Textiles and Weaving

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loom

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

loom frame or machine used for weaving ; there is evidence that the loom has been in use since 4400 BC

Modern looms are of two types, those with a shuttle (the part that carries the weft through the shed) and those without; the latter draw the weft from a stationary supply. There are basically three kinds of shuttleless looms. The dummy shuttle, the most widely used, contains no weft but moves through the shed depositing a trail of yarn. A second type, the newest of looms, makes use of jets of air or water to force the weft through the shed. A third kind, called the rapier type and widely used in carpet weaving, uses steel rods to move the weft into the shed.

The fundamental parts of all looms are the warp beam, a cylinder on which the warp threads are wound; heddles (rods or cords), each with an eye through which is drawn a warp thread; the harness, a rectangular frame set with a series of heddles operated to form a shed between the warp threads for the insertion of the weft threads; the reed, a comblike frame that pushes the filling yarn firmly against the finished cloth after each pick, or row; the breastbeam, over which the cloth is wound creating a tension with the warp beam; the cloth beam, on which the cloth is rolled as it is constructed; and the shuttle, if it is not a shuttleless loom.

Vertical looms, such as the Navajo and some tapestry looms, developed from the practice of hanging the warp beam from a tree and holding the yarns taut with stones, pegs, or a weighted pole. The horizontal form, at first two poles holding the warp extended on the ground, was widely used for the Western European handloom and for the foot loom, the forerunner of the modern power loom. In the foot loom the harnesses were operated by treadles, leaving the hands free to pass and catch the shuttle. John Kay invented (1733) the automatic fly shuttle, and in 1760 his son Robert devised a drop box by which trays automatically brought bobbins of colored threads in line as desired. These aids to weaving encouraged inventions to speed up spinning , which in turn made faster weaving essential.

Edmund Cartwright patented (1785) the first practical power loom, the basis of the modern loom with its multiplicity of automatic devices. By 1804, Joseph Marie Jacquard had perfected an attachment applicable to the power loom whereby any design might be woven on it. In the modern Jacquard, one repeat of the design is laid out on squared paper, then punched on cards that are laced into a continuous chain rotated on an overhead device. The cards are brought in contact with needles, each controlling a wire that lifts a heddle when the needle passes through a hold in the card. In the Lefier robot, a design made on copper with insulating paint is transmitted by electricity to needles that lift the heddles.

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loom

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | Copyright

loom¹ / loōm/ • n. an apparatus for making fabric by weaving yarn or thread. loom² • v. [intr.] appear as a shadowy form, esp. one that is large or threatening: vehicles loomed out of the darkness. ∎ (of an event regarded as ominous or threatening) seem about to happen: there is a crisis looming higher mortgage rates loomed large last night. • n. [in sing.] a vague and often exaggerated first appearance of an object seen in darkness or fog, esp. at sea: the loom of the land ahead. ∎ the dim reflection by cloud or haze of a light that is not directly visible, e.g., from a lighthouse over the horizon.

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loom

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Copyright

loom Frame or set of frames on which threads are woven into cloth. The loom enables a set of threads, called the weft, to be passed over and under a set of lengthwise threads, called the warp. The simplest kind of loom is a single frame on which weaving is done by hand. Such looms have been used for more than 7000 years. In 1785, Edmund Cartwright invented a loom powered by a steam engine to speed cloth production. Today, most advanced commercial looms are computer-controlled and have mechanisms that thread the weft through the warp at speeds of c.100km/h (60mph).

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loom

The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea | 2006 | Copyright

loom.
1. See oar.

2. An effect of refraction in a light fog at sea which makes objects look larger than they are. ‘That ship looms large’, the dim outline of a vessel through fog and appearing larger than it in fact is. The same effect is often observed when the land is seen through a fog from seawards, cliffs frequently appearing much higher than they really are.

3. Also an effect of reflection on low cloud in the case of the light from a lighthouse or lightship, when the light itself cannot be seen directly.

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loom

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Copyright

loom2 (orig. naut.) move slowly up and down; appear indistinctly. XVI. perh. of LG. orig.; cf. EFris. lōmen move slowly, rel. to MHG. lüemen be weary, f. lüeme slack, soft.

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T. F. HOAD. "loom." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "loom." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-loom1.html

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loom

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Copyright

loom1 tool; bucket, tub XIII; weaving machine XV (for earlier weblome ‘weaving implement’ XIV). ME. lōme, aphetic of OE. ġelōma utensil, implement.

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T. F. HOAD. "loom." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-loom.html

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loom

Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes | 2007 | Copyright

loom •abloom, assume, backroom, bloom, Blum, boom, broom, brume, combe, consume, doom, entomb, exhume, flume, foredoom, fume, gloom, groom, Hume, illume, inhume, Khartoum, khoum, loom, neume, perfume, plume, presume, resume, rheum, room, spume, subsume, tomb, vroom, whom, womb, zoom •catacomb • heirloom • broadloom •taproom • guardroom • staffroom •darkroom • classroom • bathroom •bedroom, headroom •legroom • restroom •dayroom, playroom •saleroom • stateroom • salesroom •tearoom • green room • sickroom •anteroom • bridegroom • stockroom •strongroom • box room • washroom •storeroom • boardroom • ballroom •courtroom • houseroom • showroom •cloakroom • elbow room •poolroom, schoolroom •newsroom •gunroom, sunroom •mushroom • common room •workroom • hecatomb • vacuum •legume • volume • costume •Leverhulme

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LOOM

LOOM (USA) Loyal Order of Moose

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FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH. "LOOM." The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH. "LOOM." The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations. 1998. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O25-LOOM.html

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