Question

Which of the following shuttleless weaving system can offer maximum fabric width?

• A. Air jet
• B. Water jet
• C. Projectile
• D. Rapier

Hint:

When questions ask about maximum fabric width, projectile looms are almost always the correct choice due to their mechanical weft insertion capability.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Understanding shuttleless weaving systems.
Shuttleless weaving systems insert weft yarn without using a conventional shuttle. Different systems have different limitations in terms of fabric width due to the method of weft insertion.
Step 2: Analyzing the options.
(A) Air jet: Uses compressed air for weft insertion and is limited in width due to air dispersion over long distances.
(B) Water jet: Uses water to carry the weft yarn and is also restricted in width and fabric type.
(C) Projectile: Uses a small metal projectile to carry the weft across the shed. It allows very large weaving widths, even exceeding 500 cm.
(D) Rapier: Uses flexible or rigid rapiers and has moderate width limitations compared to projectile systems.
Step 3: Conclusion.
Projectile weaving systems can operate at the greatest fabric widths among shuttleless looms.

Answer 2

A useful way to compare these four shuttleless weft-insertion systems is to look at what physically carries the weft yarn across the loom, and whether that carrier keeps working equally well as the loom gets wider.

1. Air jet: A stream of compressed air, sometimes assisted by relay nozzles, drags the yarn across. Air spreads out and loses push the farther it travels, so its effective range caps out at a moderate width.
2. Water jet: A jet of water plays the same role and works well for hydrophobic yarns, but it too weakens with distance and cannot be used with every fibre type, so its width range stays moderate as well.
3. Projectile: A small self-contained metal gripper physically clamps the yarn and gets mechanically launched, by a torsion-spring picking mechanism, straight across the full loom width before being caught and returned. Because it carries its own momentum instead of depending on a fluid, it stays effective across very wide sheds — industrial projectile looms are built well past 5 metres wide.
4. Rapier: A rigid or flexible rod or band reaches physically across the shed, typically as a giver-taker pair meeting near the middle. That rod has to span almost the entire width itself without sagging or flexing, and keeping it rigid gets harder the wider the loom gets, so rapier machines top out narrower than projectile machines.

Because the projectile carries its own kinetic energy across the shed instead of relying on a fluid stream or a rod spanning the full width, it is the system that scales to the largest fabric widths among these four.

Therefore, the correct answer is Projectile.