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Ring spinning

Ring spinning
is a method of spinning fibres, such as cotton, flax or wool, to make a yarn. The ring frame developed from the throstle frame, which in its turn was a descendant of Arkwright's water frame. Ring spinning is a continuous process, unlike mule spinning which uses an intermittent action. In ring spinning, the roving is first attenuated by using drawing rollers, then spun and wound around a rotating spindle which in its turn is contained within an independently rotating ring flyer. Traditionally ring frames could only be used for the coarser counts- but they could be attended by semi-skilled labour.[1]

History

Early machines

Arkwrights spinning frame
  • The Saxony wheel was a double band treadle spinning wheel. The spindle rotated faster than the traveller in a ratio of 8:6, drawing was done by the spinners fingers.
  • Water frame was developed and patented by Arkwright in the 1770s. The roving was attenuated (stretched) by draughting rollers and twisted by winding it onto a spindle. It was heavy large scale machine that needed to be driven by power, which in the late 18th century meant by a water wheel.[2] Cotton mills were designed for the purpose by Arkwright, Jedediah Strutt and others along the River Derwent in Derbyshire. Water frames could only spin weft.[2]
  • Throstle frame was a descendant of the water frame. It used the same principles, was better engineered and driven by steam. In 1828 the Danforth throstle frame was invented in the United States. The heavy flyer caused the spindle to vibrate, and the yarn snarled every time the frame was stopped. Not a success.[3]
  • The Ring frame is credited to John Thorp in Rhode Island in 1828/9 and developed by Mr. Jencks of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, who (Marsden 1885) names as the inventor.[3]

Developments in the United States

Machine shops experimented with ring frames and components in the 1830s. The success of the ring frame, however, was dependent on the market it served and it was not until industry leaders like Whitin Machine Works in the 1840s and the Lowell Machine Shop in the 1850s began to manufacture ring frames that the technology started to take hold.[4]
At the time of the American Civil War, the American industry boasted 1,091 mills with 5,200,000 spindles processing 800,000 bales of cotton. The largest mill, Naumkeag Steam Cotton Co. in Salem, Mass.had 65,584 spindles. The average mill housed only 5,000 to 12,000 spindles, with mule spindles out-numbering ring spindles two-to-one.[5]
After the war, mill building started in the south, it was seen as a way of providing employment. Almost exclusively these mills used ring technology to produce coarse counts, and the New England mills moved into fine counts.
Jacob Sawyer vastly improved spindle for the ring frame in 1871, taking the speed from 5000rpm to 7500rpm and reducing the power needed, formerly 100 spindles would need 1 hp but now 125 could be driven. This also led to production of fine yarns.[6] During the next ten years, the Draper Corporation protected its patent through the courts. One infringee was Jenks, who was marketing a spindle known after its designer, Rabbeth. When they lost the case, Mssrs. Fales and Jenks, revealed a new patent free spindle also designed by Rabbeth, and also named the Rabbeth spindle.
The Rabbeth spindle was self lubricating and capable of running with out vibration at over 7500rpm. The Draper Co bought the patent and expanded the Sawyer Spindle Co. to manufacture it. They licensed it to Fales & Jenks Machine Co., the Hopedale Machine Co., and later, other machine builders. From 1883 to 1890 this was the standard spindle, and the William Draper spent much of his time in court defending this patent.[6]

 Adoption in Europe

The new method was compared with the self-acting spinning mule which was developed by Richard Roberts using the more advanced engineering techniques in Manchester. The ring frame was reliable for coarser counts while Lancashire spun fine counts as well. The ring frame was heavier, requiring structural alteration in the mills and needed more power. These were not problems in the antebellum cotton industry in New England. It fulfilled New England's difficulty in finding skilled spinners: skilled spinners were plentiful in Lancashire. In the main the requirements on the two continents were different, and the ring frame was not the method of choice for Europe at that moment.
Brooks and Doxey Ring Spinning Frame about 1890
Mr Samuel Brooks of Brooks & Doxey Manchester was convinced of the viability of the method. After a fact-finding tour to the States by his agent Blakey, he started to work on improving the frame. It was still too primitive to compete with the highly developed mule frames, let alone supersede them. He first started on improving the doubling frame, constructing the necessary tooling needed to improve the precision of manufacture. This was profitable and machines offering 180,000 spindle were purchased by a sewing thread manufacturer.[7]
Brooks and other manufacturers now worked on improving the spinning frame. The principal cause for concern was the design of the Booth-Sawyer spindle. The bobbin did not fit tightly on the spindle and vibrated wildly at higher speeds. Howard & Bullough of Accrington used the Rabbath spindle, which solved these problems. Another problem was ballooning, where the thread built up in an uneven manner. This was addressed by Furniss and Young of Mellor Bottom Mill, Mellor by attaching an open ring to the traverse or ring rail. This device controlled the thread, and consequently a lighter traveller could be made which could operate at higher speeds. Another problem was the accumulation of fluff on the traveller breaking the thread - this was eliminated by a device called a traveller cleaner.[8]
A major time constraint was doffing, or changing the spindles. Three hundred or more spindles had to be removed, and replaced. The machine had to be stopped while the doffers, who were often very young boys, did this task. The frame was idle until it was completed. A mechanical doffer system reduced the doffing time to 30–35 seconds. [9]

Rings and Mules

The ring frame was extensively used in the United States, where coarser counts were manufactured. Many of frame manufacturers were US affiliates of the Lancashire firms, such as Howard & Bullough and Tweedales and Smalley. They were constantly trying to improve the speed and quality of their product. The US market was relatively small, the total number of spindles in the entire United States was barely more than the number of spindles in one Lancashire town, Oldham. When production in Lancashire peaked in 1926, Oldham had 17.669 million spindles and the UK had 58.206 million.[10]
Technologically mules were more versatile. The mules were more easily changed to spin different qualities of cotton, which were experienced in Lancashire. While Lancashire concentrated on "Fines" for export, it also spin a wider range, including the very coarse wastes. The existence of the Liverpool cotton exchange, meant that mill owners had access to a wider selection of staples.
The wage cost per spindle was higher for ring spinning, In the states, where cotton staple was cheap the additional labour costs of running mules could be absorbed, but Lancashire had to pay shipment costs. The critical factor was the availability of labour, when skilled labour was scarce then the ring became advantageous.[11] This had always been so in New England, and when it became so in Lancashire, Ring frames started to be adopted.
The first known mill in Lancashire dedicated to ring spinning was built in Milnrow for the New Ladyhouse Cotton Spinning Company (registered 26 April 1877). A cluster of smaller mills developed which between 1884 and 1914 out performed the ring mills of Oldham.[12] After 1926, the Lancashire industry went into sharp decline, the Indian export market was lost, Japan was self sufficient. Textile firms united to reduce capacity rather than to add to it. It wasn't till, the late 1940s that some replacement spindles started to be ordered; and ring frames became dominant. Debate still continues, in academic papers on whether the Lancashire entrepreneurs made the right purchases decisions in the 1890s.[11] The engine house and steam engine of the Ellenroad Ring Mill are preserved.

