Groz-Beckert (Hall 4, Booth D25)

German textile machinery supplier Groz-Beckert is showcasing products in each of its six main product areas. The company is presenting its portfolio for circular knitting, flat knitting, leg wear and warp knitting, with its team placing a particular focus on a system-oriented approach. Meanwhile, a new acrylic exhibit of a sock machine rounds off the company’s glass insights into the different knitting technologies.

Elsewhere, the company is also showcasing its latest innovations related to its Weaving division. Visitors are able to experience the high-performance tying machine KnotMaster, which is characterised by its wide range of functions, including single and double knots, short knot ends and its four knotting types.

Groz-Beckert is also presenting its staple fibre needlepunch line in the field of nonwoven felting from the Textile and Development Center (TDC) in Albstadt, Germany. At the company’s booth, the 1:18 scale 3D-printed model shows its capabilities in detail. The Felting division is also exhibiting its GEBECON Felting Needle, which offers improved surface quality and optimal bending resistance, as well as its HyTec jet strip for spunlace customers.

In the Tufting field, the company presents tool components including tufting needles, loopers, reed fingers and tufting knives. The Gauge Part System exhibits a controlled and coordinated selection of materials and adherence to the narrowest tolerances.

Relating to Carding, the company outlines the use of special clothing geometries in the nonwovens industry, such as the worker and doffer wires SiroLock and EvoStep, which lead to better fibre control. The SiroLock card clothing boasts increased performance of the roller card, while EvoStep card clothing focuses on saving raw material.

For the Spinning sector, Groz-Beckert offers metallic card clothing, flat top and stationary flat clothing, as well as flexible strips. Particularly in regard to processing synthetic fibres, the company offers a special card clothing with a curved tooth profile: the synthetic doffer wire D40-30-52C CBF.

Meanwhile, in the Sewing segment the company is showcasing its various stitch formations which differ in the number and geometrical arrangement of the threads and are divided into six basic types (classes 100 to 600). Visitors can experience the stitch type 605 (cover chain stitch) at the booth.

Loepfe (Hall 1, Booth C24)

Loepfe is presenting its portfolio of quality control solutions for the textile industry, which includes the YarnMaster ZENIT+ for winding and the WeftMaster FALCON-i for quality control of high-tech materials.

According to the company, new measuring results of the highly precise YarnMaster ZENIT+OffColor feature collected in cooperation with a customer will be available. The case study shows impressive results in detection of shade variations in polyester.

The popular yarn defect sensor WeftMaster FALCON-i will also be displayed. After the growing demand noticed from North America, Loepfe sees similar growth in the Asian market for reliable yarn quality control of the latest high-tech materials such as carbon fibres, monofilaments, multi-filaments as well as spun yarns in all material compositions. The optical yarn defect sensor removes the smallest knots, fluff, filamentation, thick places and capillary breaks before being interwoven into the fabric. The sensor is being increasingly used for safety-critical applications such as fabrics for airbags, tyre cords, filtration materials, architectural fabrics and sailcloth where quality requirements are very high.

The Laboratory Solutions corner will also provide information. With Swiss precision, Loepfe works systematically on its revolutionary laboratory test instruments. The focus during ITMA Asia + CITME 2018 will be on the YARNMAP, which provides an increase in yarn testing efficiency with regard to time, space, maintenance and operator attendance. All kinds of short and long staple yarns are tested fully automatically while, at the same time, preparation products of the spinning mill can be tested on a second measuring sensor.

Mayer & Cie (Hall 4, Booth F01)

This year, Mayer & Cie is focusing entirely on electronic machines. The three machines on display in Shanghai are the Spinit 3.0 E spinning and knitting machine, the OVJA1.6 EE 3/2 WT – designed for knitting shoe uppers, and the OVJA 2.4 EC electronic jacquard machine .

It is the first time the Spinit 3.0 E and OVJA1.6 EE 3/2 WT have been exhibited in China, and it is the first time ever that the OVJA 2.4 EC has been on show.

The OVJA 2.4 EC is a full jacquard machine that is said to outperform Chinese manufacturers’ conventional models in productivity. Thanks to its three-way-technology, the machine offers great variety in design patterns. Its design is borrowed from that of the successful OVJA 2.4 SE mini jacquard machine and its functionality is based on that of the OVJA 2.4 E full jacquard machine. The most important difference between the EC and the two machines on which it is modelled is the implementation of the needle selection, says Mayer & Cie.

The Spinit 3.0 E offers benefits in the manufacturing process, for example, to produce single jersey it requires much less energy, time and space than the conventional process. As a result, the company’s spinitsystems series recently won the German Environment Ministry’s Innovation Prize for Climate and the Environment (IKU).

The third machine on show is the OVJA 1.6 EE 3/2 WT. The system uses three-way technology in the cylinder and two-way technology in the rib dial. This ensures a very wide range of patterns for the multi-colour jacquard machine, which can at the same time produce a hole structure look by means of multiple tuck loops. It also produces plain and multi-coloured spacer fabrics up to 5 mm thick, which the company says are very much in demand for shoe uppers.

