Design of alternative main weaving mechanisms for handmade carpet looms

The most important production steps of the handmade carpets produced still by human labour are; knotting (Turkish knot or Persian knot), shedding, picking and tightening the carpet with the beater (beat-up operation) operations. These operations tire weaver and take long time during the carpet production. The aim of this thesis is to design a suitable mechanism for beat-up operation and develop different alternative mechanisms for picking and shedding operations in the handmade carpet looms. Thus, the weaver could weave more carpet by consuming less labor. Furthermore, the weaving faults caused by beat-up and picking operations could be decreased. In the view of this aim, the alternative mechanisms with different structures which can mechanically perform the picking, shedding and beat-up operations in the handmade carpet looms were developed. The suitable mechanisms for each operation were determined by comparing these developed mechanisms in terms of design requirements. Moreover, the dimensions of the mechanisms selected for beat-up operation were determined by using two different dimensional synthesis methods. The beat-up mechanism providing the best solution was selected by evaluating the obtained mechanisms in terms of mechanical criterias. The dynamic analysis of the selected beat-up mechanism was then performed by using a package program and the results were examined. Key Words: Weaving, Handmade woven carpets, Beat-up mechanism, Picking mechanism, Shedding mechanism.