Electronic Weft Feeder Design and Drum Winding
topic
Electronic weft feeders wind yarn from the supply cone onto a stationary storage drum using a rotating yarn finger controlled by an induction motor that maintains a defined number of stored coils representing several picks of yarn, with unwinding from the stationary drum occurring at effectively zero tension during insertion and with the drum winding speed adjusted by closed-loop control to maintain the programmed coil count as yarn is consumed, providing the consistent zero-tension weft delivery that enables uniform pick density in the woven fabric.
Role
Provides the most critical component for weft insertion quality in all shuttleless loom types by decoupling the insertion process from the variable tension of the supply package, with feeder drum design governing the unwinding tension consistency that determines weft density uniformity in the fabric, and with feeder reliability being essential because a feeder failure immediately causes loom stop and potential defect creation from the tension spike of picking yarn directly from the supply package.