Autefa Solutions (Hall 2, Booth A08)

In the past few months, Autefa Solutions has again sold several card-crosslapper combinations into the Chinese market, which it says will boost speed and production in existing and new spunlace lines.

The main challenge in such high-speed lines is to keep the fibres and process stage under control at any time. Autefa Solutions’ Injection card enables (drylaid) web forming at very high production. The Injection Card uses a unique combination of mechanical and aerodynamic principles for gentle fibre treatment. This carding concept joins some benefits of the cotton card with the advantages of traditional cards with workers and strippers.

On the main cylinder, the traditional mechanical principle using workers and strippers has been replaced by an aerodynamic principle. The fibres are taken off the worker rollers by an aerodynamic effect generated by specifically shaped devices that replace the traditional strippers. This avoids considerable mechanical stress on the fibres, which results in less fibre shortening and less nep formation. The Injection Card delivers a quality web at the highest productions with a better MD/CD.

With the Topliner CL4006 SL, Autefa Solutions offers a crosslapper with special features for the spunlace application. The highest layering speeds and precise weight distribution are possible thanks to the integrated drafting unit, compensation belt, antistatic equipment and newly-designed transport aprons. These features are very important, especially for lightweight applications in spunlace lines, and ensure an infeed speed of up to 130 m/min.

Autefa Solutions’ high-speed webforming sub-system, consisting of the Injection Card and Crosslapper CL4006 SL supports customers to keep or extend their leadership in the highly competitive spunlace market.

St?ubli ( Hall 3, Booth E01 & Hall 4, Booth D14)

Automation in weaving preparation

Meeting the need for automation in weaving preparation, St?ubli will unveil the SAFIR S30 at ITMA Asia, set up especially for handling filament yarns. Featuring a new 16 frame/rod capacity, this setup is said to be ideal for high-density warps with fine filament yarns. The SAFIR product range features state-of-the-art AWC (active warp control) technologies such as double-end detection, colour repeat, and S/Z-yarn management.

As a world premiere at ITMA Asia, St?ubli will also unveil the new BEAMPRO yarn repeat reading-in machine, an automation aid for sizing coloured warp sheets.

Frame weaving solutions for water-jet applications

St?ubli is presenting its latest high-position rotary dobbies for water-jet applications, the S2658 and S2678 series. The S2678 is on display in combination with the new de82/83 harness motions for high mounting, featuring a design incorporating valuable features such as maintenance-free bearings.

Jacquard weaving – large format application on display

Visitors can see two complete Jacquard installations featuring different kinds of weft insertion. These installations are equipped with the LX and LXL Jacquard machines, designed for producing terry and large-format clothing fabrics. Dedicated to large formats, the LXL setup is equipped with 19,584 harness cords (format of the machine exhibited is 10,240 hooks). The display will show the heavy payload capacities of this machine when weaving dense clothing fabrics.

The LX setup (format of the machine exhibited is 4,096 hooks) will be shown producing terry fabric, operating 6,652 harness cords with two repeats. At the two-level booth, visitors can observe the precise operation of these machines from the ground floor and from above. A DX Jacquard machine is on show in an area also demonstrating the broad range of St?ubli harnesses.

Other products being exhibited include Jacquard weaving solutions for name selvedges; carpet samples showing innovative binding technologies; an automatic toe-linking device for a shorter sock production process; and original St?ubli spare parts for extended longevity.

Uster (Hall 1, Booth D36)

The Uster Group, a Swiss manufacturer of technology products for quality measurement and certification for the textile industry, is presenting Uster Sentinel (Hall 1, Booth D36). According to the company, Uster Sentinel is a comprehensive solution for ring spinning optimisation, with benefits in quality, productivity and efficiency. Adding Uster Roving Stop enhances the economic advantages, reducing waste by stopping the roving feed immediately once an end-break is detected.

Uster Sentinel’s bobbin build-up reports are said to be the key to optimised yarn production. The intuitive reports include every parameter influencing end-breaks. Machine performance is displayed in real-time, giving a fast overview of the most relevant production and laboratory data – as well as the machine’s energy consumption – and offers control as well as clear guidance to profitable optimisation.

According to Uster, the instant stop of roving feed at an end-break will reduce waste significantly and make raw material usage more cost-effective. Calculations show that 70% less pneumafil waste equates to a saving of nearly 1% in raw material, based on current spinning conditions.

The company adds that Uster Sentinel measures and controls the most expensive process in yarn manufacturing. It monitors the productivity of all spindles and provides the required links and information to help the spinning mill optimise both machine performance and the entire process. Connected to the Total Testing Center of the Uster Tester 6 extended analysis, based on centralised quality data from all spinning processes, Uster Sentinel enables users to manage a spinning mill with quality in mind, according to the company.