Warp Knitting | KARL MAYER’s HKS 4 F terry machine makes a comeback

The Germans are well-known for their cuckoo clocks, garden gnomes and their craftiness in getting the best places on the beach at holiday destinations all over the world.
At the crack of dawn, they sneak down to the beach to stake their claim on their little bit of sand – using that indispensable item of beach kit – a large beach towel.
This soft, loop-pile fabric can do much more than simply act as a textile demarcation line. We use it to dry off and keep warm, it brightens up the bathroom and beach alike, and pampers our skin. Fleecy terry bathrobes and towels, which are soft and colour-coordinated, also make the spa experience even more enjoyable. And, of course, terry fabrics are indispensable for all those cleaning jobs.
These exquisite, high-end textiles can be produced efficiently on KARL MAYER’s HKS 4 F machine. This terry machine processes filaments to produce all the usual terry fabrics with loops on one side only or on both sides, and was refined and improved at the end of 2006, beginning of 2007. The technical improvements have boosted performance by up to 74% and reduced the cost by 25% compared to the previous model. This upgrade sold very well for a time, but was subsequently removed from the range through lack of demand.
Since the middle of this year, however, the wind of change has been blowing on the market for warp-knitted bath/beach textiles and there has been an obvious increase in demand – which was a good enough reason for KARL MAYER to incorporate this tried-and-tested, four-bar, high-speed tricot machine into its range again. The HKS 4 F will be available again as of May 2010. Its impressive technical features include: maximum machine speeds of up to 1,400 min^-1, gauges of E 24 and E 28 as standard, and a working width of 136".
Basically, the terry machine is available in two different versions, the HKS 4 FB(Z) and HKS 4 F. The HKS 4 FB(Z) is particularly suitable for producing cotton goods, but can also produce fabrics from filament yarns without any problems. On the other hand, the HKS 4 F can only process filament yarns – but at a much higher speed than the HKS 4 FB(Z).
As befits KARL MAYER’s position as a technology leader, a number of specific improvements have been made to this terry machine to mark its comeback. We can reveal that one of these is the brushing unit.

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Warp Knitting | KARL MAYER’s RSE 4-1 continues to write history

The first raschel machine equipped with CFRP components will be available on the market in April 2010

 

KARL MAYER’s RSE 4-1 is definitely the fastest four-bar raschel machine in the world, and will soon have even more accolades heaped upon it. It will be launched onto the market in April 2010 as the most reliable machine in its series. It will set new speed standards and operate with precision accuracy - completely independently of the climatic conditions.
The speed has been increased by integrating innovative CFRP components into the machine construction, which has been specially adapted to handle these components. This is a technological quantum leap forward, which has already enabled some of the other high-speed warp knitting machines produced by KARL MAYER to be operated extremely successfully by the company’s clients.
The RSE 4-1 is the first raschel machine to be equipped with the CFRP components. All the bars on this highly efficient machine for processing stretch fabrics have been manufactured from this lightweight, stable material. The entire machine, from the needles to the basic machine design, has been modified to cope with the resulting increase in speed.
The changes that have been made to the needles have focused on increasing the resistance to lateral distortion, whereas aspects of the basic machine design were optimized specifically in terms of the machine dynamics. The modifications that were made to improve the stability, both of the bars as well as the basic machine, were made by carrying out detailed and extensive calculations using tried-and-tested procedures, such as the finite element method and multi-body simulation systems. Nothing was left to chance and this can be seen quite clearly from the results of these technical improvements.
The weight of the CFRP bars has been decreased by as much as 25% compared with the conventional type, whilst the rigidity has been increased. This has opened up more scope for setting the maximum achievable speed. Above all, however, the use of CFRP materials results in an exceptional temperature stability during production. The temperature window for problem-free machine running has been extended from +/- 2ºC to +/- 7ºC. Extending this tolerance range has minimized any loss in efficiency caused by having to adjust the needle tool as a function of the climatic conditions, or to reduce the speed following a machine stoppage. The result is that the machine availability of the RSE 4-1 is higher than ever before, which has increased the total overall performance of this high-tech production machine.

 

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