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The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 1 – Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Werner Klein
Publisher
Rieter Machine Works Ltd
Copyright
© by Rieter Machine Works Ltd
Klosterstrasse CH- Wintherthur
wwwrietercom
Part of this content provided by The Textile
Textile Institute Used by permission
Cover page
Cotton plant
Available Volumes/Ed
Volumes/Edition:
ition:
Volume – Technology of Short-staple Spinning
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Volume – Blowroom & Carding
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Volume – Spinning Preparation
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Volume – Ring Spinning
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Volume – Rotor Spinning
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Volume – Alternative Spinning Systems
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Volume – Processing of Man-Made Fibres
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Collectors Edition – all Volumes (Vol. -)
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The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 1 – Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Werner Klein
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
THE RIETER MANUAL OF SPINNING
Volume 1 – Technology of Short-staple Spinning Volume 5 – Rotor Spinning
This deals with basic, generally valid, technological rela- This process resulted from research into alternative spinning
tionships in short-staple spinning. Subsequent volumes are systems. This volume contains in-depth information on the
organised according to machines or machine groups. This rotor spinning process and its properties. Continual improve-
separates generally valid basic principles from ongoing ments in spinning elements and conditions make it now pos-
developments in machine design and construction. sible to spin a rotor yarn optically similar to a ring-spun yarn.
Volume 2 – Blowroom & Carding Volume 6 – Alternative Spinning Systems
In-depth information is provided on opening, cleaning, To take full advantage of alternative
alter native spinning systems,
blending and carding and additional aspects are covered a thorough understanding of them is therefore essential. This
such as acclimatisation of raw materials, anticipated waste volume contributes towards reaching this goal by describing
from various grades of fibre, selection and setting of cleaning the most important alternative spinning systems in detail.
and blending machinery, waste recycling, transport and the One of them is the well known air-jet spinning technology.
functions of the various card components as well as selection
and maintenance of card clothing and autolevelling systems. Volume 7 – Processing of Man-Made Fibres
Volume 3 – Spinning Preparation Ever since the introduction of man-made fibres on a com-
mercial scale, the market share of synthetic fibres has shown
Here the technical and technological aspects of the yarn an impressive growth rate. In this important field, the variety
production process between carding and ring spinning are of man-made fibres with different properties is continuously
covered, that means draw frame, combing section (including increasing. For numerous applications today, fibres that are
combing preparation) and roving frame. This is an important practically “tailor-made” are available. Spinners must there-
process stage, because the yarn quality largely depends on fore have detailed understanding of the fibre properties and
the quality of the intermediate products from which it is the specific characteristics that affect their processing.
made.
Volume 4 – Ring Spinning
Technical and technological aspects of ring spinning are
covered. This is the final process in yarn production. The ring
spinning machine greatly influences the yarn and its quality.
Ring-spun yarns still represent the standard for compari-
son when evaluating yarns produced by other spinning
processes.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
EDITORIAL
Spinning technology has made tremendous progress in recent decades
not only with regard to the quality of the yarns produced but also in terms
of economic efficiency For example the productivity levels now being
achieved in new mills were inconceivable in the s
The introduction of new spinning processes in particular compact spin-
ning has opened up new applications for ring yarn For quality criteria
such as yarn strength yarn hairiness and elongation new standards had
to be introduced in order to take these innovations into account
Major technological advances have also consolidated the position of rotor
spinning among the spinning systems Piecers for example which in the
past were often troublesome have been vastly improved with regard to vis-
ibility and consistency of strength with the result that now at last rotor
spinning is no such
New methods longer
asconfined to the production
air-jet spinning are alreadyofassuming
inferior-quality yarns
an importance
that augurs well further improvements may be expected in this area The
Rieter Manual of Spinning endeavors to describe the contemporary state
of the art in spinning technology with the objective of providing a reliable
overview of currently available processes and technologies
The main author of these books Werner Klein is a former senior lecturer
of the Swiss Textile College and author of the original edition of the „Manual
of Textile Technology“ published by The TeTextile
xtile Institute Manchester All fur-
ther authors are textile industry experts who among others in various posi-
tions within the Rieter Company have many years of experience to their
credit The Manual also addresses aspects that extend beyond Rieter’s cur-
rent product range taking processes and solutions developed by other man-
ufacturers into account
The structure of this manual and the organization of its subject matter
were taken over from the original Technology of Short-staple Spinning
published by the Textile Institute Manchester whom we thank for their
kind permission to continue this standard work The updating which
became necessary in the course of time by new developments was
carried out with the assistance of the Rieter staff
We wish all users of this compendium pleasant reading
Rieter Machine Works Ltd
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
CONTENTS
Introduction to Spinning Pre-opening between feed roller
Raw Material as a Factor Influencing Spinning and licker-in
Characteristics of the raw material Carding between main cylinder and flats
Fiber fineness Transfer zone at the doffer
The influence of fineness Straightening-out of fiber hooks
Specification of fineness The straightening-out
straightening-o ut operation
operatio n
Fiber maturity Required number of machine passages
Fiber length Cleaning
The influence of length Impurities to be eliminated
The staple diagram Possibilities for cleaning
Various diagram forms Grid and mote knives
Rectangular staple Influencing factors
Triangular staple Degree of cleaning and resistance to cleaning
Trapezoidal staple Dust removal
Stepped
Fibrogramstaple
Blending
The purpose of blending
The specification of length Evaluation of the blend
The proportion of short fibers De-blending
Fiber strength Types of blending operations
Fiber elongation Possibilities
The slenderness ratio stiffness Bale mixing
Fiber cleanness Flock blending
Impurities Lap blending
Neps Web blending
Dust Sliver blending
Definition Fiber blending
Problems created by dust Roving blending
Chemical deposits sticky substances Blending procedures
Relative importance of the fiber influences Stages in the blending operation
Opening
The need for opening
Metering
Reducing the Unevenness of Yarn Mass
Type and degree of opening Unevenness of yarn mass
The intensity of opening The unevenness limit
General considerations regarding opening Deterioration
Deterior ation in evenness during processing
and cleaning Unevenness over different lengths
Carding Basic possibilities for equalizing
The purpose of carding Doubling
Clothing arrangements
arrangement s The averaging effect
Carding disposition Transverse doubling
Doffing disposition Back-doubling
Forces acting on the fibers Leveling
Carding disposition Measuring open- and closed-loop control
Doffing disposition Open-loop control
Centrifugal forces Closed-loop control
Fiber transfer
The most factor working regions in carding
important
Adjustment
Drafting of the drafttwisting
with simultaneous
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Attenuation Draft Handling Material
The draft of the drafting arrangement Carriers for material
Draft and attenuation
attenuation Material carriers and transport
The drafting operation Package forms
The drafting operation in the drafting arrangement Classification
Drafting force The most widely used package
Stick-slip motion forms with internal formers
Behavior of fibers in the drafting zone Laying down in cans
Fiber guidance Laying down of sliver
Floating fibers Large and small coils
Friction fields Twisting of the sliver
The fiber friction field Winding by rolling and lap forming
Influencing factors Winding on flyer bobbins
Distribution of draft Build-up of the package
OtherMule
drafting possibilities
spinning
Speed relationships
The winding principle
Draft at the opening roller Winding of cops
Additional effects of draft Build of cops
Yarn Formation Form of cops
Assembly of fibers to make up a yarn The formation of the base
Arrangement of the fibers The formation of the conical layers
Number of fibers in the yarn cross-section
cross-secti on The winding process
Fiber disposition The winding principle
The order of fibers within the yarn Variation in the speed of the traveler
The positions of the fibers in the yarn structure Variation in yarn twist
Ring-spun yarns Force and
and tension relationships
relationships during
Open-end spun yarns winding by using travelers
Wrap yarns Preliminary remarks
Airjet Yarns Conditions at the traveler in the
FiberYarn structure
migration
plane of the
Changes ringforce conditions
in the
Imparting strength Conditions at the traveler in the
Possibilities for imparting strength plane through the spindle axis
True twist explained with reference Changes in the conditions
to ring-spun yarn Conditions at the traveler in the
The direction of twist tangential plane
Twist and strength Balloon tension
Deformation of the the yarn Effects on the traveler
in length and width Quality Assurance
Twist formulas The necessity
Derivation of the twist equation The structure of the Mill Information System MIS
False twist The Rieter “SPIDERweb” Mill Information
Operating principle System Mill Monitoring System
Imparting strength by false twist Comment
False
in the twist
twist at other
spinning places
process References
Illustrations
Self-twist
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
INTRODUCTION TO SPINNING
The annual world fiber consumption in amounted
Operation Machines used in short-staple spinning
to approx mio tons synthetics mio tons cotton
mio tons cellulose fiber mio tons and others Opening • blowroom machines
mio tons • card
• OE rotor spinning machine
While about one third of the man-made fibers is processed
as endless filament still two thirds come in staple fiber Cleaning • cleaning machines
• card
form The larger part of staple fiber approx mio tons
• comber
are processed in short staple spinning This part of the • draw frame dust removal
spinning industry therefore is of great significance in the • rotor spinning machine
world of textile production Blending • blowroom machines
It is correspondingly important that adequate trained • card fiber blending
management personnel is available with the necessary • draw frame
technical and technological knowledge While techni- A l i g ni ng • card
cal knowledge relates more to machines technological • comber
aspects are concerned with processing Technological •• roving
draw frame
frame
knowledge is the summarized expression of the basic
• final spinning machines
principles involved in conversion of raw material to semi-
finished or fully finished products – separated from the Uni t i ng • card
• comber
actual or currently realizable possibilities for putting
• OE rotor spinning machine
these principles into effect
In relation to spinning technology is concerned with the Equalizing • card with leveller
• draw frame
study of the production of a yarn In this context the word
• OE rotor spinning machine
“spinning” refers to the conversion of a large quantity of
individual unordered fibers of relatively short length into Attenuating • card
• draw frame
a linear ordered product of very great length by using • roving frame
suitable machines and devices In processing natural • final spinning machines
fibers the same basic operations are always involved
Impar
Imparti
ting
ng stren
strengt
gthh • fina
finall spi
spinni
nning
ng mach
machin
ines
es
It is the aim of this volume to provide an introduction to
the technology of spinning to the relationships and laws Winding • roving frame
• final spinning machines
involved in the performance of these basic operations and
to awaken or to deepen understanding of what happens Table – Machines used in short–staple spinning
during material processing
Werner Klein former senior lecturer
of the Swiss Textile College
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
RAW MATERIAL
MATERIAL AS A FACTOR Fiber fineness influences primarily
• spinning limit
INFLUENCING SPINNING
Characteristics of the raw material
• yarn strength
• yarn evenness
Raw material represents about - of the manufactur- • yarn fullness
ing cost of a short-staple yarn This fact alone is sufficient • drape of the fabric
to indicate the significance of the raw material for the yarn • luster
• handle
producer The influence becomes still more apparent when
the ease in processing one type of fiber material is com- • productivity of the process
pared with the difficulties annoyance additional effort
Productivity is influenced via the end-breakage rate the number
and the decline in productivity and quality associated with
of turns per inch required in the yarn giving improvement of the
another similar material But hardly any spinner can afford
to use a problem-free raw material because it would nor- handle and generally better spinning conditions In the produc-
mally be too expensive tion of blends it must be borne in mind that at least in conven-
tional ring spinning processes fine fibers accumulate to a greater
Adapting to the expected difficulties requires an intimate
knowledge of the starting material and its behavior in pro- extent in the yarn core and coarser fibers at the periphery
cessing and subsequent stages Blending of fine cotton fibers with coarse synthetic fibers would
produce a yarn with an externally synthetic fiber character
Optimal conditions can be obtained only through mastery
of the
cal raw material
knowledge Admittedly
will not help muchhowever the best
if the material theoreti-
is already
alr eady Specification of fineness
at the limits of spinnability or beyond Excessive economy
With the exception of wool and hair fibers fiber fineness can-
in relation to raw material usually does not reduce costs
and often increases them owing to deterioration
deter ioration of process- not be specified by reference to diameter as in the case of steel
ability in the spinning mill wire because the section is seldom circular and is thus not
As an introduction to the subject of raw material the fol- easily measurable As in the case of yarns and fibers fineness
is usually specified by the relation of mass weight to length
lowing pages will sketch out several relationships which
are important for the yarn producer Only cotton will be mass (g) mass (dg)
tex = or dtex =
dealt with here Man-made fibers will be dealt with sepa- length (km) km
rately in another volume
Whereas for man-made fibers dtex is used almost exclu-
Fiber fineness
sively the Micronaire value is used worldwide for cotton
The influence of fineness
The fineness scale is as follows
Fineness is normally one
fiber characteristics of the three
A multitude most in
of fibers important
the cross-
Mic VALUE FINENESS
up to very fine
section provide not only high strength but also better
distribution in the yarn The fineness determines how - fine
many fibers are present in the cross-section of a yarn - medium ppremium range
of given thickness Additional fibers in the cross-sec- - slightly coarse
tion provide not only additional strength but also better above coarse
evenness in the yarn
About thirty fibers are needed at the minimum in the Conversion factor dtex Mic ×
yarn cross-section but there are usually over heavily dependent on degree of maturity
One hundred is approximately the lower limit for
almost all new spinning processes This indicates that It should be remembered however that the Micronaire value
fineness will become still more impor tant in the future does not always represent the actual fineness of the fibers
Owing to the use of the air-throughflow method for measur-
ing the Mi value for example a low average value is obtained
wherenot
does there is a hightoproportion
correspond of immature
the true value fibers and
for the spinnable this
fibers
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Specification by linear density tex is more accurate in such It can be assumed that fibers of under - mm will be lost in
a case but far harder to obtain There is a further difficulty processing as waste and fly fibers up to about - mm do
Cotton is a natural fiber It grows in various soils in various not contribute much to strength but only to fullness of the yarn
climates and with annually changing cultivation conditions and only those fibers above these lengths produce the other
The fibers therefore cannot be homogeneous in their charac- positive characteristics in the yarn It is not only the condition
teristics including their fineness Schenek indicates that at purchase that is important in assessment of fiber length still
the Mic value varied in an extreme example between more decisive is the length after carding Processing conditions
and from bale to bale in a lot of bales Long-staple at the card and also the fiber characteristics must be such that
cotton varieties are commonly finer than medium-staple the fibers survive carding without noticeable shortening Where
there is a high proportion of immature fibers this will not be
Fiber maturity the case
The cotton fiber consists of cell wall and lumen The matu- The staple diagram
rity index is dependent upon the thickness of this cell wall
Schenek suggests that a fiber is to be considered as Length mm
mature when the cell wall of the moisture-swollen fiber rep-
resents - of the round cross-section as immature
when it represents - and as dead when it repre-
sents less than Since some immature fibers are
present even in a fully matured boll cotton stock without
immature fibers is unimaginable the quantity is the issue
ITMF recommended the Fiber Maturity Tester FMT for cot-
ton maturity determination Measurement by FMT gives the
Maturity Index MI refred to by Lord and Heap
Immature fibers have neither adequate strength nor adequate
longitudinal stiffness they therefore lead to Cumulative %
• loss of yarn strength Fig – The staple diagram by number
• neppiness
• a high proportion of short fibers The fibers in the boll do not exhibit extremely great length
• varying dyeability differences Noticeable shortening of many fibers arises
• processing difficulties mainly at the card before the spinning process owing to mechanical working
for example ginning and cleaning The effect is such that
Fiber length fiber length exhibits the greatest irregularity of all the fiber
The influence of length characteristics
Fiber length is also one of the three most important fiber
characteristics It influences Length mm
• spinning limit
• yarn strength
• yarn evenness
• handle of the product
• luster of the product
• yarn hairiness
• productivity
Productivity is influenced via
• the end-breakage rate
• the quantity of waste
• the required turns of twist which affects the handle Cumulative %
• general spinning conditions
conditions Fig – The staple diagram by weight
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
In even the smallest tuft of cotton taken up in the hand there tained into the yarn because fibers are shortened in the spin-
will be all lengths from the absolute minimum mm to the ning mill mainly at the cards For another spinning machines
absolute maximum between and mm depending on ori- are not suited to the processing of fibers having all the same
gin If the fibers of such a tuft are arranged next to each other length In the drafting arrangement for example such fibers
with their ends aligned and sorted according to length in a co- are moved not individually but in bunches thereby finally
ordinate system then the staple diagram Fig typical of cot- producing a high degree of unevenness in the yarn
ton is obtained the so-called numerical diagram If the dia-
gram is derived abstractly from the masses of the length groups Triangular staple
then the weight-based
weight-based diagram is obtained Fig This has
a notably higher curve compared with the numerical diagram
because long fibers have more mass than short fibers and there- Length mm
fore a greater effect The weight-based diagram corresponds to
the distribution of fibers in the yarn cross-section This diagram
should therefore be referred to in considerations and calcula-
tions relating to the yarn On the other hand the numerical dia-
gram emphasizes the proportion of short fibers It provides in
visual form a good assessment of the running behavior in the
process The two average staple lengths are related as follows
Cumulative %
¯ll̄ = ¯ll̄ + s 2
W N Fig – Staple diagram triangular staple
¯ll̄
N
Where ¯ll̄W is the average fiber length based on the weight- The triangular staple Fig permits better processing than the
based diagram ¯ll̄N is the average fiber length based on the rectangular staple but contains too many short fibers During
numerical diagram s is the standard deviation of the fiber movement of fibers for example in the drafting arrangement
length distribution In addition in relation to fiber materi- the short fibers cannot be kept under control they move freely
als five types of diagrams can be distinguished according to and produce substantial unevenness Moreover they cannot
their form Fig - Fig Measurment of the staple diagram always be bound into the body of fibers so that some of them
is possible by AFIS-Systems are lost thereby producing waste and fly at the machines and
devices If a short fiber is bound-in however one end often
Various diagram forms projects The yarn is hairy A certain hairiness is necessary for
Rectangular staple some product properties eg knitted fabrics
Trapezoidal staple
Length mm
Length mm
Cumulative %
Fig – Staple diagram rectangular staple Cumulative %
Fig – Staple diagram trapezoidal staple
The rectangular staple Fig is achievable and imaginable
only with man-made fibers Since the fibers are all equally The trapezoidal staple Fig is the ideal staple for processing
long no length variations are present and material of this and is more suitable the flatter the curve is However a flat
type would seem ideal Such an impression would be false curve often means a high price This diagram is typically for
however For one thing the length evenness cannot be main- Cotton
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Stepped staple ers It gives a good representation of the drafting operation
and of the arrangement of the fibers in the yarn It is produced
by high volume instrumentation such as HVI The lengths are
L mm
stated as span-lengths that is lengths of clamed fibers that
exceed a certain distance
The specification of length
Both a parallelized ordered bundle of fibers in the classers
hand and the real staple length derived from it are referred
to as the staple The accurate fiber length derived from this
%
is referred to as the staple diagram Looking at the staple
Fig – Staple diagram stepped staple diagram in Fig it is clear that various measures of length
can be derived for example
If fiber materials of very different lengths are blended in the • maximum fiber length
wrong proportions then a stepped staple curve Fig can • minimum fiber length
arise As with a rectangular staple the fibers can be moved • average fiber length
only in groups with the same effects as mentioned before
With some expections these values may be of interest to
Fibrogram the statistician but they tell the spinner nothing because
they enable a statement to be made neither regarding the
product nor regarding the process The trade and the pro-
%
cessor commonly use the following data such as
• classifying staple trade staple classer’s staple length
• upper quartile length with end oriented methods
• upper half mean length or mean length according
to weight x–
• or span length measurements
as setting staples eg span length
The trade staple classer‘s staple s is the most important
specification of length It is established to / inch during
classifying of the cotton and corresponds to the fiber length
in the weight-based diagram at about s and in the
numerical diagram at about s It corresponds also
to the span length of Fibrogram and to the upper half
mean length of HVI calculated from Fibrogram
L mm
L mm
Fig – Staple diagram Fibrogram
In addition to the staple diagram the Fibrogram Fig is
available Whereas in the staple diagram the fibers are aligned
at one end in the Fibrogram they are arranged by clamping –
S X
randomly distributed fibers of a cotton sample The fibers pro-
tuding from the clamps are straightened by a brushing process
and measured optically %
The normal staple diagram represents an artificial picture
which does not occur anywhere in practice but the Fibrogram Fig – Staple diagram by weight specification of lengths
corresponds to the arrangement of fibers at the nip line of roll-
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
The and span length are lengths that are needed types of fibers most of which are not usable for textiles
in setting machines especially roller spacings The follow- because of inadequate strength The minimum strength
ing length groupings are currently used in stating the trade for a textile fiber is approximately cN/tex about km
staple classer‘s staple for cotton breaking length Since binding of the fibers into the yarn
• short staple ˝ or less is achieved mainly by twisting and thus can exploit only
• medium staple /˝ - /˝ - of the strength of the material a lower borderline
• long staple /˝ - /˝ of about cN/tex is finally obtained for the yarn strength
• extra-long staple /˝ and above the minimum strength of a yarn Fiber strength will increase
in importance in future since most new spinning processes
Specification of the trade staple alone is not enough exploit the strength of the material less well than older
because the slope of the curve is not taken into account processes
With the same trade-staple length the staple diagram could Some significant breaking strengths of fibers are
approach either the rectangular or the triangular form The • polyester fiber - cN/tex
proportion of short fibers will then be correspondingly high • cotton - cN/tex
or low In order to estimate how good the distribution of • wool - cN/tex
length is the following data can be used
• a second point on the Fibrogram curve In relation to cotton the strength of fiber bundles was mea-
eg span length derived from staple sured and stated as the Pressley value The following scale
• the coefficient of variation or of values was used psi
• the proportion of short fibers eg percentage diagram • and above excellent
shorter tahn / inch or • - very strong
• Uniformity Ratio UR from HVI measurements • - strong
• - medium
The proportion of short fibers • - fair
• and below weak
The proportion of short fibers has a very substantial influence
on the parameters listed under Section except in the Conversion to physical units should be avoided because the
case of rotor
r otor spinning where this influence is less Besides measuring procedure is not very exact
this influence a large proportion of short fibers also
al so leads to Today the fiber bundles are commonly tested with HVI
considerable fly contamination among other problems and instrumentation
instrumentati on Depending on the used calibration stand-
thus to strain on personnel on the machines on the work- ard USDA- or HVI-calibration cottons the strength is
room and on the air-conditioning and also to extreme draft- expressed in g/tex cN/tex
ing difficulties Unfortunately the proportion of short fibers For the commonly used HVI-CC calibration the following
has increased substantially in recent years in cotton available scale of values is used / in gauge strength g/tex
from many sources This is due to mechanical picking and • and above
above vvery
ery strong
strong
hard ginning Schenek and Lord distinguish accord- • - strong
ing to absolute short-fiber content and relative short-fiber • - base
content In the great majority of cases the absolute short- • - weak
fiber proportion is specified today as the percentage of fibers • and below vvery
ery weak
shorter than or mm ½ in
The short-fiber limit has not been standardized but may set- Except for polyester and polypropylene fiber fiber strength
tle at around or mm Rieter is using mm as is moisture-dependent It is important to know this in
a standard Since the short fibers cannot be measured easily processing and also in testing Since fiber moisture is
this value is seldom really accurate If more exact values are dependent upon the ambient-air conditions it depends
required the relative short-fiber content must be established as heavily on the climatic conditions and the time of expo-
proposed by Lord The procedure is however very demanding sure before operation Whereas the strength of cotton
linen etc increases with increasing moisture content
Fiber strength the reverse is true for polyamide fiber viscose and wool
Strength is very often the predominant characteristic This
can be seen from the fact that nature produces countless
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Fiber elongation A fiber that is too stiff has difficulty in adapting to these
movements For example it is not properly bound into the
Three concepts must be clearly distinguished yarn produces hairiness or is even lost in processing
permanent elongation
elongation that part of the extension
extension Fibers that are not stiff enough have too little springiness
through which the fiber does They do not return to shape after deformation They have
not return on relaxation no longitudinal resistance In most cases this leads to the
elastic elongation that part of the extension formation of neps Fiber stiffness is dependent upon fiber
through which the fiber does substance and also upon the relationship between fiber
return on relaxation length and fiber fineness Fibers having the same structure
breaking elongation the maximum possible extension and diameter will be stiffer the shorter they are
of the fiber until it breaks ie
the permanent elongation and
the elastic elongation together
Elongation is specified as a percentage of the starting length
The elastic elongation is of decisive importance since textile
products without elasticity would hardly be usable They must Fig – Stiffness of fibers of different lengths
be able to deform eg at knee or elbow in order to withstand
high loading and also during processing but they must also The slenderness ratio can serve as a measure of stiffness
return to shape The fiber elongation should therefore be
at least - glass fibers and preferably slightly more Slenderness ratio Fiber length/Fiber diameter
The greater crease-resistance of wool compared with cotton
arises for example from the difference in their elongation
elongation Since the fibers must wind as they are bound-in during yarn
• cotton
cotton - formation in the spinning machine the slenderness ratio also
• wool - determines to some extent where the fibers will finish up
• fine and / or long fibers in the core
The following scale represents the cotton fiber elongation • coarse and / or short fibers at the yarn periphery
• below very low
• - low Fiber cleanness
• - average Impurities
• - high
• above
very high In addition to usable fibers lint cotton stock contains
foreign matter of various kinds
Man-made fibers show higher elongation values from about
to For functional textile goods still higher elonga- Vegetable matter
tions are necessary sometimes but they make processing in • husk portions
the spinning mill more difficult especially in drafting opera- • seed fragments
tions Higher elongations are needed for sportswear hois- • stem fragments
ery corsetry and stretch products If a fiber is subjected to • leaf fragments
tensile loading demands are made on both its strength and • wood fragments
elongation Strength and elongation are therefore insepara-
bly connected This relationship is expressed in the so-called Mineral material
stress/strain diagram For each type of fiber there is a typi- • earth
cal curve In blending it should be ensured that the stress- • sand
strain curves of the fibers to be blended are similar in shape • ore dust picked up in transport
transport
Measurment of elongation is difficult and time consuming • dust picked up in transport
The slenderness ratio stiffness Sticky contaminations
• honeydew insect sugar
Fiber stiffness Fig plays a significant role mainly when • grease oil tar
rolling revolving and twisting movements are involved • additives
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Other foreign matter American cotton as given in the literature of the Trützschler
• metal fragments company The scale below represents the degree of trash
• cloth fragments • up to very clean
• packing material mostly polymer materials • - clean
• - medium
Fiber fragments • - dirty
• fiber particles which finally make up the greater • and more very dirty
portion of the dust
ITMF publishes biannually a survey on cotton contamina-
This foreign material can lead to extreme disturbances tion and states most affected origins
during processing
Metal parts can cause fires or damage card clothing Cloth Neps
fragments and packing material can lead to foreign fibers
in the yarn and thus to its unsuitability for the intended Neps are small entanglements or knots of fibers In general
application two types of neps can be distinguished fiber neps and seed-
Vegetable matter can lead to drafting disturbances yarn coat neps that is small knots that consist only of fibers and
breaks filling-up of card clothing contaminated yarn etc others containing foreign particles such as husk seed or leaf
Mineral matter can cause deposits high wear rates in fragments Investigations made by Artzt and Schreiber
machines grinding effects especially apparent in rotor indicate that fiber neps predominate particularly fiber neps
spinning etc having a core mainly of immature and dead fibers Thus it is
clear that there is a relationship between maturity index
The new spinning processes are very sensitive to foreign and neppiness Neppiness is also dependent exponentially
matter Foreign matter was always a problem but is becom- on fiber fineness because fine fibers have less longitudinal
ing steadily more serious from year to year This is due stiffness than coarser fibers The processing method also has
primarily to modern high-performance picking methods a considerable influence A large proportion of the neps in
hard ginning and cleaning pre-drying careless handling raw cotton is produced by picking and hard ginning and the
during harvesting packing and transport modern packing amount of neps is substantially increased in the blowroom
materials The card is the first machine to reduce the amount of neps to
Today foreign fibers for example have become almost a usable level and nep reduction at the card is achieved pri-
a nightmare for the spinner The amount of foreign material marily by disentanglement rather than by elimination Neps
primarily of vegetable origin is already taken into account not only create disturbance
disturbance in themselves as thick places but
in grading Fig shows the ranges for impurities in also in dyed fabrics because they dye differently from the rest
strict good good
good m
mid
iddl
dlin
ingg st
stri
rict
ct middling strict low low
low mid
middl
dlin
ingg stri
strict
ct good
ood good ordinary
middling middling middling ordinary
A
SGM GM SM M S LM LM SGO GO
B
Fig – Proportion of waste in cotton of different classes
A classification B proportion of trash as percentage
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
of the fibers and thus become clearly visible in the finished and husk fragments - sand and earth and -
cloth water-soluble materials The high proportion of fiber fragments
Based on the consolidated findings of Uster Technologies indicates that a large part of the microdust arises in the course
Inc Zellweger Luwa AG the following scale repre- of processing Mandl states that about of the microdust
sents the amount of neps per gram in cotton bales is free between the fibers and flocks - is loosely bound
• up to very low and the remaining - is firmly bound to the fibers
• - low
low
• - average
average Problems created by dust
• - hhigh
igh
• above very high Leifeld lists the following problems as created by dust
Dust Additional stress on personnel
Definition • dust is unpleasant eg for eyes and nose
• it can induce allergies
Dust consists of small and microscopic particles of various sub- • it can induce respiratory disease byssinosis
stances which are present as suspended particles in gases and
sink only slowly so that they can be transported in air over sub- Environmental problems
stantial distances In accordance with a classification system • dust deposits
established by the International Committee for Cotton Testing • accumulations which can fall into the machines
Methods ITMF the following types are to be distinguished • contamination of the air-conditioning
PARTICLE SIZE µm Effects on the product
• quality deterioration directly
Trash above
• or indirectly through machine faults
Dust -
Microdust - Stress on the machines
• dust accumulations leading to operating disturbances
Breathable dust below
• jamming and running out of true
• increased yarn unevenness
unevenness
A paper published by the International Textile
Textile Bulletin indi- • more end breaks
cates that microdust consists of - fiber fragments leaf • rapid wear of machine components eg rotors
RING-SPUN YARN
Evenness • Thin places Breaking tenacity Breaking elongation Hairiness
FIBER RING YARN U / CV • Thick places Fmax/tex Emax H
• Neps / m yarn
• Classimat faults / km yarn
Mean length Span length
Length Uniformity Ratio
Micronaire value
Nep content Leaf content
Trash content Microdust content
Fiber fragment content
/˝ Breaking strength
/˝ Elongation
Color
Highly significan t correlation Significant or correlation Little or no correlation Unknown relationsh ip
Fig – Correlation between fiber properties and yarn properties according to Uster Technologies
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Chemical deposits sticky substances Whether or not a fiber will stick depends however not
only upon the quantity of the sticky coating and its com-
The best-known sticky substance on cotton fibers is hon- position but also upon the degree of saturation as a solu-
eydew Strictly this is a secretion of white fly or aphid but tion and the working temperature in the spinning
today all sticky substances are incorrectly called honeydew mill Accordingly conclusions regarding stickiness in the
Schenek identifies these sticky substances as a s production process cannot be drawn automatically from
the determination of quantity Elsner states that the
Secretions honeydew sugars are broken down by fermentation and by micro-
Fungi and bacteria decomposition products organisms during storage of the cotton This occurs more
Vegetable substances sugars from plant juices leaf nectar
quickly the higher the moisture content During spinning
overproduction of wax of sticky cotton however the relative humidity of the air
Fats oils seed oil from ginning as well as the ambient temperature in the production area
Pathogens
should be kept as low as possible
Synthetic substances defoliant insecticides fertilizers
oil from harvesting machines Relative importance of the fiber influences
In the great majority of cases however the substance is The influence of fiber parameters on yarn parameters and
one of a group of sugars of the most variable composition on running performance varies with circumstances Their
significance also differs for the individual spinning sys-
primarily but nottrehalose
rose melezitose exclusively
andfructose glucose
trehalulose saccha-
as found in tems new or conventional Fig shows the correlation
sticky cottons between fiber and yarn properties as determined by Uster
These saccharides are mostly but not always produced by Technologies
Techn ologies and Fig the influence on yarn
insects or the plants themselves depending upon the influ- strength determined by Sasser
ences on the plants prior to picking
FIBER CHARACTERISTICS WHICH AFFECT YARN BREAKING FORCE PROPERTIES
Ring-spun yarn Rotor-spun yarn
Nec / tex Nec / tex
Length uniformity Length Length uniformity Length
Strength Strength
Micronaire
Micronaire
Elongation Elongation
Unexplained Unexplained
Colour/reflectance Colour/reflectance
Trash content Trash content
Fig – Influence of fiber properties on yarn strength according to Sasser
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
OPENING
The need for opening Type Appearance Description
Rollers Small diameter widely used
Carrying out the basic operations of spinning demands
almost without exception an open processable material eg in step cleaners
However the raw material enters the spinning mill in highly Drums Larger diameter
pressed form bale for optimum transport and storage eg in the mono-cylinder cleaner
Thus opening must precede the other basic operations
Quilted shaft Shaft with many long beater rods
hardly used
Type and degree of opening
Multiple- Two three or more arms Now
Two stages of opening must be distinguished blades beater used only in old blowroom lines
• opening to flocks in the blowroom
• opening to fibers in the card and OE spinning machine Spiked lattice Endless belts with transverse woo-
den or plastic bars in which needles
In addition the technological operation of opening can are set gives very gentle opening
include Picker In the bale picker and blending
• opening out – in which the volume of the flock is grab both outdated
increased
ie whiledensity
the specific the number
of theofmaterial
fibers remains constant
is reduced or Carding bars The devices associated with
or plates the carding drums of the card
• breaking apart – in which two or more flocks are formed
from one flock without changing the specific density
Table – Opening devices
Opening operations Opening device Type of o
op
pening Intensity Gentleness Remarks
Op
Open
enin
ingg out
out Brea
Breaki
king
ng ap
apar
artt
Tearing up x xx At the bale opener Neps are produced
when there is considerable tumbling
in the hopper
Picking apart xx xx At the card and the rotor spinning machine
The only means of separating to individual
fibers
Picking out x xx Bale picker Very gentle
Plucking out x x Widely used eg on horizontal cleaners
The intensity is dependent on the point
density of the clothing
Tearing out xx x – Carding rollers They are aggressive
but necessary to remove fine particles
produced at the gin
Beating out x xx – Two or three bladed beaters Give very
poor opening Hardly produce new surfaces
outdated
Combing out xx x x Kirschner beater Very gentle expansion
If operated as a cleaner it usually produces
high fiber losses outdated
Floating in air x – Extremely small opening effects
eg in transport ducting
Table – Opening variants
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Breaking apart would suffice for cleaning but opening out
A
is needed for blending and aligning Both opening out and
breaking apart are found in each opening operation – the -
degree of each is decisive If at the infeed to the card
there is a flock which has been mainly broken apart but -
relatively little opened out then staple shortening will
-
quite certainly result To enable an exact evaluation to be
made of the degree of opening therefore both a measure
-
of breaking apart that is the size of the flock and a mea-
sure of density in g/cm would be needed Since both
measures can be obtained only with considerable effort
the specification of the mass in milligrams/flock usually
has to suffice Such information is provided for example
by a diagram from Rieter Fig showing the degree of
opening of several machines as a function of the mate-
rial throughput Fig from Trützschler
Trützschler shows the
increasing opening of the material from one blowroom
machine to another The curve in this example shows V M M M M M
amongst other things that machines M to M are already B
superfluous They not only make the process more expen- Fig – Increase in the degree of opening from machine to machine
sive but also stress the raw material
mater ial in an unnecessary in a certain blowroom
manner Their use can only be justified if it substantially A degree of opening flock weight in g/flock B machine passages
V feed material M - M machines -
increases the degree of opening out specific density and
thereby improves carding Fig represents the ideal form
A
of the opening curve as established by TrütTrützschler
zschler
-
Table shows opening devices
Table shows opening variants
-
-
A
conventional -
-
-
A UNIfloc
-
A UNIfloc
B
B
Fig – Ideal form of the opening curve green line in an older
Fig – Dependence of degree of opening upon throughput blowroom
A degree of opening flock weight in g/flock B machine passages
A degree of opening flock weight mg B material throughput kg/h M - M machines - It is clearly apparent that machines and
are superfluous in modern lines they should be omitted
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
The intensity of opening • Ideally the opening and cleaning machines should
form a unit
The intensity of opening is dependent amongst other things • A high degree of opening in the blowroom facilitates
on the following cleaning in the carding room
• A high degree of opening out in the blowroom reduces
• Raw material shortening of staple at the cards
- thicknes
thicknesss of the feed • Opening and cleaning of cotton on only one univer-
- density
density of the
the feed
feed sal opening machine is very difficult owing to the
- fiber coherence
coherence requirement for continual improvement of the degree
- fiber alignment
alignment of opening
- size of flocks
flocks in the
the feed
feed • On the other hand each machine in the line repre-
sents often considerable stress on the fibers
• Machines / devices • Aside from economy therefore quality considerations
- type of feed
feed – loose
loose or clamped
clamped indicate the smallest possible number of machine pas-
- form of feedin
feedingg device
device sages in the blowroom
- type of openin
openingg device
device • Feeding of flocks in a clamped condition gives an
- type of
of clothing
clothing intensive but usually not very gentle opening action
- point density
density of clothing
clothing • Feeding in a loose condition gives gentle but not very
- arrangement of pins needles
needles teeth etc intensive opening
on the surface ie aligned or staggered • Opened flocks should approach as closely as possible
- spacing of the clamping device from thethe opening device a spherical shape Long narrow flocks lead to entan-
glements during rolling movements and pneumatic
• Speeds transport Finally they form neps
- speed of
of the device
devices
s • Narrow setting of the feed device relative to the roller
- throughpu
throughputt speed of the mate
material
rial increases the degree of opening but also the stress on
the material
• Ambient conditions
- humidi
humidity
ty Carding
- temper
temperatu
ature
re The purpose of carding
General considerations regarding opening and Chiefly carding should separate the flocks into individual
cleaning fibers Additionally carding results in cleaning reduction
of neps aligning blending and elimination of some short
The degree of cleaning cannot be better than the degree fibers The elimination of short fibers must however be
of opening Accordingly the following should be noted viewed in proportion
• Dirt can be removed practically only from surfaces The main eliminated material is in the flat strips Assuming
• New surfaces must therefore be created continuously flat waste at to with about half in the form of short
• The form of the opening machine must therefore be fibers there is such a minor precentage of short fiber elimi-
adapted to the degree of opening already achieved nation that it could hardly be measured with the current
• The opening devices should become continually finer coarse staple measuring equipment The operation of card-
car d-
ie within the blowroom line a specific machine is ing is performed with the aid of oppositely disposed sets of
required at each position teeth or small wire hooks
• The degree of cleaning is linearly dependent upon the
degree of opening Clothing arrangements
• Newly exposed surfaces should as far as possible be
cleaned immediately There are two possible arrangements of the clothing sur-
• This means that each opening step should be followed faces relative to each other the carding disposition and
immediately by a cleaning step without intervening the doffing or stripping disposition
transport during
up again and which
would the surfaces
require would be covered
re-exposure
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Carding disposition The teeth of both clothing surfaces face in the same direction
Fig This arrangement is typical of the licker-in/main
cylinder region Here there is a deliberate transfer of mate-
V
rial from one clothing surface to another but v must be
greater than v feeding clothing
Forces acting on the fibers
Carding disposition
E K
F
F
K E
V
Fig – Carding disposition
Fig – Forces in the carding disposition
The teeth face in opposite directions Fig This is the
typical arrangement between the main cylinder and the
flats and also between the main cylinder and the doffer If a fiber is held by friction at its ends on two teeth that are
In order to enable carding to take place v must be greater moving apart tensile forces F act
act on the fiber in the axial
than v or v must be in the opposite direction to v In this direction owing to the drag from both sides Fig Since
action the fibers are drawn apart separated and aligned the fibers are held on inclined surfaces this tensile force can
be resolved in accordance with the parallelogram of forces
Doffing disposition
into two easily derivable components E and and K E being
being the
component tending to draw the fibers into the clothing
The retention capability of the clothing is dependent on
this component The parameter K is is the carding component
V
which presses the fiber towards the points of the other
clothing surface The fibers are in close contact with the
other clothing surface and are processed intensivel
intensively
y
Doffing disposition
D K
F
F
A E
V
Fig – Doffing disposition Fig – Forces in the doffing disposition
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
In the doffing arrangement the directions of the forces Even with these measures the odds in favor of transfer
acting at one tooth have changed Fig Resolution are not even
of force F into
into its components gives component D which According to Artzt and Schreiber the transfer factor
presses the fiber against the tooth and a stripping compo- with rigid wire clothing is only -
nent A which tends to push the fiber off the tooth The fiber This means that on average a fiber rotates from three to
catches on the other tooth and is stripped five times with the main cylinder before it passes to the
doffer The effect is caused by the strong adherence of the
Centrifugal forces fibers to the main cylinder the fibers being drawn into the
main cylinder clothing during continual movement past
Centrifugal force is superimposed on the forces pro- the flats
duced by the machine parts However in order to produce
noticeable effects substantial speeds are required and The most important working regions in carding
these speeds arise practically only at the main cylinder Pre-opening between feed roller and licker-in
and to some extent at the licker-in
The centrifugal forces are effective mainly in directions This is the most serious problem zone of the card because
away from the main cylinder and act both on fibers and the licker-in must tear individual flocks out of the fairly
on foreign particles In spite of this the fibers are not thick feed sheet with enormous force Fiber damage is
thrown off at least the longer ones because the high air scarcely to be avoided here
resistance due to the rotation presses the fibers back flat However stress on the fibers is not the only important
against the surface of the main cylinder In comparison aspect The degree of opening on which the quality of
to all other forces centrifugal forces are of minor signifi- carding is directly dependent is also important – the more
cance except when considering trash and short fibers so the higher the production rate of the card
In this case the centrifugal forces support the transfer The degree of opening degree of cleaning and above all
of trash and short fibers from the main cylinder into the damage to the raw material can be influenced by
flats • thickness of the feed sheet
• density of the feed sheet
Fiber transfer factor • evenness of the feed sheet
• throughput speed
Reference to the forces exerted by the teeth in the carding • rotation speed of the cylinders
disposition will show that all other things being equal • cylinder clothing
it is a matter of chance on which tooth tip the fiber will • form of the feed plate
remain caught • arrangement of the feed plate
Such a random result is not acceptable everywhere The co-rotation or counter-rotation
doffer although it is in the carding disposition relative to
the main cylinder must be able to take up a portion of the On the other hand the licker-in is the main elimination
fibers This is only possible if the doffing conditions are zone for coarse impurities
improved by the following
• An increased tooth density in the doffer clothing Carding between main cylinder and flats
no longer used with rigid wire clothing
• A clothing supporting the carding capacity by using The main work of the card separation into individual fibers
a greater carding angle for the doffer clothing and thus is performed between the main cylinder and the flats Only
obtaining an increased drawing-in component E by means of this fiber separation is it possible to eliminate
• Maintaining the catching effect of the clothing by the last dirt especially the finer particles and dust These
frequent sharpening pass into the flats the extraction system or the droppings
• Keeping the doffer clothing clean and receptive
by continually withdrawing the web When a flat moves into the working zone it first fills up
• A very narrow setting between main cylinder and This occurs relatively quickly ie after only a few flats have
doffer moved into the working zone Thereafter hardly any further
• conditions
Assisting transfer of fibers byspace
in the convergent special air-circulation
between the main take-up of fibers
Accordingly if a occurs and only
fiber bundle doescarding
not findtakes place
a place in the
cylinder and the doffer first few flats then it can be opened only with difficulty
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
It will be rolled between the working surfaces and usually
leads to nep formation
Equally important at this working position is the reduc-
tion of neps Kaufmann indicates that of all neps
can be disentangled and of these about are in fact
disentangled
Of the remaining disentanglable neps
• - pass on with the sliver
• - are removed with the flat strips
• - are eliminated with the waste
The intensity of separation depends on A T
• the sharpness of the clothing
• the spacing of the main cylinder from the flats
• the tooth density of the clothing
• the speed of the licker-in high but not too high
• the speed of the doffer high but not too high
Transfer zone at the doffer
Fig – Transfer of fibers from the main cylinder T to the doffer A
The arrangement of the clothing between the main cylin-
der and the doffer is not as might have been expected
a stripping arrangement but a carding arrangement
ar rangement This The intensity of carding as at other carding positions
is the only way to obtain a condensing action and finally to is here dependent upon
form a web It has both advantages and disadvantages The • type of clothing
advantage is that an additional carding action is obtained • geometry of the teeth
here This is important since the processing of the fibers • number of teeth per surface
differs somewhat from processing at the flats • distance between the carding surfaces
A disadvantage to be noted is the formation of hooks at this • speed relationships
point Before transfer some of the fibers remain caught • sharpness of the clothing
at one end on the teeth of the main cylinder Fig T • degree of wear of the clothing
During transfer the other ends of the projecting fibers are
caught by the clothing of the doffer and taken up Since
however the velocity of the main cylinder is much higher The
etersdiameter of thecontact
imply a large cylinders is also
surface atrelevant Large
the working diam-
positions
than that of the doffer the teeth of the cylinder wire T and thus in addition to improvement of the transfer factor
smooth out the fibers in the direction of rotation whereby longer raking of the raw material by the clothing
the rear ends of the fibers remain caught on the teeth of the
doffer A Straightening-out of fiber hooks
By this means they form hooks at their ends In the web The straightening-out operation
and then in the card sliver most of the fibers in the strand
possess trailing hooks However aside from the serious A disadvantage of web formation at the card that has
disadvantage of hook formation the carding effect men- already been mentioned is the formation of hooks
tioned is also produced here since either the main cylinder According to investigations by Morton and
a nd Yen in
clothing rakes through the fibers caught in the doffer cloth- Manchester UK and others it can be assumed that
ing or the doffer clothing rakes the fibers on the main cyl- the fibers in the web show the following hooks
inder Neps can still be disentangled here or non-separated • more than have trailing hooks
neps disentangled during the next passage through the flats • about have leading hooks
•• about
less than have doubled
have hooks and
no hooks
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Such fiber hooks which effectively convert longer fibers
I II to short fibers cannot be permitted in the yarn They must
therefore be removed before yarn formation This is done
by the draft or by combing as the following description
shows
In the drafting arrangement the fiber hooks may be bed-
ded in the body of fibers either as leading or as trailing
S hooks Fig and Fig Consider first a trailing hook
S it will be seen that for a certain period it moves with
the remainder of the fiber strand at the speed of the back
roller towards the front roller If the fiber tip passes into
the nip region of the drawing roller the fiber is accelerated
Fig – Trailing hooks in the drafting arrangement
However since the trailing end is moving with a relatively
thick body of slowly moving fibers the fiber is straight-
ened before the whole fiber can reach the drawing speed
I II
— the hook is eliminated On the other hand leading hooks
K are immediately caught bodily by the front roller and
carried along unchanged Fig The comber however
mainly straightens out leading hooks because the needles
of the circular comb can grasp only these Fig
K
Required number of machine passages
To eliminate the hooks leading hooks must be presented
to the comber and trailing hooks to the ring spinning
Fig – Leading hooks in the drafting arrangement machine As Fig and Fig show reversal of the hook
occurs at each processing stage between the card and these
machines Accordingly a definite number of machine pas-
sages are required in intervening stages Between the card
and the comber there must be an even number of pas-
sages and there must be an odd number between the card
and the ring spinning machine In rotor spinning the dispo-
sition of the hooks is of little significance
Fig – Leading hooks in the comber
C D E F
Fig – Reversal of the dispositions of hooks between the card and the comber
C card D sliver-lap machine E ribbon-lap machine F comber
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
C GI G II H R
Fig – Reversal of the dispositions of hooks between the card and the ring spinning machine
C card GI draw frame I GII draw frame II H roving frame R ring spinning machine
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
CLEANING This operation is chiefly of importance in dust removal
Impurities to be eliminated Suction is less suited to the elimination of coarse particles
than to extraction of dust Transport air is fed through filters
In cleaning it is necessary to release the adhesion of the or perforated sheets the small dust particles which have been
impurities to the fibers and to give particles an opportunity released during beating or transport pass with the air through
to separate from the stock This is achieved mostly by pick- the fine openings The flocks cannot pass
ing flocks out of the feed material and by rapid
r apid acceleration In combing needles pass completely through the body of
of these flocks over a grid Dirt dust foreign matter and fibers and draw impurities out of the inner regions This is the
neps should be eliminated only form of mechanical cleaning in which regions other than
Cleaning was always an important basic operation and simple surfaces are cleaned
it will become steadily more important For one thing
owing to machine harvesting cotton contains more and Genuine exploitation of centrifugal force in which there is
more impurities which furthermore are shattered by hard no need for beating is achieved for example in the card
ginning for another almost all new spinning processes Because of their high ratio of mass to surface when com-
impose substantially higher demands on the cleanliness pared with the fibers the dirt particles are thrown out into
of the material than the conventional methods the flats while the fibers are
ar e retained in the clothing by the
air current This system was used still more intensively
intensively in
Possibilities for cleaning the “air stream cleaner” from the former Platt company
Fig In this machine the transport flow of air and
The available possibilities for cleaning natural fibers can stock A was subjected to rapid acceleration V before the
be divided broadly into three groups transport direction was sharply altered ie by more than
• chemical cleaning E
The flocks were able to follow the diversion but the
• wet cleaning washing heavier impurities flowed straight on through a slot in the
• mechanical cleaning duct into a waste box C
However as impurities have become smaller and smaller
This discussion will be confined to mechanical cleaning in recent decades this system does not function any longer
in which usually only particles on the surface of the flocks – it has been abandoned
can be removed
The following procedures can be used
• striking falling out
B
• beating ejecting
• scraping separation
• suction separation
•• use
combing extracting
of centrifugal force ejecting
E
Striking carried out by pins noses etc on the opening
devices leads to repeated collisions of the flocks with the
grid-bars causing foreign particles to drop through
In a beating operation the flocks are subjected to a sudden A
strong blow The inertia of the impurities accelerated to C
a high speed is substantially greater than that of the opened
flocks owing to the low air-resistance of the impurities
The latter are hurled against the grid and because of their
small size pass between the grid-bars into the waste box V
while the flocks continue around the periphery of the rotat-
ing beater Impurities can be scraped off when the fibers are
guided under relatively high friction over machine compo-
nents grid-bars mote knives or even other fibers
Fig – Former Platt air-stream cleaner
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Grid and mote knives • Above a certain optimum roller speed no improvement
in the elimination capability is achieved but stress on
Ignoring perforated surfaces and combs separation of the fibers goes on rising and so does fiber loss
stock and impurities is achieved by devices which let the • Cleaning is made more difficult if the impurities of
impurities pass but retain the stock In most cases a grid dirty cotton are distributed through a larger quantity
beneath the beater is used and this can be addition- of material by mixing with clean cotton
ally fitted with one or two mote knives in front of the grid • Damp stock cannot be cleaned as well as dry
Fig Grids can be made of perforated sheet low elimi- • High material throughput reduces the cleaning effect
nation effect slotted sheet low elimination effect bars and so does a thick feed sheet
with edges arranged one after the other A controlled influ-
ence on the elimination effect can be obtained by means of Degree of cleaning and resistance to cleaning
grid and mote knives The intensity of cleaning depends on
the spacing of the grid from the opening device the setting
angle of the bars relative to the opening device the width
A C
of the gaps between the bars
b a
Fig – Co-operation of opening element grid bars a and mote knife b
Influencing factors
• The larger the dirt particles the better they can be
removed
• Since almost every blowroom machine can shatter par-
ticles as many impurities as possible should be elimi-
nated at the start of the process
Fig – Increasing degree of cleaning from machine to machine
• Opening should be followed immediately by cleaning A degree of cleaning of blowroom machines C degree of cleaning on the
if possible in the same machine vertical axis V feed material M - M blowroom machines - C card
• The higher the degree of opening the higher the degree
of cleaning
• A very high cleaning effect is almost always obtained Whereas formerly the cleaning effect of a machine could
at the expense of high fiber loss only be estimated today it can be established fairly
• In borderline cases there should be slightly less clean- exactly reproducibly and so as to enable comparisons to be
ing in the blowroom and slightly more at the card made For this purpose the cleaning index C is
is defined as
• Where a waste recycling installation is in use a some-
DF - DD
what higher waste percentage can be accepted in the C T = × %
blowroom DF
• Higher roller speeds result in a better cleaning effect
but also more stress on the fibers where DF the
dirt content dirtdelivered
of the content ofmaterial
the feed and
material
T DD the
total
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
The dirt content is usually determined with the aid of gravi- Firstly increasingly strict laws have been passed regarding
metrical methods such as MDTA AFIS or Shirley Analyser observation of specified dust-concentration
dust-concentration limits in the air
Fig from Trützschler illustrates the cleaning indi- of blowing rooms and secondly many new spinning pro-
ces of individual machines and the complete blowroom/ cesses especially OE rotor spinning react very sensitively
card installation to dust
However the removal of dust is not simple Dust particles
The cleaning index is heavily but not solely dependent on are very light and therefore float with the cotton in the air
the dirt content The particle size and adhesion of the dirt transport stream Furthermore the particles adhere quite
to the fibers among other things also have an influence strongly to the fibers If they are to be eliminated they
Hence the cleaning index may be different for different cot- must be rubbed off The main elimination points for adher-
ton types with the same dirt
dir t content There are types that ing dust therefore are those points in the process at which
can be cleaned easily and others that can be cleaned only high fiber/metal friction or high fiber/fiber friction is pro-
with difficulty duced The former arises in the card between the main cyl-
A new concept has been introduced to represent this ease inder and the flats and the latter arises in drafting arrange-
of cleaning namely‚ “cleaning resistance” Fig ments mainly in the draw frame Today
Today the draw frame
fr ame is
shows the conditions in a horizontal cleaner a good dust removal machine owing to the suction extrac-
• zone I represents a cotton with low cleaning resistance tion system around the drafting arrangement Material leav-
• zone II a cotton with medium resistance and ing the draw frame contains only about of the dust
• zone III a cotton with high cleaning resistance originally present or newly created
Dust that separates easily from the fibers is removed as
far as possible in the blowroom Various machinery manu-
A
I II III
facturers offer special dust-removing machines or equip-
ment to be installed in the blowroom These operate mostly
with perforated surfaces together with suction However
it must always be borne in mind that flocks resting on the
perforated surface act as a filter so that generally only the
undersides can be cleaned
It is also important that dust released during processing
is sucked away immediately at the point of release
B
C
Fig – Resistance to cleaning cleaning compliance of various types
of cotton
A degree of cleaning of the machine
B initial dirt content of the cotton
I zone of low resistance to cleaning
II zone of medium resistance to cleaning
III zone of high resistance to cleaning
Dust removal
Cotton contains very little dust before ginning but working
of the material on the machines causes dust Even where
dust is removed new dust is being created through shat-
tering of impurities and smashing and rubbing of fibers
Formerly dust was of no great significance for the spinner
but now it poses a problem
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
BLENDING The determination of the evenness of a blend eg of syn-
The purpose of blending thetic and natural fibers is costly and not simple One com-
ponent is usually dissolved out or colored differently
Raw materials
mogeneous used characteristics
in their in the spinning mill are always
In part inho-
this is inevita-
ble owing to the different cultivation conditions of natural
fibers and the different production conditions for man-
made fibers Partly it is deliberate in order to influence the
end product and the process
Blending is performed mainly in order to
• give the required characteristics to the end product
eg blending of man-made fibers with natural fibers
produces the desired easy-care characteristics
• compensate for variations in the characteristics of the
raw materials even cotton of a single origin
or igin exhibits
variability and must be blended
• hold down raw material costs blending-in of raw mate- Fig – Unevenness of the blend in the transverse direction
rial at low price level
De-blending
• influence
processingfavorably
improvethe
thebehavior
running of the material during
characteristics of short
staple material by admixture of carrier fibers and The spinner aims to distribute the different fibers evenly in
• achieve effects by varying color fiber characteristics the yarn For this purpose he must firstly produce a good
and so on blend at some stage of the process and secondly be able
to maintain the blend up to the stage of binding into the
Evaluation of the blend yarn It is a well-known fact that meeting the first of these
requirements is not always easy sometimes the second is
The evenness of the blend must always be assessed in two harder still Fibers of different length surface structure
directions the longitudinal direction and the transverse crimp etc also behave differently during movements as
direction Where there is unevenness in the longitudinal individuals A “de-blending” effect can very often arise
direction yarn portions exhibit different percentage dis- During rolling of fibers in hoppers bale openers hopper
tributions of the individual components Fig These feeders migration of the components occurs where the
can lead to stripiness Where there is unevenness in the fibers have different structures eg cotton and man-made
transverse direction the fibers are poorly distributed in the fibers A similar effect is found during drawing in draft-
yarn section Fig This irregularity leads to an uneven ing arrangements
or surface Fibers with large
form smooth/rough differences
dyed/undyed indo
etc length
not
appearance of the finished product
exhibit the same cohesive contact with each other
When a drafting force is applied they move differently
– this leads to clumping of fibers into clusters and finally
to de-blending Pneumatic transport can also cause
/ / / de-blending
Fig – Unevenness of the blend in the longitudinal direction
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Types of blending operations is often unsatisfactory in the longitudinal direction owing to
Possibilities uncontrolled extraction of flocks from the bales and the dan-
ger of subsequent de-blending
Blending can be carried out at various process stages by
using various methods equipment machines and interme- Flock blending
diate products The following can be distinguished
distinguished
This is already substantially finer than mixing of bales and
BLENDING TYPE PROCESS STAGE is becoming steadily more important because of the use of
automatic bale-opening machines not always a sufficient
Bale mixing before the blowroom
number of bales in the mix Flock blending takes place in
Flock bbllending within th
the bbllowroom an uncontrolled manner inevitably and to a small degree
Lap bl
blending by us
using ssccutchers at each blowroom machine It occurs in a controlled man-
ner and to a greater degree at weighing-hopper feeders and
Web bl
blen
endi
ding
ng at th
thee rrib
ibbo
bon-
n-la
lapp mac
machi
hine
ne or th
thee bble
lend
ndin
ingg
blending machines
draw frame
It normally has the same advantages and disadvantages as
Sliv
Sliver
er blen
blendi
ding
ng at the
the ddra
raw
w fra
frame
me tthe
he sl
sliv
iver
er-l
-lap
ap mach
machin
inee bale mixing but in these systems both the longitudinal and
or the comber
transverse blends are mostly satisfactory because of the
Fiber
iber bl
blen
endi
ding
ng at th
thee ccar
ardd or
or tthe
he OE sp
spin
inni
ning
ng mach
machin
inee possibility of metering However the longitudinal blend can
be substantially improved if blending is carried out imme-
Ro
Rovi
ving
ng blen
blendi
ding
ng at the
the ri
ring
ng sp
spin
inni
ning
ng mach
machin
inee diately before the card since hardly any rolling movement
and consequently de-blending occurs thereafter
In addition a distinction must also be made between con-
Flock blending is becoming more important in many coun-
trolled and uncontrolled blending In uncontrolled blend-
tries nowadays
ing the components are brought together at random and
without a mixing system eg often in bale mixing In con-
Lap blending
trolled blending the individual components are supplied to
the machines in an ordered fashion and precisely metered
This is hardly used now but was previously used occasion-
eg in weighing-hopper feeders The various blending
ally eg for blending cotton with man-made fibers A dou-
processes often differ widely from one another with respect
bling scutcher is required in this case this has a conveyor
to capital cost labor-intensiveness precision of blending
lattice in the infeed on which four to six laps L could be
liability to error and simplicity Each method has advan-
laid Fig and jointly rolled-off The lap-sheets from
tages and disadvantages It is therefore not possible to put
these laps passed doubled through a beater position fol-
forward patent recipes for the use of one or another blend-
lowed by a pair of cages and a lap-winding device
ing principle
Bale mixing L L L L
This is carried out at the start of the process – for both natu-
ral fibers and man-made fibers since even man-made fibers
exhibit variations in their characteristics
From to bales are laid out for simultaneous flock
extraction With careful use this enables the yarn character- Fig – Lap blending on an old scutcher
istics to be kept almost uniform over several years Blending
conditions are very favorable if controlled mixing is carried
Lap blending produces very good transverse blends and
out ie if the bales are selected and laid out within toler-
also a good longitudinal
l ongitudinal blend because subsequent roll-
ance limits so that for all the bales taken together the same
ing movements are also excluded here In addition it has
average values of fiber length fineness and/or strength are
the advantage of all scutcher installations
installations a high degree of
always obtained Since it is followed by many other process-
flexibility in operation with a variety of feed materials This
ing stages bale mixing gives a good blend in the transverse
direction cross section With widely differing raw materi- flexibility howevand
however
nomic operation er iscomplication
achieved at the expense
since of uneco-
an additional pro-
als eg blends of natural and man-made fibers the blend
cessing stage must be included
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Web blending which performs further blending does not follow the draw
frame the individual components remain as adjacent fiber
Web blending Fig has been used for a long time at strands in the yarn This can produce stripiness in the fin-
the ribbon-lap machine admittedly not to bring
br ing together ished product
different components but rather to provide a very even
lap as feed material for the comber Another development Fiber blending
was a draw frame which enabled controlled blending to
be achieved by bringing together components in web form Without any doubt the most intimate blend is obtained if
after drafting on four drafting arrangements instead individual fibers are brought together This can be achieved
of doubling in sliver form This gives a good longitudinal only on the cotton card to a small degree on the woolen
blend and also a slightly better transverse blend than is card sometimes fairly intensively and in rotor spinni
spinning
ng
obtained with sliver blending but with higher costs and over short lengths only Controlled metered blending can-
more effort mainly in maintenance adjustments
adjustments etc not be carried out on these machines but can only make
a previously produced blend more intimate
Roving blending
This is not common in short-staple spinning mills Some
use is still made of the process in wool spinning for produc-
ing fancy yarns Two rovings of different colors are
a re fed into
the drafting arrangement of the ring
r ing spinning machine
Since the single fibers do not blend in the drafting arrange-
Fig – Web blending ment but the fiber strand is twisted directly after passing
the drafting arrangement either one or the other color pre-
Sliver blending dominates over short lengths of thread The yarn is called
jaspé yarn Another application is the production of SIRO-
For the most part blending of natural and man-made fibers yarns two-ply replacement
is still carried out in sliver form on the draw frame This
provides the best blend in the longitudinal direction Up to Blending procedures
the draw frame each raw material can be processed sepa- Stages in the blending operation
rately on the machines best suited to it However an addi-
tional blending passage must be inserted preceding the Blending is carried out in three stages Fig
two usual draw frame passages in the cotton-spinning mill • metering determination and precise establishment
For a /
together withblend four slivers
two slivers of the of onecomponent
other component–are fed in
assum- • of the quantities
mixing of the
ie bringing individual
together components
the metered quantities
ing equal sliver hank Fig The main disadvantage • intermingling
intermingling ie distributing the components evenly
aside from the necessity of a third draw frame passage is in the body of fibers
poor transverse blending in the product Since a machine
Metering
Components Mixing Intermingling
Not Homogeneous Homogeneous
Metering
Fig – Blending of slivers of different raw materials Fig – Stages of the blending operation
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Each stage is as important as the other However difficul-
ties arise primarily in intermingling and in maintaining the
blend once it has been achieved The latter is very difficult
with fibers of different surface structure and varying energy-
absorbing capacity on stretching because de-blending tends
to occur at various processing stages
Metering
The following methods are distinguished
distinguished
• Random mixing for example as occurs within blow-
room machines cards etc
• Metered but intermittent mixing
mixing for example as occurs
in weighing-hopper feeders where the components are
fed intermittently in batches
• Metered and continuous mixing
mixing for example in the
A UNIblend Rieter the Flockblender Trützschler
Trützschler
and the draw frame Formation of batches does not
take place in the draw frame but the individual compo-
nents probably remain as strands throughout the whole
product
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
REDUCING THE UNEVENNESS OF YARN • The number of fibers in the section steadily decreases
Uniform arrangement of the fibers becomes more diffi-
MASS
Unevenness of yarn mass
cult the smaller their number
• Each drafting operation increases the unevenness
The unevenness limit
The contribution made by any one machine to the overall
The spinner tries to produce yarn with the highest possible
deterioration in evenness can be calculated If for exam-
degree of homogeneity In this connection evenness of the
ple a ring-spu
r ing-spunn yarn produced from a roving with a CV
yarn mass is of the greatest importance In order to produce
value of has an unevenness of CV then the
an absolutely regular yarn all fiber characteristics would have
contribution of the ring spinning machine is
to be uniformly distributed over the whole thread However
that is ruled out by the inhomogeneity of the fiber material and
CV actual = CV feed + CV additional
by the mechanical constraints Accordingly there are limits to
achievable yarn evenness Martindale indicates that in the best
for our example
possible case if all favorable conditions occurred together the
following evenness limit could be achieved for ring-spun yarn CV additional = 13.6 2 - 4 2 = 13 %
80
Ulim × 1 + 0.0004CV 2D Unevenness over different lengths
n
or A length of yarn for example of mm contains only few
100 fibers Every irregular arrangement of only some of these fibers
CV lim × 1 + 0.0004CV 2D has a strong influence on the unevenness In a length of yarn of
n
m incorrect arrangement of the same fibers would hardly
be noticed against the background of the large number of
where n is the number of fibers in the yarn cross section and such fibers in the total length Accordingly the CV value
value of the
CV D is the coefficient of variation of the fiber diameter Since
same yarn can be for example based on mm length
the variation in the diameter of cotton and man-made fibers and only based on m length The degree of irregu-
is small enough to be ignored in industrial use the equations larity is dependent upon the reference length Unevenness is
reduce to therefore discussed in terms of short lengths Uster Tester
80 100 medium lengths seldom used long lengths count variation
Ulim or CV lim If the coefficients of variation are arranged in a co-ordinate
n n
system in accordance with their reference lengths then the
well-known length-variation curve is obtained shown here
This can be expressed admittedly to an approximation
as CV U The number of fibers can be estimated from in simplified
over form in
short lengths areFig If continual
involved variations
then an uneven of mass of
appearance
the relation the product will result Mass variations over medium to long
tex yarn lengths lead to stripiness in the product and variations over
nF = long lengths lead to bars in knitted and woven fabrics
tex fiber
CV
The unevenness index I is
is used in evaluation of the even-
ness achieved in operation This is
CV actual
I =
CV lim
Deterioration in evenness during processing
In processing in the spinning mill the unevenness of the
product increases from stage to stage after the draw frame cm cm m m m km
L
There are two reasons for this
Fig – Length variation curve CV L
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Basic possibilities for equalizing If two draw frames operate as passages I and
and II respec-
tively and each has two deliveries then all cans from deliv-
Each processing stage is a source of faults Drafting ery of the first passage can be passed only to delivery I of
of
arrangements in particular increase unevenness very con- the second passage and the cans of delivery can be han-
siderably In order finally to achieve usable yarn charac- dled in the same way
teristics the process must include operations that have an This gives a straight-line throughflow However half the
equalizing effect These can be doubling leveling drawing cans of the first passage could also be crossed over ie in
while simultaneously imparting twist the transverse direction Fig for feed to the second
Doubling is still the most widely used but leveling is passage Transverse doubling can improve both mainte-
becoming gradually more significant Drawing while twist- nance of long-term evenness and blending Unfortunately
ing simultaneously is now found on a significant scale only owing to the elimination of machine passages and the con-
in woolen-spinning mills These operations are sketched tinual increase in production speeds transverse doubling is
out below becoming steadily more infrequent in practice Previously
an important transverse doubling point was for example
Doubling lap blending between the scutcher and the card
The averaging effect
In this buffer zone the laps were laid out in one vertical
This is a simple not very precise but mostly adequate direction and removed in the other horizontal
horizontal
method of equalizing Fig Several intermediate prod-
ucts are fed in together for example several slivers into
a drafting arrangement and a single new product is pro- I II
duced There is only a small probability that all thin places
and separately all thick places will coincide On the con-
trary they will tend to be distributed and so to offset each
other admittedly largely at random Only variations over
short-to-medium lengths can be averaged out
Fig – Transverse doubling at the draw frame
Back-doubling
In the past doubling could be carried out only with inter-
mediate products such as slivers webs etc With the use
of rotorie
arisen spinning a still
doubling more intensive possibility
of fibers possibility has
The opening roller and feed tube separate the sliver almost
into individual fibers These are re-collected into a body of
Fig – The averaging-out effect in doubling fibers in the rotor the fibers being laid neatly one upon the
other in the rotor groove
Transverse doubling
This so-called back-doubling results in intimate blending
In principle every doubling process is a transverse dou- and good equalizing but only over the length of the rotor
bling because the feeds are united side by side In this con- circumference Long-term unevenness which may already
text however the expression
expression is used to refer to a quite spe- be present in the sliver cannot be positively influen
influenced
ced
cific type of blending ie transverse doubling
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Leveling t
Measuring open- and closed-loop control F
E
For better understanding of the subsequent remarks these A
three concepts will be defined briefly by using room heat-
ing as an example If a thermometer is provided in a heated
D
room and the temperature is read then nothing more has
happened than the determination of a condition by measur-
ing If that condition is not satisfactory then appropriate C B
action would be required The heating system could how-
ever also be controlled with the aid of an external thermo- Fig – The principle of open-loop control
stat More or less heat could be supplied depending upon A measuring sensor B store C amplifier D adjusting device
the outside temperature E adjustment point F set-value input
As long as the conditions in the room remain constant
– if for example only one person is present all the time – Closed-loop control
no problems arise If the owner of the apartment gives
a party for - people however then it will certainly The measuring sensor is usually arranged in the deliv-
become very warm Open-loop systems lack a check upon ery region ie downstream from the adjusting device
the effects of a change even as to whether a change has Fig In contrast to open-loop control the measuring
occurred The system can be referred to as a control chain point is after the adjusting point The same measuring reg-
The system is different if a thermostat is provided in the ulating and adjusting devices can be used but no storage
room itself and is set for a specific temperature There is is needed Moreover the actual value does not have to be
a continual comparison of the actual and the set condi- established as an absolute value but can be derived as neg-
tions and the temperature is held constant regardless of ative positive or neutral pulses
what happens in the room This operation with constant
self-monitoring can be referred to as a closed-loop control
G
system Both open-loop and closed-loop control are used in
F
spinning mills In every case the volume of fibers passing
through is measured and adjustment is made by altering A
the draft This can be carried out as described below
Open-loop control
D
A
formeasuring
continuoussensor is provided
detection in the value
of the actual regionvolume
of the infeed
volume C
– mechanically optically pneumatically or otherwise
Fig A regulator compares the result with the set ref- Fig – The principle of closed-loop control
erence value amplifies the difference signal and feeds it to A measuring sensor C amplifier D adjusting device
F set-value input G dead-time distance
an adjusting device actuator which then finally converts
the impulse into a mechanical adjustment
Control by this chain of steps requires
r equires an additional ele- If too much material passes through the sensor the regu-
ment namely a storage device Since the material has lating transmission receives a negative signal ie reduce
to travel a certain
cer tain distance between the measuring and speed until the actual and set values coincide again
adjusting points and therefore arrives at the adjusting Neither a positive nor a negative signal is produced when
point with a time delay the signal must be held back in the there is coincidence – the instantaneous speed is main-
storage device until this instant This additional require- tained The principle is substantially simpler than open-
ment represents a second disadvantage of open-loop con- loop control However this advantage and the advantage
trol in addition to the lack of self-monitoring There is of self-monitoring must be weighed against a serious dis-
ament
thirdare
disadvantage since
required at all very exact values of the adjust-
times advantage namely
The measured thehas
portion dead time inherent
already in the
passed the system
adjusting
point when the adjusting signal arrives
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Compensation cannot be achieved in this measured por-
tion ie some of the long and medium-term errors and all
of the short-term errors remain in the product It is there-
fore clear that closed-loop control is unsuited to compensa-
tion of irregularity over short lengths
Adjustment of the draft
Compensation is effected by altering the degree of draft In
a drafting arrangement both the break draft and the main
draft could be adjusted but the main draft is almost always
used
Since this draft is greater than the break draft it permits
finer modification In addition alteration of the break draft
could result in entry into the stick-slip region
There is also a choice between adjustment of the feed or
delivery speed In cotton-spinning
cotton-spinning mills adjustment of the
feed speed is generally used Changing the delivery speed
would among
production other things
conditions Howevlead
er iftocards
However continually changing
and draw frames
are combined into production units constant infeed speed
is required to maintain synchronism
Drafting with simultaneous twisting
If twist is imparted to a fiber strand it takes effect prima-
rily where it encounters least resistance ie in the thin
places
If a draft is now applied to the strand the fibers begin to
slide apart at the locations where the friction between
them is least ie where the twist is lowest This is at the
thick places They are drawn first until they reach the vol-
ume of the thin places
After thatuniformly
portions the twist If
isanother
distributed
thinand thewere
place drafttoaffects
arise all
the
whole procedure would be repeated
r epeated Compensation occurs
continually This operation is typical of selfactor spinning
and woolen spinning systems
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
ATTENUA
ATTENUATION
TION DRAF
DRAFT
T operations always run irregularly
irregularly and each draft stage will
The draft of the drafting arrangement therefore always lead to an increase in unevenness
Draft and attenuation
In most spinning mills today the first intermediate product v v v
is a card sliver It contains about - fibers in
cross-section
This number must be reduced in several operating stages to
about in the yarn cross-section The reduction can be
effected in two ways I II III
• through the draft ie the distribution of an approxi-
mately constant total number of fibers over a greater
length of the product or A B
• through elimination of fibers loss into waste p Fig – Draft through a roller drafting arrangement
Elimination is not an intentional reduction of the number Drafting is effected mostly on roller-drafting arrangements
of fibers but arises as an unavoidable side effect of the Fig The fibers are firmly nipped between the bottom
necessity for cleaning it occurs in the blowroom in card- steel rollers and the weighted top pressure rollers If the
ing and in combing Fiber loss is intentional in combing rollers
speed inarethe
now rotated in such
throughflow a wayincreases
direction that theirfrom
per ipheral
peripheral
roller
as the aim is to remove short fibers
However since drafting takes place simultaneously
simultaneously here pair to roller pair then the drawing apart of the fibers ie
the term “attenuation” is used This is defined by the draft takes place This is defined as the ratio of the
delivered length LD to feed length LF or the ratio of the
100 corresponding peripheral speeds
Attenuation = Draft ×
(100 - p)
LD v D
V= =
LF v F
p is the waste percentage
The reduction of the number of fibers in the cross-section where v
peripheral speed of cylinder D delivery and
logically leads to a reduction in diameter of the strand In F
feed The drafting arrangement illustrated has two sub-
terms of fineness the following relationship is obtained drafting zones namely
draf t zone B V B v / v and
• a break draft
d A tex A • a main draft zone A V M v / v
=
d Z tex Z The total draft is always the product of the individual drafts
where d A diameter of delivered product and not the sum
d Z diameter of infeed product
V total = V × V × V n
The drafting operation The drafting operation in the drafting arrangement
Drafting force
During drafting the fibers must be moved relative to each
other as uniformly as possible by overcoming the cohesive As fibers are carried along with the roller surfaces they are
friction Uniformity implies in this context that all fibers are drawn apart For this to occur the fibers must assume the
controllably rearranged with a shift relative to each other peripheral speed of the rollers The transfer of the roller
equal to the degree of draft speed to the fibers represents one of the problems of draft-
However such regularity is utopian as regards both the ing operations The transfer can be effected only by fric-
fiber material and the mechanical means available Drafting tion but the fiber strand is fairly thick and only its outer
layers have contact
non-constant forceswith thethe
act on rollers
fibersfurthermore
fur thermore various
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
For the purpose of illustration Fig the forces acting Besides the number of fibers in the cross-section the
on a fiber f in
in the drafting
draf ting arrangement will be considered drafting force is also heavily dependent upon
here The fiber is bedded at its trailing end in a body of • the arrangement of the fibers in the strand parallel
