press roll (14) are in contact with the friction roll. Cloth is held and
wound through cloth press roll (15) up to cloth roller (16).
2) Torque transmission to the cloth roller:

Torque is conveyed from sprocket (17) attached to the compound shaft through roller chain (18)
to free wheel (19). It is further sent by way of the take up tension device to the gear and cloth
roller (16) to woven cloth and winding it up.
Feeler lever (20) in contact with the cloth press roll (15) keeps the cloth tension uniform and
prevents the cloth from moiré and wrinkling when wound up.
3) Manual operation:

Cloth fell is manually moved back and forth with a handle (21) and a pedal (22)

Replacement of standard and change gears:

1) Loosen cloth tension with a take up handle and a clutch pedal.

2) Remove the set bolt and the hexagon coupling bolt (A).

3) Loosen the hexagon coupling bolt (B) releasing the change gear bracket.

4) Assemble standard and change gears to obtain the desired pick density

5) Tighten the hexagon coupling bolt (B) and fix the change the gear bracket.

Pick density:
Pick density is determined by the combination of standard and change gear. The resulting
rotational speed (rpm) of the fabric take up roller gives the weft density in the fabric. A table is
provided in the manual which shows the combination of standard and change gears for any
desired pick density. The fabric shrinkage is not considered. So the operator has to select an
adequate change gear by trial weaving. Generally actual value is about 3 to 5% larger than the
value in the table.

The arrangement of the standard and the change gears is such that:
An increase in the number of teeth of standard gear will increase the speed of the take up roller
and hence a decrease in the pick density (ppi).
1
No. of teeth of standard gear α ppi

While an increase in the number of teeth of change gear will decrease the speed of the take up
roller and hence an increase in the pick density.

No. of teeth of standard gear α ppi

PERFORMANCE:

In the practical we used a standard gear of 50 teeth and the change gear of 68 teeth to get a weft
density of 54 picks per inch.
Then the change gear was replaced with the one with 70 teeth to get a weft density of 56 picks
per inch.
 PRACTICAL # O6

OBJECT:

To set mechanically and electronically the diameter of pre-winder drum in order to insert pick of
required length on the air jet loom.

THEORY:

WEFT ACCUMULATOR:

A weft yarn storage unit is present between a yarn supply package and a weft insertion device for
storing a weft yarn to be inserted in warp shed. This is called a weft accumulator.

NEED OF YARN STORAGE UNIT:

Provision of a weft accumulator is a factor of great influence in an air jet loom. Because of the
high yarn velocity during insertion, it is not possible to unwind yarn intermittently from the
package Moreover during the weft insertion in the air-jet loom, the speed of yarn ranges between
zero to a very high value. Because of this speed variation, the weft yarn is subjected to a stress
which reaches up to 7000m/s2. Further it is quite possible that all the tension variations which are
influenced by package parameters, e.g. package diameter, traverse length, winding ratio, taper of
package, and hardness etc are passed directly to the inserted pick when working without weft
accumulator. Weft accumulator is a device which stores, in advance of insertion a length of weft
in the form that allows it to be withdrawn at higher speed comparatively at a low tension. Hence
weft accumulators are essential for air – jet looms.
.

1. MECHANICALLY SETTING THE DIAMETER OF PRE-WINDER

DRUM

TYPES OF STORAGE SYSTEM:

1. U-loop storage system

2. Drum storage system

1. U-LOOP STORAGE SYSTEM:

In this system yarn is continuously withdrawn from the package at a rate governed by the
measuring drum and air is used to form the loop however this system does not provide a positive
control on the yarn for this reason this system has been obsolete.
2. DRUM STORAGE SYSTEM:

The principle of drum storage is based on the storage of a sufficient yarn length (more than one
pick) on a highly polished metal cylindrical body, “spider legs” or ceramic bands. A stopper pin
or hook controlled by a timing control unit release the required number of wraps of filling yarn to
form each pick. Today, drum storage is the only yarn storage system in air-jet machines.

There are normally two drums mounted with the loom for accumulation of yarn. Two yarns of
different color and count can be used.
CALCULATION:

CALCULATION OF THE DIAMETER OF PRE-WINDER DRUM:

The range of diameter of drum one = 219 to 229 mm

The range of diameter of drum two = 145 to 220 mm

The selection of the diameter of the drum is based on the fabric width and extra weft yarn length,
which is needed during processes.
Drum diameter is determined by the formula:
 FabricWidt h + ExtraWeftY arnLength
D=
Π× n

Where;

D = diameter of the pre-winder drum

n = no. of turns on drum
Fabric length in mm
Extra weft length is kept about 2 inches

Larger the diameter of the yarn, less will be the no. of turns on the drum.
Generally 3 turns of weft yarn are taken on the drum for a single pick.
Extra yarn for 1-2 picks is kept on the drum for smooth process, so if three turns are required for
a single pick, about 8 more turns (i.e. total 11 turns) will be stored on the drum.

REED WIDTH + EXTRA YARN = 174`cm

n=3

D = 174 = 184.7 mm
3 * 3.14

2. ELECTRONIC SETTING FOR THE DIAMETER OF PRE-WINDER

DRUM
Certain switches are present on the right side of the loom for electronically setting the diameter
of the pre winder drum and to synchronize it with the mechanical setting.

TURNS SWITCH:

This sets the no. of preliminary winding. When the rotary digital switch indication is set to A, 10
turns of preliminary winding is stored. It should be set so that the storage amount is not short
when the loom starts.

FIX SWITCH:

When weft insertion repeat pattern is 9 or less than 9 steps, set to the right, and in case 10 or
more than 10 steps, set to the left.

TURNS/PICK SWITCH:

Set the same turn/pick as one for measuring volume. If this switch is incorrectly set, the storage
amount is either excessive or short, causing trouble with continuous run. So it should be set
properly.