Rapier Loom

Overview

A rapier loom inserts weft with a slender mechanical arm called a rapier that reaches through the shed and carries the yarn across. It is the most versatile of the modern weft-insertion systems: where an air-jet loom is fastest but fussy about yarn, a rapier loom handles almost anything, from the finest filament to coarse fancy yarns and many weft colours, which is why it dominates apparel, furnishing and technical weaving where variety matters more than raw speed.

Most production looms use the double-rapier transfer. Two rapiers enter from opposite sides; the giver carries the weft only to the centre of the shed and hands it across to the taker, which draws it the rest of the way. Splitting the trip in two means each arm travels only half the width, so the loom can be wide without the rapiers becoming impossibly long.

How it works

Each pick begins with the Shedding Motion motion, where a dobby or cam, driven by servo motors, lifts the heald frames to open the shed. The Rapier Weft Insertion then drives the two rapier tapes in: the giver head clamps the weft and carries it to mid-shed, where the taker head takes it and draws it on to the far selvedge, both tapes pushed and pulled by toothed drive wheels through the shed.

As the rapiers withdraw, the Selvedge & Cutter motion locks the loose weft ends into a firm edge with a leno device and trims the waste, and a tuck-in needle folds the tail back for a neat selvedge. The Reed & Sley swings its crank-driven sley so the reed packs the new pick up to the fell. Warp is fed by the servo Warp Beam & Let-Off at controlled tension, and finished cloth is drawn off and wound by the Cloth Take-Up.

The Loom Control times the transfer, shedding, let-off and take-up to the main-shaft encoder and stops the loom on a weft or warp fault, so a missed transfer never weaves a fault into the cloth.