fibers B which is moving forward slowly at speed v or crossed hooks
The leading end is already in a body of fibers B hav- • cohesion between the fibers surface structure
ing a higher speed v In this example a tensile force F Z crimp finish etc
acts on the fiber f this arises from the adjacent fibers of • fiber length
the body B already moving at the higher speed and the • nip spacing
retaining force F R exerted by the fibers of the body B
To allow acceleration of the fiber f and finally a draft F Z Stick-slip motion
must be greater than F R Permanent deformation of the
fiber strand could not be achieved if F Z is only slightly With a small amount of draft namely with V between
between
greater than F R In this case straightening and elonga- and the drafting forces are often inadequate to induce
tion of the fibers would produce a temporary extension permanent relative fiber shifts In this region the so-
which would immediately disappear on removal of the called critical drafting region extremely disruptive stick-
extending force slip effects are often observed
Here the drafting force has to take the fibers from
As already indirectly indicated drafting takes place a static condition motionless coherence of the fibers
in •three operatingofstages
straightening the fibers decrimping in
setathe
compact
fibers strand
in motionto arelative
dynamicto condition that isAsto
their neighbors
• elongation of the fibers often also found in other fields this mechanical opera-
• sliding of the fibers out of the surrounding fiber tion not only requires considerable force but also does
strand not always occur without disturbance In the critical
region the drafting force may suffice to overcome the
The effective drafting force can be represented by the frictional coherence instantaneously but not to maintain
curve form shown in Fig Up to point m at which the acceleration
fibers begin to slide apart the curve climbs steeply This The fibers are therefore braked and again take on the
is the straightening and extending stage From point n speed of their slowly moving neighbors
onwards by which stage many fibers are already sliding The drafting force will again take effect and accelerate
the curve falls slowly with increasing draft The reduc- the fibers but will not be able to maintain the accelera-
tion of the drafting force with the increasing extent of tion Thus there is a continual changing of conditions
draft is easy to explain – there is a continuously declin- between acceleration and standstill ie a kind of stop-
ing number of fibers to be accelerated ie to be drawn and-go movement with often disastrous consequences for
out of the
of draft slowlyfewer
implies moving strand
fibers since
in the a higher degree
cross-section the evenness
clearly In the as
recognizable force-draft diagram
greater or smallerFig this is
deviations
FT v v n
m
FZ FR
P
B B
f
D
Fig – The forces acting on fiber f during drafting Fig – Drafting force diagram
F magnitude of the drafting force D magnitude of the draft
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
For cotton sliver the critical drafting region lies somewhere Floating fibers
between V and and for cotton roving on the ring
spinning machine it is between V and For man- With a roller setting of for example mm a mm fiber
made fibers for which the stick-slip
stick-slip effect is usually more would be theoretically under control for / or / of its
strongly marked the range lies somewhat higher depending path and would be without control for only / a mm
upon friction between fibers eg delustering spin finish etc fiber on the other hand would be controlled over only /
Operating in the critical drafting region can be risky and uncontrolled over / These floating fibers are the prob-
lem in drafting
Behavior of fibers in the drafting zone The ideal movement of the fibers would be achieved if the
Fiber guidance whole fiber strand moved with speed v into the nip region of
the delivery roller pair without internal shifts and if drawing-
Fibers arriving for processing exhibit very considerable out of fibers first occurs here and if only the nipped fibers
length variations In a drafting field they are therefore were drawn out In this case each fiber would have either
found in two conditions see Fig speed v or speed v at any given instant
• guided a b c The fibers would be continuously guided under control This
• floating d
is achievable to the maximum extent however only when the
infed fiber mass is glued together as in the former Pavil spin-
Fiber a which has a greater length than the nip spacing and ning system from Rieter since fiber acceleration can then
thus temporarily
at least one rollerextends across
pair at all timesboth
andnip linesmoved
is thus is gripped by
in a con- occur only
Under when
normal the fibers arehowever
circumstances gripped by the front are
conditions rollers
not
trolled fashion As far as only fiber guidance is concerned this nearly so favorable The majority of floating fibers can take on
fiber is optimal but nevertheless causes disturbance Firstly any speed between v and v at any instant in their movement
when it is gripped at two places with different speeds it may through the drafting zone or can even change speed several
break secondly if it can resist the tension it will be pulled out times which always leads to greater or lesser unevenness
unevenness
of one nip line dragging neighboring fibers with it This leads Fortunately however there are a few helpful circumstances
Fortunately
to fiber clumps and hence to unevenness Fibers b c and d which reduce these adverse influences to some extent
are shorter than the roller spacing Upon entry into the draft- A certain additional guidance of floating fibers is achieved by
ing field they will first move with speed v as fiber b When • a sufficient number of longer fibers as carrier fibers for the
they finally pass into the nip region of the delivery roller they shorter ones
will take on the speed v as fiber c In both cases they are • guiding devices
devices such as rollers needles aprons etc and
subject to controlled guidance and movement Over a certain • the friction field
field
interval of their movement however ie after leaving the
nip line of the entry roller pair and before reaching the nip of This last factor which is extremely important for drafting
the delivery
– they roller pair
are floating like they
fiber are
d without controlled guidance behavior will now be dealt with specifically
v v
a
c b
d
I II
D
Fig – Drafting force diagram for the stick-slip zone
Fig – Guided and floating fibers in the drafting field
F magnitude of the drafting force D magnitude of the draft
The zigzag line shows the continuous change from sticking to slipping
and back of the fibers
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Friction fields The individual parameters produce the following effects
The fiber friction field High roller pressure causes strong compression and a cor-
respondingly long friction field but only up to an opti-
The top rollers must be pressed against the bottom roll- mum pressure Since in modern drafting arrangements
ers with considerable pressure to ensure that the fibers are pressures have already reached the optimum no further
transported This pressure is not only effective in the vertical improvement in fiber guidance can be expected from pres-
direction but also spreads through the fiber stock in the hori- sure increases Very hard top rollers eg steel rollers
zontal direction The compression of the fibers and thus the Fig a give very high pressure in the center of the nip
inter-fiber friction is transmitted into the drafting zone The line However since the outer layers can evade the pres-
intensity declines however with increasing distance from sure there is a steep decline in the pressure curve from
the nip line and finally reduces to zero The friction field is an the center towards each edge It is therefore clear that the
extremely important medium of fiber guidance It keeps friction field cannot be very long in directions away from
the disturbing effect of drafting within tolerable bounds the nip line An improvement is obtained with a covering
Fig b of medium hardness and the optimum for loose
but compact fiber material is a soft covering Fig c
since it completely surrounds the fiber body Similar results
are obtained with rollers of different diameter Fig
Rollers of larger diameter which spread the total pressing
force over
a larger a greater
pressure areaThe
width giveincreased
a lower pressure peak but
friction penetrates
more deeply into the drafting zone
Fig – The friction field created in the fiber strand by applied pressure
Each drafting zone has two friction fields – a rear field spread-
ing outwards from the infeed roller pair and a front field
spreading backwards from the delivery roller pair If the rollers
are set too close to each other so that the fields overlap then
drafting disturbance will arise
If on the other hand the spacing is too great and the interme- a b c
diate zone between the two friction fields too long then poor Fig – Effect of roller hardness on the friction field
guidance of the floating fibers results in high unevenness The
ideal condition is achieved when the rear field extends far into
the drafting zone in order to guide the fibers over a long dis- The mass of the
the number fiber body
of fibers exerts
A very lowits effect
mass mainly through
is identical with
tance and the front field is short but strongly defined so that a lack of contact surface and hence a lack of friction The
as far as possible only the nipped fibers are drawn out of the friction field is short
fiber strand
Influencing factors
Both the spinner and the machine designer can exert strong
influence on the friction field via
• pressure of the top rollers
• hardness of the top roller coverings
• roller diameter
• mass of the fiber strand
• density of the strand
•• width
cross-section of the strand
of the strand
• twist in the strand Fig – Effect of roller diameter on the friction field
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
High density ie strong compression facilitates wide Other drafting possibilities
spreading of pressure and friction and thus gives a long Mule spinning
friction field
The cross-section of the body of fibers is of decisive impor- If the product to be drafted is firmly held at one end and
tance A thin strand which readily moves apart can take is moved at the other end away from the fixing point then
up neither pressure nor friction
fr iction and therefore does not give drawing apart results ie a draft occurs Admittedly auxil-
a well-defined friction field iary support is needed
This is a problem in so far as the fibers spread out during In order to prevent the thread sliding apart at its weakest
each drafting operation the body of fibers thus becomes point the thread must be given protective twist see
gradually broader Attempts are made to oppose this by
compressing the fiber strand within condensers in the draft- Draft at the opening roller
ing arrangement
However this is not optimally effective since undesired Neither the drafting arrangement nor the mule spinner can
delaying forces are produced by friction at the stationary draw the fiber strand out into individual fibers If this is
condensing elements and the resulting broad fiber ribbon required opening rollers must be used The principle is
is not really rounded but only folded on itself Only a round familiar from the licker-in of the card and is today deliber-
cross-section gives the optimum result Better still is ately exploited in new spinning processes for example in
a strand having protective twist which holds the fiber rotor spinning machines A small rapidly rotating roller
mass
If together
influence in be
is to a round andoncompact
exerted formfield
the friction iebyroving
adjust- clothed with
out of the saw-teeth
slowly movingorfeed
needles tearssliver
material individual
Thisfibers
type
ment of individual parameters then it should be borne in of draft cannot be used in all conventional spinning sys-
mind that strong interactions are found throughout the tems since it not only disrupts parallelization of the fibers
whole drafting process already achieved but also completely eliminates the reten-
tion of the fibers in a strand This leads to the necessity for
Distribution of draft a subsequent collecting device which is also straightenin
straighteningg
the fibers
Three-line drafting arrangements with two draft zones
are generally used in the short staple spinning mill In Asia Additional effects of draft
still four- or five-line drafting arrangements
arr angements are in use The
task of the draft in the first draft zone break draft is sim- In addition to the reduction in diameter draft causes
ply to prepare the main draft in the second zone The fibers • stretching out of the fibers
must be straightened and extended to such a degree that • straightening
straightening of the fibers
the main draft can immediately cause fiber movements • parallelizing of the fibers
without
work Instill
thisbeing strongly
way the main burdened with
draft can be preparatory
effected with less All of these represent important operations for spinning
disturbance
The extent of break draft normally lies below the critical
draft region In some cases a higher break draft is needed
however eg in draw frames and ring spinning machines
with drafts around and above In this case break
drafts above the critical figure are selected
The main draft must be adapted to the drafting conditions
mainly the fiber mass in the drafting zone and the arrange-
ment of the fibers in the strand The draft can be increased
with increasing fineness of the intermediate product and
also with increasing parallelization of the fibers Since the
fibers in card sliver are relatively randomly oriented the
draft in the first draw frame passage should not be too high
Unless there are conflicting reasons the draft can then be
increased at the second passage and so on continually to
the ring spinning machine
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
YARN FORMATION Fiber disposition
Assembly of fibers to make up a yarn
Arrangement of the fibers The yarn buyers expect that the yarn they receive is besides
other quality features even in structure and appearance
The characteristics of a yarn are strongly dependent upon However an even yarn is achievable only by fulfilling some
the characteristics of its fibers but they are equally depend- preconditions These preconditions are very easy to explain
preconditions
ent upon the structure of the yarn itself The following fac- but very hard to obtain in every yarn cross-section of the
tors are especially significant whole yarn length there should always be
• the number of fibers in the yarn cross-section • the same number of individual fibers
• fiber disposition • the same number of fibers of every group of the same
• fiber alignment quality parameter ie length Fig a/b fineness
• position of the fibers in the strand eg long fibers thickness etc
inside short outside
• binding-in fully or only partly bound-in
• overall structure
• twist a
Number of fibers in the yarn cross-section
This determines among other things strength evenness
handle insulating capacity thread-breakage rate and the
b
spinning limit of the raw material Accordingly there are
lower limits to the number of fibers in the cross-section
as follows for normal conditions
Fig – The ideal arrangement of fibers of different lengths in the yarn
a the distribution within the yarn strand
Cotton yarns ring-spun yarn combed fibers b the length groups extracted group-wise from the strand
carded fibers
rotor-spun ya
yarn carded fib
fibers
The order of fibers within the yarn
Synthetic fiber yarns ring-spun yarn carded fibers Also expected is that the yarn has optimal strength
rotor-spun ya
yarn carded fib
fibers Nowadays yarns obtain their strength almost without
exception from twisting Therefore the strength is beyond
doubt highly dependent on the height of the twist but also
The spinning limit can then be calculated approximately on a large area of fiber-contact and that again means for
by transposition of the equation
the fibers
tex yarn • high degree of stretching-out straightening
straightening
nF = to give tex yarn = nF × tex fiber
tex fiber • highest attainable degree of parallelism
• binding-in of the whole fiber including if possible both
where nF is the number of fibers However this formula does fiber ends into the yarn structure
not take into account other parameters such as fiber length
coefficient of friction etc which also affect the spinning limit Furthermore in yarns which have not been produced by
If it is desired to ascertain the average fiber fineness using adhesives the helical winding of all or at least some
in a blended yarn the following formula can be used wrap yarns of the fibers is of decisive importance sinc
sincee
ultimately the stability and strength of the structure are
p x × tex x + p
y
× tex y derived from the pressure towards the interior exerted by
tex fiber =
100 fiber windings which are created by the twist
One reason for the lower strength of rotor-spun yarn relative
where p represents the proportion of fibers as a percentage
and the index x represents one component and the index y the
the to ring-spun
the yarn of
lower degree is straightening
the lower degree of hooks
fiber parallelization and
of the fibers
other in rotor-spun yarn
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Looking at the first two items the following operations are
responsible for imparting this order
A
• Carding the high degree of longitudinal orientation
γ 1
obtained on the main cylinder is however nullified to
a large extent by the doffer
• Combing here however parallelizing is a side-effect
which is not always desired to this extent γ 2
• Drafting this is the most usual method of imparting
order since each drafting of the fiber masses is accom- B
panied by straightening γ 3
• Floating of individual fibers in a strong air current
for example in the feed tube of the rotor-spinning
machine
Fig – The twist structure in ring-spun yarn
• Deliberate collection of fibers eg in the rotor
Accordingly fully twisted yarns with sheath-twist have high
The positions of the fibers in the
the yarn structure
tensile strength but are not so resistant to abrasion Under
Ring-spun yarns
abrasion the outer highly tensioned fibers are destroyed
Since these fibers hold the yarn together the strand loses
Owing
requiredtohelical
the twist all or some
disposition Theofnumber
the fibers
of take
fibersupaffected
the its cohesion Hairiness on the yarn surface is mainly caused
by protruding shorter fibers
by the twist and the degree of winding are strongly depen-
dent upon the spinning process In ring-spun yarns twist- Open-end spun yarns
ing takes place from the outside inwards At the periphery
the outer sheath A Fig owing to the greater degree In contrast to ring
r ing spinning twisting during rotor spinning
of winding the fibers have a lesser inclination γ angle takes place from the inside outwards The rotating brush-like
between the fibers and the axis of the yarn than in the open yarn end C Fig first catches fibers in the core and
interior of the yarn the core B Since the fibers become then with further rotation gradually takes up fibers towards
steadily less tightly wound towards the core ring-spun yarn the periphery In the interior where the fibers cannot avoid
may be said to have sheath-twist Under loading the outer the twist the strand becomes more compact but also some-
layers will tend to take the radial forces and the inner lay- what harder On the other hand towards the exterior com-
ers will tend to take the axial forces However by increasing pactness and hardness fall off to an increasing degree since
pressure inwards the radial forces reinforce axial resistance here the fibers are able partially to avoid twisting-in
to sliding apart of the fibers
Ring-spun Yarn Open-End Yarn Air-jet Yarn Wrap Yarn
jet spun two nozzles vortex spun one nozzle filament wrapped
cla ss ic compact rotor spun friction spun
false twist process
Fiber disposition
in the core parallel parallel less parallel less parallel para
parall
llel
el w
wit
itho
hout
ut ttwi
wist
st pa
para
rall
llel
el wi
with
thou
outt tw
twis
istt pa
para
rall
llel
el w
wit
itho
hout
ut ttwi
wist
st
helical helical helical helical
in the
the sh
shea
eath
th para
paralllel
lel parallel more random less parallel of fibers twisted of fibers twisted filament windings
helical helical less twisted helical around core in spirals around core in spirals
Fiber orientation
parallelism good very good medium low medium good very good
compactness compact very compact open compact to compact compact compact
round open
handle s o ft sof t hard hard hard medium to hard s o ft
ha i r i ne s s noticeable low very low low s o me low to medium very low
stiffness low low h i gh hi g h hi g h fairly high low
Table – Shows roughly the differences in structure arising from the spinning process
see also Fig
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
A further disadvantage of the loose outer layers is their sensi-
tivity to axial rubbing Since these open layers are not firmly
secured in the core they tend to accumulate in small knots
during
far passage open-end
as possible of the yarnspun
overyarns
edges guidenot
should elements etc As
be rewound
B C
Wrap yarns
Wrap yarns consist for the most part of fibers arranged in
parallel without any twist Fig These form the very
Fig – Binding-in of the fibers in open-end spinning
thick core Synthetic filament or staple fiber of the same
kind as the core material is wrapped around this core but
forms a small proportion of the fiber material If the thread
is wrapped with filament it will have high strength since
the fibers themselves are stretched out and arranged paral-
lel and are pressed closely together The filament also con-
tributes some of the strength Accordingly
Accordingly for a given yarn
strength fewer fibers are required in the cross-section
T A
Fig – Bundled yarns wrap yarns
Fig – Yarn formation in the rotor
Air-jet Yarns
Typical characteristics of this so-called core-twist are there-
fore a harder handle accompanied by a lower strength If the core fibers are wrapped only with fibers of finite
than is obtained with sheath-twist since the outer layers length staple fibers as in false-twist spinning air-jet
have relatively little twist and can thus contribute little spinning and Dref then the yarn strength is lower than
to strength However abrasion-resistance is often better that of ring-spun yarn because the relatively short fibers
Removal of outer fibers due to abrasion has little effect cannot hold the structure of the yarn together in an optimal
since these fibers did not create much strength anyhow fashion A minimum fiber length is required for production
In rotor-spun
ities yarnsisthis
One of these the outer layerofexhibits
presence otherThese
wrap fibers peculiar-
are of such
cess threadsmainly
is suitable At present therefore
for the spinningthe false-twist fibers
of man-made pro-
fibers which fly directly onto the fully created yarn as the blends of cotton and man-made fibers or combed cotton
rotor passes under the feed passage By the further rota- Airjet spinning systems using one nozzle like vortex-spun
tion of the yarn in the rotor they are wrapped around the allow higher percentages of wrap fibers resulting in better
already spun yarn like the band on a cigar This is a typical yarn properties and higher productivity
characteristic of rotor-spun yarn
Another peculiarity is a thin outer layer of fibers with Yarn structure
hardly any twist or even with twist in the reverse sense
This arises from the false twist between the navel Fig T One aspect of structure is the visual appearance created
and the binding-in zone A In the latter during each rota- solely by the peripheral layer of the yarn and a second
tion of the rotor new fibers join on to the already well aspect is the internal and external make-up Yarn structures
twisted fiber strand These latecomers receive only a frac- are very variable The differences are partly
par tly deliberately
tion of the desired twist level If this low twist is less than caused depending on the intended use of the yarn but for
the false-twist effect the fibers are twisted in the reverse the most part they are predetermined by the means avail-
sense during cancellation of the false twist reverse twist- able For example it is difficult to produce a yarn equiva-
ing at the navel and are thus wrapped around the other lent to a ring-spun yarn by the new spinning processes
fibers with reverse twist
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
– and the ring-spun
r ing-spun yarn still represents the standard of from the interior Migration takes place from the sheath
comparison Table to the core and vice versa Such migration is of course
The yarn structure is dependent primarily upon the raw most prevalent during yarn formation but still occurs after
material spinningtwist
machine settings process
etcspinning unit machine
The structure can be open or yarn formation
exerted is completed
on the yarn When
eg during the smallest
bending tensileforces are
loading
closed voluminous or compact smooth or rough or hairy etc the persisting tensions in the fibers constituting the
soft or hard round or flat thin or thick etc yarn lead to continuation of the process of fiber migration
But yarn structure is not simply appearance It has even after the completion of yarn formation For example
a greater or lesser influence on the short fibers work their way to the surface and are then
• handle partly rubbed off Moreover some fibers in the body of the
• strength yarn lose their helical dispositions during fiber migration
• elongation this effect is more prominent the shorter the fibers and the
• insulating capacity more random their arrangement
• covering power In addition to its dependence on length
l ength fiber migration is
• ability to resist wear damage strains etc dependent upon degree of elasticity stiffness fineness
• resistance to abrasion crimp etc Short coarse stiff fibers move out towards the
• ability to accept dye sheath while long fine flexible fibers move towards the
• tendency towards longitudinal
longitudinal bunching of fibers core Strongly crimped fibers are also found predominantly
• wearing
wear ing comfort etc in the sheath
binding-in since
Fiber they canshould
migration exert greater resistance
resistance
be adequately to into
taken
account in determining the composition of blends
Ring yarn
Imparting strength
O E rotor yarn
Possibilities for imparting strength
In order to obtain strength in the yarn which consists of
O E friction yarn individual fibers of relatively
rela tively short length the inherent
strength of one fiber must be made wholly or partly trans-
ferable to another In principle there are two alterna-
Wrap – spun yarn tives adhesives and twist
Total exploitation of the inherent strength of the fibers
can be achieved only by using adhesives as was done for
Air-jet – yarn
example in the Twilo process The adhesive effect can be
Fig – Differences in the yarn structure for various spinning processes produced by means of adhesive
drawings without attention to hairiness fibers polyvinyl-alcohol fibers substances or adhesive
Since this process can be
used only for a small market segment twisting of the fiber
Fiber migration strand remains the sole possibility for imparting strength
even for the future
Owing to their different characteristics the fibers take The extension of the fibers that arises during
dur ing twisting
up different positions in the body of the yarn Grouping leads via the associated fiber tension to increased pres-
arises mostly during drawing Thus long fibers are often sure directed towards the yarn interior ie to an increase
located in the core since they exhibit more cohesive fric- in the frictional forces between the fibers and thus finally to
tion and therefore higher resistance to the draft and the desired immensely strong coherence of the body of the
remain in the interior Short fibers are often found on yarn Fig
the yarn exterior This tendency is reinforced by fiber Fiber strands that are not held together by adhesives can-
migration wandering of the fibers since the fibers do not completely exploit the inherent strength of the individ-
not always stay in the positions they first take up For ual fibers
example if any traction of power even minimal acts on Staple fiber yarns held together by twist have a degree of
the yarn highly tensioned fibers of the outer layers press exploitation between and normally -
inward wholly or partly the fiber ends for example Possibilities
Possibilities available for producing the required twist are
In doing so they press out the lower-tensioned fibers true twist false twist and self-twist as in the Repco process
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
True twist vidual fibers after which strength falls away again As the
explained with reference to ring-spun
r ing-spun yarn two curves show this maximum – the so-called critical-
twist region at C – is dependent upon the raw material
The direction of twist Normally
twist yarns
region A –are twisted
knitting towarp
B – levels below the critical-
cr itical-
only special yarns
Twist is produced with the aid of spindles rotors rollers
Twist such as voile C and crêpe D are twisted above this
and so on Since two twist directions left and right are region Selection of a twist level below maximum strength
always possible the fiber windings can also have two direc- is appropriate because higher strengths are mostly unnec-
tions The direction of the twist is indicated as Z- or S-twist essary cause the handle of the end product to become too
depending on the transverse orientation of the fibers ie hard and reduce productivity The last effect arises from
the orientation relative to the diagonals of the letters Z and the equation
S Fig Z-twist is normally used in short staple spin-
spindle speed rpm
ning though not to the exclusion of S-twist Yarn twist
delivery speed m/min
Since the spindle speed is always pushed to the maximum
possible limit and thus may be considered as constant
higher yarn twist can only be obtained through reduction
in the delivery speed and hence in the production rate
F
C
D
B
Fig – Imparting strength to the yarn by twist PES
C
A D
B
Co
T/m
Fig – Relationship between the number of turns of twist and the
strength of a yarn
Fig – Twist directions in spun and twisted yarns F strength T/m turns of twist per meter in the yarn
PES polyester fibers Co cotton fibers
Twist and strength
Deformation of the yarn in length and width
The strength of a thread twisted from staple fibers
increases with increasing twist In the lower portion of the Fibers can be wound in spirals around other fibers only by
curve Fig this strength will be due solely to sliding increasing their length through exploitation of fiber elonga-
friction ie under tensile loading the fibers slide apart tion When a fiber is extended its elasticity tries to draw it
Cohesive friction arises only in the middle-to-upper regions back This constant tendency to return to the unextended
of the curve This is caused by the high tension and thus condition results in a high tension directed towards the core
high pressure and finally becomes so considerable that and thus to increase pressure continually towards the yarn
fewer and fewer fibers slide past each other and more and interior These tensions cause the strong compression and
more are broken This continues up to a certain maximum hence great density of the yarn body The compression leads
ie to the optimal exploitation of the strength of the indi- to a reduction in the diameter of the yarn
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Diameter is thus inversely proportional to twist However The difference becomes clear if the yarns are rolled on
the tendency to relax also leads to shortening of the yarn a plane whereupon two triangles ABC and
and AB'C' are
twisting-in spinning-in The same effect is produced by
twisting-in derived each with the same height H Fiber f has extended
the
axisinclined disposition
Hence the length ofofthe
thespun
fibers relative
yarn never to the yarn
corresponds from H to
greater l while fiber
extension f' has
in yarn has extended
II also
also impliesfrom H totension
greater L The and
to the delivered length measured at the front roller thus more pressure towards the interior The strength of
The degree of shortening is also dependent upon the yarn II is
is considerably greater than that of yarn I
raw material and especially upon the number of turns
Johannsen and Walz indicate that for cotton yarns
I II
twisting-in can be derived from Fig as an example for
Texas cotton C D C' D' C C'
l L
H f E f ' E' γ H
A γ h
A G A' G' A B B'
Texas dIπ
dIIπ
dI dII
ae am
Fig – Winding of two fibers f and f’ in yarns of different thickness
Fiber extensions in the yarn can be measured only with dif-
ficulty so that they cannot be used as a scale of assessment
of the strength to be expected Such a scale could how-
ever probably be provided by an angle for example the
angle γ of
of inclination to the axis From the above consid-
erations it follows that yarn II has
has a higher strength than
yarn I Yarn II also
also has a greater inclination angle γ than
than
tex
yarn I
Fig – Shortening of yarns with different twist coefficients The strengths F are proportional
propor tional to the inclination angles
A shortening in tex yarn count
a twist multiplier e english m metric F I γ 1
=
F II γ 2
Twist formulas
To elucidate several relationships involved in twisting two
yarns are considered below in a theoretical model One C D C'
yarn is assumed to be double the thickness of the other
Consider for each case a single fiber f and f' respec-
tively Fig Prior to twisting these fibers lie at the C''
H
periphery on the lines AC A'C'
A'C' respectively
Assume that the yarns are clamped at the lines AG A'G'
A'G' h h
γ
and CD C'D' and are each turned once through Then
the fibers take up new positions indicated by the lines A G A B'' B'
and A'E'C' respectively Each fiber can adopt this helical
disposition only if its length is increased However owing
Fig – Number of turns of twist in thin yarns
to the greater diameter of yarn II the extension of fiber f'
must be significantly higher than that of fiber f
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
In other words the greater the angle of inclination the If these masses are inserted in the count formulas of the
higher the strength If the two yarns are to have the same English system the following results are obtained
strength then the inclination angles must be the same
L L 4
so thatThis
here γ only
γ is all other influencing
possible factors
if the height beingturn
of each ignored
in yarn Ne = m = d × π
I 2 = d I × π × σ
2
I
× L × σ
I is
is reduced from H to h
In the given example yarn I must
must therefore have twice as
much twist as yarn Fig
Fig
II
L L 4
Ne II = = = 2
Derivation of the twist equation m 2
d II × π d II × π × σ
× L × σ
If the two yarns are illustrated on a somewhat larger scale
the situation of Fig is obtained
The following rela- Here the yarn counts are related by the formula
tionships can be derived 4
2 2
h d I d I T 2 Ne I d × π × σ
I d II × π × σ
= and = = = 2
H d II d II T 1 Ne II 4 d I × π × σ
2
d × π × σ
II
T Twist in the yarn
The mass of a yarn is given by which reduces to
2
m V volume x σ specific
specific mass Ne I d II
= 2
Ne II d I
L
dI T The diameters are related by the formula
h 2
d II Ne I d II Ne I
2 = i.e. =
d I Ne II d I Ne II
dII T but since also
d II T 1 T 1 Ne I
H = we therefore have =
d I T 2 T 2 Ne II
Fig – Number of turns of twist in yarns of different thicknesses
Expressed in an alternative form
Since the volume is given by T 1 T 2 T 3 T n
= = = = Constant = a
Ne I Ne II Ne III Nen
V A surface area in cross section × L length
and the area This constant can be arbitrarily designated for example
as a and the following generally valid formula can then
π be derived
A = d 2 ×
T
= ae .... T = ae Ne = turns/inch
the mass of the yarn is Ne
π
m = d 2 × × L × σ
The masses of the yarns I and II are
2
d I × π
m1 = × L × σ
2
d II × π
m 2 = × L × σ
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
The twist coefficient ae is derived in accordance with the imparted in the second section b The strand therefore
English count system and for cotton yarns it takes the never has any twist between the twisting element and the
following values delivery cylinder In a false-twist device twist is found only
between
principle the infeed
is used fcylinder and
in false-twist
alse-twist the twisting element This
texturing
Yarn type Short staple Medium staple Long staple
Knitting – - -
Weft - - - K T K
Semi-warp - - -
Warp - - -
For the other count systems the following formulas apply
Turns per meter Z T Z
T/m
T/m = am × 100
tex
atex
=
tex
b a
Conversion factors are
Fig – Creation of false twist
T / inch T / m × above in stationary condition beneath in through-flow condition
ae am×
Imparting strength by false twist
atex
ae =
958 As described the strand leaving the false-twist unit con-
sists of parallel untwisted fibers Fig This twist
False twist principle is therefore normally unsuitable for imparting
Operating principle strength to a yarn Nevertheless threads are currently
spun by this process — but with modification of the sys-
If a fiber strand Fig is held by two clamps K and tem For example the fiber strand fed by cylinder Z has
K at two spaced points and is twisted at some point in to be very wide as it passes into false-twist zone a The
between
turns on each the strand
side ofwill
the take up the
twisting same number
element but of
T with result is that owing to this substantial width a consider-
able number of edge fibers can avoid the twisting effect
opposite twist directions In the example above Z-twist
is shown on the right and S-twist on the left seen verti-
cally If the clamps are replaced by rotating cylinders
Z and Z and the yarn is made to run past the cylinders
during twisting the same thing happens – but the condi-
tions are now different With a stationary thread as first
assumed both thread portions were untwisted at the
start With a running thread however the thread entering
path section b is already twisted with the number of turns
imparted to it in path section a In the given example
these are turns of Z-twist
The twisting element however is creating S-twist in the Z b a Z
left-hand path section so that each turn of Z-twist imparted
Fig – Forming a yarn by means of false twist
in the first section a is cancelled by a turn of S-twist
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
In contrast to the operation described in the preceding False twist at other places in the spinning
section the fiber strand entering the twisting element is process
no longer fully twisted Instead only the core is twisted
and
levelthe sheath
with fibers
the core have
still no twist orby
representing only
far athe
lowgreater
twist The
givencreation
beforeof falsetwist
False twistarises
is notwhether
limited to
orthe
notexample
it is wanted
part of the fibers The opposite twist now imparted by the at various other points in the spinning process for exam-
twisting element cancels all twist in the newly arriving ple at the crown of the flyer in the roving frame and at the
strand in particular the turns in the core rotor navel in the rotor
r otor spinning machine
At any point where a twisting element is operative between
two clamping points false twist will be produced The
clamping points can be stationary as in the example given
eg the yarn contact point E in
in the rotor and the with-
drawal rollers Z as shown in Fig and the twist ele-
Z ment the navel T can rotate as described in Section
Alternatively the twisting element T can be
stationary as actually occurs in rotor spinning and the
thread can be continuously rolled on the contact surface
E T
of the navel owing to the movement created by the rotor
B
revolution at theE point E The effect is the same False twist
occurs between and T Without
and this false twist effect it
would probably not be possible to operate with the high
Fig – Creation of false twist in the rotor
rotor speeds that are normal today
Twist in the opposite direction is however imparted to Self-twist
all those fibers which were untwisted on arrival ie the
fibers in the sheath If the strand is passed forward by the delivery movement
These are now wrapped around the core fibers so that between rubbing rollers N which are also moving to and
a bundled yarn is produced The Murata jet system oper- fro then it will be continuously twisted with alternating
ates in a similar but not completely identical fashion and Z- and S- twist over successive short portions Fig and
there are slightly greater differences in the Dref system Fig The counter-torque created in the yarn will how-
ever eliminate this twist immediately after the yarn leaves
N
N
Z
Z
Fig – Self-twist Fig – Forming a yarn by means of self-twist
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
the roller nipping line If – instead of one strand – two fiber
strands are passed through while arranged parallel and
very close to each other then the counter-torque can no
longer operate
and causes solelyofonthe
twisting one yarn
two It must
threads operate
around eachonother
both
A plied thread is created with continually varying twist
direction – Z-twist where S-twist is present in both yarns
and S-twist where the yarns had originally Z-twist In most
cases the strength of the self-twist thread made in this
way is not quite sufficient because of the untwisted pieces
between the twisted portions – it must be additionally
twisted subsequently
subsequently
In worsted spinning its sole field of application self-twist
spinning also known as Repco spinning has been in use
for several years although not on a very large scale
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
HANDLING MATERIAL to transport are well suited to unwinding the prod-
Carriers for material uct at high speeds in a controlled and trouble-free
Material carriers and transport manner and occupy little space when empty They
are therefore
operated used where
in confined many
spaces Forproduction units
example the are
ideal
A spinning mill is less a production plant than a large-
scale transport organization Certainly this assertion is infeed for the ring
r ing spinning machine is still the roving
somewhat exaggerated – but it contains an element of bobbin
truth When the quantities of material and the distances • Unsupported packages which consist only of the
over which they have to be moved are considered the material These are bumps cakes strands hanks
comparison becomes obvious Storage and transport of etc They are only usable for special purposes
material are substantial cost factors in the spinning mill
Furthermore they often exert a quality-reducing influence The most widely used package forms with
Transportability
Trans portability always requires a taking-off operation at internal formers
the preceding machine and a feeding-in operation at the
subsequent machine These operations are frequently not ROVING BOBBINS
carried out precisely in practice The individual closely adjacent windings are formed as so-
Furthermore the necessity for winding up is a handicap called parallel windings
to performance in many machines Thus for example the The formers are plastic or wooden tubes In order to pre-
ring spinning machine is scarcely capable of much further vent
of thefalling awayare
packages of made
the upper and The
conical lower layers
wound the ends
height is up
development simply because of the winding of cops by
travelers to inches Not much tension is produced during wind-
Material handling and transport are therefore significant ing Accordingly this is a suitable package form for weaker
problems in a spinning plant – problems that the machine products such as rovings Fig
designer and mill personnel must always take into account
In this complex problem it is always necessary to find the
new optimum and to seek the most appropriate means
In relation to material carriers it is important that they
• take up as much material as possible
• can be filled or wound in an uncomplicated manner
• permit simple removal of material
• protect the material
• facilitate transport in full or empty condition
• take up little room
• ar
aree economical to procure and
• are well designed ergonomically
Package forms
Classification
Three groups of packages are used for the intermediate and Fig – Roving bobbin
end products of the spinning mill
• Containers into which the material is made to run
for example cans This package form provides a high PACKAGES WITH FLANGED BOBBINS
PACKAGES
degree of protection for the material but in the empty These also have parallel windings but with constant wound
condition it occupies the same amount of space as height Fig
when it is full Their take-up capacity is therefore greater but the material
• Take-up
Take-up formers such as cylinders
c ylinders spindles tubes tends to jam under the flanges and to be scraped off on the
cones etc on which the material is wound They pro- rough flange edges
vide less protection for the material but they are easy This type of package is therefore not used in short-staple
mills
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
CONICAL CROSS-WOUND PACKAGES
By means of a traversing operation the yarn is moved
crosswise from one side to the other on the paper or plas-
tic tube of
amount Fig Cross-wound
material and are idealpackages take upspace
where adequate a great
is
available for both winding and unwinding In both cases
high speeds can be obtained Conical cross-wound pack-
ages are used with cone angles a of
′ ′
and
′ ′
Fig – Package on a flanged bobbin
COPS see also Fig Fig
The windings are not laid down in parallel layers but in
conical layers Fig Each conical layer and therefore
the wound height is much shorter than the tube length
The layers are laid one on the other by continual raising of
a
the winding device the ring rail by small amounts
The windings are formed on plastic or paper tubes with
Fig – Cross-wound cone
lengths of up to mm
As far as winding is concerned this type of operation is not
favorable because CYLINDRICAL CROSS-WOUND PACKAGES
• the winding mechanism is complicated
complicated These are made up in cheese form and are easy to produce
• continual tension variation is created in the yarn during Fig
winding
• a traveler is generally required to form the winding
• and this limits the performance of the machine
With regard to unwinding however the conical arrange-
ment of the layers is optimal since it permits high with-
drawal speeds
Fig – Cylindrical cross-wound package
SHORT-TRAVERSE CHEESES SUN-SPOOLS
These are also cylindrical coils but they are considerably
narrower than cylindrical packages rather resembling discs
Fig When used as feed material in twisters for exam-
ple they allow donning of two packages behind each other
so that preceding plying becomes superfluous
Fig – Cop
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Fig – Short traverse cheese
Laying down in cans
Laying down of sliver
Fig – Laying down sliver in cans
Cycloidal deposition
advantageous methodofofsliver
fillinghas proved
a can Figto
be the most
In this
In many coilers the cans are no longer rotated In this
case both movements must be induced from above The
process
proc ess two shifting movements of the deposition point
delivery plate rotates at higher speed in a second larger
are carried out simultaneously The rotating plate R with
plate which is also rotating but at a lower speed This also
its guide passage L draws the sliver away from the deliv-
leads to shifting of the circles and hence to cycloidal depo-
ery cylinders D and continuously deposits it on a circle
sition In all cases the sliver must be so deposited that
However since the turntable can plate C continually rotates
a hollow space is created from top to bottom in the middle
the can the deposition point of the circle is constantly
of the can The space is required to ensure that the sliver
shifting A helical arrangement of the circles is produced
layers do not overlap completely in the middle of the can
within the can Fig
This avoids formation of a central pyramid-shaped column
of material leaving the side portions of the can half-empty
D
Large and small coils
L The hollow space can be obtained with large coils Fig
over-center coiling or with small coils Fig
Fig under-cen-
R
ter coiling With small coils the diameter of the sliver coil
d B is less than the radius of the can rC
With large coils
the sliver-coil diameter is greater than the can radius Large
coils are generally used in small to medium-sized cans and
small coils generally in large cans The diameter relations
should be approximately
d C d C
= 1.45 or = 2.5
d B d B
Large coils are better with small to medium-sized can diam-
eters because lower plate speeds can be used for the same
circumferential speed reduction of force noise and wear
C Moreover the can capacity is - higher
Fig – Can filling device coiler
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
With large cans however it is more advantageous if the Twisting of the sliver
plate is kept as small as possible since then less mass has
to be rotated Cycloidal deposition of sliver has several advantages but it
A speciality is the coiling into rectangular cans as they were also is
this has disadvantages
insignificant It creates
because only atwist in theare
few turns sliver Mostly
created
developped for optimal space usage However in the processing of man-made fibers it can lead
to disturbances
Since both the plate and the turntable are rotating twist
can arise at both these places The turns created at the
plate are not permanent they arear e subsequently detwisted
when pulling-out the sliver from the can On the other
hand the turns caused by the turntable remain
The turntable creates no turns during deposition of the
sliver and there is only a shift in the position of the deposi-
tion point The sliver twists during withdrawal when it has
to follow the helical coils in the can
Winding by rolling and lap forming
In this type of winding operation a product of substan-
tial width such as a lap or a web is wound up over its full
width on a mandrel or a tube Fig
Fig A traverse mechan-
ism is unnecessary since the width of the product is the
dB
same as that of the receiving tube In this case winding is
dC a very simple procedure However unwinding is not always
so easy It can happen that the individual layers of the lap
do not separate cleanly
Fig – Laying down of sliver in large coils over-center coiling
They cling to each other tear apart or scale apart and thus
produce disturbances This will occur all the more readily
if the lap does not form a closed self-isolating separating
layer A random arrangement of fibers on the lap surface
separates the individual layers from each other substan-
tially better than an arrangement with a high degree of
parallelization
This can often be seen clearly in the raising of hairs on the
ribbon lap machine in combing
dB
dC
Fig – Laying down in small coils under-center coiling Fig – Winding of lap layers on a mandrel
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Fig – Build of roving bobbin in sections Fig – Laying wraps next to each other
material as possible the package as a unit with a bobbin
Winding on flyer bobbins rail must be moved more slowly for this second wind-
Build-up of the package ing layer than for the first For the third layer it must be
moved still more slowly and so on The speed of the bob-
Laying down of roving in the package is effected in parallel bin rail and also
al so of the bobbin itself must be continuously
layers ie each wrap
the neighboring wrap is laid
Fig onand
theFig
tube
closely adjacent
In order to beto reduced
A second change of movement is required insofar as the
able to wind over the whole length of the tube the winding bobbin rail must perform continually shorter strokes This
point must be continually shifted is necessary because of the lack of end limitations in the
In principle this is possible by adjusting the position of the form of flanges If the stroke were held constant ie the
press finger through raising and lowering the flyer or by up- package ends were made straight then the individual lay-
and-down movement of the tube However the appropriate ers would fall away at the ends In order to prevent such
up-and-down movement of the flyer cannot be implemented falling away the ends are made conical and consequently
in practice because it would result in continual variation of the stroke of the bobbin rail has to be reduced after each
the spinning geometry – the inclination and length of the layer
thread path from the drafting arrangement to the head of
the flyer The only practical method is the more complex Speed relationships
continual raising and lowering of the packages together
with the bobbin rail One assembly the flyer spindle is needed to twist the
Since the first winding layer is formed on the bare tube roving but two assemblies are needed to wind it namely
its diameter and hence its circumference length of wrap both the flyer and the bobbin Winding is effected only
are both small The second layer of wraps lies upon the when the difference between the speeds of these two
first ie the circumference of the wraps is already larger assemblies is equal to the delivery speed In terms of
However since the individual wraps must be located very design such a difference can be obtained very easily if one
close to each other so that the package takes up as much of the two assemblies does not rotate Such a design how-
a b
Fig – Winding on flyer bobbins
a with a leading bobbin b with a leading spindle
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
ever would impede the fulfillment of an additional task of the length delivered and the length wound up must be the
the flyer namely twisting of the roving With a non-rotating same As roving layers are deposited on the bobbin how-
flyer there would be no turns in the product with a non- ever their diameters increase Hence in the absence of
rotating
per wrappackage
A bobbinthere would of
diameter be
too few –leads
mm onlyto
one twist
one twist intervention the circumferential
difference would increase Therespeeds
would and finally their
be a constant
per circumference mm ie only three twists per increase in the length wound up and a roving break would
meter instead of the required - twists occur To avoid this the bobbin speed must continuously be
In order to fulfill both tasks winding and controlled twist- reduced in a precisely controlled manner in order to main-
ing of the roving to a selected degree the two assemblies tain the speed difference continually equal to the constant
must have the same direction of rotation However the delivered length The following general principle can there-
bobbin must rotate faster than the flyer or the flyer faster fore be derived If the circumferential speeds bo bobbin
than the bobbin This is referred to operations with a lead- spi spindle are given by
ing bobbin or with a leading spindle flyer Fig
A leading spindle has the advantage that with a pre-set ν bod bo × π × nbo
fixed spindle speed the operation can be run with lower ν spid spi × π × nspi
bobbin speeds – lower than the spindle speed
Nevertheless all modern short staple roving frame designs then since delivery is given by
use the principle of the leading bobbin It provides signifi-
cant advantages as follows L ν bo- ν spi
• Fewer roving breaks or faulty drafted places at the L d bo × π × nbo - d spi × π × nspi
winding point because the drive transmission path
from the motor to the spindle is short whereas that The bobbin diameter and the spindle diameter are equal
to the bobbin is long Furthermore the drive transmis- since in this context only the winding point at the press fin-
sion to the bobbin includes a slip position the cone ger is significant Hence we obtain
belt transmission When the roving frame is started the
spindle starts up immediately but the bobbin follows L d × π × nbo - d × π × nspi
with a delay With a leading spindle the roving would L d × π nbo- nspi
tear at the press finger and a drafting fault at the finger
would be created With a leading bobbin there are no By transforming the equation the bobbin speed corre-
such effects sponding to any given bobbin diameter can be derived
• No unwinding of the layers Unwinding of the roving
would arise on a roving break with a leading spindle nbo - nspi × d × π L
because the roving is moved against air-resistance in
the rotational direction of the bobbin On the other which gives
hand with a leading bobbin the air-resistance tends L
not to lift the roving off the bobbin but rather to press nbo= +nspi
d × π
it back against the bobbin
• Speed reduction with increasing package diameter
With a leading bobbin the bobbin speed must be Winding of cops
reduced slowly with increasing bobbin diameter ie Build of cops
with increasing mass to be moved This is advantageous Form of cops
in terms of power consumption On the other hand
with a leading spindle the bobbin speed must gradually The cop Fig consists of three visually distinct parts
be increased which is not altogether sensible – the barrel-like base A the cylindrical middle part W and
the conically convergent tip K It is built up from bottom to
The winding principle top from many conical layers
l ayers Fig but constant conic-
ity is achieved only after the formation of the base In the
As already mentioned winding can occur only when there base portion itself winding begins with an almost cylindri-
c ylindri-
is a difference between the circumferential speed of the cal layer on the similarly almost cylindrical tube With the
bobbin and that of the spindle flyer At each instant this deposition of one layer on another the conicity gradually
difference must correspond to the delivery speed since increases
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Raising and lowering of the ring rail are caused by the heart-
shaped cam and are transmitted by chains belts rollers
K etc to the ring rail Fig The long flatter part of the
cam surface
increasing forcesThe
speed theshort
ring steep
rail upwards slowly downward
portion causes but with
W LG LH movement that is rapid but occurs with decreasing speed
Fig – The cop as a yarn package
Fig – The winding mechanism
Fig – Building up the cop in layers The formation of the base
Each layer consists of a main layer and a cross-layer The creation of the typical cop form is explained as follows
Fig The main layer is formed during slow raising of by Johannsen and Walz
the ring rail the individual wraps being laid close to each The heart-shaped cam and the delivery cylinder
c ylinder are coupled
other or on each other The main layers are the effective together by the drive gearing Thus the quantity delivered
cop-filling layers The cross-layers are made up of widely for each revolution of the cam and hence per yarn double
separated steeply downward inclined wraps of yarn and layer is always the same The volumes of the individual
are formed during rapid lowering of the ring
r ing rail They form double layers are therefore also equal
the separating layers between the main layers and prevent
the pulling down of several layers simultaneously when
yarn is drawn off at high speed in winding machines In the d
d
absence of such separating layers individual yarn layers d
d
would inevitably be pressed into each other and layer-wise
draw-off of yarn would be impossible
d
d
d
d
h
h
h
b b b b
Fig – Main layers and cross layers Fig – The formation of the curvature at the cop base
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Deposition of double layers on the tube begins with a small layer will have this thickness of b� at the top At the bot-
average layer diameter d Fig The average diameter tom however the winding diameter is increasing continu-
increases gradually with each newly deposited layer ally so that the layer thickness is declining from b to b to
With constant layerreduction
volume this canlayer
havewidth
only one b to b Accordingly continually narrowing trapezia are
namely a continual of the fromresult
b to produced
b to b and so on At some stage the trapezium will become a parallelogram
Since the ring rail is also raised by a constant amount h ie the lower side will be the same size as the upper side
after each deposited layer it follows that a curve rather both will be b� Since all other winding conditions now
than a straight line arises automatically in the base por- remain the same no further variation can now arise in the
tion at the bottom layering One conical layer will be laid upon the other until
the cop is full ie when the cylindrical portion of the cop
The formation of the conical layers is formed
The gearing change wheel has little influence on this
It has already been mentioned that the ring rail is not moved sequence of events If too many teeth are inserted the final
uniformly Its speed increases during upward movement and condition of constant conical layers will be reached too
falls during downward movement At the tip of each layer the soon and the cop will be too thin It will be too thick if the
speed is higher than at the base of the layer ie the ring rail ring rail is lifted too slowly
does not dwell as long at the tip as it does at the base less
material is wound and the layer is thinner at the tip If it is The winding process
assumed by way of example that the ring rail is moving twice The winding principle
as fast at the top of its stroke as at the bottom of the stroke
the first layer would be half as thick at the top as at the bot- As in the case of the roving frame two assemblies with dif-
tom ie b � instead of b Fig ferent speeds must be used in order to enable winding to
occur One assembly is the spindle the other is the trav-
eler representing the remnant of the flyer Furthermore
the speed difference must be equal over time to the deliv-
ery length at the front cylinder In the roving frame each
b assembly has its own regulated drive In the ring spin-
ning frame this is true only for the spindle The traveler is
dragged by the spindle acting through the yarn The speed
of the traveler required to give a predetermined speed dif-
ference arises through more or less strong braking of the
traveler on the running surface of the ring Influence can be
exerted on this process by way of the mass of the traveler
For winding with a leading spindle see also the
following relationships apply The delivery is given by
b
b
b L = v spi - v T
b
Fig – The formation of the conical layers where v T is the traveler speed Thus we have
L = d × π × nspi - d × π × nT and L = d × π nspi - nT
The first layer would correspond to a trapezium with the
side b at the bottom and the side b � at the top This is The required traveler speed is then
followed by the deposition of the second layer Owing to L
the constant short-term lifting of the ring rail the upper nT = nspi -
d × π
portion of the new layer would again be deposited on the
bare tube
The average diameter at the top would be the same as that As in the case of the roving frame the diameter d is
is the
of the first layer and the volume and hence the thickness diameter at the winding point
would also be the same that is b� Each newly deposited
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Variation in the speed of the traveler Secondly the yarn finally receives its full twist in any case
This happens as soon as the yarn is drawn off the cop over
In contrast to the roving frame the winding diameter in the end since each rotation of the yarn around the tube
the
andring spinning
lowering frame
of the ringchanges continually
rail since with
the winding raising
layers are wrap
yarn Theleads to the insertion
compensation of an additional
of the missing turns canturn inbe
then the
formed conically Fig explained easily
If turns per minute are missing at the tip and m
of yarn has to be wound up in this period the result is
∅ mm
min /
T m missing turns / min m / min
min turns / m
During unwinding each yarn wrap on the cop one circum-
ference produces one additional turn At the tip cop diam-
eter mm we have
∅ mm
T a additional mm / m /
mm × π
turns / m
Fig – Different winding diameters that is exactly the number of turns previously missing
It must however be ensured that cops are always
unwound over end even during twist tests
The traveler must have different speeds at the base and the
tip Assuming for example a spindle speed of rpm Force and tension relationships during winding
the layer diameters given as in Fig and a delivery by using travelers
speed of m/min the traveler speed at the base will be Preliminary remarks
nTB = - = - min-1 In the following explanations certain inaccuracies have
π
been deliberately accepted for example representation
and at the tip it will be exclusively in two dimensions when the actual process is
three-dimensional
nTS = - = - min-1 The intention is not to present either exact scientific theory
25π
or a detailed basis for calculations Rather the aim here is
In comparison with the constant speed of the spindle the to provide the textile specialist involved in everyday prac-
traveler has a changing speed difference of to tice with an understanding of the interrelations and in par-
ticular to bring out the interplay of forces For this purpose
Variation in yarn twist simplified models have been used there is much literature
available on scientifically exact usage
The equation
The whole treatment is based on the parallelogram of
Twist/m = Spindle speed rpm/Delivery speed m/min forces the normal “school” presentation of which is
repeated here briefly for completeness see Fig
is generally used to calculate the number of turns in the
yarn As just established this is not wholly accurate since If a carriage is to be moved forward on rails it can be
the turns arise from the traveler and not from the spindle pulled directly in the direction of the rails as F T
In the given example turns per minute are missing
at the base of the winding on the cop larger diameter In this case the whole of the force contributes to the for-
and turns per minute at the tip smaller diameter ward movement This is no longer true if the force is
However these missing turns are a theoretical rather than directed with a sideways inclination pulling in direction
a practical problem for two reasons Firstly the inaccu- Now only a part of the total force exerted F FF
F FF will con-
racy of measurement in the estimation of yarn twist by test tribute to the forward movement F T
instruments is greater than this twist variation
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
A force FN normal to the surface of the ring pulling the
FT FF traveler in the direction of the cop diminishing the friction
of the traveler at the ring created by the centrifugal force
FZ The frictional
accordance force
with the FH arises from this normal force in
relation
a
FR
F H µ F N
Where µ is the coefficient of friction
W
• A centrifugal force FZ which is the largest force acting
on the traveler This force can be calculated in accord-
ance with the relations
Fig – Resolution of forces in the force parallelogram
F Z = mL × ωL × d R /
Part of the force F F ie the force F R will press the carriage ωL = nspindle × π /
against the rails at an angle of to the direction of move-
ment This component is lost as far as forward motion is where mL is the mass of the traveler ωL is the angular veloc-
concerned The pulling force F can therefore be resolved
F
ity of the traveler and d R is the diameter of the ring
into two components the tangential force F T which draws
the carriage forward and the radial force F R Accordingly if
the carriage is to be moved forward with the required force
F T and the pulling force is effective at an angle a then the
FT FF
pulling force must have the magnitude F F friction forces
being neglected here These forces can be represented
graphically and measured or calculated in accordance with
a
the formula
FZ FN
F T
F F =
sina
FH
Conditions at the traveler in the plane of the
ring
Fig – The forces acting at the traveler
The following forces act on the traveler in the plane of
Professor Krause ETH Zurich identifies the following rela-
the ring Fig
tionships between these forces solved for the tensile force
µ × F Z
• A tensile force F F which arises from the winding ten- F F =
sion of the yarn and always acts at a tangent to the cir- sina + μ × cosa
cumference of the cop
• A frictional force F H between the ring and the trav- µ × mL × ω 2L × d R
F F =
eler In the stationary state ie with constant traveler 2 × ( ssin
ina + µ × cosa
speed this braking force F H is in equilibrium with the
forward component F T of the yarn tension F F Hence we
For a rough estimate the term µ × cos a can be ignored
have
Approximately therefore we have
F H F T or F H F F × sina µ × mL × ω 2L × d R
F F =
2 × sina
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Changes in the force conditions
cN
Continuous variation of the operating conditions arises
during winding
with regard of a copinThis
to changes the variation is especially
winding diameter ie large
when
wraps have to be formed on the bare tube small diameter
and then on the full cop circumferences large diameter
This occurs not only at the start of cop winding formation
of the base such changes arise at very short intervals in
each ring rail stroke as demonstrated by the example illus-
trated in Fig
t
It has already been mentioned that tensile force F F must
be assumed tangential to the cop circumference because it Fig – Continual changes in yarn tension due to winding on larger and
arises from the winding point Frictional force F H undergoes smaller diameters
only small variations it can be assumed to be the same in
both cases
The components F T of the yarn tension are then also equal Conditions at the traveler in the plane through
However owing to the difference in the angle a the tensile the spindle axis
forces F F are different The same dependence of the tensile
force F F on the angle a can be seen from the formulas given These conditions were formulated by Professor H W Krause
above and Dr H Stalder of ETH Zurich
The result is that the tensile force exerted on the yarn is The influence of the yarn on the traveler can be expressed
much higher during winding on the bare tube than during in terms of two forces see Fig One of these is ten-
winding on the full cop diameter because of the difference sile force F F acting at an angle a to the x-axis The other
in the angle of attack of the yarn on the traveler When the is a force F B which arises from the balloon and can be
ring rail is at the upper end of its stroke in spinning onto assumed as tangential to the balloon curve This force
the tube yarn tension is substantially higher than when the draws the traveler upwards at an angle γ to the y -axis
-axis
ring rail is at its lowest position This can be observed eas- Thus the traveler is drawn upwards at an inclination by the
ily in the balloon on any ring spinning machine If the yarn resultant
result ant force F L of the two components F B F F
As the
tension is measured over time then the picture in Fig ring rail goes up and down the angle σ therefore undergoes
is obtained substantial variations
The tube and ring diameters must have a minimum ratio Furthermore the traveler is subjected to the forces F Z cen-
between approximately and in order to ensure trifugal force and F N normal force The weight of the trav-
that the yarn tension oscillations do not become too great eler can be ignored here
a b
FF
FT FF
FT
a a
FH FH
Fig – The tensile force FF on the yarn
a with a large cop diameter b with a small cop diameter bare tube
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
The traveler straightens up When the ring rail moves down
a in elevation FB y FL
the tensile forces are reduced the balloon
bal loon widens out and
γ
δ the yarn slips towards the middle of the curve in the trav-
FF cos a eler The free end of the traveler tilts slowly downwards
FZ
on the left-hand side
FN
FB FL
b in plan δ
FF
FT
FF cos a
a FRFF cos a
x FZ
FB sinγ FN
FZ
FH
y
FN FL
Fig – Resolution of forces at the traveler a in elevation b in plan
At constant traveler speed the three forces F L F Z Z and F N Fig a – Raising and lowering of the traveler
are in equilibrium ie they intersect at point P and form raising caused by the greater force FL
a closed triangle Fig
FB FL
FL
δ
P FF cos a
FZ
FN FZ
FZ
FN FL
FL
FN Fig b – Raising and lowering of the traveler
lowering caused by the reduced force FL
Fig – The resultant tensile force F L on the yarn
In addition to these tilting movements the traveler also
Changes in the conditions performs a so-called rolling motion If the yarn moves
upwards in the traveler Fig b the point of attack of
The forces F F and F B and the angle δ are subject to substan- the yarn on the traveler moves away from the contact sur-
tial variation during one stroke of the ring rail This implies face with the ring The yarn acts on the upper portion of
corresponding variation in force F L The point at which the the curve in the traveler which is thereby drawn out of the
yarn passes through the traveler also varies
var ies however with vertical with an inclination to the left In the reverse effect
the magnitude of the tensile component F L and the angle when the yarn in the traveler approaches the ring more
of attack When the ring rail is at the top of its stroke small closely during upward movement of the ring rail ie as
cop diameter Fig a yarn tension is high the yarn the yarn moves downwards relative to the traveler the lat-
acts on the traveler at a position only slightly above the ter straightens up again Fig a This variability in the
ring and it draws the free end of the traveler upwards on movement of the traveler is not good in terms of friction
the left-hand side conditions on the other hand the traveler needs this free-
dom to enable it to adapt to the varying forces and to take
up impact
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
where e is the base of natural logarithms µ is the
coefficient of friction between the yarn and traveler and ξ is
a b the angle of wrap of the yarn on the traveler The value of e µξ
generally lies between and The balloon tension F B is
therefore a little more than half the winding tension F F
FB
FC
FA
Fig – Varying inclination of the traveler on the ring
a upright b inclined
Conditions at the traveler in the tangential
plane
Fig – Resolution of forces with an inclined balloon
The yarn does not run absolutely vertically ie in the plane Yarn tension F V Fig at the point of maximum diameter
of the spindle axis It follows a curve caused by the air in the balloon can be derived approximately from the fol-
resistance created by the balloon rotation The balloon ten- lowing formula given by Professor Krause
sion F B does not therefore act as a vertical pulling force as
previously assumed in the simple representation Its effect F V k × ωL × H × σ
is actually inclined upwards at an angle An exact formula-
tion would require three-dimensional
three-dimensional representation and where ωL is the angular velocity of the traveler H is the
a corresponding analysis Even without this however it height of the balloon σ is the specific mass of the yarn
can be seen from the drawing that the balloon tension can ie yarn mass/yarn length ≈ tex and k is a constant Thus
be resolved into two components Fig namely a com- for a given yarn count the yarn tension in the balloon is
ponent F C which presses the traveler upwards against strongly dependent upon the traveler speed and the height
the ring and a component F A which acts as a restraining of the balloon High traveler speeds and greater balloon
force on the traveler and slightly reinforces the restrain- heights lead to very high yarn tensions in the balloon
ing force arising from the friction appearing between the
ring and traveler Component F A is relatively small and can
be ignored This is true also of the air resistance of the
traveler
Balloon tension
The yarn tension in the balloon F B is the tension which FV
finally penetrates almost to the spinning triangle and which H
is responsible for most of the thread breaks in practice It
is reduced to a very small degree by the diversion of the
yarn at the thread guide An equilibrium of forces must be
obtained between yarn tension F F and balloon tension F B
Since the yarn is diverted at the traveler and friction arises
there this equilibrium is given by
F F F
F B × e µξ
Fig – The balloon tension
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Effects on the traveler
All of the forces mentioned here act on the traveler Since
the forces themselves and their angles of attack are con-
stantly changing the attitude of the traveler on the ring
r ing is
also changing These analyzable variations are reinforced
by sudden sharp forces arising from the balloon or from the
friction conditions between the ring and the traveler Quiet
uniform stable running of the traveler is therefore impos-
sible This is one of the great problems in ring
r ing spinning
A still bigger problem is the development of heat Since the
traveler has no drive of its own but has to follow the spin-
dle its movement must be braked However braking with-
out generation of heat is not possible Accordingly very
high temperatures arise in the traveler They reach more
than C The problem here is actually not so much the
generation of heat as its dissipation The mass of the trav-
eler is too small to enable it to transmit the heat to the air
or to the ring in the time available
These various explanations show that it is not easy to
achieve considerable improvements in the interplay of the
ring traveler and yarn under present conditions Even with
complete new designs of ring and traveler as introduced by
the Rieter company the traveler speed is limited to about
m/s km/h
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
QUALITY ASSURANCE of the Rieter system SPIDERweb is that it controls the
The necessity entire mill from the blowroom to the winder whereas many
other systems control only specific machine groups
Running high-tech spinning plants without the requisite
technological knowledge is not possible but it is also not The structure of the Mill Information System MIS
possible without the required management expertise In
addition to many other subjects this expertise includes the These systems mostly feature a three or four-level struc-
ability to ensure constant long-term product quality ture starting at the lowest level ie the level at which
One tool for ensuring virtually total process security is the sensitive sensors are installed directly at special control
Mill Information System MIS Besides ensuring quality points on the machines They pick up the incoming figures
this also has a very important second advantage namely and transmit them to the second level the machine level
considerably reducing production costs by At the machine level simple computers collect transform
• enabling the precisely required quality to be produced and evaluate the signals arriving from the sensors The
• optimizing raw material utilization summarized result is often indicated in a simple manner on
• increasing productivity a panel at the machine informing the personnel responsi-
• improving personnel efficiency ble and enabling them to react immediately
The wrong tool for high-tech spinning
spinning plants in respect The third level is the level of the PC workstation where the
to quality is the time-honored “Statistical Quality Control data collected at the machine level is selectively evaluated
Office” By the time it is able to react to faults in produc- and informatively displayed in the supervisor‘s office often
tion enormous damage has occurred because high-per- also in graphic form Fig The top level of the MIS is
formance machines such as cards draw frames etc pro- usually a commercial host computer
duce huge amounts of intermediate products within a very Here again all information arriving from the third or per-
short time This can be illustrated by a simple example haps second level is collected in a condensed and compat-
in only one minute a draw frame operating at a speed of ible form by a local network and selectively evaluated in an
m/min produces sliver for about to cops of yarn easy-to-use form eg as diagrams Fig The detailed
sufficient to manufacture shirts The volume of rejects analysis of the second third and fourth level enables imme-
if anything goes wrong at any production unit in the mill is diate action to be taken if the slightest deviation occurs
equally high More than ever the following slogan is valid
The RRieter
ieter “SPIDE
“SPIDERweb”
Rweb” Mill Information System
“FAULTS SHOULD BE AVOIDED NOT CORRECTED” Mill Monitoring System
Meeting this requirement calls not only for competent qual- SPIDERweb is a user-oriented data system based on
ity management but also for an overall control monitoring Windows Its modular design permits the interconnection
and information system with control devices at all relevant
r elevant of any number of machines and can be extended to include
points of the material through-flow either individu
individual
al or additional machines at any time It permits control and
group-wise monitoring of the entire mill from bale lay-out to the wind-
The system has to start at the point where the first inter- ing machines
mediate product is created and has to continue to the It enables production data eg weight per time unit effi-
end of the process ie to start at the process infeed of the ciency stop events down-times etc and quality data
card and to end at the winding machines As sensors are eg CV values spectrograms Classimat data etc from
installed nowadays in any case at all important points on every machine to be logged and analyzed according to the
nearly all machines it makes sense to equip these control requirements of the mill A very important feature of this
units additionally with data collecting and data evaluat- system is the inclusion of an alarm system The moment
ing systems in order to have the necessary tools not only any controlled item at any point within the mill crosses
for quality management but also for mill management a preset limit specified by the mill this is indicated imme-
Fortunately systems
systems referred to as “Mill Information diately and the fault can be eliminated at once
Systems” to control the process in terms of both quality and SPIDERweb is a very modern and important management
economy are now available from some machine manufac- tool It relieves management staff of time-consuming rou-
turers one of which is the Rieter Company The advantage tine work and allows it to concentrate fully on exceptional
events one of the requirements of competent management
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
SPIDERweb provides responsible personnel with all neces-
sary data to run the mill without major problems The ini-
tial data required are available from Rieter but can also be
elaborated by the mill itself
A further advantage of these systems is the potential for
constant improvement of quality and productivity due
to the following effect when the alarm record indicates
a deficient production unit the reason for this deficiency
can be eliminated thus enabling the alarm limit to be low-
ered The resulting new alarm schedule enables improve-
ments to be made at the next deficient production unit and
so on Improvement
Impro vement becomes increasingly diffi cult with
each improvement step of course and will end when the
Fig – Diagram of SPIDERweb
effort required is greater than the result achieved
Comment
If these systems are not purchased together with the
machinery at the outset it has to be kept in mind that
• a mill information monitoring system is essential
essential
sooner or later
• machines purchased now will become part of such over-
all systems later
• these machines have to fit into the MIS
• management‘s failure to take this into consideration
would create insoluble problems
l acc e
l o b a l es
s
s s
G
Mill Manager
Client – Version
Laboratory
Client – Version
Spinning Mill
Host – Version
Fig – The different levels of the SPIDERweb system
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
REFERENCES
A Schenek Massnahmen zur Vermeidun
Vermeidungg Autorenkollektiv “Spinnereitechnische
“Spinnereitechnische
von Reklamationen bei der Verarbeitung von Grundlagen” VEB-Verlag Leipzig Germany
Baumwolle
Textil-Praxis / - P Artzt and O Schreiber Abhängigkeit der
Nissenzahlen in Kardenbändern
A Schenek Messmethoden zur Bestimmung des Te
Textil-Praxis
xtil-Praxis -
Kurzfaseranteils
Kurzfaserantei ls in Rohbaumwolle -
Melliand Textilber / -
R Binder and M Frey Te
Technologische
chnologische
E Lord The Characteristics of Raw Cotton Untersuchungsergebnisse
Untersuchung sergebnisse von teilautomatisierten
teilautomatisierten
Manual of Cotton Spinning Volume II Part Baumwollspinnereien
The Textile Institute and Butterworths Manchester Textil-Praxis / -
and London
F Leifeld Rechnerische Ermittlung der
Rohstoffentstaubung
Rohstoffentstaubung in der Putzerei und ihre Reinigungswirkung
Reinigungs wirkung einer Spinnereivorbereitungsan-
Spinnereivorbereitungsan-
maschinentechnische
maschinentech nische Lösung lage
Int Text Bull Spinning / - Melliand Te
Textilber/
xtilber/ -
G Mandl Staubkontrolle in der Baumwollspinnerei W Wanner Mischverfahren der
Melliand Textilber / - Stapelfaserspinnerei
Chemiefasern/ Textilindustrie
Textilindustrie
F Leifeld Staubbekämpfung in der Spinnerei- -
Vorbereitung
Melliand Textilber / - WI Budnikow IW Budnikow WE Sotikow
NJ Kanarski and AP Rakow “Grundlagen des
A Schenek Naturfaserlexikon Spinnens” Band I–II
Deutscher Fachverlag / VEB Verlag Technik Berlin Germany
O Elsner and R Gan Abbau des Zuckers von KY Wang and G Jordan Luftgespon
Luftgesponnene
nene Garne –
Honigtau auf Baumwolle ihre charakteristischen Eigenschaften
Textilbetrieb No / Melliand Textilber / -
H Deussen Faserparameter für neue O Johannsen and F Walz “Handbuch der
Spinnverfahren Chemiefasern/ Te
Textilindustrie
xtilindustrie Baumwollspinnerei” Band III
/ Verlag Handwerk and Technik Germany
F Leifeld Fortschritte beim Öffnen und Kardieren AP Rakow and WM Krjukow
Melliand Textilber / - “Die Baumwollspinnerei” Band II
VEB Fachbuch-Verlag Leipzig Germany
P Artzt O Schreiber Faserbeanspruchung
Faserbeanspruchung an
Hochleistungskarden K-J Brockmanns Strukturuntersu
Strukturuntersuchungen
chungen an
Melliand Textilber / - Fasergarnen
Te
Textilbetrieb
xtilbetrieb No / -
D Kaufmann Untersuchungen
Untersuchungen an der
Wanderdeckelkarde Zellweger Uster AG Uster News Bull
Textil-Praxis / No
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
P Sasser Text Asia No -
Cotton Contamination
Contamination Surveys
Surveys –
– –
ITMF International Te
Textile
xtile Manufacturers Federation
Dr E Hequet International
International committee
committee on cotton testing
testing m
methods
ethods working
working group stickiness
Bremen march
Cotton fiber chart
ITMF International Te
Textile
xtile Manufacturers Federation
Uster statistics
Uster Luwa AG
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
ILLUSTRATIONS
Table – Machines used in short–staple spinning Fig – Increasing degree of cleaning from machine
Fig – The staple diagram by number to machine
Fig – The staple diagram by weight Fig – Resistance to cleaning
Fig – Staple diagram rectangular staple cleaning compliance
compliance of various types of cotton
Fig – Staple diagram triangular staple Fig – Unevenness of the blend in the longitudinal
Fig – Staple diagram trapezoidal staple direction
Fig – Staple diagram stepped staple Fig – Unevenness of the blend in the transverse
Fig – Staple diagram Fibrogram direction
Fig – Staple diagram by weight specification of Fig – Lap blending on an old scutcher
lengths Fig – Web blending
Fig – Stiffness of fibers of different lengths Fig – Blending of slivers of different raw materials
Fig – Proportion of waste in cotton of different Fig – Stages of the blending operation
classes Fig – Length variation curve CVL
Fig – Correlation between fiber properties Fig – The averaging-out effect in doubling
and yarn properties according to Uster Fig – Transverse doubling at the draw frame
Technologies Fig – The principle of open-loop control
Fig – Influence of fiber properties on yarn Fig – The principle of closed-loop control
strength according to Sasser Fig – Draft through a roller drafting arrangement
Table – Opening devices Fig – The forces acting on fiber f during drafting
Table – Opening variants Fig – Drafting force diagram
Fig – Dependence of degree of opening upon Fig – Drafting force diagram for the stick-slip zone
throughput Fig – Guided and floating fibers in the drafting field
Fig – Increase in the degree of opening from Fig – The friction field created in the fiber strand
machine to machine in a certain blowroom by applied pressure
Fig – Ideal form of the opening curve green line Fig – Effect of roller hardness on the friction field
in an older blowroom Fig – Effect of roller diameter on the friction field
Fig – Carding disposition Fig – The ideal arrangement of fibers of different
Fig – Doffing disposition lengths in the yarn
Fig – Forces in the carding disposition Table – Shows roughly the differences in structure
Fig – Forces in the doffing disposition arising from the spinning process
Fig – Transfer of fibers from the main cylinder T Fig – The twist structure in ring-spun yarn
to the doffer A Fig – Binding-in of the fibers in open-end spinning
Fig – Trailing hooks in the drafting arrangement Fig – Yarn formation in the rotor
Fig – Leading hooks in the drafting arrangement Fig – Bundled yarns wrap yarns
Fig – Leading hooks in the comber Fig – Differences in the yarn structure for
Fig – Reversal of the dispositions of hooks various spinning processes
between the card and the comber drawings without attention to hairiness
Fig – Reversal of the dispositions
dispositions of hooks Fig – Imparting strength to the yarn by twist
between the card and the ring spinning machine Fig – Twist directions in spun and twisted yarns
Fig – Former Platt air-stream cleaner Fig – Relationship between the number of turns
Fig – Co-operation of opening element grid bars of twist and the strength of a yarn
a and mote knife b Fig – Shortening of yarns with different twist
coefficients
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
Fig – Winding of two fibers f and f’ in yarns Fig – Varying inclination of the traveler on the ring
of different thickness Fig – Resolution of forces with an inclined balloon
Fig – Number of turns of twist in thin yarns Fig – The balloon tension
Fig – Number of turns of twist in yarns of different Fig – The different levels of the SPIDERweb system
thicknesses Fig – Diagram of SPIDERweb
Fig – Creation of false twist
Fig – Forming a yarn by means of false twist
Fig –Creation of false twist in the rotor
Fig – Self-twist
Fig – Forming a yarn by means of self-twist
Fig – Roving bobbin
Fig – Package on a flanged bobbin
Fig – Cop
Fig – Cross-wound cone
Fig – Cylindrical cross-wound package
Fig – Short traverse cheese
Fig – Can filling device coiler
Fig – Laying down sliver in cans
Fig – Laying down of sliver in large coils
over-center coiling
Fig – Laying down in small coils under-center
coiling
Fig – Winding of lap layers on a mandrel
Fig – Build of roving bobbin in sections
Fig – Laying wraps next to each other
Fig – Winding on flyer bobbins
Fig – The cop as a yarn package
Fig – Building up the cop in layers
Fig
Fig –– The
Mainwinding
layers and cross layers
mechanism
Fig – The formation of the curvature at the cop
base
Fig –The formation of the conical layers
Fig – Different winding diameters
Fig – Resolution of forces in the force
parallelogram
Fig – The forces acting at the traveler
Fig – The tensile force FF on the yarn
Fig – Continual changes in yarn tension due to
winding on larger and smaller diameters
Fig – Resolution of forces at the traveler
a in elevation b in plan
Fig – The resultant tensile force FL on the yarn
Fig
Fig
a
b–– Raising
Raising and
and lowering
lowering of
of the
the traveler
traveler
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume Technology of Short-staple Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 1 – Technology of Short-staple Spinning
This first volume in the series of The Rieter Manual of Spinning deals with the basics and there-
fore generally valid technological relationships in short-staple spinning The following volumes in
this series will be organized according to machines or machine groups Generally valid basic prin-
ciples will thus be kept separate from ongoing developments in machine design and construction
Rieter Machine Works Ltd. Rieter India Private Ltd. Rieter (China) The data and illustrations in this brochure and on the
Klosterstrasse Gat No. /, Village Wing Textile Instruments Co., Ltd. corresponding data carrier refer to the date of printing
Rieter reserves the right to make any necessary changes
CH- Winterthu
Winterthurr Shindewadi-Bhor Road Shanghai Branch
at any time and without special notice Rieter systems
T Taluka
Taluka Khandala, District S atara Unit B-, F, Building A, and Rieter innovations are protected by patents
F IN-Maharashtra Synnex International Park
machines@rieter.com T West Tianshan Road -v en
afersales@rieter.com F CN-Shanghai
T
F
ISBN ---
www.rieter.com ISBN ----
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 2
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 2 – Blowroom & Carding
Werner Klein
Publisher
Rieter Machine Works Ltd.
Copyright
©2016 by Rieter Machine Works Ltd. AG,
Klosterstrasse 20, CH-8406 Wintherthur,
www.rieter.com
Part of this content provided by The Textile Institute. Used by permission.
Cover page
A 11 UNIfloc, C 70 card
Available Volumes/Edition:
Volume 1 – Technology of Short-staple Spinning
ISBN 10 3-9523173-1-4 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-1-0
Volume 2 – Blowroom & Carding
ISBN 10 3-9523173-2-2 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-2-7
Volume 3 – Spinning Preparation
ISBN 10 3-9523173-3-0 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-3-4
Volume 4 – Ring Spinning
ISBN 10 3-9523173-4-9 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-4-1
Volume 5 – Rotor Spinning
ISBN 10 3-9523173-5-7 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-5-8
Volume 6 – Alternative Spinning Systems
ISBN 10 3-9523173-6-5 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-6-5
Volume 7 – Processing of Man-Made Fibres
ISBN 10 3-9523173-7-3 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-7-2
Collectors Edition – all Volumes (Vol. 1-7)
ISBN 10 3-9523173-0-6 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-0-3
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 3
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 2 – Blowroom & Carding
Werner Klein
4 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 5
THE RIETER MANUAL OF SPINNING
Volume 1 – Technology of Short-staple Spinning Volume 5 – Rotor Spinning
This deals with basic, generally valid, technological rela- This process resulted from research into alternative spinning
tionships in short-staple spinning. Subsequent volumes are systems. This volume contains in-depth information on the
organised according to machines or machine groups. This rotor spinning process and its properties. Continual improve-
separates generally valid basic principles from ongoing ments in spinning elements and conditions make it now pos-
developments in machine design and construction. sible to spin a rotor yarn optically similar to a ring-spun yarn.
Volume 2 – Blowroom & Carding Volume 6 – Alternative Spinning Systems
In-depth information is provided on opening, cleaning, To take full advantage of alternative spinning systems,
blending and carding and additional aspects are covered a thorough understanding of them is therefore essential. This
such as acclimatisation of raw materials, anticipated waste volume contributes towards reaching this goal by describing
from various grades of fibre, selection and setting of cleaning the most important alternative spinning systems in detail.
and blending machinery, waste recycling, transport and the One of them is the well known Air-jet spinning technology.
functions of the various card components as well as selection
and maintenance of card clothing and autolevelling systems. Volume 7 – Processing of Man-Made Fibres
Volume 3 – Spinning Preparation Ever since the introduction of man-made fibres on a com-
mercial scale, the market share of synthetic fibres has shown
Here the technical and technological aspects of the yarn an impressive growth rate. In this important field, the variety
production process between carding and ring spinning are of man-made fibres with different properties is continuously
covered, that means draw frame, combing section (including increasing. For numerous applications today, fibres that are
combing preparation) and roving frame. This is an important practically “tailor-made” are available. Spinners must there-
process stage, because the yarn quality largely depends on fore have detailed understanding of the fibre properties and
the quality of the intermediate products from which it is the specific characteristics that affect their processing.
made.
