CoE at CMTI, Bangalore

CoE at CMTI, Bangalore

The Textile Machinery Manufacturers’ Association (TMMA) had approached Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI) in 2014 expressing the need for indigenous development of a high speed shuttle-less rapier loom. TMMA stressed on the import dependency and the importance of developing the machine. CMTI and TMMA surveyed the textile weaving industry and identified shuttle-less rapier loom capable of weaving at 450 rpm as the key technology gap which needs to be addressed immediately. In this regard, Department of Heavy Industry (MHI) was approached by TMMA and CMTI to support the development activity for the benefit of textile industry. MHI encouraged the initiation and agreed to fund the project along with industry stakeholders. A consortium of textile machinery manufacturers comprising of M/s Alidhra Weavetech Pvt. Ltd, M/s Laxmi Shuttle-less Looms Pvt. Ltd, M/s Lifebond Machines Pvt Ltd, M/s Premier Looms Manufacturers and M/s Vaari Textile Machinery was formed for funding and commercialization of the prototype loom. MHI and CMTI signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) titled “Development of Advanced Technologies for Hi-Tech Shuttle-less Looms” under the scheme for “Enhancement of Global Competitiveness of Indian Capital Goods Sector” on 30th March 2015. The MoU involved execution of project in two phases, where phase-I design and development of high speed shuttle-less rapier loom capable of weaving at 450 rpm.

Financial Progress
MHI Cost (INR)
16 Cr.
Industry Cost (INR)
4 Cr.
Project Cost (INR)
20 Cr.
Revenue Details
Revenue Generated (INR)
Technology Launched
Technology Developed
No. Of Machines Sold
Import Reduction
Ip Generated
Brief

Development of Advanced Technologies for Hi-Tech Shuttleless Looms (LR-450) – Milestone objectives - Study of Rapier Loom Technology - Literature survey - Study of Product & process technology on state of the art reference loom - Design & Development of the first prototype of indigenous Rapier loom (450rpm) - Testing & trials of the prototype Rapier loom at CMTI - Technology transfer for First Prototype Key Technologies developed: i) Conjugate Cam drive for beat-up motions ii) High speed Rapier Insertion system iii) Servomotor driven & electronically controlled let-off and take-up motion iv) PLC based control system v) Monitoring & safety systems Results and Outcomes: The project on development of an indigenous high speed rapier loom has resulted in the following: i) Technologies for State of the art high speed shuttle less rapier power loom. ii) Better control of all process parameters leading to improved fabric quality iii) Higher efficiency of operation leading to higher productivity iv) Technology transfer to the industry partners v) High Speed Industrial trials of loom at stakeholder Industry vi) Generation of IP for weft insertion mechanism; patent titled “An apparatus for high speed weft insertion in shuttleless rapier looms” was granted vii) Saving in Foreign exchange viii) Enhancement of global competitiveness of Indian Loom Manufacturers Technology transferred to Industry Partners. CMTI handheld two Industry partners in their development and commercialisation efforts. One among them, M/s Laxmi looms launched their commercial high speed shuttleless rapier loom LAXMI LHR-450 at the ITMA-2023, a renowned International exhibition for textile machineries at Milan, Italy between the 08th to 14th Jun 2023.