New technologies

  • The search for faster and more reliable ring spinning techniques continues. In 2005, a PhD paper was written at Auburn University, Alabama on using magnetic levitation to reduce friction, a techniques known as Magnetic ring spinning.[13]
  • Open end spinning was developed in Czechoslovakia in the years preceding 1967. It was far faster than ring spinning, and did away with many preparatory processes. Put simply, the thread was ejected spinning from a nozzle, and on exiting hooked onto other loose fibres in the chamber behind. It was first introduced into the United Kingdom at the Maple Mill, Oldham. It replaced ring spinning.[citation needed]

How it works

Modern ring spinning frame
1 Drafting rollers
2 Spindle
3 Attenuated roving
4 Thread guides
5 Anti-ballooning ring
6 Traveller
7 Rings
8 Thread on bobbin
A ring frame was constructed from cast iron, and later pressed steel. On each side of the frame are the spindles, above them are draughting (drafting) rollers and on top is a creel loaded with bobbins of roving. The roving (unspun thread) passes downwards from the bobbins to the draughting rollers. Here the back roller steadied the incoming thread, while the front rollers rotated faster, pulling the roving out and making the fibres more parallel. The rollers are individually adjustable, originally by mean of levers and weights. The attenuated roving now passes through a thread guide that is adjusted to be centred above the spindle. Thread guides are on a thread rail which allows them to be hinged out of the way for doffing or piecing a broken thread. The attenuated roving passes down to the spindle assembly, where it is threaded though a small D ring called the traveller. The traveller moves along the ring. It is this that gives the ring frame its name. From here the thread is attached to the existing thread on the spindle.[14]
The traveller, and the spindle share the same axis but rotatee at different speeds. The spindle is driven and the traveller drags behind thus distributing the rotation between winding up on the spindle and twist into the yarn. The bobbin is fixed on the spindle. In a ring frames, the different speed was achieved by drag caused by air resistance and friction (lubrication of the contact surface between the traveller and the ring was a necessity). Spindles could rotate at speeds up to 25000 rpm,[citation needed] this spins the yarn. The up and downring rail motion guides the thread onto the bobbin into the shape required: i.e. a cop. The lifting must be adjusted for different yarn counts.
Doffing is a separate process. An attendant (or robot in an automated system) winds down the ring rails to the bottom. The machine stops. The thread guides are hinged up. Removing the bobbin coils (yarn packages) on the spindles, and places a new bobbin tube on the spindle trapping the thread between it and the cup in the wharf of the spindle. This done, the thread guides are lowered and the machine restarted. On new machines, all the processes are done automatically, the yarn can then be transported to a cone winder.

Latest machines with new production/quality standard are from Rieter (Switzerland), Toyoda (Japan). Zinser (Germany)and Marzoli (Italy). Rieter had a monopoly in their compact K45 system ,a machine with 1632 spindles, Toyoda has also announced a machine with 1824 spindles. Spinneries typically have many machines in huge halls in controlled atmospheric condition

Dref Friction Spinning

Friction Spinning or Dref Spinning is a textile technology that allows very heavy count yarns and technical core-wrapped yarns to be manufactured. These are most commonly used in mop yarns, flame retardants and high tech fancy yarns such as Raydon and Kevlar. The technology was developed by Dr. Ernst Fehrer.[1]
There are three current technologies used today for spinning fibres, Roving spinning which uses the legacy ring -spinning technology of the twentieth century, Open end, Rotor or Break Spinning used for high quality threads and Dref friction spinning for other yarns. Friction spinning is the fastest of all these techniques though the yarn is irregular and bulkier, making it only suitable for some applications

The Processs

Yarn formation in friction spinning system
The mechanism of yarn formation is quite complex. It consists of three distinct operations, namely: feeding of fibres, fibre integration and twist insertion.
Feeding
The individualized fibres are transported by air currents and deposited in the spinning zone. The mode of fibre feed has a definite effect on fibre extent and fibre configuration in yarn and on its properties. There are two methods of fibre feed 1) Direct feed and 2)Indirect feed. In case of direct feed, fibres are fed directly onto the rotating fibre mass that outer part of the yarn tail. In indirect feed, fibres are first accumulated on the in-going roll and then transferred to the yarn tail.
Fibres Integration
The fibres through feed tube assembles onto a yarn core/tail within the shear field, is provided by two rotating spinning drums and the yarn core is in between them. The shear causes sheath fibres to wrap around the yarn core. The fibre orientation is highly dependent on the decelerating fibres arriving at the assembly point through the turbulent flow. The fibres in the friction drum have two probable methods for integration of incoming fibres to the sheath. One method, the fibre assembles completely on to perforated drum before their transfer to the rotating sheath. In the other method, fibres are laid directly on to rotating sheath.
Twist insertion
There has been much research on the twisting process in friction spinning. In friction spinning, the fibres are applied twist with more or less one at a time without cyclic differentials in tension in the twisting zone. Therefore, fibre migration may not take place in friction spun yarns. The mechanism of twist insertion for core type friction spinning and open end friction spinning are different,which are described below.
Twist insertion in core-type friction spinning:
In core type friction spinning, the core, made of a filament or a bundle of staple fibres, is false twisted by the spinning drum. The sheath fibres are deposited on the false twisted core surface and are wrapped helically over the core with varying helix angles. It is believed that the false twist in the core gets removed once the yarn is emerged from the spinning drums, so that this yarn has a virtually twist-less core. However, it is quite possible for some amount of false twist to remain in the fact that the sheath entraps it during yarn formation in the spinning zone.
Twist insertion in open end type friction spinning
In open end type friction spinning the fibres in the yarn are integrated as a stacked cone. The fibres in the surface of the yarn found more compact and good packing density than the axial fibres in the yarn.
Structure of the yarn tail:
The yarn tail can be considered as a loosely constructed conical mass of fibres, formed at the nip of the spinning drums. It is of very porous and lofty structure.The fibres rotating at very high speed.