Volume 4 – Ring Spinning
Technical and technological aspects of ring spinning are
covered. This is the final process in yarn production. The ring
spinning machine greatly influences the yarn and its quality.
Ring-spun yarns still represent the standard for compari-
son when evaluating yarns produced by other spinning
processes.
6 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 7
EDITORIAL
„Blowroom & Carding” is the second volume in the series The Rieter
Manual of Spinning, which updates the essential principles in modern
short-staple spinning. It endeavors to describe the contemporary state of
the art in spinning technology, with the objective of providing a reliable
overview of currently available processes and techniques.
This volume and the subsequent ones are designed to contribute to the
achievement of that goal. Taken together, the seven books of the Rieter
Manual of Spinning will thoroughly cover the topic of short-staple spinning.
The second volume outlines detailed information on the preparatory pro-
cesses of opening, cleaning, blending and carding. It covers practical
aspects such as use and preparation of raw materials, waste removal and
anticipated waste quantity from various grades of fiber, selection and set-
ting of cleaning and blending machinery, recycling of waste, transport
and feeding of material. It also deals with the functions of different com-
ponents of the card, selection and maintenance of card clothing, and auto
leveling systems. Background data explaining the tremendous progress
and increase in card productivity is provided together with an outline of
options and potential in process integration.
The main author of these books, Werner Klein, is a former senior lecturer of
the Swiss Textile College and author of the original edition of the „Manual
of Textile Technology“ published by The Textile Institute Manchester. All
further authors are textile industry experts, who among others in various
positions within the Rieter Company, have many years of experience to
their credit. The Manual also addresses aspects that extend beyond Rieter’s
current product range, taking processes and solutions developed by other
manufacturers into account.
The structure of this manual and the organization of its subject matter
were taken over from the original Technology of Short-staple Spinning
published by the Textile Institute, Manchester, whom we thank for their
kind permission to continue this standard work.
We wish all users of this compendium pleasant reading.
Rieter Machine Works Ltd.
8 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 9
CONTENTS
1. The blowroom 11 1.4.3.2. The step cleaner 30
1.1. Introduction 11 1.4.3.3. The dual roller cleaner 30
1.2. Summary of the process 12 1.4.3.4. Rieter’s former monocylinder cleaner 30
1.2.1. Basic operations in the blowroom 12 1.4.3.5. Rieter B 12 UNIclean 31
1.2.1.1. Opening 12 1.4.4. Machines for “blending” 32
1.2.1.2. Cleaning 12 1.4.4.1. The mixing battery (Fig. 49, 50) 32
1.2.1.3. Dust removal 13 1.4.4.2. The Trützschler MCM/MPM Multiple Mixer 32
1.2.1.4. Blending 13 1.4.4.3. The Rieter B 70 UNImix 33
1.2.1.5. Even feed of material to the card 14 1.4.4.4. Metering and blending on one machine 33
1.2.2. Feed material 14 1.4.5. Machines for “Intermediate cleaning” 34
1.2.2.1. Raw material 14 1.4.5.1. Basics 34
1.2.2.2. Re-usable waste 14 1.4.5.2. The Trützschler RN cleaner 34
1.2.2.3. Adding waste to the raw material 15 1.4.6. Machines for “fine cleaning“ 34
1.2.2.4. Material from bales 15 1.4.6.1. Basics 34
1.2.2.5. Acclimatization of the raw material 15 1.4.6.2. Rieter B 60 UNIflex fine cleaner 34
1.2.3. The blowroom installation as a sequence of machines 16 1.4.6.3. The Trützschler “CLEANOMAT
1.3. The components of blowroom machines 17 TFV” fine cleaner 35
1.3.1. Feeding apparatus 17 1.4.7. Machines for “card feeding” 36
1.3.2. Opening devices 17 1.4.7.1. Basics 36
1.3.2.1. Classification 17 1.4.7.2. Card feeding with the former Rieter AEROfeed 36
1.3.2.2. Endless path devices (spiked lattices) 17 1.4.7.3. Scutcher 37
1.3.2.2.1. Mode of operation 17 1.4.7.4. Rieter A 78 UNIstore feeding machine 37
1.3.2.2.2. Mixing and rolling effects 18 1.4.8. Dust removal 37
1.3.2.3. Gripping elements (plucking springs) 18 1.4.8.1. Basics 37
1.3.2.4. Rotating devices 18 1.4.8.2. Rieter dust extractor 38
1.3.2.4.1. Rollers with teeth (blades) or spikes 18 1.4.8.3. Trützschler “DUSTEX” dedusting machine 38
1.3.2.4.2. Drums with teeth or spikes 19 1.5. High-performance machines ought to be easy to handle 38
1.3.2.4.3. Blowroom rollers with toothed discs 19 1.5.1. Demands 38
1.3.2.4.4. Carding rollers 20 1.5.2. Rieter VarioSet 38
1.3.2.4.5. Beater arms (multiple bladed beaters) 20 1.6. Transport of material 39
1.3.2.4.6. Beaters and rollers with pinned bars 21 1.6.1. The need for transport 39
1.3.3. The grid 21 1.6.2. Mechanical transport equipment 39
1.3.3.1. The grid as an operating device 21 1.6.3. Pneumatic transport 40
1.3.3.2. The elements of the grid 22 1.6.3.1. Basic principle 40
1.3.3.3. Waste collecting chambers under the grid 22 1.6.3.2. Separation of air and material 40
1.3.3.4. Grid adjustment 22 1.7. Control of material flow 40
1.3.4. Interaction of feed assembly, opening 1.7.1. Classification 40
element and grid 23 1.7.2. Optical regulating systems in batch operation 41
1.3.5. Alternative cleaning possibilities 24 1.7.3. Continuous operation 42
1.3.6. General factors influencing opening and cleaning 24 1.7.4. Rieter UNIcommand 42
1.4. The machines comprising a blowroom installation 24 1.8. Damage prevention and fire protection 43
1.4.1. Summary 24 1.8.1. Metal detection 43
1.4.1.1. A modern blowroom line 24 1.8.1.1. Magnetic metal extractors 43
1.4.1.2. The last generation blowroom line 26 1.8.1.2. Electronic metal extractors 43
1.4.2. Machines for “opening” 27 1.8.1.3. ComboShield (Rieter) 43
1.4.2.1. Automatic bale opening machines 27 1.9. Waste management 44
1.4.2.2. The Rieter A 11 UNIfloc 27 1.9.1. Economy of raw material utilization 44
1.4.2.3. Trützschler Blendomat BDT 020 1.9.2. Quantity of waste material 44
automatic bale opener 28 1.9.3. Classification of spinning mill waste 45
1.4.2.4. Conventional bale openers 29 1.9.4. Recycling of waste 45
1.4.3. Machines for “coarse cleaning” (pre-cleaners) 29 1.9.4.1. Recycling installation for reusable waste 45
1.4.3.1. Basics 29 1.9.4.2. Recycling of dirty waste 45
10 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
1.9.4.3. Recycling plant for all types of waste 46 2.2.7. Doffing 65
1.9.4.4. On-line recycling plant for the 2.2.7.1. The doffer 65
entire spinning mill 47 2.2.7.2. The doffing operation 65
1.9.5. Handling dust and fly 47 2.2.8. Detaching 66
1.9.5.1. The problem of dust and fly 47 2.2.8.1. The detaching apparatus 66
1.9.5.2. Dust filtering 48 2.2.8.2. Crushing rollers (web crushing) 67
1.9.5.3. Central filter installations 48 2.2.8.3. Coiling in cans 67
1.9.6. Final disposal of waste 49 2.3. The machine drive 68
2. The card 51 2.4. Card clothing 68
2.1. Summary 51 2.4.1. Choice of clothing 68
2.1.1. Introduction 51 2.4.2. Classification 68
2.1.2. The tasks of the card 51 2.4.3. Flexible clothing in detail 69
2.1.2.1. Opening into individual fibers 51 2.4.4. Semi-rigid clothing 69
2.1.2.2. Elimination of impurities 51 2.4.5. Metallic clothing 69
2.1.2.3. Elimination of dust 51 2.4.5.1. Manufacture of metallic clothing 69
2.1.2.4. Disentangling neps 51 2.4.5.2. The geometry of the clothing [12] 70
2.1.2.5. Elimination of short fibers 52 2.4.5.3. The most important operating
2.1.2.6. Fiber blending 52 parameters of the clothing 70
2.1.2.7. Fiber orientation 52 2.4.5.4. Clothing suggestions 72
2.1.2.8. Sliver formation 52 2.5. Autoleveling equipment 72
2.1.3. Operating principle 52 2.5.1. Basics 72
2.1.4. Varying types of design 53 2.5.2. Classification 72
2.1.4.1. Basic considerations 53 2.5.3. The principle of short-term autoleveling 73
2.1.4.2. Duo or tandem cards 54 2.5.3.1. Regulation at the delivery 73
2.2. The operating zones of the card 54 2.5.3.2. Autoleveling in the infeed 73
2.2.1. Material feed 54 2.5.4. The principle of medium-term autoleveling 74
2.2.1.1. Requirements 54 2.5.5. The principle of long-term leveling 74
2.2.1.2. Basic concept of tuft feed 55 2.5.6. Measuring devices 74
2.2.1.3. The two-piece chute system 56 2.5.6.1. The active pneumatic system 74
2.2.1.4. Fine cleaning integrated in the card chute 56 2.5.6.2. The mechanical principle 75
2.2.2. Feed device to the licker-in 57 2.6. Maintenance 75
2.2.2.1. Conventional system 57 2.6.1. Stripping the clothing 75
2.2.2.2. Feed in the same direction as 2.6.2. Burnishing the clothing 75
licker-in rotation (unidirectional feed) 58 2.6.3. Grinding the clothing 75
2.2.3. The licker-in zone 58 2.6.3.1. Intervals between grinding 75
2.2.3.1. The licker-in 58 2.6.3.2. Grinding depth 76
2.2.3.2. The operation of the licker-in 58 2.6.3.3. Grinding the flats 77
2.2.3.3. Elimination of waste 59 2.6.3.4. The grinding tools 77
2.2.3.4. Transfer of fibers to the main cylinder 59 2.6.4. High-performance maintenance systems 78
2.2.4. Auxiliary carding devices (carding aids) 59 2.6.4.1. Requirements 78
2.2.4.1. Need for such assemblies 59 2.6.4.2. Easy exchange of modules 78
2.2.4.2. Increase in the number of lickers-in 60 2.6.4.3. Rieter’s automatic grinding system (IGS) 79
2.2.4.3. Carding plates or carding bars 60 2.6.4.4. IGS-top integrated grinding system 79
2.2.4.4. Purpose and effect of carding elements 61 2.6.4.5. The sharp edge makes all the difference 79
2.2.5. Main cylinder 62 2.7. Settings 80
2.2.5.1. The cylinder 62 2.7.1. Basics 80
2.2.5.2. The casing of the cylinder 62 2.7.2. Table of settings 81
2.2.6. Flats 62 2.8. Auxiliary equipment 81
2.2.6.1. Function 62 2.8.1. Dust extraction on high-performance cards 81
2.2.6.2. Construction of the flats 63 2.8.2. Waste disposal 81
2.2.6.3. Movement of the flats 64 2.9. Technical data of three high performance cards 82
2.2.6.4. Carding plates instead of flats 64 References 83
2.2.6.5. Cleaning positions in front of the flats 65 Illustrations 85
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 11
1. THE BLOWROOM Considering the overall costs of a ring spinning plant, the
1.1. Introduction share of the blowroom line with about 5 to 10 % is not very
relevant. It is, however, very significant in respect of raw
The first volumes of the Rieter Manual of Spinning are material treatment, e.g. the best possible utilization, the
mainly focused on the treatment of cotton. Handling man- avoidance of deterioration, and optimum preparation for
made fibers is dealt with in a separate volume. further processing. Looking additionally at the cost struc-
ture of a yarn in which the raw material accounts for about
The task of the blowroom line is to: 50 - 70 %, it is clear that there is no better way to reduce
• open the material into very fine tufts; costs than via the raw material. And this can be done, e.g.,
• eliminate most of the impurities; with a modern high-performance blowroom line, as it ena-
• eliminate dust; bles a somewhat cheaper material to be used than with an
• provide a good blend. older blowroom line. The main saving potential, however, is
achievable with the introduction of professional and compe-
And this has to be done: tent raw material management. It enables the raw material
• with very careful treatment of the raw material; to be selected to conform exactly to requirements, and also
• with maximum utilization of the raw material; guarantees the optimum preparation and utilization of the
• while assuring the optimum level of quality. raw material. The latter is not so easy to achieve with regard
to one of the tasks of the blowroom, i.e. cleaning the raw
The relationships between the scope of tasks and the influ- material. Foreign matter cannot be eliminated without simul-
encing factors are shown in Fig. 1. taneous extraction of good fibers. This is unavoidable, only
the amount of good fiber loss can and must be influenced.
The requirements mentioned here are standard for all blow-
room lines; for modern high-performance lines the follow- Another big problem with conventional blowroom lines
ing are added: is the deterioration of the raw material:
• high operational efficiency; • about 50 % of all shortcomings in the yarn;
• high economy; • about 50 % of all quality reducing factors; and
• high flexibility; • around 50 % of all yarn break causes can be traced
• machines of ergonomic design, i.e. safe and easy to handle, back to the operation of the blowroom and cards.
maintenance friendly, reproducible and stable settings.
All the above-mentioned facts are what makes the blow-
room line so very important.
Opening
capacity
Cleaning
effectiveness Influencing factors:
– equipment Blending
– raw materials efficiency
– enviromental conditions
– human factor
– technological
Raw know-how
material Gentleness
utilisation in fibre
factor treatment
Fig. 1 – Technological performance of a blowroom line and influencing factors
12 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
[cm3/g] A
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
B
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Fig. 2 – Openness of the fiber material after the various blowroom machine stages
axis A: Degree of opening (specific volume); axis B: Blowroom stages
Errors or negligence in selection, composition or treatment blowroom line is not able to eliminate all, or even almost all,
of raw material in this section can never and by no means of the foreign matter in the raw material. A blowroom instal-
be corrected in the subsequent process stages. lation removes approximately 40 - 70 % of the impurities.
The result is dependent on the raw material, the machines
1.2. Summary of the process and the environmental conditions. The diagram by Trützschler
1.2.1. Basic operations in the blowroom in Fig. 3 illustrates the dependence of cleaning on raw mate-
1.2.1.1. Opening rial type, in this case on the level of impurities.
The first operation required in the blowroom line is opening,
carried out to the stage of tufts – in contrast to the cards,
where it is performed to the stage of individual fibers. Tuft A [%]
weight can be reduced to about 0,1 mg in the blowroom. 100
Artzt, Schenek and Al Ali [2] indicate that the degree of
opening changes along a blowroom line as shown in Fig. 2.
This line is a theoretical layout for study purposes only. The
flattening of the curve toward the end shows that the line
is far too long. It should end somewhere at machine No. 3
or (at least) No. 4. The small improvements by each of the
subsequent machines are obtained only by considerable 50
additional effort, stressing of the material, unnecessary
fiber loss and a striking increase in neppiness. If necessary
the card is able to assume rather more of the overall task.
1.2.1.2. Cleaning
It has to be kept in mind that impurities can only be elimi-
nated from surfaces of tufts. Within a progressive line of 0
0 5 10
machines it is therefore necessary to create new surfaces B [%]
continuously by opening the material. And even then the best
Fig. 3 – Degree of cleaning (A) as a function of the trash content
(B) of the raw material in %
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 13
It is clear from this diagram that the cleaning effect cannot 1.2.1.3. Dust removal
and should not be the same for all impurity levels, since it
is easier to remove a high percentage of dirt from a highly Almost all manufacturers of blowroom machinery now offer
contaminated material than from a less contaminated one. dust-removing machines or equipment in addition to open-
Looking at the machine, the cleaning effect is a matter of ing and cleaning machines. However, dust removal is not
adjustment. However, as Fig. 4 shows, increasing the degree an easy operation, since the dust particles are completely
of cleaning also increases the negative effect on cotton enclosed within the flocks and hence are held back dur-
when trying to improve cleaning by intensifying the opera- ing suction (because the surrounding fibers act as a filter).
tion, and this occurs mostly exponentially. Therefore each Since, as shown by Mandl [4], it is mainly the suction units
machine in the line has an optimum range of treatment. It is that remove dust (in this example 64 %), dust removal will
essential to know this range and to operate within it. be more intensive the smaller the tufts.
It follows that dust elimination takes place at all stages of
Result the spinning process. Fig. 5 shows Mandl’s figures for the
various machines.
A [%]
30
20
Optimum
Operating intensity 10
Fibre loss Degree of cleaning Neps Fibre damage a
b
Fig. 4 – Operational efficiency and side effects
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
I II B
In an investigation by Siersch [3], the quantity of waste
eliminated on a cleaning machine by modifying settings and
speeds was raised from 0.6 % to 1.2 %: while the quantity of Fig. 5 – Dust removal as a percentage of the dust content of the raw cotton
(A) at the various processing stages (B):
foreign matter eliminated increased by only 41 %, the quan-
1 - 5, blowroom machines; 6, card; 7, draw frames; (a) filter deposit;
tity of fibers eliminated increased by 240 %. Normally, fibers (b) licker-in deposit; I, dust in the waste; II, dust in the exhaust air.
represent about 40 - 60 % of blowroom waste. Thus, in order
to clean, it is necessary to eliminate about as much fibers as 1.2.1.4. Blending
foreign material. Since the proportion of fibers in waste dif-
fers from one machine to another, and can be strongly influ- Blending of fiber material is an essential preliminary in
enced, the fiber loss at each machine should be known. It can the production of a yarn. Fibers can be blended at various
be expressed as a percentage of good fiber loss in relation to stages of the process. These possibilities should always
total material eliminated, i.e. in cleaning efficiency (CE): be fully exploited, for example by transverse doubling.
However, the start of the process is one of the most impor-
AT - AF
CE = × 100 tant stages for blending, since the individual components
AT are still separately available and therefore can be metered
exactly and without dependence upon random effects.
AT = total waste (%); AF = good fibers eliminated (%). A well-assembled bale layout and even (and as far as pos-
sible simultaneous) extraction of fibers from all bales is
For example, if AT = 2.1 % and AF = 0.65 %: therefore of the utmost importance. Simultaneous extrac-
tion from all bales, which used to be normal in conven-
2.1 - 0.65 tional blending batteries, is now no longer possible (auto-
CE = × 100 = 69 %
2.1 matic bale openers). Accordingly, intensive blending in
14 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
a suitable blending machine must be carried out after sepa- 1.2.2. Feed material
rate tuft extraction from individual bales of the layout. This 1.2.2.1. Raw material
blending operation must collect the bunches of fibers arriv-
ing sequentially from individual bales and mix them thor- Fiber materials used in short-staple spinning can
oughly (see Fig. 6, and description “1.4.4.3. The Rieter be divided into three groups:
B 70 UNImix”). • cotton, of various origins;
• man-made fibers, mainly polyester and
polyacrylonitrile;
• regenerated fibers (viscose fibers).
An additional classification can be based on the degree
of previous processing:
• raw fiber, direct from the ginning mill or the man-made
fiber manufacturer;
• clean waste such as broken ends of sliver, lap and web;
• filter strippings from the draw frame, roving frame, ring
spinning machine and rotor spinner;
• comber waste for the rotor spinning mill;
• recycled fibers from dirty waste in the blowroom and
carding room;
Fig. 6 – Sandwich blending of raw material components • fibers torn out of hard waste such as roving, yarn and
twisted threads.
1.2.1.5. Even feed of material to the card
Mostly, raw cotton and man-made fibers are used together
Finally, the blowroom must ensure that raw material is with a small proportion of clean waste and possibly some
evenly delivered to the cards. Previously, this was carried recycled fibers blended with the raw material.
out by means of precisely weighed laps from the scutcher,
but automatic tuft feeding installations are used nowadays. 1.2.2.2. Re-usable waste
While in the introductory phase such installations were
subject to problems regarding evenness of tuft delivery, Rieter indicates average quantities of waste (in %) arising
today they generally operate well. in the spinning mills of industrialized countries as shown
in Table 1.
Binder [5] gives the following figures for the quantity of
good fibers obtainable from waste material:
Machines Cotton (length) Synthetics
1˝ 1 1/16˝ 1 1/8˝ 1 1/2˝
Ring spinning frame 1.5 2.2 2.7 3.0 2.2
Roving frame 1 1 1 1 1
Draw frame per passage 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6
Comber 12 15 17 19 –
Ribbon lap 1 1 1 1 –
Sliver lap 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 –
Card 5 3.8 3.1 2.8 0.6
Blowroom 6 5 4 3 0.5
Table 1 – Amount of waste (%) from the different machines in industrialized countries
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 15
As regards fibers from hard waste, only roving is used.
Clean waste Good fiber (%)
When such fibers are used at all, they are often not
– broken ends of sliver and lap 100 returned to the blend from which they came but to a lower
– filter waste 95 - 98 quality blend, and even then only in the smallest possible
quantities.
Comber waste 95 - 97
Dirty waste 1.2.2.4. Material from bales
– from blowroom machines 35 - 55
Production of a reasonably homogeneous product from inho-
– from cards (licker-in) 35 - 55
mogeneous fiber material requires thorough blending of fibers
– flat and filter strippings 65 - 80 from many bales. In practice, fiber is taken from 20 - 48 bales
Hard waste of cotton simultaneously; with man-made fibers 6 - 12 bales
95 - 97
– roving are sufficient. Simultaneous extraction of tufts from more than
48 bales is seldom useful, because usually there is no space
1.2.2.3. Adding waste to the raw material for additional blend components in the blending chambers of
the bale opener or blender without disturbing the evenness
It will be apparent that raw fibers are usually better than of distribution. On the other hand, the constancy of the blend
waste fibers because waste contains processed and there- can often be improved if care is taken with regard to homoge-
fore stressed fibers. Furthermore, since waste fibers have neity at the bale layout stage. The bales can be chosen in such
experienced differing numbers of machine passages, they a way that, for the layout as a whole, constant average values
differ from each other in their characteristics. For example, are obtained, for example for length, fineness and/or strength,
lap web is very compressed, but waste from thread break within predetermined upper and lower limits, which is a bale
suction systems is barely compressed at all. management task. In order to achieve this, the quality of each
Random and uncontrolled feeding of such fiber material bale must be known. Today computer software is available for
back into the normal spinning process is to be avoided optimizing bale grouping.
at all costs, since considerable count variation will result
along with quality variations. It is preferable that:
• a constant, fixed percentage of waste fibers should
be added to the fiber blend; and
• within this fixed proportion of waste, there should be
a constant, fixed percentage of waste fibers of different
sorts.
All of the clean waste arising in the mill can be returned to
the same blend from which it arose; comber waste is used
mostly in the rotor spinning mill; recycled fibers can be
returned in limited quantities to the blend from which they
arose. Rieter gives the following average amounts of recycled
fibers that can be added to the normal blend:
Ring-spun yarns: Fig. 7 – Bale layout in front of an automatic bale opener
• carded up to 5 %
• combed up to 2.5 % 1.2.2.5. Acclimatization of the raw material
Rotor-spun yarns Air temperature in the blowroom should be above 23°C and
• coarse up to 20 % relative humidity should be in the 45 - 50 % range. Damp air
• medium up to 10 % makes for poor cleaning and over-dry air leads to fiber dam-
• fine up to 5 % age. It should be borne in mind, however, that it is not the
condition of the air that matters, but that of the fibers. It is
assumed, however, that the fibers adapt to the air conditions.
16 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
To enable this to happen, the fibers must be exposed to the air for 1.2.3. The blowroom installation as a sequence of
an appropriate period. This is not achieved if cotton or, what is machines
even worse, man-made fibers, are taken from the cold raw mate-
rial store and processed as soon as they have been laid on the In processing the material, different types of machines are
extraction floor. Cotton bales should be left to stand in the blow- necessary, namely those suitable for opening, those for clean-
room in an opened condition for at least 24 hours before extrac- ing and those for blending. Different intensities of process-
tion starts, better still for 48 hours. Synthetic fiber bales should ing are also required, because the tufts continually become
be left to stand for 24 hours longer than cotton bales, but in an smaller as they pass from stage to stage. Accordingly, while
unopened condition. This allows the bales to warm up. Otherwise, a coarsely clothed cleaning assembly is ideal after the bale
condensation will form on the surfaces of the cold fibers. Further opener, for example, it is inappropriate at the end of the line.
adjustment to the air conditioning occurs within the pneumatic Therefore, there are no universal machines, and a blowroom
transport devices. In such devices, the relatively small tufts are line is a sequence of different machines arranged in series
continually subjected to the air current in the transport ducts. and connected by transport ducts. In its own position in the
line, each machine gives optimum performance – at any other
1 position it gives less than its optimum. Also there may be
5 advantages in different modes of transport, feeding, process-
ing, cleaning and so on from one machine to another along the
3 line. Finally, the assembly of a blowroom line depends among
4 other things on:
2
• the type of raw material;
6
• the characteristics of the raw material;
• waste content;
• dirt content;
• material throughput;
7 • the number of different origins of the material in a given
Fig. 8 – Rieter blowroom line blend.
1. Bale opener A 11 UNIfloc
2. Pre-cleaner B 12 UNIclean
In most cases a modern blowroom line consists of the
3. Homogenous mixer B 75 UNImix
4. Storage and feeding machine A 78 UNIstore following machines, as shown in Fig. 8 (Rieter) and Fig. 9
5. A 21 Condenser (Trützschler), illustrating two typical blowroom lines.
6. C 60 card
7. CBA 4 Sliver Coiler
1
2
1. Bale Opener
5
2. Condenser
3. Securomat
6 4 . Multimixer
5. Cleanomat
6. Dustex
7. Foreign fiber extracter
7
Fig. 9 – Trützschler blowroom line
(Conventional, for combed cotton. One line with a number of variations.)
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 17
1.3. The components of blowroom machines Where pedals are used (Fig. 12), the table is divided into
1.3.1. Feeding apparatus many sections, each of which individually presses the web
against the roller, e.g. via spring pressure. This provides
Feeding material to the opening rollers of an opening and/ secure clamping with a small clamping distance (a).
or cleaning machine occurs in free flight (gentle, but less As far as the feed system is concerned, influence can be
intensive treatment of the fibers), or in a clamped condition exerted on opening and cleaning only via the type of clamp-
(intensive but less gentle treatment). Free flight requires ing, mainly via the clamping distance (a) to the opening
only a drop chute, suction pipe or vortex transport from element.
rollers; a clamped feed condition calls for special machine
components. In this case feed devices can be distinguished
according to whether they comprise:
• two interacting clamping cylinders;
• a feed roller and a feed table;
• a feed roller and pedals.
Operating with two clamping cylinders (Fig. 10) gives the best
forward motion, but unfortunately also the greatest clamping
distance (a) between the cylinders and the beating elements.
Fig. 12 – Feed with a roller and pedals
1.3.2. Opening devices
1.3.2.1. Classification
Some of the operating devices in blowroom machines
function only for opening.
Most of them work, however, in cooperation with clean-
ing apparatus such as grids, etc., and thereby function
also as cleaning units. Consequently, they are designed
a to operate both in opening and cleaning machines.
Fig. 10 – Feed to a beater with two clamping rollers Opening units can be classified as:
• endless path;
In a device with a feed roller and table (Fig. 11) the clamping • gripping devices;
distance (a) can be very small. This results in intensive opening. • rotating assemblies.
However, clamping over the whole width is poor, since the roller
presses only on the highest points of the web. Thin places in the Depending on their design, construction, adjustment,
web can be dragged out of the web as clumps by the beaters. etc., these assemblies exert enormous influence on the
whole process.
1.3.2.2. Endless path devices (spiked lattices)
1.3.2.2.1. Mode of operation
Spiked lattices (Fig. 13) serve as forwarding and open-
ing devices in bale openers and hopper feeders. They
consist of circulating, endless lattices or belts with
transverse bars at short intervals.
The bars are of wood or aluminum; steel spikes are set
into the bars at an angle and at greater or lesser spacings.
a
Fig. 11 – Feed with an upper roller and a bottom table
18 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
• the total working surface;
• the number of points.
Offsetting the spikes relative to each other can increase the
opening effect. In this case they do not stand in rows and
do not extract material along straight lines. Opening with
spiked lattices is always gentle, even when fairly intensive.
1.3.2.2.2. Mixing and rolling effects
Spiked lattices are usually located in hoppers. Since
only a small part of the material – the smaller tufts – can
pass between the very closely spaced spike systems,
the greater part is continually thrown back into the hop-
per and returned again from there by the inclined lattice.
A continuously rotating roll of material forms in the hopper
and this has both positive and negative effects. On the one
hand, the rotation leads to thorough mixing; on the other,
Fig. 13 – Spiked lattice
neps are formed. Both effects become more marked as the
quantity of material in the hopper increases.
a
1.3.2.3. Gripping elements (plucking springs)
b Some manufacturers, for example former Schubert & Salzer and
Trützschler, have used plucking springs for opening. Two spring
systems, facing each other like the jaws of a pair of tongs, are
parted and dropped into the feed material and are then closed
before being lifted clear. They grasp the material like fingers.
This type of gripping is the most gentle of all methods of open-
ing, but it produces mostly large to very large clumps of uneven
size. This type of opening device is therefore no longer used.
Fig. 14 – Securing band (a / b), bars and spikes of the inclined lattice
Owing to their configuration, inclined lattices usually feed the
material upward at an angle. The spikes penetrating into the raw
material carry the material along. Opening occurs because the
Fig. 15 – Plucking springs
spikes drag small tufts out of the large infeed material when
passing the latter, and because in the upper region of the lattice
there is a counter-rotating roller (Fig. 44), also clothed with 1.3.2.4. Rotating devices
spikes and located fairly close to the lattice. This roller strips the 1.3.2.4.1. Rollers with teeth (blades) or spikes
large material lumps from the lattice. The counter-operation of
the two systems of spikes causes the tufts to be plucked apart. Flat, oval or round bars are welded, riveted or screwed to
The intensity of the opening action is dependent upon: closed cylinders. In another system flat bars are secured
• the distance between the devices; with the narrow side facing in the direction of rotation.
• the speed ratios;
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 19
The rollers are therefore called spiked rollers (Fig. 16).
Various spacings of the striker elements are used. These
devices are incorporated mainly in modern horizontal
cleaners, chute feeds, mixing bale openers, step clean-
ers, etc., which are located from the start to the middle
of the blowroom line.
At the start of the line, the spacing of the striker ele-
ments on the roller is greater; finer spacings are used in
the middle (to the end) of the line. The rollers rotate at
speeds in the range of 600 - 1 000 rpm.
Fig. 17 – Bladed drum
Rieter uses a new arrangement for the UNIclean pre-
cleaner: the double pins fixed by screws to the drum.
Fig. 16 – Spiked roller
1.3.2.4.2. Drums with teeth or spikes
The cylindrical parts are similar to those of the spiked
rollers, but they have larger diameters of 600 mm and
more. The striking elements are mostly of the same type,
though they may differ.
In several designs, shafts carrying discs are used in
place of cylindrical bodies. On their outer peripheries,
the discs carry striker noses in the form of welded or riv-
eted flat bars. The discs are maintained at the desired
spacing by intervening collars.
In all opening assemblies, it is important to avoid Fig. 18 – Drum with double pins
removal of material from the feed batt in strips. For this
purpose, the teeth or spikes are usually staggered to 1.3.2.4.3. Blowroom rollers with toothed discs
varying degrees.
The spacing of the striker elements on the drums is In contrast to spiked rollers or drums, which have quadrilateral
coarse when the drum is designed for use at the start of or round elements, toothed disc units have noses – triangular
the process (the Rieter B 12 UNIclean, for example), and plucking elements (coarse saw teeth). The complete open-
fine when the drum is designed for use in the middle or ing device is made up of many such toothed discs secured to
toward the end of the line (for example as the former a shaft with an appropriate number of spacers (Fig. 19). In this
porcupine cleaner). case also, removal of material in strips is to be avoided.
Rotation speeds vary between 400 and 800 rpm and the In toothed discs, the teeth are almost always asymmetrical,
device can be arranged parallel or at right angles to the since they have to operate in only one direction, and there-
material flow. fore rotate in only one way.
20 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
ing devices described already; significantly finer spacing of the
elements is necessary for that purpose – saw-tooth wire, for
example. As a result it became necessary several years ago to
integrate the licker-in, i.e. a carding roller, into the blowroom.
This roller produces the finest opening and best cleaning, but
also stresses the fibers most severely. Setting the speed of
rotation, and other adjustments, therefore demands a ‘feel’ for
the operation. The type of clothing corresponds approximately
to that of the licker-in, with tooth spacing of 6 - 8.5 mm, tooth
height of 4.5 - 5.5 mm and about 6 - 8 turns per inch. The
wire is secured in the same way as the wire of the licker-in.
Rotation speeds are between 600 and 1 000 rpm. Carding
rollers are the main part of modern fine cleaners, and used at
the end of the line. Sometimes 2, 3 or even 4 such rollers are
arranged in line in the machine.
Fig. 19 – Rollers with toothed discs
Automatic bale opening machines often require alternative
arrangements, since in many cases they move forward and
backward, i.e. the directions of movement and removal of
material vary. The material-extracting roller should there-
fore rotate sometimes in one direction and sometimes in
the other. In this case the direction of rotation has to be
changed according to requirements or two such rollers are
to be used in the bale opener, rotating in different direc-
tions. If only one roller always rotating in the same direc-
tion is to be used, then it must have symmetrical teeth that
Fig. 21 – Carding rollers
are effective in both directions. This requirement can be
satisfied if the elements are formed as double teeth
(Fig. 20, Rieter UNIfloc). 1.3.2.4.5. Beater arms (multiple bladed beaters)
Multiple bladed beaters consist mainly of two or three beater
bars arranged parallel to the supporting shaft and held by
four or five cast-iron arms (Fig. 22). In the course of one
rotation of the shaft, the web projecting from the feed rollers
is subjected to two or three blows over its whole width. The
opening effect, and hence the cleaning effect, is small.
This machine is hardly used today; when it is found at all,
Fig. 20 – Take-off roller with two-sided teeth it is only in the form of the old double beater scutcher.
1.3.2.4.4. Carding rollers
Not only has the quantity of dirt in cotton greatly increased
in the past few decades, the impurities have become steadily
smaller owing to hard ginning. They have consequently
become more difficult to remove. If the machine is to elimi-
nate even the smallest particles, then more tuft surface must
be created, i.e. the material must be opened to substantially
smaller tufts then before. That is not possible with the open- Fig. 22 – Bladed beater
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 21
1.3.2.4.6. Beaters and rollers with pinned bars 1.3.3. The grid
1.3.3.1. The grid as an operating device
These machines are similar to the multiple bladed beaters, but
instead of beater bars, pinned bars (pinned lags) are secured to In the final analysis, it is the grid or a grid-like structure
the ends of the cast-iron arms. They were called Kirschner beat- under the opening assembly that determines the level of
ers and comb through the web at speeds of 800 - 900 rpm. The waste and its composition in terms of impurities and good
relatively high degree of penetration results in good opening. fibers. Grids are segment-shaped devices under the open-
Kirschner beaters were therefore often used at the last open- ing assemblies and consist of several (or many) individual
ing position in the blowroom line, since good pre-opening of polygonal bars or blades (i.e. elements with edges) and
the fiber material permits gentle opening at the licker-in of the together these form a trough. The grid encircles at least 1/4,
card. The cleaning efficiency of the Kirschner beater is high, at most 3/4 and usually 1/3 to 1/2 of the opening assembly.
but unfortunately, so too is fiber elimination. Some machinery The grid has a major influence on the cleaning effect via:
manufacturers therefore replaced the grid under the Kirschner • the section of the bars;
beater with a guide plate; the resulting machine was an • the grasping effect of the edges of the polygonal bars;
opener, but no longer a cleaner. • the setting angle of the bars relative to the opening ele-
ments;
• the width of the gaps between the bars;
• the overall surface area of the grid.
Fig. 23 – Beaters with pinned bars (Kirschner beaters)
Modern Kirschner openers are often designed as closed roll-
ers rather than three-armed beater units. The design is sim-
pler and the flow conditions are more favorable. In other
respects, they operate like Kirschner beaters, but usually
have four to six pinned bars instead of only three. If at all,
Kirschner beaters or rollers are found only in old scutchers.
Fig. 24 – Rollers with pinned bars (Kirschner rollers) Fig. 25 – Two-part grid
22 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
1.3.3.2. The elements of the grid 1.3.3.3. Waste collecting chambers under the grid
Impurities and fibers fall through the grid gaps and accumulate
in large quantities in the chamber under the grid. Waste used
to be periodically removed manually, but pneumatic removal
systems are used today. As far as the cleaning effect is con-
cerned, modern waste chambers are passive elements, without
influence on the operation. In older designs they sometimes
participated actively, and afforded the possibility of exerting
a significant influence on events by permitting some of the
transport air for forwarding the tufts (the so-called secondary
air) to enter through the waste chamber and the grid. Such sys-
a tems enabled the interaction of airflow and beating power to
b
be exploited. Heavy particles could drop out, against the air-
flow through the grid gaps, because of their high ratio of mass
to volume. However, fibers were taken up again with the air-
flow because of their low ratio of mass to volume. Today, this
principle cannot be exploited because of the small size of the
foreign matter, which would now be carried back along with
c d the fibers. Accordingly, a so-called dead chamber is now used;
none of the transport air now passes through the grid gaps.
1.3.3.4. Grid adjustment
e
The grid can be in one, two or three parts. Correspondingly,
it can be adjusted only as a unit or in individual sections.
Fig. 26 – The elements of a grid
Three basic adjustments are possible:
• distance of the complete grid from the beater;
• width of the gaps between the bars
The following elements can be used in the grid: (Fig. 28, a=closed, b=open);
• slotted sheets (a): poor cleaning; • setting angle relative to the beater envelope
• perforated sheets (b): poor cleaning; (Fig. 27 and Fig. 28c).
• triangular section bars (c): the most widely used grid
bars; It is not common to make all these three adjustments. In
• angle bars (d): somewhat weak; most the cases the machines are so designed that only two
• blades (e): strong and effective. adjustment types are possible.
They can be used individually or in combination, but slot-
ted and perforated sheets, which were formerly placed
under the licker-in, are to be found in old, obsolete cards
only. Modern grids are mostly made up of triangular bars.
They are robust, easy to manipulate and produce a good
cleaning effect. The same is true of blade-grids.
Blades have been used as grid elements for a long time (the
mote knife), almost always in combination with triangular
section bars.
Today, grids are made up of knife blades alone, without
other element types. Angle bars are somewhat less robust
and can tend to create blockages.
Fig. 27 – Changing the grid bar angle to the beater
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 23
A [%]
4
a
3
a
2
b
1
b
0
0
1 2 3 4
c
B
Fig. 30 – Dependence of waste elimination: (A, %)
on the width of the grid gaps (B) (1 closed, 4 open).
Fig. 28 – Adjustment of the grid bars a = proportion of good fibers; b = trash content.
1.3.4. Interaction of feed assembly, opening element
and grid A [%] Fig. 31 A [%] Fig. 32
4 4
Fig. 29 to Fig. 32 demonstrate the influence of adjustments
to these elements: 3 3
• Fig. 29, distance between feeding device and beater;
• Fig. 30, grid gap width; 2 2
• Fig. 31, beater speed 740 rpm (and setting angle of the
grid bars); 1 1
• Fig. 32, beater speed 550 rpm.
0 0
10° 20° 30° 40°
10° 20° 30° 40°
The figures do not show fiber deterioration, or even dam- B B
age, that can be caused. Nevertheless, very fine settings
I II III
and high rotation speeds can produce very negative effects.
Fig. 31 – Dependence of waste elimination: (A, %)
On the other hand, the number of neps is scarcely affected. on the setting angle of the grid bars relative to the beater (B in degrees).
The design of the machine and its components exerts the I, fiber content; II, trash content; III, filter drum loss (Beater rotation
strongest influence on neppiness. speed: 740 rpm).
Fig. 32 – The same function as Fig. 31 but with a beater rotation rate
of 550 rpm.
A [%]
0.75
∆s
0.5
0.25
0
4.5 8.5 12.5
B [∆s]
Fig. 29 – Influence of feed pedal distance (Δs; B, mm) on waste elimination (A, %)
24 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
1.3.5. Alternative cleaning possibilities 1.3.6. General factors influencing opening and cleaning
An alternative to the commonly used mechanical clean- Degree of opening, degree of cleaning and fiber loss are pri-
ing was the airflow cleaner from the former Platt marily dependent upon, and can therefore be influenced by:
Company. • the type of opening device;
The ‘Air-stream-cleaner’ comprises two parts, a Kirschner • speed of the opening device;
roller as opening assembly (and pre-cleaner) and the • degree of penetration into the material;
airstream cleaner itself, as shown diagrammatically in • type of feed;
Fig. 33. • spacing of the feed from the opening device;
The cotton passes from the Kirschner roller (in front of • type of grid;
A) into duct A. The transporting air is subjected first to • area of the grid surface;
acceleration due to convergence of the duct bore, and • grid settings (airflow through the grid);
to an additional airstream created by fan (V). • condition of pre-opening;
• thickness of the feed web;
• material throughput;
• position of the machine in the machine sequence.
B
1.4. The machines comprising a blowroom installation
1.4.1. Summary
1.4.1.1. A modern blowroom line
E
As the operational means available are dealt with in the
previous chapters, and as the conditions and influencing
factors are also known, it is not very difficult to pinpoint
(theoretically) a modern and effective blowroom line:
A At the beginning a bale opener (automatic) is required,
C which opens the pressed cotton carefully into tufts that
are as small as possible, allowing the presentation of
a large, but not too large bale layout. It should be flexible
to operate with a (at least small) variation of blends.
V This first machine in the line, the automatic bale opener,
produces a large quantity of surfaces that have not yet
been cleaned. So after this opener a cleaning machine is
required. As extensive surfaces are exposed for cleaning,
and as the impurities can easily be eliminated from these
Fig. 33 – Airflow cleaner
surfaces, no additional opening operation is needed in
this second machine, and also no feeding device. The cot-
In region C, the whole airstream undergoes a sharp ton can be treated very carefully in free flight.
diversion (of more than 90°) towards E. The machine required at this point is a pre-cleaner.
While the relatively light cotton tufts can follow the In contrast to the former bale opener batteries, in modern
change of direction, the heavier foreign particles fly automatic bale openers cotton tufts are not plucked out of
through an opening in the duct, beyond region C, into all bales of the layout simultaneously, i.e. the individual
the waste chamber. components are not yet fully blended together. That is
This is an extremely gentle cleaning technique, but it why a separate blending machine is needed after the pre-
requires foreign matter significantly less able to float cleaner. So we have the third machine in the line.
than the fibers, i.e. it must be substantially heavier than Although the automatic bale opener delivers quite
the fibers. a large quantity of surfaces cleaned by the pre-cleaner,
Unfortunately, this is no longer true for all cotton variet- there are still a lot of impurities within the tufts. A sec-
ies, and therefore this good cleaning idea is not appli- ond cleaner is required to eliminate them. However, as
cable today. this machine has to create more surfaces, and thereby
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 25
very small tufts, a cleaner with a high opening effect The line can be extended for special purposes by adding foreign
is required. Saw-toothed rollers with feeding in the matter extractors (i.e. plastic sheets, parts of bale wrapping,
clamped condition are required for treating the material etc.), dedusting machines, recycling plants, etc. Blowroom
here. Within this so-called fine cleaner the treatment of lines of this high-performance type achieve a high opening rate
the material is, of course, quite aggressive but unavoid- and excellent cleaning efficiency, as shown in Fig. 35a.
able. At this point the question arises whether there is
any reason why the fine cleaner is behind and not in front
of the blender. This reason is obvious. The fine opening Tuft size
machine has to be placed directly in front of the licker-in
of the card, thereby enabling the material to be treated Conventional
more carefully at the infeed of the card. As we learned in
the early chapters, another task of the blowroom line is A 10 UNIfloc
dedusting, and no machine has yet been mentioned for
this purpose. However, the reason for this omission is
very clear. High-performance machines in a modern blow-
room line are constructed in such a way that dedusting
arises as a very systematic side effect in every opening
machine in the line. In normal cases no special dedusting
machines are required. However, several manufacturers
now offer special dust-removing machines or equipment.
In the machine sequence, they appear mostly at the end A 11 UNIfloc
of the line. Even when machines (from different manufac-
turers) within an individual zone differ in design, they are
based on a common basic concept, so that all the machines
of a given zone can in general be explained by taking one
of them as an example, as in the following chapters.
Production rate
Fig. 35a – Opening performance of the automatic bale openers
HIGH PERFORMANCE BLOWROOM LINE Left: conventional machine; center: good, but the last but one generation
of machines; right: high-performance bale opener of the latest generation
Automatic Bale Opener Opening to finest flocs
[%]
Removing coarse trash and dust
Pre-cleaner
in free flight (gentle) 100
90
80
70
Blender Homogeneous blending 60
50
40
Removing finest trash and dust 30
Finecleaner 20
with intensive opening
10
0
Fig. 34 – High performance blowroom line 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 8
Inital trash content [%]
These four machines (as shown Fig. 34) are the basic good, very good average poor, very poor
requirements of a modern high-performance blowroom line. Fig. 35b – Cleaning efficiency of a high-performance blowroom line for
More machines in the line result in raw material deteriora- cotton with different cleaning compliances
tion. However, extremely well designed machines are the
prerequisite for these lines. This applies to the great major-
ity of cotton lines; other arrangements and/or machines are
only required for special treatments.
26 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
1.4.1.2. The last generation blowroom line Another improvement, in this case in terms of rationaliza-
tion, was introduced at the same time as this development,
To illustrate this new concept we have to start with the card. i.e. joining the card to the first passage draw frame (Fig. 36).
Figs. 88 and 92 show the initial feed chutes of cards as The latter is placed directly following sliver delivery from
a simple square structure. In the course of time substantial the doffer. Incorporating these innovations, the most mod-
improvements were developed, e.g. integrated opening roll- ern material treatment system at the beginning of the spin-
er, controlled material compressing, transport air elimina- ning process is a combined, integrated, homogenous unit
tion, de-dusting, etc. (Fig. 93). At this stage of development comprising:
some engineers in the research department discovered that • bale opener;
an ideal fine cleaner could be obtained with some minor • pre-cleaner;
changes in the design of the card chute and with only little • blender;
effort, since the infrastructure already existed. All that was • card (combined with the first passage draw frame).
required was to replace the coarse opening roll by a pinned
roll with a new kind of feed roller in front and a scraping It can be described as the „material Preparatory section“,
knife underneath the roll (Fig. 94). and a modem spinning plant for coarse to medium counts
then consists of three divisions:
This design made a separate fine cleaner in the blowroom • Material preparatory section (with only a few possible
line superfluous. The most modern blowroom lines there- variations);
fore no longer feature a separate fine cleaner in front of the • Spinning preparatory section (with or without the
card. This function has now been transferred to the card combing section); and the
feed chute as an integrated part of this unit. This solution • Final spinning section.
results in a remarkable improvement in quality, since the
material is treated more gently. As an integrated machine
(only one) of a blowroom line the fine cleaner has to treat Feed chute
the total amount of material to be processed in this line, with finecleaner
and does this with a saw-toothed roll operating in a some-
what aggressive manner. In the new line the same amount
of material (up to 1 200 kg/h) is divided, for example,
among 2 x 6 chutes equipped with pinned opening rolls
(2 lines of cards with 6 cards each).
Card Draw frame
Fig. 36 – The compound card
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 27
1.4.2. Machines for “opening” 1.4.2.2. The Rieter A 11 UNIfloc
1.4.2.1. Automatic bale opening machines
In concept, this is the most widely used type of machine
The first generation automatic bale opening machines today. Machines similar to the UNIfloc are built by
were mostly stationary. Only the bales were moved, other manufacturers too, e.g. Marzoli and Trützschler
either backward and forward or in a circle. The second (Blendomat).
generation machines are of the traveling type, i.e. they
move past the stationary bales of the layout and extract
material from top to bottom. Traveling machines have
the advantage that more bales can be processed as an
overall unit (charge), and thus a better long-term blend
3
is achieved.
It should be noted, however, that these machines extract
4
material only in batches, i.e. they can process only one, 1
two or at most three bales simultaneously. If a long-term 2
blend is to be achieved, then mixing machines must be 1. Opening roller
included downstream from the bale opener. 2. Grid
3. Motor
A bale layout can comprise up to 130 bales from 4 to
4. Safety rail
6 different sources, i.e. 4 to 6 different types of bale
per fiber blend. Intervening spaces sometimes have to Fig. 38 – Tuft extracting device of the UNIfloc
be left between the individual bale groups so that the
extraction roller can be adapted to varying bale heights. The Rieter UNIfloc enables up to 130 bales arranged
The machines are completely electronically controlled for up to four components (different bale types) per
and extract material from all bales evenly, independently blend over a maximum bale layout length of 47.2 m to
of varying bale densities and heights. The machines of be processed. The machine can process one blend or
this first zone should be able to: up to 4 blends simultaneously. The production rate is
• extract material evenly from all the bales normally up to 1 400 kg/h .
of a lay-out;
• open the material gently;
• open up to the smallest tufts;
• form tufts of equal size;
• process as many bales as possible in a single charge;
• be universally applicable, i.e. easy to program;
• blend material right at the start of the process;
• permit the composition of a fiber blend from several
components (fiber origins).
Fig. 39 – The opening device
The feed duct (Fig. 40, 1) and the two bottom rails are
Fig. 37 – Rieter UNIfloc automatic bale opener secured to the floor. A chassis, which moves back and
28 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
forth on the guide rails, carries a turret (2), which swiv- Feeding of the new bales is automatic. Bales ranging from
els through 180° and supports an extracting assembly the maximum height to the minimum height are there-
(3) which can be raised and lowered. The latter has indi- fore always to be found on the bale transport conveyer, as
vidually replaceable double-teeth and changes its direc- already mentioned, in an inclined line (Fig. 41). A reserve
tion of rotation on reversal of the direction of movement belt, on which a certain number of bales can be placed for
of the chassis, so that material can be extracted in both acclimatization, is usually installed in front of the transport
directions of travel. conveyer belt. The extraction of the material occurs in the
same way as on other bale openers. The only difference is
that the opening device has to have the same angle of incli-
nation as the bales fed to it (Fig. 42).
2 The advantage of this opening method is very good long-
3 term blending (continuous, not charge by charge), the dis-
advantage a limited number of bales in the feed.
Fig. 40 – UNIfloc, suction system for the tufts
A microprocessor is provided for fully automatic extrac-
tion of material from the bales. The production rate and the
total weight of feed material can be entered manually on
the numerical keyboard. On the basis of the automatically
Fig. 41 – Inclined line of the exhausted bales in the feed
detected bale heights, the machine then calculates all data
required for fully automatic operation, including the pen-
etration depth for extraction.
The bales are laid out to left and right of the machine and
• bales can be processed from both sides simultaneously
into one blend;
• from both sides simultaneously into several blends; or
• from one side only.
In the latter case, new bales can be prepared on one side
and left to acclimatize, while other bales are processed on
the other side.
1.4.2.3. Trützschler Blendomat BDT 020 automatic bale
opener
This bale opener’s extraction method differs from that of
other openers. Whereas with normal openers a certain
number of bales (the bale layout) are processed, and after
that another bale layout is worked off, and then another,
and so on, i.e. charge by charge, extraction of material on
the BDT 020 takes place continuously.
For that purpose material has to be extracted from the
bales in an inclined position. This means that the moment
Fig. 42 – Inclined opening device of the bale opener
a bale is exhausted completely it will be replaced by new
one, and the next exhausted bale by another new one.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 29
1.4.2.4. Conventional bale openers Some auxiliary units, depending on the material to be
processed and in coordination with the other blowroom
Bale openers, blending openers, blending bale open- machines, can augment the basic units of the blending
ers, mixing openers, waste openers (or machines under opener. These auxiliary units can, for example, involve
other such names) are manufactured by many compa- deposit:
nies. Previously, these were the standard bale openers; • onto a conveyor;
in newer installations, however, they are found mainly as • into a suction duct;
waste feeders or for opening and blending of man-made • into a weighing unit;
fibers. Laying of material on the feed apron (Fig. 43) is • into an opening and cleaning unit (Fig. 44).
performed manually or via condenser from a bale opening
machine. The feed apron (2) pushes the fiber mass toward
the inclined lattice (4). In its rapid rotation, the latter car-
ries clumps of material upward. If these clumps are suffi-
ciently opened, they pass between the inclined lattice and
the evener rollers (at the top). However, most clumps are
too large to pass through the space between the two units.
a
They are thrown back into the blending hopper by the
evener rollers, and from the hopper they pass once more
into the operating region of the two assemblies (lattice and
rollers). Fig. 44 – A cleaning unit behind the opener (a)
1.4.3. Machines for “coarse cleaning” (pre-cleaners)
1.4.3.1. Basics
1
These machines are preceded by the opening machines
(bale openers), which create a large quantity of tufts,
i.e. large surface areas (at least, the high-performance
3
bale openers). The opening machines themselves can-
not clean these surfaces because they are not fitted
4 with cleaning devices, or, where such devices are pres-
5 ent, they can eliminate only a fraction of the impurities
owing to the high material throughput. But high-per-
formance bale openers also require high-performance
pre-cleaners in front of them with a high capacity for
removing impurities from the surfaces presented. Old
1. Condenser 2
2. Feeding apron pre-cleaners are inefficient for this job.
3. Mixing chamber
4. Upright lattice
5. Cleaning and opening unit 100
90
80
Fig. 43 – Bale opener
70
60
50 Trash
Each time they become smaller until finally they can pass 40
through to the next unit. Production rate and degree of 30
20
opening are determined by the speed of operation of the 10 Fibre loss
inclined lattice and its spacing from the evener roller. When 0
Old cleaner UNIclean
processing wastes, which tend to form laps around the
evener roller, this evener roller can be replaced by an Fig. 45 – Cleaning capacity of a high-performance pre-cleaner
evener lattice. compared with that of an old pre-cleaner
30 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
Two things are conspicuous in coarse cleaning machines: The machine comprises a large cleaning chamber containing
they generally process the material two drums of 610 mm diameter rotating in the same direction.
• while it is in free flight; and
• the striker elements are widely spaced on the operating A fan downstream from the dual roller draws material
rollers or drums. through the machine by suction.
The first opening roller carries the material over the grid
The opening effect is correspondingly very small. This is three times before it passes to the second roller. Trash
acceptable in zone after bale opening because adequate falls onto the bucket wheel locks. Guide sheets in the hood
surface area has already been created before that stage. direct the tufts.
Therefore, in their basic design, coarse cleaning machines
are optimal at their given position in the line, but not at
other places.
1.4.3.2. The step cleaner
The material falls into the feed hopper and passes to the
first beater. From there it is transported upward by the
six (sometimes three or four) beater rollers, each carrying
profiled bars; the beaters are arranged on a line inclined
upward at 45°. Elimination of impurities takes place dur-
ing the continual passage of the material over the grids
arranged under the rollers (Fig. 46).
Some step cleaners have a high flow chamber with special
baffle plates (a) to improve cleaning intensity. The grids are
always adjustable and usually also the beater speed.
Fig. 47 – Marzoli dual roller cleaner
a 1.4.3.4. Rieter’s former monocylinder cleaner
This machine operates in a similar manner to the dual
roller cleaner but has only one drum. The material enters
the machine at one side and flows through (parallel to the
beater) to the other side. In order to prevent tufts from
being drawn straight through the machine, the large hood
above the drum is divided into three chambers by guide
Fig. 46 – The step cleaner
plates.
This causes the tufts to fall back into the region of the
1.4.3.3. The dual roller cleaner beater drum after being hurled out by the roller. In this
way, the tufts are forced to circulate three times with the
(Example: Model B31/1 by Marzoli (Fig. 47)). drum, i.e. pass three times over the grid; this produces an
(Here again, similar models are offered by other intensive cleaning effect. The grid is in two parts, and these
manufacturers, e.g. AXI-FLO by Trützschler.) are separately adjustable.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 31
1.4.3.5. Rieter B 12 UNIclean over the grid five times, they also pass over a specially
arranged perforated sheet five times. The chamber behind
The basic design corresponds to that of the monocylinder this sheet is a low-pressure chamber. The air suction
cleaner, i.e. there is an inlet duct (4), a large cleaning drum through this sheet provides very efficient dedusting.
(1) with special hooks, a waste suction device and an out- The waste is collected inside the machine and fed to the
let duct (5). waste transport via an airlock cylinder. Intermittent suction
But instead of the material rotating three times inside the and connection to continuous suction is possible.
machine, it is forced to pass over the grid five times, always The airlock prevents good fibers from being sucked through
presenting new surface areas to it. The tufts not only pass the grid during waste removal.
1. Cleaning cylinder
2. Cleaning grid 4
3. Airlock cylinder
b b b b
4. Material feed
5. Material outlet
6
6. Exhaust air to filter
7. Waste removal
7
5
2
1
3 w 1
Fig. 48 – Rieter B 12 UNIclean Fig. 49 – The mixing battery with a bale layout in front
Fig. 50 – Feeding material from the bale openers onto a common conveyor
32 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
1.4.4. Machines for “blending” above. The chutes are filled successively and material is
1.4.4.1. The mixing battery (Fig. 49, 50) removed from all chutes simultaneously. This gives a good
long-term blend.
This was once the most common type of mixer and it is Ejection of tufts onto a collecting conveyor is performed
still used. The mixing battery represents the conventional by take-off and beating rollers under the chutes. The filling
method of mixing at the start of the process: height in the chutes is held fairly constant by sensors. At
2 - 5 mixing bale openers (Fig. 49, 1) operate together; the end of the machine a simple suction system or a cleaner
usually one of these openers is a waste feeder (w). A good can be incorporated.
blend is obtained because each opener can be supplied with
a plurality of bales (b), and the opened material from all
bale openers flows together onto a common conveyor belt
(2). If the bale openers are provided with weighing equip-
ment (weighing hopper feeders), then blends of different
components, e.g. cotton and man-made fibers, can be
formed in a predetermined and metered manner.
Modern blowroom lines operate with automatic bale
openers instead of mixing batteries, but special blending
machines are required in the lines, two of which are pre-
sented below.
1.4.4.2. The Trützschler MCM/MPM Multiple Mixer
The machine (Fig. 51) comprises several (6 - 8) adjacent
chute chambers into which the material is blown from Fig. 51 – The Trützschler MPM Multiple Mixer
1 1. Feed chute
2. Guidance system into
the blending chambers
3. Upright lattice
4. Opening roller
5. Take-off roller
6. Delivery chute
4 5
6
3
2
Fig. 52 – Rieter B 70 UNImix
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 33
1.4.4.3. The Rieter B 70 UNImix
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The machine (Fig. 52, Fig. 53) is made up of three parts:
a storage section, an intermediate chamber and a delivery
section. Tufts are fed pneumatically and simultaneously into
eight chutes (Fig. 52, 2) arranged one behind the other in the
storage section. A conveyor belt feeds the stock through the
intermediate chamber to the spiked lattice (3). The material
columns are thus diverted from the vertical into the horizon-
tal. In addition to a condensing effect, this 90° deflection in
the material flow also produces a shift in the timing and spa-
tial distribution of the fiber packages from the first to the last
Fig. 53 – Rieter B 70 UNImix
chute. This special construction with a deflection of 90°, and
thereby different distances from the individual chutes to the 1.4.4.4. Metering and blending on one machine
lattice (at chute 1: short distance; at chute 8: long distance)
in turn results in good long-term blending. Thereafter, as in The blending machines mentioned above create random
a blending opener, material is extracted from the intermediate blends. They are excellent machines for blending one type of
chamber and subjected to a further opening step between an material (although with some varieties), e.g. cotton, or only
inclined spiked lattice (3) and an evener roller (4) (short-term one color shade. However, they are insufficient when blends
blending). An optical sensor ensures that only a small quan- of different materials (e.g. cotton/polyester) or different col-
tity of fiber stock is held in the mixing chamber in front of the ors are required. These blends are produced mainly on draw
lattice (3). Behind the spiked lattice there is a take-off roller frames, but can also be produced on the blowroom line. For
and a simple pneumatic suction feed to the next machine. these special cases Rieter offers its A 81 UNIblend (Fig. 54).
33 1. Material feed
2. Dedusting and air extraction
3. Air to filter unit
11 4. Dosage unit
5. Component layers
6. Take-off unit
7. Inverter-controlled transport fan
8. Control cabinet
77
22
44 88
55
66
Fig. 54 – Rieter A 81 UNIblend
34 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
Hydraulic systems Microprocessor
generates control for
constant force constant dosage
3
22
1. Hydraulic cylinder
1
2. Pressure sensor
3. Linear potentiometer
4. Inverter
Fig. 55 – The metering device
As with the UNImix, several chutes are arranged side by
side, but every chute has its own, separate feed (for the dif- Fig. 56 – Trützschler RN cleaner
ferent types of material). Every chute ends at the bottom
1.4.6. Machines for “fine cleaning“
with an independent metering device (Fig. 55). Each chute
1.4.6.1. Basics
therefore drops a precisely measured quantity of material
onto the collecting conveyer belt, which again forwards the
accurately metered material stock to the take-off unit. In older installations this zone was provided by the scutcher
in the form of a Kirschner beater. The Kirschner beater may
1.4.5. Machines for “Intermediate cleaning” still be integrated in a line of the last but one generation
without a scutcher. But nowadays mainly saw-toothed roll-
(No longer required for high-performance blowroom lines) ers are in use for fine cleaning. This form of intensive clean-
ing with a carding roller has been forced on spinners in the
1.4.5.1. Basics last few decades, since cotton stock has become steadily
more contaminated and the impurities have become stead-
In contrast to the pre-cleaners, these machines must again ily smaller, requiring far more intensive opening for creating
produce new surfaces; i.e. opening must precede the clean- very small tufts. In this zone, machines from the individual
ing operation. They operate with clamp feeds or with feed manufacturers exhibit many similarities. Often, they are uni-
in free flight. The spacing of the striker elements on the versal machines, which can be fitted with different numbers
rollers must be finer than at the pre-cleaner. Bladed or and/or different types of opening rollers. As a representative
spiked rollers were previously used, e.g. the well-known example, the Rieter cleaner will be described.
horizontal cleaner or the step cleaners. Although these
machines are outdated, the Trützschler step cleaner is men- 1.4.6.2. Rieter B 60 UNIflex fine cleaner
tioned here as representative of all other such cleaners.
A fan (Fig. 57, 6) draws the tufts by suction from the pre-
1.4.5.2. The Trützschler RN cleaner ceding machine and a distribution element ejects them into
a filling chute (1). The rear wall of the chute consists of
This is the same step cleaner as described in chapter individual aluminum lamellae with slot-openings through
1.4.3.2., but extended by a spiked beater. which the air can escape (first dedusting step).
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 35
He thus has the opportunity to optimize waste extraction
to suit his requirements without any mechanical inter-
66 vention.
1.4.6.3. The Trützschler “CLEANOMAT TFV”
fine cleaner
The special feature of this machine is that, depending
1 on the type of material to be treated, it is available with
different numbers of rollers – from one to four (Fig. 58
to Fig. 60).
But for all the different types the working principle is the
same: a conveyer belt feeds the material to the feed roller
pair. It again forwards the batt to the first roller, rotating
downward, resulting in a good opening action. This roller
transfers the material to the next, now upward rotating
2 roller and so on to the end where the cleaned material is
3 removed by suction. The waste elimination device is also
specially designed. There is no grid, but in each case a sin-
gle mote knife per roller (two for the first one) below that
5
roller or above when the roller is rotating upward.
The mote knife is part of a suction tube, which immedi-
4
ately eliminates the scraped-off particles. From the first
to the last roller not only the speed increases but also
the wire on the roller becomes finer and finer.
Fig. 57 – Rieter B 60 UNIflex fine cleaner
Thus a very homogeneous batting laydown is formed both
lengthwise and crosswise. The adjustable chute depth
determines the lap weight required depending on produc-
tion and type of fiber. The material is carried further by
a perforated drum (2) (second dedusting step) and a plain
drum. The machine is equipped with automatic lap intake,
thus no manual intervention is needed when starting up the
fine cleaner. The distance between feed trough (3) and
opening cylinder (5) is adapted by the programming to the Fig. 58 – CLEANOMAT CL-C 1
material being processed. The feed roll supplies the mate-
rial to the opening cylinder. The opening cylinder, which is
available in different versions depending on the require-
ments of the material, takes over the material. Using
VarioSet, the spinner can set the rotation speed of the
opening cylinder according to his objectives and raw mate-
rial. A grid (4) made of carding segments and knives forms
the cleaning surface and extracts impurities.
The carding segments on the knives increase the degree
of opening and consequently the cleaning. The operator
can, once again, use the VarioSet to adjust the setting
of the knives on the grid according to his objectives and
raw material. Fig. 59 – CLEANOMAT CL-C 3
36 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
1.4.7.2. Card feeding with the former
Rieter AEROfeed
77
33 88
Fig. 60 – CLEANOMAT CL-C 4
9
9
1.4.7. Machines for “card feeding” 44
1.4.7.1. Basics 55 10
10
It is enormously important that the cards receive feed mate-
rial that is itself homogeneous, uniform from card to card and 66 11
11
remains constant over a long period. Fulfilling this requirement
is not exactly easy for many modern installations with pneu- 1 Material supply from blowroom
2 Condenser
matic tuft feed systems. Usually, a certain degree of design 3 Filling trunk with regulating flap
4 Ridged rollers and feed roller with pedal lever
effort is necessary to deal with the problem. Lap feed was less 5 Kirschner beater
problematical in this connection, since each scutcher lap was 6 Hydraulic gear with servomotor
7 Feed back from closed loop duct
checked for constant lap weight and thus indirectly for even laps. 8 Excess material
Two further advantages of the scutcher should also be men- 9 Return feed rollers
10 Material delivery to fan into circular duct
tioned: it can be applied universally, and it permits opera- 11 Beater motor
tion with several blends. In comparison with tuft feed
Fig. 61 – Rieter AEROfeed (1967)
systems, however, it is considerably less economical. It is
therefore discussed briefly here, while tuft feed systems
will be discussed in the section dealing with the card.
aa
k cc
bb
cc
pp oo nn a m
dd
ee
ff
gg
Fig. 62 – Trützschler scutcher line
a - k feeding; m - p lap forming; „a“ are two dust cages
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 37
1.4.7.3. Scutcher The A 78 UNIstore is used as a storage, dedusting and feeder
machine in the blowroom. Its main purpose is to provide inter-
In addition to the other functions of blowroom machines, mediate storage for material in order to ensure trouble-free
the scutcher has to form a lap for supplying material to blowroom operation. Long piping distances are frequently
the cards. Previously, most of these machines were double found to interfere with the smooth running of the processes
scutchers; they had two beater positions and two pairs of and intermediate storage is necessary in many cases. The A 78
perforated drums. Machines delivered in recent years have UNIstore is used where a mixing opener proves unsuitable for
been almost exclusively single scutchers: they have only financial, technical or technological reasons. The integration
one beater position (Kirschner beater) and only one pair of a mesh screen filter inside the A 78 UNIstore eliminates the
of perforated drums or even a single drum. transport air, and creates an efficient dedusting. The structure
of the feeding and opening unit guarantees gentle fiber opening.
LAP WEIGHING
A lap-weighing device connected with the lap apparatus 1.4.8. Dust removal
detects any deviation of lap weight from a set value. The 1.4.8.1. Basics
result is registered on the output strip from a printer.
Simultaneously, the deviation is indicated as a signal. When Removal of the finest particles of trash, contaminants and
the deviation exceeds a preset value, the weighing device fiber fragments (dust) can be carried out by:
sends a pulse to a servomotor of a variable speed transmis- • releasing the dust into the air, e.g. by turning the material
sion, which regulates the weight per unit length of the lap. over and over, and then removing the dust-contaminated air;
• separating the particles directly from the fibers through
1.4.7.4. Rieter A 78 UNIstore feeding machine suction or scraping.
In the latter case, care must be taken to ensure that fibers
are not carried along; a fiber-retaining device is required.
Release of dust into the air occurs wherever the raw mate-
1
rial is rolled, beaten or thrown about.
7
5 Today, the air at such positions is therefore extracted by suc-
tion. However, in these arrangements, it is not only the removal
of dust from the material which is important. Maintenance of
a dust-free atmosphere in the workroom is of still greater signifi-
cance, since in many countries laws have already been passed to
6 prescribe the maximum permissible quantities of dust in the air.
With the second method, however, environmental conditions
in the workroom are not of interest, only the elimination of
2
the disturbing particles. Nevertheless, dust removal always
arises as a side effect if material is transported by air. This
happens at the end of the duct where, for example, the fibers
are separated from the transport air. The following are used
6 as direct and indirect means of dust removal:
• perforated drums (a rapidly rotating perforated drum follow-
4 ing a carding roller can extract 50 % of the dust in the stock);
• non-rotating perforated surfaces (Rieter and Trützschler);
3
• circulating perforated belts;
• stationary combs.
1 Material input 5 Perforated metal plate for air discharge
2 Material discharge 6 Light barrier for monitoring material height
Also, pneumatic transport in itself has an effect that should not be
3 Opening rollers 7 Open exhaust air transfer underestimated, since dust is always released during such trans-
4 Feed rollers port. In the following section, a simple assembly and one machine
(for dedusting) are described as representative of all others.
38 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
1.4.8.2. Rieter dust extractor Here they slide on the sheet down to the tip of the funnel
(4) and pass to the suction after dust is extracted.
This equipment (Fig. 63) forms part of the pneumatic trans-
port system. A chamber is included in the ducting and con- 1.5. High-performance machines ought to be easy to
tains a pipe which converges and has perforations. As the handle
material passes from 1 to 2 a special fan draws air from 3 1.5.1. Demands
and thus also draws dust from the transport duct. Since the
fiber tufts are vigorously “washed” by air currents in this The subjects dealt with in the previous chapters are the
ducting, good separation of the smallest dust particles, and main technological demands on a modern high-perfor-
finally their removal, is achieved. mance blowroom line, but another aspect is becoming
more and more important: easy handling of machines
everywhere. In detail this means:
• simple, time-saving adjustment;
• flexible adjustments, i.e. adaptable to all requirements;
1 2
• reproducible adjustments;
• durable adjustments, i.e. no uncontrolled changing of
settings by the machines.
3
3
Above all, reliability and operational safety are vital in
Fig. 63 – Dedusting within the transport duct this respect. A system of this kind will be explained by
means of the Rieter VarioSet, a component of the B 12
1.4.8.3. Trützschler “DUSTEX” dedusting machine UNIclean and B 60 UNIflex.
1.5.2. Rieter VarioSet
2 3
Cleaning intensity
1.0 X
H
1
A Z
1 This fan sucks the material off the CLEANOMAT cleaner 0.0
2 The distribution flaps distribute the tufts over the working width of 1.6 m 1 10
3 Considerable dedusting is effected by the tufts hitting the perforated surface Relative amount of waste [%]
4 The material drops into the suction system and is transported to the cards by
the variable speed fan
Fig. 65 – VarioSet cleaning field
5 The separated dust is permanently discharged
Fig. 64 – Trützschler DUSTEX
All performance and treatment alterations on both
machines mentioned can be made very easily and elec-
tronically during the normal operation of the machine
This machine consists mainly of a large chamber with a per- from outside the machine without any stoppages.
forated sheet (3), the infeed of the material (1/2) and the
withdrawal of the material at (4). In the chamber itself the
material tufts are blown against the perforated sheet (3).
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 39
Waste [%]
Example:
5 Indian cotton: 1 1/8 inch, 2.2 % trash
4 From/to Setting A A → X A → Z A → H
Waste amount 0.62 0.80 0.65 1.08
3
Trash [%] 90 78.5 67 66
2
Good fibers [amount] 0.07 0.22 0.32 0.55
1 Good fibers [%] 10 21.5 33 34
Ratio of trash/fibers 9:1 3.6:1 2:1 2:1
0
A B C D E F G H
Setting
Waste particles Fibers
The example from the B 12 UNIclean clearly shows that
a change in the horizontal direction (A to Z, opening of the
Cleaning intensity
grid) results in a far higher loss of fibers than the change in
1.0 H the vertical direction (A to X, increasing roller revolutions).
At the display it is possible to choose any point of opera-
0.8
tion adjustment within the complete cleaning field (the
G square A/X/Z/H): see Fig. 65.
0.6
EFD
0.4 EF 1.6. Transport of material
B C 1.6.1. The need for transport
0.2
A Blowroom installations consist of a combination of a num-
0
1 5 10 Relative quantity of waste [%] ber of individual machines arranged in sequence. In pro-
cessing, the material must be forwarded from one machine
Fig. 66 – Practical examples and their effect on waste composition
to the next. Previously, this was performed manually, but
An easily understandable and clearly arranged display now it is done mechanically or pneumatically, i.e. using
is available at one side of the machine for this purpose. air as a transport medium. Mechanical transport is limited
This display includes a special setting arrangement called exclusively to forwarding within the machine; outside the
VarioSet (Fig. 65). It enables operating personnel to machine, material is now transported only pneumatically.
adjust the degree of cleaning and the cleaning efficiency
(to a certain extent the unavoidable loss of fibers) exactly 1.6.2. Mechanical transport equipment
to the raw material and the requirements of the mill. All
that is needed is to push a few buttons on the operating This comprises conveyor belts, lattices and spiked lattices.
panel at the side of the machine. Various setting positions Conveyor belts permit high speeds.
can be fixed on the screen, e.g. for the degree of cleaning
from 1 to 10 (marked here in the example from A to Z),
and for cleaning efficiency from 0.0 to 1.0 (marked here
from A to X).
VarioSet:
Changes in the extraction of trash and good fibers when
changing the settings from A to X, Z till H.
Fig. 67 – Georg Koinzer lattice
40 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
They are used as collector belts in mixing batteries or as in- where L is the quantity of air; A is the cross section of the
feed or horizontal conveyors in openers and hopper feeders. duct in m2; v is the air speed in m/s. The duct must termi-
They have the disadvantage that sometimes the material slips nate in a device that separates the air from the material.
on them.
1.6.3.2. Separation of air and material
By far the most widely used assembly for this purpose is the
perforated drum (Fig. 69). It is used in various machines and
parts, often in so-called suction boxes (condensers).
A partial vacuum is created in the drum, and thus in the duct,
by a fan at one end of the drum. Air and material flow toward
the drum. However, while the air can pass through the perfo-
rations in the drum, and is then passed to filters for cleaning,
the fiber tufts remain on the surface of the rotating drum and
are carried along with it. In the lower region, the drum sur-
Fig. 68 – Habasit conveyor belt face is screened off from the partial vacuum in its interior. The
tufts are no longer retained by suction and fall into a chute.
The forwarding effect is often better on lattices (Fig. 67). Another assembly for separating air and material is the slotted
They are used as horizontal feed lattices and as short trans- chute of the Rieter UNIflex (Fig. 57), where the transport air is
port belts within a machine. They are endless and consist of extracted through the slot, while the material slides down on
circulating belts to which closely spaced, individual hard- the aluminum ribs of the rear wall of the chute.
wood crossbars are screwed or riveted. Today’s conveyor
belts (Fig. 68) no longer use crossbars. The belts consist of
different layers with a fiber-free surface. The belts are driven
by shafts that simultaneously serve for belt tensioning. The
forwarding speed is usually very low.
Inclined lattices or spiked lattices (Fig. 13) are the same in
terms of structure and drive. However, steel spikes are set
at an angle in the crossbars, so that the raw material can be
transported upward. Inclined lattices are operated at speeds Air
up to 100 m/min. They usually interact with evener rollers, Material
and thus function mainly as opening devices.
Fig. 69 – Separation of air and material
1.6.3. Pneumatic transport
1.6.3.1. Basic principle 1.7. Control of material flow
1.7.1. Classification
Air is not inherently a very efficient transport medium. Very
large quantities must be moved at high speeds in order to Since, as already discussed, the blowroom line is a sequence
keep the tufts that are being transported floating. The cur- of individual machines, each machine must always receive an
rent of air itself is a further disadvantage, since the air exact quantity of material per unit of time from the preced-
flows in a turbulent fashion through the ducting, i.e. vor- ing machine, and must pass on the same quantity per unit of
texes are created. Since the tufts are subjected to these time to the next. To ensure an adequate flow of material, the
vortexes, entangling of tufts can arise in long ducts and machines are adapted to each other so that each machine can
finally neps can be formed. A closed duct (generally a pipe) produce a little more than the succeeding machine requires.
and a source of partial vacuum (a fan) at one end of the Since each machine has excess capacity, a control system must
duct are needed to move the air. The air speed should be at be provided to ensure the correct delivery quantities. Two basic
least 10 m/sec, and 12 - 15 m/sec is better; it should never principles are used: batch operation and continuous operation.
exceed 20 - 24 m/sec. At a given air speed, the required
quantity of air can be calculated as: In a hopper feeder, for example, the conveyor (1, Fig. 70)
places material into the hopper until sensing lever (a) is pushed
L (m3/s) = A × v so far to the right that a contact is made to switch off the drive
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 41
time. On the other hand, in continuous operation created by
changing the speeds of the machines, the machines’ production
rates are much more closely adapted to each other. They oper-
ate almost continuously and without stops. A fine control device
serves to maintain material throughput by adjusting the pro-
duction speeds of the individual machines. Batch operation has
the advantage that the machines always run at the same speed
and with the same production rate when they are in operation.
