Air Jet Loom

Instead of the boat shuttle, a stream of air is used to transport the weft through the shed. The stream of air is much lighter and narrower than the shuttle or the gripper shuttle. It is able to pick or enter the weft much faster: up to 1600 meters of weft threads can be woven per minute on an air-jet loom; a loom with a gripper shuttle weaves about 850 meters, a time-honored loom and boat shuttle only 600 meters per minute. An electronic system monitors and controls the machine. A computer program simplifies the design of patterns; the machine can be connected to a data acquisition and evaluation program. Air-jet looms are used primarily to produce denim (jeans material), tent cloth, furnishing materials, feather-tight bedding, light-weight lining materials, poplin, and technical fabrics.