History

Dr. Ernst Fehrer invented and patented the DREF friction spinning process in 1973, and named the system after himself. DR Ernst Fehrer – DREF. He had begun work on the development of this alternative to mule, ring and rotor open end spinning with the objective of surmounting the physico-mechanical limits on capacity and yarn engineering and production speeds to which these traditional systems are subject.
Dr. Ernst Fehrer, chairman of Dr. Ernst Fehrer AG, Textilmaschinenfabrik, Linz-Leonding, Austria, died in December 2000 at age 81. Dr. Fehrer's career in the development of nonwovens and spinning technology had produced more than 1000 patents. He began his career in research, development and inventing at age 14 and received his first patent at age 18. He developed the first high-speed needle loom featuring sophisticated counterbalancing technology as well as "DREF", the first commercially successful friction spinning systems. In 1988, Fehrer received the TAPPI Nonwovens Division Award for his outstanding contributions to nonwovens manufacturing technology. In 1994 Dr. Fehrer received Textile World's first Lifetime Achievement Award.[2]

Development

The Dref I was in development in 1975; a three-head machine, and in 1977 the first DREF 2 for the coarse yarn count range came onto the market. In view of its success, Dr. Fehrer then created the DREF 3, which was designed for the medium yarn count range and made its debut at the ITMA ’79 in Hanover, before entering serial production in 1981.
New generations of the DREF 2 followed in 1986 and 1994 and the DREF 3/96 was launched at the ITMA in Milan. The 1999 ITMA in Paris witnessed the arrival of the DREF 2000, the first of which was sold prior to the fair. Full production of the DREF 2000 commenced in the autumn of 1999 in co-ordination with presentations at the ATME, USA and the SIMAT in Argentina. In 2001, the DREF 2000 also went on display in Asia at the ITMA Singapore and in Central America at the EXINTEX, Mexico.
Fehrer entered co-operations with professional textile companies to develop the technology; Rieter AG in Switzerland and Oerlikon Schlafhorst in Germany. With this co-operation the last machine developed by DREF was the DREF 3000, which was available for testing in the new facility in Linz, Austria in 2001. Saurer AG purchased Fehrer AG in 2005. The friction spinnning technology is now being developed further by Stewarts of America, who manufacture parts for the original Fehrer Dref II, Dref III, Dref 2000 and Dref 3000 friction spinning machines.