R The treatment of the material remains uniform all the time.
That means that the raw material is always processed under the
same conditions, since there are only two treatment levels – full
on or off. In continuous operation, however, there are continual
b slowdowns and accelerations, with possibly varying intensities
a of treatment of the raw material. Data provided by Trützschler
indicate that there are no negative effects, provided variations
in production rates do not exceed ± 20 %. The disadvantage
1 of batch operation lies in the incorrect handling of the material
throughput. As machines often do not operate during 50 % of
Fig. 70 – Regulated feed of material in the hopper feeder
the time, in their productive periods they are not working at,
of conveyor belt (1). In exactly the same way, during filling of e.g., 300 kg/h as calculated by the spinner; instead they are
the reserve hopper (R), the pressure exerted by the column of actually processing material at a rate of 600 kg/h. The loading
material eventually becomes so great that sensing lever (b) is of the machine is high, and that might lead to a correspondingly
depressed; this causes the preceding machine to be switched poor cleaning effect. In the mill, therefore – and this is very
off. When the column of material has again been largely important – an attempt should be made to regulate the instal-
removed by conveyor (1), the sensing lever rises, the preceding lation so that the productive time of the individual machines is
machine is switched on and the reserve chute is refilled. very high, and only few non-productive periods occur.
Unfortunately, in practice the individual machines actually pro-
duce during a period that is often only 50 % of operating time 1.7.2. Optical regulating systems in batch operation
and are unproductive during the remainder of the operating (Example: Marzoli horizontal cleaner)
1 3
2
1 Maintenance-free variable-speed motor
2 Controller including adjustment for basic rotation speed and target value
3 Pressure transducer
Fig. 71 – Trützschler CONTIFEED
42 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
Four optical monitoring devices (Fig. 72) are mounted in As a concept, this is not new in the blowroom; it has been
the filling chute, conveyor belt and mixing chamber of the used for a long time in the scutcher as pedal regulation of
machine. the feed to the beater. What is new is that now the whole
blowroom line operates continuously and regulation is
performed electronically. This installation, developed by
Trützschler, will be presented briefly (see Fig. 71).
The central regulating unit, to which all the individual
machines are connected, is the “CONTIFEED”. This receives
an analog signal from the tacho-generators of the cards;
1
33 the instantaneous demand for material is continuously
2 calculated from this signal. Using this demand, the micro-
55
computer can establish the basic speeds of all drives that
44
66 determine the throughput and the drives can be corre-
55
spondingly controlled. A second signal is superimposed
on this basic speed signal, derived from the contents of
Fig. 72 – Optical regulation 2 the storage unit of the succeeding machine. In this way,
the successive machines are linked via individual control
If the column of material falls below light barrier (2), the loops. The programs for speeds, production quantities and
preceding machine is switched on and delivers material. allocation are first established manually, which represents
When the chute has been filled to such an extent that the a fairly substantial initial outlay. When balanced operation
material interrupts the light beam in light barrier (1), the is achieved, they can be transferred to the “CONTIFEED”
machine is switched off again. Light barrier (1) is also and stored there.
an over-fill safety monitor. Light barrier (3) monitors the
amount of material in the mixing chamber and controls the 1.7.4. Rieter UNIcommand
drive to conveyor belt (6) and the feed roller of the chute.
Light barrier (4) will trigger an alarm if there is no material As already mentioned, the blowroom line is a sequence of sev-
left on feed conveyor (5). eral machines. In their operation these machines have to be
very well coordinated, requiring a good, reliable system for
1.7.3. Continuous operation monitoring and controlling the individual machines, groups of
Fig. 73 – UNIcommand control system
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 43
machines and the total blowroom line. UNIcommand works on 1.8.1.2. Electronic metal extractors
an electronic basis, and is a combination of PLCs (program-
mable logic) and PCs with a central control unit somewhere The material is fed from an opening machine such as
near the blowroom line, plus an additional PC in the supervi- Blendomat (Fig. 75, 1). The next device, normally a fan in
sor’s office as an option. No computer or software knowledge front of the mixing machine, extracts the material by suction
is required to handle the system. As everywhere, Rieter stand- (5). Spark sensor (2) detects smoldering material and metal
ardized panels are used. A language-independent color graphic detector (3) any kind of metal. In either case, active oper-
representation and touch-sensitive monitors are chosen for the ating flap (4) is opened by a signal from the detector and
display. The main functional and operational requirements are: feeds the material into the receiving waste container, which
• switching on/off; is equipped with a fire extinguisher device (7) and a temper-
• display of operational status of all system components; ature sensor (8) to monitor the container (Fig. 75).
• simple switch-over of the process sequence, e.g. from
one- to two- or three-blend operation;
• automatic shift switch referring to the shift schedule;
1
• alarm indication of malfunction;
5
• machine remote control for adjusting and changing the
operating mode.
2
The user interface is exactly the same as on the machine itself.
1.8. Damage prevention and fire protection 3
1.8.1. Metal detection
1.8.1.1. Magnetic metal extractors 4
66
Fig. 75 – Electronic metal extractor (Trützschler)
1.8.1.3. ComboShield (Rieter)
Fig. 74 – Magnetic extractor (Marzoli)
This comprises a spark detector, a metal extractor and an elim-
Magnets have been used for decades in ducting or in spe- inating device, and is built into the transport duct (Fig. 76).
cial parts of machines in order to eliminate pieces of ferrous The spark detector pivots the rapidly operating flap as soon
material. The most effective form of device is a knee-bend as the latter detects sparks or burning material. The material
within the feed duct having permanent magnets at the two passes into a receiving container, which preferably stands out-
impact surfaces. When tufts are driven against the magnets, side the room. Simultaneously, an alarm is given and the blow-
ferrous particles are retained and can be removed from time room line as well as the filter installation is switched off.
to time. Magnetic extractors provide only a partial solu- The pivoting flap remains in the eliminating condition until the
tion to the problem because they can eliminate only mag- line is switched on again. This device has a second function,
netizable metal particles, and let all others pass. Electronic the detection of metallic material. If such a piece of material
extractors are needed to remove the other particles, too. is detected, the same rapidly operating flap is pivoted and the
foreign material is ejected into a container. After an adjustable
time the flap moves back into its normal position. In contrast
to detected sparks, the blowroom line remains switched on.
44 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
Fire detection Metal detection Rapid extraction flap
Fireproof container
Bale opener Combo shield Cleaner Mixing machine
Fig. 76 – ComboShield (Rieter)
1.9. Waste management
1.9.1. Economy of raw material utilization
Blowroom,
Raw material costs make up more than half the yarn costs. Primary raw material Carding Primary yield
It is unlikely that much can be done about this, since rising room
raw material prices are to be expected in future. Increasingly, Primary
therefore, spinners will be forced to improve exploitation of the waste
raw material. Without doubt, one possibility lies in recovery Secondary yield Recycling install
of fibers from waste: after all, on average about 50 % of blow-
Secondary raw material
room and carding droppings consist of good fibers. Their recov- Secondary waste
ery is not especially difficult and the saving in raw material Proportion of foreign matter Proportion of fibres
costs is significant, as illustrated by the following very approxi-
Fig. 77 – Material flow diagram for raw material and waste
mate, and not very exact calculation for a small spinning mill:
1.9.2. Quantity of waste material
Quantity of raw material processed per year 10 000 t
Total waste from blowroom and carding room 800 t In spite of the emphasis on the proportion of waste in the
diagram, it is clear that the quantities to be expected here
Recoverable waste 360 t
are relatively small. On average, about 6 - 8 % primary
Price of the raw material (net) per kg (US$) 1.32 waste, consisting of 50 % good fibers and 50 % contami-
Saving on raw material per year (US$) 475 000
nants, can be expected. About 90 % of the good fiber elimi-
nation can be recovered as secondary raw material, and this
still contains about 6 % trash. Such secondary raw mate-
An additional advantage of such recycling installations is rial can be mixed into the same blend up to a proportion
that a somewhat higher degree of cleaning can be used in the of 2.5 % without any effect on quality. Up to 5 % can be
blowroom machines, since with recovery of waste fibers the blended with hardly noticeable changes in quality.
level of their elimination in blowroom and cards becomes
relatively insignificant. As far as possible, no more than 5 % should be returned to
the blend (for ring spinning).
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 45
Waste from blowroom: B 12 / B 60 Sliver noil
Card licker-in
B 25 waste opener
B 7/3 R UNImix
Cards
B 12 UNIclean
B 12 UNIclean
B 7/3 R UNImix
B 70 UNImix
B 60 UNIflex
A 11 UNIfloc
Fig. 78 – Integrated recycling plant by Rieter
1.9.3. Classification of spinning mill waste 1.9.4.2. Recycling of dirty waste
A spinning mill produces the following waste, some in
Blowroom / Carding section, production 500 kg/h
significant quantities: Press
• directly reusable waste;
• dirty waste; and A 11
• dust and fly.
Waste materials falling into the first group can be collected 4
without difficulty and can be fed back into the blowroom line
B 12 UNIclean 3
in always the same admixing quantities. The other two groups
cannot be dealt with so easily, since handling of these waste
materials is unpleasant for mill personnel. Accordingly, in
modern mills, waste material is now removed pneumatically. B 25 – waste opener
Air is used exclusively as the collecting and transport medium. B 33 R / A 21
Mixing opener
B 70 UNImix
1.9.4. Recycling of waste
2
1.9.4.1. Recycling installation for reusable waste
As mentioned above, a considerable amount of waste can be B 60 UNIflex
1
reused in the same mill by feeding it through a bale opener B 12 UNIclean
(waste opener) into the normal blowroom line. Beyond that, C 60 card
in rotor spinning it is common to spin useful yarns from
waste or by adding waste to the normal raw material. Since
C 60 card
in this case the amount of waste is larger, the admixing can- waste suction
not be performed by a single waste opener; a complete piping
C 60 card
feeding installation as shown in the illustration (Fig. 79)
is required. Dirty waste first has to pass through a special
waste recycling plant before a portion of it (about 30 - 40 %
good fibers) can be reused. Fig. 79 – Rieter recycling installation
46 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
The various processes in the blowroom create various waste if the secondary raw material is not re-blended immediately
materials which cannot be reused for textile purposes, such as: but pressed into bales in a bale press (4).
• coarse dirt remaining after recycling;
• fly from the preliminary filters; 1.9.4.3. Recycling plant for all types of waste
• dust from the fine filters.
Almost all manufacturers of blowroom machines, and several
Dirty waste consists of a large amount of impurities and others, now offer recycling installations. That of Rieter in con-
a smaller amount of fibers. The latter can be recycled in dif- junction with LUWA (Fig. 80) will be described here as rep-
ferent recycling plants. resentative of all the others. Primary waste is pneumatically
In Rieter installations, for example (see Fig. 79), waste from fed via condensers into the B 34 mixing opener, pre-cleaned
all blowroom machines and cards is sucked directly through in the B 12 UNIclean, dedusted in the A 21 condenser and
the B 12 UNIclean cleaner of the recycling equipment (1) to cleaned further in the B 51R fine cleaner. The transport air
a mixing bale opener (2). The mixing bale opener continu- is always separated from material and fed to the pre-filter.
ously feeds the cleaned material back into the blowroom The yield of good fibers is fed into the bale press. Secondary
line (3). If dirty waste is involved, an additional B 60 waste from the recycling machines and pre-filter is fed into
UNIflex cleaner should be inserted between the mixing the bale press for black waste. Since the same types of
bale opener (2) and the point of feed into the blowroom machines are used in this recycling installation as in the
line. This installation can also be operated in off-line mode blowroom, handling is easy for the operators.
RPF
ss
Recycling Plant Rieter
R
R R
B 34 B 12 A 21 B 51R
ws ws
manually manually
Damper Damper
BP BP
Container
(by customer)
Black Waste Stand-By Hand-Feeding Good Fibres Stand-By
Equipment
Legend
Rotary Pre Filter Firedetection & Spark Discharge Unit Dustcollector
Rotary Air Filter Material Handling Fan Shut off damper
Radial Flow Fan Wasteseparator Balepress
Fig. 80 – Recycling system
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 47
1.9.4.4. On-line recycling plant for the entire that leads to pneumatic bale presses (or silos). In order to keep
spinning mill the various types of waste (comber waste, licker-in droppings,
etc.) separate from each other, a bale press is required for each
Installed equipment can be designed for continuous (on-line) specific type. Such presses are available from Autefa, Bisinger,
or batch (off-line) operation. Continuous operation implies that etc. If only one bale press is available, an individual silo must
secondary raw material is blended with the primary raw mate- be provided for each type of waste. About three bale presses
rial again in the same quantity, and that this takes place per- (or silos) should be sufficient for a normal cotton spinning mill.
manently and immediately after recovery. For this purpose, the Waste chambers (one or more at a time) are selected intermit-
reclaiming installation can deliver to a bale opener (e.g. waste tently and cyclically for suction, and the contents are blown
opener), or the material can be blown directly into the duct- into the presses, e.g. first from all blowroom machines. After
ing of the blowroom line. Here, the reclaiming installation is an automatic changeover to the second press, suction draw-off, for
integral part of the blowroom. On the other hand, batch opera- example of the flat strippings, is carried out. If the installation
tion implies that the secondary raw material is first pressed does not operate intermittently, then an extra duct is needed
into bales following recovery, and is then fed to the blowroom for each waste group. Both systems are used in practice.
in the same way as other bales. In this system, all waste cham-
bers of the blowroom machines, cards and combing machines 1.9.5. Handling dust and fly
are connected by suction ducts to central suction equipment 1.9.5.1. The problem of dust and fly
The Rieter plant is described here briefly by way of an example.
a) b) c) d)
B 12 C 60
C 60
B 70
C 60
C 60
B 60
C 60
1 2 3
Press
Fig. 81 – A feasible arrangement for the disposal of dirty waste
Blowroom (a); cards (b); draw frames (c); combing room (d); disposal installation with silos (1 - 3) and bale presses, or disposal installation with horizontal bale presses.
48 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
Dust is released at each machine, often in great quantities,
Blowing Carding Drawing Rotary Air Filter
owing to turning-over, plucking apart, etc., of the material. FDA continuously FDA continuously FDA continuously FDA continuously
In processing it is important to ensure that this dust cannot
13 500 m3/h
bind with the fibers again and also that it cannot settle in the
26 900 m3/h
atmosphere. Today, almost all machines up to the draw frame 2 000 m3/h 1 000 m3/h
are enclosed as far as possible and connected to dust extrac- 2 500 m3/h
2
tion lines. Released dust passes immediately into this suction
RPF
LDF
system, in which it must be separated from the air and carried 3
1
away. 4 SS
4
6
1.9.5.2. Dust filtering 1. Rotary Pre Filter
2. Rotary Air Filter
3. Radial Flow Fan
Usually two filter stages are used because a great deal of fly 4. Material Handling Fan
5. Fibreseparator
is carried along in the removal of dust by suction. The stages 5
6. Dustcollector
are preliminary filtering and fine filtering. These operations
can be performed with individual filters or a central filter. Fig. 83 – Flow diagram of waste removal plant
Preliminary
filtering Fine filtering
Compacting
Pressing Packaging in bags
or briquetting
Fig. 82 – Principle diagram of filtration
In new installations in new buildings a central filter (part of
the air-conditioning plant) will probably be chosen; individ-
ual filters may have to be used in older premises for reasons
of space availability and room height. The dust-laden air
flows against a slowly rotating filter drum (Fig. 83, 1).
A layer of dust and fly forms, is removed by rollers and falls
into a carriage located beneath the drum. Before the air
returns into the room, it is passed through the fine filter in
the form of a filter drum (Fig. 83, 2). Fig. 84 – Panel pre-filter (LUWA)
1.9.5.3. Central filter installations
Complete disposal of fly, dust and waste requires high air circu-
lation with corresponding energy consumption. Simultaneously,
a second system with high circulation is required, namely the
air-conditioning installation. Of course, it is possible to install
a self-contained, independently operating waste disposal sys-
tem with its own air circulating arrangements, and additionally
a second system - the air-conditioning installation – with simi-
larly high air circulation. But it is more rational and economi-
cal in energy terms to combine these two systems into an inte-
grated unit and to use the air circulation required for the waste
disposal system as part of the air circulation in the air-condi-
tioning installation. The waste disposal installation should then
be incorporated into the air-conditioning system.
Fig. 85 – Rotary fine filter (LUWA)
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 49
1.9.6. Final disposal of waste Functional description of the Bale Press System (BPS, Fig. 86):
• The textile waste (material) is usually pneumatically con-
Dirty waste materials are preferably collected, baled, packed veyed (1) (and separated according to quality) directly
and removed so that manual handling is excluded as far as from the production plant to the fiber separators.
possible. There are several possibilities for baling and packing: The fiber or waste separators are used as standard sepa-
rators. It is essential that the dusty conveying air in the
Baling density [kg/m3] fiber separator is discharged into a filtering installation.
After passage through a condenser, eject or 100 • The waste is discharged from the fiber separator (2)
press into container into the material silo (3).
Fill into sacks via fiber separators 60 - 80 • The discharge unit (4) moves the waste from the mate-
(compactor) rial silo to the internal material conveying system (8).
Re-used • The material can then be fed to the bale press (11) by
– lighter bale presses 80 - 120 means of waste separator WS (9).
– heavy-duty bale presses 200 - 250 • Subsequent pressing of the material is performed in the
Press into cakes or briquettes by 600 - 1 200 bale press (12).
briquetting presses
When waste is pressed into containers, or formed into bales
or briquettes, handling and transport are simple.
In this form, mainly as briquettes, waste can be composted
or burned. The heating value is approximately 4 kWh/ kg (for
comparison, the value for heating oil is just over 12 kWh/kg).
10 9
3
11
6
8 7
12
1. Material conveying from production 5. Discharge cone 9. Waste separator WS
2. Fiber separator FS 6. Shut-off damper 10. Transport fan
3. Material silo 7. Scavenging air shut-off damper 11. Bale press feeding hopper
4. Discharge unit 8. Conveying line 12. Bale press
Fig. 86 – Example: Bale Press System with pneumatic material conveying
50 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 51
2. THE CARD 2.1.2. The tasks of the card
2.1. Summary 2.1.2.1. Opening into individual fibers
2.1.1. Introduction
Whereas the blowroom only opens the raw material into
Two maxims of the experts – ‘The card is the heart of the tufts, the card must open to the stage of individual fibers.
spinning mill’ and ‘Well carded is half spun’ – demon- This is essential to enable impurities to be eliminated and
strate the immense significance of carding for the final the other operations to be performed.
result of the spinning operation. According to Dr. Artzt
of the Research Institute in Denkendorf, Germany, the 2.1.2.2. Elimination of impurities
operation of the card shows:
• the highest correlation to quality; Elimination of foreign matter occurs mainly but not exclu-
• and also to productivity. sively in the region of the licker-in. Only a small part of
the contaminants is carried along with the flat strippings,
The importance of carding is even greater where new or falls out at other positions. The degree of cleaning
spinning systems are concerned. The considerable influ- achieved by the modern card is very high, in the range of
ence of the card on yarn quality arises from the very com- 80 - 95 %. Thus, the overall degree of cleaning achieved
plex series of events in the process itself, and also from by the blowroom and the carding room together is as high
the pressure to adopt an extremely high production rate as 95 - 99 %. But carded sliver still contains 0.05 - 0.3 %
on economic grounds. This high production rate causes of foreign matter.
problems, since there is a close relationship between
increases in production and reductions in quality: 2.1.2.3. Elimination of dust
• the higher the performance, the more sensitive the
carding operation becomes In addition to free dust, which can be directly extracted
• and the greater the danger of a negative influence by suction as in the blowroom, the card also removes
on quality. a large proportion of the microparticles that are bound to
the fibers. Significant fiber/metal or fiber/fiber friction is
One of several causes is that we are still operating needed in order to loosen such particles. Both are avail-
according to a concept dating from 1770 and with a type able on the card to a considerable degree, i.e. the card is
of machine dating from 1850. On the other hand, since a good dust removing machine.
1965 production rates have increased from about 5 kg/h
to about 220 kg/h – a rate of increase not matched by 2.1.2.4. Disentangling neps
any other textile machine except the draw frame.
When dealing with cards it has to be kept in mind that While the number of neps increases from machine to
nowadays cards and blowroom form an integral, homo- machine in the blowroom, the card reduces the remain-
geneous, inseparable unit, coordinated to complement ing number to a small fraction. It is often falsely assumed
one another. that neps are eliminated at the card; in fact, they are mostly
While in the case of an easy-to-clean cotton, for exam- opened out. Only a fraction of the neps leaves the machine
ple, the blowroom line might assume most of the work- unopened via the flat strippings. Fig. 87 shows the approxi-
ing load required, for hard-to-clean cotton this might be mate change in the number of neps in the process.
done by the card. An improvement in the disentangling of neps is obtained by:
• reducing fiber density on the cylinder by using larger
cylinder widths;
• closer spacing between the clothing surfaces;
• sharper clothing;
• optimal (not too low) licker-in speeds;
• low doffer speeds;
• lower throughput.
52 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
2.1.2.7. Fiber orientation
A
Parallelizing action is often attributed to the card. This is not
completely justified, since the fibers in the web are not paral-
lel, although they do have, for the first time, a certain degree
of longitudinal order. It is true that a parallel condition is
achieved on the main cylinder, but it disappears during forma-
tion of the web between the cylinder and the doffer. Thus, the
card can be given the task of creating partial longitudinal ori-
entation of the fibers, but not that of creating parallelization.
2.1.2.8. Sliver formation
In order to be able to deposit the fiber material, transport
V M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 C it and process it further, an appropriate intermediate prod-
A – neps uct must be formed. This is the sliver. In extreme cases,
M – blowroom machines
C – cards
card sliver has a count of 3 ktex (new spinning processes)
V – cotton in bales to 9 ktex. Generally the count lies between 4 and 7 ktex (for
Fig. 87 – Change in the number of neps in the cotton when passing
direct feeding of draw frames up to 20 ktex) in the short-
blowroom and cards staple spinning mill.
2.1.2.5. Elimination of short fibers It also has to be kept in mind that all these operations must
be performed:
Short fibers can only be eliminated if they are pressed into • at very high output;
and retained in the clothing. Since that is not possible with • with very careful treatment of the fibers; and
metallic clothing, only the flats can be considered in this • very high utilization of the raw material.
context. The ability to select short as opposed to long fibers
is based on the fact that long fibers have more contact with 2.1.3. Operating principle
the clothing of the main cylinder than the short fibers. Thus
longer fibers are continually caught and carried along by In modern installations, raw material is supplied via pipe
the main cylinder. Short fibers, on the other hand, offer less ducting (Fig. 88, 1) into the feed chute (of different designs)
surface to the clothing of the main cylinder; they therefore (2) of the card. An evenly compressed batt of about 500
remain caught in the flats clothing, are pressed into it and - 900 ktex is formed in the chute. A transport roller (3) for-
leave the machine in the flat strippings. Elimination of short wards this batt to the feed arrangement (4). This consists of
fibers in the card must, however, be viewed in proportion. It a feed roller and a feeder plate designed to push the sheet
is actually very small, as can be readily demonstrated. The of fiber slowly into the operating range of the licker-in (5)
card eliminates 1 - 2 % flat strippings. Approximately half of while maintaining optimal clamping.
the strippings are made up of short fibers. The card therefore The portion of the sheet projecting from the feed roller must
eliminates fewer than 1 % short fibers. In the staple diagram be combed through and opened into tufts by the licker-in.
this is scarcely noticeable – the inaccuracy of the staple mea- These tufts are passed over grid equipment (6) and trans-
surement procedure is greater than the change in value. ferred to the main cylinder (8). In moving past mote knives,
grids, carding segments (6), etc., the material loses the
2.1.2.6. Fiber blending majority of its impurities. Suction ducts (7) carry away the
waste. The tufts themselves are carried along with the main
The card scarcely improves long-term blending, since the time cylinder and opened up into individual fibers between the
spent by the material in the machine is too short. However, cylinder and the flats in the actual carding process.
it improves transverse blending and fiber-to-fiber blend- The flats (10) comprise 80 - 116 individual carding bars
ing because, apart from the OE spinner, the card is the only combined into a belt moving on an endless path. Nowadays
machine to process individual fibers. Intimate fiber-to-fiber some 30 - 46 (modern cards about 27) of the flats are
mixing is achieved in the formation of the web. located in the carding position relative to the main cylinder;
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 53
11 10
18
12
9 8
15
3 17
4
5 14 16
6
13
7
Fig. 88 – Modern high-performance card
the rest are on the return run. During this return, a clean- The name card is derived from the Latin ‘carduus’, meaning
ing unit (11) strips fibers, neps and foreign matter from the thistle, the spiked fruit of which was used in earlier times
bars. Fixed carding bars (9) and (12) are designed to assist for plucking fibers apart. The working width was usually
the operation of the card. Grids or cover plates (13) enclose 1 000 mm or 40 inches; Rieter recently increased it to
the underside of the main cylinder. After the carding opera- 1 500 mm on its new C 60 card.
tion has been completed, the main cylinder carries along the
fibers that are loose and lie parallel without hooks. However,
conventional card 7.65 m2
in this condition the fibers do not form a transportable inter-
mediate product. An additional cylinder, the doffer (14), is
required for this purpose. The doffer combines the fibers into
a web because of its substantially lower peripheral speed rel-
ative to the main cylinder.
A stripping device (15) draws the web from the doffer. After
calender rolls (16) have compressed the sliver to some
extent, the coiler (18) deposits it in cans (17). The working 00
rollers, cylinder and flats are provided with clothing, which 10
becomes worn during fiber processing, and these parts must
be reground at regular intervals. 00
15
C 60 card 6.94 m2
2.1.4. Varying types of design
Fig. 89 – The Rieter C 60 card with a width of 1 500 mm compared
2.1.4.1. Basic considerations with a standard card
Carding engines are basically designed for processing either This is one of the reasons (out of a dozent others) for the
relatively long fibers (wool cards with carding rollers) or extremely large increase in production from usually 5 kg/h
relatively short fibers such as those found in the usual short- to max. 120 kg/h (the last but one generation) and to about
staple spinning mill. Since machines of the latter type have 220 kg/h for the latest generation.
flats circulating on an endless path, they are referred to as Although the card used today is still the same type as that
revolving flat cards. designed in 1850, its performance has been improved tre-
54 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
mendously, mainly by some design details. The target was on quality and on blending. However, these advantages are
first of all to provide: purchased at the cost of expense in hardware and mainte-
• better opening of the material in front of the main cyl- nance, and additional space is required. Modern cards of
inder; the latest generation give the same and better quality as
• far better and more even spread of fibers on the surface tandem cards. Therefore tandem cards are not necessary
of the cylinder. and are no longer available (Fig. 90).
This was achieved by installing more opening and carding 2.2. The operating zones of the card
devices in front of and around the main cylinder, e.g.: 2.2.1. Material feed
• an opening device in the feed chute; 2.2.1.1. Requirements
• new feeding arrangement (directional feed) at the
licker-in; In modern spinning installations the card is the first machine
• a second and a third licker-in; to deliver a cohesive intermediate product. Among other
• carding bars in front of the flats and behind the flats requirements, the product is expected to be very even and as
at the cylinder. far as possible free of faults. Irregularities in the sliver can be
traced through into the yarn, at least in the spinning of carded
Another means for achieving these improvements was the for- yarns; that is, they diminish yarn quality.
mer Crosrol tandem card (no longer available), which will be A fault-free sliver cannot be obtained unless the feedstock is
described in the following chapter. in an adequate condition, since every irregularity in the feed-
stock is transmitted completely into the sliver – in an elongated
2.1.4.2. Duo or tandem cards form owing to the draft. The time spent by the material in the
machine is too short for total compensation. In spinning, as in
As the name implies, tandem cards consist of two individual any other type of manufacturing process, the rule must be that
cards joined together to make up a unit, in which the doffer of faults should not be corrected and hidden but their occurrence
the first card feeds fiber material to the licker-in of the second should be prevented from the start. It follows that the feed
card. Double carding of the raw material has a positive effect to the card must be very even. Where lap feed was used, this
Fig. 90 – Crosrol tandem card
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 55
represented only a minor problem, since the scutcher formed The upper half of the chute is a reserve chamber that serves
even laps, each of which was checked for accuracy of count. to receive the material from the blowroom and to separate
Tuft feed systems react much more sensitively. the material from the air. In the lower portion, after an open-
The tufts must be transported pneumatically from a distrib- ing stage at the opening roller the quantity of material is held
utor unit into the chutes of several cards. One of the cards is constant. This material is lightly compressed by compressed
always located very close to the fan of the distributing system, air or by vibrating plates in a continuous and even manner to
whereas the others are located at steadily increasing distances form an even batt - an ideal feedstock. A distinction is also
from the fan. To obtain even feeding, the batts in the individ- drawn between feed installations with open and closed dis-
ual feed chutes of all cards must be equally thick, evenly dis- tribution systems. In open transport systems, the ducting ter-
tributed over the whole width of the chute and of equal den- minates after the last card. In closed systems, there is a circu-
sity. This requirement cannot be fulfilled continuously without lation path through which excess tufts, which have not been
the expenditure of some effort. An additional requirement for taken up by any card, are returned to the distributor unit. If
the feedstock of high-performance cards is a high degree of too much material is present on the circulation path, neps can
openness. This very good openness in turn is the reason for be formed. This type of installation is also inflexible, since an
the large increase in performance of this card in comparison established association of the cards with the blowroom instal-
with conventional machines. Higher loading of the clothing lation cannot be changed. In all forms of pneumatic chute feed
(600 to 900 ktex) permits greater throughput of material. it is important that when operation of a card ceases, all com-
Correspondingly finely opened material is therefore essential. pression of material in the chute is terminated, whether such
compression is effected by compressed air or by the shaking of
2.2.1.2. Basic concept of tuft feed a vibrating plate. Otherwise, material remaining in the chute
will be over-compressed and when operation restarts the
resulting sliver will be too heavy over a significant period.
Cards with pneumatic feed mostly require regulating equip-
ment to maintain constant sliver weight.
Fig. 91 – Material feed at the card
A distinction must be made between two basic tuft feed
concepts:
• one-piece chute without an opening system (Fig. 92);
• two-piece chute with an opening system (Fig. 93).
In the one-piece chute, a column of material of a height that
is somewhat variable over time is pushed forward toward the
feed rollers. This form of chute is simple, uncomplicated, eco-
nomical and needs little maintenance, but does not comply Fig. 92 – Tuft feed with a one-piece chute
with the requirements of a high-performance card. In contrast
to this chute, the two-piece chute is more complex and expen-
sive, but delivers a more even batt with better opened material.
56 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
air from a fan. A perforated sheet that is part of the rear wall
permits the air to escape. It then flows back to the fan.
An electronic pressure switch ensures constant filling and
density of material in the chute; this is obtained by adjust-
ing the speed of the feed roll (above the opening roller).
The airflow in the chute continually carries the tufts to the
zone in which the perforated sheet is currently least covered
by fibers. Even distribution of tufts over the whole chute
width is thus obtained.
2.2.1.4. Fine cleaning integrated in the card chute
With this solution, fine cleaning has been transferred to the
card chute. The existing opening position is supplemented
with a mote knife.
The result is:
• a card chute with integrated fine cleaning;
• the high production load of the blowroom is now dis-
tributed over several cards;
• fine cleaning is performed very gently at considerably
lower production rates compared to the blowroom;
• yarn quality is improved; for example, imperfections
(thick places, thin places and neps) are usually reduced
and short fiber content improves.
2
Fig. 93 – Tuft feed with a two-piece chute
2.2.1.3. The two-piece chute system
Raw material, delivered by a fan between the B 60 UNIflex
and the chutes or by the A 78 UNIstore, travels via the
transport duct, which extends over all integrated machines 33
within a unit, into the reserve chutes (upper half of the 44
chute) of the individual cards. The transport air escapes via
55
a perforated sheet and is carried away by a suction duct.
55
In this part of the chute (upper half) an electronic pres-
sure regulator ensures an approximately constant height
of material. 6
The feed roller, which seals the upper half of the chute,
pushes the stock into the region of the opening roller, and
this roller in turn plucks out fine tufts and discharges them
into the actual feed chute (lower part). Here, controlled con-
densing is carried out by a metered supply of compressed
Fig. 94 – Fine cleaning in the card chute
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 57
Mode of operation (Fig. 94): The plate is formed at its upper edge with a nose-like deflec-
1. Fiber tufts are fed uniformly to the card chute with tor (b, Fig. 96) to hold the batt. Facing the licker-in, the plate
integrated fine cleaning. has a fairly long guide surface (a). The deflector nose and
2. The fiber tufts are separated from the transport air in guide surface have a significant influence on quality and on
the upper section of the card chute (1, 2) and form an the quantity of waste eliminated. A sharp deflector nose gives
initial homogeneous batt. good retention of the fibers and hence an intensive, but unfor-
3. A feed roller with a feed trough (4) and a needled cylin- tunately not very gentle, opening effect. On the other hand, an
der (3) produces small tufts and thus a large tuft surface. over-rounded curve results in poor retention and poor open-
4. The integrated mote knife immediately eliminates the ing. In this case, the licker-in often tears out whole clumps of
exposed trash particles. fibers. The length of the guide surface (Fig. 96 a) also influ-
5. The released tufts are blown into the lower section (5) ences waste elimination. If it is too short, the fibers can escape
of the shaft by means of an additional controlled air the action of the licker-in.
current and condensed there into a homogeneous batt.
6. The perforated rear wall at this point permits additional They are scraped off by the mote knives and are lost in the
dedusting of the tufts. waste receiver. If this surface is too long, it presses the fibers
into the clothing. This gives better take-up of the fibers, but at
2.2.2. Feed device to the licker-in the same time better take-up of impurities. The result is a re-
2.2.2.1. Conventional system duction in the cleaning effect. The length of the guide surface
is dependent on the staple length, at least within a wide range.
A well designed feed device is expected to perform the follow- The feed roller has a diameter of 80 - 100 mm and is usually
ing tasks: clothed with saw-tooth wire, the teeth being directed against
• clamp the batt securely over its full width; the flow of material. This gives good retention of the batt,
• be able to hold the material back against the action of the which ensures that the licker-in does not tear whole lumps out
licker-in; of the batt. The opening effect of the licker-in is thus more in
• present the batt to the licker-in in such a manner that the nature of combing.
opening can be carried out gently.
The conventional feed assembly (Fig. 95) comprises a sta-
tionary feed table with a feed plate (1) and a feed roller (2)
pressed against the plate. The feed plate is formed as a special
extension of the feed table and is adapted to the curvature of
the cylinder.
b
22
3
1
4
5
Fig. 95 – Conventional feed device Fig. 96 – The shape of the feed plate
58 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
2.2.2.2. Feed in the same direction as licker-in rotation 2.2.3. The licker-in zone
(unidirectional feed)
33
a
b
2
Fig. 97 – Feed in the same direction as drum rotation (Rieter)
Fig. 98 – The licker-in
When the conventional system is examined, it is observed that 2.2.3.1. The licker-in
the material is pushed forward, illogically, against the direc-
tion of rotation of the licker-in. The batt must undergo a sharp This is a cast roller with a diameter usually of around 250 mm.
bend so that the licker-in can sweep through it. This diversion Saw-tooth clothing is applied to it. Beneath the licker-in there
certainly does not contribute to gentle fiber treatment. Rieter is an enclosure of grid elements or carding segments; above it
has therefore converted the feed system to enable material to is a protective casing of sheet metal. The purpose of the licker-
be fed in the direction of rotation of the licker-in (Fig. 97). The in is to pluck finely opened tufts out of the feed batt, lead
arrangement of the two feed devices is opposite to that of the them over the dirt-eliminating parts under the roller and then
conventional system, i.e. feed roller (2) is located below and deliver them to the main cylinder. In high-performance cards,
plate (1) is pressed against the roller by spring pressure. rotation speeds are in the range of 800 - 2 000 rpm for cotton
Owing to the rotation of the feed roller in the same direc- and about 600 rpm for synthetics.
tion as the licker-in, the batt runs downward without diver-
sion directly into the teeth of the licker-in. In order to give 2.2.3.2. The operation of the licker-in
perfect operating conditions in the conventional feed system,
the spacing between the feed plate and the licker-in must be By far the greatest part of opening and cleaning is performed
adapted precisely to the material. Where the direction of rota- by the licker-in. In machines with only one licker-in, open-
tion of the feed roller and the drum is the same, the distance ing is performed to an extent where more than 50 % of all
from the clamping zone (the exit from the plate) to the feed fibers pass onto the surface of the main cylinder in the form
roller/licker-in clamping point (distance b/a) is adjustable. of tufts, and slightly less than 50 % in the form of individual
fibers. Treatment imparted by the licker-in is therefore very
intensive, but unfortunately not very gentle. The licker-in
combs through a fairly thick fiber fringe at a rotation speed
of 1 600 rpm (approximately 600 000 wire points per sec-
ond), a circumferential speed of around 21 m/sec (approxi-
mately 76 km/h) and a draft of more than 1 600. Even with-
out sophisticated mathematical computation, it will be clear
that fiber deterioration is very likely to occur at the opening
point. Only the degree of deterioration can and must be pre-
cisely controlled by adjustment of:
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 59
• the thickness of the batt; A trash mote knife with suction unit is assigned to the licker-
• the degree of openness of the raw material in the feed- in. With the effective opening in the chute the C 60 card with
stock; single licker-in provides much better opening than the C 51.
• the spacing between the operating devices; The single licker-in opens the material tufts even more with
• the degree of orientation of the fibers in the feedstock; absolutely minimal loss of sound fibers, and extracts coarse
• the aggressiveness of the clothing; trash and dust gently.
• the rotation speed of the licker-in;
• the material throughput.
Opening itself involves the tearing away of the feed batt on
a wedge shape by means of the licker-in; 'wedge shape' refers
to the fact that the projecting fiber fringe becomes steadily
thinner where it faces away from the clamping point owing to
the plucking-out of fibers. The type and intensity of the open-
ing process influences the final yarn, primarily as regards nep-
piness, imperfections, evenness and strength.
2.2.3.3. Elimination of waste
Waste elimination is very intensive and takes place under the
Fig. 100 – Single licker-in, Rieter C 60 card
licker-in by means of special devices. The classic cleaning
assembly consisted of 1 - 2 mote knives and a grid, one half
of which was made of slotted sheet and another half of perfo- 2.2.3.4. Transfer of fibers to the main cylinder
rated sheet. In this arrangement, elimination of foreign matter
took place exclusively by scraping off on the mote knives. The Between licker-in and main cylinder the clothing is config-
grid sheets tend to serve as devices for guiding and holding- ured for doffing. It follows that the opening effect at this
back fibers, i.e. they prevent additional fiber losses that could position cannot be very strong. Nevertheless, it exerts an
arise from ejection. influence on sliver quality and also on the improvement in
High-performance cards require alternative assemblies in the longitudinal orientation of the fibers that occurs here.
order to be able to deal with the high material throughput. The effect depends on the ratio of the speeds of the two
Accordingly, the lickers-in of such cards no longer operate devices. According to various investigations, this ratio
with grids but with carding segments (4, Fig. 99). should be about 1:2; i.e., the draft between the licker-in
In the last but one generation of the Rieter card, for exam- and the main cylinder should be slightly more than 2 (this
ple, the tufts are first guided over a mote knife (2), then over refers to a card with one licker-in, not to a machine with
a carding plate (3), then again over a mote knife and again several). The optimum ratio depends upon the raw mate-
over a carding plate, before they finally pass to the main cyl- rial; in any event, when speeds are to be altered, this inter-
inder. The carding plates are fitted with special clothing (3a). dependence should be borne in mind.
5 2.2.4. Auxiliary carding devices (carding aids)
2.2.4.1. Need for such assemblies
The so-called combing rate was used previously in order to
1
indicate the opening effect of the card. This was the ratio of
the main cylinder’s rotation speed (rpm) to the infeed speed
(inches/min.). This number can no longer be used under mod-
3a
22
ern production conditions. The opening effect can now be
represented only by the number of points per fiber, i.e. aver-
3 3
4 age of total fibers fed in per unit of time over the number of
22 points available in the same time. At the licker-in there may
4 be, for example, 0.3 points per fiber (three fibers per point)
and at the main cylinder perhaps 10 - 15 points per fiber.
Fig. 99 – Carding segments under the licker-in of the Rieter C 51 card
60 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
If a given quality of yarn is required, a corresponding ing the diameter). Instead of grids, the lickers-in are
degree of opening at the card is needed. However, an encapsulated in casings.
increase in production at the card such as we have experi- Within these casings there are a few small openings
enced in recent years means quite simply that more fibers including sharp-edged grid blades to scrap off the impu-
must be passed through the machine. rities. The latter fall into a pipe and are sucked away to
In order to obtain the same carding effect (i.e. the same the waste collecting devices. For fine, long fibers mostly
number of points per fiber), the number of points per unit only one licker-in is used.
of time must also be increased. This can be achieved by:
• more points per unit area (finer clothing);
• higher roller and cylinder speeds;
• more carding surface or carding positions;
• finer opening of the fibers before feeding to the cylinder.
Little can now be done to increase the number of points,
since the mass of fiber also has to be accommodated
between the clothing: coarse fibers and a high throughput
demand coarser clothing; fine fibers and a lower throughput
permit the use of finer clothing.
Much has already been achieved by increasing speeds, Fig. 101 – Three lickers-in on the Rieter C 60 card
but further increases will prove steadily more difficult, as
an example will demonstrate. If, for example, the produc- 2.2.4.3. Carding plates or carding bars
tion of a card is increased from 25 kg/h to 60 kg/h with the
same number of points per fiber, the main cylinder speed The other or additional method of intensifying the carding
must be raised from 300 rpm to 750 rpm (according to effect is the insertion of carding elements at special positions.
P. Artzt). This cannot be achieved from either the design Today, carding aids can be applied at three positions:
or the technological standpoint. One effect, among many, • under the licker-in;
would be severe deterioration of the fibers. • between the licker-in and the flats;
There remain only the third and fourth approach – insertion • between the flats and the doffer.
of additional carding surface or additional carding posi-
tions and/or installing more lickers-in. Here also, there are These aids are in the form of carding plates or carding bars.
two possibilities:
• increase in the number of lickers-in; Carding plates have already been illustrated in Fig. 99
• fitting of additional carding plates. at the licker-in, while carding bars are shown in Fig. 102
and Fig. 103.
Both have been put into practice. Plates are usually used in the licker-in zone, while bars
are being located increasingly in the region of the main
2.2.4.2. Increase in the number of lickers-in cylinder (Fig. 102 and Fig. 103).
An aluminium carding profile (1) consists of 2 carding
The standard card has only one licker-in; for a long time bars (2). One of the advantages of bars is that they can
attempts have been made to increase this number and be provided in different finenesses, e.g. they can become
thereby to increase the opening effect. With the intro- finer in the through-flow direction. Different manufacturers
duction of modern high-production cards, several manu- use differing numbers of elements (between one and four)
facturers again saw this approach as one way to improve per position. Special clothing is required that must not be
performance. Various card designs therefore now allowed to choke. Most modern high-performance cards
incorporate multiple lickers-in, e.g. Rieter (Fig. 101), are already fitted with these carding aids as integral equip-
Trützschler or Marzoli. ment; all other machines can be retrofitted by, for example,
They are optionally available. The clothing surfaces are Graf of Switzerland or Wolters of Germany.
in the doffing configuration relative to each other, and In use are also other carding devices of different design
speeds must be increased in the throughflow direction, and with different components, e.g. mote knives (4) with
for example from 600 rpm (first licker-in) via 1 200 rpm guiding element (5) and suction tubes (3), etc.
to 1 800 rpm (third licker-in) (or the velocity by increas-
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 61
55
33
33
22 1
1
33
22
11
Fig. 102 – Carding bars at the infeed
55
6 5 4 3 2 1 B
44 Fig. 104 – Carding effect in the flats in cards without additional carding
segments:
33 A, carding effect (carding force);
B, number of the flat starting from the entry point.
That is why high-performance cards presuppose uncondi-
tionally individual fibers to be spread evenly over the whole
2
surface of the cylinder, and this again can be obtained only
2
by increasing the number of lickers-in and the inclusion of
11 carding elements, since they ensure further opening, thin-
2 ning out and primarily spreading out and improved distri-
2
bution of the fibers over the total surface area.
Fig. 103 – Different carding segments at the delivery
A
2.2.4.4. Purpose and effect of carding elements
If carding elements or additional lickers-in are not used,
the licker-in delivers mostly tufts, if not whole lumps, to the
main cylinder.
These are compact and relatively poorly distributed across
the licker-in. If they pass into the space between the cyl-
inder and the flats in this form, fiber-to-fiber separation
becomes very difficult and imposes considerable loading on
the clothing. The whole carding operation suffers. 6 5 4 3 2 1 B
Fig. 105 – Carding effect in the flats in cards with additional carding
segments over the licker-in
A, carding effect; B, number of the flat starting from the entry point.
62 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
In the final analysis, these additional devices reduce the load- 2.2.5. Main cylinder
ing on the carding zone cylinder/flats, among other things. Two 2.2.5.1. The cylinder
diagrams (Fig. 104 and Fig. 105) by Schmolke and Schneider
[10] illustrate loading of the flats with and without carding The cylinder is usually manufactured from cast iron, but is
segments; in addition, it is clear from these diagrams that the now sometimes made of steel. Most cylinders have a diam-
main opening work is done at the first flats after entry of the eter of 1 280 - 1 300 mm (Rieter C 60 card 814 mm, speed
material. Carding segments bring the following advantages: up to 900 rpm) and rotate at speeds between 250 and 500
• improved dirt and dust elimination; (to 600) rpm. The roundness tolerance must be maintained
• improved untangling of neps; within extremely tight limits – the narrowest setting distance
• the possibility of a speed increase and hence a produc- (between the cylinder and the doffer) is only about 0.1 mm.
tion increase; The cylinder is generally supported in roller bearings.
• preservation of the clothing;
2.2.5.2. The casing of the cylinder
and hence
• longer life of the clothing, especially on the flats; Beneath the cylinder, and fully enclosing it, is a grid made of
• the possibility of using finer clothing; sheet metal provided with transverse slots. This is designed
• better yarn quality; to remove impurities and maintain constant airflow condi-
• less damage to the clothing; tions. However, since the cleaning effect is extremely small,
• cleaner clothing. some manufacturers, such as Rieter, have replaced the grid
with a closed sheet metal casing. This enables the multitude
Even carding elements following the flats exert a considerable of small air vortexes that tend to arise at the slots to be pre-
influence on yarn quality – although the main carding work has vented. A closed sheet gives better fiber orientation on the
been completed at that stage. This is shown in a diagram by cylinder surface and often reduces the number of neps at high
Artzt, Abt and Maidel in Fig. 106 [11]. The segments create an cylinder speeds. Covering of the cylinder between the licker-in
additional fine carding zone as the fibers rotate 5 to 10 times and the flats, and between these and the doffer, takes the form
with the cylinder before they pass to the doffer. This additional of protective casing. One of these protective sheets, near the
treatment of 5 to 10 times at the segments also improves both flats at the front of the machine, is specially formed as a knife
fiber orientation and transfer of fibers to the doffer. blade. The level and quality of the flat waste can be influenced
by adjusting the distance between this blade and the cylin-
der. Narrow spacing produces little waste and wide spacing
A [%] produces more strippings. This setting option is, however, not
100 suitable for use as a means of adjusting the waste extraction
effect of the flats. If, for example, an attempt is made to elimi-
nate more short fibers by raising the flat waste level, it will not
succeed. More long fibers rather than short fibers will be elimi-
nated in the flat strippings. Fiber loss will be increased. Once an
optimum has been established (mostly by the manufacturer),
50
the setting should not be altered without excellent reasons.
2.2.6. Flats
2.2.6.1. Function
0 I II III IV V Together with the cylinder (Fig. 107, 1), the flats form the main
B
a b c
carding zone. Here, the following effects should be achieved:
• opening of tufts into individual fibers;
Fig. 106 – Improvement in yarn properties through the use of carding • elimination of remaining impurities;
segments following the flats • elimination of some of the short fibers;
A, comparison values related to cards without carding segments (100 %);
I, neps; II, thick places; III, thin places; IV, yarn evenness; V, tenacity;
• untangling neps (possibly their elimination);
a, main cylinder clothing: 430 points per square inch; • dust removal (3);
b, main cylinder clothing: 660 points per square inch; • high degree of longitudinal orientation of the fibers.
c, main cylinder clothing: 760 points per square inch.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 63
In order to fulfill all these requirements, a large continuous using clips (c) pushed onto the left- and right-hand sides of
carding surface is needed. The surface is created by a large the assembly. Since some space is taken up by the upper edge
number of individual clothing strips secured to the bars of of each clip, only a strip about 22 mm wide remains for the
the flats (2) and arranged in succession. 40 to 46 such strips clothing (hooks or teeth). For this reason, the flats do not
are commonly used (30 in Trützschler machines) to make up enable an absolutely continuous carding surface to be formed
the carding surface in the operating position. Since elimina- above the cylinder; there are gaps between the clothing strips.
tion of waste can be carried out only by filling the clothing,
the flats must be cleaned continuously. They must there-
fore be moved past a cleaning device (4) (hence the name
'revolving flat cards'). The bars of the flats must be joined
together to form an endless, circulating belt, for which pur-
pose they are fixed to chains or toothed belts. In addition to
the 40 - 46 flats (2) (Rieter C 60 card: 27 flats) that interact
with the cylinder (1), further flats are needed for the return
movement on the endless path, so that altogether 100 - 120
flats (Rieter 79) are fitted to the rotating chains. a b
33
c
33
11
Fig. 108 – Mounting of the clothing strips (b) on the flat bars (a) using clips (c)
The Trützschler flat bar
1. Optimized, light aluminium profile
44 2. Securely fixed flat clothing 1
33 3. Wear-resisting hard metal gliding pins
4. Plastic fixing clips 33
22 5. The cleaning felt keeps 44
the sliding surface clean
55
22
11
Fig. 109 – A modern flat construction
Fig. 107 – Carding zone between cylinder and flats
2.2.6.2. Construction of the flats
The bars of the flats are made of cast iron (nowadays alumi-
num profiles, Fig. 109) and are somewhat longer than the
Fig. 110 – Securing the flat bars to the endless chain by means of screws
operating width of the card, since they rest on adjustable (so-
called flexible) bends to the left and right of the main cylinder The bars are thickened at their left- and right-hand ends in
and must slide on these guide surfaces. Each bar is approxi- order to take fixing screws corresponding with screw holes
mately 32 - 35 mm wide (might change to smaller widths). in the chains; the individual bars can thus be secured to
The bars are given a ribbed form (T-shape) in order to prevent respective links of the circulating chains (Fig. 110).
longitudinal bending. A clothing strip (108 b) of the same The slide surfaces on the bars are not ground level but are
width is stretched over each bar and secured by clamping, slightly inclined (Fig. 111). Therefore, as the flats move
64 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
over the cylinder, they have a slight tilt, i.e. viewed in the
direction of material flow the leading edge of each bar is A [g]
spaced further from the cylinder clothing than the trailing 1.0
edge (1). The result is that the fibers are not pushed along
in front of the flats, but can pass underneath them.
0.5
2
11
0
1 5 20 30 40
B
Fig. 112 – Dirt take-up of the flats from the entry point
A, dirt; B, flat number 1...40
A diagram by Rieter (Fig. 112) shows that this is not simply
Fig. 111 – Inclined gap between flat clothing and main cylinder clothing an abstract principle, demonstrating clearly that the greater
part of the dirt is flung into the first flats directly above the
2.2.6.3. Movement of the flats licker-in. Rieter and Trützschler offer cards with backward
movement of the flats.
The bars of the flats mesh individually, like an internally
toothed wheel, with the recesses in a sprocket gear, and 2.2.6.4. Carding plates instead of flats
are carried along by rotation of the sprocket. The ends
of the bars of the operative flats slide over a continuous Stationary carding plates were used for a short time as card-
bend – with metal-to-metal friction. ing elements in place of traveling flats (Fig. 113). For exam-
As the flats move at a very low speed compared with ple, the former Hollingsworth company fitted four such plates
that of the cylinder in principle, the flats can be moved above the main cylinder where the flats would otherwise be
forward or backward, i.e. in the same direction as or in located. The plates were in the form of curved plates of alumi-
opposition to the cylinder. If the flats move with the cyl- num, provided with special steel wire clothing on their inter-
inder (forward), the cylinder assists in driving the flats nal surfaces. The plates were adjustable and replaceable. This
and the removal of strippings is easier. Forward move- latter feature is advantageous because the first plate, which
ment therefore gives design advantages. On the other wears faster than the others, can be exchanged with one of
hand, reverse movement (against the cylinder) brings the others after a certain period and thus continues in ser-
technological advantages. In this system, the flats come vice. This system has some striking advantages but also very
into operative relationship with the cylinder clothing on serious disadvantages. It is therefore no longer available.
the doffer side. At this stage, the flats are in a clean con-
dition.
3 C
They then move toward the licker-in and fill up during 2 C 4 C
this movement. Part of their receiving capacity is thus
lost, but sufficient remains for elimination of dirt, since 1 C
this step takes place where the material first enters the
flats.
At that position, above the licker-in, the cylinder car-
ries the material to be cleaned into the flats. The latter
take up the dirt but do not transport it through the whole
machine as in the forward movement system; instead,
the dirt is immediately removed from the machine Fig. 113 – Carding plates instead of flats. C1; C2; C3; C4
(directly at the point where the flats leave the machine).
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 65
2.2.6.5. Cleaning positions in front of the flats 2.2.7. Doffing
2.2.7.1. The doffer
Illustrated by the Rieter TREX system
The cylinder is followed by the doffer, which is designed to
The remaining impurities in the material on the cylinder, take the individual fibers from the cylinder and condense
and a large proportion of the dust, can be removed only them to a web. The doffer is mostly formed as a cast iron
by way of total opening of the raw material, i.e. absolute (or steel) drum with a diameter of about 600 - 707 mm.
separation of the fibers. (680 mm on Rieter machines). It is fitted with metallic
This degree of opening is achieved practically only once in clothing and runs at speeds up to about 300 m/min.
the spinning process, namely on the card cylinder (simi-
larly also in rotor spinning within the spinning unit). This 2.2.7.2. The doffing operation
position is therefore ideal for the finest cleaning.
The slotted grid beneath the cylinder that has been used It would appear logical to arrange the clothing of the cylin-
formerly is not suited to this purpose. Mote knives are der and doffer in the doffing configuration relative to each
better. They have been in use for a long time at the cyl- other. In practice, however, they are actually arranged in
inder (above the doffer) in the form of stripping blades the carding configuration (Fig. 115). This clothing arrange-
for the flats, but they have never been properly exploited ment is essential because the web that is finally delivered
for cleaning. must be cohesive and therefore the fibers must be inter-
For several years now, the manufacturers of cards have laced with each other and condensed. Compared with the
used assemblies better suited to this purpose, e.g. the doffing configuration, the carding configuration at this point
Rieter company’s TREX system (Fig. 114). Beneath the is disadvantageous in some respects. One disadvantage is
flats cover is a mote knife, set close to the cylinder; this that the desired fiber parallelization achieved on the main
knife is associated with a suction tube. Foreign matter cylinder largely disappears again, since a degree of random
stripped from the cylinder surface passes into the tube orientation is necessary to form a web and to doff it.
and is carried away. Another is the undesirable bending of the fiber ends which
Nowadays it is nearly standard to have assemblies com- occurs here, because the cylinder has to give up the fibers
prising carding plates and mote knives (behind each to the doffer clothing, during which a certain degree of
other) above the doffer. sweeping through the fiber fleece takes place. In the course
of this step, the fibers are caught as hooks on the points of
the clothing. Accordingly
a) b) • over 50 % of the fibers in the web exhibit trailing hooks
(at the rear end as viewed in the direction of material
flow);
44 • about 15 % have leading hooks;
• another 15 % have double hooks; and
• only a small proportion are delivered without hook
11
33 deformation of any kind.
A third disadvantage, namely the poor efficiency of fiber
44 transfer from the cylinder to the doffer, is in practice more
22 an advantage than a disadvantage. Of course, it is a fact
that the fibers rotate with the main cylinder about 5 to 10
(15) times (!) before passing to the doffer, but it is also
33 a fact that this results in some important improvements:
11 • it is an additional carding point;
• the fiber-to-fiber blending effect increases, i.e.
• a high degree of intermingling results there, which is
important, e.g. for man-made fiber/cotton blending);
1+3: carding zone
2+4: extraction zone • it produces good diagonal and short-term regularity.
Fig. 114 – Rieter TREX system
a) above the licker-in; b) above the doffer
66 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
The carding configuration implies that it is more or less As mentioned above, the result is a poor transfer factor.
a matter of chance which of the two clothing surfaces will However, certain provisions can influence the latter posi-
finally carry along any individual fiber. However, this opera- tively, mainly by:
tion favors the cylinder clothing, as the flats push the fibers • coordinating the clothing of both assemblies accord-
vigorously into the cylinder clothing, and as the cylinder ingly;
clothing has more points, both facts increase the retaining • the choice of a proper relationship of the peripheral
effect. speeds;
• providing for small distances between cylinder and
doffer.
A reduction of the spacing between the two assemblies,
e.g. from 0.18 mm to 0.08 mm results, for example, in
a 100 % improvement in the transfer factor.
2.2.8. Detaching
2.2.8.1. The detaching apparatus
On old cards, a fly-comb (a rapidly oscillating comb) oscil-
lating at up to 2 500 strokes per minute takes the web
from the doffer. In modern high-performance cards, a fly-
comb would be unable to perform this task because the
stroke rate would have to be significantly higher (above the
mechanical limit). A roller (Fig. 116, 1) now has the task of
separating the web from the doffer. In old cards, the web
is guided into a funnel, while being freely suspended over
a distance of 30 - 50 cm and running together in a wedge
Fig. 115 – Clothing configuration between main cylinder and doffer shape.
5
5 6
6
3
2
2
1 5
1 2
4
2
3
2 4
1. Take-off roll
2. Delivery rolls
3. Web collection to center
4. Disc rollers
5. Suction system
6. Clearing brush
Fig. 116 – Web detaching using detaching rollers and transverse belts
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 67
This arrangement is also no longer possible at the high This would show up directly in the breaking strength
speeds of modern high-performance cards, since the web of the yarn. Sticky cotton (honeydew) should also be
would fall apart. carded without crushing, as should cotton with a high
Now, the web must be condensed into a sliver while still proportion of seed particles, because of the danger of
located within the detaching device. lap formation at the rollers (again sticky effect).
This can be achieved in a number of ways; for example, With the high cleaning efficiency in high performance
with web guide plates upstream from the detaching cards this arrangement is out-dated.
device, with several transversely arranged guide roll-
ers (Marzoli), or with a transverse sliver condenser (3). 2.2.8.3. Coiling in cans
In the latter, either two counter-rotating belts carry the
web into the center or one circulating belt carries the The sliver must be coiled in cans for storage and trans-
web to one side of the card. port. As described in Volume 1, this is performed cycloi-
dally, with large windings when working with smaller cans
2.2.8.2. Crushing rollers (web crushing) and small windings when working with larger cans. Can
diameters now lie in the 600 to 1 200 mm range and can
Between take-off roller (1) and transverse sliver con- heights are between 1 000 and 1 220 mm. If the cans are
denser (3), some manufacturers include two smooth supplied directly to the rotor spinning machine, they must
steel rollers, arranged one above the other (Fig. 117). be smaller because less space is available (better suited
They can run without loading, in which case they serve as round cans are rectangular cans).
simply as guide rollers, or they can be loaded with The can diameter in this case is only about 350 to 400 mm.
a pressure of about 15 N/cm and are thus converted into Fig. 118 gives Trützschler data on the capacity of cans with
crushing rollers. Where cotton with medium to high dirt a height of 1 200 mm.
content is being processed, additional cleaning can be Most manufacturers offer cards with can changers as
carried out here by squashing the foreign particles (the either standard equipment or an option. These permit
fragments fall away immediately after the rollers or in efficient operation since they enable the need for atten-
the subsequent machines). dance by mill personnel to be reduced substantially.
In some models, the rollers are ground with a barrel
shape. With this arrangement their central sections can-
not escape the pressure – the pressing effect is the same
over the full width. Clean fiber material should not be
crushed. Owing to the absence of dirt particles, the full
roller pressure would be exerted on the fibers, resulting
in fiber damage.
A [kg]
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
B [mm]
Fig. 117 – Web crushing Fig. 118 – Capacity of cans (A) in kg; can diameter (B) in mm
68 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
2.3. The machine drive that transmission of the forces is better, and adjustments
can be performed more quickly and conveniently. They are
also better suited to operation with control equipment.
2.4. Card clothing
2.4.1. Choice of clothing
B A
Of all the individual components of the card, the clothing has
the greatest influence on quality and productivity. The devel-
opment of new clothing enabled, for example, the produc-
tion rate of the card to be increased from 5 kg/h to the cur-
rent level of up to 220 kg/h. New clothing was not, of course,
E the only factor involved in this increase, but it made a major
contribution to it. Unfortunately, a price has to be paid for
this development in the form of a steadily increasing depar-
ture from any possibility of universal clothing, which was
formerly aimed at. Mills now have to make a difficult choice
between hundreds of available clothing types, a choice of the
utmost importance. Selection criteria are:
D • type and design of card;
• rotation speed of the cylinder;
• production rate;
• material throughput;
• raw material type (natural or man-made fibers);
• fiber characteristics (mainly fineness, length, bulk, dirt
F content);
• overall quality requirements;
• price of the clothing;
• service offered by the clothing supplier.
C
Operating conditions not only differ between mills – they
Fig. 119 – Drive of a modern card (Trützschler) can alter within a single mill. Compromises are therefore
unavoidable.
Old cards had only one drive motor. This drove the licker-in
and main cylinder directly via belts and the other moving 2.4.2. Classification
parts indirectly via belts and gear transmissions. Modern
high-performance cards differ in that they include several If we consider not only the short-staple spinning mill, but all
drive motors so that the individual zones of the card are fields in which card clothing is used, thousands of variations
driven independently of each other as shown in Fig. 119 are currently on offer. They can be divided into three groups.
by Trützschler:
• A, main drive for the cylinder, licker-in and flats; Flexible clothing
• B, drive for the infeed; This features hooks of round or oval wire set into elastic,
• C, drive for the delivery, i.e. doffer, detaching rollers multi-ply cloth backing. Each hook is bent into a U-shape
and coiler; and is formed with a knee that flexes under bending load and
• D, drive for the cleaning roller of the detaching roller; returns to its original position when the load is removed. In
• E, drive for the cleaning roller of the flats via the strip- short-staple spinning mills this clothing is now found, if at
ping roller; all, only on the card flats (Fig. 120).
• F, fan.
Several manufacturers, e.g. Rieter, also provide a separate Semi-rigid clothing
drive for the flats. Individual drives have the advantage
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 69
In this, wires with square or round cross-sections and sharp This clothing is similar in structure to the flexible types.
points are set in backing which is less elastic than that of However, it has more cloth layers (possibly also foamed mate-
flexible clothing. This backing is a multi-ply structure with rial) and has hooks of wire with squared cross-sections with-
more plies than the backing of flexible clothing, comprising out a knee, or of reinforced round wire with or without a knee.
layers of both cloth and plastics. Flat wires are not formed Compared with flexible clothing, it has the advantage that it
with a knee, but round wires may have one. The wires cannot does not choke with fiber and thus eliminate less flat strip-
bend and are set so deeply in layers of cloth, and possibly pings. In addition, it does not need sharpening as often as flex-
foamed material, that they are practically immovable. When ible clothing types. At least in respect to flat wires, it should be
subjected to bending loads, they are therefore much less mentioned that each sharpening removes material from the tip
capable of yielding than flexible clothing types. They are also so that the working surface becomes steadily broader and the
found only on the flats (Fig. 121). aggressiveness of the clothing declines over time. This wire
clothing without lateral sharpening can be re-sharpened only
Metallic clothing once or twice; with lateral sharpening up to four times.
These are continuous, self-supporting, square wire struc-
tures in which teeth are cut at the smallest possible spac-
ings by a process resembling a punching operation. If the
teeth are relatively large, for example as in the licker-in, the
clothing is referred to as saw-tooth clothing. (The terms saw-
tooth clothing and metallic clothing refer to the same thing.)
Nowadays, the licker-in, main cylinder and doffer use metal-
lic clothing without exception (Fig. 123).
2.4.3. Flexible clothing in detail
The substrate is formed as a continuous narrow band (51 mm Fig. 121 – Semi-rigid clothing
for the main cylinder) or as a broad band (equal to the length
of the flats) comprising five (flexible clothing), seven (semi- 2.4.5. Metallic clothing
rigid clothing) or even more plies of cloth joined together by 2.4.5.1. Manufacture of metallic clothing
vulcanizing. Double hooks of round or oval wire are embed-
ded in the substrate; each has a knee in the leg and a cross- The starting material is round wire, which is rolled in several
bar at the foot. The knee is required so that the hook does not stages to give the desired profile (Fig. 122). This profiled
project too far outward when the leg is bent back; it is thus stock is passed through a cutting machine. Here, a high-pre-
possible to operate with small spacings between the clothing cision cutting tool, corresponding exactly to the shape of the
surfaces. In order to make the clothing more aggressive, the gap between two teeth, punches (cuts) the wire away piece
points are mostly ground on both sides (lateral sharpening), by piece between the teeth, which remain after the cutting
and they are also hardened. In the flats, the point density is operation. It is of the utmost importance that the dimen-
in the range of 240 - 500 points per square inch. sions are held within the finest tolerance limits. Hardening
immediately follows cutting, i.e. the wire is passed through
a flame and a quenching bath. Here also a high degree of
uniformity is required, this time in the hardness achieved.
The required ‘feel’ for this operation can only be appreciated
when it is realized that in fine clothing the tip of the tooth
has a thickness of only 0.05 - 0.06 mm.
Fig. 120 – Flexible clothing
2.4.4. Semi-rigid clothing
1 2 3 4
Fig. 122 – Forming the wire profile for metallic clothing
70 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
2.4.5.2. The geometry of the clothing [12] 2.4.5.3. The most important operating parameters of
the clothing
No. Name Symbol or Comment
formula
POINT DENSITY (NUMBER OF POINTS PER UNIT SURFACE
1 Base width a1 in mm AREA)
2 Tooth thickness at a2 in mm
the root The point (or tip) density has a significant influence on the
3 Tooth thickness at a3 in mm carding operation. However, the number of points and the
the tip speed of rotation of the cylinder must be considered together.
4 Overall height h1 in mm It is not simply the total number that is significant, but also
the number available per unit of time, i.e. the product of the
5 Height of the base h2 in mm
point density and the speed of movement of the surface. Thus,
6 Depth of the tooth h3 in mm low point populations can be partially compensated by higher
7 Tooth pitch T spacing between successive
cylinder speeds. (This is not always possible, since the overall
tooth tips measured with the result may be deterioration in some quality parameters.)
wire stretched out
8 Carding angle a angle between a line at right It must also be kept in mind that the populations of the main
angles to the base of the cylinder and doffer clothing have to be adapted to each other.
tooth and the leading edge In general, the higher the point population, the better the
of the tooth, measured with
the wire stretched out
carding effect – up to a certain optimum. Above that optimum,
the positive influence becomes a negative one. This optimum
9 Tooth apex angle β angle between the leading is very dependent upon the material. Coarse fibers need fewer
and trailing edges of the
tooth
points, as they need more space in the card clothing; finer
fibers must be processed with more points, since more fibers
are present if the material throughput is the same. Point den-
a3 T sity is specified in terms of points per square inch or per
square centimeter, and can be calculated as follows:
γ
β
645
Points/inch2 =
h3
Basewidth(mm) × Pitch (mm)
100
Points/cm2 =
Basewidth(mm) × Pitch (mm)
h1
Points/inch2
Points/cm2 =
h2
a
6.45
a1
BASE WIDTH (a1)
This influences the point density. The narrower the base,
the greater the number of turns that can be wound on the
τ cylinder and, correspondingly, the higher the point popula-
ε
tion.
HEIGHT OF THE CLOTHING (h1)
δ
a The height of metallic clothing on the cylinder today varies
b between 2 mm and 3.8 mm. The height must be very uniform.
It can also exert an influence on the population, since shorter
teeth – for a given tooth carding angle – leave space for more
teeth. Where shorter teeth are used, the fibers are less able
to escape into the clothing during carding and better carding
over the total surface is obtained. Clothing with smaller teeth
is also less inclined to choke with dirt particles.
Fig. 123 – Angle and other dimensions of metallic clothing
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 71
TOOTH PITCH (T) front. Unfortunately, during processing of material this edge
The population is also determined by the tip-to-tip spacing. becomes steadily more rounded; the tooth point must there-
fore be re-sharpened from time to time. Formation of a burr at
CARDING ANGLE (a) the edge (a) must be avoided during re-sharpening. The tooth
This is the most important angle of the tooth: must only be ground down to a given depth, otherwise land
• the aggressiveness of the clothing; and (b) becomes too large and satisfactory carding is impossible
• the hold on the fibers – the clothing has to be replaced.
are determined by this parameter. The angle specifies the
inclination of the leading face of the tooth to the vertical. It b
is described as positive (a, Fig. 124), negative (b) or neu- a
tral. The angle is neutral if the leading edge of the tooth
lies in the vertical (0°). Clothing with negative angles is
used only in the licker-in, when processing some man-made
fibers. Since the fibers are held less firmly by this form of
tooth, they are transferred more easily to the cylinder and
the clothing is less inclined to choke. Carding angles nor-
mally fall into the following ranges:
licker-in +5° to -10° Fig. 125 – The tooth point
Cylinder +12° to +27°
THE BASE OF THE TOOTH
Doffer +20° to +40° The base is broader than the point in order to give the
tooth adequate strength, and also to hold the individual
windings apart. Various forms can be distinguished (Fig.
126). In order to mount the wire, the normal profile ((a)
for the licker-in, (b) for the cylinder) is either pressed
into a groove milled into the surface of the licker-in (a) or
is simply wound under high tension onto the plain cylin-
drical surface of the main cylinder (b). (d) represents
a
a locked wire and (c) a chained wire. Both can be applied
a(+) to a smooth surface on the licker-in; in this case a milled
groove is no longer necessary.
a)
b)
b
a(-)
c)
Fig. 124 – Positive (a) and negative (b) carding angle
THE TOOTH POINT
Carding is performed at the tips of the teeth and the forma-
d)
tion of the point is therefore important (Fig. 125). For opti-
mum operating conditions the point should have a surface
or land (b) at its upper end rather than a needle form. This
land should be as small as possible. To provide retaining
power, the land should terminate in a sharp edge (a) at the
Fig. 126 – Formation of the tooth base and mounting on the drum
72 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
Tooth hardness 2.5. Autoleveling equipment
In order to be able to process as much material as possible 2.5.1. Basics
with one clothing, the tooth point must not wear away rap-
idly. Accordingly, a very hard point is needed, although As already mentioned, the general aim of manufacturing
it cannot be too hard because otherwise it tends to break everywhere is to create durable, faultless products, i.e.
off. On the other hand, to enable winding of the wire on primarily: not to correct errors but rather to prevent them,
a round body, the base must remain flexible. Each tooth especially and as far as possible at the start of the process.
therefore has to be hard at the tip and soft at the base. In the spinning mill, the card is the effective start of the
A modern tooth has hardness structures as shown in process, since the first intermediate product, the sliver,
Fig. 127 (Graf). is produced here. A relatively high degree of evenness is
required in this product. For various reasons, the card can-
A1 A2
not always operate absolutely evenly, for example, owing
69 1 050
to uneven material feed. Spinning mills are therefore forced
68
1 000
to use autoleveling equipment under highly varying cir-
66
900 cumstances. Different principles for autoleveling can be
65
64 selected depending upon the quality requirements and the
63 800
62
61
operating conditions in the individual mill.
60
59 700
58
55
2.5.2. Classification
600
50
500 Irregularities can actually be compensated:
45
• in the material supply system;
400
40
• at the feed;
35
30 300 • at the delivery
as shown in Fig. 128 of the Rieter card leveling system.
200
100
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3.0
B
Fig. 127 – Metal hardness at various heights in the wire:
A, hardness (A1 = Rockwell, A2 = Vickers); B, tooth height from
the tip to the base
2.4.5.4. Clothing suggestions
Clothing – Technical data
Fibers Points / inch2
Fine cotton Cylinder wire 800 to 1 000 2 11 6
6 5 7
7
Man-made Cylinder wire 450 to 650
33
Coarse cotton Cylinder wire 600 to 800 4
Fine cotton Flat clothing 500 1. Input signal: infeed count
2. Output signal: feed speed in the chute
Man-made Flat clothing 270 3. Control unit for signal processing
Coarse cotton Flat clothing 350 to 400 4. Input signal: delivery speed
5. Output signal: feed roller speed
Universal wire Doffer 340 6. Control signal: light barrier
7. Input signal: sliver count
Special wire for fine fibers Doffer 400
Licker-in clothing wire wounds or pins Fig. 128 – Rieter card leveling system
Cotton, general 10° positive 36
The material supply should operate with the greatest pos-
Synthetics and rayon 0° - 5° positive 27
sible degree of accuracy in any case, since this has a direct
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 73
effect on sliver evenness. It is therefore not surprising that In the open-loop control system illustrated in Fig. 129,
more and more card manufacturers offer the double-chute a measuring point (2) is provided upstream from this drafting
system with a degree of coarse regulation in the lower arrangement to sense the volume of the incoming sliver and
chute section. However, the main regulating position is the transmit corresponding pulse signals to an electronic control
feed; adjusting the feed roller speed (5) usually performs unit. The control signal generated by this unit is passed to
autoleveling. Virtually all autoleveling devices exploit this a regulating device that can be of various design, and which
possibility; adjustment of the delivery speed is hardly ever adapts the speed of the delivery drafting rollers to the mea-
used. A distinction should also be drawn between: sured sliver volume. If the measuring point is located down-
• short-term leveling systems, regulating lengths of product stream from the drafting arrangement, or if the delivery roller
from 10 - 12 cm (rarely used in carding); pair itself provides the measuring point, then the system is
• medium-term leveling systems, for lengths above about 3 m; operating on the closed-loop control principle. If the open-
• long-term leveling, for lengths above about 20 m (maintain- loop principle is used in a short-term autoleveler, short lengths
ing count). can certainly be made even, but it is not always possible to
hold the average sliver count constant. On the other hand,
In addition, regulating can be performed by open-loop or closed-loop control is not suited for regulating short-wave
closed-loop control systems (see The Rieter Manual of variation because of the dead time inherent in the system.
Spinning, Volume 1 – Technology of Short-staple Spinning). Finally, the drive to the delivery can present problems, since in
this system the delivery speed must be continually varied, and
2.5.3. The principle of short-term autoleveling in very small ranges. There are two possible applications for
2.5.3.1. Regulation at the delivery assemblies of this type, namely in processing comber noil and
where card sliver is fed directly to the rotor spinning machine.
If this is used, it calls for a drafting arrangement before
coiling. 2.5.3.2. Autoleveling in the infeed
11
22
33
44
55
Fig. 130 – Autoleveling with sensing at the feed roller
Rieter card leveling operates as medium-term to long-term
66
leveling (closed-loop, produced by a proportional-integral
regulator) and is performed by a microprocessor. In the
feed of the card the feed measuring device records the fluc-
1. The deflection roller ensures vertical feed of the sliver into the
measuring funnel tuations in the cross-section of the batt feed. The speed of
2. The input measuring funnel measures the sliver weight of the the feed roller of the card is changed electronically so that
incoming sliver these fluctuations in the cross-section are leveled out. The
3. The 3 over 3 drafting system corresponds to that of the TD 03
autoleveler draw frame
chute is also included in the control loop. However, the fill-
4. The output measuring funnel is the quality sensor of the system ing level is not used for regulating the feed rollers in the
5. The delivery rolls feed the sliver to the sliver coiling plate chute but is considered as an additional control parameter.
6. The sliver coiling plate with the three-dimensionally curved
tube coils the sliver smoothly in the can
Fig. 129 – Short-term leveling by Trützschler
74 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
In the delivery of the card a pair of disc rollers scan the Long-term autoleveling is an integral part of modern cards,
cross-section of the carded sliver as it emerges. These read- and in any case used in production of carded yarns and in
ings are compared electronically with the preselected set the rotor spinning mill.
value. Deviations in the set value are corrected electronically
by altering the speed of the feed roller in the card (Fig. 130).
2.5.4. The principle of medium-term autoleveling
Active – pneumatic
measuring trumpet
In former Zellweger equipment a medium-term autoleveler
was provided as an addition to the long-term autoleveler.
An optical measuring device (see Fig. 131) detects relative Feed roller
variations in the cross-section of the fiber layer on the main
cylinder over the whole width of the cylinder. The mea-
suring device is built into the protective cover above the
doffer. The device measures reflection of infrared light from
the fibers.
