A mechatronic approach to the design of a flexible carpet loom

Brintons is a traditional British company with a history of developing specialised carpet weaving machines. Brintons machines are developed in-house because machines from other suppliers are not capable of meeting our requirements and are, in general, less technologically advanced. Brintons have recently completed a prototype of a 5m wide face-to-face Wilton Loom which has been designed to increase productivity by up to 100% compared to the existing 12 ft machine. This has required a radical change in the design philosophy, both to allow the productivity improvement and to minimise machine tuning. Axes are powered by DC servo motors and are controlled using a Eurotherm FMC controller