Models

DREF I
The first Dref machine was a three-headed research and development spinning machine. The fibres were opened with an opening roller and allowed to fall on a single perforated cylindrical drum slot ,which had negative pressure for fibre collection. The rotation of the drum imparted a twist to the fibre assembly. The ratio of perforated drum to yarn surface was very large, hence the drum speed could be kept relatively low, even with the unavoidable slippage. Due to the absence of positive control over the fibres assembly, slippage occurred between the fibre assembly and perforated roller, which reduced twist efficiency. Hence this development could not be commercialized.
DREF II
The Dref 2 was exhibited in the 1975 at ITMA exhibition. The feasibility of using two perforated rotating cylinders (as fibre collectors) while at the same time the spinning-in of fibres into yarn occurred. It operated on the basis of a mechanical/aerodynamic spinning system with an internal suction and same direction of drums rotation. Drafted slivers were opened into individual fibres by a rotating carding drum covered with saw tooth type wire clothing. The individualized fibres were stripped off from the carding drum by centrifugal force supported by an air stream from the blower and transported into the nip of two perforated friction drums where they were held by suction. The fibres were sub-sequentially twisted by mechanical friction on the surface of the drums. Suction through the perforations of the drums assisted this process besides helping in the removal of dust and dirt, thereby contributing to production of cleaner yarn. The low yarn strength and the requirement of more fibres in the yarn cross-section (minimum 80-100 fibres) restricted the DREF-2 to spinning with coarser counts (0.3–6s Ne).
DREF 2 friction spinning can be used for everything from asbestos substitutes and secondary carpet backing yarns, to technical products such as cartridges for liquid filtration.
At present, around 80 DREF 2 machines are spinning 30,000 t of yarns for liquid filtration. The main markets are Europe and the USA, where approximately 150 million filter cartridges are manufactured with DREF 2 yarns, or 65-70% of global production.[3]
The leading US and European filter producers spin a wide range of DREF 2 PP-yarns at speeds of 160 – 180 m/min. One particular application is for PPFDA washed filters, which are employed in all types of industries including chemicals, pulp, paper, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, nuclear power and electrical power. The filter is formed using polypropylene Meraklon fda fibre over a supporting core and can withstand up to 5 bar of differential pressure and temperatures of 80 °C. The filters come in all lengths from 4´´- 40´´ and have filtration ratings of 1-150 micrometres.
DREF 2 is also used in friction spun yarns for drinking and industrial water, pure water and activated carbon filters. The yarns employed generally consist of PP fibres in the 3.3 dtex, 40 mm range, which are highly resistant to micro-organisms and have a wide scope of chemical applications.
Friction spun yarns offer 20–40% more air volume in the yarn and less flow resistance than flyer yarns, as well as up to twice the service life. The fibre structures are relatively random and subject to high degree of twist. The yarns offer great regularity and increased strength, while their round yarn cross-section ensures limited deformation under transverse load. Production costs can be cut by up to 50% through reduced preparation, spinning and personnel expenses. [1] At present, 8,481 DREF 2 spinning heads manufacture approximately 318,000 metric tons of yarn annually in the Nm 0,5 - Nm 6 (2000 - 167 tex) yarn count range. 230 of these machines, with yearly yarn production of 80,100 metric tons, are employed in the cleaning cloth and mop sector.[4]
Following the world market launch of the DREF 2 in 1977, leading cleaning cloth and mop manufacturers from Europe and overseas began to switch from conventional carded yarn operation to friction spinning.
This decision was influenced by the following notable advantages:
  • Savings in material costs due to the use of 100% regenerated fibres, spinning waste and cotton waste blends.
  • The economic and problem-free, high-performance processing of extremely short staple materials (10–20 mm staple length) through the feeding of a yarn core (e.g. 167 dtex, texturised, PES sub-standard filament), or of a core-sliver from PES regenerated fibres (instead of a yarn filament core).
  • Reductions in personnel costs (simpler preparation as the material passes directly from the card to the spinning machine).
  • Increased efficiency (up to 95%) due to greater bobbin weights of up to max. 8 kg and spinning without yarn breaks.
  • Considerable increases in performance due to the production of heavier slivers with weights of up to 15 g/m.
  • Greatly improved water absorbency capacity and improved retentive volume.
  • Higher fabric weights and a cleaner cloth appearance.
Furthermore, DREF allowed the manufacture of both S- and Z-twist yarns with the same machine. This means that the cloth ends do not curl, which is a major advantage with regard to further processing on automatic sewing machines.
DREF cleaning rags and mop yarn production data
Sold spinning heads: 1335 Yarn count: Nm 1.2 Delivery speed: 200 m/min Production/spinning head: 10 kg/hour Production/1335 spinning heads: 13,350 kg/hour Production hours/year: 6000 Production/year: 80,100 t[5]
DREF III
The DREF-3 machine was the next version of DREF 2; intended to improve yarn quality. It came to the market in the year 1981. Yarns up to 18s Ne. can be spun through this system. This is a core-sheath type spinning arrangement. The sheath fibres are attached to the core fibres by the false twist generated by the rotating action of drums. Two drafting units are used in this system, one for the core fibres and other for the sheath fibres. This system produces a variety of core-sheath type structures and multi-component yarns, through selective combination and placement of different materials in core and sheath. Delivery rate is about 300 m/min.
DREF V
The DREF V was developed by Schalafhorst, Suessen and Fehrer Inc. The range of count to be spun from this system is from 16s to 40s Ne. Production speed was up to 200 m/min. The individualized fibres from a single sliver are fed through a fibre duct into the spinning nip at an angle to the yarn axis, so that they are stretched as far as possible, when fed into the nip. This spinning system was not commercialized due to various technical difficulties.
DREF 2000
The DREF 2000 was first demonstrated to the open market at ITMA in 1999. The DREF-2000 employs a rotating carding drum for opening the slivers into single fibres and a specially designed system being used for sliver retention. The fibres stripped off from front the carding drum by centrifugal force and carried into the nip of the two perforated spinning drums. The fibres are subsequently twisted by mechanical friction on the surface of the drums, which rotates in the same direction. The process assisted by air suction through the drum perforations. Insertion of twist in X or Y direction is possible without mechanical alterations to the machine. Yarns up to 14.5s Ne can be produced at speeds of 250 m/min.
DREF 3000
At the ITMA 2003, the first public appearance of the DREF 3000 was made. The yarn can be spun from 0.3Ne to 14.5Ne. The features of DREF 3000 include a drafting unit and opening head with infinitely variable drive control, spinning units with two infinitely variable suction spinning drums, take-off and winding units with infinitely variable speeds and filament guide with monitoring device. The drafting unit could handle all types of synthetic fibres, special fibres such as aramid, FR and pre-oxidized fibres, polyimides, phenol resin fibres (e.g. Kynol), melamine fibres (e.g. Basofil), melt fibres (e.g. PA, PES, PP), natural fibres (wool, cotton, jute, linen, flax, etc.), as well as glass fibres in blends with other materials. The DREF 3000 processes these fibres in the form of slivers composed of one type of fibre, or using slivers with differing fibre qualities at one and the same time. Slivers with a homogenous fibre mixture ccould also be employed. DREF 3000 core yarns offer high output, breakage-free spinning and weaving mill operation and thus up to 95% efficiency could be achieved with uniform yarn strength and elasticity, not to mention soft yarns with sufficient strength.
DREF 3000 multi-component yarns can be employed for a wide variety of products, which are utilised in the following areas:
  • High-strength and FR protective clothing for the civil and military sectors.
  • Fire blockers for the aerospace and object sectors.
  • Cut-resistant textiles.
  • Tent fabrics (military and civil), transport tarpaulins, sacks, covers and sun blinds.
  • Fibre composites for the aerospace, automotive, mechanical engineering and construction industries.
  • Woven filters for dry and wet filtration.
  • Transport belts.
  • Sealing belts.
  • Interlinings for outerwear.
  • Elastic yarns.
  • Knits
  • All types of technical textiles.
The multi-component yarns manufactured using DREF 3000 technology are mainly employed for technical textiles. They provide heat and wear protection, dimensional stability, suitability for dyeing and coating, wearer comfort, long service life and strength. Apart from their strength, DREF 3000 yarns are also notable for their abrasion-resistance, uniformity and excellent Uster values.[6]