After comparison with the set value, a difference signal is
generated and passed to an electronic regulating unit. This Control drive
Electronic control circuits
Nominal value setting for sliver count
operates via a regulating drive to adjust the infeed speed of
the card so that the depth of the fiber layer on the main cyl-
inder is held constant.
Fig. 132 – Long-term leveling (Zellweger, Uster)
USTER®M-CONTROLLER
Optical measuring unit
2.5.6. Measuring devices
USTER® CARD CONTROL-L 2.5.6.1. The active pneumatic system
Measuring trumpet
In a normal card, a funnel is provided before the calender
Feed roller rollers (2, Fig. 133) in order to collect the web into a sliver.
In Zellweger equipment, this funnel is developed to form
a measuring device based on a simple physical principle.
When fiber material enters the funnel (3), it carries along
quite an amount of air held between the fibers. Owing to
the continuous convergence of the funnel, air is squeezed
Control unit
USTER® M-CONTROLLER
out as the material passes through.
This generates air pressure in excess of atmospheric pres-
Electronic unit (Control drive)
Control drive
USTER® CARD CONTROL sure, which is a function of the sliver cross-section if the
sliver speed is kept constant. If all fiber characteristics also
remain constant, this pressure is proportional to the vol-
Fig. 131 – Medium-term leveling (Zellweger, Uster) ume. A lateral bore (5) in the funnel, and corresponding
leads, transmit the pressure into the chamber of a pneu-
2.5.5. The principle of long-term leveling matic-electrical pressure transducer, using electrical induc-
tion to convert the pressure into an electrical signal.
This is the most commonly used principle of card autolevel- Comparison of the signal with a set value enables pulses
ing and serves to keep the sliver count constant. Measuring to be generated to control the electronic units in the regu-
is performed by a sensor in the delivery (at the delivery lator equipment. The advantage of active pneumatic mea-
roller). The pulses derived in this way are processed elec- surement lies in the simplicity of the system, which does
tronically so that the speed of the infeed roller can be not require additional and/or sensitive moving parts. The
adapted to the delivered sliver weight via mechanical or disadvantage is that measurement is affected by the fiber
electronic regulating devices (see Fig. 132). count and hence count variation can lead to errors.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 75
This is the most common system for deriving a measured
value. Usually, two material-forwarding rollers are used.
One of these rollers must be movable (up and down) rela-
tive to the other. The relative movement, corresponding to
33 2 the volume of the material passing through (a, Fig. 134)
gives the instantaneous value required for the regulation
44
operation.
The rollers can be smooth or grooved, b and c. The latter
11
arrangement prevents lateral escape of the fibers and thus
55 gives more precise measurement. However, it must be so
designed and must operate in such a manner that the fibers
2 are not crushed at the roller edges.
The advantage of the mechanical principle lies in its insen-
sitivity to variations in the characteristics of the raw mate-
rial, with the possible exception of bulk.
to pressure transducer
2.6. Maintenance
Fig. 133 – Active pneumatic measuring system (Zellweger, Uster) 2.6.1. Stripping the clothing
If at all, metallic clothing should not be cleaned out with
2.5.6.2. The mechanical principle a revolving brush, but rather with a hand scraper while
the cylinder is rotated manually (not by the motor drive).
Rapidly rotating brushes create considerable metal-to-
metal friction (brush on saw-tooth wire) and cause more
wear on the clothing points than do the fibers. The life of
the clothing is markedly reduced.
2.6.2. Burnishing the clothing
Burnishing should be avoided for reasons already explained
under cleaning out. A single burnish wears down the teeth
more than processing tens of thousands of kilograms of
material. Nevertheless, burnishing sometimes becomes
a)
unavoidable, for example if the teeth were ground too inten-
sively in re-sharpening and the raw material is released rela-
tively poorly from the clothing.
Occasionally, this proves necessary on the doffer. In that
case, however, burnishing must be carried out in the direc-
tion of the teeth and not against them. Rotation of the brush
with a stationary cylinder is to be avoided. Cleaning out with
a hand scraper is often enough, without burnishing.
2.6.3. Grinding the clothing
2.6.3.1. Intervals between grinding
The operating life of clothing is quoted in terms of the total
throughput of material. For the cylinder it normally lies
b) c) between 300 000 and 600 000 kg, but it can be higher in
some circumstances.
Fig. 134 – Mechanical measuring system
76 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
2.6.3.2. Grinding depth
A
c
1 2 3 4 5 6
B
Fig. 135 – Increase in neps between grinding periods:
A, number of neps in the web; B, grinding interval; b, general rise of the a
lower nep level; c, mills limit for neps
Such quantities of material represent a huge number of
fibers, which have to be processed by the individual
tooth points. Processing therefore considerably wears
down the teeth – they become rounded at the top and
lose their aggressiveness. The direct result is a continu-
ous increase in the nep content of the sliver (b).
The points must therefore be sharpened from time to
time, in order to give a better shape to the edges by
grinding them. Each new grinding operation reduces the
number of neps, but the level never returns to that prior b
to the previous grinding. As Fig. 135 illustrates, the
lower nep limit increases noticeably from “a” to “b”.
The deterioration in quality from one grinding interval
to the next arises from the fact that the teeth are ground
down to successively lower heights, the lands at the
teeth points become steadily larger, and softer metal
layers are gradually exposed. The following grinding
intervals are currently in use:
Cylinder Flats
c
First grinding after [kg] 80 000 - 150 000 80 000 - 150 000
Fig. 136 – Correct grinding of the tooth point (a) and incorrect (b, c)
Each additional grinding after [kg] 80 000 - 120 000 80 000 - 120 000
Grinding is carried out with the cylinder rotating in its nor-
The interval is best selected depending on the mills nep mal direction at normal speed, so that the grinding roller
limit (c). Since the doffer clothing works much less than moves with (not against) the teeth of the clothing. The
that of the cylinder, it should be ground only half as grinding depth is such that a plane surface with a sharp
often, or even less frequently, except when man-made edge is produced at the point of the tooth (a, Fig. 136).
fibers are being processed: grinding should then be car- Satisfactory carding will not be achieved if too little mate-
ried out more often but more lightly. rial is ground away so that the front edge stays rounded
The clothing on the licker-in should not be ground; it (b), or if the grinding operation is too harsh (too much
should be renewed after a throughput of 100 000 - pressure on the grinding roller) so that a burr is formed at
200 000 kg. the tooth edge (c).
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 77
2.6.3.3. Grinding the flats This has a drum with an abrasive sheet or, more gener-
ally nowadays, a coating of carborundum abrasive (Al2O3).
There are two possibilities, namely grinding in the card The drum can be driven externally by a disc or internally
by installing the grinding roller on the machine for a short by a motor within the drum. In the latter case, the tubu-
time under normal production conditions, or grinding the lar body of the roll forms the rotor. The grinding roller, in
flats in a special grinding machine after removing them the form of the abrasive-coated drum, extends over the
from the card. This machine comprises mainly a full-width full width of the machine. Thus, the full width of the cloth-
grinding roller with moveable carriages mounted over it ing on the operating elements of the card is treated simul-
to receive 1 - 4 flats. During grinding, the carriages move taneously, which is very economical. On the other hand,
the flats repeatedly back and forth over the grinding roller if maintenance is poor, the drum can bend in the middle
until they have been ground down to the precisely set while revolving on the card. If this happens, the central
height. Each of these two methods has its advantages and portions of the main cylinder and doffer may be ground
disadvantages. Grinding on the card is more efficient and more than the edge zones. With modern grinding rollers
demands significantly less effort; grinding in a flat grinding the danger of this is minimal.
machine is somewhat more exact. It may prove advanta-
geous to grind as often as possible on the card, but THE TRAVERSING GRINDING DISC
occasionally to put the flats on a flat grinding machine The grinding head (S), in the form of an abrasive disc
to level up. 90 mm wide, can slide and is seated on a guide tube. It is
driven back and forth over the clothing by a worm spindle
2.6.3.4. The grinding tools in the interior of the tube. At any time it treats only a small
portion of the total surface of the cylinder. Grinding takes
THE FULL-WIDTH GRINDING ROLLER far longer than with a full-width roller, but there is practi-
cally no danger of bending in the middle. In some equip-
ment, the back-and-forth movement is not effected by
a worm spindle but by specially driven belts. Drive is by
individual motors.
Fig. 137 – The full-width grinding roller Fig. 138 – The traversing grinding disc
78 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
2.6.4. High-performance maintenance systems
2.6.4.1. Requirements
Card maintenance is a very demanding, uneconomical oper-
ation. Considerable effort is required to keep conventional
cards running, and it is even greater for high-performance
cards. It was therefore inevitable for manufacturers to
equip their new types of cards with maintenance systems of
different designs (depending on the manufacturer) that:
• are modern;
• ergonomic;
• save time and effort; and
• relieve personnel.
Fig. 140 – Licker-in module
Rieter’s solution (on the modular design principle) will be
explained briefly by way of an example:
2.6.4.2. Easy exchange of modules
Fig. 141 – Flat assembly
Fig. 139 – The modules of the C 60 card
To improve the accessibility and exchangeability of all parts
of the card, Rieter designed its card on modular principles.
The only fixed parts are the feed chute and the main cylin-
der; all other modules can be removed. As a result,
• cleaning;
• setting;
• wire mounting;
• exchanging (licker-in, flats);
can be performed easily by taking the modules out of the
machine, e.g.:
• the licker-in module (Fig. 140); Fig. 142 – Doffer module
• the flat assembly (Fig. 141);
• the doffer module (Fig. 142). These systems not only facilitate maintenance, they also
improve quality, as shown by Rieter’s IGS device:
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 79
2.6.4.3. Rieter’s automatic grinding system (IGS) 2.6.4.4. IGS-top integrated grinding system
IGS stands for Integrated Grinding System A grinding brush is permanently installed behind the flat
With IGS-classic a grindstone is moved over the cylinder cleaning device (Fig. 145). Under the grinding brush and
clothing by the automatic control during production. This the one flat in contact with this brush a spring is provided
procedure takes place 400 times during the expected service that presses the flat bar against the brush. The flats are
life of the clothing, not every 80 - 100 tons, as is the case thus raised one by one and ground at this point. With the
with labor-intensive manual grinding. There is absolutely no IGS grinding device grinding takes place for more than 100
risk of damage to the clothing due to improper handling of cycles during the lifetime of the clothing.
the grinding system when using IGS-classic. The service life
of the cylinder clothing has been prolonged by over 30 %
thanks to IGS-classic. In addition, the savings made on main-
tenance are obvious. Also there are no downtimes where the
machine is idle while manual grinding takes place.
The IGS-classic cylinder grinding system (Fig. 143)
consists of an aluminum profile as carrier and a linear-directed
grindstone stabilized by spring pressure. In the parked position
(right-hand side of the machine) the flat belt is pushed upwards
by clamp profiles so that no dust or particles of fibers can get
inside the profile. The parameters necessary for the grinding
operation can be entered on the card. The program calculates
the grinding schedule, distributing the fixed grinding cycles
optimally over the lifetime of the cylinder clothing (270 and/or
400, to and fro = 1 cycle ). The time between cycles is longer at
Fig. 145 – IGS-top grinding system
the beginning of the schedule than at the end. On the way to
the left-hand side of the machine the grindstone is lowered.
Grinding occurs when the grindstone moves from the left to the 2.6.4.5. The sharp edge makes all the difference
right-hand side of the machine. This means a sharp wire all the
time and thus constant quality (Fig. 144). IGS-classic and IGS-top feature considerably more frequent
but less aggressive grinding than takes place in manual
clothing maintenance. This prolongs the service life of the
clothing, and at the same time the tips always stay sharp.
The success of this approach is reflected in the card sliver
through high consistency in purity and low nep content.
Neps in card sliver
Acceptable nep level Extended lifetime
Fig. 143 – IGS-classic
Lifetime of wire
–– Without IGS: manual grinding of cylinder and flats
–– IGS-classic: automatic cylinder sharpening, manual flat grinding
–– IGS-top + IGS-classic = IGS system: automatic cylinder sharpening
and automatic flat grinding, manual flat setting
Fig. 144 – Grinding without (left) and with IGS (right) Fig. 146 – Graph of quality improvement using the IGS system
80 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
2.7. Settings The card comprises a large number of individual parts that
2.7.1. Basics guide the material, open it and clean it. Optimal, gentle
treatment is only possible if these parts have the correct
form and the right relative positions and spacings. The so-
called settings of the card are of the greatest importance.
For example, too narrow spacing of the operating elements
leads to fiber damage (loss of breaking strength); too wide
a setting produces more neps.
Table 2.7.2. shows the most common settings for conven-
tional cards. The licker-in on these conventional cards calls
for special treatment: the licker-in has to be removed and
replaced by a gauge in the form of a pendulum (Fig. 147).
The radius of the gauge has to correspond exactly to that
of the licker-in. It should be realized that the settings vary
from one make of machine to another – the setting instruc-
tions of the individual manufacturer must be followed. This
applies especially to modern, high-performance cards. That
is why no instructions for these cards can be given here.
Fig. 147 – Template for setting the licker-in grid
17 18
18
16
16
19
20
15
15 21
14
13
22
22
12
12
30
11 31
1
10
10 32
23 29
99 33
8 24 34
33 28
2 7
55 26
25
44 6 27
Fig. 148 – Setting positions on the card
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 81
2.7.2. Table of settings 2.8. Auxiliary equipment
For conventional cards (see Fig. 148) 2.8.1. Dust extraction on high-performance cards
Position Remarks Distance More and more countries are enacting rigorous regulations
mm 1/1 000˝ governing permissible dust concentrations in the atmo-
spheres of workrooms. The card releases enormous quanti-
1 0.2 - 0.5 8 - 20
ties of dust and it is essential to ensure comprehensive and
2 Tuft feed 0.4 - 0.55 16 - 22 immediate removal of this waste. For this purpose, modern
Lap feed 0.25 - 0.4 10 - 16 cards are fully enclosed and subjected to permanent partial
3 0.3 - 0.45 12 - 18 vacuum, so that dust and fly can no longer escape from the
machine. Within the casing, suction removal systems are
4 0.45 - 0.55 18 - 22
provided at some or all of the following positions:
5 0.6 - 0.8 24 - 32
• in the infeed region;
6 0.45 - 0.55 18 - 22 • at the entrance to the flats;
7 0.45 18 • within the flats;
8 0.55 22 • at the exit from the flats;
• between the main cylinder and the doffer;
9 0.55 22
• at the web detaching point;
10 Licker-in to main cylinder 0.2 - 0.25 8 - 10 • beneath the main cylinder;
11 0.4 16 • in the coiler.
12 0.35 14
The suction removal systems operate continuously to main-
13 0.3 12
tain constant conditions on the card. In modern plants the
14 0.35 14
fly- and dust-laden air passes to the air-conditioning equip-
15 Flat 1 0.35 14 ment. The quantity of suction air per card lies in the range
16 Flat 2 0.3 12 from about 4 000 to 5 000 m3/h.
17 Flat 3 0.25 10
2.8.2. Waste disposal
18 Flat 4 0.25 10
19 Flat 5 0.25 - 0.3 10 - 12 The card eliminates on an average 4 % of waste. In a card-
20 Narrow setting 0.85 33 ing room processing 500 kg/h of material, about 500 kg of
= few flat strippings (0.5) (20) waste is produced per day in three-shift operation.
21 Wider setting 0.75 30 The waste falls mainly into two categories:
= more strippings (0.375) (15)
• droppings from below the licker-in;
22 0.425 (0.3) 17 (12) • flats and filter strippings.
23 Main cylinder to doffer 0.1 - 0.125 4-5
24 Short staple 13 - 14 Filter waste can be removed manually, but nowadays the
attendants cannot be asked to perform manual removal of
Long staple 10 - 12
licker-in droppings. Modern cards are therefore fitted with
25 20 - 30
suction waste-removal systems. These can operate either
26 3.5 (2.5) continuously or intermittently. An intermittent system, for
27 1.5 (2.5) example, empties the waste chambers under the lickers-in
28 0.55 22
– individually in succession or simultaneously for two
cards; in a second cycle, the waste chambers for flat strip-
29 0.15 6
ping and filters are emptied. It continues with the next
30 0.25 10 two cards a.s.o. The waste material is passed via piping to
31 0.125 5 central bale presses (described in chapter ”Blowroom”).
32 0.25 10 Handling of dirty material is therefore confined to removal
of the pressed bales.
33 0.1 - 0.15 4-5
34 0.25 10
82 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
2.9. Technical data of three high performance cards
Manufacturer Rieter Trützschler Marzoli
Model C 60 TC 03 C 601N
Working width [mm] 1 500 1 055 1 026
Licker-in [∅] 180/180/253 3 x 172,5 1 x 350
Licker-in rpm 935 - 2 306 930 - 2 700 640 - 1 640
Main cylinder [∅] 814 mm 1 287 mm 1 290 mm
Main cylinder rpm 600 - 900 300 - 560 up to 650
Integrated grinding IGS-classic No, by hand only No, by hand only
Doffer [∅] 680 mm 700 mm 706 mm
Delivery [m/min] 300, 400 mechanically 400, 500 with IDF up to 400
Flat bars 79 84 75
In working position 27 30 25
Flat direction backward backward backward
Power required for 75 kg/h 15 KW/h 18 KW/h -
Pressure [bar] 6 7 6
Leveling Medium and long term Medium and long term Medium and long term
Drafting module SB (unleveled) max. draft of 5 IDF (leveled) max. draft of 3
max. 800 m/min delivery max. 500 m/min delivery
RSB (leveled) max. draft of 5 IDF-R (rectangular can) max. draft of 3
max. 700 m/min delivery max. 500 m/min delivery
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 83
REFERENCES
[1] Tamas, H. Optimal use of preparation machines and [12] Wolf, B. Metallic clothing in operation in the mill.
effects on yarn quality. International Textile Bulletin 11/74.
Melliand Textilberichte 9/77; 701 - 705.
[2] Artzt, P., Schenek, A. and Al Ali, R. Methods of
achieving better exploitation of raw material in the
cotton spinning mill.
Textilpraxis International 5/80; 530 - 537.
[3] Siersch, E. Ways of improving raw material utiliza-
tion in cotton prespinning.
International Textile Bulletin 4/81; 413 - 420.
[4] Mandl, G. Control of dust in the cotton spinning
mill.
Melliand Textilberichte 4/80; 305 - 308.
[5] Binder, R. Preparation and recycling of cotton waste
in the spinning mill. Swiss Association of Textile
Specialists (SV T), instruction course.
[6] Gilhaus, K. F. Technological reserves in the cotton
spinning mill.
Textilbetrieb 12/82; 25 - 28.
[7] Wirth, W. The influence of opening of cotton flocks
on cleaning in the blowroom process.
Textilpraxis International 2/66.
[8] Frey, M. Recycling of spinning waste and influence
on yarn quality due to re-blending.
Mittex 9/82.
[9] Abt, C. and Topf, W. High-performance cards
and quality of combed cotton yarns.
Melliand Textilberichte 4/84.
[10] Schmolke, K. H. and Schneider, U. Advances in card-
ing of cotton from the viewpoint of the manufac-
turer of card clothing.
Textilpraxis International 10/82; 1021 - 1025.
[11] Artzt, P., Abt, C. and Maidel, H. Carding of fine titer
polyester fibers.
Textilpraxis International 9/84.
84 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 85
ILLUSTRATIONS
Fig. 1 – Technological performance of a blowroom line Fig. 46 – The step cleaner 30
and influencing factors 11 Fig. 47 – Marzoli dual roller cleaner 30
Fig. 2 – Openness of the fiber material after the various Fig. 48 – Rieter B 12 UNIclean 31
blowroom machine stages 12 Fig. 49 – The mixing battery with a bale layout in front 31
Fig. 3 – Degree of cleaning (A) as a function of the trash Fig. 50 – Feeding material from the bale openers onto
content (B) of the raw material in % 12 a common conveyor 31
Fig. 4 – Operational efficiency and side effects 13 Fig. 51 – The Trützschler MPM Multiple Mixer 32
Fig. 5 – Dust removal as a percentage of the dust content Fig. 52 – Rieter B 70 UNImix 32
of the raw cotton 13 Fig. 53 – Rieter B 70 UNImix 33
Fig. 6 – Sandwich blending of raw material components 14 Fig. 54 – Rieter A 81 UNIblend 33
Fig. 7 – Bale layout in front of an automatic bale opener 15 Fig. 55 – The metering device 34
Fig. 8 – Rieter blowroom line 16 Fig. 56 – Trützschler RN cleaner 34
Fig. 9 – Trützschler blowroom line 16 Fig. 57 – Rieter B 60 UNIflex fine cleaner 35
Fig. 10 – Feed to a beater with two clamping rollers 17 Fig. 58 – CLEANOMAT CL-C 1 35
Fig. 11 – Feed with an upper roller and a bottom table 17 Fig. 59 – CLEANOMAT CL-C 3 35
Fig. 12 – Feed with a roller and pedals 17 Fig. 60 – CLEANOMAT CL-C 4 36
Fig. 13 – Spiked lattice 18 Fig. 61 – Rieter AEROfeed (1967) 36
Fig. 14 – Securing band (a / b), bars and spikes Fig. 62 – Trützschler scutcher linea-k feeding; m-p lap
of the inclined lattice 18 forming; „a“ are two dust cages 36
Fig. 15 – Plucking springs 18 Fig. 63 – Dedusting within the transport duct 38
Fig. 16 – Spiked roller 19 Fig. 64 – Trützschler DUSTEX 38
Fig. 17 – Bladed drum 19 Fig. 65 – VarioSet cleaning field 38
Fig. 18 – Drum with double pins 19 Fig. 66 – Practical examples and their effect on waste
Fig. 19 – Rollers with toothed discs 20 composition 39
Fig. 20 – Take-off roller with two-sided teeth 20 Fig. 67 – Georg Koinzer lattice 39
Fig. 21 – Carding rollers 20 Fig. 68 – Habasit conveyor belt 40
Fig. 22 – Bladed beater 20 Fig. 69 – Separation of air and material 40
Fig. 23 – Beaters with pinned bars (Kirschner beaters) 21 Fig. 70 – Regulated feed of material in the hopper feeder 41
Fig. 24 – Rollers with pinned bars (Kirschner rollers) 21 Fig. 71 – Trützschler CONTIFEED 41
Fig. 25 – Two-part grid 21 Fig. 72 – Optical regulation 42
Fig. 26 – The elements of a grid 22 Fig. 73 – UNIcommand control system 42
Fig. 27 – Changing the grid bar angle to the beater 22 Fig. 74 – Magnetic extractor (Marzoli) 43
Fig. 28 – Adjustment of the grid bars 23 Fig. 75 – Electronic metal extractor (Trützschler) 43
Fig. 29 – Influence of feed pedal distance (Δs; B, mm) Fig. 76 – ComboShield (Rieter) 44
on waste elimination (A, %) 23 Fig. 77 – Material flow diagram for raw material and waste 44
Fig. 30 – Dependence of waste elimination: Fig. 78 – Integrated recycling plant by Rieter 45
Fig. 31 – Dependence of waste elimination: (A, %) 23 Fig. 79 – Rieter recycling installation 45
Fig. 32 – The same function as Fig. 31 but with a beater Fig. 80 – Recycling system 46
rotation rate of 550 rpm 23 Fig. 81 – A feasible arrangement for the disposal
Fig. 33 – Airflow cleaner 24 of dirty waste 47
Fig. 34 – High performance blowroom line 25 Fig. 82 – Principle diagram of filtration 48
Fig. 35a – Opening performance of the automatic bale Fig. 83 – Flow diagram of waste removal plant 48
openers 25 Fig. 84 – Panel pre-filter (LUWA) 48
Fig. 35b – Cleaning efficiency of a high-performance Fig. 85 – Rotary fine filter (LUWA) 48
blowroom line for cotton with different Fig. 86 – Example: Bale Press System with pneumatic
cleaning compliances 25 material conveying 49
Fig. 36 – The compound card 26 Fig. 87 – Change in the number of neps in the cotton
Fig. 37 – Rieter UNIfloc automatic bale opener 27 when passing blowroom and cards 52
Fig. 38 – Tuft extracting device of the UNIfloc 27 Fig. 88 – Modern high-performance card 53
Fig. 39 – The opening device 27 Fig. 89 – The Rieter C 60 card with a width of 1 500 mm
Fig. 40 – UNIfloc, suction system for the tufts 28 compared with a standard card 53
Fig. 41 – Inclined line of the exhausted bales in the feed 28 Fig. 90 – Crosrol tandem card 54
Fig. 42 – Inclined opening device of the bale opener 28 Fig. 91 – Material feed at the card 55
Fig. 43 – Bale opener 29 Fig. 92 – Tuft feed with a one-piece chute 55
Fig. 44 – A cleaning unit behind the opener (a) 29 Fig. 93 – Tuft feed with a two-piece chute 56
Fig. 45 – Cleaning capacity of a high-performance Fig. 94 – Fine cleaning in the card chute 56
pre-cleaner compared with that of an old Fig. 95 – Conventional feed device 57
pre-cleaner 29
86 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding
Fig. 96 – The shape of the feed plate 57 Fig. 144 – Grinding without (left) and with IGS (right) 79
Fig. 97 – Feed in the same direction as drum rotation 58 Fig. 145 – IGS-top grinding system 79
Fig. 98 – The licker-in 58 Fig. 146 – Graph of quality improvement using the
Fig. 99 – Carding segments under the licker-in of the IGS system 79
Rieter C 51 card 59 Fig. 147 – Template for setting the licker-in grid 80
Fig. 100 – Single licker-in, Rieter C 60 card 59 Fig. 148 – Setting positions on the card 80
Fig. 101 – Three lickers-in on the Rieter C 60 card 60
Fig. 102 – Carding bars at the infeed 61
Fig. 103 – Different carding segments at the delivery 61
Fig. 104 – Carding effect in the flats in cards without
additional carding segments 61
Fig. 105 – Carding effect in the flats in cards with
additional carding segments over the licker-in 61
Fig. 106 – Improvement in yarn properties through the
use of carding segments following the flats 62
Fig. 107 – Carding zone between cylinder and flats 63
Fig. 108 – Mounting of the clothing strips (b) on the
flat bars (a) using clips (c) 63
Fig. 109 – A modern flat construction 63
Fig. 110 – Securing the flat bars to the endless chain
by means of screws 63
Fig. 111 – Inclined gap between flat clothing and main
cylinder clothing 64
Fig. 112 – Dirt take-up of the flats from the entry point 64
Fig. 113 – Carding plates instead of flats. C1; C2; C3; C4 64
Fig. 114 – Rieter TREX system 65
Fig. 115 – Clothing configuration between main cylinder
and doffer 66
Fig. 116 – Web detaching using detaching rollers and
transverse belts 66
Fig. 117 – Web crushing 67
Fig. 118 – Capacity of cans (A) in kg; can diameter
(B) in mm 67
Fig. 119 – Drive of a modern card (Trützschler) 68
Fig. 120 – Flexible clothing 69
Fig. 121 – Semi-rigid clothing 69
Fig. 122 – Forming the wire profile for metallic clothing 69
Fig. 123 – Angle and other dimensions of metallic clothing 70
Fig. 124 – Positive (a) and negative (b) carding angle 71
Fig. 125 – The tooth point 71
Fig. 126 – Formation of the tooth base and mounting
on the drum 71
Fig. 127 – Metal hardness at various heights in the wire: 72
Fig. 128 – Rieter card leveling system 72
Fig. 129 – Short-term leveling by Trützschler 73
Fig. 130 – Autoleveling with sensing at the feed roller 73
Fig. 131 – Medium-term leveling (Zellweger, Uster) 74
Fig. 132 – Long-term leveling (Zellweger, Uster) 74
Fig. 133 – Active pneumatic measuring system
(Zellweger, Uster) 75
Fig. 134 – Mechanical measuring system 75
Fig. 135 – Increase in neps between grinding periods: 76
Fig. 136 – Correct grinding of the tooth point (a) and
incorrect (b, c) 76
Fig. 137 – The full-width grinding roller 77
Fig. 138 – The traversing grinding disc 77
Fig. 139 – The modules of the C 60 card 78
Fig. 140 – Licker-in module 78
Fig. 141 – Flat assembly 78
Fig. 142 – Doffer module 78
Fig. 143 – IGS-classic 79
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 2 . Blowroom & Carding 87
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 2 – Blowroom & Carding
Volume 2 of The Rieter Manual of Spinning provides in-depth information on opening, cleaning,
blending and carding, and covers aspects such as acclimatization of raw materials, anticipated
waste from various grades of fibre, selection and setting of cleaning and blending machinery,
waste recycling, transport and feed materials, the functions of the various card components,
as well as selection and maintenance of card clothing and autolevelling systems.
Rieter Machine Works Ltd. Rieter India Private Ltd. Rieter (China) The data and illustrations in this brochure and on the
Klosterstrasse 20 Gat No. 768/2, Village Wing Textile Instruments Co., Ltd. corresponding data carrier refer to the date of printing.
Rieter reserves the right to make any necessary changes
CH-8406 Winterthur Shindewadi-Bhor Road Shanghai Branch
at any time and without special notice. Rieter systems
T +41 52 208 7171 Taluka Khandala, District Satara Unit B-1, 6F, Building A,
and Rieter innovations are protected by patents.
F +41 52 208 8320 IN-Maharashtra 412 801 Synnex International Park
machines@rieter.com T +91 2169 304 141 1068 West Tianshan Road 1922-v3 en 1611
aftersales@rieter.com F +91 2169 304 226 CN-Shanghai 200335
T +86 21 6037 3333
F +86 21 6037 3399
ISBN 10 3-9523173-2-2
www.rieter.com ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-2-7
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 3
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 3 – Spinning Preparation
Werner Klein
Publisher
Rieter Machine Works Ltd.
Copyright
©2014 by Rieter Machine Works Ltd. AG,
Klosterstrasse 20, CH-8406 Wintherthur,
www.rieter.com
Part of this content provided by The Textile Institute. Used by permission.
Cover page
E 80 comber, RSB-D 45 draw frame, F 36 roving frame
Available Volumes/Edition:
Volume 1 – Technology of Short-staple Spinning
ISBN 10 3-9523173-1-4 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-1-0
Volume 2 – Blowroom & Carding
ISBN 10 3-9523173-2-2 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-2-7
Volume 3 – Spinning Preparation
ISBN 10 3-9523173-3-0 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-3-4
Volume 4 – Ring Spinning
ISBN 10 3-9523173-4-9 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-4-1
Volume 5 – Rotor Spinning
ISBN 10 3-9523173-5-7 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-5-8
Volume 6 – Alternative Spinning Systems
ISBN 10 3-9523173-6-5 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-6-5
Volume 7 – Processing of Man-Made Fibres
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Collectors Edition – all Volumes (Vol. 1-7)
ISBN 10 3-9523173-0-6 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-0-3
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 3
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 3 – Spinning Preparation
Werner Klein
4 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 5
THE RIETER MANUAL OF SPINNING
Volume 1 – Technology of Short-staple Spinning Volume 5 – Rotor Spinning
This deals with basic, generally valid, technological rela- This process resulted from research into alternative spinning
tionships in short-staple spinning. Subsequent volumes are systems. This volume contains in-depth information on the
organised according to machines or machine groups. This rotor spinning process and its properties. Continual improve-
separates generally valid basic principles from ongoing ments in spinning elements and conditions make it now pos-
developments in machine design and construction. sible to spin a rotor yarn optically similar to a ring-spun yarn.
Volume 2 – Blowroom & Carding Volume 6 – Alternative Spinning Systems
In-depth information is provided on opening, cleaning, To take full advantage of alternative spinning systems,
blending and carding and additional aspects are covered a thorough understanding of them is therefore essential. This
such as acclimatisation of raw materials, anticipated waste volume contributes towards reaching this goal by describing
from various grades of fibre, selection and setting of cleaning the most important alternative spinning systems in detail.
and blending machinery, waste recycling, transport and the One of them is the well known Air-jet spinning technology.
functions of the various card components as well as selection
and maintenance of card clothing and autolevelling systems. Volume 7 – Processing of Man-Made Fibres
Volume 3 – Spinning Preparation Ever since the introduction of man-made fibres on a com-
mercial scale, the market share of synthetic fibres has shown
Here the technical and technological aspects of the yarn an impressive growth rate. In this important field, the variety
production process between carding and ring spinning are of man-made fibres with different properties is continuously
covered, that means draw frame, combing section (including increasing. For numerous applications today, fibres that are
combing preparation) and roving frame. This is an important practically “tailor-made” are available. Spinners must there-
process stage, because the yarn quality largely depends on fore have detailed understanding of the fibre properties and
the quality of the intermediate products from which it is the specific characteristics that affect their processing.
made.
Volume 4 – Ring Spinning
Technical and technological aspects of ring spinning are
covered. This is the final process in yarn production. The ring
spinning machine greatly influences the yarn and its quality.
Ring-spun yarns still represent the standard for compari-
son when evaluating yarns produced by other spinning
processes.
6 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 7
EDITORIAL
This third volume in the series of The Rieter Manual of Spinning, which
updates the essential principles in modern short-staple spinning deals
with both the technical and the technological aspects of that part of the
yarn production process between carding and ring spinning.
This is of course a most important part of the process, because the quality
of the final yarn depends to a large extent on the quality of the intermediate
products from which it is made.
This volume comes in three parts, dealing with the combing section
(including preparation for combing), the draw frame, and the roving
frame. In each case, the principles of the underlying technology are
discussed and there is a description of the machinery used.
It is essential for every yarn specialist to have a thorough understanding
of the detailed operations involved in these processes, to know the rela-
tionships involved in the interplay of the various functions, to recognize
the possible and to exploit the possibilities to their limits. This is the only
way to ensure survival in the current competitive struggle.
The main author of these books, Werner Klein, is a former senior lecturer of
the Swiss Textile College and author of the original edition of the „Manual
of Textile Technology“ published by The Textile Institute Manchester. All
further authors are textile industry experts, who among others in various
positions within the Rieter Company, have many years of experience to
their credit. The Manual also addresses aspects that extend beyond Rieter’s
current product range, taking processes and solutions developed by other
manufacturers into account.
The structure of this manual and the organization of its subject matter
were taken over from the original Technology of Short-staple Spinning
published by the Textile Institute, Manchester, whom we thank for their
kind permission to continue this standard work.
It should also be mentioned that some important basic technology has
been dealt with in The Rieter Manual of Spinning, Volume 1 – Technology
of Short-staple Spinning in particular the drafting action.
I wish all users of this compendium pleasant reading.
Heiner Eberli, Head of Marketing, Rieter Spun Yarn Systems
8 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 9
CONTENTS
1. The Combing Section 11 1.5.2. The feed 28
1.1. Introduction 11 1.5.2.1. Feed of the lap sheet 28
1.1.1. Shortcomings of the combing machine 11 1.5.2.2. The feed device 29
1.1.2. The comber‘s task 11 1.5.3. The nipper assembly 29
1.1.3. Types of application. 11 1.5.3.1. The construction of the nipper assembly 29
1.1.3.1. Long-staple combing mills 12 1.5.3.2. The nipper movements 30
1.1.3.2. Medium-staple combing mills 12 1.5.3.3. Hanging and standing pendulum 31
1.1.3.3. Short to medium-staple combing mills 12 1.5.4. The comb 31
1.1.4. Types of comber 12 1.5.4.1. The circular comb 31
1.1.5. Sequence of operations in a rectilinear comber 13 1.5.4.2. The top comb 31
1.1.6. Preparation of stock for combing 14 1.5.4.3. The operation of the combs 32
1.2. Technology of combing 14 1.5.5. Take-off of material 32
1.2.1. Parameters influencing the combing operation 14 1.5.5.1. Piecing 32
1.2.2. Influence of the feed stock on combing 15 1.5.5.2. Withdrawal of the web and
1.2.2.1. Parallelization of the fibers in the batt 15 formation of a sliver 33
1.2.2.2. Batt thickness (weight) 17 1.5.5.3. Sliver take-off 34
1.2.2.3. Evenness of the batt sheet 17 1.5.6. The drafting arrangement 34
1.2.2.4. The disposition of the hooks 17 1.5.7. Coiling the sliver 35
1.2.3. Influence of combing operation on quality 18 1.5.8. Waste removal 35
1.3. The noil extraction theory 18 1.5.9. Machine data 37
1.3.1. Derivation according to Gégauff 18 1.5.9.1. The sequence of movements in the machine 37
1.3.1.1. Definitions 18 1.5.9.2. Technical data of the Rieter E 75 37
1.3.1.2. Noil elimination with backward feed 19 1.6. The Saco Lowell double-sided comber 37
1.3.1.3. Noil extraction with forward feed 20 1.7. Automation in the combing section 38
1.3.2. The quality of the combing operation 1.7.1. Outline 38
in forward and backward feeding 20 1.7.2. Transport automation 39
1.3.3. The influence of machine components 1.7.3. Machine automation (comber) 39
and settings on combing 20 1.8. Number of draw frame passages 40
1.3.3.1. The feed amount moved per cycle 20 1.9. Upgrading of raw material 40
1.3.3.2. Type of feed 21 1.9.1. New market segments due to upgrading of cotton 40
1.3.3.3. The detachment setting 21 1.9.1.1. Definition 40
1.3.3.4. The number of points on the combs 21 1.9.1.2. Changes in demand and in the
1.3.3.5. The depth of penetration of the top comb 21 processing possibilities 40
1.3.3.6. Piecing 22 1.9.2. Some preconditions 41
1.4. Preparation of the stock for combing 22 2. The Draw Frame 43
1.4.1. Outline 22 2.1. Introduction 43
1.4.2. Conventional system 23 2.2. The task of the draw frame 43
1.4.3. Modern preparation system (sliver doubling system) 24 2.2.1. Equalizing 43
1.4.3.1. The first machines using this system 24 2.2.2. Parallelizing 44
1.4.3.2. Infeed 25 2.2.3. Blending 44
1.4.3.3. The lap winding assembly – 2.2.4. Dust removal 44
conventional system 25 2.3. Operating principle 44
1.4.3.4. Former VARIOspeed arrangement 2.4. Operating devices 45
on the UNIlap 26 2.4.1. Creel (sliver feed) 45
1.4.3.5. System incorporating the latest technology 26 2.4.2. The drafting arrangement (general considerations) 45
1.4.3.6. Main data 26 2.4.2.1. Requirements 45
1.5. The comber 26 2.4.2.2. Influences on the draft 45
1.5.1. Outline 26 2.4.2.3. Elements of drafting arrangements
1.5.1.1. Classification 26 in short staple spinning generally 46
1.5.1.2. Description of functions of the 2.4.2.4. Types of drafting arrangement
Rieter E 66 comber 27 used on draw frames 47
10 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
2.4.3. Suction systems for the drafting arrangement 48 3.3.3. Spindle and flyer 62
2.4.4. Coiling 48 3.3.3.1. Imparting twist 62
2.4.4.1. The delivery arrangement 48 3.3.3.2. Various designs of flyers 62
2.4.4.2. Condensing 49 3.3.3.3. The flyer 63
2.4.4.3. Sliver coiling 49 3.3.3.4. The flyer top 64
2.4.4.4. Can changers 49 3.3.3.5. The presser arm 65
2.4.4.5. One or two deliveries per machine 50 3.3.4. Winding of the bobbin 65
2.5. Monitoring and autoleveling 50 3.4. Machine drive system 65
2.5.1. Aim of autoleveling 50 3.4.1. Mechanical drive systems 65
2.5.2. Classification 50 3.4.1.1. Bobbin drive 65
2.5.3. Monitoring devices with self-compensation 51 3.4.1.2. Cone drive transmission 66
2.5.4. Monitoring devices with autoleveling systems 51 3.4.1.3. Shifting the belt 66
2.5.4.1. Classification 51 3.4.1.4. Correction rail (compensation rail,
2.5.5. Leveling draw frames with open-loop control 51 correction rod) 67
2.5.6. Leveling draw frames with closed-loop control 52 3.4.1.5. Lifter motion 68
2.5.7. Correction length 52 3.4.1.6. Builder motion 68
2.5.8. The Rieter RSB leveling system 53 3.4.1.7. Shifting the cone belt 69
2.5.8.1. The principle 53 3.4.1.8. Reversal of the bobbin rail movement 69
2.5.8.2. Scanning the mass of infeed slivers 53 3.4.1.9. Shortening the lift 69
2.5.8.3. The leveling process 53 3.4.2. Gear change positions of the roving
2.5.8.4. The leveling operation itself 53 frame (on old roving frames) 70
2.5.8.5. The advantages of high- 3.4.3. Electronic drive system 70
performance leveling draw frames 53 3.5. Special design (Saco Lowell „Rovematic“ frame) 71
2.5.9. The integrated monitoring system 3.6. Accessories 71
(process control techniques) 54 3.6.1. Monitoring devices 71
2.5.9.1. “Integrated monitoring” – 3.6.1.1. The need for such devices 71
essential in spinning 54 3.6.1.2. Sliver stop motions 71
2.5.9.2. The method of operation 54 3.6.1.3. Roving stop motion 71
2.5.9.3. A quality monitoring system 54 3.6.1.4. Roving tension monitoring 72
2.6. Blending draw frames 54 3.6.2. Blower apparatus 72
2.7. Logistics 55 3.7. Automation 72
2.8. Technical data of a high-performance draw frame 56 3.7.1. Potential for automation 72
3. The Roving Frame 57 3.7.2. Doffing 73
3.1. Introduction 57 3.7.2.1. Preparation for doffing 73
3.1.1. The roving frame as a necessary evil 57 3.7.2.2. Manual doffing 73
3.1.2. Demands placed upon the modern roving frame 57 3.7.2.3. Automatic doffing 73
3.1.3. Tasks of the roving frame 57 3.7.3. Transport of bobbins to the ring spinning machine 74
3.2. Description of functions 57 3.8. Technical data (normal values) 74
3.2.1. Operating sequence 57 3.9. Appendix 74
3.2.2. Effects of the arrangement of the Illustrations 77
bobbins in two rows 58
3.3. The operating zones of the roving frame 59
3.3.1. The creel 59
3.3.2. The drafting arrangement 59
3.3.2.1. Description 59
3.3.2.2. The aprons 60
3.3.2.3. Applying pressure to the top rollers 61
3.3.2.4. The condenser 61
3.3.2.5. Spacing the top and bottom aprons 61
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 11
1. THE COMBING SECTION and on the fabric characteristics of:
1.1. Introduction • smoothness;
1.1.1. Shortcomings of the combing machine • visual appearance; and
• handle.
The combing section is an insertion of mostly three machines
into the normal spinning process between card and autoleveler It is also employed to improve working behavior in down-
draw frame (Fig. 1). It serves as an installation to improve yarn stream processing, most noticeably in knitting. In addition,
quality if the carded yarn does not meet requirements. There yarn made from combed cotton needs less twist than a carded
is no doubt that this process with three additional machines yarn. However, as we have already mentioned, these quality
increases the cost of the yarn. A further increase in cost results improvements are obtained at the cost of additional expendi-
from the design of the comber itself, which is not very satisfac- ture on machines, floor space and personnel, together with
tory due to intermittent processing. The entire mass of the nip- a loss of raw material. Yarn production costs are increased by
per arrangement has to be accelerated to maximum speed and something less than USD 0.3 per kilogram of yarn (depending
slowed down to zero about 7.5 times a second, a process for upon the intensity of combing).
which admirable design solutions have been found today – and To achieve an improvement in quality, the comber must per-
which deserve considerable respect! Intermittent processing form the following operations:
also entails a loss in productivity. • elimination of a precisely pre-determined quantity of short
fibers;
It would be far better to work with a continuous processing • elimination of the remaining impurities;
system. With regard to spinning in general this is not a new • elimination of a large proportion (not all can be removed)
method. It has been used for about two centuries in the form of of the neps in the fiber material;
circular combers, drum combers and hackle combers. Unfortu- • formation of a sliver having the optimal possible quality
nately, these systems can be used only for long fibers (such as parameters.
wool and hemp), but are unsuitable for short fibers.
Elimination of short fibers produces an improvement mainly in
A system between these two is the former Saco Lowell comber staple length, but it also affects the fineness of the raw mate-
dealt with in chapter “1.6. The Saco Lowell double-sided comber”. rial. Since noil is on average finer than the original raw materi-
al, the Micronaire value of combed sliver is slightly higher than
1.1.2. The comber‘s task that of the feedstock. It should also be noted that combing in-
creases the parallelization of the fibers, but this is a side-effect
The comber is used in the production of medium, medium-fine which is not always an advantage. The high degree of paralleli-
and fine yarns, and enables a positive influence to be exerted zation might reduce inter-fiber adhesion in the sliver to such an
primarily on the yarn characteristics of: extent that the fibers slide apart, e.g. while being pulled out of
• evenness; the can – i.e., sliver breaks or false drafts might be caused.
• strength;
• cleanliness; 1.1.3. Types of application
The amount of material combed out varies within the range be-
tween 8 % and 25 % of the infeed stock. It follows that, as far as
the raw material is concerned, quality improvements can exhibit
wide variations. Correspondingly, basic distinctions are drawn
between three major groups of spinning mills using combing.
Blowroom Card Draw frame Combing preparation Comber Autoleveller draw frame Roving frame Ring spinning Mill monitoring
C 60 SB-D 40 or SB 2 E 32 / E 35 E 66 / E 76 RSB-D 40 F 15 / F 35 G 35 / K 45 ComforSpin SPIDERweb
Fig. 1 – The short-staple spinning process for combed yarns
12 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
Fig. 2 – View of a rectilinear comber
1.1.3.1. Long-staple combing mills hibit better cleanliness, smoothness and strength. In this
type of process, high production is usually sought in combi-
These organizations spin first-class, expensive cotton of nation with noil levels from 8 to 18 (22)%.
high strength, containing a low proportion of short fibers Whereas in medium to coarse count mills combing is a mat-
and little dirt. The product is a fine to very fine yarn of top ter of choice, for fine to very fine counts it is a must, as the
quality. The demands placed on the know-how and skill of number of fibers in the cross section of the yarn becomes
operating personnel are correspondingly high, as they are very small, and in that case short fibers result in a lot of
on the design and maintenance of the machines. Yarn pro- faults.
duction is low, while generation of noil is high.
1.1.4. Types of comber
1.1.3.2. Medium-staple combing mills
Quite a number of different types of comber are available,
Here medium cotton qualities with a wide spread of qual- including:
ity parameters are spun into medium (to fine) yarns of good • rectilinear combers (with stationary or oscillating nip-
quality at economic production costs. Nowadays this is the pers, for cotton);
most widely used process in practice. The proportion of noil • circular combers (English worsted process);
lies in the region of the average and production is usually • rotary combers (production of Schappe-spun yarns);
high. The process is problematic in that it has to maintain and
a high standard of quality and at the same time achieve high • hackling machines (bast fibers).
production at low cost: requirements that are difficult to rec-
oncile. The maximum demands placed on medium-staple Short-staple spinning mills use only the rectilinear comber
combing can only be fulfilled by optimally trained personnel. with swinging nippers and stationary detaching rollers, as
originally conceived in 1845 by J. Heilmann in Alsace and
1.1.3.3. Short to medium-staple combing mills further developed in 1902 by the Englishman Nasmith and
in 1948 by the Whitin company. Machine layouts used in
The raw material used here is the same as that for produc- practice are single-sided machines with eight heads. The
ing carded yarns. Often the same cotton blend is spun to double-sided machines of the former Platt Saco Lowell
both carded and combed yarn, sometimes even of the same company with six-plus-six heads are no longer manufac-
fineness (in the coarser to medium-fine range). In compari- tured. Improvements in machine design since 1948 have
son with a carded yarn, the combed yarn should chiefly ex- enabled a five-fold increase in production.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 13
1.1.5. Sequence of operations in a rectilinear comber
Zo
S Zo A
W B
Zu Zu K
a b c d
A S W
B
V V
e f g
h i
Fig. 3 – Sequence of operations
(a) Feed rollers (S) move lap sheet (W) forward by a small amount (g) The detaching rollers begin to rotate in the forward direction again
(4.3 - 6.7 mm), while nippers (Zo/Zu) are held open (feed). and draw the clamped fibers out of web (W) held fast by feed rollers
(b) Upper nipper plate Zo is lowered onto cushion plate (Zu) so that the (S) (inside the nippers) (detaching).
fibers are clamped between them (nipping). (h) Before the start of the detaching operation, top comb (F) has thrust its
(c) Combing segment (K), mounted on rotating cylinder (Z), sweeps single row of teeth into the fiber fringe. As the fibers are pulled through
saw-teeth through fiber fringe (B) and carries away anything not the teeth of the top comb during detaching, the trailing part of the
held by the nippers (rotary combing). fringe is combed, thus making up for the inability of the circular combs
(d) The nippers open again and move toward detaching rollers (A) to reach this part of the fringe (passive combing by the top comb).
(nippers forward). (i) As the nipper assembly is retracted, the nippers open for the next
(e) Meanwhile detaching rollers (A) have returned part of the previously feeding step. The top comb is withdrawn. A new combing cycle begins.
drawn-off stock (web V) by means of a (partial) reverse rotation, (k) Contrary to the movements of the other parts, the combing cylinder
so that the web protrudes from the back of the detaching device rotates continuously. During this rotation and at a certain instant the
(web return). combing segment is brought into the vicinity of a rapidly revolving
(f) In the course of the forward movement of the nippers the projecting brush mounted below the combing cylinder. This brush removes the
fiber fringe (B) is placed on the returned web (V) (piecing). imperfections, etc., from the combing segment, and ejects them into
an extractor that carries the noil away to a collecting filter system.
14 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
All these mechanically very demanding processing steps are
carried out on 8 combing heads simultaneously at speeds
of up to 500 times per minute (in Rieter‘s current E 66
comber generation).
1.1.6. Preparation of stock for combing
The combing operation itself (feeding, nipping, combing,
detaching) is a very sophisticated process which requires:
b
• the best equipment;
• optimal, stable settings;
a
• excellent maintenance;
• careful handling.
An extremely important factor besides these, however,
is the preparation of the material before combing, as the
raw material delivered by the card is unsuitable for comb- Fig. 5 – Fibers projecting from the nippers
ing as regards both form and fiber arrangement. If card
slivers were fed to the comber, true nipping by the nipper Appropriate preparatory machines are needed to prepare
plates (Fig. 4) would occur only on the high points, with the material so that it meets requirements. The fiber ar-
the risk that the nippers could not retain the less firmly rangement must also be taken into account, i.e. in this case
compressed edge zones of the slivers. These could then be the disposition of the hooks. As explained in „The Rieter
pulled out as clumps by the circular combs. A sheet with Manual of Spinning – Volume 1“, over 50 % of fibers in the
the greatest possible degree of evenness in cross section card sliver have trailing hooks. If the comber is to straight-
is therefore required as infeed to the comber. en hooks, as it is intended to, then the fibers must be pre-
sented to it with leading hooks.
Good parallel disposition of the fibers within the sheet is
a further prerequisite. If the fibers lie across the strand Because of the repeated reversal of the hook disposition
(Fig. 5), even long fibers (a) are presented to the circular during coiling and subsequent removal from cans at the
combs as if they were short fibers (as shown at b) and they machines, an even number of machine passages must be
are eliminated as such. This represents unnecessary loss provided between the card and the comber. In earlier days
of good fibers. sliver lap and ribbon lap machines were used. During the
nineteen-nineties the sliver lap machine / ribbon lap ma-
chine process was replaced by the draw frame / sliver dou-
bling machine process over all staple ranges.
As shown in Fig. 6, this consist mainly of:
• the batt doubling process (classical method, outdated);
and principally;
• the sliver doubling process, e.g. the Rieter UNIlap and
the Marzoli Superlap SR 34.
1.2. Technology of combing
Fig. 4 – Clamped slivers between the nipper plates 1.2.1. Parameters influencing the combing operation
The main parameters influencing combing are:
Raw material:
• fiber type;
• fiber fineness (Micronaire);
• fiber length;
• uniformity of fiber length (CV);
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 15
Carded yarn
Card Evener draw frame
Combed yarn I: conventional method (batt doubling)
a)
Card Sliver lap machine Ribbon lap machine Comber Evener draw frame
Combed yarn II: new method (sliver doubling)
b)
Card Breaker draw frame Sliver doubling machine Comber Evener draw frame
Fig. 6 – The two preparation methods: conventional method (a, batt doubling) and new method (b, sliver doubling)
• fiber stiffness; • circular comb clothing (angles of teeth, density
• moisture content; of teeth, etc);
• foreign material associated with the fibers. • depth of penetration of the top comb;
• piecing;
Material preparation: • draft;
• parallelization of the fibers in the sheet (batt); • drafting arrangement settings.
• batt thickness;
• batt evenness; Ambient conditions:
• orientation of the hooks. • room temperature;
• relative humidity in the room.
Factors associated with the machine:
• condition of the machine; In the following sections, the most important parameters
• condition of the combs; exerting an influence on the process will be dealt with in
• speeds; greater detail.
• operational performance of the combs;
• type of sliver forming element (diagonal shift of the 1.2.2. Influence of the feed stock on combing
piecings); 1.2.2.1. Parallelization of the fibers in the batt
• accuracy of the settings;
• drafting arrangement; From the viewpoint of both economics and quality, the
• movement of the elements; degree of parallelization has a very great influence on the
• weight of the elements; result of the combing operation. It is necessary to seek
• type of withdrawal of the combed web (either straight an optimum level, since a maximum is just as unfavorable
forward or oblique). as a minimum. Lack of longitudinal orientation, i.e. notice-
able fiber disorder, leads, as already explained, to elimina-
Machine settings: tion of longer fibers together with the noil. Loss of good
• feed distance; fibers owing to fiber disorder is reinforced to the extent that
• type of feed; the circular combs are overloaded during passage through
• detachment setting; a disordered batt, so that they pluck and tear at the stock,
• point density of the combs; thereby carrying away bunches of fibers. The same happens
with an excessively thick batt. With constant machine set-
16 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
tings, the quantity of noil decreases linearly with increased ing this stage, impurities, neps and so on are held back in the
parallelization of the fibers (Fig. 7) and with a decrease in sheet because of the retaining power of the thick layer. This
batt thickness (below the optimum, of course). It therefore retaining power, and hence the so-called self-cleaning effect
does not always follow that more noil is automatically asso- of the batt, will be all the greater the higher the disorder of
ciated with better yarn quality. The correct goal is always the fibers within the sheet. If the fibers have an excessively
a predetermined waste elimination level. high degree of parallelization, the retaining power of the batt
On the other hand, an understanding of the disadvantages of can be so severely reduced that it is no longer able to hold
excessive longitudinal fiber orientation requires a clear picture back the neps as it usually does. Some of these neps also pass
of the combing process and in particular the detaching stage. through the top comb. Neppiness of the product is increased.
A A
Cotton Peru Pima
noil [%]
improvement or deterioration (%)
high combing-out max. tensile force
16
yarn cleanness
40
14
better 30
low combing-out (upgrading) 20
12
10
10 0
10
8 20
worse
30
0
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 B 40
draft
preparation
UNIlap
conventional
Fig. 7 – Dependence of noil elimination on the degree of parallelization
of the fibers in the feedstock (Degree of parallelization corresponding to
the draft). A: noil percentage. B: draft between the card and the comber 0
6 9 12 15 B
(M. Frey, Rieter Machine Works Ltd., presented at a Colloquium in Reut- Draft between card and comber
lingen; Germany).
Fig. 8 – Dependence of yarn strength and cleanliness on the degree of paral-
In this operation, between 1/5 and 1/6 of the fibers present- lelization of the fibers in the feed lap (Degree of parallelization correspond-
ing to the draft). A, improvement or deterioration in %; B, draft between
ed to the detaching rollers are drawn out of the batt, i.e. only
the card and the comber based on classical system (M. Frey, Rieter Machine
few fibers are drawn out of a thick layer of feedstock. Dur- Works Ltd., presented at a Colloquium in Reutlingen, Germany).
[g/m] 82
80
78
76
74
72
70
68
66
64
62
60
1 11/32
1 13/32
1 15/32
1 17/32
1 19/32
1 21/32
1 11/16
1 23/32
1 1/32
1 1/16
1 3/32
1 5/32
1 3/16
1 7/32
1 9/32
1 5/16
1 7/16
1 9/16
1 1/8
1 1/4
1 3/8
1 1/2
1 5/8
1 3/4
[inch]
1
maximal achievable
Fig. 9 – Batt weight in relation to staple length
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 17
A second disadvantage is that if the fibers are too highly The unfavorable effect of overloading the comb is greater
ordered, the single layers of the lap do not hold together than the favorable effect of the retaining power of the sheet.
well (it lacks cohesive strength of the layers compared with A compromise must therefore be struck between quality
that of the fiber-to-fiber adhesion at the surface of the lap and productivity. Depending on staple length (and Micro-
layers) and mutual separation layer from layer is disturbed. naire value), the ideal batt weight lies between 72 and 80
A high degree of parallelization always leads to consider- ktex for short and medium staple cotton, and between 64
able hairiness of the lap. Furthermore, the lap weight must and 74 ktex for long staple cotton > 1¼˝ (Fig. 10).
be kept low.
The degree of parallelization depends on the total draft be- 1.2.2.3. Evenness of the batt sheet
tween the card and the comber. Fig. 8 shows the relation-
ship between fiber parallelism (draft) and yarn strength / The more even the batt sheet (web) is across its width,
yarn cleanliness. the better the clamping effect at the nipper clamping line.
Evening-out of the web is therefore of considerable sig-
1.2.2.2. Batt thickness (weight) nificance. It is very important that the slivers are arranged
neatly relative to one another and evenly over the entire
The self-cleaning effect of the batt exerts a considerable in- working width at the lap machine.
fluence on the combing operation. This effect arises from The most effective method of obtaining a high degree of
the retaining power of the fibers relative to impurities, evenness of the sheet is high doubling in sheet form, as in
which depends not only on the disorder of the fibers but the classical system, a combination of sliver lap machine
also on their quantity. A thick batt always exerts greater re- and ribbon lap machine. In this respect, the operation of the
taining power than a thin one. At least up to a certain level, ribbon lap machine was always ideal in the past. Nowadays,
the clamping effect of the nippers is also better with however, the disadvantages far exceed the advantages, e.g.
a higher batt volume. Adversely, a thick batt always ex- the very high fiber parallelization caused by the high drafts
erts a heavy load on the comb and this can lead to uncon- in two stages, resulting in insufficient cohesion of the sheet.
trolled combing. In this case, the fiber farthest from the cir- It does not permit high speeds and therefore high produc-
cular combs (upper side of the nipped web) may escape the tivity compared with the sliver lap system. The self-cleaning
combing operation, since the combs are no longer able to effect also suffers from this high degree of parallelization.
pass through the whole of the layer.
1.2.2.4. The disposition of the hooks
As previously mentioned, fibers must be presented to the
Numbers of fibers in cross-section [x 1 000]
comber so that leading hooks predominate in the feedstock.
700 This influences not only the opening out of the hooks them-
selves, but also the cleanliness of the web. If the batt is fed
600
in the wrong direction, the number of neps rises markedly.
500 It also increases the soiling and loading of top combs and
400
circular combs, and finally the neppiness.
Both quantity and form of fiber hooks depend mainly upon
300 the stiffness of the fibers; the latter rises to the second or
200 third power with increasing coarseness of the fibers (Micro-
54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 naire value). The hooks also display different forms; fine, long
Batt weight [g/m] fibers will always exhibit more and longer hooks (horseshoe
shape) than short, coarse fibers (hockey-stick shape). The
3 3,5 4 4,5 5 5,5
role of fiber hooks in the spinning process therefore becomes
more significant as fibers become finer. When short fibers are
Recommended working range of E 65, E 75 Fibre fineness [Mic]
being spun, fiber hooks are of secondary importance.
Fig. 10 – Batt weight in relation to fiber mass
(Micronaire value and number of fibers in the cross section are decisive)
18 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
1.2.3. Influence of combing operation on quality
A% 100
Combing can be applied to a wide range of spinning proc-
esses and the range of improvement in quality is corre- 80
spondingly wide. Accordingly, quality classes must be
differentiated in combed yarns: 60
c
• semi-combed (upgrading) with a noil percentage
below 12 %;
40
• normally combed, with a noil percentage between
12 and 18 %;
• highly combed, 18 - 22 %; 20
b
• super combed, with noil percentages above 22 %.
a
0
Combing with a noil percentage below 12 % is also referred
0 5 10 15 20 % B
to as upgrading, since this type of combing enables cotton
stock to be moved up one or two classes, with the addition-
Fig. 12 – Dependence of various quality parameters on noil elimination
al advantage of elimination of short fibers. Combing with A, improvement of yarn quality in %; B, noil elimination in %; a, yarn
a noil percentage above 22 % is rare and is generally used strength; b, yarn evenness; c, yarn imperfections (M. Frey, Rieter
only where superfine yarns are to be spun. Machine Works, presented at a Colloquium in Reutlingen, Germany).
Besides the removal of impurities, combing serves mainly 1.3. The noil extraction theory
to eliminate short fibers The effect is shown in a simple ex- 1.3.1. Derivation according to Gégauff
ample in Fig. 11: a is the original staple, b the staple dia- 1.3.1.1. Definitions
gram after combing and c the diagram of the noil.
Fig. 12 shows the effect of combing at different noil per- The noil theory developed by Charles Gégauff and de-
centages for a certain type of cotton. What can be gener- scribed below provides a picture of the effects of detach-
ally noticed is that with increasing noil percentages the ment setting and feed distance moved per cycle on the
important quality parameters of strength and evenness elimination of noil. The word „picture“ is used quite delib-
improve, but not as much as may be expected. A far big- erately in this connection, since the theory does not allow
ger improvement can be achieved in imperfections, and anything more exact. However, it does show the correlation
the big leap up to 10 % of noil is remarkable here. This between feed amount and noil percentage with either for-
is exactly the range of upgrading. A further improvement ward or backward feeding, i.e. why it differs.
is noticeable with regard to the ends-down rate in down- However, calculations made on the basis of the theory are
stream processing. Compared with carded material, the often intractable and should therefore not be attempted.
ends-down rate in spinning combed cotton is generally Symbols used in these explanations* have the following
lower, but the improvement does not continue with the in- meanings (Z to E belonging to Fig. 13, s to p belonging
crease in noil percentage; on the contrary, the ends-down to Fig. 14 - 17):
rate can start to increase again as the noil percentage rises
above 20 %. Z nippers;
A detaching rollers;
Lmm Lmm Lmm
40 40 40
30 30 30
20 20 20
10 10 10
0 0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 % 0 20 40 60 80 100 % 0 20 40 60 80 100 %
a b c
Fig. 11 – Staple diagram: a, cotton before combing; b, cotton after combing; c, noil
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 19
B fiber fringe protruding from the nippers; E+S
K combing segment; E+ S2
E detachment setting, i.e. distance between the clamping E
C
line of the nippers and the nip line of the detaching rollers;
S feed amount (mm) moved per combing cycle;
r
M longest fiber in the staple (mm); p
M
a fiber ≥ E; n
b fiber = E - S;
c fiber < E - S;
p noil percentage. A q o m B
Fig. 14 – Combing out with backward feed (the staple diagram is shown)
Forward feed implies that feeding of the sheet into the nip-
pers occurs while the nippers are moved toward the de-
taching rollers. As the nippers retract towards the combs, the feed roller
shifts the fiber fringe (initially with length E) forward
Backward feed implies that feeding of the sheet occurs through feed amount S. The fringe projecting from the
during return of the nippers. The triangular areas represent nippers is now presented to the circular combs with length
stylized staple diagrams. E + S (Fig. 15). All fibers shorter than E + S are carried
away by the circular combs because they are not clamped.
*The subsequent presentation of the theory is based upon
information supplied by the Rieter Company and on H. B.
Wolf in “Baumwollspinnerei”.
E+S
1.3.1.2. Noil elimination with backward feed
During the detaching stage the nippers are located at their
closest spacing relative to the detaching rollers (Fig. 13),
which draw off all fibers extending to the nip line, i.e. all
fibers longer than E. This length E can be entered in the K
staple diagram (Fig. 14) as a line m-n. All fibers to the left
of the line m-n pass into the combed sliver (hatched area
AmnC). Fig. 15 – Combing out the fiber fringe
They pass into the noil. In the staple diagram (Fig. 14), this
Z
length can be entered as line q-r. In this stage all fibers to
the right of the line q-r are combed out into the noil (area
A
qBr). In the region qmnr it is therefore a matter of chance
whether the fibers remain in the fringe or pass into the noil.
Accordingly, a division can be made based on the mean fiber
length represented within this area, and it can be assumed
B that the trapezium AopC represents fibers transferred to the
combed sliver and the triangle oBp represents those pass-
ing into the noil. The dividing line between these areas has
length E + S/2. Since in similar triangles the areas are in the
E same ratio as the squares of the sides, and since the noil
percentage is based on the ratio of weight of waste to weight
of feedstock, the following relationship can be assumed:
Fig. 13 – Position of the nippers relative to the detaching rollers at
the closest approach (detachment setting E) during backward feed (E + S)2
p% = oBp x 100 = (op)2 x 100 =
2 2 x 100
ABC (AC) M2
20 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
1.3.1.3. Noil extraction with forward feed moved forward to the nip line by feed through distance S.
That is why fibers longer than (E - S) are now carried away
into the combed web, and trapezium AmnC represents these
S E-S fibers.
In this case also, the figure qmnr can be divided according
to the mean fiber length by the line op (E - S/2), and thus
the following relationship can be derived as before:
(E - S)2
p% = oBp x 100 = (op)2 x 100 =
2 2 x 100
ABC (AC) M2
From the two derived relationships it follows that where
a
backward feed is used, noil is increased as the feed distance
b is increased, whereas in forward feed noil is reduced as the
feed distance is increased.
c
1.3.2. The quality of the combing operation in
Fig. 16 – Position of the nippers relative to the detaching rollers at the
forward and backward feeding
closest approach during forward feed
From the preceding section it will be seen that with forward
feed not only will shorter fibers be passed into the combed
E sliver (E - S instead of E), but also the quality of the comb-
E- S
2 ing operation itself must be different. Consider a fiber
C E-S
having a trailing end laying just in the bite of the nippers:
During the forward movement of the nippers, with forward
r feed, this fiber passes into the combed web without any
M p
n change, because the feed roller pushes it out of the nippers.
In backward feed combing, this fiber will stay in the feed-
stock, because no feeding occurs during forward movement
A q o m B of the combs; the fiber is then nipped while projecting with
the hook inside the nippers and combed once again. There-
Fig. 17 – Combing out with forward feed (staple diagram) fore, if backward feed is used, the circular combs rake
through the fibers more often, so the quality of the combing
After the detaching stage has been completed, all fibers operation is increased. This shows up in the elimination
longer than E have been carried away with the web. Since of impurities and neps. However, the difference is hardly
there is no feed step during the return stroke of the nippers, detectable in modern high-performance machines of the
the fringe is presented to the circular combs with length E. latest generation.
During the following combing cycle all fibers shorter than
E pass into the noil; this is represented in the staple diagram 1.3.3. The influence of machine components and
(Fig. 17) by the area qBr. Feed occurs during the subsequent settings on combing
forward stroke of the nippers, during which the fringe is in- 1.3.3.1. The feed amount moved per cycle
creased in length by the distance S. At the next stage, that of
detaching, the detaching rollers take at least all fibers longer This has a noticeable influence on
than E (Fig. 16, fibers a) into the combed web. However, as • noil percentage;
feeding occurs at this stage, fibers b of the original length • the quality of the combing operation; and
(E - S), i.e. shorter than E by the feed amount, are now • the production rate.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 21
A high feed amount increases the production rate but causes 1.3.3.3. The detachment setting
deterioration in quality, especially in the cleanliness of the
web. Hence, the feed amount per cycle must be set lower, This refers to the distance between the clamping line of the
the higher the quality requirements, and this correlates – nippers and the nip line of the detaching rollers when these
not exactly but approximately – with the fiber length. Fig. 18 parts are at their closest spacing. The detachment setting
serves as an indication in selecting the feed amount. provides the chief means for influencing the level of noil
elimination. A wide detachment setting results in a high
level of noil elimination; a closer setting is associated with
A a lower noil level.
mm Spinning mills must find the optimal setting for their own
7 conditions. If the detachment setting is increased, start-
ing from a certain optimum, there will be hardly any im-
6 provement in quality except in relation to imperfections
(Fig. 12). The detachment setting normally lies in the range
5 of 15 - 25 mm. If the noil percentage varies for no reason
while the machine settings (including the detachment set-
4 ting) are kept constant, the cause lies not in the machine
but in the raw material (variability of the raw material
1 1 1/6 1 1/8 1 3/16 1 1/4 1 5/16 1 3/8 1 7/16 1 1/2 B characteristics, e.g. short fiber content).
Fig. 18 – Typical values for the feed amount per cycle. A, feed amount
1.3.3.4. The number of points on the combs
per cycle in mm; B, corresponding staple length of cotton
Comb segments on older machines had a clothing of nee-
1.3.3.2. Type of feed dles. Both the point density and the fineness of the needles
were adapted to the raw material. Top combs are still
Forward feed used to be chosen for higher production rates clothed in this way or are equipped with teeth. Clothing
when quality requirements were not too rigorous, mainly of circular combs has changed in recent decades: a saw-
for „upgrading“ with noil percentages of up to 12 % (max. tooth clothing is used today. In comparison with needles,
14 %). When higher demands were made on quality, back- the new type of clothing is more robust, needs less mainte-
ward feed had to be used with noil percentages in the range nance and is more universally applicable. Since the combs
of 12 - 25 %. With modern high-performance machines are called upon to perform the main work of the machine,
(combing preparation and combers) the situation has their influence on quality is considerable.
changed. Forward feed is mostly used over all staple ranges Needles on the top comb have a flattened cross-section and
for achieving noil levels from 8 to 18 %. One main reason are formed with a bend. Usually they are used with a point
is the better “self cleaning effect” (see “1.5.4.3. The opera- density in the range of 23 - 32 needles per centimeter.
tion of the combs”) during detaching and top combing ac- Fewer needles are used when higher production is needed
tion by generating higher retaining forces. Fiber rear ends together with lower waste elimination. More needles pro-
and the hooks are more extended. Disturbing impurities duce more noil.
(husk particles, dust and trash, leaf and husk remnants, fib-
er neps and seed coat fragments) and short (floating) fib- 1.3.3.5. The depth of penetration of the top comb
ers are hold back by the top comb during detaching and are
combed out by the next circular combing cycle. Noil extraction can also be influenced by the depth of pene-
tration of the top comb. Lowering of the top comb by about
0.5 mm is followed by an increase in noil of about 2 %. The
main improvement due to this procedure has to be seen
in the elimination of neps. As always, the optimum setting
must be established, since excessively deep penetration of
the top comb disturbs fiber movement during piecing. The
result is deterioration in quality.
22 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
1.3.3.6. Piecing drafting unit). This long-wave, sinusoidal piecing fault is re-
liably leveled out in the subsequent autoleveler draw frame.
After combing of the fringe protruding from the nippers,
the detaching rollers draw some of the combed feedstock Example: Piecing period is shown at a wave length of 60 cm.
out of the sheet. This produces a tuft with a length depend- With 6-fold doubling and drafting on the RSB draw frame, the
ent upon the staple length, but lacking all internal coher- periodic fault should be visible at 3.6 meters in the RSB spec-
ence. By means of the piecing operation, the rollers have to trogram – but this is not the case. It has been leveled out.
lay these newly formed strips of web on top of each other Another thing is the correct table draft (tension between
so that first a coherent web and finally an endless sliver is delivery roller after eccentric withdrawal and infeed roller
obtained. For this purpose, the single fiber tufts are laid on of drafting unit).
top of each other in the same way as roofing tiles (Fig. 19).
1.4. Preparation of the stock for combing
PD FP 1.4.1. Outline
In general, two systems are still in use (Fig. 21):
• the earlier web doubling process (conventional method)
AL FL employing a sliver lap machine followed by a ribbon lap
machine; and today mostly
Fig. 19 – Combed web structure (section view) • the sliver doubling process, in which a normal draw
PD – Piecing distance or piecing period, FL – Fiber length, AL – Detaching
frame (without leveling) provides the first passage and
length, FP – Fiber package length> AL + FL
a sliver doubling machine follows as the second passage
Consequently, piecing is a distinct source of faults in the
operation of the rectilinear comber, but is system-related
due to the discontinuous process. The sliver produced in
this way has a wave-like structure, i.e. it exhibits periodic
thin and thick variations.
Wave Length L = piecing distance x total draft
(source: Uster Tester 5 handbook)
These variations are visible in the mass spectrogram
(Fig. 20) as combing cycles in the form of so-called piec- Sliver Doubling Web Doubling
ing peaks (at about L 30 - 75 cm, due to draft height in the
Fig. 21 – Overview of the two lap forming processes in use
E 65 Comber Spectrogramm of mass: CV%
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
.5 1cm 2 5 10 20 50 1m 2 5 10 20 50
RSB-D 35 draw frame – Spectrogramm of mass: CV%
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
.5 1cm 2 5 10 20 50 1m 2 5 10 20 50
Fig. 20 – Examples: Mass spectrograms after combing and in downstream processes
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 23
1.4.2. Conventional system
1. Laps
2. Web collection table
3. Gearing
4. Machine frame
5. Lap forming device 5
Fig. 24 – Elements of a ribbon lap machine
Fig. 22 – Top view of a sliver lap machine
Fig. 25 – Rieter E 4/1 ribbon lap machine
1. Lap
9. Drafting arrangement
10. Deflecting plates
11. Collecting table
1
Fig. 23 – Rieter E 2/4A sliver lap machine
In this process the sliver lap machine is the first step. 10
24 slivers from the card are usually fed together and side
by side over a table into a drafting arrangement. A loose
form of web is created with a small draft of around 1.5. 11
After pressing and smoothing, this web is rolled up to a lap
by calender rollers.
Fig. 26 – The ribbon lap machine – cross-section
24 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
Six such laps are simultaneously forwarded to the ribbon The idea of creating a comber feeding lap by a single web
lap machine (Fig. 24). These webs pass individually through forming process directly in front of the comber – with a draw
separate drafting systems arranged side by side. The 6 webs frame passage in front of this web former, of course – can be
thus formed run over 6 deflecting plates (Fig. 25) and then traced back to a development in 1948 by the former Whitin
over a collecting table into a pair of calender rollers. The Company, called the super lap machine. Although all later
6 webs, now overlapping, are pressed together to form machines are of different designs they all are based on this
a compact web and rolled up to a lap on the subsequent lap idea. That is why modern high-performance preparation sys-
rollers. An inherent feature of this classical system is very tems will now be explained on the basis of the Rieter ma-
low productivity, i.e. it is therefore unsuitable for modern chines, starting with the first designs. As already mentioned,
combing preparation. the web former (e.g. UNIlap) always follows a normal draw
frame. On the UNIlap machine the material flow starts with
1.4.3. Modern preparation system (sliver doubling the creel (1, Fig. 27), consisting of two feed rails. In nor-
system) mal operation 12 cans are laid out under each roller-assisted
1.4.3.1. The first machines using this system feed table. Altogether, this gives a total of 24 doublings. The
pre-draw frame slivers run over a guide bridge above the ser-
vice alley and also over several guide rollers to the drafting
system at 2 (Fig. 30). The web created by the draft of 1.3 to
2.5 passes over two deflecting plates (Fig. 28) onto the web
table on which the webs are superimposed. Calender roll-
5
ers draw these superimposed webs from the table to the lap
1
winding assembly.
1
2 4
The strong compression created between the calender
rollers forms a new web, which is rolled into a lap in the
lap forming assembly. Empty tubes are automatically ex-
changed for full laps. Transport of the laps to the combing
3 machine is semi-automatic or fully automatic.The following
detailed description refers to the latest generation of lap
formers using the sliver doubling system:
Fig. 27 – Basic design of the former Rieter E 5/3 UNIlap
(lap forming machine)
Fig. 28 – E 32 UNIlap
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 25
1.4.3.2. Infeed The UNIlap machine features a 3-over-3 roller, two-zone
drafting arrangement. The pneumatically weighted top rollers
The first part of the machine is a creel on each side feeding can be continuously adjusted from minimum to maximum per
two drafting arrangements from max. 28 cans from the draw top roller. Draft distances are individually variable, as are the
frame. Here also the slivers are guided over a service alley draft levels in each of the break and main draft zones. Upper
(one on each side) to the drafting arrangement (Fig. 29). and lower clearer aprons in combination with a suction sys-
tem keep the rollers clean. The easily accessible drive for the
drafting arrangement is in an enclosed housing and is fitted
with appropriate change gears and oil spray lubrication.
1.4.3.3. The lap winding assembly – conventional
system
After passing the web table, the web runs through four cal-
ender rollers (Fig. 30, 1). The pressure generated by two
membrane cylinders can be adjusted up to 16 000 N. The
calender rollers are followed by two winding rolls (2) and
a lap tube holding device (3) with a lap weighting device;
these have to cooperate to form the lap.
