Dobby Mechanism Operation and Shaft Programming
topic
Electronic dobby mechanisms control each shaft independently through individual actuators reading the lifting programme from a computer-stored pick sequence, enabling any combination of up to 32 shafts to be raised for each pick across a pattern repeat of virtually unlimited length, with the lifting programme downloaded from weave design software as a binary matrix specifying the raised or lowered state of each shaft for each pick in the pattern repeat that the dobby executes cyclically during weaving.
Role
Provides the programmable shedding capability that enables geometric pattern weaving within the shaft count limitation that distinguishes dobby from Jacquard, with electronic dobby programming being the technology that democratised complex weave pattern production by eliminating the mechanical pattern chains of earlier dobby mechanisms, enabling pattern changes through software reprogramming rather than physical chain replacement that required hours of changeover time.