Yarn Properties

Friction spun yarns DREF yarns have bulky appearance (100-140% bulkier than the ring spun yarns). The twist is not uniform and found with loopy yarn surface. Friction spun yarns with a high %age of core have a high stiffness. Friction spun yarns are usually weak as compared to other yarns. The yarns possess only 60% of the tenacity of ring-spun yarns and about 90% of rotor spun-yarns. The increased twist and wrapping of the sheath over the core improve the cohesion between the core and sheath and within the sheath.
The breaking elongation ring, rotor and friction spun yarns have been found to be equal. Better relative tenacity efficiency is achieved during processing of cotton on rotor and friction spinning as compared to ring spinning system.
Depending on the type of fibre, the differences in strength of these yarns differ in magnitude. It has been reported that 100% polyester yarns, this strength deficiency is 32% whereas for 100% viscose yarns, it ranges from 0-25%. On the other hand, in polyester-cotton blend, DREF yarns perform better than their ring-spun counterparts. A 70/30% blend yarn has been demonstrated to be superior in strength by 25%. The breaking strength of ring yarns to be maximum followed by the rotor yarn and then 50/50 core-sheath DREF-3 yarn.
DREF yarns have been seen to be inferior in terms of unevenness, imperfections, strength variability and hairiness. DREF yarns occupy an intermediate position between ring-spun and rotor spun yarns as far as short hairs and total hairiness s concerned. For hairs longer than 3mm, the friction spun yarns are more hairy than the ring spun yarns. Rotor spun yarns show the least value in both the values. DREF yarns are most irregular in terms of twist and linear density while ring spun yarns are most even.
Textile technologists have studied the frictional behavior of ring, rotor, friction spun yarns of 59 and 98.4 Tex spun from cotton, polyester, viscose fibres, with varying levels of twist. The yarn to yarn and yarn to guide roller friction was measured at different sliding speeds and tension ratios. However for polyester fibres, the rotor spun yarn showed highest friction, followed by friction and ring spun yarns.
Advantages of Friction spinning system
The forming yarn rotates at high speed compare to other rotating elements. It can spin yarn at very high twist insertion rates (ie.3,00,000 twist/min). The yarn tension is practically independent of speed and hence very high production rates (up to 300 m/min) can be attainable. The yarns are bulkier than rotor yarns.
The DREF II yarns are used in many applications. Blankets for the home application range, hotels and military uses etc. DREF fancy yarns used for the interior decoration, wall coverings, draperies and filler yarn.

Pilling Effect of Textile Fibers and Fabrics

Collected By: Muhammad Abid Farooq


Abstract

The pilling of textile fabrics refers to an appearance caused by bunches or balls of tangled fibers held to the surface. This unpleasant appearance can seriously compromise the fabrics acceptability for apparel. Pilling is a characteristic of any man-made fibers. Fabrics containing fibers such as acrylic, nylon, or polyester have a tendency to pill. Abrasion from normal wear and cleaning causes the fibers to unravel and the loose ends ball up on the fabric surface. Natural fibers like cotton, linen, or wool may also pill at times, but the balls of fibers are usually removed during laundering. Pilling is an unpleasant phenomenon associated with spun yarn fabrics especially when they contain synthetics. Synthetic fibers are more readily brought to the surface of fabric due to their smooth surface and circular cross section and due to their higher tensile strength and abrasion resistance; the pills formed take a long time to be abraded by wear. With knit fabric, two more problems occur, viz., "picking" where the abrasion individual fibers work themselves out of yarn loops onto the surface when garment catches a pointed or rough object. When short staple fibers are used in the formation of yarns, the degree of twist is another important factor. Tightly twisted yarns composed of short staple fibers are considered more secure than loosely twisted yarns composed of short staple fibers. Usually the higher the twist of the individual fibers, the moir securely they are bound and the less likely they are to pill.

Introduction

The surface appearance of a textile material is very important to the consumer. Pills are an aesthetic and physical nuisance. The pilling of textile materials fabrics refers to an appearance caused by bunches or balls of tangled fibers held to the surface. This unpleasant appearance can seriously compromise the fabrics acceptability for apparel. Ever since the invention of the loom, fabric producers have observed the phenomenon known as fabric pilling, a process that results in the formation of small fuzzy balls or pills on the fabric surface. In the short term, pilling may lead to unattractive fuzzy fabric; over time, especially with natural fabrics, it can lead to a complete wear-through of the fabric. Pills are developed on a fabric surface in four main stages: fuzz formation, entanglement, growth, and wear-off. In normal wear, a piece of a garment may take a long time to be pilled. To expedite the pilling evaluation, a number of testing machines have been designed to simulate the pilling that occurs in normal wear. Fabrics are forced to form typical pills by tumbling, brushing, or rubbing specimens with abrasive materials in machines, and then are compared with visual standards, which may be actual fabrics or photographs of fabrics, to determine the degree of pilling on a scale ranging from 5 (no pilling) to 1 (very severe pilling).

Process parameters in carding

Collected By: Muhammad Abid Farooq

Introduction:

Carding is the most important process in spinning. It contributes a lot to the yarn quality. The following process parameters and specifications are to be selected properly to produce a good quality yarn with a lower manufacturing cost.

Cylinder wire(wire angle, height, thickness and population) flat tops specification licker-in wire specification doffer wire specification feed weight draft between feed roller and doffer cylinder grinding doffer grinding flat tops grinding cylinder, falt tops, doffer wire life Licker-in wire life Cylinder speed flat speed Licker-in speed setting between cylinder and flat tops setting between licker-in and feed plate setting between licker-in and undercasing elements like , mote knife, combing segment etc. setting between cylinder and doffer setting between cylinder and back stationary flats setting between cylinder and front stationary flats setting between cylinder and cylinder undercasing

Cylinder Wire And Cylinder Speed

Cylinder wire selection is very important, it depends upon cylinder speed, the raw material to be processed and the production rate. The following characteristics of cylinder wire should be considered.

»       wire angle
»       tooth depth
»       wire population
»       rib thickness
»       tooth profile
»       tooth pitch
»       tooth point
»       overall wire height

Wire front angle depends on mainly cylinder speed and coefficient of friction of raw material. Higher the cylinder speed, lower the angle for a given fibre. The cylinder speed in turn depends upon the production rate.

Higher production means more working space for the fibre is required. It is the wire that keeps the fibre under its influence during carding operation. Therefore the space within the wire should also be more for higher production. Higher cylinder speed also increases the space for the fibre. Therefore higher cylinder speed is required for higher production. In the case of high production carding machines, the cylinder surface is very much higher, therefore even with higher number of fibres fed to the cylinder; the cylinder is renewing the carding surface at a faster rate.

Higher the cylinder speed, higher the centrifugal force created by the cylinder, this tries to eject the fibre from the cylinder, along with the trash. It is the cylinder wire's front angle which overcomes the effect of this force. Low front angle with too low cylinder speed and with high frictional force will result in bad quality, because the fibre transfer from cylinder to doffer will be less. Hence recycling of fibres will take place, which result in more neps and entanglements. The new profile with less free blade avoids loading of the cylinder with fibre and/or trash. This helps in keeping the fibers at the tip of the tooth. The movement of the fibres towards the tip of the tooth coupled with centrifugal action demands an acute front angle to hold the fibre in place during carding.