The required weighting pressure (up to 10 000 N), derived
from a piston, is transferred via a pivoting lever to the
weighting frame and thus to the lap tube. The UNIlap has
an automatic lap pressure control which adapts the pres-
sure according to the lap diameter. An increase in diameter
of the lap raises the weighting frame, in the course of which
the pressure increases. The size of the increase can be set
by adjustment using setting screws. The machine stops
when a preset lap length is reached, whereupon an auto-
matic device replaces the full lap by an empty tube.
Fig. 29 – The drafting arrangement of the UNIlap system
a b
1
Draft 1
1
Dr
af
t2
2
3
Dr
af t
3
Fig. 30 – The lap winding device of the UNIlap machine
26 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
1.4.3.4. Former VARIOspeed arrangement on the similar to that of the laps, surrounds the lap to form a circum-
UNIlap ferential pressure area (omega-shaped) ranging from 180°
to 270° from start to full lap. Fiber guidance and pressure
winding speed [m/min]
distribution applied by the OMEGA principle allow constant
140
production increase production (i.e. constant speed during winding of the lap)
120
at speeds of up to 180 m/min over the entire lap buildup.
100
80 1.4.3.6. Main data
60
positive influence
40
on quality
Raw material cotton up to 1 5/8˝ staple
20 Batt weight up to 80 ktex
0 Feedstock up to 70 ktex per drafting
0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225 250 275 300 325 arrangement
lap length [m] Doublings up to 28
Draft of the drafting
without VARIOspeed (constant winding speed, depending on stapel length) arrangement 1.36 - 2.2
VARIOspeed 2 (reduction of winding speed with increasing lap diameter) Lap width 300 mm
Fig. 31 – Speed diagram of the UNIlap, production gain by VARIOspeed
Lap weight, net up to 25 kg
Delivery speed varies
On this former system the UNIlap machine did not run at between 70 and 140 m/min
constant speed, since this would mean choosing the speed – with OMEGA system (at constant speeds) up to
according to the most critical phase of lap winding, i.e. 180 m/min
when lap winding was close to completion. However, this Theoretical production
meant losing productivity. That is why Rieter adapted the (per machine) up to 350 kg/h
speed of the machine to the buildup of the lap by means – with OMEGA system up to 520 kg/h
of the VARIOspeed set. So, for example, if a final speed
of about 70 m/min was required, the machine started with 1.5. The comber
a speed of 140 m/min. 1.5.1. Outline
1.5.1.1. Classification
1.4.3.5. System incorporating the latest technology
Two different types of rectilinear combers were formerly in
Since production speeds using the winding system based on use in short-staple spinning mills:
calender rollers have reached their limit due to the system it- • single-sided machines with 8 combing heads (Fig. 34);
self, Rieter developed a new lap winding system. The new lap • double-sided machines with 12 combing heads.
winding system makes use of a unique belt tension and pres- The latter type was built only by the former Saco Lowell
sure arrangement. The winding belt (Fig. 32, 1), with a width company (Fig. 35).
1 new tube loading 2 start lap winding 3 lap full 4 lap ejection
Fig. 32 – OMEGAlap winding process
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 27
E 32 UNIlap E 35 OMEGAlap
Draft 1 4 calenders
Dr
af Batt infeed
t2
Lap
lekciW
Draft
3
++
Lap winding belt
Fig. 33 – Comparison between two different winding systems
of Rieter‘s combing preparation machines
To achieve the equivalent production rate, the single-sided 1.5.1.2. Description of functions of the
machine is forced to operate at higher nip rates. On the other Rieter E 66 comber
hand, the single-sided machine has the advantage of permit-
ting 8 doublings (instead of only 6), of being rather less com-
plicated and easier to automate. A single-sided machine will
be described by reference to the Rieter E model.
1 500
5 315
Fig. 36 – Rieter comber
The lap (Fig. 37, 2) rests on two support rolls (3), on which
it unrolls slowly. Lap (1) is a reserve lap. On its way into
1 750
the nippers the web passes over an eccentric shaft (4) act-
ing as a diverter. This serves to keep web tension constant
during the forward and return movements of the nippers.
Forward movement of the web into the nippers is per-
Fig. 34 – Marzoli comber formed by feed roller (5) and is carried out in very small
steps (around 5 mm). When feed has been completed, the
nippers are closed by allowing spring (8) to press nipper
plate (7) against the cushion plate. During the return swing
of the nippers, caused by the oscillation of nipper shaft
(13), the nipped web is presented to combing segment
(10) mounted on rotating cylinder (11) and is combed out.
The nippers swing forward again to enable the tuft to be
detached from the fiber fringe by rotating detaching roll-
Fig. 35 – Saco Lowell comber
28 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
ers (14), which are mounted as a stationary unit. Since the 1.5.2. The feed
trailing part of the fiber fringe is clamped inside the nip- 1.5.2.1. Feed of the lap sheet
pers, so that no combing can be carried out in this zone,
the rear end of the fiber fringe has to be combed through Two fluted rollers (Fig. 37, 3), driven at constant speed, un-
by another device, the needles or teeth of top comb (9), roll the web from lap (2). An eccentric shaft (4) is fitted be-
in order to complete the combing operation. tween the rollers and feed cylinder (5). The web is fed over
this shaft, which is rotated intermittently in time with the
The web created by piecing at detaching rollers (14) now nipper cycle. Each shaft rotation represents less than a full
passes to a web plate (15) and then via lead-off rollers (16) revolution, first in a forward direction and then in backward
to a trumpet (17), forming a sliver. Thereafter, table rollers feed. This back-and-forth rotation ensures even tension in
(18) guide the sliver formed in this way to the transverse the web and hence prevents false drafts, which could oth-
table, on which all eight slivers are combined and delivered erwise arise as a result of fluttering of the web as the dis-
together into a drafting arrangement. After the material has tance between the stationary rollers and the feed rollers
been drawn out in this device to a single sliver, it is coiled increases and decreases with the backward and forward
in a can. A brush (19) keeps the circular comb clean. The movement of the nippers. The eccentricity of the shaft
following sections provide details of various operations. compensates for these changes in distance.
1
2
4
9 7 3 3
17 5
16 15
6
14
11
18
13
10
19
Fig. 37 – Cross-section through the Rieter E 65 comber
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 29
1.5.2.2. The feed device The following feed distances per cycle are used in the
Rieter comber:
Type of feed Number of teeth Feed distance
on the ratchet per cycle (mm)
Forward feed and backward feed 16 5.9
18 5.2
20 4.7
22 4.3
1.5.3. The nipper assembly
1.5.3.1. The construction of the nipper assembly
Fig. 38 – Arrangement of the nipper, the feeding and the detaching device
There is no machine drive of the feed rollers as such; they
are driven indirectly by the opening and closing of the nip-
8
per plates. Forward shift of the web by the feed roller into
the opened nippers can be performed: 2
1
• while the nippers move forward (described above as
forward feed); or a
• when the nippers swing back (described as backward 3
feed).
Some types of comber can be operated in only one feed
mode (forward feed), others can be operated selectively in
either mode. Selection of the required mode then involves
an adjustment. On the Rieter comber this can be carried out
quickly and easily by replacement of the two drive change Fig. 40 – The nipper suspension
gears on opposite sides of the feed roller (Fig. 39). Rotation
of the feed rollers to feed the lap sheet forward by 4.3 to The nipper assembly (Fig. 40) is of enormous importance to
6.7 mm is derived from the relative movements of the up- the design of a comber. The mass of the nippers must be ac-
per and lower nippers. For example, in the case of forward celerated and decelerated back to rest twice per nipper cy-
feed, when the upper nipper plate is opened it rotates the cle (up to 7 times per second in modern machines). A low-
roller via the ratchet (by one ratchet tooth) by withdrawing mass nipper assembly – for example, made of aluminum
the pawl secured to the upper nipper plate. In the case of alloy – is therefore advantageous. Also, the nipper assembly
backward feed, i.e. rotation of the cylinder as the nippers has to clamp a relatively thick lap batt (up to 80 ktex) firmly
close, a pair of gear wheels and an internally toothed ratch- and evenly. The nipper plates themselves must therefore be
et are needed. The change wheels can be replaced to adjust made of steel (at least the clamping region), and the upper
the type of feed and the feed amount per cycle. plate must be stiff while the lower plate is slightly springy.
The upper nipper is mounted so that it can pivot on the low-
er nipper on pivot axis (a), and can therefore be raised and
lowered. Two springs (8), one each to right and left of the
nipper assembly, generate the required contact pressure
for the nipper closing. The so-called bite must have a spe-
cial form, as illustrated in Fig. 41. The nose (n) is designed
to press the fiber fringe downward during clamping, so that
the fringe cannot escape the action of the circular combs.
Fig. 39 – Feed roller drive
30 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
operation. Rieter solved this problem in a simple way by shift-
ing the feed roller closer to the nipper mouth, and improving
web guidance within the nipper installation by means of
a special guide plate at the feed roller (Fig. 40, 1). This ar-
rangement saves quite a considerable amount of good fibers.
1.5.3.2. The nipper movements
The lower nipper plate (Fig. 43, 5) is supported at the front
n
by two pivot levers (6), on the left and right respectively,
pivoted on comb axis (7) of the circular combs, and also
Fig. 41 – The form of the nipper bite by two swing arms (2) screwed onto nipper shaft (1) and
rotatable at point 8. During rotation of the nipper shaft –
Detaching distance is also very important. On old combers through less than a full revolution – in the course of each
the distance between the feed rollers within the nipper plates combing cycle, the whole nipper assembly is moved back
and the detaching rollers (in their nearest position) was too and forth about point (8) by swing arm (2).
wide, strictly speaking the distance between the feed roller ‚Forth‘ means the nippers are moved closer to the detach-
and the nipper mouth. This always resulted in slightly uncon- ing rollers as far as the position of closest approach (the
trolled fiber extraction during the combing and detaching detachment setting), and are then withdrawn again. The
upper nipper is movably supported on the lower nipper at
point 10, and is also suspended from shaft (12) by means
of spring (11). Therefore, as the nipper assembly is moved
forward, the upper nipper is raised relative to the lower
nipper owing to the different lengths (different leverage)
of the lever mechanism, and the nippers are opened. As
the nippers are withdrawn, spring (11) presses the upper
nipper back against the lower nipper (due to the different
length of the levers). It is important that the nippers are
not closed suddenly and sharply, but gently pressed togeth-
er with gradually increasing pressure. This gentle closure
of the nippers is effected by an eccentric (12). During con-
tinuous rotation of the eccentric, the spring is periodically
Fig. 42 – The nipper support
compressed and then released.
12 12
11
11
4
8
4
5
5 8 3
10
2
6 10 3 6
2
7 1 7 1
Fig. 43 – Diagram of nipper movements
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 31
1.5.3.3. Hanging and standing pendulum
Hanging Pendulum Standing Pendulum
swinging to and fro moving
Nippers Nippers
Circular comb
Circular comb
Fig. 44 – Two different suspensions of the nipper assembly
For the suspension of the nipper arrangement we distinguish K
between a hanging and a standing pendulum (Fig. 44), i.e.
the nippers are arranged either on a crank beneath the bot-
tom nipper plate (standing pendulum) moving forward and
S
backward, or they are hanging on a pivot above the top
nipper plate for the forward and backward movement. The
arrangement one way or the other has a major influence on
combing performance:
R
D
a b
Fig. 46 – Circular comb with metallic clothing (teeth)
1.5.4. The comb
1.5.4.1. The circular comb
A cylinder drive shaft (Fig. 46, R) extends through the
whole machine, and carries one combing cylinder (D) per
Rieter Others
combing head. The combing cylinder in turn supports a
combing segment (half-lap) (S), which is bolted to the cyl-
Fig. 45 – Combing performance with standing and hanging pendulum inder and is fitted with metallic clothing (K).
Only metallic clothing is now used on high-performance
With a standing pendulum (Fig. 46, a) the nippers, together combers, since this clothing is more robust than the nee-
with the batt to be combed, move concentrically with the dles that were used formerly, needs no maintenance, is
circular comb. The distances to the clothing of the circu- not liable to damage in use, and permits operation with
lar comb show little difference (almost constant treatment a thick batt sheet. Today metallic clothing is available with
of the fringe). With a hanging pendulum (b) the variation as many as three to five zones of point density, i.e. with
of distances is larger, and the lowest and highest points of fewer teeth at the start, a somewhat higher density in the
contact also vary, depending on settings. This results in an central zone and a still higher density in the trailing zone.
unfavorable combing operation.
1.5.4.2. The top comb
The replaceable top comb (Fig. 47, F and Fig. 48) is ar-
ranged between nippers (Z) and detaching rollers (A) so
that the fiber fringe can be drawn through the needles of
the top comb during detaching. The top comb usually com-
prises a holder (Fig. 48, H) to which needle bar (B) is se-
cured by screws. The needles are soldered to the bar.
32 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
This could lead to the false impression that the trailing por-
tion of the fringe is not processed as effectively as the front
portion, because it is not passed through a complete comb-
ing zone (circular combs), but only through a single row of
needles. In fact, the quality of processing of both portions is
F the same. This statement requires some explanation. Clean-
ing and elimination of short fibers is, of course, performed
by the top comb, but also at the same time by the retaining
effect (self-cleaning effect) of the batt in the nippers. Dur-
Z
A ing detaching less than 20 % of the fibers in the nippers are
pulled out of the batt (Fig. 49). This low percentage of fib-
ers is unable to take the impurities within the batt with it,
because the retaining force of the more than 80 % of fibers
of the thick batt that remain is too strong. Impurities, neps,
and short fibers therefore remain in the sheet as the oth-
Fig. 47 – The top comb assembly
er fibers are detached. It goes without saying that this re-
tained material also has to be eliminated somehow, some-
where. It occurs when the fringe is treated by the circular
H
comb during the next combing cycle, or the following one.
Elimination is always performed by the circular comb.
The self-cleaning effect can be influenced by several factors,
including the batt weight and the degree of parallelization
of the fibers. Of course, the self-cleaning effect is better, the
lower the parallelization of the fibers and the more volu-
minous the batt. Unfortunately, however, the latter entails
B
overloading of the combs and very poor combing perform-
ance. As usual in spinning, the golden mean has to be found.
N
upper nipper plate
retention of the trash by
Fig. 48 – The top comb (with needles) fibres of the batt
with 80 g/m
The holder mounts the top comb on the lower nipper plate
so that the top comb swings with that plate. The needles
have a flattened cross-section and a bend. Apart from its detached fibres
participation in the swinging movements of the nippers, 16 % to 20 %
the top comb is fixed, i.e. it is not subject to any additional
bottom nipper plate
and complicated up-and-down movements. During detach-
ing the fiber fringe is pressed into the needles of the comb
trash particles
automatically. The depth of penetration is very important
and is therefore designed to be adjustable. The spacing Fig. 49 – Self-cleaning effect of the batt
from the detaching rollers is also adjustable.
1.5.5. Take-off of material
1.5.4.3. The operation of the combs 1.5.5.1. Piecing
The circular combs can treat only the forward portion of After the operation of the circular combs has been complet-
the fiber fringe to be processed, since the comb clothings ed, the detaching rollers feed back part of the previously
do not penetrate exactly to the bite of the nippers and also formed web. The nippers (Fig. 3) swing forward and lay the
because the rear ends of the fibers are located within the fiber tuft that has just been combed onto the portion of the
nippers. The fairly long, trailing portion has therefore to be web projecting from the detaching rollers. When the detach-
combed out by another device – the top comb – while being ing rollers now rotate again in the web take-off direction,
drawn through it (a passive process). they draw the fiber tuft that is immediately combed through
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 33
the top comb and out of the fringe. The coherent web at the (B) generated by the comb shaft. The intermittent rotation
detaching rollers is thus lengthened by a new web strip. As is somewhat faster than the basic rotation. If these rotations
a result of this operation the newly formed coherent web are acting in the same direction (A + B), the result is a rapid
consists of small fiber tufts laid on top of each other in the acceleration of the detaching rollers in the forward direction
same way as roofing tiles. The subsequently formed sliver (detaching operation) (Fig. 51, left). If the superimposed ro-
still contains these periodic irregularities, a distinct source tations are acting in opposite directions, not only does the
of faults in the operation of rectilinear combers. intermittent rotation (A) cancel out the whole effect of the
basic rotation, but it also causes a reversal of the detaching
The sliver produced in this way has a wave-like structure rollers (C), since the speed of the intermittent rotation is
(Fig. 20) with periodic variations. These variations are visible higher than that of the basic rotation.
in the spectrogram as combing cycles in the form of peaks
(at about 30 - 75 cm) (Fig. 21). Both the spinning mill and 1.5.5.2. Withdrawal of the web and formation of a sliver
the machine designer must strive to keep this irregularity as
low as possible. The designer therefore employs eccentric The resulting web must be collected into a sliver by the trum-
withdrawal of the web from the web plate (Fig. 53 / Fig. 54). pet (Fig. 52, T) and deposited on the sliver table (B) by the
The spinning mill can influence this via the machine settings. calender rollers (K). This is carried out continuously. How-
The fiber tufts drawn off by the detaching rollers can be com- ever, since detaching rollers (R) are required to perform
pared with very flat parallelograms, although normally the a back-and-forth movement, during which the web must be
leading edge is blunter than the trailing edge. By using correct maintained intact, a reserve of material must be formed peri-
machine settings it is possible to lay these parallelograms odically between detaching rollers (R) and withdrawing roll-
on each other in such a way that any unevenness is partly ers (Z). Accordingly, a web plate (V) is provided in this zone.
canceled out. On the other hand, incorrect setting will cause During the forward movement of the detaching rollers, the
an increase in unevenness. In order to carry out the piecing excess web forms a corrugated sheet on the web plate. Dur-
operation, the detaching rollers must perform a back-and- ing the backward movement the corrugations are straightened
forth movement (Fig. 50) in which the forward component (V) out again. The web plate therefore functions as a web reserve
is larger than the backward component (R), so that effective zone. Collection of the web is performed at the web plate or
take-off (T) is achieved. In modern combers backward move- in the zone immediately following it. The web can be collected
ment amounts to about 60 % of the forward movement: toward the center line (Fig. 53, a), as in older web pans, or
to one side (b) as on the web plate in modern combers. With
V
a central collecting action, the slightly thicker piecing lines are
formed into curves, which distinctly emphasizes the combing
R cycles (piecing waves). If the web is collected to one side
(Fig. 53, b), the piecing lines form diagonals, resulting in par-
tial compensation of the piecing waves. Collection of the web
is performed by the sliver trumpet (Fig. 54, T). The mouthpiece
T of this trumpet must always be adapted to the sliver count
(volume). Calender rollers (K) serve to condense the sliver.
Fig. 50 – The back-and-forth movement of the detaching rollers
+ A +
B A - ±0
- C
T
Z V
Fig. 51 – The mode of operation of the differential gear of the detaching R
rollers K
B
The back-and-forth movement of the detaching rollers
derives from a differential gear. An intermittent rotation
(Fig. 51, A) is superimposed upon a constant basic rotation
Fig. 52 – Web take-up assembly
34 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
The slivers run individually toward the sliver table. They are
then deflected through 90° by the deflecting pin (Fig. 54, P)
and are fed together over table (Fig. 55, B) to the drafting ar-
rangement (S). Many manufacturers provide deflector pins
that are adjustable or can be rotated eccentrically by mini-
mal amounts. The distance between the sliver trumpet and
the drafting arrangement can then be adjusted by these very
a
small amounts and thus (depending on the given adjustment
instructions) the piecings of the individual slivers can be
shifted relative to each other. This mutual shifting results in
partial compensation (suppression) of the combing piecings.
Where the comber has only one delivery (modern ma-
chines), all eight slivers are drawn into a common drafting
arrangement and formed into a single sliver, which is then
b
coiled in a can (i.e. eight-fold doubling).
Fig. 53 – Removal of the web
1.5.6. The drafting arrangement
1.5.5.3. Sliver take-off In the Rieter comber, the sliver table leads to a vertically
inclined 3-over-3 drafting arrangement (Fig. 56), some-
times with an additional pressure bar in the main draft
zone. The rollers form two drafting zones. Break draft as
R
well as main draft distances and the amounts of draft are
variable. The overall draft lies between 9 and 16. At the de-
livery end of the drafting arrangement a trumpet collects
V
the discharged web and guides it, with additional compact-
ing, to the delivery rollers .
Fig. 54 – Sliver formation
S B
Fig. 55 – Guiding the sliver from the web table to the drafting arrangement
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 35
HV
B 9
VV
GV
• tooth belt driven • tooth belt driven
• only main draft adjustable • pressure bar (9) guides the fibers in the main draft zone
• break draft distance (VV) and main draft
distance (HV) are adjustable
• break draft (VV) and total draft (GV) are adjustable
Fig. 56 – The drafting arrangement of the Rieter combers Fig. 57 – Sketch of the drafting arrangement of the Rieter E 65/75 combers
1.5.7. Coiling the sliver
sponding to the sliver density. The sliver formed in this
way is coiled cycloidally, as already described for the card.
The coiler comprises a rapidly rotating table (D) and
F
a slowly rotating can turntable below. A geared movement is
S superimposed on the basic movements in order to increase
the quantity of material loaded into the can. Can change is
carried out automatically while delivery is stopped.
1.5.8. Waste removal
D
The eliminated material (short fibers, foreign matter, neps,
etc.) remains trapped in the circular combs. Removal is
performed by a rapidly rotating brush mounted below the
comb-carrying cylinder (Fig. 59). This removal occurs
Fig. 58 – Coiling the sliver
when the half-lap comb engages with the brush, which then
The high delivery speeds of modern combers make it im- ejects the noil into a duct forming part of a suction system.
possible to guide combed slivers from the drafting arrange- This leads to a filter drum behind the machine (older sys-
ment to the can without any form of transport assistance. tem), to a fiber separator (Fig. 60) within the machine,
In the Rieter machine a narrow conveyor belt (F) has been or to a central waste removal system (Fig. 61).
provided for this purpose. Two stepped discs (S) are locat-
ed above the rotary table (D) to compact the sliver, there-
by increasing the packing density of sliver in the full can.
The compacting step also increases the inherent coherence
of the sliver. The stepped discs serve a second purpose, as
a measuring device. They form part of a hank monitor re-
36 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
ough cleaning effect. Fig. 62 shows the increase in the level
of noil with uninterrupted full-speed running time. Fig. 63
demonstrates the stability of the noil level when a periodic
cleaning cycle is inserted into the operating sequence. The
top comb is self-cleaning owing to the action of the thick
sheet passing through its teeth when pulling the top comb
out of the sheet.
A
%
18
17
16
Fig. 59 – Stripping the circular combs 15
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 B
t (min)
Fig. 62 – Change in combing-out as the circular combs fill up. A, noil
percentage; B, running time of the machine (t(min))
A
%
Fig. 60 – Removal of waste using a fiber separator 18
17
Although this normal brushing-out is a very efficient way
of cleaning the circular combs, some material can still re- 16
main caught in them, disturbing the combing operation and
15
causing deterioration in quality. To deal with this problem,
modern combers feature a so-called slow cycle. At precise-
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 B
ly adjustable, pre-set intervals, the movements of the ma- t (min)
chine parts are slowed down to 1/5 of normal speed. Only
the brushes continue to rotate at full speed, thus subjecting Fig. 63 – Keeping combing-out constant by periodic intensive cleaning
of the circular combs
the circular combs to intensive treatment to produce a thor-
Fig. 61 – Central waste removal
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 37
1.5.9. Machine data
1.5.9.1. The sequence of movements in the machine
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40
INDEX DISC nipper is moving forward nipper is moving back
52 mm
corr. ecartement
closed opens closing closed NIPPER
upper nipper
forward feed backward feed
FEEDING
amount 4.7 5.9 mm
back forward movement
DETACHING ROLLERS
piecing distance
piecing 31.5 mm
corr. control disc (detaching) separation of fleece
detaching roller distance 60 mm
top comb in action
TOP COMBING ACTION
circular comb circular comb
in action in action
CIRCULAR COMBING ACTION
Fig. 64 – The sequence of movements in the machine; Example Rieter E 7/5
1.5.9.2. Technical data of the Rieter E 75
Can form:
Number of combing heads 8 diameter (mm) 600 (24 in.)
Number of deliveries 1 height (mm) 1 200 (48 in.)
Doublings 8
Nips per minute up to 500 Weights
Noil (%) 8 - 25 Batt weight (ktex) 64 - 80
Efficiency (%) up to 96 Delivery hank (sliver weight) (ktex) 3 - 6
Production (kg/h) up to 68
Forward / backward feed adjustable
1.6. The Saco Lowell double-sided comber
W1 Z W2
a) b)
ZO
R P
A
H
A D D H R
ZO
ZU
O ZU
K
K
Fig. 65 – The double-sided Saco Lowell comber (a) detail of the individual head, b) movements
38 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
For several decades Saco Lowell built a very interesting ma- the upper nipper (ZO) against the lower nipper (ZU). The
chine, which differs markedly from others available on the fiber fringe is compressed and ready for combing. Accord-
market. It is a double-sided design, with six combing heads ingly, while detaching is proceeding on one side (the left)
on each side and a corresponding mirror-image arrange- of this machine, combing is being carried out simultaneously
ment of the main operating elements on the two sides, in- on the other side, all movements being generated in
cluding the two deliveries. However, the drive is centrally a central motion. Of course, a top comb also comes into play
arranged for the two sides in common. during the combing sequence. Each head on the left-hand
The swinging movements of the nippers (Fig. 65, ZU/ZO) are side produces a sliver by piecing and collecting the tufts at
derived from the nipper shaft (Z), which rotates backward its delivery. The sliver of the six heads are passed together
and forward through small angles. This shaft movement through a common drafting arrangement to produce a single
is transmitted via lever (P) and roller (O) to the nippers; sliver which is coiled in a can. Similarly, the six slivers deliv-
during rotation to the right, the right-hand nipper is also ered by the heads on the right-hand side are combined into
swung to the right. Rotation to the left causes the left-hand another sliver for coiling in a second can. The comber has
nipper to swing to the left. The nippers are thus pushed for- two deliveries.
ward by the swinging roller (O), always to one side only.
The nippers on the other side are forced to make the same 1.7. Automation in the combing section
movement, as both nippers (left and right) are connected 1.7.1. Outline
by a spring (S).
Opening and closing of the nippers is derived automatically Automatic lap transport is a problem that has been await-
from the swinging movement. When the whole mechanism ing a solution for several years. Material has to be trans-
moves to the left, as shown in Fig. 65, a small roller (R) en- ported in large quantities in an unwieldy form and with
gages at a set time with a fixed rail (A). As it runs up the high lot weights, both within the combing preparation stage
rail it lifts the upper nipper plate (ZO), with which it is com- and then between the preparatory machines and the comb-
bined into a rigid unit via the short lever (H). The latter is ers. Although automation in combing is not a very simple
rotatably mounted at D. The nippers are thus opened and matter it is already available to different degrees. These
the fiber fringe is ready for detaching. As the nippers run differences allow mills to choose the degree of automation
back (and with them roller R along fixed rail (A)), as shown according to their requirements, since – as already stated
in the right-hand part of the illustration, the roller runs off in „The Rieter Manual of Spinning – Volume 1“ – automa-
the rail at a set instant, and a spring (not shown) presses tion is not a plaything nor is it obtainable free of charge.
a b
Fig. 66 – Transport scheme with semi-automated lap trolleys (4 combers are shown (2 left and two right) with the lap former in-between)
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 39
Lap turnstile Standard
180°
Lap turnstile station
90°
Fig. 67 – Fully automatic lap transport system, showing the lap turnstile
required to present the lap end in the correct position for the combers
Investment in automation has to pay for itself. Since these
installations will become increasingly important in years
to come, a short description of them will be given.
In general, automation in combing can be subdivided into:
• transport automation and
• machine automation.
1.7.2. Transport automation
Transport in combing means mainly the shifting of laps
from the lap former to the comber. Two automation systems
are available in this case: Fig. 68 – The overhead transport system
• semi-automatic transport and
• fully automatic transport.
right direction (i.e. prepared for automatic piecing on the
The semi-automatic solution operates with lap trolleys as comber). The whole loading, unloading and transportation
shown in Fig. 66. With this system trolleys are automatical- operation is performed without intervention by an operator.
ly loaded with laps at a filling station (a) in front of the lap
former. The operator than takes the trolley (b) to the comb- 1.7.3. Machine automation (comber)
ers, where unloading is performed semi-automatically.The
fully automatic system operates with an overhead transport Automation of lap changing and batt piecing was an engi-
device (Fig. 68) to carry the laps in groups of 8 at a time neering challenge some 15 years ago. Rieter succeeded in
to the combers. An additional installation is required be- solving this problem with its ROBOlap automatic lap chang-
tween lap former and combers – the lap turnstile as shown ing and piecing device. It is illustrated below in Fig. 70, in
in Fig. 67 – to load the laps into the overhead carriers in the the form of small drawings of the six operational steps.
40 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
step 1: step 2: step 3:
detaching batt and and removal of batt remains conveying empty tube to tube store shifting laps into working position
step 4: step 5: step 6:
preparing batt for the automatic piecing pneumatic release of lap end by means joining of the two batt ends
of the Aero-pic-system
Fig. 69 – Automatic lap changing and batt piecing by the Rieter ROBOlap
1.8. Number of draw frame passages 1.9. Upgrading of raw material
1.9.1. New market segments due to upgrading of cotton
Only one draw frame passage should be employed after 1.9.1.1. Definition
combing. Two passages not only increase the cost, they
also cause a deterioration in quality. Owing to the high de- As we mentioned at the beginning of this volume, upgrad-
gree of parallelization, the adherence of the fibers in the ing (semi-combing) means combing the cotton with a noil
sliver is so low that false drafts can be induced, for exam- percentage of only 6 - 10 (12), i.e. below the normal comb-
ple when the sliver is pulled out of the can behind the rov- ing range of 10 - 20.
ing frame. However, the draw frame that performs the one
remaining drafting operation should then be fitted with 1.9.1.2. Changes in demand and in the processing
a short-term autoleveler. possibilities
Combers with four-fold doubling (8 combing heads, 2 de-
THE TOTAL MARKET FOR SHORT STAPLE YARNS
livery heads) usually require two draw frame passages af-
35%
ter combing. This is unfavorable, not only due to the higher
30
costs associated with it, but also because of the deteriora- 25
tion in quality that can result. 20
15
With the new generation of combers, i.e. eight-fold dou- 10 combed yarns today
bling (8 combing heads, 1 delivery), one draw frame pas- 5
sage can usually be eliminated because of the good sup- 0
pression of the piecings. Ne 1 6 12 18 24 30 35 40 48 54 60 70 84 95
Fig. 70 – The total market for short staple yarns today
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 41
Upgrading is all the more interesting, as the biggest im-
THE TOTAL MARKET FOR SHORT STAPLE YARNS
provements in quality arise when combing in the range
35% of 8 to 10 % noil, as shown in Fig. 12.
30
25
combed yarns in future A very interesting field of application can be rotor spinning.
20
15
Compared with ring-spun yarns, rotor-spun yarns have
10 some disadvantages in quality. Some improvements can
5 be achieved by upgrading the raw material. For example:
0 • reduction of impurities in the yarn;
Ne 1 6 12 18 24 30 35 40 48 54 60 70 84 95 • better parallelization of the fibers in the yarn; and thus
• higher strength;
Fig. 71 – The total market for short staple yarns in future • smoother feel of yarn and end product.
Up to now combing has been employed for (Fig. 70): Besides these quality parameters, operating behavior
• medium counts to improve running behavior in down- on the rotor machine also improves due to the additional
stream processing and yarn quality; extraction of trash at the comber.
• really fine counts, as the number of fibers in the cross
section of these yarns is very small, and each short fiber 1.9.2. Some preconditions
is an interference factor here.
However, upgrading on a larger scale is not possible with
Combing somewhat coarser counts has not been very popu- conventional combers, as it becomes too expensive. It re-
lar to date. It was too expensive. In the near future, how- quires a high-performance combing section:
ever, spinning mills will be forced to give more attention • productive combing preparation;
to this type of combing. This is due to changes in customer • combers with high speeds, i.e. up to 500 nips/min;
markets, in the cotton market, and the availability of im- • optimal control of the combing operation itself to
proved processing facilities. The latter will allow combing reduce good fiber loss (a very important factor);
to penetrate into areas where the material has only been • working with high feed weight (increasing
carded to date (Fig. 71). productivity);
In this respect we need to bear in mind an aspect that has • high degree of automation.
already been mentioned, namely the need for more inten-
sive utilization of our material:
• by optimized raw material employment;
• by better treatment of it on all machines;
• by reduction of waste and
• by upgrading (very important).
The main arguments in favor of upgrading are:
• increasing demands on the end product;
• increasing demands on the yarns in further processing,
e.g. when working with carded yarns in knitting mills
about 70 % of the processing problems can be traced
back to the yarn;
• compensating for expensive raw material by improving
a cheaper cotton through semi-combing.
42 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 43
2. THE DRAW FRAME At the drawing stage for carded yarns the material rarely
2.1. Introduction passes just one machine but usually two, arranged one af-
ter the other and combined to form a group. An exception
From a purely commercial viewpoint the draw frame is of is the rotor spinning mill, where often only one passage is
little significance – it usually contributes less than 3 % to used or even none, i.e. the sliver is fed directly from a high-
the production costs of the yarn. However, its influence on performance card, but equipped with an integrated leveling
quality, especially yarn evenness, is all the greater for this. device. Normally, processing in two passages is necessary
Furthermore, if the draw frame is not properly adjusted, to fulfill requirements. However, a second passage after the
yarn strength and elongation will also be affected. comber is superfluous, since this does not produce any im-
There are two main reasons for the considerable influence provement in quality. On the contrary, it usually adversely
of the draw frame on evenness. Firstly, within the sequence affects quality due to excessive parallelization of the fibers.
of machines in the short staple spinning mill, the draw The draw frame used in this case, however, has then to be
frame is the definitive compensation point for eliminating a leveling draw frame.
errors. Inadequacies in the product leaving the draw frame
not only pass into the yarn, they are actually reinforced by 2.2. The task of the draw frame
drafting effects following the draw frame. The yarn is never 2.2.1. Equalizing
better than the draw frame sliver. Secondly, a defect aris-
ing at the draw frame itself can exert an effect of significant One of the main tasks of the draw frame is improving evenness
proportions on the overall process. High-performance draw over the short, medium and – especially – long term. Card sliv-
frames currently produce over 400 kg of sliver per hour at ers fed to the draw frame have a degree of unevenness that
each delivery. Very large quantities of faulty sliver will be cannot be tolerated in practice, and slivers from the comber
produced in the time that elapses before discovery of the contain the „infamous“ piecings; these must be obscured. It
defect. It is therefore understandable that leveling draw should be noted, however, that short-wave sliver evenness is
frames are a must for every modern short staple spinning not – as sometimes assumed – the sole criterion for evaluating
mill. It is equally clear that, of all departments in the spin- the performance of the draw frame. It is true, for example, that
ning mill, the drawing section is the least suitable place for unevenness over short lengths can be noticeably reduced, e.g.
making rigorous economies. It is quite the wrong place to by very narrow setting of the rollers of the drafting arrange-
try to save money. ment, but this is often associated with deterioration in other
quality parameters of the yarn, particularly strength.
1 2 7
1 2 3 7
1 3 3 7
1 3 3 6 8
1 3 4 5 3 6 8
Fig. 1 – Normal processing lines
1. card; 2. drafting module for card; 3. draw frame; 4. combing preparation; 5. combing machine; 6. roving frame; 7. rotor spinning machine; 8. ring spinning machine
44 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
It is also a mistake to assume that sliver evenness – espe- 2.2.3. Blending
cially over short lengths – can be significantly improved by
using several passages. A second passage brings hardly any In addition to the equalizing effect, doubling also provides
improvement and a third can actually lead to deterioration. a degree of compensation of raw material variations by
In relation to settings and number of passages, therefore, it blending, which occurs simultaneously. This result is exploit-
is important to find the optimum rather than seek the maxi- ed in particular in the production of blended yarns compris-
mum. Equalizing is always and in any case performed by ing cotton/synthetic or synthetic/synthetic blends. At the draw
doubling, and can optionally also be performed by addition- frame, metering of the individual components can be carried
al autoleveling. The draft and the doublings often have the out very simply by selection of the number of slivers entering
same value and are in the range of 6 (short fibers) to 8 (me- the machine. For example, to obtain a 67:33 blend, four sliv-
dium and long fibers). When processing pure comber noil in ers of one component and two of the other are fed to the draw
the rotor spinning mill, however, it is usually necessary to frame. Of course, these slivers must have the same hank.
settle for a value of 4 or to use high-performance cards with
integrated leveling devices instead of draw frames. 2.2.4. Dust removal
2.2.2. Parallelizing Dust is steadily becoming a greater problem both in process-
ing and for the personnel involved. It is therefore important
To obtain an optimal value for strength in the yarn charac- to remove dust to the greatest practical extent at every pos-
teristics, the fibers must be arranged parallel in the fiber sible point within the overall process. Unfortunately, dust
strand. It is mainly the draw frame‘s task to create this par- removal can only be carried out to a significant degree when
allel arrangement. It fulfills this task by means of the draft, there are high levels of fiber/fiber or fiber/metal friction,
since every drafting step leads to straightening of the fib- since a large proportion of these very small particles (dust)
ers. The value of the draft must be adapted to the material, adhere relatively strongly to the fibers. Such friction arises
i.e. to several fiber parameters, mainly: especially on the card and the draw frame; in the latter case,
• the staple length; mainly owing to the drafting operation. The draw frame is
• the mass of the fibers; therefore a good dust-removing machine. On high-perfor-
• the volume of the strand; mance draw frames equipped with appropriate suction sys-
• the degree of order (parallel disposition). tems, more than 80 % of the incoming dust is extracted.
It will be clear that the draft cannot be high on a machine 2.3. Operating principle
directly following the card (if possible, not above 8), but
thereafter can increase from machine to machine. Four to eight card or draw frame slivers (see Fig. 2) are fed
to the drafting arrangement (3). A feed roller pair (2) is
located above each can (1) to enable the feeding step to be
3
2 2
4
1 1 7
Fig. 2 – Sectional view of a draw frame
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 45
performed in a controlled manner without false drafts. In breaks, the metal rollers come into contact when the insu-
some cases (seldom) a simple deflection bar is sufficient. The lating sliver is no longer present between them, and the ma-
feed roller pairs are mounted in a creel frame or table and chine is stopped. Today all draw frames have in-line sliver
each is positively driven. The slivers running into the drafting feed (see Fig. 3), i.e. the feed cans are arranged in one or
arrangement leave it, after a draft of 4 to 8, as a web (mostly) two rows in the direction of movement into the ma-
lacking significant cohesion. In order to avoid disintegra- chine. Rieter offers a two-row arrangement in “T” form, reduc-
tion of the web, which would otherwise be unavoidable at ing space requirements in machine length. Normally, slivers
the high operating speeds currently in use, it is condensed may be fed in from up to eight cans per drawing head, and the
into a sliver immediately after the drafting arrangement. This cans may have diameters up to 1 000 mm (40 inches). It is
sliver is then (for example in some makes) guided through important that the slivers lie closely adjacent, but not on top
a tube (4) via a passage (6) of the tube gear into a can (7), of one another, as they run into the drafting arrangement.
in which it must be laid in clean coils with optimal utilization
of the space in the can. To enable the can to take up as much 2.4.2. The drafting arrangement (general
material as possible, the sliver is compressed by passing it considerations)
through calendering rollers (or discs) or grooved discs (5). 2.4.2.1. Requirements
2.4. Operating devices The drafting arrangement is the heart of the draw frame
2.4.1. Creel (sliver feed) and thus the part which exerts the most decisive influence
on quality. The requirements placed on the drafting ar-
In particular, the creel must be designed so that: rangement in general are correspondingly high:
• false drafts are avoided; • simple, uncomplicated construction;
• the machine stops immediately when a sliver break • stable design with smooth running of the rollers
occurs; (centricity);
• sliver breaks can be dealt with easily, comfortably • a mode of operation producing a high-quality product
and safely. even at high running speeds;
• high degree of flexibility, i.e. suitability for all raw
For this purpose, it is necessary to provide a positively driven materials, fiber lengths, sliver hanks, etc., that might
roller or roller pair (Fig. 2, 2) above each can, one for each be processed in the short staple spinning mill;
sliver. Driven rollers are essential in the case of insufficient • optimal control over the movement of the fibers during
fiber adherence, e.g. combed sliver. A guiding device for feed- the drafting operation;
ing the slivers into the drafting arrangement is also required. • high precision of both operation and adjustment;
A table with rollers, or simply a line of rollers, can provide the • rapid and simple adjustability of roller spacings and
required guidance. Rollers alone are preferred in rapidly op- draft levels;
erating high-draft draw frames, since friction is lower when • ease of maintenance and cleaning;
transport is effected by means of rolling than when it relies • optimal ergonomic design.
upon sliding. The infeed roller pairs (2) also serve as electri-
cal contact rollers, and for monitoring the sliver. If a sliver 2.4.2.2. Influences on the draft
In all types of drafting arrangement, the factors that affect
the draft are:
Factors dependent upon the fiber material:
• mass of fiber in the strand cross section;
• degree of order of the fibers (parallel disposition);
• shape of the cross section of the fiber strand;
• compactness of the fiber strand;
• adhesion between the fibers dependent upon
- surface structure,
- crimp,
- spin finish,
- compression of the strand;
• fiber length;
Fig. 3 – Different systems of sliver creels
46 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
• evenness of distribution of fiber lengths (staple form); axial fluting. Rolling of the top rollers on spiral flutes takes
• existing twist in the fiber strand. place in a more even manner and with less jerking. The diam-
eter of the bottom rollers can lie in the range of 20 - 90 mm,
Factors dependent upon the drafting arrangement: but normally diameters between 25 and 50 mm are used.
• diameter of the rollers; A drafting arrangement includes three to six such rollers. In
• hardness of the top rollers; long machines (e.g. ring spinning machines) the bottom roll-
• pressure exerted by the top rollers; ers are made up by screwing together short lengths. Distanc-
• surface characteristics of the top rollers; es between the rollers of the drafting arrangement are usual-
• fluting of the bottom rollers; ly adjustable and can then be adapted to the fiber lengths.
• type and form of fiber guiding devices, such as pressure
rods, pin bars, aprons, condenser etc.; Top rollers
• clamping distances (roller settings);
• level of draft;
• distribution of draft between the various drafting zones.
2.4.2.3. Elements of drafting arrangements in short
staple spinning generally
Fig. 5 – Top roller
(applying to all short staple spinning machines where draft-
ing systems are used) The top rollers are not positively driven. They can be either
one-piece rollers (spinning preparation machines) or twin
rollers (roving frames, ring spinning machines) (see Fig. 5).
Ball bearings are used almost exclusively in the roller
a
mountings. The thick coating forming the roller surface is
made of synthetic rubber. An important characteristic of
this coating is its hardness. Soft coats surround the fiber
strand to a greater extent than harder ones and thus guide
b the fibers better. On the other hand, they wear out more
quickly. A soft coating is therefore used where good guid-
ance is necessary, i.e. where few fibers have to be moved
with high draft levels (e.g. at the front rollers of the ring
c spinning machine). Where this is not required, harder coat-
ings are mostly used. Hardness is specified in terms of de-
grees Shore. The following ranges are defined:
• soft: 65° - 75° Shore
Fig. 4 – Fluting of the bottom rollers
a) axial flutes, b) inclined flutes (spiral flutes), c) knurled fluting • medium: 75° - 80° Shore
• hard: above 80° Shore
Bottom rollers are made of steel and are mounted in roll-
er stands or in the frame by means of needle, roller or ball Normally the diameters of top rollers are between 25 and
bearings. They are positively driven from the main gear 40 mm.
transmission or by a separate drive. In order to improve
their ability to carry the fibers along, they are formed with Maintenance of the top rollers
flutes of one of the following types (see Fig. 4): Since the coatings wear out during spinning, they must be
• axial flutes (a); reground from time to time. This is done periodically in ac-
• inclined flutes (spiral flutes) (b); cordance with a predetermined schedule, using grinding
• knurled fluting (c). discs or rollers that remove material from the coating in
very, very small layers.
Knurled fluting is used on rollers receiving aprons, to im- If the thickness of the coating has been reduced to a de-
prove transfer of drive to the aprons. Other rollers have axial fined minimum, i.e. if it has become too thin to provide ad-
or, increasingly, spiral fluting. The latter gives quieter run- equate elasticity under pressure, then the old coat must be
ning and more even clamping of the fibers compared with removed and a replacement must be glued onto the core.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 47
Top roller pressure Modern draw frames are more flexible in terms of the raw
To clamp the fibers, the top rollers must be forced at high material they can process, and setting operations have been
pressure toward the bottom rollers. This pressure (loading) simplified. For example, both Rieter and Trützschler offer
can be generated by means of: central roller setting systems, thus making the demanding
• spring weighting (the most usual form); process of setting by means of special gauges superfluous.
• pneumatic weighting (Rieter);
• hydraulic systems (hardly used); 3-over-4 roller drafting arrangements
• magnetic weighting (was used by the former Saco The characteristic feature of this arrangement is engagement
Lowell company). of the middle pressure roller with two bottom rollers (Fig.6,
B). The two bottom rollers are mounted in a common cradle
Nowadays only spring weighting and pneumatic weighting and are not adjustable relative to each other. The basic con-
are used. The first is very uncomplicated, robust and easy cept can be improved by the inclusion of a pressure bar in
to handle when dealing with machine faults; the second the main drafting zone. This type of arrangement used to be
is in some cases more regular, and allows easy and quick found mainly in the combing room, but also still to a small
changes of roller weighting exactly according to require- extent on draw frames, for example in the Marzoli machines.
ments as well as partial unloading during longer machine
stoppages. It also avoids the need to adjust the weighting 3-over-3 roller drafting arrangements with pressure bars
to a new roller diameter after roller grinding, which This is probably the most widely used form of drafting arrange-
is sometimes necessary for spring weighted systems. ment for draw frames. The starting point in the development of
this design is the realization that the drafting arrangement runs
2.4.2.4. Types of drafting arrangement used on more smoothly, the larger its rollers. This applies especially
draw frames to the front rollers. The effect is due not simply to stability;
for a given circumferential speed, larger rollers can be oper-
Basic principles ated at lower revolutions. However, enlarging the rollers simul-
Early draw frames had almost exclusively 4-over-4 roller taneously increases the nip spacings. Accordingly, in the main
drafting systems. The 3-over-4 roller system was devel- drafting zone, a special guide system is needed, at least for
oped from this earlier version, and thereafter a multitude of short fibers; this is the guide rail or pressure bar (Fig. 7, P).
new forms emerged. No other machine in the spinning mill It can operate from below or from above.
exhibits the same variety of drafting arrangements as the
draw frame. Processing is carried out almost always in two
drafting zones, seldom in three. In extreme cases the break
drafts are between 1.05 and 2.5, but usually they are be-
tween 1.15 and 1.70. Extreme total drafts are between 3.5 P
and 12, but the normal total draft is between 4 and 8.
In many modern draw frames the draft is no longer adjusted
by exchanging gear wheels but by simple setting of varia-
ble-speed or stepping drives or by individual motor drives.
The adjustment may be continuous or in discrete steps.
Fig. 7 – 3-over-3 roller drafting arrangement (mainly used)
kg 70 kg 60 kg 80 kg 80
∅ 45 ∅ 45
∅ 45 ∅ 34
∅ 22 ∅ 22
∅ 32
∅ 40 ∅ 28
Fig. 6 – 3-over-4 roller drafting arrangement (Marzoli)
48 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
4-over-3 roller drafting arrangements with pressure bars radial shifting of rollers 2 and 4. In the main drafting zone,
Strictly speaking, this is also a 3-roller pressure bar drafting a pressure bar ensures firm guidance, especially for short
arrangement, but a fourth roller with somewhat lower load- fibers. The drafting arrangement is aligned on a curve; This
ing is added to the delivery roller to act as a guide (Fig. 8, G). permitted for the first time proper guidance of web material
This leads the web in a curve around the grooved roller direct- flow from the vertical into the horizontal plane. The curved
ly into the delivery trumpet, thereby facilitating the formation layout made the system easy to service.
of the sliver. The top rollers are uniform in diameter and are
large in order to keep the strain imposed on them low. 2.4.3. Suction systems for the drafting arrangement
One of the tasks of the draw frame is dust removal. Release
of dust occurs almost exclusively in the drafting arrangement
G and this should be totally enclosed so that dust does not pass
into the surrounding atmosphere. The dust-laden air must
be extracted by suction (as shown in Fig. 10 for the Rieter
machine). Each roller of the arrangement has an associated
cleaning device (scraping bar and suction tube) so that fly
and fibers tending to adhere to the rollers can also be carried
away. In addition, on the Rieter draw frame the scraping bars
are lifted from the top rollers intermittently. Trash collections
Fig. 8 – 4-over-3 cylinder drafting arrangement (formerly Zinser) therefore pass into the dust removal system. The air extracted
is passed via tubes directly to filters within the machine and
5-over-4 roller drafting arrangements then into the exhaust ducts of the air-conditioning system
In this arrangement five (Fig. 9) pneumatically loaded or directly into those ducts. Filters within the machine are
pressure rollers rest on two large (90 mm) and two small cleaned manually or by a wiper. This latter arrangement has
(28 mm), non-adjustable bottom rollers. The pressure roll- the advantage not only of easier handling but also of constant
ers are suspended from two yokes. They have diameters of suction pressure, resulting in constant cleaning efficiency.
39 mm. Drafting is carried out in zone B (break draft) and
zone A (main draft). The nip spacings can be read off the
scale and can be adjusted to suit the fiber length by simple
2
1
B
4
Fig. 10 – 4-over-3 drafting arrangement with suction system
2.4.4. Coiling
A
2.4.4.1. The delivery arrangement
5
To avoid disintegration of the web, it must be collected togeth-
er in a converging tube immediately after the delivery roller
and guided to the sliver trumpet. The design of the trumpet
is very important, as it is responsible for the proper integra-
tion of the edge fibers of the fiber strand. The bore of this sliver
trumpet must be adapted precisely to the sliver volume (sliver
hank). These technological parts are therefore interchangeable.
Fig. 9 – 5-over-4 roller drafting arrangement (formerly Rieter)
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 49
2.4.4.2. Condensing
Downstream from the trumpet, the sliver runs between
two calender rollers which are pressed towards each other
(Fig. 9, 6). This condensing of the sliver enables more ma-
terial to be fitted into the cans. Several manufacturers re-
place the fluted or smooth cylindrical calender rollers with
grooved or stepped rollers. Since these latter rollers do
not permit the fibers to escape laterally, an even better
condensing effect is achieved. In this way, the total filled
weight of the can may be increased by up to 20 %. Grooved
or stepped rollers can be used simultaneously as measuring
devices for autoleveling systems. However, this condensing Fig. 11 – Rieter Coiler (CLEANcoil)
action, with the greater fiber adhesion that results, must
be taken into account in further processing. For example, Change gears are provided to permit adjustment to require-
break draft conditions are changed at the roving frame. ments. The plate is usually driven by toothed belts and the can
The break draft distance might have to be increased. turntable by gear wheels or an individual drive. The sliver may
be laid in the cans in small coils (under-center coiling) or in
2.4.4.3. Sliver coiling large coils (over-center coiling) depending on the size of the
cans (see The Rieter Manual of Spinning, Volume 1 – Technol-
As already described for the card, two rotary movements ogy of Short-staple Spinning).
are required for cycloidal coiling of the sliver. On the one The direction of rotation may also be changed and change
hand, the rotatable plate must be rotated above the can, gears are also provided for this purpose. The plate and the
while the can itself must rotate, at a considerably slower can turntable were formerly made to rotate in the same di-
rate, below the plate. A sliver tube is provided on the plate rection or in opposite directions. The direction of rotation
as a fixed part to guide the sliver from the calender rollers exerts an influence on the quality of the coiling operation.
into the can (Fig. 11). This tube extends from the center of
the plate to its periphery. It is important for the coils that The standard can format in short staple spinning was always
the circumferential velocity at the deposition point (sliver cylindrical (Fig. 12). Some years ago Rieter introduced a
exit point) is somewhat higher than the delivery speed, so new format: the rectangular CUBIcan can (see Fig. 13). Com-
that blockages of the sliver in the tube are avoided. pared with the cylindrical can it has three major advantages:
• capacity is increased by about 75 %, due not only to
However, the difference should not be too large, otherwise the geometry of the can but also to the elimination
noticeable false drafts arise in the sliver. Due to the very of the can spring;
high delivery speeds of modern draw frames, coiling is be- • it permits optimal utilization of the space available in
coming increasingly critical. That is why the shape of the down-stream processing (especially in rotor spinning);
sliver tube is no longer straight, but is now curved exact- • it is suitable for automation.
ly to correspond to the movement of the coiling sliver. On
the Rieter draw frame a honeycomb-structured, high-grade These advantages make the rectangular can very interest-
steel sheet is also provided on the underside of the rotating ing. Draw frames for filling slivers into rectangular cans are
plate to prevent depositions of spin finish when processing offered by Rieter and Trützschler.
synthetic fibers.
2.4.4.4. Can changers
Modern high-performance draw frames are fitted with automat-
ic can changers. These reduce the burden on personnel, enable
more machines to be allocated to one person, reduce the ne-
cessity for the operative‘s attendance at the machine, and (the
chief effect) also increase efficiency. They can be classified into:
• single-step changers (flying change);
• multiple-step changers (interrupted change).
50 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
Single-step changers result in higher machine efficiency 2.4.4.5. One or two deliveries per machine
since full cans are replaced by empty ones at full speed,
i.e. without stopping the machine. Multiple-step changers There is a worldwide trend from two deliveries to one deliv-
result in lower machine efficiency since the machine must ery per draw frame. The single delivery has clear advantag-
be brought to a stop during the change. To permit long pe- es over the double delivery draw frame:
riods of operation without personnel intervention, modern • 10 % to 20 % higher efficiency;
draw frames are equipped with magazines for up to 8 emp- • higher flexibility when integrated into spinning lines;
ty cans. The full cans are ejected onto the floor or onto • well suited to automatic transport systems;
a can trolley. • better accessibility for operation and maintenance;
• better leveling quality;
• larger can diameters are possible (up to 1 000 mm for
draw frames without autoleveling).
2.5. Monitoring and autoleveling
(For basics see The Rieter Manual of Spinning,
Volume 1 – Technology of Short-staple Spinning)
2.5.1. Aim of autoleveling
The main task of autoleveling is to eliminate deviations in
mass. The efficiency of an autoleveling device used to be de-
fined as follows: “Those machines qualify on which the re-
action time is shorter than the length of the deviation to be
eliminated”. This applied to the elimination of long-term de-
Fig. 12 – The Rieter RSB-D 40 draw frame viations. In the meantime the range of application has also
shifted toward short-term regulation, due to the develop-
If feeding is performed with circular cans (the normal pro- ment of servo drives operating faster and the availability
cedure) at the subsequent processing stages quite a lot of of more efficient electronics. For modern autoleveling draw
empty space remains between the cans. Especially on rotor frames the above mentioned definition must be changed to:
spinning machines this necessitates using small diameter “Those machines qualify which allow corrections to be made
cans with correspondingly low feeding capacity. It is far as quickly as deviations appear in the incoming sliver”.
better to use rectangular cans, which can be placed side by
side in front of the machine without wasting space. That is 2.5.2. Classification
why Rieter introduced this new type of cans as an option.
Monitoring systems can be distinguished according
to whether they monitor
• the machine;
• the production; or
• the quality.
With machine monitoring systems, sensors are provided at
all essential points to ensure that the machines are stopped
immediately if a sliver breaks or runs out, if a lap forms, and
so on. This is most important, since considerable damage
can otherwise be caused to the machine. Production moni-
tors respond primarily to interruptions in operation of the
machine; they calculate the efficiency of the machine and the
quantity produced in total and per machine. For monitors of
quality, three types were formerly in use, namely those with:
• displays;
• self-compensation; and
Fig. 13 – Draw frame with rectangular cans • autoleveling.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 51
The devices of the first group cannot replace an autoleveler, 2.5.4. Monitoring devices with autoleveling systems
but they were valuable and very important aids to monitor- 2.5.4.1. Classification
ing operation. Where these systems were used, the slivers
delivered were continuously checked for hank consistency These operate in accordance with either the open-loop or the
(and in some cases also for evenness over short lengths). closed-loop principle. In addition to the advantages and dis-
If an unacceptable deviation from the set value arose, this advantages of these systems listed in The Rieter Manual of
was indicated and the machine usually stopped. Spinning – Volume 1, the following should be mentioned here:
• open-loop control can also compensate variations of
2.5.3. Monitoring devices with self-compensation short (to medium) wavelength, but
(Outdated but interesting) • closed-loop control can compensate only medium and
long-term variations.
This implies that piecings arising from the combing operation
can be partly eliminated with the aid of the open-loop system
2 but not with the closed-loop device. That is why the closed-
1 loop control system is unsuitable for application in short sta-
ple spinning. With closed-loop control the autoleveler draw
frame can be used, if at all, only as the first draw frame pas-
sage, because a doubling operation is always needed after
this process stage on a succeeding draw frame. However, the
faults or the quality deterioration are not leveled out in this
second draw frame passage either; they pass into the yarn.
The autoleveler draw frame can only be installed as the last
Fig. 14 – Former MECATROL by Zinser
passage in the line with an open-loop control device. A further
This is a simple but interesting compensation technique. major influencing factor is the leveling speed. Leveling has to
It was offered only by the Zinser company as MECATROL be performed so fast that any change in sliver weight will be
(Fig. 14). The so-called „toothed roller leveler“ consists of corrected while still maintaining a safety reserve. This means
a toothed roller pair (1) and a fluted/pressure roller pair (2) that the correction speed of the system has to be far faster
forming a small drafting device in front of the actual draft- than the fastest possible change in the sliver cross section.
ing arrangement. As the individual slivers pass through the
assembly they press the two toothed rollers (1) apart by On the other hand, long-term stability can be improved
an amount corresponding to the sliver volume. A thin sliv- with closed-loop systems. For this reason, and also be-
er permits the upper roller to penetrate more deeply into cause of the lack of self-monitoring in open-loop control,
the inter-tooth spaces of the lower roller. This gives great- draw frames that operate with this principle can usefully
er diversion of the fiber strand at the point where it passes be fitted with a monitoring device having a display. Leve-
through, which is equivalent to an increase in the circum- ling draw frames of this kind (open-loop control) are most-
ference of the roller. If the rate of rotation is held constant, ly used for the second passage, because the piecings have
the result is a higher peripheral speed. Since the peripheral then already been drawn farther apart and faults arising
speed of the roller pair (2) remains constant, and while the from the first passage can also be compensated. Leveling
draft is given by V = v2/v1, the draft is reduced between draw frames with closed-loop control can therefore be used
the roller pairs. A thin place is thus drawn to a lesser de- only in the first passage. Since both open-loop and closed-
gree than a normal piece of sliver. loop systems exhibit noticeable advantages and disadvan-
tages, some time ago several manufacturers equipped their
If a thick place passes through, the upper toothed roller leveling draw frames with both systems in combination.
is lifted. The sliver diversion between the teeth becomes Compensation is usually effected in a range of ±25 %.
smaller, as do the circumference and the peripheral veloc-
ity. The draft is thus increased, which produces at least 2.5.5. Leveling draw frames with open-loop control
a partial compensation of the thick place. The measuring and
adjusting points are identical and the reaction is thus very The total volume of all slivers is measured at the infeed
fast. A fault in an individual sliver can be reduced to about (Fig. 15) and adjustment is effected with the appropriate
40 - 50 %. However, it is not possible to set a desired value. time delay in the main drafting zone, i.e. the extent of the
52 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
change is retained in a storage device until the measured 2.5.7. Correction length
deviation arrives at the drafting point. Detection is usual-
ly carried out mechanically (rollers with grooves, bores or
steps) or by capacitive sensors.
This system permits very precise leveling of very short I
lengths. A second advantage is the ability to measure far
greater sliver masses due to the lower infeed speed (corre-
sponding to the amount of draft). Recording becomes more
precise. In practice, draw frame leveling using open-loop
control is now predominant.
Sliver Measuring Break draft Main draft
with mass device for III
fluctuation sliver mass
II I
Main motor
Servo drive
Electronic
controll unit
Actual value of sliver mass
Fig. 17 – The correction length
Fig. 15 – Leveling draw frame with open-loop control
If there is a sudden deviation from the set volume as the
2.5.6. Leveling draw frames with closed-loop control material passes through, a corresponding signal is sent to a
regulating device to correct the fault. Owing to the mass in-
In this system, the evenness of the sliver delivered is meas- ertia of the system, compensation cannot be effected sud-
ured rather than the infeed sliver, as is the case with open- denly, but must be carried out by gradual adjustment. A cer-
loop control. In contrast to the open-loop control system, tain time (the correction time: in Fig. 17, I) elapses before
where the adjusting point is located after the measuring the sliver delivered has returned to the set volume. During
point, the adjusting point in the closed-loop control system this time, faulty sliver is still being produced, although the
is located in front of the measuring point (Fig. 16). In this deviation is being steadily reduced. The total length that
case measuring has to be performed at very high speeds and departs from the set value is referred to as the correction
with relatively small fiber masses, making high demands on length (I). In closed-loop systems, the correction length is
the sensing device and signal processing. Nevertheless, the further increased by the dead time. In this case it depends
adjustment is still made in the main drafting zone. Mechani- upon the dead time (II) and the correction time (III). The
cal or pneumatic sensing devices are generally used. correction length depends upon the system and the speed
of operation, and therefore varies considerably.
Sliver with Break draft Main draft Measuring device
The term “correction length” is used to describe the effi-
mass fluctuation for sliver mass ciency of a leveling device. However, this term is used in
different ways and sometimes also incorrectly. The current
interpretation is: “The correction length is the length of the
product which would be produced when leveling a rectan-
gular deviation of the product.“ The length therefore refers
Main motor
Servo drive
to an amplitude of the fault of 1 %. The term “correction
length” is therefore a theoretical value, since in practice
Electronic
controll unit nominal/actual
rectangular faults do not occur. As they cannot be checked
sliver mass in the spinning mill, the quality of the delivered sliver is
usually taken as the standard of comparison, and sliver
Fig. 16 – Leveling draw frame with closed-loop control evenness can be determined by any evenness tester.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 53
2.5.8. The Rieter RSB leveling system
2.5.8.1. The principle
4 Autoleveling principle of the RSB-D 40
1. Scanning discs
1 2. Digital signal processor
3. AC servo drive
4. Drafting system
5. Main motor
6. Rieter Quality Monitor (RQM)
2 3 5 6
Fig. 18 – RSB leveling principle
2.5.8.2. Scanning the mass of infeed slivers at the drafting point in the main draft zone. The synchro-
nization of the mechanical parts, the drive, the electronics
and the software is therefore very decisive. High-perfor-
mance draw frames with the appropriate devices and corre-
sponding synchronization deliver a sliver with outstanding
short-term, medium-term and long-term evenness.
2.5.8.4. The leveling operation itself
Leveling is performed exclusively by adjustment of the
draft. Theoretically, there are two possibilities for such ad-
justment, namely via the break draft and the main draft, re-
spectively. However, the main draft is always used because
Fig. 19 – The scanning system it is larger, and therefore finer adjustments are possible.
Furthermore, use of the break draft would run the risk of
Scanning of mass deviation is performed by the grooved scan- entering the stick / slip zone.
ning disc and the associated pressure disc (Fig. 18, 1; Fig. 19). Draft variation can also be carried out by adjusting either the
The signals are scanned at short, constant intervals, giving infeed or the delivery speed. Adjustment of the infeed speed
very exact values of the mass deviations of the infeed slivers. is generally used, since lower masses then have to be acceler-
Determination of mass deviation by the pair of rotating scan- ated and decelerated at lower speeds. Furthermore, the deliv-
ning discs of the Rieter RSB scanning system is almost fric- ery speed, and hence the production rate, remains constant.
tionless, thereby enabling the sensor device to employ high
working forces, and thus to scan slivers with different bulk 2.5.8.5. The advantages of high-performance leveling
very accurately. This is especially advantageous if the indi- draw frames
vidual cans (6 to 8) of infeed sliver are stored for different
lengths of time before use. In this case the volume ratio of In the spinning mill:
slivers often differs quite characteristically from can to can. • reducing count variations;
• fewer short-term mass variations in the yarn (CV%);
2.5.8.3. The leveling process • improving the coefficient of variation of yarn strength
(CV% cN/tex);
Using the metered signals, the leveling processor calculates • fewer yarn imperfections (IPI and Classimat);
a value of rotation – on the basis of a special logarithm – • improving the efficiency of roving frame and spinning
for the servo drive. This value is forwarded to the drafting machine by reducing the ends down rates;
system drive exactly when the scanned sliver piece arrives • fewer cuts on the winding machine.
54 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
In the subsequent process stages: 2.5.9.3. A quality monitoring system
• reduction of ends down rates in weaving preparation
and weaving; (Described by means of the Rieter Quality Monitoring
• even appearance of the finished cloth; system (RQM))
• reducing the cost for claims by eliminating a remark-
able number of faults. This continuously controls the sliver mass by means of
movable delivery rollers. A precision sensor unit delivers
2.5.9. The integrated monitoring system values of the highest accuracy and therefore reliability,
(process control techniques) thus preventing the production of faulty slivers. The impor-
(See also The Rieter Manual of Spinning, tant quality parameters are shown on a monitor, which is
Volume 1 – Technology of Short-staple Spinning) part of the system. These are:
• sliver count;
2.5.9.1. “Integrated monitoring” – essential in spinning • sliver evenness CV%;
• length variations for 5 cm, 10 cm, 25 cm, 50 cm, 1 m,
If the goal is efficient operation over time, it is necessary to 3 m, 5 m;
include monitoring equipment in the overall analysis in ad- • detection of thick places ≥ 2cm;
dition to automating the activities of attendants and trans- • current spectrogram;
port personnel. Until a few years ago, such considerations • advanced diagram displays, e.g. up to a timeframe of
were limited to small-scale, detailed solutions on individual more than 10 days.
machines. Now, however, integrated systems covering the
complete process are almost essential for spinning mills in For example, if the spectrogram shows an error at a certain
order to utilize the above-mentioned advantages. length, possible reasons for this error in the gearing dia-
gram can be shown on the display.
2.5.9.2. The method of operation The RQM can be connected to all Rieter machines and to the
SPIDERweb overall monitoring system for further analysis.
The integrated monitoring device operates completely in-
dependently of the leveling system. The position of the sen- 2.6. Blending draw frames
sor is between the drafting arrangement and the upper can
plate. It is therefore clear that faults still emerging at this can In the spinning process every doubling produces simulta-
plate and thereafter are not detected. In sensor technology neous blending – especially the 6-8 doublings on the draw
a distinction has to be made between systems at the deliv- frame. This blending intensity is adequate for processing
ery roller (Rieter) and at the sliver trumpet (Trützschler, Zell- cotton. However, if cotton and synthetics are to be pro-
weger). When preset limits are exceeded the machine stops. cessed together, operation of the normal draw frame will
Fig. 20 – The Rieter Quality Monitor (RQM) with indication panel
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 55
no longer be optimal, although blending is generally carried Whereas three passages are almost always needed with
out in this way in Europe. Blending is good in the longitudi- normal draw frames (blending draw frame and two subse-
nal direction, but is inadequate in the cross-section (see The quent draw frames), two passages suffice when a blend-
Rieter Manual of Spinning, Volume 1 – Technology of Short- ing draw frame is used (one normal draw frame followed
staple Spinning). Special blending draw frames have been by one blending draw frame). In addition to this advan-
available for a long time in worsted spinning and it is there- tage, and improved intermixing, a further favorable aspect
fore not surprising that attempts were made to introduce should be mentioned, namely that each raw material com-
them into short-staple spinning mills. ponent can be processed in a drafting arrangement of its
own. However, the disadvantages are serious:
• five drafting arrangements combined in one machine
(setting, maintenance, etc);
• complexity;
• cost when 100% cotton is to be processed (when
blended yarns are not required).
2.7. Logistics
If arranged for individual cans, an automatic can changer and
Fig. 21 – Principle of the blending draw frame
a trolley loading station are provided. However, the first pas-
sage can also be equipped with an interlinking system be-
This machine (no longer offered for cotton) (see Fig. 21) tween the first and second draw frame passage, i.e. not only
had four preliminary drafting arrangements and one down- can changing but also placing the full cans of this passage
stream drafting arrangement. alongside the feed table of the second passage and replacing
Each preliminary drafting arrangement processed a sepa- empty cans by full ones there is performed automatically. With
rate set of six slivers. The webs produced in this way were this device (CANlink, Fig. 22) the cans are filled and pushed
brought together on a table and fed to the downstream alongside the feed table of the second passage one by one,
drafting arrangement. The sliver emerging from this point forming a spare row. After the feed cans of the second pas-
was coiled in cans. sage run empty, the full spare cans are pushed into the feed
Fig. 22 – Rieter CANlink
56 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
position (in place of the empty ones) while the empty cans are
simultaneous pushed out of the feed position into an empty
feed row. From here the cans return to the can changer of the
first passage. Operatives‘ work is reduced to a minimum.
At the final passage the cans from the can changer are au-
tomatically placed on trolleys to be forwarded to the next
machine.
2.8. Technical data of a high-performance draw frame
Delivery speed [m/min] up to 1 100
Production per delivery [kg/h] up to 400
Deliveries per machine 1 or 2
Doublings 4 to 8
Draft up to 12
Delivery hank [ktex] 1.25 to 7
Waste [%] 0.1 to 1
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 57
3. THE ROVING FRAME success. On the other hand, in all new spinning processes
3.1. Introduction in the short staple spinning mill, the roving frame has been
3.1.1. The roving frame as a necessary evil made superfluous.
3.1.2. Demands placed upon the modern roving frame
If the spinner is forced to use such an inadequate machine,
which is in principle superfluous, then it should at least
provide the optimum in operating capacity. Even in this
respect, however, the roving frame still leaves room for im-
provement. The efforts of machine manufacturers should
be directed toward the following aspects:
• design of simpler machines, less liable to faults;
• increase in spindle rotation speeds;
• larger packages;
• automation of the machine and of package transport.
These improvements must be achieved without any in-
crease in production costs for the spinner.
3.1.3. Tasks of the roving frame
Fig. 1 – View of a roving frame
The chief task of the roving frame is the attenuation of the
The draw frame produces a sliver that already exhibits sliver. Since the resulting fine strand has scarcely any coher-
all the characteristics required for the creation of a yarn, ence, protective twist must be inserted in order to hold it to-
namely an ordered, clean strand of fibers laying parallel to gether. The third task cannot be directly attributed to spin-
one another. It is a fair question to ask why this sliver is ning: it lies in winding the roving into a package that can be
not used as infeed material for the ring spinning machine, transported, stored and donned on the ring spinning machine.
instead of being processed in an expensive manner to cre- It is the winding operation above all that makes the roving
ate a roving as feed material for spinning. The roving ma- frame a relatively complex and problem-plagued machine.
chine itself is complicated, liable to faults, causes defects, This winding operation requires, in addition to spindle and
adds to production costs and delivers a product that is sen- flyer, a cone drive (or variable transmission), a differential
sitive in both winding and unwinding. Use of the machine gear and a package build motion.
is forced upon the spinner as a necessary evil for two prin-
cipal reasons. 3.2. Description of functions
The first reason is related to the required draft. Sliver is 3.2.1. Operating sequence
a thick, untwisted strand that tends to be hairy and to cre-
ate fly. The draft needed to convert this to a yarn is in the
region of 300 - 500. The drafting arrangements of ring
spinning machines, in their current forms, are not capable
of processing this strand in a single drafting operation to 2
create a yarn of short-staple fibers that meets all the normal 3
demands on such yarns. The fine, twisted roving is signifi- 5
6
cantly better suited to this purpose.
8
The second reason is that draw frame cans represent the
9
worst conceivable mode of transport and presentation of 1
feed material to the ring spinning frame. In spite of this, 7
10
considerable effort has been expended over decades to
eliminate the roving frame. The effort is justified, but un-
fortunately in relation to ring spinning it remains without
Fig. 2 – Cross-section through a roving frame
58 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
L2
L1
a1
a2
a b c
Fig. 3 – Thread path geometry at the delivery and flyer top
Draw frame sliver is presented to the roving frame in large Since the diameter of the packages increases with each
cans (Fig. 2, 1). The can diameter does not correspond to the layer wound, with a corresponding increase in the length of
spindle gauge, so the cans are not arranged in one row but in roving wound per coil, the speed of movement of the bobbin
several, which have to be set out behind the machine. Driv- rail must be reduced by a small amount after each complet-
en transport rollers (2) are provided above the cans. These ed layer. Similarly, owing to the increase in package diam-
draw the slivers from the cans and forward them to draft- eter, the bobbin‘s rotation speed must be reduced after each
ing arrangement (3). The drafting arrangement attenuates layer, because delivery is constant and hence the difference
the slivers with a draft of between 5 and 20. The strand between the peripheral speeds of the package and the flyer
delivered is too thin to hold itself together and a strength- must also be kept constant throughout the winding opera-
imparting step is necessary immediately at the exit of the tion. Only in this way can a controlled winding operation
drafting arrangement. This is performed by inserting pro- be achieved.
tective twist, usually in the range of 25 - 70 turns per me-
ter. The turns are created by rotating flyer (6) and are 3.2.2. Effects of the arrangement of the bobbins in two
transmitted into the unsupported length of roving (5) be- rows
tween the flyer and the delivery from the drafting arrange-
ment. The flyer itself forms part of driven spindle (7) and The arrangement of the take-up packages is rather unusual
is rotated with the spindle. for a spinning machine. The bobbins are not arranged indi-
To ensure that the roving is passed safely and without dam- vidually or in a single row. Instead, they are arranged in the
age to the wind-up point, it runs through the flyer top and delivery section in two rows one behind the other, with the
the hollow flyer leg, and is wound 2 - 3 times around the bobbins of one row offset relative to those of the other.
presser arm before reaching bobbin (8). To enable winding This arrangement is extremely economical in terms of
to be performed, the bobbin is driven at a higher peripheral space, but has several disadvantages: the design is made
speed than the flyer so that the roving is drawn off the flyer more complicated; operation of the machine is made less
leg. The coils must be arranged very closely and parallel to convenient; and automation is hindered. The technological
one another so that as much material as possible is taken disadvantages are still more significant.
up in the package. For this purpose, bobbin rail (9) with the
packages on it must move up and down continuously. This
can be effected, for example, by continual raising and low-
ering of lever (10), on which the bobbin rail is mounted.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 59
The angle of approach of the roving to the flyer top is dif- 3.3. The operating zones of the roving frame
ferent for the two rows (Fig. 3, a). This results in different 3.3.1. The creel
rolling conditions at the entry point of the roving to the
flyer top. There is also a difference in the angles of with-
drawal (b) of the two rovings at the front cylinder and thus
in the lengths of the spinning triangles. Another effect is
produced by the difference in the unsupported lengths (L),
i.e. the lengths between the drafting arrangement and the
flyer top (L1 + L2).
Together, these differences result in uneven take-up of
twist, different degrees of integration of the fibers and fi-
nally to variations in roving fineness between the front
and rear rows. Modern roving frames no longer suffer this
technological disadvantage. In fact, the flyers in the rear
row are equipped with an extension, which eliminates the
above-mentioned differences in angles (Fig. 4). Fig. 5 – Creel framework
Above the cans there are several rows of driven rollers to
help the slivers on their way to the drafting arrangement,
which is often a considerable distance from the cans. On
account of the high degree of parallelization of the fibers in
the slivers (especially in the case of combed sliver), strand
coherence is often not very great. Accordingly, transport at
this place can easily create false drafts. Mills should take
account of this source of possible faults. Care must be tak-
en to ensure that the slivers are passed to the drafting ar-
rangement without disturbance; that they are drawn, for
example, more or less vertically out of the cans; and that
the guide rollers run smoothly. Perfect drive to the rollers is
correspondingly important. It is usually effected by chains,
gear transmissions or cardan shafts.
Fig. 4 – Thread path in modern roving frames 3.3.2. The drafting arrangement
3.3.2.1. Description
Of the various high-draft systems that have been proposed,
some of which were only in use for a short period, only the
3-over-4 cylinder system and the double-apron arrange-
ment are still to be found in modern machines offered by
manufacturers. The 3-over-4 arrangement is found rela-
tively rarely, while the double-apron system is standard.
Only the double-apron arrangement permits drafts of 20
while holding the fibers more or less under control during
their movements. In general, three-cylinder arrangements
are used, but four cylinders may be needed for high drafts.
