Loom with pneumatic weft insertion

Loom for weaving a fabric having means for the pneumatic insertion of a weft, including a reed provided with a plurality of blades which are in spaced parallel alignment to each other, for receiving a plurality of warp threads therebetween, guide means for allowing the pneumatic projection of the weft through a warp shed, and drive means for displacing the reed along a path perpendicular to the weft to beat up the weft into the fell of the fabric, characterised in that:

• the blades of the reed have respective substantially circular apertures of equal diameter which are aligned with each other so as to form a straight passage to define said guide means for guiding the weft;
• the portion of each blade between the aperture and the side of blade facing the fabric has a substantially horizontal slit which extends from the aperture to said side of the blade;
• first and second spacer elements are interposed between each pair of adjacent blades and are disposed respectively above and below the apertures and slits of the blades of each pair of adjacent blades, and the drive means are arranged to cause translational movement of the reed perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the passage when activated.