AVL Compu-Dobby® II System

The AVL Compu-Dobby® II System is a compact, custom-designed electronic interface between your personal computer and any AVL dobby loom. Designed to fit neatly into the AVL mechanical dobby head, the Compu-Dobby is a fast, reliable means to accomplish complex and sophisticated weaves with ease.

The Compu-Dobby does far more than merely free you from the tedium of inserting pegs into dobby bars. It allows your imagination to soar. You input and edit a design at your screen and immediately execute it on your loom. It's still handweaving, but with greater efficiency and infinitely more creative control.

When used with the AVL Weaving Cartridge, the Compu-Dobby may be detached from your computer. The re-programmable Cartridge can hold up to ten patterns which frees the computer for other uses.

The AVL Compu-Dobby System is a powerful choice for high-quality weaving from AVL

Benefits: The AVL Compu-Dobby System

• Is compatible with Apple Macintosh and Windows-Intel style computers.
• Works with a variety of software, including AVL's own: WeaveMaker Mi, WeavePoint, and SwiftWeave (obsolete).
• Compu-Dobby II also works with a wide variety of third party software including: Fiberworks PCW, InfoDesign, Patternland, Pointcarre, ProWeave, and ScotWeave
• Optimizes efficiency by automatically controlling the lifting of any combination of harnesses.
• Enables you to weave the most complex patterns with hundreds, even thousands, of picks per repeat.
• Increases your productivity by allowing you to change designs at the touch of the keyboard or mouse.
• Is easily mounted on any AVL dobby loom in less than a half hour.
• Allows you to weave while someone else uses the computer for design purposes.
• Doesn't limit the use of your computer; it can also be used for business or household functions.
• Works with all AVL 16- and 24-harness dobby systems.

The AVL Compu-Dobby System: A Closer Look

The first thing you will probably notice on Compu-Dobby II is its liquid crystal display unit. This LCD can be conveniently located at eye level, directly in front of the weaver. It is a graphic display, telling you the pattern name, the current pick, what direction you are moving through the pattern (forward or reverse), and, best of all, what harnesses are being lifted and which ones will be raised next.

Next, you'll see that Compu-Dobby II consists of two parts: the I/O Box that houses the LCD, plus all of the important chips and technology that run the unit and the Solenoid Box that attaches to the dobby itself. Separating these units increases both longevity and efficiency.

The system selects the appropriate harnesses, based on your own design data and sends it to the Solenoid Box. The solenoids then contact the dobby fingers and lift the harnesses when you press down on the right treadle. This eliminates the need to manually peg dobby bars as is necessary on a conventional dobby loom.

The sophisticated electronics found in the Compu-Dobby offer the user a wide variety of choices. Chief among these choices is the option to have either the personal computer directly connected to the Compu-Dobby for on-loom designing or to disconnect the Compu-Dobby from the computer, thus creating two separate workstations.

Understanding the Weaving Cartridge

Weaving Cartridges are small memory units that can be programmed with up to ten peg plans. Once the patterns are in the Cartridge, the Compu-Dobby no longer requires a computer connection, but can, in fact, control the loom directly, allowing the user to disconnect the computer from the Compu-Dobby.

The Cartridge is connected to the Compu-Dobby via a standard telephone connector, so you plug it in the same way as you plug in your phone. It's easy to use and when you hear the satisfying "click" that we've all become accustomed to with this style connector, there's never any question as to whether or not the Cartridge is in.

You can use one of two methods to send and save your peg plans to the Cartridge:

1. Load Directly at the Compu-Dobby

This is a simple method. Just plug your Cartridge into the Compu-Dobby, connect the Compu-Dobby to the computer and follow your software's standard procedure for sending peg plans to the cartridge.

2. Use an AVL Cartridge Programming Station

This is a popular method if you have multiple users or if your computer cannot be directly connected to the Compu-Dobby. The Programming Station is a kind of "information copier" that works in tandem with your computer. It allows you to load designs into a cartridge so that you can control your Compu-Dobby independent of a computer. Imagine a college textiles lab with a mix of PCs and Macs running different design software. Peg plans can be designed at any computer and processed into a cartridge at the Programming Station. The cartridge can then be taken down the hall, or across the state for that matter, plugged in at the loom, and voila! -- you're weaving with your Compu-Dobby, nary a computer in sight.

Schools, universities, and textile design studios have found AVL Weaving Cartridges to be especially valuable because one computer can be employed to program cartridges for use on any number of AVL Compu-Dobby looms when used in conjunction with an AVL Programming Station.

System Requirements

To use the AVL Compu-Dobby System, you will need either:

• An Apple Macintosh computer ... or ...
• Most Windows-Intel style computers with a serial port (9 or 25 pin)
  

Compu-Dobby System Package

With your Compu-Dobby package, you will receive:

• AVL Compu-Dobby
• Operation and Installation User's Manual
• RS-232 cable (please specify computer)
• Mounting Hardware
• Complete One Year warranty on parts and labor
  

You May Also Wish to Purchase

• AVL Weaving Cartridge
• AVL Cartridge Programming Station

Apple and Macintosh are the registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.

Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp.

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