Lack of stiffness associated with fine and/or long fibres necessitates more control during the carding process. This control is obtained by selecting the tooth pitch, which gives the correct ratio of the number of teeth to the fibre length. Tooth pitch reduction is therefore required for exceptionally short fibres and those lack stiffness.

Number of points across the carding machine is decided by the rib width. It is selected based on the production rate and fibre dimensions. Finer the fibre, finer the rib width. The trend is to finer rib width for higher production.

Carding

Collected By: Muhammad Abid Farooq
 Carding
is a mechanical process that breaks up locks and unorganised clumps of fibre and then aligns the individual fibres so that they are more or less parallel with each other. The word is derived from the Latin carduus meaning teasle, as dried vegetable teasles were first used to comb the raw wool. These ordered fibres can then be passed on to other processes that are specific to the desired end use of the fibre: batting, felt, woollen or worsted yarn, etc. Carding can also be used to create blends of different fibres or different colors. When blending, the carding process combines the different fibres into a homogeneous mix. Commercial cards also have rollers and systems designed to remove some vegetable matter contaminants from the wool.
Common to all carders is card clothing. Card clothing made from a sturdy rubber backing in which closely-spaced wire pins are embedded is known as flexible card clothing. The shape, length, diameter, and spacing of these wire pins is dictated by the card designer and the particular requirements of the application where the card cloth will be used. A later version of the card clothing product developed during the latter half of the nineteenth century and found only on commercial carding machines, whereby a single piece of serrated wire was wrapped around a roller, became known as metallic card clothing.
Fibre is carded by hand or by several types of machine.

Hand carders

Irreler Bauerntradition shows carding, spinning and knitting in the Roscheider Hof, Open Air Museum.
Hand cards are typically square or rectangular paddles manufactured in a variety of sizes from 2x2 inches to 4x8 inches. The working face of each paddle can be flat or cylindrically curved and wears the card cloth. Small cards, called flick cards, are used to flick the ends of a lock of fibre, or to tease out some strands for spinning off.
A pair of cards is used to brush the wool between them until the fibres are more or less aligned in the same direction. The aligned fibre is then peeled from the card as a rolag. Carding is an activity normally done outside or over a drop cloth, depending on the wool's cleanliness. If the wool contains a lot of vegetable matter, much of it will fall out during the carding process, which is the reason for a drop cloth. If the carding is being done to mix two pre-carded fibres, a drop cloth is not generally necessary.
To card, the person carding sits with a card in each hand. The card in the non-dominant hand (left for most people) rests on a leg. A small amount of fibre is placed on this card and the other card is pulled through the fibre. The moving card separates, straightens, and aligns the fibres. Vegetable matter falls out as the fibres are aligned. Catching too many fibres makes it hard to pull the cards apart. This step, repeated many times, transfers small amounts of the wool to the moving card. Once all the wool has been transferred, the cards are swapped hand-for-hand and the process repeated until all of the fibre is sufficiently aligned and satisfactorily free of debris at which time a rolag is peeled from the card.

Drum carders


Carding Llama hair with a hand-cranked drum carder
The simplest machine carder is the drum carder. Most drum carders are hand-cranked but some are powered by electric motor. These machines generally have two rollers, or drums, covered with card clothing. The licker-in, or smaller roller meters fibre from the infeed tray onto the larger storage drum. The two rollers are connected to each other by a belt- or chain-drive so that the their relative speeds cause the storage drum to gently pull fibres from the licker-in. This pulling straightens the fibres and lays them between the wire pins of the storage drum's card cloth. Fibre is added until the storage drum's card cloth is full. A gap in the card cloth facilitates removal of the batt when the card cloth is full.
Some drum carders have a soft-bristled brush attachment that presses the fibre into the storage drum. This attachment serves to condense the fibres already in the card cloth and adds a small amount of additional straightening to the condensed fibre.

Cottage and commercial carders

Cottage and commercial carding machines differ significantly from the simple drum card. These carders do not store fibre in the card cloth as the drum carder does but, rather, fibre passes through the workings of the carder for storage or for additional processing by other machines.
A typical cottage carder has a single large drum (the swift) accompanied by a pair of in-feed rollers (nippers), one or more pairs of worker and stripper rollers, a fancy, and a doffer. In-feed to the carder is usually accomplished by hand or by conveyor belt and often the output of the cottage carder is stored as a batt or further processed into roving and wound into bumps with an accessory bump winder. The cottage carder in the image below supports both outputs.
Raw fibre, placed on the in-feed table or conveyor is moved to the nippers which restrain and meter the fibre onto the swift. As they are transferred to the swift, many of the fibres are straightened and laid into the swift's card cloth. These fibres will be carried past the worker / stripper rollers to the fancy.
As the swift carries the fibres forward, from the nippers, those fibres that are not yet straightened are picked up by a worker and carried over the top to its paired stripper. Relative to the surface speed of the swift, the worker turns quite slowly. This has the effect of reversing the fibre. The stripper, which turns at a higher speed than the worker, pulls fibres from the worker and passes them to the swift. The stripper's relative surface speed is slower than the swift's so the swift pulls the fibres from the stripper for additional straightening.
Straightened fibres are carried by the swift to the fancy. The fancy's card cloth is designed to engage with the swift's card cloth so that the fibres are lifted to the tips of the swift's card cloth and carried by the swift to the doffer. The fancy and the swift are the only rollers in the carding process that actually touch.
The slowly turning doffer removes the fibres from the swift and carries them to the fly comb where they are stripped from the doffer. A fine web of more or less parallel fibre, a few fibres thick and as wide as the carder's rollers, exits the carder at the fly comb by gravity or other mechanical means for storage or further processing.

Using a Cottage Carder to Card White Alpaca. This carder is a Pat Green Jumbo Exotic Carder. See schematic at right.

Diagram showing name, location, and rotation of rollers used on the Pat Green Jumbo Exotic Carder at left.

