Geometric Constraints with a Raceboard: The Shuttle Loom

Abstract

The need to. align the front shed boundary, the filling insertion element, and any insertion element guides within the working width imposes constraints on loom timings. An earlier analysis of these constraints is extended to cover the use of a raceboard as an insertion element guide. The deviations that can occur from the ideal configuration for insertion element guidance by a raceboard are analyzed for the general case, and then this analysis is applied to the shuttle loom. The results suggest that warp shuttle interference can play an essential part in enabling shuttle alignment requirements to be met when early shed-change timings are used.