Yarn Carriers

The yarn carrier, or carrier, is fundamental to the operation of the Axminster Gripper Jacquard Loom. It carries a number of different coloured yarns and presents these to the gripper for selection. The carrier is moved lengthways by the Jacquard mechanism, thereby presenting different colours for each “pick”. There is one carrier for each pitch of the carpet (i.e. 200+ per metre).

There are even more types of yarn carrier than gripper types. We have designs on file for around eighty. These carry different numbers of yarns (4 to 16), are set at different pitches (from 4 per inch to 9 per inch) and have different setting features particular to each loom design. In traditional card-controlled Jacquards the carriers are mounted vertically and hang on wires from the Jacquard. In modern electronic, solenoid-driven Jacquards the resetting does not rely on gravity and the carriers may be mounted horizontally. This operation allows them to be lighter weight and to move faster.

As with grippers, replacement requires us to know exactly which design you require. In most cases this can be determined from a few key dimensions but, in more difficult cases, the safest approach may be to send us a sample of the carrier to be replaced. We can compare this with our own masters.