History

Historian of science Joseph Needham ascribes the invention of bow-instruments used in textile technology to India.[1] The earliest evidence for using bow-instruments for carding comes from India (2nd century CE).[1] These carding devices, called kaman and dhunaki would loosen the texture of the fibre by the means of a vibrating string.[1]
In 1748 Lewis Paul of Birmingham, England invented the hand driven carding machine. A coat of wire slips were placed around a card which was then wrapped around a cylinder. Daniel Bourn obtained a similar patent in the same year, and probably used it in his spinning mill at Leominster, but this burnt down in 1754.[2] The invention was later developed and improved by Richard Arkwright and Samuel Crompton. Arkwright's second patent (of 1775) for his carding machine was subsequently declared invalid, because it lacked originality.[3]
From the 1780s, the carding machines were set up in mills in the north of England and mid Wales. The first in Wales was in a factory at Dolobran near Meifod in 1789. These carding mills produced yarn particularly for the Welsh flannel industry.[4]
By 1838, the Spen Valley, centred around Cleckheaton had at least 11 card clothing factories and by 1893 it was generally accepted as the card cloth capital of the world, though by 2008 only two manufacturers of metallic and flexible card clothing remained in England, Garnett Wire Ltd dating back 1851 and Joseph Sellers & Son Ltd established in 1840.

A restored carding machine at Quarry Bank Mill in the UK.

19th c. ox-powered double carding machine


Cutting Sequence of Garment Fabric during Garment Manufacturing

Collected By: Muhammad Abid Farooq

There is a process or sequence which is strictly followed in the cutting section of a garment manufacturing industry.
Sequence in Cutting Room:
Placing Marker Paper on to the Lay
Numbering
100% checking & Parts Replacing if needed.
Shorting & Bundling
Input to Sewing Room.
Only Expert Cutting Masters are allowed in Cutting Section of Garment to operate the whole cutting process of Garment Cloth. If any faults happens during cutting; the rest of the Garment manufacturing process would be badly hampered.

Garments Manufacturing Sequence

Collected By: Muhammad Abid Farooq

Garments manufacturing follows a flowchart where in each steps definite works are completed to carried out a complete garments. Here I will show you all of the garments manufacturing steps that you must follow to make a garment.

1. Design/ Sketch:

For the production of knit garments, or woven garments a sketch of a particular garment including its design features is essential to produce on paper so that after manufacturing of that garment could be verified or checked whether could be done manually or with the help of computer.

2. Pattern Design:

Hard paper copy of each component of the garment of exact dimension of each component is called pattern. The patterns also include seam allowance, trimming allowance, dirts, and pleats, ease allowance, any special design etc affairs. Pattern design could also be done manually or with the help of computer.

3. Sample Making:

The patterns are used to cut the fabric. Then the garment components in fabric form are used to sew/assemble the garment. Sample garment manufacturing is to be done by a very efficient and technically sound person.

4. Production Pattern:

The patterns of the approved sample garment are used for making production pattern. During production pattern making, sometimes it may be necessary to modify patterns design if buyer or appropriate authority suggests any minor modification.

5. Grading:

Normally for large scale garments production of any style needs different sizes to produce from a set of particular size of patterns, the patterns of different sizes are produced by using grade rule which is called grading.

6. Marker Making:

All the pattern pieces for all the required sizes are arranged n the paper in such a way so that maximum number of garments could be produced with minimum fabric wastag4e. Markers are made for 6, 12, 18, 24 etc. pieces. Marker is also useful to estimate fabric consumption calculations.

7. Spreading:

It is the process of arranging fabrics on the spreading table as per length and width of the marker in stack form. Normally height of the lay/fabric is limited upto maximum six inches high. But 4 inch to 5 inch height of the lay is safe.

8. Fabric Cutting:

On the fabric lay/spread the marker paper is placed carefully and accurately, and pinned with the fabric to avoid unwanted movement or displacement of the marker paper. Normally straight knife cutting machine is used to cut out the garment component as per exact dimension of each patterns in stack form, care must be taken to avoid cutting defects.

9. Sorting/ Bundling:

After cutting the entire fabric lay, all the garments components in stack form is shorted out as per size and color. To avoid mistake in sorting, it is better to use code number on each pattern.

10. Sewing or Assembling:

It is the most important department/ section of a garment manufacturing industry. Sewing machines of different types are arranged as a vertical line to assemble the garments. Sequence of types of sewing machine arrangement depends on sequence of assembling operations. Number of sewing machine per line varies from 20 nos to 60 nos depending on the style of the ga4rmnet to be produce. Production pr line pr hour also varies from 100 to 150 pieces depending on specific circumstances. Number of sewing machine arrangement per line may be upto 60 depending on design and out put quantity of garment.

11. Inspection:

Each and every garment after sewing passes through the inspection table/ point, where the garments are thoroughly and carefully checked to detect/find any defect if present in the garment. The defects may be for example variation of measurement, sewing defect, fabric defects, spots etc. if the defect is possible to overcome, then the garment is sent to the respective person for correction. If the defect is not correctionable, then the garment is separated as wastage.

12. Pressing/ Finishing:

After passing through the inspection table, each garment is normally ironed/ pressed to remove unwanted crease and to improve the smoothness, so that the garments looks nice to the customer. Folding of the garment is also done here for poly packing of the garments as per required dimension.

13. Final Inspection:

It is the last stage of inspection f the manufactured garments on behalf of the garment manufacturing organization, to detect any defective garments before packing.

14. Packing:

After final inspection, the garments are poly-packed, dozen-wise, color wise, size ratio wise, bundled and packed in the cartoon. The cartoon is marked with important information in printed form which is seen from outside the cartoon easily. 15. Despatch: The cartoons of the manufactured garments are delivered or placed in the despatch department or finished product godown, from where the garments lot is delivered for shipment.
Related Topics:

Process Flow-Chart of Garments Manufacturing

Collected By: Muhammad Abid Farooq

The garment production processing steps and techniques involved in the manufacturing garments for the large scale of production in industrial basis for business purposes is called garments manufacturing technology. Garments factories are classified according to their product types are as follows: Garments Factory—-
1. Woven Garment Factory.
2. Knit Garments factory
3. sweater Garments Factory
Garments Manufacturing Process: Stepwise garments manufacturing sequence on industrial basis is given below:
Design / Sketch
Pattern Design
Sample Making
Production Pattern
Grading
Marker Making
Spreading
Cutting
Sorting/Bundling
Sewing/Assembling
Inspection
Pressing/ Finishing
Final Inspection
Packing
Despatch
This is the Basic Production Flowchart of a Garment. In advance some of the process can be added or removed.

