Table of Contents
What is a loom?
Loom is a fabric weaving machine that is used to produce woven fabric by means of the insertion of warp and weft yarn with a mechanical device. Different technology uses for producing woven fabric.
Based on the weft insertion method, weaving looms can be divided into two types. They are-
- Shuttle Loom, and
- Shuttleless Loom
Shuttle Loom
Shuttle loom weaving is a traditional weaving system that uses for creating a plain weave construction. The shuttle loom utilizes a shuttle to pass the lateral horizontal yarn of the weft at right angles through the longitudinal yarn of the warp to produce plain fabric.
Shulleless Loom
Shuttleless looms are called modern weaving machines. A shuttleless loom is used to insert weft yarn through the warp yarn by means of the projectile, rapier air, or water. Hence, the weft insertion methods are diverse.
There are many advantages to using a shuttleless loom over a shuttle loom. Different research and development were done for developing shuttleless weaving technology from the 19th century. At present, different types of shuttleless looms are available in the market. Shuttleless looms can be categorized as follows:
- Rapier Loom
- Projectile Loom
- Water jet Loom
- Air-jet Loom
- Multi-shed Loom
Characteristics of Weaving Loom Selection
A weaving loom is used for fabric production but the selection of loom depends on different characteristics. The following are the characteristics of loom or weaving machine selection. They are-
- What is the nature of fabric formation?
- Which weft insertion (picking) method will use?
- What types of shedding devices are used?
- Which number of colors of the weft threads can be used?
- Type of yarn used for fabric formation.
- What is the fabric width to be produced, and
- Lastly, the number of sheds formed along the warp on the weaving machine.
Basic Differences Between Shuttle Loom And Shuttleless Loom
There are distinct differences between shuttle loom and shuttleless loom. They are as follows-
| Shuttle Loom | Shuttleless Loom |
| A shuttle loom is a weaving machine where weft insertion is done by the traditional wooden or plastic shuttle. | A shuttleless loom is a weaving machine where weft insertion is done by various devices such as rapier, air jet, water spray, projectile, multi-spindle mouth, and knitting. |
| The shuttle is large in volume and heavy in weight. | The device which is used in shuttle loom is comparatively light in weight. |
| It is more economical than shuttleless loom | It is more economical than a shuttleless loom |
| It needs a huge operation scale to operate. | Mostly used in high scale production industry. |
| This machine is suitable for low-scale production. | This machine is suitable for high-scale production. |
| Spare parts of the shuttle loom are available in the market. | It is comparatively hard to find spare parts in the market. |
| This machine vibrates greatly as a result the noise is high in the working field. | Comparatively produce low noise. |
| Shuttle causes abrasion on warp yarn that increases the wastage percentage. | Warp breaks are lower in shuttleless loom. |
| Shuttle increase warp breaks. | The shuttle weaving machine speed is slow. |
| Warp breaks are lower in the shuttleless loom. | Warp breaks are lower in a shuttleless loom. |
| This machine has low efficiency. | Its production efficiency is higher than the shuttle loom. |
| It consumes high labor cost. | It has low labor costs. |
| This needs low consumption of stores and spares. | Shuttleless loom needs low consumption of stores and spares. |
| The accident percentage is high. | The accident percentage is lower than the shuttle loom. |
| It needs high maintenance and a huge workload for workers | It needs low maintenance and less workload for workers. |
In sum, there are many advantages and disadvantages of shuttle loom and shuttleless loom. So, select your desired one as your requirement.