They usually comprise fluted lower rollers and rubber-
coated pressure rollers. The hardness of the upper rollers
60 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
is between 80° and 85° Shore, but the rollers over which 3.3.2.2. The aprons
the apron runs often have a hardness only slightly above
60° Shore. This permits better enclosure and guidance of The upper aprons (Fig. 7, 2) are short and made either of
the fiber strand during drafting. The draft often has limits leather or, more commonly, of synthetic rubber. They are
not only at the upper end (20 - 22) but also at the lower about 1 mm thick and are held taut by tensioning devices
end, namely to about 5 for cotton and 6 for synthetic fib- (4). In contrast, the lower aprons (1) are longer and usual-
ers. If drafts below these lower limits are attempted, the ly made of leather, although synthetic rubber is also used.
fiber masses to be moved are too large, drafting resistance They run over guide bars (nose bars) (3) to positions close
becomes too high and the drafting operation is difficult to to the nip line of the delivery rollers. Leather aprons are
control. usually about 1 mm thick. The aprons cooperate with each
Break drafts are usually selected around 1.1 (1.05 to 1.15) other to guide and transport the fibers during drafting and
for cotton, and slightly higher for synthetics and strongly they exert a very significant influence on the drafting opera-
compressed cotton sliver delivered from high-performance tion. It is important that the aprons should extend as close-
draw frames. Values of 1.3 and slightly higher can be ly as possible to the nip line of the front rollers. The guiding
achieved. The main effect of the break draft is seen in rov- length, referred to as the cradle length (a), must be adapt-
ing evenness. ed approximately to the staple length. In accordance with
data provided by Rieter, the following cradle lengths should
Modern double-apron systems exist in 3- or 4-cylinder ver- be used:
sions. The 4-cylinder version is usually operated with a low
draft in the final drafting zone. This may slightly reduce rov- Cradle length (mm) Material
ing hairiness. short Cotton up to 1 1/8˝; 40 mm synthetic fibers
medium Cotton above 1 1/8˝; 50 mm synthetic fibers
long Synthetic fibers, 60 mm
Fig. 6 – Three-cylinder, double-apron drafting arrangement
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 61
2
2 2
4
4 5
3
3
1 1
Fig. 7 – Apron guidance in the drafting arrangement
3.3.2.3. Applying pressure to the top rollers es are more difficult to maintain under control in drafting,
and they cause unevenness. In addition, a widely spreading
The top rollers must be pressed with relatively high force strand leaving the drafting arrangement results in high fly
against the lower rollers to ensure guidance of the fibers. levels and hairiness in the roving, since the fibers either are
Pressures are in the range of 100 to 250 N (300 N) per not integrated (and are lost), or are held only at one end so
roller (shaft) and they depend upon raw material and vol- that the second end projects as a so-called „hair“. The con-
ume. Adjustment may be continuous or in several steps. densers should be adapted precisely to the volume of the fib-
Today, the required pressure is achieved by springs or by er sliver. The appropriate dimensions can be found in tables.
pneumatic means (i.e. Texparts PK 5000). In the past, Platt
Saco Lowell also offered a magnetic weighting system. 3.3.2.5. Spacing the top and bottom aprons
3.3.2.4. The condenser The top aprons are forced by spring pressure against the
lower aprons. The intensity of fiber clamping, and thus fib-
Sliver trumpets (infeed condensers) are mounted on a re- er guidance, depends upon this pressure and also upon
ciprocating bar (sliver traverse mechanism) behind the rear the distance between the two aprons. The pressing effect
cylinder of the drafting arrangement. They are designed to should be considerable, but not too high, otherwise it is im-
guide the sliver into the drafting arrangement. The traverse possible to achieve controlled drawing of fibers out of the
motion spreads wear evenly over the whole width of the clamped strand. The arrangement must also permit precise
roller coatings. adaptation of the minimum distance to the fiber volume. In
A second sliver condenser is provided in the break draft zone, order to be able to maintain this closely defined minimum
also on a reciprocating bar, and a third is located in the main distance between the aprons, „distance pieces“ (Fig. 8, a)
drafting zone. However, the latter rests on the moving fiber of variable height are interchangeably inserted between the
strand, without being fixed. The purpose of these condensers nose bar of the lower apron and the cradle edge of the top
is to control the width of the fiber strand, since during draft- apron, i.e. at exit opening M.
ing it continually tends to spread out. Spreading fiber mass-
62 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
These distance pieces are given various names, such as spac- 3.3.3. Spindle and flyer
ers (Rieter), distance clips (Texparts), cradle spacers (Sues- 3.3.3.1. Imparting twist
sen). The correct distance piece to use can be determined
within a broad range from tables provided by the manufactur- The flyer inserts twist. Each flyer rotation creates one turn in
ers, but fine settings have to be established by experiment. the roving. In the final analysis therefore, since the flyer rota-
tion speed is kept constant, twist per unit length of roving de-
pends upon the delivery speed, and can be influenced accord-
ingly. High levels of roving twist represent production losses
and might lead to draft problems in the ring spinning machine.
a On the other hand, low twist levels can cause false drafts or
even roving breaks during bobbin winding. Normal twist levels
are shown in the following diagram (as provided by Rieter).
M
Turns per meter = flyer rotation speed (rpm)
delivery speed (m/min)
3.3.3.2. Various designs of flyers
Limits on the performance of the roving frame are deter-
mined by both the delivery speed and the rotation speed of
Fig. 8 – Exit opening M the flyer. The influence of the flyer depends upon its form
and drive. Using these criteria as a basis, the following dis-
tinctions can be drawn between three flyer types:
• spindle-mounted flyers (Fig. 9, a);
• closed flyers (Fig. 9, b);
• top-mounted flyers (Fig. 9, c).
TWIST CHART: TWIST LEVEL ACCORDING
TO STAPLE LENGTH AND ROVING COUNT
2.0 80
-1 1/2˝ -1 7/8˝
70 -1 1/8˝
-1 1/16˝
-40 mm
1.5 60
-1˝ 1.2/1.5 den
50
-60 mm
1.0 40 -3.0 den
Twist (turns/metre)
Twist (turns/˝)
30
0.5 20
tex 1 000 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200
Nm 0.95 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 5
Ne 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75 0.8 0.85 0.9 0.95 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 2 2.5 3
Cotton Synthetics
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 63
a b c
Fig. 9 – Various flyer designs
The standard form has in the past been the spindle-mount- In this design, the spindle is simply a support and drive
ed flyer (Fig. 9, a). This is simple as far as design and drive element for the flyer, without any ancillary function. It is
are concerned, but not from the service point of view or for a long steel shaft, mounted at its lower end in a bearing
automation purposes. and supported in the middle by the vertically reciprocating
shaft of the package tube acting as a neck bearing. Rota-
tion is caused very directly and over a short transmission
distance from the main shaft by way of a gear train and
a longitudinal shaft that extends past all spindles and is fit-
ted with bevel gears driving bevels on the spindles them-
selves. The spindle tip is conical and provided with a slot.
When the flyer is set on the spindle cone, a pin on the flyer
projects into the slot so that the flyer and spindle are con-
verted into a unit for drive purposes (Fig. 11). The closed
flyer (Fig. 9, b), supported both above and below, has been
used only by Platt Saco Lowell in the „Rovematic“ machine.
It has the advantage of reduced spreading of the legs at
high operating speeds. Today, the standard design is the
top-mounted flyer (Fig. 9, c). Among other things, this form
facilitates automation of the doffing operation. The flyer is
supported by ball bearings at the neck and is driven by gear
wheels or toothed belts from above.
3.3.3.3. The flyer
Earlier flyers were invariably made of steel, but they are
now mostly made of light alloy (Fig. 11). At the high speeds
currently considered normal steel flyers would spread at
the legs considerably; this is detrimental to the operation
Fig. 10 – Spindle, flyer and spindle drive
64 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
of the machine, and even more so to the winding opera- 3.3.3.4. The flyer top
tion. The amount of spreading depends upon the rotation
speed. When this varies, e.g. during starting and stopping,
the presser arm (5) adopts a continually varying inclina-
tion, which causes continual shifting of the winding point
of the bobbin. It becomes impossible to ensure a controlled
build over the complete package. In addition, light alloy fly- A
ers have lower weight. Flyers can have varying sizes, which
are specified in inches. The stated sizes are actually winding
dimensions, i.e. the maximum height (first number) and the
maximum diameter (second number) of a wound package of
material. Roving frames are supplied in the following sizes:
12˝ x 5 1/2˝; 12˝ x 6˝; 14˝ x 6˝
14˝ x 6 1/2˝; 16˝ x 6˝; 16˝ x 7˝
1
2 B
3
4
cuts (A-A)
A A A A
Fig. 12 – Entry of the strands into the flyer top
The manner in which the roving is carried along and guided
6 7 5 at the entrance to the flyer determines the degree of twist
and the winding tension. Where the roving has only low
Fig. 11 – Component parts and structure of the flyer
twist or is coarse, so that there is a risk of false drafts, the
As well as imparting the roving twist, the flyer has to guide strand passes through the flyer top to the guide groove with
the very sensitive strand from the flyer top to the package half a wrapping (Fig. 14, A). A one-turn of wrap, as shown
without introducing false drafts – not exactly an easy task. in (B), is selected for high-speed frames winding large pack-
For one thing, the strand has only protective twist and is very ages with high twist levels. The wrap permits better con-
liable to break. For another, the flyer is rotating, along with trol of roving tension and the package build becomes more
the roving, at a speed of up to 1 500 rpm. The fiber strand even owing to the harder coils. Older flyers have flyer tops
must therefore be protected against strong air currents. For of smooth metal. However, most modern flyers have an in-
this purpose, in most roving frames to date, one of the two sert of rubber formed with grooves, notches or indentations
flyer legs (4) has usually been „hollow“, i.e. with a deep (Fig. 13). These flyer inserts exert a strong influence on the
guide groove that is open in a direction opposite to the direc- level of twist in the roving between the drafting arrangement
tion of rotation. The strand is drawn through this groove. The and the flyer, and also on winding conditions at the bobbin.
second, solid flyer leg serves to balance the grooved leg. Their formation enables them to carry the roving along sub-
Newer designs no longer feature this easily accessible, stantially better while imparting twist, and they additionally
„service-friendly“ groove. Instead, they have a very smooth insert the very favorable false twist. One result of this false
guide tube set into one flyer leg. In this case, the strand is twist is that the roving is already strongly twisted in the un-
completely protected against air flows and the roving is no supported length leading to the flyer. Roving breakage rates
longer pressed with considerable force against the metal of in the spinning triangle are thus reduced, and fly and lap
the leg, as it is in the previous designs. Frictional resistance formation are decreased. A second result of the false twist
is significantly reduced, so that the strand can be pulled is a more compact roving, which increases the capacity of
through with much less force. This reduces false drafts and the bobbin and permits higher flyer speeds. The capacity
strand breaks while allowing high production speeds. How- of the bobbin is still further increased because the compact-
ever, piecing of strand breaks is somewhat more difficult. ness of the roving permits winding with higher tension.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 65
A roving bobbin is a cylindrical body with tapered ends
(Fig. 15). It is created by building layer upon layer of paral-
lel coils of roving on wooden or plastic bobbin tubes acting
as package cores. To form the tapered ends, the height of
the lift must be reduced after each layer has been complet-
ed. The roving bobbin is the ideal package form for supply-
ing material to the ring spinning frame; when full, the bob-
bin carries a relatively large quantity of material, owing to
its compactness; when empty, it occupies a relatively small
volume, convenient for transport and storage.
Fig. 13 – The flyer top
The angle of taper of the ends is normally between 80° and
95°, and depends upon the adherence of the material. The
3.3.3.5. The presser arm angle is made as large as possible, so that as much roving as
possible is wound onto the package. However, the angle must
A be small enough to ensure that the layers do not slide apart.
3.4. Machine drive system
Mainly in order to achieve the desired bobbin form, a very
B sophisticated drive system is necessary. Until very recently,
this problem had to be solved purely by mechanical means,
resulting in a really complex drive mechanism.
It has only recently been possible to simplify the drive sys-
tem of the roving frame considerably by the use of modern
Fig. 14 – Guidance of the roving by the presser arm
electronic drive technology.
A steel yoke, the so-called presser arm, is attached to the The two drive systems are explained below.
lower end of the hollow flyer leg. The arm has to guide the
roving from the exit of the flyer leg to the package. The rov- 3.4.1. Mechanical drive systems
ing is wrapped two (A) or three (B) times around the yoke.
The number of turns determines the roving tension. If this The mechanical solutions to the very demanding drive
is high, then a hard, compact package is obtained. If it is problems in the roving frame are described and explained
too high, false drafts or roving breaks can be caused. The step by step.
number of wraps depends upon the material and twist level.
3.4.1.1. Bobbin drive
3.3.4. Winding of the bobbin
a b
17
80
80 - 95°
H
max. 100°
17
67
Fig. 15 – The bobbin form Fig. 16 – Bobbin drive (gearing plan)
66 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
box and the longitudinal bobbin shaft. Previously, a knee-
1 joint (swinging joint) was used for this purpose (between
wheels 80 and 67 in Fig. 16, and see Fig. 18).
However, gear wheels arranged in a knee-joint have the dis-
advantage that they roll on each other during the up-and-
down movements. This causes additional revolutions that
2 are either added to or subtracted from the basic package
rotation, depending upon the direction of the lift stroke.
3 Tension variation then arises. Today, transmission of rota-
4 tion is mostly effected by means of cardan shafts, telescop-
ic shafts or chain drives.
3.4.1.2. Cone drive transmission
Fig. 17 – Bobbin drive (side view); drive transmission to the bobbin
80
Fig. 19 – Convex and concave cones
Variation of the bobbin rotation speed originates in the cone
transmission and occurs in small steps through shifting of
the cone belt after each lift stroke. Bobbin rotation must be
changed in accordance with a linear function. Unfortunate-
ly, shifting the belt by constant amounts on straight-sided
cones does not vary the transmission ratio in a linear man-
67 ner and thus does not produce the required linear variation
in bobbin rotation speed. To obtain the desired linear vari-
Fig. 18 – Swinging joint at the bobbin drive shaft ation function, the cone faces have been made hyperbolic
(see Fig. 19), namely convex on the upper driving cone and
During winding of a roving bobbin, the flyer rotation speed concave on the lower driven cone. Hyperbolic cones are dif-
is usually kept constant. The difference between the periph- ficult to design. Additionally, during the winding operation,
eral speeds of the flyer and the bobbin must also be kept the belt is then always moved on surfaces of varying incli-
constant. However, the bobbin diameter increases step- nation. As a result cones are now mostly made straight-sid-
wise, after each layer of roving. The bobbin rotation speed ed. However, in transmissions of this kind the belt must be
must be reduced accordingly to maintain the required dif- shifted through steps of varying magnitude, the initial steps
ference between the peripheral speeds. This necessitates being relatively large (Fig. 20, W1) and the later ones small-
a relatively complicated drive for the bobbin. er (W4). Instead of a hyperbolic profile on the cones (left),
Variation in bobbin speed originates from the cone drums. an eccentric is used in the belt-shifting mechanism (right).
When the builder motion shifts the cone belt, the rotation
speed of the lower cone is changed. This declining rotation 3.4.1.3. Shifting the belt
speed is transmitted via gearing (Fig. 16, 80/67) to the dif-
ferential and is there superimposed on the constant speed of W W W
the main shaft. Further gearing then transmits the resulting a
rotation speed to the bobbin drive (Fig. 17, 4/3). On the bob- b
bin rail, bevel gears (4) fixed to the longitudinal shaft drive
the bevel gears (3) of the bobbin supports. But a variable W1 W2 W3 W4
drive, e.g. a PIV unit, can be used instead of the cone drums.
A further difficulty in relation to the bobbin drive is the fact
that the bobbins are carried on a rail that is continually
moving up and down. A flexible (relatively movable) con-
nection is needed between the main drive shaft in the gear
Fig. 20 – Shifting the belt with hyperbolic (a) and straight-sided cones (b)
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 67
11
4
2
3
1
7
8
5
10
9
Fig. 21 – Belt-shifting device
80
2
3
3
2
A2
3
A1
1
4
Fig. 22 – Functional diagram of the correction rail
Shifting of the belt is controlled by the ratchet wheel (on axle 3.4.1.4. Correction rail (compensation rail,
Fig. 21, 10). In the course of each change-over operation (af- correction rod)
ter each stroke), the ratchet wheel is permitted to rotate by
a half tooth. By way of a gear train including change wheels If the movement of the belt does not correspond to the in-
and an eccentric, this ratchet steps out the wire rope (1) and crease in bobbin diameter, the change wheel or ratchet
hence permits movement of the belt guide (5) to the right. The must be adjusted accordingly. Sometimes, however, the ad-
tensile force required to induce movement of the belt is ex- justment resulting from changing by one tooth would have
erted by a weight (7). Bobbin diameter increases more or less an over-large effect; a change by only half a tooth might in
rapidly depending upon roving hank. The belt must be shifted fact be suitable. In order to deal with such borderline cases,
through corresponding steps. The degree of shift, which de- i.e. to provide a degree of fine setting, several roving frames
pends upon the thickness of the roving, is modified by replac- are now fitted with a correction rail (Fig. 22). This is a rail
ing the ratchet wheel or (generally nowadays) by substituting (1) which is mounted in the region of the belt guide (not
change wheels. If a ratchet wheel with fewer teeth is inserted, shown) and in its normal position is parallel to that guide.
then the belt is shifted through larger steps, i.e. it progresses At position 4, however, the rail can be shifted to bring it
more rapidly, and vice versa. When the bobbin is fully wound, into another position relative to the belt guide. A roller
the belt must be moved back to its starting point. Today, this runs on the correction rail. The belt shifting rope is guided
is usually done automatically by an auxiliary motor. around this roller and is secured to the belt guide at 5.
68 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
If the rail and belt guide are not parallel, i.e. if the cor- be moved. This can be brought about only by raising and
recting rail has a greater inclination than the belt guide as lowering the bobbins. This requirement cannot be met by
shown in the illustration (2), the roller (dotted lines) moves raising and lowering the flyers, because then the unsup-
further upward (3), away from belt guide (5). The distance ported roving length (from drafting arrangement to flyer top,
between roller (2) and the anchoring point of the rope in- see Fig. 3) would vary correspondingly and the angle of de-
creases from A1 to A2. This means that the extension of the parture from the drafting arrangement and of approach to
rope as determined by the builder motion is not transferred the flyer top would change continuously. The winding point
completely to the belt guide; instead, part of that extension must be shifted by moving the bobbins, which are support-
is taken up in increasing distance A from A1 to A2. Shift- ed on a movable rail for this purpose. The necessary raising
ing of the belt takes place through smaller steps than those and lowering can be carried out by means of several racks
corresponding directly to the paying out of the rope in the attached to the rail (Fig. 23). Some manufacturers have
builder motion. The reverse effect is obtained if the correc- mounted the bobbin rail on a lever and move the rail by
tion rail is offset in the other direction relative to the belt moving that lever up and down (Fig. 24).
guide. The increase in diameter of the bobbin is in principle
a linear function of the number of layers. This relationship
may not hold true in practice, because the winding condi-
tions do not remain absolutely constant. At the start of
a winding operation, roving is wound onto a hard core (bob-
bin tube); toward the end of the winding operation the re-
ceiving body may be softer – depending on the compactness b
of the roving – since the material itself now provides that
body. This change, and also other changes in associated
conditions, can give rise to tension variations during wind-
ing. In order to be able to adapt to these, the correction rail
is often made in several parts, which are adjustable relative
to each other. In this way, any desired tension level can be
set from beginning to end of the winding operation by rela-
tive raising or lowering of the individual rail sections. Fig. 24 – Lifter motion with levers (b)
3.4.1.5. Lifter motion The individual coils of the bobbin must be laid closely ad-
jacent to each other, not only in the first layer but also in
all subsequent layers. However, since the package diame-
ter is steadily increasing, the lift speed must be reduced by
a small amount after each completed layer. As can be seen
from Fig. 24, the lift drive is also transmitted via the cone
transmission (as for the bobbin drive), but not via the dif-
ferential.
In addition, a reversing drive must be provided so that the
bobbin rail is alternately raised and lowered.
3.4.1.6. Builder motion
This device has to perform three important tasks during
a winding operation:
• shift the cone belt corresponding to the increase in
a bobbin diameter;
• reverse the direction of movement of the bobbin rail
Fig. 23 – Lifter motion with racks (a)
at the upper and lower ends of the lift stroke;
In the package, each turn must be laid next to its neigh- • shorten the lift after each layer to form tapered ends
bors. For this purpose, the lay-on point must continually on the bobbins.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 69
The required moment for each change-over and the magni-
tude of the adjustment both depend upon the roving hank
and the material, and must therefore be adapted to the pre-
vailing conditions by means of change gear positions. In
the following sections, a short description of a builder mo-
tion for a roving frame will be given. In this arrangement,
most of the movement changes are effected electro-pneu-
matically.
S
3.4.1.7. Shifting the cone belt
H
1 W S
a a
Fig. 27 – The assembly for building conical ends on the bobbins
4
5
3
7 Reversal of the rail movement originates from the reversing
2
gear (Fig. 26, 1/2/3). An electrically operated valve pres-
6 surizes the left- and right-hand chambers of double-acting
a a cylinder (9) alternately. Thus left-hand clutch (1) and right-
hand clutch (2) are operated successively so that pinion (3)
engages with either gear wheel 1 or gear wheel 2. The rota-
tion itself comes from the shaft 10, on which gear wheels
Fig. 25 – The reversing assembly of the lifter motion
1 and 2 are mounted, always rotating in the same direction.
Operation of clutch (1) or (2) causes left- or right-hand rota-
The machine unit that induces all changes is the changeo- tion of pinion 3 and shaft 4, accordingly. The bobbin rail is
ver mechanism, which comprises metal brackets (3/7) and correspondingly raised or lowered via bevel gear 5, pinion
rods (5/6). This mechanism is attached to the bobbin rail 6, sprocket 7 and lifting chain 8.
(at 2) and is raised and lowered as a unit with the rail.
A stationary pin is struck by one of the rods (5/6) on the up- 3.4.1.9. Shortening the lift
ward stroke and by the other on the downward stroke, and
each time a microswitch (4) emits a pulse. Each pulse from Rods 5 and 6 (Fig. 25) are inclined. The inclination is adjust-
microswitch (4) actuates a release mechanism to permit ro- able and corresponds exactly to the taper of the bobbin ends
tation of the ratchet wheel through one half-tooth. (angle alpha). During winding of a package, the ratchet is ro-
tated at every change-over, and the microswitch (Fig. 27) is
3.4.1.8. Reversal of the bobbin rail movement also gradually shifted further to the right on a slide.
Therefore, the rods engage the microswitch steadily earlier
5 6
in the lift stroke, and reversal occurs correspondingly ear-
7 lier. This results in a continuous reduction in the lift of the
8 rail. The bobbins are thus built with a taper.
1 3 2
9
10
Fig. 26 – Mechanism for reversing the bobbin rail movement
70 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
3.4.2. Gear change positions of the roving frame • Auxiliary change wheels (H, G)
(on old roving frames) This is an auxiliary twist change in order to adjust the
twist level within broad ranges.
• Lift change wheel (W)
d1 The lift speed of the bobbin rail is influenced by this
element, and hence the laying density of roving coils
d2 on the bobbin. A wheel should be chosen such that the
coils of the first layer lie close to each other and practi-
d3
cally hide the tube. The coils should also be arranged
closely adjacent, but not on top of each other. In this
V way, the bobbin is made to take up a lot of material.
N A • Auxiliary change wheels (F, E)
These are ancillary to the lift change wheel and again
enable adjustments over broad ranges.
• Cone drum change wheel (K)
H If the diameter of the tube is altered, the starting speed
D of the bobbin must be adjusted accordingly. Since the
G ratchet wheel has not been operated at this stage, the
P adjustment cannot be made by means of the builder
motion. The starting position of the cone belt can be
E
W changed or, when this is no longer possible, another
cone change wheel can be substituted.
F • Ratchet change wheel (S)
This determines the amount by which the belt is shifted
K
at each operation of the ratchet and therefore must be
S adjusted precisely to the increase in bobbin diameter.
Fig. 28 – Gearing diagram of roving frame (Rieter)
3.4.3. Electronic drive system
• Main shaft drive discs (P)
These drive discs provide the only opportunity to adjust
spindle rotation speed.
• Infeed change wheel (A)
This influences the tension in the slivers between the
creel and the infeed to the drafting arrangement.
• Break draft wheel (V)
4
This enables the rotation speed of the middle cylinder
(d2) to be changed, thereby changing the break draft
1
with simultaneous alteration of the main draft. The
break draft must be adapted to the material. 2
• Main draft wheel (N)
A change here results in simultaneous variation of the
rotation speeds of the middle (d2) and infeed (d3)
cylinders. Since the rotation of delivery cylinder (d1) Servomotors:
remains unchanged, the main draft is altered, as is the 1 Flyer
total draft. 2 Spindle
3 Bobbin rail
• Twist wheel (D) 4 Drafting system
3
Replacement of this wheel results in a variation of all
speeds, except that of the flyers. Since the roving twist
arises from the relationship between flyer rotation Fig. 29 – Electronic drive system
and delivery speed, a change in twist level arises from
adjustment here.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 71
Electronic devices such as frequency converters and indi- ing arrangement. If a sliver breaks or runs out, the end falls
vidual servomotors have enabled the drive system of the from the transport roller, passes through the light barrier
roving frame to be considerably simplified. Fig. 29 clear- and stops the machine.
ly illustrates this fact using the modern Rieter F 35 roving
frame as an example. 3.6.1.3. Roving stop motion
Spindles and flyers are driven directly by individual servo-
motors. The control system ensures synchronized running
throughout package buildup. The drives are controlled by
frequency converters and are thus especially gentle in their
treatment of the material. Controlled machine stop is as-
sured in the event of power failure.
Such drive systems are not only much simpler than mechani-
cal drive versions, but also have additional advantages such
as lower energy consumption and reduced maintenance.
3.5. Special design (Saco Lowell „Rovematic“ frame)
a
While almost all manufacturers of roving frames were building
their machines on the same basic principle, Saco Lowell went
down a new path several decades ago. One new feature was b
the closed flyer (Fig. 9, b), supported above and below and
driven at the top. Still more noteworthy is the elimination of
the bobbin rail. The bobbins are raised and lowered by a sys-
tem of nuts and screw-threaded elements in a manner depend-
ing only upon the relative speeds of these two parts. However, Fig. 30 – Roving stop motion by Luwa
this machine has not been available for some time now.
Monitoring at the delivery of the drafting arrangement can
3.6. Accessories also be performed by light barriers. In this case, the light
3.6.1. Monitoring devices beam is usually directed straight past the flyer tops. In
3.6.1.1. The need for such devices the event of a roving break, the broken roving end whirls
around the flyer top or so-called „hoods“ form at the flyer
Roving bobbins are built up from a core outwards, i.e. the di- top. This interrupts the light beam and causes the machine
ameter increases steadily. For each bobbin dimension there to be stopped.
is an associated defined bobbin speed and lift speed. If one An alternative is the use of the capacitive detection principle
roving breaks, while the frame continues production, the di- in a monitoring unit. The Luwa company offers such a device
ameter of that one bobbin stays constant while the others under the designation „Pneumastop“. The device is associ-
continue to increase. If an attempt is made to piece the bro- ated with the pneumatic suction system in the delivery of the
ken roving end after a certain time, this end will always break drafting arrangement. This suction system (Fig. 30, a) is an
again because the peripheral speed of the smaller bobbin is absolute necessity in order to avoid a series of roving breaks
no longer appropriate in the new winding conditions. In order along a bobbin row following the first break in the row. If one
to enable winding to continue on all bobbins after a break, it end breaks, the suction system draws the sliver into a large
is necessary to stop the machine immediately after the break collector duct extending over the full length of the machine.
occurs: automatically operating stop motions are required. Fibers entering this duct pass through it into a filter chamber
at the end of the machine after passing the capacitive detec-
3.6.1.2. Sliver stop motions tor (Fig. 30, b). In the detector there is an electric field be-
tween two comb electrodes. If fiber material passes through
Monitoring at the infeed is usually carried out by light bar- this field, the change in capacitance generates a signal to stop
riers, with a light emitter at one side of the frame and a light the machine. Modern machines are mostly equipped with in-
receiver (photocell) at the other. The device is located be- dividual electronic roving detectors placed at the outlet of the
tween the last transport roller of the creel and the draft- drafting unit. These electro-optical detectors ensure that in the
case of a roving break the machine is stopped immediately.
72 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
3.6.1.4. Roving tension monitoring • Piecing roving breaks. This also occurs infrequently
and could only be automated with considerable effort
The level of roving tension is an important factor with re- that would make it highly uneconomic.
gard to the performance of the machine. With a modern • Bobbin doffing. This is the most useful opportunity
drive system as described in chapter “3.4.3. Electronic for automation and is long overdue since the doff is
drive system”, it is possible to install a roving tension con- a costly, frequent and ergonomically unsatisfactory
trol system on the machine. For this purpose a control unit operation that has a significant influence on efficiency.
consisting of sensor and microprocessor checks roving ten- Fortunately, bobbin doffing is state-of-the-art nowadays.
sion between drafting unit and flyer top on two positions • Bobbin transport. This is also an obvious candidate for
per machine and adjusts the tension accordingly. This en- automation, since about 60 % of wage costs in a spin-
sures high roving uniformity and prevents false drafting. ning mill using ring spinning machines can be attrib-
Such a tension monitoring device is produced, for instance, uted to the cost of transport. Such systems are now
by the ROJ company. available with varying degrees of automation.
• Cleaning. Cleaning has already been automated to a
3.6.2. Blower apparatus great extent by means of cleaning aprons, clearer roll-
ers and suction systems at the drafting arrangement,
Roving frames not only produce a significant quantity of fly and also by the traveling blowers that keep the machine
– they also continually stir it up. This necessitates a corre- clean.
sponding effort to keep the installation clean. To relieve at- • Machine monitoring. Stop devices are now standard
tendants at least partly of this burden, traveling blowers are equipment on roving frames. In this area, automation
now increasingly being used. These consist essentially of has already been satisfactorily achieved and the burden
a powerful fan that moves back and forth on rails above the on personnel has effectively been removed.
machines. Tubes hang down from the fan, some as far as the • Production monitoring. Short-staple spinning mills
ground, and have air exit jets at the appropriate heights. operate with small profit margins that are generated
The airflow created by the fan is directed by the jets onto at a number of individual positions. Many parameters
exposed parts of the machine. Fly is blown off onto the floor exert an influence. Raw material is the main one, but
and can be sucked away by a second hose system, or can be utilization of personnel and of the installation are also
brushed up periodically by hand (see The Rieter Manual of important. An optimum is attained if the machines pro-
Spinning, Volume 4 – Ring Spinning). duce day and night with a minimum of interruptions.
One possibility for optimizing efficiency and keeping it
3.7. Automation under control is a production monitoring system, such
3.7.1. Potential for automation as the Zellweger Uster MILLDATA-SLIVERDATA system,
in which interruptions in operation of all machines in
Much of the work required on the roving frame is costly, the preparatory installation are recorded, evaluated
time-consuming, physically demanding and ergonomically and stored. Other companies offer similar systems (for
unfavorable. Automation is therefore most desirable in or- instance, SPIDERweb by Rieter).
der to improve working conditions, to reduce errors, to pre- • Quality monitoring. In contradistinction to the draw
vent damage to the roving packages and to increase pro- frame, where an almost complete quality check can be
ductivity. carried out on the machine itself, total quality control
The layout of a roving frame (with its double row of bob- on the roving frame would be too expensive, since too
bins arranged one behind the other, flyers directly in the many production positions would have to be checked.
forefront, and the expansive creel), is far from ideal for au- Checking roving quality remains the province of the
tomation. Nevertheless, considerable advances have re- laboratory.
cently been made. The following picture emerges. • Maintenance and servicing. Much, but not all, has
already been achieved in this area by way of central
• Can changing. Full automation would be too com- lubrication, low-maintenance design and so on.
plex and would bring only minor benefits because the
change occurs too infrequently. However, can transport Several of the points listed have already been dealt with
might be at least partly automated. elsewhere in the text, so that here only package doffing and
• Piecing sliver breaks. This occurs even less frequently transport will be briefly discussed in more detail.
and is therefore hardly worth consideration.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 73
3.7.2. Doffing
The doffing process is illustrated using the Rieter F 15 and
F 35 roving frames as examples.
3.7.2.1. Preparation for doffing
For successful doffing, the roving end must be placed in a
specific position on the roving package. Three positions are
possible (Fig. 31):
• Roving end as top bunch
Top bunch is ideal for automated roving frames with
automatic roving bobbin transport systems.
• Roving end in the middle of the roving bobbin
This position is mainly used for machines with manual
doffing.
• Roving end as bottom bunch
Fig. 32 – Manual doffing with tilted bobbin rail
Bottom bunch is also used for automated roving frames
with an automatic transport system, but in addition it sim- 3.7.2.3. Automatic doffing
plifies the piecing procedure of the roving in the ring spin-
ning machine. Automatic doffing enables labor requirements and doffing
times to be drastically reduced. The fully automated Rieter
F 35 roving frame performs doffing in less than 2 minutes.
This has been made possible by separate actuation of bobbin
rail and doffer rail by two independent frequency converters.
The doffing sequence of the F 35 roving frame is illustrated
in Fig. 33.
bottom bunch in the middle top bunch
of the bobbin
Fig. 31 – Positions of the roving end
3.7.2.2. Manual doffing
The F 15 roving frame is equipped with a doffing aid for
manual doffing. In order to facilitate the doffing procedure,
the bobbin rail with the full bobbins is lowered and tilted.
This enables the bobbins be removed easily (Fig. 32).
74 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
3.7.3. Transport of bobbins to the ring spinning
machine
2
Transporting individual roving bobbins manually from the
roving frame to the ring spinning machine is labor-inten-
sive and often results in damage to the roving. The answer
to this problem is a roving bobbin transport system. Today,
therefore, various solutions are available for bobbin trans-
1 port from roving frame to ring spinning machine with dif-
1 2 ferent degrees of automation to suit customer needs, for
example from Rieter, Schönenberger, Electro-Jet and other
companies.
Such transport systems have a number of advantages with
regard to quality and costs:
Quality
• elimination of manual bobbin handling
• elimination of intermediate storage, which can result
in damage, soiling and aging of the roving
• elimination of the likelihood of confusion between
different roving bobbins
3 4
• ensuring the application of the “first-in, first-out”
principle
Costs
• space saving
• quality assurance and enhancement
• labor savings of up to 25 % compared to manual bob-
bin transport by reducing physical effort, reducing the
distance covered by operating personnel, improved
access to the machines and improved ergonomics
5 6 Fig. 34 shows an example of automatic bobbin transport
between roving frame and ring spinning machines. Two
separate circuits in the area of roving frame and ring spin-
Fig. 33 – Doffing sequence ning machines guarantee a continuous supply of roving
1. – The bobbin rail (1) moves out and at the same time the footboard
bobbins to the ring spinning machines.
is set up.
– The doffer beam with the empty tubes is lowered between the full
bobbins (2). 3.8. Technical data (normal values)
2. – The empty bobbin pegs of the doffer beam grasp the full bobbins.
(All the bobbin pegs are now occupied).
– The doffer beam moves up to reversing position. Spindles per machine 48 - 160
3. – The conveyor belt in the doffer beam moves into intermediate Flyer rotation speed, rpm up to 1 500
position.
4. – The doffer beam puts the empty tubes onto the spindles. Production rate, g/sp.h 250 - 2 000
5. – The doffer beam moves into top position with the full bobbins. Sliver hank, ktex 3.8 - 5.5
– The slide moves in and the footboard is lowered at the same time.
– The safety zone is free again.
Roving hank, tex 170 - 1 500
6. – The bobbin rail (1) is raised to spinning start-up position. Draft 5 - 22
– The full bobbins (2) are transported to the transfer station. Bobbin weight, kg up to 3
– The roving frame starts up automatically.
3.9. Appendix
Evenness of the roving over short lengths is demonstrated
in the comparative figures in Table 1, from Zellweger Uster.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 75
Ringspinn machines
Roving frame
Roving frame
Bobbin cleaner
Fig. 34 – Automatic bobbin transport system (Rieter SERVOtrail system)
Roving 100 % Cotton
„Ne 1 „Ne 2
590 tex“ 295 tex“
carded combed combed
Quality Level CVm CVm CVm
5 % 4.9 3.2 3.3
25 % 5.5 3.6 3.7
50 % 6.3 4.0 4.2
75 % 7.1 4.6 4.7
95 % 8.0 5.4 5.4
Table 1 – Comparison of mills‘ evenness performance compared (data from www.uster.com, 2008)
76 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 77
ILLUSTRATIONS
The Combing Section Fig. 37 – Cross-section through the Rieter E 65 comber 28
Fig. 38 – Arrangement of the nipper, the feeding and the
Fig. 1 – The short-staple spinning process detaching device 29
for combed yarns 11 Fig. 39 – Feed roller drive 29
Fig. 2 – View of a rectilinear comber 12 Fig. 40 – The nipper suspension 29
Fig. 3 – Sequence of operations 13 Fig. 41 – The form of the nipper bite 30
Fig. 4 – Clamped slivers between the nipper plates 14 Fig. 42 – The nipper support 30
Fig. 5 – Fibers projecting from the nippers 14 Fig. 43 – Diagram of nipper movements 30
Fig. 6 – The two preparation methods: Fig. 44 – Two different suspensions of the nipper assembly 31
conventional method and new method 15 Fig. 45 – Combing performance with standing and hanging
Fig. 7 – Dependence of noil elimination on the degree pendulum 31
of parallelization of the fibers in the feedstock 16 Fig. 46 – Circular comb with metallic clothing (teeth) 31
Fig. 8 – Dependence of yarn strength and cleanliness Fig. 47 – The top comb assembly 32
on the degree of parallelization of the fibers Fig. 48 – The top comb (with needles) 32
in the feed lap 16 Fig. 49 – Self-cleaning effect of the batt 32
Fig. 9 – Batt weight in relation to staple length 16 Fig. 50 – The back-and-forth movement of the
Fig. 10 – Batt weight in relation to fiber mass 17 detaching rollers 33
Fig. 11 – Staple diagram 18 Fig. 51 – The mode of operation of the differential gear
Fig. 12 – Dependence of various quality parameters of the detaching rollers 33
on noil elimination 18 Fig. 52 – Web take-up assembly 33
Fig. 13 – Position of the nippers relative to the detaching Fig. 53 – Removal of the web 34
rollers at the closest approach Fig. 54 – Sliver formation 34
(detachment setting E) during backward feed 19 Fig. 55 – Guiding the sliver from the web table to the
Fig. 14 – Combing out with backward feed 19 drafting arrangement 34
Fig. 15 – Combing out the fiber fringe 19 Fig. 56 – The drafting arrangement of the Rieter combers 35
Fig. 16 – Position of the nippers relative to the detaching Fig. 57 – Sketch of the drafting arrangement of the Rieter
rollers at the closest approach during forward feed 20 E 65/75 combers 35
Fig. 17 – Combing out with forward feed (staple diagram) 20 Fig. 58 – Coiling the sliver 35
Fig. 18 – Typical values for the feed amount per cycle 21 Fig. 59 – Stripping the circular combs 36
Fig. 19 – Combed web structure (section view) 22 Fig. 60 – Removal of waste using a fiber separator 36
Fig. 20 – Examples: Mass spectrograms after combing Fig. 61 – Central waste removal 36
and in downstream processes 22 Fig. 62 – Change in combing-out as the circular combs fill up36
Fig. 21 – Overview of the two lap forming processes in use 22 Fig. 63 – Keeping combing-out constant by periodic
Fig. 22 – Top view of a sliver lap machine 23 intensive cleaning of the circular combs 36
Fig. 23 – Rieter E 2/4A sliver lap machine 23 Fig. 64 – The sequence of movements in the machine;
Fig. 24 – Elements of a ribbon lap machine 23 Example Rieter E 7/5 37
Fig. 25 – Rieter E 4/1 ribbon lap machine 23 Fig. 65 – The double-sided Saco Lowell comber (a) detail
Fig. 26 – The ribbon lap machine – cross-section 23 of the individual head, b) movements 37
Fig. 27 – Basic design of the former Rieter E 5/3 UNIlap 24 Fig. 66 – Transport scheme with semi-automated
Fig. 28 – E 32 UNIlap 24 lap trolleys 38
Fig. 29 – The drafting arrangement of the UNIlap system 25 Fig. 67 – Fully automatic lap transport system, showing
Fig. 30 – The lap winding device of the UNIlap machine 25 the lap turnstile required to present the lap end
Fig. 31 – Speed diagram of the UNIlap, production gain in the correct position for the combers 39
by VARIOspeed 26 Fig. 68 – The overhead transport system 39
Fig. 32 – OMEGAlap winding process 26 Fig. 69 – Automatic lap changing and batt piecing
Fig. 33 – Comparison between two different winding by the Rieter ROBOlap 40
systems of Rieter‘s combing preparation machines 27 Fig. 70 – The total market for short staple yarns today 40
Fig. 34 – Marzoli comber 27 Fig. 71 – The total market for short staple yarns in future 41
Fig. 35 – Saco Lowell comber 27
Fig. 36 – Rieter comber 27
78 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation
The Draw frame The Roving Frame
Fig. 1 – Normal processing lines 43 Fig. 1 – View of a roving frame 57
Fig. 2 – Sectional view of a draw frame 44 Fig. 2 – Cross-section through a roving frame 57
Fig. 3 – Different systems of sliver creels 45 Fig. 3 – Thread path geometry at the delivery and flyer top 58
Fig. 4 – Fluting of the bottom rollers 46 Fig. 4 – Thread path in modern roving frames 59
Fig. 5 – Top roller 46 Fig. 5 – Creel framework 59
Fig. 6 – 3-over-4 roller drafting arrangement (Marzoli) 47 Fig. 6 – Three-cylinder, double-apron drafting arrangement 60
Fig. 7 – 3-over-3 roller drafting arrangement (mainly used)47 Fig. 7 – Apron guidance in the drafting arrangement 61
Fig. 8 – 4-over-3 cylinder drafting arrangement Fig. 8 – Exit opening M 62
(formerly Zinser) 48 Fig. 9 – Various flyer designs 63
Fig. 9 – 5-over-4 roller drafting arrangement Fig. 10 – Spindle, flyer and spindle drive 63
(formerly Rieter) 48 Fig. 11 – Component parts and structure of the flyer 64
Fig. 10 – 4-over-3 drafting arrangement with suction system 48 Fig. 12 – Entry of the strands into the flyer top 64
Fig. 11 – Rieter Coiler (CLEANcoil)49 Fig. 13 – The flyer top 65
Fig. 12 – The Rieter RSB-D 40 draw frame 50 Fig. 14 – Guidance of the roving by the presser arm 65
Fig. 13 – Draw frame with rectangular cans 50 Fig. 15 – The bobbin form 65
Fig. 14 – Former MECATROL by Zinser 51 Fig. 16 – Bobbin drive (gearing plan) 65
Fig. 15 – Leveling draw frame with open-loop control 52 Fig. 17 – Bobbin drive (side view); drive transmission
Fig. 16 – Leveling draw frame with closed-loop control 52 to the bobbin 66
Fig. 17 – The correction length 52 Fig. 18 – Swinging joint at the bobbin drive shaft 66
Fig. 18 – RSB leveling principle 53 Fig. 19 – Convex and concave cones 66
Fig. 19 – The scanning system 53 Fig. 20 – Shifting the belt with hyperbolic
Fig. 20 – The Rieter Quality Monitor (RQM) with (a) and straight-sided cones (b) 66
indication panel 54 Fig. 21 – Belt-shifting device 67
Fig. 21 – Principle of the blending draw frame 55 Fig. 22 – Functional diagram of the correction rail 67
Fig. 22 – Rieter CANlink 55 Fig. 23 – Lifter motion with racks (a) 68
Fig. 24 – Lifter motion with levers (b) 68
Fig. 25 – The reversing assembly of the lifter motion 69
Fig. 26 – Mechanism for reversing the bobbin
rail movement 69
Fig. 27 – The assembly for building conical ends
on the bobbins 69
Fig. 28 – Gearing diagram of roving frame (Rieter) 70
Fig. 29 – Electronic drive system 70
Fig. 30 – Roving stop motion by Luwa 71
Fig. 31 – Positions of the roving end 73
Fig. 32 – Manual doffing with tilted bobbin rail 73
Fig. 33 – Doffing sequence 74
Fig. 34 – Automatic bobbin transport system
(Rieter SERVOtrail system) 75
Table 1 – Comparison of mills‘ evenness performance
compared (data from Uster Statistics 2001) 75
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 3 . Spinning Preparation 79
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 3 – Spinning Preparation
This volume of The Rieter Manual of Spinning covers the technical and technological aspects of
the yarn production process between carding and ring spinning. This is the most important part
of the process, because the quality of the yarn depends to a large extent on the quality of the
intermediate products from which it is made. This volume is in three parts, dealing in turn with
the combing section (including preparation for combing), the draw frame and the roving frame.
Rieter Machine Works Ltd. Rieter India Private Ltd. Rieter (China) The data and illustrations in this brochure and on the
Klosterstrasse 20 Gat No 134/1, Vadhu Road Textile Instruments Co., Ltd. corresponding data carrier refer to the date of printing.
Rieter reserves the right to make any necessary changes
CH-8406 Winterthur Off Pune-Nagar Road, Koregaon Bhima Shanghai Branch
at any time and without special notice. Rieter systems and
T +41 52 208 7171 Taluka Shirur, District Pune Unit B-1, 6F, Building A,
Rieter innovations are protected by patents.
F +41 52 208 8320 IN-Maharashtra 412216 Synnex International Park
sales.sys@rieter.com T +91 2137 308 500 1068 West Tianshan Road 1923-v2 en 1410
parts.sys@rieter.com F +91 2137 308 426 CN-Shanghai 200335
T +86 21 6037 3333
F +86 21 6037 3399
ISBN 10 3-9523173-3-0
www.rieter.com ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-3-4
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 4
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 4 – Ring Spinning
Werner Klein
Dr. Herbert Stalder
Publisher
Rieter Machine Works Ltd.
Copyright
©2016 by Rieter Machine Works Ltd. AG,
Klosterstrasse 20, CH-8406 Wintherthur,
www.rieter.com
Part of this content provided by The Textile Institute. Used by permission.
Cover page
G 36 ring spinning machine
Available Volumes/Edition:
Volume 1 – Technology of Short-staple Spinning
ISBN 10 3-9523173-1-4 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-1-0
Volume 2 – Blowroom & Carding
ISBN 10 3-9523173-2-2 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-2-7
Volume 3 – Spinning Preparation
ISBN 10 3-9523173-3-0 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-3-4
Volume 4 – Ring Spinning
ISBN 10 3-9523173-4-9 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-4-1
Volume 5 – Rotor Spinning
ISBN 10 3-9523173-5-7 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-5-8
Volume 6 – Alternative Spinning Systems
ISBN 10 3-9523173-6-5 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-6-5
Volume 7 – Processing of Man-Made Fibres
ISBN 10 3-9523173-7-3 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-7-2
Collectors Edition – all Volumes (Vol. 1-7)
ISBN 10 3-9523173-0-6 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-0-3
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 3
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 4 – Ring Spinning
Werner Klein
Dr. Herbert Stalder
4 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 5
THE RIETER MANUAL OF SPINNING
Volume 1 – Technology of Short-staple Spinning Volume 5 – Rotor Spinning
This deals with basic, generally valid, technological rela- This process resulted from research into alternative spinning
tionships in short-staple spinning. Subsequent volumes are systems. This volume contains in-depth information on the
organised according to machines or machine groups. This rotor spinning process and its properties. Continual improve-
separates generally valid basic principles from ongoing ments in spinning elements and conditions make it now pos-
developments in machine design and construction. sible to spin a rotor yarn optically similar to a ring-spun yarn.
Volume 2 – Blowroom & Carding Volume 6 – Alternative Spinning Systems
In-depth information is provided on opening, cleaning, To take full advantage of alternative spinning systems,
blending and carding and additional aspects are covered a thorough understanding of them is therefore essential. This
such as acclimatisation of raw materials, anticipated waste volume contributes towards reaching this goal by describing
from various grades of fibre, selection and setting of cleaning the most important alternative spinning systems in detail.
and blending machinery, waste recycling, transport and the One of them is the well known Air-jet spinning technology.
functions of the various card components as well as selection
and maintenance of card clothing and autolevelling systems. Volume 7 – Processing of Man-Made Fibres
Volume 3 – Spinning Preparation Ever since the introduction of man-made fibres on a com-
mercial scale, the market share of synthetic fibres has shown
Here the technical and technological aspects of the yarn an impressive growth rate. In this important field, the variety
production process between carding and ring spinning are of man-made fibres with different properties is continuously
covered, that means draw frame, combing section (including increasing. For numerous applications today, fibres that are
combing preparation) and roving frame. This is an important practically “tailor-made” are available. Spinners must there-
process stage, because the yarn quality largely depends on fore have detailed understanding of the fibre properties and
the quality of the intermediate products from which it is the specific characteristics that affect their processing.
made.
Volume 4 – Ring Spinning
Technical and technological aspects of ring spinning are
covered. This is the final process in yarn production. The ring
spinning machine greatly influences the yarn and its quality.
Ring-spun yarns still represent the standard for compari-
son when evaluating yarns produced by other spinning
processes.
6 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 7
EDITORIAL
Ring Spinning Machine is the forth volume in the series The Rieter Manual
of Spinning, which updates the essential principles in modern short-staple
spinning. It endeavors to describe the contemporary state of the art in
spinning technology, with the objective of providing a reliable overview
of currently available processes and techniques.
It deals with ring spinning engineering and technology. This is a very impor-
tant segment of yarn manufacturing, since ring spinning has a very consid-
erable influence on the productivity of the whole process and the quality of
the yarn. Ring spinning is still the quality standard benchmark for any new
spinning processes. The importance of this universal process is confirmed by
the 200 million spindles installed worldwide and by their 80 % share of yarn
production in the short staple segment. Impressive advances in performance
that have been achieved in recent years as well as striking improvements
in yarn quality made possible by the compacting technology, will ensure its
dominant market position in the years to come. A fundamental and detailed
understanding of the operations involved in the creation of yarn is of crucial
importance for all specialists in the spinning industry and textile engineering,
as is the close interdependence of the different functions of the process.
If material and equipment are to be exploited to their limits – the precon-
dition for surviving in today‘s very tough competitive environment – these
limits have to be known. As in the other volumes in this series, an introduc-
tion familiarizes the reader with the subject matter as such. The individual
elements and their functions are dealt with in the same way, as well as the
different influences they exert on the process and quality.
The main author of these books, Werner Klein, is a former senior lecturer
of the Swiss Textile College and author of the original edition of the „Man-
ual of Textile Technology“ published by The Textile Institute Manchester.
All further authors are textile industry experts, who among others in vari-
ous positions within the Rieter Company, have many years
of experience to their credit.
The structure of this manual and the organization of its subject matter
were taken over from the original Technology of Short-staple Spinning
published by the Textile Institute, Manchester, whom we thank for their
kind permission to continue this standard work.
It is also pointed out again here that some important technological funda-
mentals have already been dealt with in The Rieter Manual of Spinning,
Volume 1 – Technology of Short-staple Spinning, especially drafting and
the interaction of the ring and traveler.
We wish all users of this compendium pleasant reading.
Rieter Machine Works Ltd.
8 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 9
CONTENTS
1. The ring spinning machine 11 3.6.4. Attachment of the rings 28
1.1. Introduction 11 3.6.5. The demands imposed on the ring when
2. Function and mode of operation 13 operating on the machine 29
2.1. Task 13 3.6.6. Fiber lubrication on the ring 29
2.2. Operating principle 13 3.6.7. Running-in new rings 29
3. Structural configuration of the machine 15 3.6.8. Follower rings 29
3.1. Basic frame and superstructure 15 3.7. The ring traveler 30
3.2. The bobbin creel 16 3.7.1. Task and function 30
3.3. The drafting system 16 3.7.2. Types 30
3.3.1. Influence on quality and economy 16 3.7.3. Traveler shape 30
3.3.2. Conceptual structure of the drafting system 16 3.7.4. The traveler material 31
3.3.3. The top rollers 17 3.7.5. Traveler mass 32
3.3.3.1. Types 17 3.7.6. The traveler clearer 33
3.3.3.2. Covers 17 4. The machine drive 35
3.3.4. Pressure roller loading 18 4.1. The drive problem 35
3.3.4.1. Loading options 18 4.2. Motors used 36
3.3.4.2. Spring-loaded pressure arm 4.3. Three-phase squirrel-cage induction motors 36
(Texparts PK 225, for example) 18 4.3.1. The motor 36
3.3.4.3. Pressure arm with pneumatic 4.3.2. Pole-changing three-phase motors 36
loading (Rieter FS 160 P 3.1, for example) 19 4.3.3. Squirrel-cage induction motors with
3.3.5. Fiber guidance devices 19 variable speed gears on the load side 36
3.3.5.1. Options on the ring spinning machine 19 4.3.4. The A.S.S. drive 37
3.3.5.2. Double apron drafting system with 4.4. Three-phase shunt motor (commutator motor) 37
long bottom apron 20 4.5. DC shunt motor 37
3.3.5.3. Double apron drafting system with 5. Cop buildup 39
short bottom apron 20 5.1. Cop shape 39
3.4. The spindle 21 5.2. The winding process 39
3.4.1. The threadline 21 5.3. The winding mechanism 40
3.4.2. Spindle structure 21 5.4. Forming the base 40
3.4.3. The spindle bearing 21 5.5. Motor-powered cop formation 41
3.4.4. Influence of the spindle on the spinning process 23 6. Automation 43
3.4.5. The spindle drive 23 6.1. The need for automation 43
3.4.5.1. Types 23 6.2. The potential for automation 43
3.4.5.2. 4-spindle tape drive 23 6.3. Doffing 44
3.4.5.3. Tangential belt drive 24 6.3.1. Preparation for doffing 44
3.5. The thread guide devices 24 6.3.2. Manual doffing 45
3.5.1. The thread guide 24 6.3.3. Automatic doffing 45
3.5.2. The balloon checking ring (BER) 6.3.3.1. Types of doffing system 45
(antiballooning device) 25 6.3.3.2. Components of the system 45
3.5.3. The separators 25 6.3.3.3. Doffing preparation 45
3.6. The ring 26 6.3.3.4. Doffing the cops 46
3.6.1. The importance of ring and traveler 26 6.3.3.5. Creeling the tubes 48
3.6.2. The ring shape 26 6.3.3.6. Completion of doffing 48
3.6.2.1. Basic shapes 26 6.4. Automated cop transport 48
3.6.2.2. T-flange rings 27 6.4.1. Appropriateness of automation 48
3.6.2.3. The „anti-wedge“ ring 27 6.4.2. Interconnected transport 48
3.6.2.4. The „cropped ring“ (standard ring) 27 6.4.3. Interconnected machines 49
3.6.2.5. Inclined-flange rings 27 6.5. Piecing devices 49
3.6.3. The ring material 28 6.6. Roving stop motions 50
10 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
6.7. Monitoring 50
6.7.1. The purpose of this equipment 50
6.7.2. RINGDATA by Zellweger 51
6.7.3. Individual Spindle Monitoring (ISM) by Rieter 52
6.7.4. Mill information systems 52
6.7.4.1. Requirements 52
6.7.4.2. Structure of mill information systems 52
6.7.4.3. Explanation of the Rieter
SPIDERweb system by way of example 53
7. Auxiliary equipment 55
7.1. Fiber extraction 55
7.1.1. The system 55
7.1.2. Vacuum and energy consumption 55
7.2. Blowers (traveling cleaners) 55
7.2.1. The problem of dust and fly 55
7.2.2. Types 56
7.2.3. Agitators 56
7.2.4. Blower/suction systems 56
7.2.5. Tracks 56
8. Compact spinning 57
8.1. Basic situation 57
8.2. Solution to the problem 57
8.3. Implementation of the basic solution 57
8.4. Advantages of condensing 58
9. Technological addenda 61
9.1. Spinning geometry 61
9.1.1. Terms 61
9.1.2. The spinning triangle 62
9.1.2.1. The formation of the spinning triangle 62
9.1.2.2. The dimensions of the spinning
triangle (width and length) 62
9.1.2.3. Influence on the ends down rate 63
9.1.2.4. Influence on the yarn structure 64
9.1.2.5. Concluding remarks on the spinning triangle 64
9.1.3. Spinning length E 64
9.1.4. Spinning angle γ 64
9.1.5. Roller overhang 65
9.1.6. Other dimensions in spinning geometry 65
9.2. Quality standards 65
9.2.1. A new approach to quality 65
9.2.1.1. Dimensioned quality 65
9.2.1.2. Overdimensioned quality 65
9.2.1.3. Underdimensioned quality 65
9.2.1.4. Quality that is as good as required 66
9.2.2. Quality standards according to Uster Statistics 66
9.2.2.1. Mass variation 66
9.2.2.2. Imperfections 66
9.2.2.3. Tensile properties (breaking
tenacity, at 5 m/min) 66
Illustrations 77
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 11
1. THE RING SPINNING MACHINE rotor spinning, and most recently Air-jet spinning). Due to
1.1. Introduction their many inherent limitations, the new processes are only
ever to be found in sub-segments of the market, usually in
the coarser yarn sector. The current renaissance of the ring
spinning machine is due to the fact that these inherent fea-
tures have been clearly recognized by specialists. However,
the ring spinning machine can only hold its own position
in the long run if the ring spinning process can be automat-
ed further and spinning costs substantially reduced, since
this machine is a major cost factor in a spinning mill, as the
graph produced by Rieter shows (Fig. 2).
Fig. 1 – Ring spinning machine 60 % Ring spinning
The ring spinning machine was invented by an American
named Thorp in 1828, and Jenk – another American – add-
ed the traveler rotating around the ring in 1830. In the in- 12 % Roving
tervening period of more than 170 years the ring spinning
machine has undergone considerable modification in de- 4 % Drawing
tail, but the basic concept has remained the same. For many
13 % Carding
years any noteworthy further development hardly seemed
possible, yet a significant process of evolution took place
11 % Blowroom
during this time. The productivity of the ring spinning ma-
chine has increased by 40 % since the late nineteen-seven-
ties. This has been achieved by: Fig. 2 – Cost structure in a typical ring spinning mill
• using smaller rings and cop formats;
• introducing piecing in the winding department; Improvements can be achieved primarily by:
• substantial improvements in rings and travelers. • further development of rings and travelers
• using automated take-off devices (doffers)
The degree of automation has also been increased signifi- • reducing the ring diameter, which enables the rotation
cantly. As this process of evolution is not yet complete, the speed of the spindle to be increased while traveler speed
ring spinning machine will continue to be the most widely remains unchanged. For example, cost savings of some
used spinning process in short staple spinning, since it has 7 US cents/kg of yarn are achieved by using a 42 mm ring
considerable advantages over the new spinning processes: instead of a 48 mm ring, despite a slight decline in effi-
• it can be used universally, i.e. any material and any yarn ciency. However, reductions in ring diameter presuppose
count can be spun on it; the use of doffers on the ring spinning machine (except
• it produces yarn with optimum properties (especially when wage costs are very low) and piecers on the winder.
as regards structure and tenacity); The slub-free length is then of little importance.
• it is uncomplicated and easy to control; • increasing machine length, which reduces the machine
• know-how for handling the machine is old, well price
established and accessible to everyone; • reducing ends down frequency, in which the new data
• it is flexible with regard to volume (blend and batch collection systems and new drive systems can be of great
sizes). assistance
• improving roving quality, since the causes of at least
New spinning processes therefore often find it difficult to 50 % of all ends down on the ring spinning machine
make a substantial breakthrough (with the exception of are to be found in the preparatory machines
12 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
• combining the ring spinning machine and the automatic
winder into a production unit
• roving stop motions, primarily for reducing waste and
preventing laps; they could perhaps enable operations
to be maintained with fewer personnel during certain
working periods
• automation in the fields of roving bobbin transport and
roving bobbin change.
Altogether, these can make the ring spinning machine
a very attractive proposition again. Technological rela-
tionships are explained in detail in Volume 1.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 13
2. FUNCTION AND MODE OF OPERATION The roving bobbins (1) are inserted in holders (3) on the
2.1. Task creel. Guide bars (4) guide the rovings (2) into the drafting
system (5), where they are drawn to their final count. The
The ring spinning machine has to: drafting system is at an angle of 45 - 60° and is one of the
• draw the roving to its final count in the drafting system; most important units on the machine, since it exerts a very
• impart tenacity to the bundle of fibers by twisting it; considerable influence on the uniformity of the yarn in par-
and ticular.
• wind up the resulting yarn in a suitable form for
storage, transport and downstream processing. After the resulting thin ribbon of fibers (6) leaves the deliv-
ery roller, the twist necessary for imparting strength is pro-
2.2. Operating principle vided by spindle (8) rotating at high speed. In the process
each rotation of the traveler on the spinning ring (10) pro-
duces a twist in the yarn. Ring traveler (9) is also necessary
for taking up this yarn onto a tube mounted on the spindle.
This traveler – a remnant of the flyer on the roving frame –
moves on a guide rail around the spindle, the so-called ring
3 (10). The ring traveler has no drive of its own, it is dragged
with spindle (8) via the yarn attached to it. The rotation of
the ring traveler lags somewhat behind that of the spindle
1 due to the relatively high friction of the ring traveler on the
ring and the atmospheric resistance of the traveler and the
thread balloon between yarn guide eyelet (7) and traveler
(9). This difference in speed between the spindle and the
traveler results in the thread being wound onto the tube.
In contrast to the roving frame, the ring spinning machine
2 spindle operates with at higher speed than the traveller (9).
4 The yarn is wound up into a cylindrical cop form by raising
and lowering of the rings, which are mounted on a continu-
ous ring rail. The layer traverse of the ring rail is also less
5
than the full winding height of the tube. The ring rail there-
fore has to be raised slightly (shift traverse) after each lay-
er has been wound. For a time, machines were also built
featuring shift traverse produced by lowering the spindle
6 bearing plate rather than raising the ring rail. These ma-
chines are no longer available today.
7
10
9
Fig. 3 – Working diagram
14 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 15
3. STRUCTURAL CONFIGURATION
OF THE MACHINE
3.1. Basic frame and superstructure
E
E
G G G G G G
A B C D
Fig. 4 – Machine components
H
The long, manufacturing mid-section of the machine (B)
1 consists primarily of continuous longitudinal spindle bear-
ing plates (E) and cylinder supports (F) along its entire
length, which are attached to several center frames (G) ar-
ranged at short intervals. The latter also serve as supports
for the bobbin creel. Spindles (4) are mounted on the spin-
dle bearing plate, drafting system (2) on the cylinder sup-
port. Each center frame stands on two feet which can be
adjusted in height by screws, which facilitates leveling of
the machine.
End stocks (A+C) at each end of mid-section (B) can accom-
2
modate, for example, the transmission, electrical and elec-
tronic components, and the drive and the thread extraction
3 filter, respectively. Modern machines also include the au-
tomated take-off unit (doffer, D). Including the doffer, ma-
F
12 chine width varies between approx. 800 and 1 000 mm (up
to 1 400 mm with doffer arm extended), and nowadays the
4
11
length can be up to 50 m and more, with up to 1 600 spin-
dles per machine. Spindle gauge is usually between 70 and
5 90 mm.
6
7 G
8 E
9
K
10
Fig. 5 – Section through the machine
16 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
3.2. The bobbin creel 3.3. The drafting system
3.3.1. Influence on quality and economy
If an assessment is based on quality alone, the drafting sys-
tem is the most important part of the machine. It primarily
influences the uniformity and tenacity of the yarns. The fol-
2
lowing aspects are therefore very important:
3 • the type of drafting system;
4 • its design;
• precise settings;
• choice of the correct components;
1 • choice of the correct drafts;
• maintenance and servicing, etc.
However, the drafting system also has an influence on econ-
omy, i.e. directly via ends down frequency and indirectly via
degree of draft. If higher drafts can be set in the drafting sys-
5 tem, this enables coarser rovings to be supplied. However,
coarser rovings signify in turn higher production perform-
ance of the roving frame and thus savings on roving spindles,
6 i.e. a reduction in machines (roving frames), space, person-
nel, etc. However, if the draft is increased too much, this can
result in a reduction in yarn quality. The following approxi-
mate upper limits for drafting have emerged in mill opera-
tions using modern drafting systems with good fiber guid-
ance (e.g. Rieter drafting systems with P 3.1 pressure arm):
Fig. 6 – Bobbin suspension pivot
• carded cotton yarn up to 40
• carded yarn blends up to 50
The bobbin creel is simple in design, but it can nevertheless • combed cotton and blended yarns
have an influence on the occurrence of faults. If take-off - medium counts up to 60
from the bobbin is not trouble-free, incorrect drafts or even - fine counts up to 70
thread breaks occur. This is why bobbin suspension piv- - manmade fibers up to 45 (- 50).
ots are used nowadays rather than bobbin holders. These
are, for example, bolted onto several support rails (triangu- In order to obtain optimum results, the break draft zone
lar tubing (2)) arranged one behind the other along the en- must be set in such a way that the roving is under tension in
tire length of the machine, one for each spindle. The pivots, this zone, but only sufficiently for no real drafting to occur.
such as the Casablancas model illustrated, feature the actu- This is achieved with break draft nip distances of 60 - 80 mm
al holding device for the tube in their lower section (6). and break draft settings of 1.03 to about 1.3. Unfortunately,
If ring (5) is pushed right up with the top end of the tube generally applicable optimum settings for every case cannot
inserted in the pivot, retainer (6) for the bobbin swings be stated, since they depend heavily on fiber material, roving
out; if ring (5) is pushed upward a second time, holder count and roving twist.
(6) is retracted again, and the tube, for example when it
is empty, can be removed again. The pivots are mounted 3.3.2. Conceptual structure of the drafting system
in ball bearings. A light brake hoop occasionally presses
gently against the bobbin so that the bobbin cannot rotate 3-roller, double-apron drafting systems are used exclusive-
too fast. This braking device is integrated in the bearing ly on modern ring spinning machines used for short staple
unit on modern suspension pivots. spinning. They consist of three fluted, driven, bottom steel
Nowadays bobbin creels occupy lots space in terms of rollers (a) with top rollers (b) positioned above them, sup-
width, as very large roving bobbins are usually used. ported and pressed against bottom rollers (a) by a rocking
support (c) (pressure arm). Since a fiber bundle with only
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 17
few fibers has to be transported in the main drafting zone,
the main drafting zone is provided with a guide unit con- a
sisting of rotating bottom and top aprons (e).
Fig. 9 – The INA drafting system
b
3.3.3. The top rollers
3.3.3.1. Types
e
b
a
b Spinning mills operate with two groups of top rollers (pres-
a sure rollers):
• rollers mounted on bearings at both ends on draw
a frames and in the combing room and
• twin rollers (also known as compensating rollers)
on roving frames and ring spinning machines.
Fig. 7 – The drafting system
Compensating rollers are supported by the pressure arm in
a b the center. They can rock slightly relative to the axis of the
bottom roller. They are available in two versions:
• fixed rollers, with the two pressure bodies (1, Fig. 10)
at left and right forming a rigid unit which can only be
rotated together and
• loose rollers, with the two pressure bodies separately
mounted and able to rotate independently of each other.
A distinction is also made according to whether the roller
bodies can be removed from the shaft (removable shell), or
are permanently attached to the shaft (non-removable shell).
The roller bodies are mounted on single-row or double-row
ball bearings.
main drafting zone pre drafting zone
1 1
Fig. 8 – Section through the drafting system
The top rollers are usually arranged as shown in Fig. 8. An
overlap (a) of 2 - 4 mm is usually selected for the front roll-
ers and an underlap (b) of 2 - 4 mm for the middle rollers.
Fig. 10 – Pressure roller
The overlap and underlap ensure smooth running of the top
rollers, and the overlap of the front roller also shortens the 3.3.3.2. Covers
spinning triangle by advancing the nip line (refer to „Spin-
ning geometry“), which has a correspondingly positive im- The pressure roller covers are made of synthetic rubber. The
pact on ends down frequency. Another roller configuration cover in the form of a short tube is fitted onto the bearing
has been offered by the INA company in the so-called V-Draft sleeve with a certain degree of pretension and glued in posi-
drafting system. In this case the rear top roller is shifted tion, an operation that has to be performed with the great-
to the rear on the bottom roller. The larger wrapping arc est care. There are different ranges of hardness:
(a, Fig. 9) results in an additional fiber control zone. Howev- • soft: 60° - 70° Shore
er, it can also result in a wider spread of the fiber ribbon. • medium hard: 70° - 90° Shore
• hard: over 90° Shore
18 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
Covers of less than 60° Shore are not usually of any use, 3.3.4. Pressure roller loading
since they are unable to recover from the deformation re- 3.3.4.1. Loading options
sulting from the contact pressure during a revolution of the
roller. Soft covers have a larger contact surface, and there- Three types of pressure roller loading are used on ring spin-
fore enclose the fiber bundle more fully, thus providing ning machines:
more effective guidance. However, they also wear rather • spring loading (most manufacturers);
more quickly and have a greater tendency to form laps due • pneumatic loading (Rieter on all machines for some
to the fulling effect. Harder covers are therefore used wher- decades, and recently also Texparts);
ever possible. This is the case, for example, at the draw • magnetic loading (previously by Saco Lowell).
frame infeed. Here a compact, unified fiber bundle with
a slight twist, requiring no increased guidance, is fed in. Loading supports are required for mounting the top rollers
However, increased control of this nature is an advan- using the first two types. These bearing arms are attached
tage at the delivery end, where only few fibers remain in to continuous shafts or tubes mounted behind the rollers.
the bundle and these have a tendency to drift apart. Cov- They can be opened and closed by means of levers in order
ers with approx. 80° - 85° Shore are therefore usually used to reduce and increase the loading, respectively.
on the back rollers and 63° - 67° Shore on the front rollers.
Harder covers are also chosen at the front, i.e. at the deliv- 3.3.4.2. Spring-loaded pressure arm (Texparts PK 225,
ery end, for coarser yarns and manmade fiber yarns due to for example)
wear (also due to the higher tendency to lap formation in
the case of manmade fibers). Since the covers wear, they Each compensating roller is seated in a bearing slide (1, 2, 3);
have to be ground on special grinding machines from time these are infinitely adjustable relative to each other. A spring
to time (after some 3 000 - 4 500 operating hours). The re- (4, 5, 6) – sometimes two on the front roller – presses the top
duction in diameter should be some 0.2 mm, and the cov- roller against the bottom roller. In the case of SKF the loading
ers should never be ground to a total thickness of less than pressure can simply be adjusted in three stages by means of
3.5 mm. a tool. Colored marks indicated the set loading stage.
4 5 2 3
Fig. 11 – SKF PK 225 rocking support
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 19
n
20 daN 10 daN 15 daN
25 daN 15 daN 20 daN
30 daN 20 daN 25 daN
Fig. 12 – Changing the loading on the PK 225 rocking support
3.3.4.3. Pressure arm with pneumatic loading
(Rieter FS 160 P 3.1, for example)
The loading support is stamped from steel sheet and is
mounted on a continuous hexagonal section tube behind the
Fig. 13 – Pneumatic loading by Rieter
rollers. The tube contains the compressed air hose connected
to a central compressor unit. Three top roller holders mount-
ed on two bearing slides are accommodated in the loading 3.3.5. Fiber guidance devices
support itself. The two bearing slides form a double lever sys- 3.3.5.1. Options on the ring spinning machine
tem. Depending on where a pin is inserted in one of the three
holes as the pivot at „m“, the total pressure coming from the
compressed air hose and acting on the entire pressure arm via 1
a cam is applied more strongly to the back roller or the two
a
front rollers. Pressure can also be distributed differently
between the two front rollers via a second pin/hole system
in the bearing slide of these two rollers at „n“.
The total pressure on the top rollers is changed by simply b
adjusting the pressure in the compressed air hose via a re-
ducing valve at the end of the machine, and distribution
to the individual rollers via the system of levers already re-
ferred to. The main advantages of pneumatic loading are: c
• simple and very rapid, centralized changes in pressure;
• simple and rapid pressure reduction to a minimum in
the event of machine stoppages, so that the roller cov-
ers are not deformed during prolonged interruptions d
to operations.
Fig. 14 – Fiber guidance options
20 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
The fiber bundle in the main drafting zone consists of only
relatively few fibers. There is virtually no friction zone, and
fiber guidance by rollers alone is inadequate. The shorter
fibers in particular also have to be controlled in terms of
speed within the drafting zone. Special fiber guidance de-
vices are therefore required in order to perform satisfactory
drafting. The following guidance options can be envisaged
for a ring spinning drafting system (Fig. 14):
• line guidance:
A small aluminum or wooden roller (1), the so-called
dummy roller, presses with its low dead weight against
the bottom roller. This device is no longer used in
modern drafting systems (a).
• surface guidance: (two-dimensional)
This can take place in the form of deflection around
rollers (b), single aprons (c) or double aprons (d). New
ring spinning machine drafting systems are equipped
with double aprons, while INA also employs version
(b) at the feed rollers.
• spatial guidance: (three-dimensional, e) (fiber channel)
Fig. 15 – Long bottom apron
Only this device can provide optimum fiber control
and thus fewer irregularities. However, it is difficult
to work with, since the size of the channel, for exam-
ple, should always be adjusted to the bulk of the mate-
rial. Nevertheless, this principle has already been im-
plemented in the Ambler drafting system of the English
worsted spinning process. Spatial guidance would be
ideal with moving surfaces rather than the stationary
surfaces illustrated in the drawing.
Fig. 16 – Short bottom apron
3.3.5.2. Double apron drafting system with long bottom
apron
3.3.5.3. Double apron drafting system with short
In the double apron drafting system the fiber guidance unit bottom apron
consists of two aprons rotating with the middle rollers. The
top apron must be pressed against the bottom apron with Although the short apron arrangement is almost as old as
controlled force in order to provide guidance. For this pur- that with the long apron, it is not used so often. The draw-
pose there must be a gap between the two aprons at the back of short aprons is that they are more difficult to re-
apron delivery end (tensor gap) that is precisely adjusted place in the event of damage. They can also be more in-
to the fiber volume. This gap can be adjusted by using dif- clined to become clogged with fiber fly if holders are used,
ferent spacer plates, shoes, etc. and then they run out of true. However, they also have dis-
The top aprons, which are often plastic aprons, are always tinct advantages:
short. However, the bottom aprons can be as short as the • less design effort, i.e. cheaper;
top aprons (Fig. 16) or quite a bit longer and guided ac- • structural components under the drafting system, such as
cordingly around deflecting elements (Fig. 15). The advan- deflectors, cleaning devices and guides, can be dispensed
tage of long bottom aprons over short aprons is that they with, and accessibility under the cylinders is improved;
are easy to replace in the event of damage. They are also • they can be placed closer to the front rollers, which im-
less inclined to become clogged with fiber fly. proves fiber control.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 21
3.4. The spindle 3.4.2. Spindle structure
3.4.1. The threadline
The yarn produced in the drafting system by twisting is fed
directly over the spindle by means of thread guide eyelet
(1). Before it is taken up on the spindle it passes over a sec-
ond thread guide unit, balloon checking ring (2). Take-up
on spindle (4) itself takes place as a result of the interac-
tion between the speed of the ring traveler rotating on ring
(3) and that of the spindle. The spindle is the third most
important machine component after the drafting system
and the ring/traveler combination. The spindle theoretical-
ly permits speeds up to 25 000 rpm.
However, this speed cannot be exploited to the full due to
the limitations imposed by the traveler speed and/or the
yarn tension in the spinning triangle zone.
1 Fig. 18 – Cap wharve
The spindle consists of two distinctly separate parts, spin-
dle center shaft (4) and enclosed bearing housing (7). Now-
adays the center shaft is made from an aluminum alloy and
is slightly tapered (e.g. 1:64). It has a tube coupling at the
top (also at the bottom on large spindles) to ensure that the
tube is firmly seated on the shaft.
The bottom end of the shaft takes the form of a wharve (5).
2
This is a cap wharve, i.e. it is hollow and can therefore be
fitted over the spindle collar accommodated in the bearing
housing (Fig. 18). The tensile forces generated by the drive
belt therefore act directly on the bearing, which favora-
4
bly influences the smooth running of the spindle. However,
the size of the wharve is important as well as its shape. If
its diameter can be kept small, equally high spindle speeds
3 can be achieved at lower drive speeds (cylinder/belts). This
results in lower energy consumption. However, in order to
ensure that the drive belt rotates the spindle slip-free, the
diameter of the wharve must also not be too small. Wharve
5
diameters of 19 to 22 mm are customary at present.
Bearing section (7) is bolted firmly to ring rail (6) by nut
(8) (Fig. 17).
8
3.4.3. The spindle bearing
6
7 The design of a modern spindle bearing is briefly explained
here on the basis of the Texparts CS1 spindle (Fig. 19).
The spindle bearing consists of 2 parts, a spindle collar
bearing (1) and a spindle step bearing (3). Both parts are
connected via housing (7). The spindle collar comprises
Fig. 17 – Thread guide eyelet (1), balloon checking ring (2), spindle
(4/7) and ring (3)
22 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
a precision roller bearing. The spindle step, designed as
a friction bearing (conical bearing), is responsible for the
elastic centering and cushioning of the spindle center shaft.
Two centering and cushioning elements (6) control the
4
bearing shaft (2). An oil-filled spiral (10) mounted sym-
metrically with the spindle step ensures optimum cushion-
ing. Spindle step (3) also absorbs all vertical forces acting
on the spindle.
The spindle collar can be a friction bearing or a roller bear-
ing. The noise level can be reduced considerably by using
friction bearings, but energy consumption is somewhat
1
higher. Most spindles are therefore equipped with roller
bearings. The spindle collar is rigidly friction-set in the 5
bearing housing in standard spindles. Bearing vibration is
therefore transmitted to the spindle frame without damp-
ing. This results in high noise levels at higher speeds. For
speeds over 18 000 rpm, spindles are therefore mostly
used in which not only the spindle step, but also the spin-
dle collar is attached flexibly to the bearing housing (e.g. 2
Novibra HP-S 68). These spindles are more expensive,
but permit higher speeds and reduce noise levels in ring
spinning machines by some 10 dB (a) compared with 8
standard spindles.