Process Flow-Chart of Wet Processing Technology | Dyeing Flowchart

The dyeing or wet processing flow chart is given below.dyeing wet processing flowchart

Before dyeing a fabric or yarn some pre-treatment and after treatment is needed. A flowchart is drawn here by combining these:
Grey Fabric Inspection
Sewing or Stitching
Singeing
Desizing
Scouring
Bleaching
Mercerizing
Final Inspection
Delivery
This is the most widely used wet processing flow-chart on the contemporary textile industry.  But sometimes on some factories the scouring and bleaching is done simultaneously.

Process Flow Chart of Weaving Manufacturing | How to weave a Fabric?

Yarn Preparation

—————————————————————–
↓                                                                                                   ↓
Warp Preparation                                         Weft Preparation
↓                                                                          ↓
Winding (Cone, Cheese,                                     Winding (Pirn, Cop,
Spool, Flange, Bobbin)                                     Cone, Cheese)
↓                                                                          ↓
Creeling
Warping
Sizing/ Dressing (Jute)
Drafting/ Drawing
Denting
Looming
|
|———————————————Weaving——————————|

Yarn Spinning Classes | How many types a yarn has?

There are several classification of the spinning yarn. According to the various factor used on textile spinning the yarn has been classified as below:

1. Types of yarn on the basis of processing machines used in the ring processing line:

a) Carded Yarn.
b) Combed Yarn.

2. Types of yarn on the basis of spinning machine/frame used-

a) Ring Yarn
b) Rotor Yarn
c) Air-jet Yarn
3. According to raw materials-
a) Short Staple- Cotton, Wool.
b) Long Staple- Jute, Silk.

What is Spinning Yarn:

Yarn is the product of Spinning which is used to make fabric.

Process Flow Chart of Combed Yarn Manufacturing

Process Flowchart of Combed Yarn Manufacturing:

Combed yarn is more precise than card yarn. Here is the process flowchart of Combed Yarn.
I said it before that the Carded Yarn needs less steps to follow to make a yarn than the Combed yarn. The main purpose of Combed yarn manufacturing is to create a yarn which is highly finer and highly qualified.
Here i will give you a chart from where you will be able to know about How A Yarn is made by the combed yarn manufacturing process”.
Input ———Processing Machineries ———-Output
Raw Cotton>>>>>>>>Blow Room>>>>>>Lap
Lap>>>>>>>>>>>Carding>>>>>>>>>>>>Carded Sliver
Carded Sliver>>>>Pre-Comb Drawing>>>>>Pre-comb drawn sliver
Pre-comb Drawn Sliver>>>>Super Lap Former>>Mini Lap
Mini Lap>>>>>>Comber>>>>>>Combed Sliver
Combed Sliver>>>>>>Post Comb Drawing>>>>>>Post Comb Drawn Sliver
Post Comb Drawn Sliver>>>>>Speed Frame/ Simplex>>>>>Roving
Roving>>>>>>>>>>>Ring Frame>>>>>>>>>Yarn
Yarn>>>>>>>>>>>>>Winding>>>>>>>>>Yarn in large package
The Combed manufacturing process flowchart has been mentioned above is followed by the textile mills.

Flow Chart of Carded Yarn Manufacturing | Spinning Technology

Process Flow Chart of Carded Yarn Manufacturing:

Input Material ———Processing Machines ——–Output Materials
Raw Cotton >>>>> Blow Room>>>>>>Lap
Lap>>>>>>>>>>>Carding>>>>>>>>>Carded Sliver
Carded Sliver>>>>Drawing 1>>>>>>>>Drawn Sliver
Breaker Sliver>>>Drawing 2>>>>>>>>Finisher Drawn Sliver
Finisher Drawn Sliver>>Simplex/ Speed Frame>>>>Roving
Roving>>>>>>>>Ring Frame>>>>>>>Yarn
Yarn>>>>>>>>>Winding>>>>>>>>>Yarn In Large Package.
The process flowchart of Yarn Manufacturing mentioning above is currently followed by the Textile Spinning Mills.

Fibres Mixing & Blending Procedures for Textile Spinning blowroom section

Types of Mixing:

1. volume mixing
2. weight mixing
3. hand stock mixing
4. bin mixing
5. mixing by hopper
6. lap mixing
7. card mixing
8. sliver mixing

Blending:

When different fibres of same or different grades are kept together, then it is called blending.

Types of Blending:

1. hand stock blending
2. bin blending
3. lap blending
4. card blending
5. draw frame blending
Related Topics:

Action in Blow room | How to blow-room works in Textile Spinning?

There is some action which is carried out on blow room section of textile spinning manufacturing section.
1. Action of opposite strike: The actions of opposite spike opened the cotton fibre. By this action the large pieces of cotton have been reduced in size.
2. Action of air current: During processing, the movement of cotton from machine to machine is done by air current. It also helps the separation of lint and trash.
3. Action of beater: Beaters are responsible for removing almost all of the impurities extracted in the blow room. Beaters also helps opening and cleaning.
4. Actions of regulating motion: The action of regulating motion gives the uniform output by the help of sewing door, swing paddle.

Blowroom | Blow-room & Blending Importance in Textile Spinning

COLLECTED BY:Muhammad Abid Farooq


What is Spinning Blowroom:

Definition of Blowroom: Blowroom consists a number of machines used on succession to open and clean the cotton fibre. About 40% to 70% trash is removed in blow-room section.

Objects of Blow-room:

1. Opening:
a) To open the compressed bales of fibres.
b) To make the cotton tuft as small as far as possible.
2. Cleaning:
To remove dirt, dust, broken seeds, broken leaves, and other foreign materials from the fibre.
3. Mixing & Blending:
To make good value of yarn and to decrease production cost mixing and blending is done.
4. Lap or flocks formation:
To transfer opened and cleaned fibre into sheet form of definite width and length which is called lap or in modern system directly feed to the carding machine into flocks form.

Importance of Blowroom in Yarn Spinning:

1. Blowroom is installed to achieve uniform quality.
2. to improve processing performance.
3. to reduce and control production cost.
4. to meet end use requirement
5. to facilitate the cotton for regaining its moisture content lost during boiling.