WEFTTRONIC® II HKS

This high-speed tricot machine with weft insertion facility produces lightweight, weft-inserted, warp-knitted textiles with high stitch densities in a wide range of gauges. A completely new machine gauge of E 40 is also now available. A WEFTTRONIC® II HKS 2, 213", gauge E 40, is housed in the showroom. This unique machine extends the scope for designing products, especially for interlinings. Top-quality interlinings having weights similar to woven fabrics can be produced on this innovative machine at speeds of up to 1,500 min-1. Bars made from CFRP and the KAMCOS® 2 system guarantee high-precision processing and a first-rate operating reliability. The weft insertion and fabric take-down systems have been optimized on this machine series, which also guarantees rapid setting-up times.

 

BIAXTRONIC® CO

This high-speed warp knitting machine processes continuous filament yarns made from glass fibres to produce biaxial textiles and composite structures. A feature of this machine is that the weft yarn is inserted in line with the stitches and is not pierced or damaged – an advantage that is opening up new potential in the design of biaxial textiles for producing the rotor blades of wind turbines especially. When using conventional glass fibers, higher strength values can be achieved or, when the strength values are the same, new material configurations can be worked.

 

Chopped glass strand mats and nonwoven mats can also be integrated into the textiles. The technology is such that the warp and weft yarns are incorporated into the textile structure so that they are completely straight, and they can also be processed extremely efficiently. At a speed of up to 1,400 min-1, the maximum production rate is 6.5 m textile/min.

 

Other performance features of this innovative machine include the fact that it can be operated intuitively using a touchscreen monitor, and it produces premium quality products. This is mainly due to the well-thought-out material feed system. The weft yarns are inserted reliably and processed gently using a complementary laying device as a yarn compensator. Four separate delivery units are used to feed in the filler yarns separately. These technical features, together with all the other performance features of this biaxial warp knitting machine, can be demonstrated on a BIAXTRONIC® CO, 101", gauge E 7.

 

Fiber spreading unit

Dry, unidirectional fiber tapes are the preferred starting materials for use in the production of high-quality components for the car and aviation industries. The UD tapes have a low weight per unit area, are made mainly from continuous filament carbon yarns, and are produced on fiber spreading machines.

 

The showroom houses an FSA 600 Plus fiber-spreading unit. This machine preferably processes carbon fibers with up to 50,000 individual filaments per 7 µm diameter. The rovings are taken off from special creels under a specific starting tension and processed into tapes having a uniform tension. The maximum speed is 40 running m/min – depending on the material and the desired spreading effect.

 

The resulting products exhibit a uniform material distribution and a low weight. For example, tapes made from 50 K rovings having a weight per unit area of 130 g/m² and a maximum width of 800 mm can be produced. The processing results are completely reproducible, since all the necessary material-specific setting parameters are infinitely variable - a technical feature that also guarantees a high level of flexibility.

 

Multiaxial warp knitting machines

Multiaxial warp knitting machines produce multiaxial textiles for applications where a high strength and rigidity for a low weight are required, i.e. in the composites sector. The machines are economical; they can be operated easily, and deliver impressive, high quality products – and customers will be able to see this for themselves from December 2016 onwards. Once the showroom has been upgraded, a COP MAX 4, 101", gauge E 5, and a COP MAX 5, 50", gauge E 5, will be available for carrying out customer trials and performance demonstrations. With three variably adjustable weft insertion systems, these two machines manufacture products having different characteristics.

 

The COP MAX 5 specializes in using carbon fibers. It processes spread carbon tapes with an adjustable laying angle of from +30° to –30° to preferably produce textiles having low weights.

 

The COP MAX 4 is ideal for producing multilayered, multiaxial, textile structures with angles of +20° to -20°. The starting materials may be carbon, as well as glass and aramid fibers.

 

Source: KARL MAYER