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Innovations In Spinning & Twisting

Innovations In Spinning & Twisting

Write: Brittany [2011-05-20]

From spinning preparation to winding, Textile World presents some recent technologies being highlighted in the spinning industry.

Janet Bealer Rodie, Managing Editor

W ith ITMA Asia + CITME 2010 coming in June, spinning and twisting machinery manufacturers will be introducing new technologies for both the Asian and overall global markets. Following is a sampling from four suppliers.
Tr tzschler
Tr tzschler Spinning and Tr tzschler Card Clothing (TCC), two of three businesses comprising Germany-based Tr tzschler GmbH & Co. KG, provide technology and machinery for spinning preparation.
Tr tzschler Spinning is putting emphasis on its foreign parts detection and separation technology. The top-of-the-line Securoprop SP-FPU detects foreign parts - including colored, transparent and partially transparent parts - using polarized light, and is particularly effective for detecting materials such as polypropylene or polyethylene foil - which, though similar to cotton in color, are not detected by conventional foreign part separators.
TCC reports its new FGX1 cylinder card clothing for spinning noticeably improves the quality of combed yarns, even when installed on older cards and with lower production rates than are achieved using newer cards. The company also notes that the clothing lasts up to 30-percent longer than earlier varieties and requires half the maintenance.
The FGX1 cylinder wire features a new tooth shape and offers a soft carding process. It also reduces imperfection indicator (IPI) values by 15 percent, and reduces neps by up to 90 percent.
Rieter Machine Works Ltd., Switzerland, is promoting its RSB-D 22 double-head autoleveler draw frame and its new G 32 ring-spinning machine. Edda Walraf, the company's head of marketing, reports both machines are designed to provide high- and consistent-quality short-staple yarns made of 100-percent cotton, man-made fiber and blends of the two.
The RSB-D 22, with 2 x 1,100-meters-per-minute (m/min) maximum delivery speed, and RSB-D 22c for combed cotton, with 2 x 550-m/min maximum speed, feature two completely independent machine sides and autoleveling functions, with quality and output of each head comparable to that of Rieter's RSB-D 40 single-head draw frame. Advantages of the double-head model include reduced space requirements, low energy consumption owing to joint utilization of one extraction fan for both heads, and reduced capital cost. The independent machine sides also improve efficiency by 10 to 15 percent over conventional double-head draw frames and produce superior sliver quality as there is no coupled delivery roller drive, as is typical on other draw frames, Walraf said. Flexibility is enhanced because each machine side can be set for different sliver weights and speeds. Space-saving features include machine widths of 320 centimeters (cm) for the RSB-D 22 and 290 cm for the RSB-D 22c; and the option of setting the machine into the floor, which reduces its length by 1 meter or so. Also, large sliver feed cans can be arranged in three rows instead of two to reduce roller feed length.
Innovations In Spinning & Twisting
Rieter's RSB-D 22 double-head autoleveler draw frame saves space as well as associated costs and features a maximum delivery speed of 2 x 1,100 meters per minute.

The G 32 features up to 1,440 spindles, reducing investment costs per spindle. Other features include: Rieter's Ri-Q-Draft drafting system, which, according to the company, improves yarn quality owing to effective fiber guidance and spinning geometry; ROBOdoff offering short doffing cycles and operating in combination with SERVOdisc cops and tube transport and handling system; and SERVOgrip to eliminate underwound threads and reduce fiber fly. The machine also offers flexibility to adapt twist and yarn feed from the control panel. Additional programming from the control panel can reduce doffing ends down, and optimized speed curves minimize spinning ends down. Machines with more than 1,200 spindles offer a FLEXIstart option to start the machine in two halves.
Oerlikon Schlafhorst
Germany-based Oerlikon Textile GmbH & Co. KG's Oerlikon Schlafhorst business unit offers several new rotor- and ring-spinning and winding technologies.
The BD 416 rotor-spinning machine, the latest generation of the company's BD series, has up to 416 spinning units and an electronically controlled high-precision drive system. The company reports that, with its high take-up speed, the machine's productivity surpasses that of comparable rotor-spinning machines; and that it takes up less space than comparable machines despite the fact that it has more spinning units.
The Zinser 351 Impact FX compact ring-spinning machine features up to 1,680 spindles, making it the longest compact spinning machine produced and optimizing cost and space efficiencies, Oerlikon Schlafhorst reports. Efficiency also is enhanced by the machine's independently adjustable vacuum unit that is detached from the yarn breakage suction; automatic self-cleaning, facilitated by the apron design and material choice for the unit; and straight air flow through the system, which eliminates clogging from particles being caught in corners or bends. The machine can process all fiber types and blends, with settings for different fibers managed using the EasySpin touchscreen.
Oerlikon Schlafhorst's new Autoconer X5 winder features enhanced automation and flexibility. The company reports customers may use either traditional drum-winding systems, or drumless systems with PreciFX using Speedster FX to raise productivity and/or yarn quality. The winder also features a new X-Change doffer with expanded functionality, flexibility and speed; Plug&Wind and CAN bus technology; simplified operation; and low energy consumption.
Savio
Italy-based Savio - doing business as Savio Macchine Tessili S.p.A. and comprising the spinning brand of Itema Group's Itema Spinning subsidiary - is promoting its Polar I/DLS (direct link system), the newest model in its Polar line of automatic link winders, which are available in a range of configurations with up to 72 drums. The company, which first introduced its Polar winders in 2006 to meet the needs of spinners in the Far East, reports the I/DLS offers affordability and simple but sophisticated operation for an industry that is becoming increasingly modernized.
Innovations In Spinning & Twisting
Savio's Polar I/DLS link winder features a modular, high-efficiency bobbin-processing system.

The Polar I/DLS features an innovative closed-loop spinning-frame-to-winder feeding system that allows materials to move completely freely through the system, according to Savio. No hands touch the yarn as it is processed from the speed frame bobbin to the final package, thereby reducing material handling and eliminating possibilities of contamination while maximizing quality. The winder also features a modular, hig-efficiency bobbin processing system; and the spindle now has a straightened yarn path, with two additional bobbins lined up ready for winding at each spindle. The suction unit is driven by a high-efficiency inverter, minimizing energy consumption; and a fully integrated, self-adjusting suction management system creates optimal suction based on the machine's actual requirements. This feature, coupled with the spindle's Flexycycle, minimizes hard waste, Savio reports.
Other features of the Polar I/DLS include: electronic anti-patterning device for improved package formation; computer-aided tension to equalize yarn tension on the package; and computer-aided metering to minimize metering differences and equalize package density.
Conclusion
These are but a few of the spinning technologies in the current spotlight. Look for more new developments to be introduced at ITMA Asia + CITME and other upcoming textile machinery exhibitions.