Weaving machine and method for manufacturing pile fabrics with knotted pile yarns

Weaving machine for weaving pile fabrics, comprising:

• yarn providers for providing a row of warp yarns running next to each other,
• a shedding device for forming a shed between the warp yarns in each case in several weft insertion cycles,
• a weft insertion mechanism for inserting, in the weft insertion cycles, in each case at least one weft yarn in the shed in a weft direction in order to weave a ground fabric, and
• binders for binding pile yarns to the ground fabric to form the pile, wherein the weaving machine is configured so that, in several pile forming cycles, for several sequences of a first and of a second warp yarn system each comprising at least one warp yarn in the row of warp yarns and located in an original order seen in the weft direction on either side of a first gap:
• (a) the warp yarns of at least one of the first and the second warp yarn systems in the weft insertion mechanism are moved until the warp yarn systems are located, at least over a portion of their length, in a reversed order on either side of a second gap,
• (b) a pile yarn in the pile yarns is brought into a pull-through position where the pile yarn extends through the second gap between the first and the second warp yarn system and projects with respective end parts on both sides of the warp yarns,
• (c) the warp yarns of at least one of the first and second warp yarn systems are moved in the weft direction until at least one warp yarn of the first warp yarn system and at least one warp yarn of the second warp yarn system are back again in the original order on either side of a third gap, and
• (d) the end part of the pile yarn located on one edge of the warp yarns is pulled through the third gap so that the end part of the pile yarn extends via the third gap up to the other side of the warp yarns and projects on the other edge of the warp yarns.