Date:11/03/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/11/stories/2008031150030100.htm

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Braking system helps weavers produce quality fabrics

Karthik Madhavan

The stoppage happens soon after yarn getting cut
It allows a weaver to manage nearly 10 machines

ERODE: S. Venkatachalam, a powerloom weaver in Veerappanchatram here, faced frequent interruptions in operating his shuttle looms. “Every half-an-hour the loom had to be stopped because either the weft in the shuttle ran out of yarn, got disengaged or the warp yarn severed,” said Mr. Venkatachalam.

The regular stoppage resulted in fabric suffering ‘starting marks’ and other defects. “Imperfections like ‘starting mark’ or irregular width between yarns repeated frequently, making a good portion of the fabric liable for rejection. That apart, the possibility of yarn disengaging and loom continuing to run kept weavers like him on their toes.

Now thanks to Lakshmi Braking System developed by A. Murugesan, the braking kit senses the severing of yarn to stop the loom. “The stoppage happens within no time of the yarn getting cut, thereby helping weavers weave defectless fabric,” he says.

Once the kit stops the loom, all that a weaver has to do is fix the yarn and re-start the loom. Mr. Murugesan, a school dropout, says he came up with the braking kit idea after wanting to provide shuttle loom weavers a cheaper mechanism to weave quality fabric. “I started working on it in 2005 and after six months and as many prototypes, I came up with the Lakshmi Braking System,” he says.

The advantages of the kit, he points out, are that it is compact and in no way affects a weaver’s work, runs on minimal power and comes cheap. “I sell it for only a few thousand rupees, as I want even small weavers to benefit.”

The kit has found hundreds of takers in Somanur, Tiruchengode, Komarapalayam and neighbouring Pallipalayam, besides Erode.

For the weavers, though, the kit as a small investment has brought in good returns. Mr. Venkatachalam, who has used it for two years, says it allows a weaver to manage nearly 10 machines which was impossible earlier.

“It helps me save labour,” he says. S. Easwaramoorthy, a weaver with 30 looms, says: “The kit has helped me bring down defects from six to one for every 100 metres of fabric.”