A loom is a certain device or machine that is used for making any woven fabrics. It is the focal point of the entire cloth-making process. A loom, in other terms, is a device or equipment that is used to weave yarn and thread into different textiles.
Looms come in a wide range of sizes. They range in size from massive free-standing handlooms to tiny hand-held frames to massive motorised mechanical tools. Any loom can also refer to an electric line structure, such as a wiring loom.
The primary function of looms is to hold twisted threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of weft strands. To some extent, the system of the loom and exact form can differ yet, it accomplishes the basic application.
What is a loom in the weaving process?
A loom is a device that is normally used by weaving loom manufacturers to generate woven fabric by inserting weft and warp yarn. It is not a machine in weaving technology.
The loom is the primary point of interaction for the whole woven fabric manufacturing process, including opening, ginning, spinning, warping, carding, beaming, winding, and sizing. It’s worth noting that looms are typically powered by either a motor or a line shaft.
Mainly the loom will be classified into 2 types:
- Handloom,
- Power loom
The basics of weaving technology
- Secondary loom mechanisms
Other mechanisms help in the continuous weaving process of textile on a power loom. However, they are not required for weaving any fabric, i.e. interlacing warp and weft yarns. These secondary systems are active at the same time.
- Let-off
Let-off on a power loom is the unwinding of the warp yarn out of the beam of the weaver at a constant rate as well as at a constant acceptable tension as weaving proceeds.
On any power loom, the exact position of the cloth’s fell is always the same, but on a typical handloom, the position of the cloth’s fell changes as each loom cycle progresses.
- Take-up
This is the automatic withdrawal or winding of fabric from a textile roller as weaving will continue at a consistent rate. The take-up process in the fabric controls the weft density or the number of picks/cm.
The following are a few different types of looms used in modern loom and their important features:
- Air-jet loom
- Less power consumption
- Light to medium fabrics are produced
- Highest weft insertion perform
- Width 190 cm.
- Multicolour weft insertion of up to 8.
- Water jet loom
- Less power consumption
- Suitable for non-absorbent fibre e.g. synthetic fabric
- Highest weft insertion
- Weft yarn package weight of 3.6 to 4 kg
- Treated water will be used by a nozzle pump.
- Rapier loom
- Production costly
- Fancy fabric produced
- Simple mechanism
- Power consumption moderate
- Standard rapier width of 190 cm
- Suitable for weft patterning
- Projectile/missile loom
- Power consumption is less
- Accommodator used for reducing tension
- Minimum width of 190 cm
- Maximum width of 540 cm
- Can produce multiple fabric
- In the projectile, you can produce double beam single fabric.
All these have their own sets of pros and cons.