6
Spindle step (3) is always a friction bearing and flexible,
i.e. it can tilt sideways to a small extent. The spindle is 11
therefore able to center itself, which enables it to operate
in hypercritical ranges. This results in a significant reduc- 7
10
tion in bearing forces. High-performance spindles are in-
conceivable without damping devices (10). Various sys-
tems are used, such as damping spirals, damping tubes or
damping oil around a steel tube. 3
12
If damping spirals are used, spiral spring (a) is compressed
at one side when the spindle is deflected to side (b) (Fig. 20). 9
The oil therefore flows from this side to the other side,
where the gaps become wider (c). The resistance the oil has
to overcome in the process damps the vibration in the spin- Fig. 19 – Vibration absorber (10) in a spindle bearing
dle step and ultimately in the shaft.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 23
3.4.5. The spindle drive
3.4.5.1. Types
A basic distinction is made between three groups of spin-
dle drive:
• tape drive
a • tangential belt drive and
• direct drive.
Tape drive is in turn sub-divided into:
b • individual spindle drive and
• group drive
and direct drive into:
c • mechanical and
• motorized direct drive.
Mechanical direct drive is no longer used today, and the mo-
torized version, i.e. featuring individual spindle motors, has
been introduced on an experimental basis by the SKF com-
pany. Only group drive in the form of 4-spindle tape drive or
Fig. 20 – Spindle damping function: a, spiral spring; b, spindle blade; c, oil flow
tangential belt drive are usually used in short staple spinning.
Compared with tangential belt drive, 4-spindle tape drive has
The cavity between the spindle blade and the bearing hous- the advantage of operating with rather lower noise levels and
ing is largely filled with lubricating oil. Since the oil is used energy consumption, although belts are easier to replace. The
up, it has to be replenished from time to time. This is nec- advantages of tangential belt drive are: elimination of drive
essary after about 10 000 - 25 000 operating hours. elements under the machine, less air disturbance under the
machine and perhaps rather less maintenance effort.
3.4.4. Influence of the spindle on the spinning process
3.4.5.2. 4-spindle tape drive
Spindles (and the spindle drive) have a considerable influ-
ence on the machine‘s energy consumption and noise level. In the 4-spindle tape drive a tape drives two spindles on one
However, the running behavior of the spindle, especially bal- side of the machine and two further spindles on the other side
ancing errors and eccentricity relative to the ring, also have of the machine. When changing from one side to the other the
an impact on yarn quality and, of course, on ends down fre- tape passes around a drive cylinder or drive pulley (1). 1 - 2
quency. Badly running spindles have an adverse impact on tension rollers (2) ensure good, uniform tensioning of the tape.
almost all yarn parameters. Spinning mills must therefore al-
ways ensure the best possible centering of rings and spindles.
Since the ring and the spindle are units that are independent
of each other and can change position relative to each other
during operation, these components must be centered from
time to time. This used to be done by moving the spindle rela-
tive to the ring, but now usually involves adjusting the ring. 2 2
Mechanical or electronic devices are used for centering. 1
Fig. 21 – 4-spindle tape drive
24 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
3.4.5.3. Tangential belt drive 3.5. The thread guide devices
3.5.1. The thread guide
In the tangential belt drive a belt coming from the suspend-
ed drive motor passes along the back of all the spindles. Fitted immediately over the spindle, the thread guide has
A large number of pressure rollers ensure that the belt is to guide the yarn centrally over the center axis of the spin-
pressed uniformly against all the spindles. A fundamental dle. The thread guide consists of wire eyelet (o) and thread
distinction is made between three basic forms: single-belt, board (k). The thread guide eyelet is mounted adjustably
double-belt and group drive. in the thread board to enable it to be centered. The latter
is itself fitted on a continuous thread guide rail (r). The rail
can be raised and lowered together with the thread guides.
While cops are being wound it performs the same move-
ments as the ring rail, but with a smaller traverse height:
a
• continuous raising and lowering during layering and
• continuous lift by small amounts as switching traverse.
o k
b
r
Fig. 22 – Tangential belt drive
Fig. 23 – Group drive (new from SKF Almanac)
Fig. 24 – Thread board (k) and thread guide eyelet (o)
In the first case, an endless belt drives the spindles on both
sides (Fig. 22, b), in the other system there are two belts, As shown in Fig. 25, this prevents the differences in balloon
one of which drives the spindles on one side, and the sec- height between the individual ring rail positions from be-
ond those on the other side (Fig. 22, a). The double-belt coming too large. Otherwise excessive differences in yarn
system results in more uniform spindle speeds. With the tension would arise, with correspondingly negative effects
single-belt system, differences can arise due to the widely on ends down frequency and yarn properties. Thread guides
differing tension in the belts, especially on long machines. must be centered from time to time by means of a pointer
Group drive is being used increasingly nowadays instead of (s) fitted on the spindle. Since the thread passes through
the single or double-belt version (Fig. 23). In this system the inside edge rather than the center of eyelet (o), the tip
a tangential belt drives 50 spindles on each side of the ma- of the centering pointer must point to the inside edge of the
chine, for example, i.e. 10 group drives with 10 motors op- eyelet (Fig. 26).
erating synchronously are needed for a machine with 1 000
spindles. Speed synchronization must be guaranteed. In
another group drive system only 1 tangential belt is used.
However, this belt is then driven by several motors operat-
ing synchronously along the length of the machine.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 25
3.5.2. The balloon checking ring (BER)
(antiballooning device)
Relatively high spindles are generally used nowadays. The
distance between the ring and the thread guide eyelet, and
therefore the balloon, is therefore correspondingly large,
especially during winding on the bottom end of the tube.
When dragging the ring traveler with it, the yarn in the bal-
loon therefore assumes a distinctly curved shape. The bal-
loon becomes unstable and may collapse. In order to pre-
vent this „necking“ (transition from a single to a multiple
balloon), the balloon is restricted in the middle by the bal-
loon checking ring in such a way that two smaller balloons
are formed which are in themselves stable. Balloon checking
rings permit operation at higher speeds, but can result in:
• napping of the thread,
• severe fiber abrasion (formation of fly) and
• formation of melt points on manmade fibers
as the thread rubs against them.
Fig. 25 – Raising the thread guide eyelet as the balloon becomes smaller Close attention must be paid to the last of these. In the same
way as the thread guides, the balloon checking rings also per-
o form the traversing motions of the ring rail in smaller amounts.
Fig. 26 – Centering the thread guide eyelet Fig. 27 – Balloon checking ring
3.5.3. The separators
Most ends down occur in the spinning triangle, since that
is where very high forces act on a fiber bundle that is not
yet fully integrated. If a break occurs, the yarn end that
has now become free must be pulled to the cop and wound
onto it. On its way there the thread whirls around the spin-
dle. In the absence of a protective device the yarn would be
flung into the neighboring balloon and that yarn would also
26 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
be broken. This would be repeated continuously, resulting This list shows that the manufacturers of these machine
in serial ends down. In order to prevent this, aluminum or components can exercise the greatest influence, and the
plastic separator plates are arranged between the individu- spinning specialist can only ensure good conditions by
al spindles (Fig. 28). choosing and handling them correctly in the spinning mill.
Fig. 29 – Ring and traveler
3.6.2. The ring shape
3.6.2.1. Basic shapes
A distinction is made between:
• unlubricated rings and
Fig. 28 – Separators • lubricated rings (in carded yarn and worsted spinning).
The standard rings used in short staple spinning, the unlu-
3.6. The ring bricated rings, are also divided into:
3.6.1. The importance of ring and traveler • T-flange rings and
• inclined-flange rings.
The ring traveler is in most cases responsible for the limita-
tion of the ring spinning machine‘s productivity, depending
on the interaction of ring, traveler and yarn. It is therefore
important for the specialist to be aware of the influencing
factors and to act in accordance with this knowledge. Opti-
mum running conditions depend on:
• ring and traveler material
• surface finish of the components
• the shape of both components a
• coordination of the shapes
• wear resistance
• smooth running
• running in procedure
• fiber lubrication.
Fig. 30 – Single-sided and two-sided ring
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 27
3.6.2.2. T-flange rings
T-flange rings are either single-sided (Fig. 30, a) or two-
sided (Fig. 30, b). Single-sided rings have to be replaced
by new ones when they wear out, while two-sided rings
can then be reversed and used on the other side. However,
it often transpired that the underside, which had been un-
used to that point and served as a mounting, had become
unserviceable due to corrosion, etc. These rings are there-
fore now hardly used. Two dimensions are especially im-
portant in short staple spinning rings, namely inside diam-
eter D and flange F (Fig. 31).
Rings are available with inside diameters D in the 36 to
57 mm range. Fig. 32 – Anti-wedge ring
Flange sizes are standardized: 3.6.2.4. The „cropped ring“ (standard ring)
Flange No. 1 (1.5) 2
Flange width (F, mm) 3.2 (3.7) 4.1 In the case of the cropped ring the arc was flattened on top
compared with the rings that were customary until then.
This resulted in a large space for yarn passage, so that the
arc of the ring traveler could also be flattened off (oval
D F traveler/flat traveler) and the center of gravity lowered.
Its advantage over the anti-wedge ring is that the space
for yarn passage is rather larger and all customary ring
travelers with the exception of the elliptical traveler can
be mounted on it. This is the most widely used ring shape
nowadays and is supplied by all well-known companies,
such as Bräcker, Reiners & Fürst, etc.
Fig. 31 – Ring flange
3.6.2.3. The „anti-wedge“ ring
This was the first high-performance ring. It is still on sale.
Compared with the previously customary ring shape, it
features a flange with a flared inside surface and is flat-
tened off considerably on top. This change in shape ena-
bled a ring traveler with a low center of gravity and pre- Fig. 33 – Cropped ring
cisely adjusted arc (elliptical traveler) to be used and thus
also permitted operation at higher speeds. Anti-wedge 3.6.2.5. Inclined-flange rings
rings and elliptical travelers belong together and should
only be used in combination. Since the space for the yarn This type of ring was invented in Russia and marketed as
passage is limited, this combination can only be used for the „SU ring“. For various reasons, the success of this ring
fine and medium count yarns. was very limited. Rieter took up this very interesting design
28 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
and developed it to perfection in the late nineteen-eighties. The following materials are used:
The corresponding ring was launched on the market under • case hardening steel in some cases
the ORBIT brand name in 1991. • nitride steel
The outstanding advantage of inclined-flange rings, and of • ball bearing steel; this is currently the customary ring
the ORBIT system in particular, is the much larger contact material.
area between ring and traveler compared to T-flange rings
(Fig. 34, left). This considerably reduces the pressure be- However, modern rings usually feature a surface coating.
tween ring and traveler and thus improves heat dissipation The object of such coatings is:
from the contact area (The forces acting on the traveler in • to reduce friction,
a plane through the spindle axis are shown in Fig. 34, right). • to reduce wear,
These features make ORBIT rings and the corresponding • to prevent corrosion and
travelers a high-performance system. In comparison to • to simplify running-in the ring.
T-flange rings, ORBIT rings enable traveler speeds to be
increased by up to 15 %. Coatings used include:
• oxides
3.6.3. The ring material • nitriding
• carbonitriding
The ring should be tough on the inside and hard on the • hard chrome
outside. Very close attention should be paid to the run- • nickel (in some cases containing hard particles)
ning surface in particular in this respect. Uniformly high • ceramics.
hardness of the boundary layer of about 800 - 850 HV is
required. A lower hardness (650 - 700 HV) should be chosen 3.6.4. Attachment of the rings
for the traveler, so that the traveler, which is less expensive
and easier to replace, wears rather than the ring. Surface The rings are attached to the rising and falling ring rail.
smoothness is also important. It should be high, but not Previously, they were fitted rigidly in the ring rail, but they
too high, otherwise a lubricating film cannot form. now have to be movable, since the spindles are no longer
ORBIT – SYSTEM – TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Ring / traveller system Forces acting on the traveller
in the plane of the traveller spindle
N
S
N1
Z
N3 N2
N1
Conventional Ring ORBIT-Ring
S = yarn tension
N = normal force between ring and traveller
Z = centrfugal force
contact surface
Fig. 34 – Rieter Orbit ring
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 29
centered on the rings; the rings are now centered on the pected with yarns finer than 7.5 tex (Ne 80) due to the low
fixed spindles, which involves much less effort. The rings traveler mass and thus low centrifugal force.
on modern machines are therefore bolted adjustably on the In this case maximum traveler speed is therefore lower
ring rail with appropriate adapters. than for medium-count yarns. Travelers reach speeds of
up to 40 m/s and more with modern ring/traveler combina-
tions when fiber lubrication is functioning effectively.
3.6.7. Running-in new rings
If worn rings are replaced by new ones, these lack a lubricant
film. Purely metal/metal friction therefore prevails for a cer-
tain length of time. This is a very critical phase, since the rings
Fig. 35 – Attachment of the rings can very quickly be damaged by scoring and pick-up. Ring
manufacturers have therefore specified precise rules for run-
3.6.5. The demands imposed on the ring when ning-in, adapted to the given type of ring, for the running-in
operating on the machine phase during which the surface of the ring has to be smoothed
and passivated (oxidized) and coated with a lubricant film.
These are the requirements for a good ring:
• the best possible raw material as starting material These can include, for instance:
• good, but not excessive surface smoothness • Do not degrease new rings, simply wipe them with
• flat surface a dry cloth.
• precise ring roundness • Select the correct ring traveler, but reduce spindle
• good, uniform surface hardness, higher than that of speeds by 15 - 20 % (or normal spindle speeds and
the traveler ring travelers 1 - 2 numbers lighter).
• perfectly run-in rings (optimum running-in conditions) • First traveler change after 15 min.
• long service life • Second traveler change after 30 min.
• correct ratio of ring diameter to tube diameter • Third traveler change after 1 - 1 1/2 h.
(2:1 to 2.2:1) • Fourth traveler change after 1st doffing.
• exact horizontal position • Traveler change after 2nd + 3rd doffing.
• exactly centered relative to the spindle. • Traveler change after 5th + 8th doffing.
3.6.6. Fiber lubrication on the ring Spindle speed can be increased in stages in the meantime.
With yarns finer than 7.5 tex (Ne 80) running-in is an even
It used to be assumed that the interaction of ring and traveler more delicate and protracted procedure. In this case speeds
involved purely metal/metal friction. Fortunately for spinning should be reduced by 20 - 30 % and the rings smeared from
mill operators, this is not the case, since metal/metal friction time to time with oil-soaked felt.
would probably limit traveler speed to about 28 - 30 m/s. In
fact, however, the traveler moves on a lubricant film it has 3.6.8. Follower rings
created itself, consisting primarily of fiber abrasion waste. If
fiber particles are caught between the ring and the traveler The problem that limits the productivity of ring spinning
at high speeds and correspondingly high centrifugal forces, machines is the generation of heat in the traveler. There are
they are partially crushed by the traveler. It compresses them two possibilities for avoiding this:
as small, colorlessly translucent lamina several μm thick into • by preventing heat generation or
a solid running surface. These lamina adhere very differently • by rapid dissipation of the heat generated.
to the ring and within the lubricant film, and are therefore re-
peatedly stripped off, but also renewed again. Since increasing performance via heat dissipation is only
possible in very small steps, attempts are repeatedly made
The position, form and structure of the lubricant film de- to prevent heat generation. However, this is only possible
pends on many factors, such as yarn count, yarn structure, to a large degree if the relative speed of the ring and the
yarn raw material, traveler mass, traveler speed, arc height, traveler can be reduced to almost zero or even zero,
etc. For example, only little fiber lubrication can be ex- i.e. the ring must also rotate. The result is the follower ring.
30 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
In this design the rings are mounted on ball bearings or of the ring/traveler problem, since the small mass of the
rotate as rotors in an air bearing. These rings usually fol- traveler means that it is not possible to dissipate the heat
low the traveler. However, at start-up only the traveler ro- generated in the time available. The result of this is the
tates initially until the centrifugal force and thus the con- limitation in traveler speed.
tact pressure are sufficient to start the ring rotating. The
ideas on which this system are based are convincing, but 3.7.2. Types
its realization is difficult. The following problems arise in
particular: Travelers have to wind up very different yarns:
• the machine is considerably more expensive • coarse/fine
• larger gauge • smooth/rough
• possibly controllable spinning start-up and spinning-out • compact/bulky
speed • strong/weak
• possible braking device • natural fibers/manmade fibers.
• possible change in spinning geometry
• very delicate and complicated bearing. It is impossible to spin this diversity of yarns using only
one type of traveler; quite a wide range of travelers is re-
In addition, rotating rings often permit only an inadequate quired for this purpose. Differences arise from:
increase in spindle speed in practice, since other limits of • shape
the ring spinning machine (yarn tension, specific energy • mass
consumption) are very quickly reached. Since the effort in- • raw material
vested is often greater than the potential benefit, rotating • additional treatment of the material
rings have not become established in practice today. • wire profile
• thread passage size (arc height).
3.7. The ring traveler
It is up to the spinning mill operator to make a choice
(See also The Rieter Manual of Spinning, appropriate to his conditions and requirements.
Volume 1 – Technology of Short-staple Spinning)
3.7.3. Traveler shape
3.7.1. Task and function
The shape of the traveler must coincide exactly with that
The traveler of the ring flange, so that only one contact surface – which
• imparts twist to the yarn and should be as large as possible – exists between the two
• is responsible for winding the yarn onto the cop. units. The top of the traveler arc should also be as flat as
possible in order to keep its center of gravity low and en-
However, a second device – the spindle – is required for hance smooth running. Both of these factors have a signifi-
winding. In this process the take-up length always corre- cant influence on the traveler speed that can be achieved.
sponds to the difference between the peripheral speeds of However, the flat arc shape must still leave sufficient space
the two units. This must be equal to the delivery length in for thread passage. If this space is too small the thread
the long run. The difference is due to the fact that the trave- rubs on the ring, which results in napping of the thread,
ler speed lags behind the spindle speed, since the traveler high production of fiber fly, reduced quality and the forma-
does not have its own drive, but is only carried along by the tion of melt points in manmade fibers.
spindle. The yarn tension (yarn tensile force) necessary for
a stable balloon is generated by the friction of the traveler The following traveler shapes (basic shapes) are in use in
on the ring (and partly by the drag of the thread balloon). short staple spinning (Fig. 36):
The traveler is pressed against the ring mainly by the cen- a) C travelers
trifugal force acting on it. This results in the above-men- b) flat or oval travelers
tioned friction between the ring and the traveler. However, c) elliptical travelers
this friction caused by the high contact pressure (up to 35 d) N travelers
N/mm) also generates considerable heat. This is the root e) and the ORBIT travelers shown in Fig. 34.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 31
a b
dr
udr
c d
Fig. 36 – Traveler shapes: a, C traveler; b, flat traveler (standard traveler);
c, elliptical traveler; d, N traveler
fr
The wire profile also influences running behavior, i.e. through:
• the contact surface on the ring
• smooth running
• heat dissipation
drh
• thread passage space
• and certain yarn properties:
• sloughing resistance
• hairiness.
r
Fig. 37 shows several profile shapes (Bräcker).
3.7.4. The traveler material
The ring traveler should:
Fig. 37 – Wire profiles for ring travelers
• generate as little heat as possible
• quickly distribute the heat that is nevertheless generat-
ed from the site where it occurs (contact surface) to the manufacturers have therefore been attempting for decades
traveler as a whole to improve running conditions through surface finishing.
• dissipate the heat quickly to the ring and the air The following methods are suitable for this:
• be elastic, so that the traveler can be pressed onto the • electroplating, in which the traveler is coated with one
ring without breaking or more layers of metal, such as nickel and silver, or
• display high wear resistance • chemical treatment to change surface properties in
• have a slightly lower hardness than the ring, since the order to reduce friction and scoring.
traveler must wear rather than the ring.
The Bräcker company has developed a new process for
The travelers used in short staple spinning are therefore introducing certain treatment components into the traveler
made almost exclusively of steel. However, pure steel does surface by diffusion and fixing them there (sapphire traveler).
not ideally fulfill the first three requirements. Traveler This layer reduces heating and increases wear resistance.
32 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
3.7.5. Traveler mass The traveller weights are determined beside the yarn number
by the following parameters:
The mass of the traveler determines the degree of friction
of the traveler on the ring and thus the yarn tension. If the Yarn twist Knitting Lighter travellers
mass is too low, the balloon becomes too large, the cop Fibre type Blends, synthetics 1 - 2 number heavier travellers
too soft and the amount of material taken up on the cop Spindle speed Higher RPM Rather lighter travellers
too small. On the other hand, too high a mass results in
Spinning geometry
high thread tension and frequent ends down. The mass of
Small ring diameter Small balloon Lighter travellers
the traveler must therefore be adjusted exactly to the yarn
(count, tenacity) and the spindle speed. If there is a choice Large ring diameter Large balloon Heavier travellers
between two traveler weights, the heavier one is usually
preferred, since this results in higher cop weight, smoother
running of the traveler and better heat dissipation. The ta- T flange Orbit SU
ble (Bräcker, Fig. 38) can be of assistance in approximately
defining the traveler number (ISO is the new standard here
and specifies the mass of 1 000 travelers in grams).
Tex Nm Ne T flange Orbit SU
PES PAC and CV
Traveller No ISO ISO ISO
100 10 6 14 18 250 315 250 315
72 14 8 11 14 180 250 250 315 200 280
59 17 10 9 11 140 180 224 280 140 200
50 20 12 6 9 100 140 90 125 200 250 100 160
42 24 14 3 7 80 112 80 112 160 250 90 140
36 27 16 1 4 63 90 71 100 125 200 80 112
30 34 20 2/0 2 50 71 63 90 80 160 63 80
25 40 24 4/0 1 40 63 45 71 80 140 50 71
20 50 30 5/0 2/0 35.5 50 31.5 50 63 112 31.5 63
17 60 36 6/0 3/0 31.5 45 28 40 56 80 31.5 50
15 68 40 7/0 4/0 28 40 25 40 56 71 31.5 45
12 85 50 8/0 6/0 25 35.5 20 31.5 50 63 31.5 40
10 100 60 10/0 7/0 22.4 28 18 25 40 50
8.5 120 70 11/0 10/0 20 22.4 16 22.4
7.4 135 80 14/0 11/0 16 20 14 20
6.6 150 90 16/0 12/0 14 18 14 18
5.6 180 105 18/0 14/0 12.5 16 12.5 16
5.3 190 112 19/0 16/0 11.2 14
4.5 220 132 22/0 19/0 9 11.2
Fig. 38 – Overview of traveler weights
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 33
3.7.6. The traveler clearer
When the yarn, which comprises a large number of more
or less firmly integrated, yet relatively short fibers, is fed
through the ring traveler, it is inevitable that fibers are de-
tached. Most of them fly away from the traveler, but some
also often remain attached to the traveler. These can ac-
cumulate and even form clumps. The resulting, excessively
high mass of the traveler creates high thread tension and
ultimately leads to thread breaks. Fiber strippers, so-called
traveler clearers, are mounted near the rings in order to
prevent these accumulations of fibers. These should be po-
sitioned as close to the traveler as possible, but far enough
away not to interfere with the movement of the traveler.
Accurate adjustment is very important.
ca.0.5
Fig. 39 – Traveler clearer (r)
34 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 35
4. THE MACHINE DRIVE
4.1. The drive problem
Energy accounts for some 10 % of a spinning mill‘s manufac-
turing costs (at 20 tex), and the ring spinning installation it-
self for some 2/3 of this. Even if this does not seem a very
high percentage, it is a cost factor that should not be under-
estimated, especially since there is potential for economies in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
RING RAIL MOVEMENT
the energy sector if the correct types of drive and power trans-
mission are chosen. For example, in a ring spinning mill with
25 000 spindles and a total of 7 000 operating hours/year, in
which an average of 1 million dollars is spent on energy, sav-
ings of 10 % produce some very interesting figures. This pow-
er input is used on the ring spinning machine primarily for:
• spindles (with travelers) 65 - 70 % 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
• drafting systems 25 % YARN TENSION
• ring rails 5 - 10 %
However, the technological problem is much more serious
than the economic aspect, since differences in yarn ten-
sion arise during winding onto the cop. It would be useful
to reduce these differences in tension by means of variable
spindle speeds. If the ring rail rises during layered winding, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
ENDS DOWN
i.e. from a large to a small winding diameter, yarn tension
increases substantially, e.g. from 25 to 40 cN, and ends Fig. 40 – Ring rail motion, yarn tension and ends down frequency during
down frequency increases accordingly. According to a study a ring rail traverse (Zinser) (simplified)
by Zinser, most thread breakages occur when the ring rail
rises in the upper (not the highest) zone (Fig. 40). In order
to maintain thread tension and ends down at constant lev-
els, spindle speeds should be reduced when the ring rail is
raised (control of layering speed).
The problem with winding as a whole is similar, since the I2
balloon is very large (Fig. 41, I1) at the beginning of cop
buildup and relatively small at the end (I2). Yarn tension
varies accordingly. Adjustments should also be made here I1
via spindle speed (control of the basic speed). Both speed
adjustments were previously made by means of the com-
mutator motor. Nowadays it is mostly only the basic speeds
that are changed via variable speed gears, DC motors or
frequency-controlled drives.
For this at least a startup step (to prevent startup thread
breakages), a base step (for forming the cop base) and
a normal step (for winding the cop as a whole) should be
available as control options. There is often also a spin-out
Fig. 41 – Different balloon heights
step for winding the topmost part of the cop, which can be
identical to the base step.
36 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
4.2. Motors used 4.3.3. Squirrel-cage induction motors with variable
speed gears on the load side
The following used to be employed in ring spinning mills:
• three-phase squirrel-cage induction motors In this case the speed is changed not via the motor, but me-
• three-phase squirrel-cage induction motors with star- chanically via adjustable tapered discs of the belt drive,
delta control similar to a cone gear. However, whereas the diameter ra-
• three-phase squirrel-cage induction motors with vari- tios in a cone gear are changed by moving the belt on the
able-speed gears (Fig. 42, Fig. 43) pair of cones, the diameter is changed in this case by push-
• asynchronous motors with current-controlled rectifier ing together one part and pulling apart the second part of
(A.S.S. drive) conical drive discs. The drive belt is thus moved to a larger
• three-phase shunt commutator motors diameter on the first pair of discs and a smaller diameter
• DC motors. on the second pair. The change usually occurs in stages by
means of a control device via pneumatic or hydraulic pis-
Nowadays the following types of motor are mainly used: tons and lever arrangements. The basic speed can be adjust-
• pole-changing motors with special start-up characteris- ed manually. Rieter has also developed an electronic control
tics for ordinary machines system with which several speed curves for the spindles can
• AC motors with frequency inverters for high-performance be programmed as required via the variable speed gear.
machines.
B
4.3. Three-phase squirrel-cage induction motors
4.3.1. The motor
Three-phase squirrel-cage induction motors are still used
in ring spinning mills. They are cheap, require little main-
tenance, and are wear-resistant and uncomplicated. One
disadvantage is their inflexibility, i.e. only one speed is
available. This has compelled machinery manufacturers
to provide supplementary devices for varying the speed.
One such device could, for example, be a star-delta control.
While the machine normally operates on delta at full speed,
the motor can be switched to star during start-up, thus re-
ducing power output to 1/3, with the speed being reduced
according to the load. However, this also usually still re-
sults in increased ends down frequency. Other options are: A
4.3.2. Pole-changing three-phase motors Fig. 42 – Variable-speed gear drive
Squirrel-cage motors usually have only one 4-pole or 6-pole
winding. However, motors can also be produced with two
windings, i.e. 4-pole and 6-pole in one motor. By switching
from one winding to the other, e.g. from 4-pole to 6-pole,
the speed can be reduced to 2/3, since the following rela-
tionships exist between poles, frequencies (f) and speeds:
f=50 f=60
Speed, rpm 6-pole 950 1 130
4-pole 1 450 1 730
Pole-changing motors are expensive and their efficiency
is low since they are load-dependent.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 37
4.4. Three-phase shunt motor (commutator motor)
Until a few years ago, this was the only motor that allowed
speeds to be adjusted with infinite variation and quite pre-
cisely. As a control device for speed adjustment, a so-called
„spin controller“ was required as an attachment to the
motor, to shift the brushes in the motor accordingly. The
v3
speeds were adapted to the changes in yarn tension with
the raising and lowering of the ring rail (layering traverse)
and during the entire cop buildup (switching traverse). New
commutator motors are no longer on offer, as they have se-
rious disadvantages:
v2
• very expensive
• complicated
• high-maintenance (brush maintenance)
v3 • external air cooling
v2 • performance declines in line with speed
• low efficiency
• large space requirements.
4.5. DC shunt motor
v2
This also enables speeds to be adjusted to yarn tension ex-
v1
actly and with infinite variation in a similar way to the com-
mutator motor. Compared with the commutator motor, it
has only four brushes with longer service lives and lower
v1 maintenance requirements. Efficiency is also higher. How-
ever, it is nevertheless rather complicated and not cheap,
and therefore little used.
Fig. 43 – Adjustments to the variable-speed gear drive
4.3.4. The A.S.S. drive
Modern high-performance ring spinning machines need
very good speed control, i.e. the speed must be independ-
ent of variations in load and mains voltage. Absolute ob-
servance of the speed ramps is a precondition for good run-
ning behavior, mainly during the dynamic start and stop
operations. This requirement can be fulfilled easily and at
low cost by using a normal asynchronous motor connected
to a current-controlled frequency inverter. The additional
advantages of this drive system are good overall efficien-
cy, a wide range of motor speeds (0 - 6 000 rpm), simple
change of direction of rotation, absence of demand for re-
active volt-amperes from the mains supply (cos ϕ ≅ 1.0)
and only a small, i.e. normal load on the power supply sys-
tem during machine start-up. However, the system needs
a sophisticated electronic control system.
38 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 39
5. COP BUILDUP
5.1. Cop shape
The cop, the typical package shape on the ring spinning
machine, consists of three clearly distinguishable buildup
sections (Fig. 44):
• the lower, rounded base (A)
• the middle, cylindrical section (Z) and
• the conical nose (S).
The package holder is a tube made from paper, cardboard or
plastic, of which some 10 mm at the top and bottom remain
uncovered by yarn, and being slightly tapered fits exactly on
the spindle. The specific shape of the cop is created by the
tapered application of a large number of individual layers of
yarn, one on top of the other (see The Rieter Manual of Spin-
ning, Volume 1 – Technology of Short-staple Spinning). Each Fig. 45 – Main and cross windings
of these layers consists of a main winding and a cross wind-
ing. The main winding, which primarily has to take up the
yarn, is usually formed as the ring rail slowly rises, the wide 5.2. The winding process
open cross winding during the rapid lowering of the ring rail.
Since the cross windings are laid diagonally between the Cop buildup as described here can only occur if the wind-
main windings, they isolate the latter from each other. This ing point on the tube is shifted continuously. There are two
prevents entire layers from being pulled off during unwind- methods of achieving this.
ing of the cop in downstream processing (Fig. 45). Compared
with other types of winding, such as parallel winding (roving In addition to the constant up-and-down motion of the ring
frame), the disadvantage of cop winding is that it requires frame:
a more complicated mechanism and winds the yarn with con- • the ring frame must be continuously raised or
tinuously changing tension. However, it is ideal for unwind- • the spindle bearing plate must be continuously lowered.
ing on the winder, since it permits high unwinding speeds.
The latter principle has been applied for decades by Rieter
for the switching traverse, but is no longer used on new ma-
chines. New machines operate nowadays exclusively with
a moving ring rail. This now has to perform two movements:
l
• continuous rising and lowering in order to apply alter-
nate main and cross windings (layering traverse) and
S
• a continuous ascent in very small amounts after each lay-
ering traverse in order to fill the cop (switching traverse).
h b
Z
Fig. 44 – Cop shape
40 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
Ring rail (R) hangs with its entire weight via belts on disc
c
(b) mounted on shaft (W). At the other end of the shaft is
a further disc (a), which presses the entire lever (H) with
roller (o) against heart cam (E) via chain (K) and chain
drum (T) as a result of the traction of the ring rail. The lever
is continuously raised and lowered with the chain drum due
to the rotation of the cam. This movement is transmitted
to the ring rail via discs (a+b), the chain and the belt, thus
b producing the layering traverse.
Each time the lever moves down, it presses ratchet wheel
(s) against a catch, which results in a small turn of drum
(T) connected to the ratchet wheel. Chain (K) is thus wound
a small amount onto the drum. This results in a turn of disc
a (a), shaft (W) and disc (b), and finally a slight raising of
ring rail (R) (switching traverse).
Fig. 46 – Motion diagram for the working elements: ring (a), balloon
checking rings (b) and yarn guide eyelets (c) However, disc (c) is also mounted on shaft (W) with bal-
loon checking rings (B) and thread guide eyelets (F) sus-
Both movements have an adverse influence on spinning con- pended on it on belts. These are also raised and lowered
ditions. In particular, the size of the balloon and the wind- accordingly. However, since disc (c) is rather smaller than
ing diameter on the cop are never the same. This results in (b), the traverse motion is also smaller.
wide differences in tension during winding. In order at least
to reduce the effects somewhat, the balloon checking rings 5.4. Forming the base
(b) and yarn guide eyelets (c) perform movements similar to
those of ring rail (a), albeit by smaller amounts in both layer- The base is convex in order to accommodate as much yarn
ing and switching traverse. For layer winding the ring rail is as possible on the cop (Fig. 44, A). This convex shape re-
usually moved slowly but at increasing pace upward, and rap- sults partly automatically from the specific type of winding,
idly but at decreasing pace downward. This results in a yarn but is also reinforced to some extent by an auxiliary me-
length ratio of about 2:1 between the main winding (upward) chanical device, known as a cam, cog, deflector or also by
and the cross winding (downward), whereby the total length other names (Fig. 48, N).
of each double layer should be no more than 5 m (better 4 m)
for unwinding purposes. The layering traverse of the ring rail N
is ideal if it is some 15 - 18 % larger than the ring diameter. b
a
5.3. The winding mechanism
e
b
c
W R
a
E K
B
K
H
R E
d
s T
o H
T A
Fig. 47 – Winding mechanism (described on the basis of an example) Fig. 48 – Engagement of cam (N) in the winding mechanism
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 41
As we have already stated, the raising and lowering of ring
rail (R) results from the fact that lever (H) of cam (E) moves
up and down and disc (a) is thus continuously turned to
the left and right. Cam (N) attached to this disc (a) projects
over the periphery of disc (a) and thus increases the diam-
eter of the disc at this point.
When winding on the cop commences, disc (a) is in a posi-
tion in which the cam deflects chain (K) to some degree, as
shown in Fig. 48. As a result of this deflection, part of the
elongation of the chain arising from the rise of lever (H) is
not passed on to the ring rail, but is lost as deflection at N.
The ring rail traverse no longer corresponds to the speci-
fication, it is smaller. Since the yarn delivery length per
traverse remains unchanged, the bulk per layer is increased,
which results in the convex shape referred to above.
If chain winding drum (T) is now turned continuously to
the left in small amounts by the winding ratchet wheel in
the further course of spinning, and chain (K) is wound up
on this disc and thus continuously shortened, disc (a) also
turns to the right in equally small amounts, the cam is in-
creasingly less engaged, so that finally the entire elongation
of the chain is passed on to the ring rail; the cop is built up
normally.
5.5. Motor-powered cop formation
On the latest ring spinning machines the mechanical wind-
ing mechanism has been replaced by an electrical drive
(Fig. 49). A frequency-controlled motor M is electronically
regulated. This motor drives gear G, on output shaft 2 or 3
winding rollers are fixed of which winding rollers for the tie
rods of ring rails, balloon checking rings and yarn guides
are mounted. This type of powered drive is thus much sim-
pler than the conventional mechanical approaches.
Fig. 49 – Motor-powered cop formation
42 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 43
6. AUTOMATION less than it used to be, but a certain amount still has
6.1. The need for automation to be performed manually;
• transport of cops to the winders: automation of this
Automation replaces human activity with processes per- process is available and has become well established
formed by machines, apparatus or electronics. In terms in mill operations;
of cost accounting this substitutes capital costs for labor • machine monitoring: good solutions (e.g. Zellweger
costs. Automation is therefore worthwhile wherever Ringdata) are available on the market;
• lots of manual work has to be done; • production and quality monitoring: good solutions are
• manual work is monotonous or ergonomically also available here (e.g. SPIDERweb);
unsuitable; • yarn uniformity monitoring: this cannot be performed
• personnel are scarce; economically for each spinning position.
• the human error factor has to be eliminated.
Since ring spinning accounts for some 50 % of labor costs A
in a spinning mill, this department is an obvious candidate 100
for automation. However, if we look at the machine itself, I
it soon becomes obvious that automation is not easy to
80
achieve, since it involves a huge number of tiny production
components in a small space with poor accessibility. Even
if one or other of these could be automated, it is often un- 60 II
economical. Certain operations will therefore have to con-
tinue to be performed manually in future.
40
6.2. The potential for automation III
20
The operations on the ring spinning machine that can be
IV
considered for automation are:
0
• transport of roving bobbins to the ring spinning ma- 20 40 60 80 100 B
chine: this automation feature is available, with
Fig. 50 – Work performed by a ring spinning operative
different automation levels (see The Rieter Manual A: percent, B: yarn count in Nm,
of Spinning, Volume 3 – Spinning Preparation); I: roving supply, II: monitoring, III: yarn piecing, IV: allowance
• roving bobbin change: would also be useful, but is
difficult to solve; initial units are available; However, we must not lose sight of the fact that, with each
• roving infeed, eliminating roving ends down: difficult to further stage of automation that eases the workload on the
achieve, doesn‘t often happen, initial approaches exist; operative, spindle allocation must be increased, which in
• waste collection and disposal: fully implemented in turn causes an irresponsible increase in inspection tour
yarn extraction; times in some cases. This finally necessitates intensified
• repairing ends down: calls for complicated approaches monitoring, e.g. indicating to operatives by means of sig-
which also fail to produce totally successful piecings; nals (lamps) the exact position within their sphere of oper-
currently unfavorable cost/benefit ratio, but would be ations at which their presence is currently required.
desirable;
• roving stop motion for ends down: this would be desir- An analysis of the work performed by a spinning mill oper-
able, but the available solutions are complicated and ative at 20 ends down per 1 000 spindle hours and an in-
expensive; spection tour time of 15 minutes illustrated in a graph pro-
• cop change (doffing): already resolved, in full use and duced by the Zinser company (Fig. 50, W. Igel „Automation
described in 6.3.; of ring spinning machines“, Reutlingen Colloquium, Nov.
• cleaning: largely resolved, albeit unsatisfactorily in 1984) shows how important this is. The amount of moni-
terms of quality, by using traversing cleaners; toring is very conspicuous here, consisting of a large pro-
• servicing and maintenance: the effort involved is much portion of unproductive time.
44 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
6.3. Doffing
a a
b
I II III IV
Fig. 51 – Preparation for doffing
6.3.1. Preparation for doffing
Fig. 52 – Underwinding position (b) and piecing position (a) of the ring rail
For process-related reasons a cop takes up only 30 - 100 g of
yarn. Nevertheless, it takes 1 - 30 hours to fill it. The limited thread reserve is still on the tube, during automatic doffing
capacity of the cop compels yarn manufacturers to add a fur- it is on the spindle. The reserve is necessary so that the yarn
ther process subsequently, i.e. rewinding. Another drawback continues to be held on the spindle when the cop is doffed.
of the small package is the need to doff the full cop at rela- Otherwise a yarn break would occur. Various systems are cur-
tively short intervals and replace it by an empty tube - a rath- rently known that actively clamp the yarn on the spindle in
er complicated process. Several preparatory operations have order to keep the reserve thread as short as possible and thus
to be performed so that this change can be made rationally virtually eliminate the disturbing yarn residues occurring
and without causing higher rates of ends down (Fig. 51) . later when the reserve is removed. On modern machines all
these preparatory processes for doffing occur automatically.
If the empty tubes have been prepared for the change and if
the ring rail has reached its uppermost position (II), the ring
rail and the balloon checking rings are lowered (III) in or-
der to reach the cop more easily. At the same time the yarn
guide eyelets are tilted upward (IV), since only then can the
cop be removed over the spindle. The ring rail is moved to
a lower position (Fig. 52) than that at which the new wind-
ing operation then begins (a). The lower position is referred
to as the underwinding position (b) and the starting posi-
tion as the piecing position (a). The underwinding position
has a specific function – it produces a thread reserve. This
is because yarn continues to be delivered while the ring rail
is being lowered and several turns are wound around the
finished cop as a so-called reserve winding (Fig. 53). This 1
should consist of no more than 3 - 4 turns, perhaps only
1 1/2 to 2 turns in the case of high-tenacity yarns.
When the ring rail reaches the underwinding position (2), de-
livery is still not interrupted, so that several yarn turns attach 2
themselves here as a yarn ring. During manual doffing this
Fig. 53 – Reserve winding (1) and underwinding (2)
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 45
6.3.2. Manual doffing 6.3.3.2. Components of the system
Doffing used to be performed only by hand. Nowadays doff- Essentially, these systems consist of (Fig. 54):
ing is still performed manually for the most part in coun- • a conveyor belt (T) equipped with discs to hold tubes
tries with low wage levels. Operatives would grasp the full (or cops), or a conveying mechanism with support discs
cop with their left hand, lift it off the spindle and replace it arranged one behind the other on narrow rails for push-
on the spindle with an empty tube in their right hand be- ing the discs along the machine. In both cases the discs
fore the thread could break between the cop and the spin- serve to convey the tubes prior to doffing and the cops
dle. Personnel would do this spindle by spindle, while after doffing;
pushing two boxes with their knee along the longitudinal • a doffing rail (B), also extending along the entire length
rails attached to the machines. One of these boxes would of the machine, equipped with pegs (Z) which engage
contain the empty tubes, the full cops would be placed with the tubes (Zinser) or collars to grip the outside of
in the other. Doffing would be performed by groups in so- the tubes and cops;
called doffing teams, with a specific section of the whole • a system of lifting levers (G), usually in the form of
machine always being allocated to each operative. tongs, to raise and lower the rail and swivel it in and
out;
Manual doffing is an unattractive job, since only a very few • a tube preparation and creeling device at the end of the
actions have to be performed very quickly and constantly machine; and
repeated, and the work usually has to be done in a slight- • a cop storage device, also at the end of the machine,
ly stooping posture. It is very difficult to find personnel for or a cop transfer unit to a directly connected winder.
this in industrialized countries. However, manual doffing
also has the advantage that the doffing team represents 6.3.3.3. Doffing preparation
a personnel reserve that is available at any time.
All the operations already referred to have to be performed
6.3.3. Automatic doffing fully automatically here. In addition, there is the special
6.3.3.1. Types of doffing system preparation of tubes at the tube loading station. Conveyor
belt (T) starts to move along under the loading unit some
A distinction is made between two groups of so-called auto- time before the cops are full. In the process the tubes sup-
doffers (automatic doffing systems): plied in tube boxes are inserted on the pegs of the convey-
• stationary systems integrated in each ring spinning ma- or belt so that every other peg is unoccupied. These pegs
chine, and later accommodate the full cops. During this operation the
• mobile systems which can serve several machines. conveyor belt moves slowly into its working position, until
an empty tube and an empty peg are positioned in front of
When new machines are equipped with automatic doffing each spindle.
systems, these are almost always stationary systems. Mo-
bile systems are used, if at all, almost exclusively in exist-
ing ring spinning mills. They are somewhat susceptible to
faults and require considerable maintenance effort. Where-
as with stationary systems all cops on a machine are doffed
simultaneously, mobile systems usually feature individual
doffing, often also doffing in groups. A stationary system is
described below as an example for many other options.
46 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
6.3.3.4. Doffing the cops
The doffing system is in the idle position as long as the cop
is being wound (Fig. 55). Once the cop is fully wound, lever
system (G) moves out with rail (B), while the levers raise
the rail (Fig. 56). After reaching their uppermost position
the rods retract again, the rail is positioned over the cops
and is now lowered until the pegs engage in the tubes of
cops (K). Instead of pegs, the cops can also be gripped by K
collars which enclose the cops. Gripping and holding are ef-
fected by inflating the pegs or collars, or by means of tubes.
Once the cops are gripped, rail (B) is raised together with
the cops (Fig. 57), the rods are extended, lower the rail and
move it over conveyor belt (T), and deposit the cops (K) on
the conveyor belt (Fig. 58). The compressed air is then dis- B
charged and the cops are released. Z
G
H
Fig. 55 – Autodoffer prior to doffing
K K
G H
Fig. 54 – Autodoffer retracted Fig. 56 – Extending the doffer rail (B)
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 47
G H
Fig. 57 – Raising the full cops (K) Fig. 59 – Gripping the empty tubes (H) and extending
G
K K
Fig. 58 – Lowering and releasing the full cops (K) Fig. 60 – Creeling the tubes (H)
48 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
6.3.3.5. Creeling the tubes When we look at the manufacturing processes used in the
textile industry, spinning involves a mixture of workshop
Rail (B) remains over conveyor belt (T), but rises slightly. Then and production line operations, with the workshop the pre-
the conveyor belt moves half a spacing forward so that the dominant feature. The installation consists of many manu-
empty tubes reach a point exactly under the pegs on the rail. facturing stages forming self-contained departments, with
When the rail is then lowered again and compressed air fed in, the different intermediate products usually being transport-
the pegs engage in the empty tubes (H) and hold them firmly. ed in quite large units from one department to the next and
The lever system is then extended again (Fig. 59), the rail is also usually being stored between the different stages. Ma-
raised, moved in over the spindles and lowered with tubes (H) terial therefore hardly flows along the shortest path in regu-
onto the spindles and then pressed on firmly (Fig. 60). Once lar cycles from a production unit directly to the same down-
again the discharge of compressed air releases the tubes. stream operation every time. This type of manufacturing
process has four serious drawbacks:
6.3.3.6. Completion of doffing • high transport costs (more than 60 % of a spinning
mill‘s wage costs are transport costs)
During automatic doffing with old doffing systems the process • long material lead times (with correspondingly long de-
is interrupted once or twice for tours of inspection. Personnel livery lead times) and
need to check that the process is proceeding correctly, and • intermediate storage of large volumes of material
especially to ensure that tubes have been fitted everywhere (substantial amounts of capital tied up)
and are not jammed. These tours of inspection are no longer • deterioration in quality, damage to the material.
necessary on good modern doffing systems, since each spin-
ning position is continuously monitored during doffing, and It is therefore hardly surprising that there is a steadily in-
collisions between tubes and spindles or cops are therefore creasing awareness of the importance of transport in spin-
impossible. After doffing is completed, the doffer returns to ning mills and among machinery manufacturers and that
its idle position below the spindles. At the same time the ring opportunities for improvement are being sought. Several
rail rises to the piecing position, the balloon checking rings textile machinery manufacturers are already offering au-
move upward and the yarn guide flaps tilt downward. The ma- tomated transport systems. A distinction has to be made
chine starts. The conveyor belt moves the doffed cops toward between two types of automated transport equipment be-
the end of the machine, where they are discharged into trans- tween ring spinning machines and winders:
port trolleys or individually transferred directly to the winder. • interconnected transport and
Duration of automatic doffing can be as short as 2 minutes. • interconnected machines.
6.4. Automated cop transport 6.4.2. Interconnected transport
6.4.1. Appropriateness of automation
In interconnected transport an automated transport system
(conveyor line) is installed between the ring spinning instal-
lation and the winders. The transport system accepts the
5 cop crates – coded according to their contents – at the ring
spinning machine and conveys them to a distribution sta-
tion. This station directs the crates by microprocessor con-
trol to their correct destination, a cop preparation unit on
the relevant winder. The resulting empty tubes are laid in
4 other crates and return to the ring spinning installation via
a second conveyor system. Interconnected transport systems:
• are very flexible
3 • permit operations with small batches
• can quickly be adapted
• are less dependent on the building.
1
However, they can be rather complicated, liable to malfunc-
2 tion and obstructive due to the conveyor lines.
Fig. 61 – Yarn transport from the ring spinning machine to the winder
(as proposed by Schlafhorst)
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 49
6.4.3. Interconnected machines
Fig. 62 – Interconnected machines: ring spinning machine and winder
In new installations or older buildings of appropriate and • detecting ends down by rotating around the spindles
modern design (e.g. Gherzi buildings) more efficient sys- • stopping at the right place
tems can be employed, e.g. by connecting two machines • accurate positioning relative to the spindle
(ring spinning machine and winder) to form a production • stopping the spindle
unit. As shown in Fig. 62, in these cases the cops pass • finding the yarn end
slowly, i.e. at the production speed of the winder units, in • moving the ring traveler into the threading position
a direct line to the downstream winder after doffing. Emp- • drawing the yarn into the ring traveler
tied tubes return to the doffer‘s loading station on the ring • releasing the spindle
spinning machine. The number of winder units has to be • spinning the yarn onto the fiber ribbon emerging from
chosen to ensure that the winding of a doff is completed ex- the front roller.
actly when the next approaches. This exact coordination of
the two machines can be a drawback of the system if there The whole process proceeds as follows (example: FIL-A-MAT
are frequent yarn count changes, since reserve winding ca- by Zinser). During its inspection run along the ring spinning
pacity – which often remains unused – then has to be in- machine the FIL-A-MAT examines each individual spinning
stalled to provide for every eventuality. This results in high- position photoelectrically for ends down. If a yarn is present
er capital service costs. These systems are therefore ideal it continues its run and examines the next spinning position.
when operating as far as possible with only one yarn count. If it detects a yarn break, it stops in the working position in
front of the spindle, extends the frame with the working el-
6.5. Piecing devices ements and centers it precisely on the spindle bearing. The
spindle is braked. Another working unit descends onto the
Installing piecing units at each spinning position is too ring rail and follows its motion during the subsequent op-
complicated. Mobile piecing carriages mounted on rails at- erations.
tached to the machines are therefore used. The piecing car- The yarn end is then blown upward from the cop into the
riages then have to perform the same, rather complicated, funnel-shaped opening of a suction tube. The yarn end can
detailed operations as spinning personnel, but by mechani- be at any point on the winding circumference. In the same
cal means: way as the hand of a spinning operative, the yarn hook
50 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
catches the yarn between the top of the tube and the yarn If a yarn breaks on a ring spinning machine, the fiber rib-
guide eyelet, lays it on the spinning ring, and the piecer bon continues to emerge from the drafting mechanism,
arm joins it to the fiber bundle on the delivery roller of the usually into the fiber extraction system. However, in poor
drafting system. The remaining yarn residue is separated spinning conditions it often happens that the ribbon wraps
and extracted. A photocell monitors the success of the op- around a cylinder or a roller and causes a lap. This in turn
eration. The piecing process is repeated once if necessary, can result in damage to the top rollers, aprons, etc., defor-
then the FIL-A-MAT leaves manual piecing to personnel. mation of the bottom roller or simply breaks in neighboring
threads. Removing laps is also quite complicated and labo-
Piecing devices can be used simultaneously for machine rious. It would therefore be desirable to interrupt the flow
and production monitoring as well as roving stop motions, of fibers at each thread break until piecing is completed.
as was the case with Rieter‘s ROBOfil. However, the roving would then have to be inserted again
automatically.
All these devices are no longer available for sale. Roving stop motions can be part of a rotating carriage or in-
dividual units for each spinning position. Units in rotating
6.6. Roving stop motions carriages are less expensive, but do not stop immediately
in the event of a thread break – as do the individual units
– since they first have to find it.
The SKF roving stop motion (which is no longer available for
sale) is outlined briefly here on behalf of all other individual
2 units (Fig. 63). The monitoring optics check the threadline.
In the event of a thread break, roving feed is interrupted via
optical unit 1 and electronics 2 via wedge 3. The table and
possibly pivot 4 retain the roving firmly in the break draft
5 zone. After the yarn break has been repaired, wedge 3 is
stop retracted manually by means of roving locking device 5.
3
The roving is delivered and spinning can commence.
6.7. Monitoring
6.7.1. The purpose of this equipment
4
Monitoring devices on the ring spinning machine move
back and forth on each side of the machine or are installed
as stationary units at each spinning position. They can per-
form one, several or all of the following tasks:
• detecting and signaling ends down
• detecting and repairing ends down
1
• detecting and recording ends down
• detecting and analyzing ends down by:
– number
– duration
– faulty spinning positions, etc.
• recording stoppages
• recording output
• calculating efficiency
• roving stop motion in the event of ends down.
Downtime, output, efficiency and ends down records pro-
Fig. 63 – SKF roving stop motion
vide the mill with extremely important information for:
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 51
• workplace loading A traveling sensor runs continuously back and forth at the
• personnel rating height of the ring rail on each side of the machine on a sin-
• cost calculation gle machine (pilot unit) or on all machines in the mill. This
• assessing the spinning behavior of different raw generates a magnetic field that is affected by the rapidly ro-
materials tating traveler. If a yarn break occurs, the traveler ceases to
• assessing the production behavior of individual rotate and the sensor displays the resulting impulse as an
machine components, such as: end down, also recording the number of the spindle. As a re-
– cylinders sult of its rapid motion back and forth it registers the spin-
– rollers dle several times until the end down is repaired. The spindle
– aprons downtime is therefore also recorded. Another sensor fitted
– spindles on the front roller records the delivery speed and machine
– travelers stoppages, and another the number of doffs and their dura-
– rings, etc. tion. All the information collected is ultimately transmitted
• establishing the causes of faults, overall and per to a computer with monitor and printer, which performs the
spinning position necessary analysis and stores the data for preset periods.
• assessing climatic influences The following data are available via reports on individual
• operator guidance to enable spinning mill personnel machines, individual blends or the installation as a whole
to move systematically from one yarn break to the next that are printed out or can be called up on the monitor:
without covering unnecessary ground. • machine number
• date
6.7.2. RINGDATA by Zellweger • time
Machine station
Machine side 1
Machine side 2
Motor for
cable drive
Sensor signal
Production sensor
Underwind sensor
Ring rail
Data bus
Travelling
sensor
Ring traveller
Fig. 64 – USTER Ringdata
52 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
• period monitored of 800 meters per minute produces sufficient sliver for 57
• production period cops of yarn or 26 shirts. The volume of rejects is corre-
• spindle speeds spondingly high if anything goes wrong at any production
• yarn twist unit. Any drifting off target therefore has to be prevented
• output in kg by any means from the very beginning. The slogan:
• output in g/spi.h Faults should be prevented, not corrected is valid here
• efficiency more than ever.
• downtimes
• doffing times However, this cannot be achieved merely by means of the
• number of cops doffed time-honored “Statistical Quality Control Department”.
• number of ends down Over and above this, highly competent quality management
• ends down per 1 000 spindle hours and an overall control and information system with control
• mean duration of ends down devices at all the production units is required either for in-
• preset maximum number of ends down dividual machines or group-wise. This has to start at the
• number of spindles with ends down exceeding this point where the first intermediate product is created, i.e.
limit. at the card, and has to continue as far as the winders. As
sensors are to be installed on the machines in any case for
6.7.3. Individual Spindle Monitoring (ISM) by Rieter quality assurance purposes, it makes sense to equip these
control units additionally with data collecting and data
This system features an optical sensor on the ring frame at evaluation systems to obtain a most important tool not
each spinning position, which monitors the motion of the only for quality management but also for mill management.
traveler. It can therefore perform 3 operations: Systems of this kind for controlling the process in terms of
• recording ends down (incl. startup ends down following quality and economy are available from a number of ma-
cop changes) and registering spindles rotating too slow- chinery or instrument manufacturers, either for individual
ly (so-called slipper spindles) machines or groups of machines, including:
• convenient analysis and presentation of these data in • Rieter: ABC control for blowroom and cards
the SPIDERweb system • Schlafhorst: Corolab for rotor spinning
• operator guidance in 3 steps: • Trütschler: KIT for cards, CIT for spinning
– signal lamps at both ends of the machine preparation, SIT for blowroom and cards.
indicate when an ends down limit has been
exceeded Or for controlling and managing the entire spinning plant, e.g.:
– a LED for each 24 spindles indicates that an • Rieter: SPIDERweb
end is down in this section • Zellweger: POLYLINK and others.
– a LED at each spinning position indicates an
end down or a slipper spindle. 6.7.4.2. Structure of mill information systems
This individual spindle monitoring system has distinct ad- Most of these systems feature a three- or four-level struc-
vantages: ture, starting at the lowest level, the sensor level, in which
• no moving parts sensitive sensors are installed directly on the production
• no maintenance units to record quality and/or production data. They con-
• continuous monitoring of all spindles. tinue to higher levels, e.g. the machine level, where the sig-
nals arriving from the sensors are collected, processed and
6.7.4. Mill information systems analyzed, and the result often indicated in a simple manner
6.7.4.1. Requirements on the machine. The third level is the PC workstation level,
where the data collected at machine level are systematical-
High-tech spinning plants cannot be operated without man- ly evaluated and displayed in a very informative way in the
agement information systems based on online quality as- supervisor‘s office, for instance in the form of graphs.
surance and productivity control. High-performance ma- The top level is usually a commercial host computer. Here
chines such as cards, draw frames, etc., produce enormous again all the information arriving from the second or third
amounts of intermediate products in a very short time; for level is collected in a condensed and compatible form by
example, in one minute a draw frame operating at a speed a local network, systematically evaluated and displayed in
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 53
a manner easy to deal with, e.g. in diagram form (Fig. 65). Data in a condensed and evaluated form is thus available:
The detailed analysis of the second, (third) and fourth lev- • within the mill, wherever it is required
el enables immediate action to be taken wherever anything • worldwide, using additional pcAnywhereTM software.
strays even slightly from the required norm.
6.7.4.3. Explanation of the Rieter SPIDERweb system
by way of example
SPIDERweb is a modern, user-oriented, Windows-based
data system. Fig. 66 shows the corresponding dataflow in
schematic form. Within the mill, this dataflow is based on
Ethernet. This both simplifies data management and ena-
bles data loss to be prevented efficiently. Data are stored
in 3 locations for this purpose:
• on the machine, until they are written onto the
customer‘s PC
• on the hard disc of the host PC, until they are
written into the SPIDERweb database
• in the SPIDERweb database for up to one year. Fig. 65 – Diagram of the card production
External backup of this database is possible.
Customer
SPIDERweb Network
Host (optional)
SPIDERweb
Client
(optional)
WallBoard PVI
RS485 Client Switch
Ethernet
twisted pair
UNIcommand
Switch Switch Switch Switch Switch
Terminator
active
SPIDERbox
Switch ROnet
Repeater Roving Frame
Comber
from 1 km
Ringframe
SPIDERbox Rotor
Comber L2
Draw Frame
1x2x0.32 mm2
Card (max. 1.0km)
Roving Frame
Rieter and Marzoli Ringframe Rotor
Terminator Draw Frame
active
UNIlap
Card
Roving Frame ISM – Individual
UNIlap
Electro Jet Spindle Monitoring
Fig. 66 – SPIDERweb network
54 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 55
7. AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT Pa mbar
2 200 21.58
7.1. Fiber extraction
2 000 19.62
7.1.1. The system
1 800 17.66
1 600 15.70
II
It is impossible to imagine a modern ring spinning machine
1 400 13.73
without fiber extraction. This not only ensures that fibers I
1 200 11.77
which emerge from the drafting system after a thread break
1 000 9.81
are removed, thus preventing serial ends down, but also
800 7.85
improves air conditioning, since it directs a large propor-
0 0
tion of the return air from the air conditioning system past
0 20 40 60 80 10020 40 60 80 200 20 40 60 80 300 20 40 60 80 40020 40
the drafting system and in particular the spinning triangle. N Spi
In modern systems as much as 50 % of the return air re-
Fig. 68 – Pressure drop in the fiber extraction system, starting from the first
turns to the air conditioning system via fiber extraction. spindle on the fan side; N -spindle No.; I: short machine; II: long machine
A fiber extraction system (Fig. 67) consists primarily of borne in mind here that there can be a considerable drop
a central duct (K), which passes through the entire machine in pressure between the fan and the last spindle. The long-
at the level of the drafting system, featuring a large number er the machines (Fig. 68) and the larger the air flow rate,
of suction tubes (D) leading from the duct to each spinning the greater the drop in pressure. The air flow rate is usually
triangle. The required vacuum is generated by a fan (V). Be- between 5 and 10 m3/h. The energy consumption required
fore the exhaust air reaches the air conditioning system via for fiber extraction is substantial. It can account for up to
exhaust air duct (A) it passes through filter (F), in which the 1/3 of the machine‘s drive power and also depends on the
fibers are removed. These filters are preferably designed as length of the machine and the air flow rate. For example,
rotating filters with automatic cleaning. energy consumption at 10 m3/h is 4.5 times higher than
at 6 m3/h, due to the considerably higher vacuum.
7.2. Blowers (traveling cleaners)
7.2.1. The problem of dust and fly
M
Many short fibers are lost as fly during the processing of sta-
V
ple fibers on spinning machines, and a considerable quantity
of fiber debris and dust is released. Fly and dust are deposited
on machine components or are continuously being whipped up
D F and around by rotating and circulating devices such as spin-
dles, drums, drive wheels, etc. They have therefore always
K been a significant disturbing factor as regards service and
maintenance as well as diminishing quality. This problem has
intensified further with high production speeds and high drafts.
The most fly and dust on ring spinning machines is released in
A the main drafting zone and the spinning triangle (up to 85 %),
while the balloon and travelers account for most of the remain-
der. Since it is impossible to prevent fly from being released,
provision should at least be made for removing it. Whereas this
always used to entail manual cleaning of the machine compo-
nents, blower devices are mostly used for this nowadays. How-
Fig. 67 – Fiber extraction ever, it has to be said that blower devices do not function ide-
ally, since they blow fly and dust off the machine components
7.1.2. Vacuum and energy consumption rather than removing them at the place where they occur, and
therefore also whirl them over the machines. The accumula-
A relatively high vacuum is necessary to ensure reliable ex- tions of dust and fly therefore do not always end up where one
traction. It should be approx. 600 to 800 Pa for cotton and would like them to. They can thus again result in disturbances.
approx. 1 000 to 1 200 Pa for manmade fibers. It should be However, no better solutions are known at present.
56 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
7.2.2. Types The devices most widely used nowadays operate like
agitators, but with significantly higher performance
The types of device are differentiated as follows: (- 3 kW, - 5 000 m3/h of air, up to 50 m/sec air speed at the
• agitators nozzles) and feature several hoses, some of them reaching
• blower devices to the floor. One or two of these hoses on each side blow
• suction devices (a+b) and one (c) sucks the material which has been blown
• combined blower/suction devices off up from the floor. The blowing hoses feature blowing
by the way they are utilized on the machines: nozzles at different heights, aimed precisely at the exposed
• individual units, i.e. devices for cleaning only zones in such a way that as far as possible they blow the fly
one machine, and downward.
• collective units, where one device traverses
2 - 8 machines A filter with a filter cleaning device is a logical necessity
and by their mode of circulation: when working with suction systems. On the Sohler system,
• rotating and for example, the traveling cleaner passes over a collecting
• reciprocating. box (e) at the end of the running rail (machine end), into
which the filtered material is discharged. All the collecting
Combined blower/suction devices operating as reciprocat- boxes can be connected to a central suction system, which
ing collective units are currently very widely used. most practically leads to a pneumatic baling press.
7.2.3. Agitators 7.2.5. Tracks
Fig. 69 – Agitator
Fig. 71 – Track systems
These are simple fans with short blower nozzles driven by
a small electric motor, circulating on conductor rails over
the machines. They are now only used, if at all, on winders,
as they cannot clean selectively. In the case of individual units the traveling cleaner runs
continuously back and forth over only one machine; in the
7.2.4. Blower/suction systems case of collective units they can operate in either recip-
rocating (a) or rotary mode (b). The advantage of rotary
mode is that the cleaner always passes the same position
at the same interval, which is not possible in reciprocating
mode. In reciprocating mode the blower cleans machine
components that have just been cleaned when it reverses
e direction, whereas it takes a very long time for the blower
b to reach the machine at the other end of the track. Never-
theless, reciprocating mode is most frequently used be-
cause blowing occurs from different directions, in one pass
from the right and in the next from the left, whereas in rota-
ry mode the air jet always comes from the same side. There
a c
are many blind spots.
Fig. 70 – Blower/suction system
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 57
8. COMPACT SPINNING
8.1. Basic situation
Ring Spinning ComforSpin
W W
WS WS
Fig. 72 – Conventional ring spinning vs. the ComforSpin principle
Despite the high degree of perfection of ring spinning, the laterally condensed by gentle aerodynamic forces in an aero-
ring spinning process has not yet achieved ideal perform- dynamic condensing zone between the drafting unit and the
ance. The schematic view of the yarn formation zone on the yarn formation point. The effect of this procedure is shown
left in Fig. 72 illustrates the problem. The drafting system schematically on the right in Fig. 72. The fiber flow reaching
of a conventional ring spinning machine unfortunately de- the spinning triangle is so narrow that the spinning triangle
livers the fibers over a width W which is considerably larger shrinks to almost zero and thus all fibers are caught by the
than width WS of the adjacent spinning triangle (see also spinning triangle and fully integrated into the yarn structure.
Fig. 84). This means that some edge fibers are lost or at- This enables perfect yarn formation to be achieved.
tached in a disorderly configuration to the yarn core already
twisted. In other words, today’s ring yarns have a structure 8.3. Implementation of the basic solution
that is not nearly as ideal as might be supposed.
The implementation of the condensing zone in the Rieter
8.2. Solution to the problem ComforSpin machine is shown in Fig. 73. The fibers are sup-
ported and transported by a perforated drum. Inside this
To overcome this deficiency in the yarn formation process, drum is a stationary insert with specially shaped openings.
Rieter pioneered the development of a compact spinning sys- The air flow through the perforated drum, caused by subat-
tem, the so-called ComforSpin system. The working principle mospheric pressure inside the drum, produces the desired
and the advantages of compact spinning will be explained condensation of the fiber flow prior to yarn formation, which
below on the basis of the ComforSpin system. Fiber flow is takes place after the second top roller on the perforated drum.
compacting zone with suction
with air guide element
suction insert
suction slot
Fig. 73 – Suction system
58 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
conventional compact reduced, resulting in higher delivery speeds on the spin-
yarn yarn ning machine. The excellent properties of compact spinning
• Low hairiness yarns (the brand name for yarns produced on the Comfor-
• Higher strength
Spin system is Com4® yarn) are, of course, also of advan-
and elongation
tage in downstream processing, as described below.
• Less fiber fly
• Significant advantages
in downstream processing The lower hairiness and improved yarn abrasion resistance
reduce the production of fly in weaving and knitting (Fig. 76
shows the situation in knitting), which in turn reduces the
number of fabric defects and increases machine efficiency.
Fig. 74 – Yarn comparison
Lower hairiness and improved yarn abrasion resistance
This condensing device enables yarns with dramatically also enable the degree of sizing in weaving to be reduced
improved, virtually perfect yarn structure to be produced by up to 50 % (Fig. 77). This not only results in economies
(Fig. 74). It is obvious that such an improved yarn struc- in weaving, but also to a considerably improvement in the
ture has a very positive influence on yarn properties. ecological situation.
8.4. Advantages of condensing
Fiber fly [%] 100 % CO
combed
First of all, the strength and elongation of the yarns are Ne 36
120
clearly improved. In addition, variations in strength and
elongation values are reduced, resulting in considerably 100
smaller numbers of weak places in the yarn.
80 -55 %
Hairs / m 100 % CO
Ne 40 ae 3.6 60
200
180 40
160
140 20
120
100 0
80 Ring yarn Com4® Com4® Com4® Com4®
60 waxed yes yes no yes no
15.8 / 2.6 twist: 100 % 100 % 100 % 90 % 90 %
40
20
Fig. 76 – Com4® in knitting – lower fiber fly and fewer foreign fibers
0
1 mm 2 mm 3 mm 4 mm 6 mm S3
Measuring method: Zweigle Stops / 100 000 picks 100 % CO
combed Ne 40
Ring yarn Com4® 8
7
Fig. 75 – Hairiness S3 is decisive in downstream processing
3.0 stops / 100 000 picks
6
warp and weft
Furthermore, the condensing process enables yarn hairi- 5
ness to be reduced quite dramatically, especially of hairs 4
longer than 2 mm (Fig. 75), i.e. those hairs which cause 3
Ring yarn
the main problems in downstream processing. 2 could not be
The condensing process also enables the abrasion resist- 1 processed with
size reduction
ance of the yarns to be improved. This not only results in 0
much better yarn abrasion test values, but also consider- 100 75 50 25 100 75 50 25 100 75 50 25 % size application
ae 3.56 ae 3.56 ae 3.23 twist
ably reduces deterioration in yarn quality during wind-
ing. All these quality advantages can be exploited by spin-
Ring yarn Com4®
ning mill operators. In most cases even yarn twist can be
Fig. 77 – Higher efficiency despite applying less size
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 59
The improved properties of compact yarns are apparent right
Fabric strength [N] 100 % CO
Ne 40 through to the fabric. As can be seen from Fig. 78 and Fig. 79
400
the mechanical fabric properties, i.e. fabric strength, abra-
350
sion resistance and pilling behavior, are clearly improved.
300
250
200 The better yarn structure can even be detected in the fab-
150 rics (Fig. 80). This results in more attractive luster of the
100 fabrics and a softer hand. With compact yarn, the fabric
50 hand can be made even softer by using a lower yarn twist
0 level. With all these advantages, compact spinning has set
Ring yarn Com4® Com4®
ae 3.56 ae 3.56 ae 3.23 a new standard, which is bringing positive changes in all
stages of textile manufacturing, from spinning right up to
Grey non iron finish the end product.
Fig. 78 – Fabric strength (warp) 09
Based on the success of the ComforSpin system, other ma-
chinery manufacturers (Fig. 81, Suessen, Zinser, Toyota...)
have developed their own compacting systems, also apply-
Staff abrasion [mg / 1 000 m] 100 % CO ing the aerodynamic principle.
combed
Compact spinning is therefore much more than a niche sys-
50
tem. Compact spinning is very successful for spinning high-
40
quality yarns for a wide range of applications.
30
20
40 %
10
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110
Yarn count [Ne]
Ring yarn Com4®
Fig. 79 – Lower abrasion in the Staff test
Ring yarn Com4®
Fig. 80 – Result in the fabric
60 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
Fig. 81 – ELITE system by Suessen
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 61
9. TECHNOLOGICAL ADDENDA
9.1. Spinning geometry b 3
9.1.1. Terms V 2 III
r
II
The fiber bundle passes through the drafting system, the yarn 1 a
guide eyelet, the balloon checking ring and the ring traveler I
on the way from the roving bobbin to the cop. These devic- D
es are arranged at different angles and distances relative to E Z
IG
each other, which results in different angles of deflection and γ
paths. Dimensions and guide angles, known collectively as F
spinning geometry, have a significant influence on the spin- dH
IF
ning process and final yarn quality, and especially on:
• tension conditions; δ
• ends down frequencies;
• irregularity;
IB
B
• fiber integration;
IH
IK
• yarn hairiness; IS
• incidence of fly;
IR
• etc.
Spinning geometry is therefore a very important optimiza- R
tion criterion for machinery manufacturers. However, it has
to be borne in mind here that changing a spinning geometry
parameter inevitably entails a change in all other geometry S
parameters.
Only the three most important factors from among the nu-
merous spinning geometry parameters are dealt with in this Fig. 82 – Spinning geometry angles and dimensions
volume, for reasons of space (Fig. 82). Other relationships
are described in Volume 1. These parameters are: Captions for Fig. 82:
• spinning triangle (W/WS); D Drafting system
• spinning length (L1/L2); Z Cylinder support
E Spinning path
• spinning angle (γ). F Yarn guide eyelet
B Balloon checking ring
R Ring rail
S Spindle
α Angle of drafting system relative to horizontal
β Angle of drafting system relative to spinning path axis
γ Angle of the thread on the spinning path relative to the vertical
δ Angle of the leg of the thread balloon relative to the spindle axis
lB Balloon height (variable)
lG Distance between drafting system and thread guide eyelet (variable)
lF Distance between thread guide eyelet and top of spindle or tube
(variable)
lS Spindle height
lK Tube height
lH Traverse height of the ring rail (winding height)
lR Distance between ring and balloon checking ring (variable)
dH Outside diameter of the tube at the top
V Overhang of the top front roller relative to the bottom roller
62 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
9.1.2. The spinning triangle With a given outlet width of W, length (L) of the spinning
triangle determines in turn the spinning width (WS), which
– unfortunately – is always smaller than W. Due to the dif-
ference between W and WS, the edge fibers leaving the
drafting system are not caught by the spinning triangle and
therefore not incorporated into the yarn. These fibers are
lost by forming fly and fluff or they are attached to the out-
side of the yarn already formed in an uncontrolled manner,
thus increasing hairiness. The greater the difference be-
a b c tween W and WS, the higher the loss of fibers, the greater
the hairiness, and also the adverse impact on yarn structure.
Fig. 83 – Short (a) and long (b) spinning triangle, (c) side view Width WS should therefore be as close as possible to W.
On the other hand, the length of the spinning triangle de-
9.1.2.1. The formation of the spinning triangle pends mainly on the twist according to the following correla-
tion: since twist always rises to a state where tie-in angle η
The turns of twist in a yarn are generated at the traveler at tie-in point E and fiber disposition angle κ in the yarn are
and move contrary to the direction of yarn movement to- equal, high yarn twist results in a short (L1), but low yarn
ward the drafting system. Twist should run back as far twist in a longer spinning triangle (L2). This means that the
as possible toward the nip line of the rollers, but it never greater length (L2) increases the size of the “spinning trian-
reaches as far as the nip because, after leaving the rollers, gle” weak point and thus the ends down rate. To keep the
the fibers first have to be diverted inwards and wrapped ends down rate at the same level as for high-twist yarns, the
around each other. The twist moves up until angle κ (which yarn manufacturer is forced to reduce yarn tension by lower-
is the angle of the fiber arrangement in the yarn) is equal to ing spindle speed (e.g. when spinning knitting yarns).
angle η of the spinning triangle (Fig. 84). There is therefore
always a triangular bundle of fibers without twist, the so-
called spinning triangle, at the exit from the rollers. By far
the most end breaks originate at this weak point, because H y
the yarn tension in the balloon can be transmitted almost
without obstruction as far as the drafting system, whereas
twist in the spinning triangle is zero.
9.1.2.2. The dimensions of the spinning triangle
(width and length)
(see also: W. Klein, Spinning Geometry and its Significance,
International Textile Bulletin, Zurich, 1993)
The dimensions of the triangle and their influence on spin-
ning are derived hereafter by some statements in an un- Fig. 85 – Reflection arc at the front roller
complicated scheme, starting with the width of the triangle.
Not only yarn twist but also machine design affects the
W W
length of the spinning triangle through wrapping angle λ
WS WS
(Fig. 85) of the fiber strand at the front roller. The wider this
angle, the longer the spinning triangle with all its advantag-
K K es and disadvantages. However, two additional advantages
η1 of the deflection at the front roller are worth mentioning;
L1 η2
E L2 firstly the extra guidance of the fibers by supporting the fib-
E ers without clamping them, and secondly the reduction of
κ2
the abrupt bending-off of the edge fibers. Being supported
κ1
over a small surface area at the front roller up to lift-off line
H, the fibers are gathered-in curving from the edge and tied
in firmly and regularly. Fiber loss is also reduced (Fig. 86).
Fig. 84 – Spinning triangle – influence of the twist
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 63
This reasoning is based on a comparison of a short triangle
N (Fig. 87, left) and a longer one (Fig. 87, right), and on the
K
α behavior of two fibers (F in the middle and f at the edge of
the triangle).
Both fibers are longer than the spinning triangle (distance
K/N to G). Whereas fiber F undergoes no change in direction
of movement during its passage through the spinning trian-
gle, fiber f is bent to a greater or lesser extent at N (angle Φ),
N increasing distance N - G. Consequently, the tension forces
K
from the yarn cause an elongation of fiber f. So if bending an-
gle Φ is large (for short spinning triangles), the elongation
H of fiber f is very high. That is why the tension forces (Fig. 87,
FS) of the yarn during the formation of the yarn pass main-
ly into edge fibers f (in zone ZS, Fig. 88, left). Fibers F in the
core remain almost free of elongation and hence of tension.
ZO Z5 ZL
Fig. 86 – Spinning triangle delivery angle of the fibers
Of course, when discussing the advantages of a longer spin-
FS
ning triangle it is always assumed that most of the fibers in
FL
the fiber strand are longer than the spinning triangle. This is
mostly the case, as the length of the spinning triangle varies
according to the machine design (inclination of the drafting
system α, height IG between lappet F and front roller etc.)
of different manufacturers in a range between 2.5 and 7 mm
only (Fig. 82).
9.1.2.3. Influence on the ends down rate
F f F f
short triangle long triangle
Fig. 88 – Spinning triangle – forces acting on the fibers:
K N K N
short staple triangle; long staple triangle
Φ Φ Therefore almost the entire tension force of the yarn in the
balloon acts only on a certain part of the fibers in the spin-
G
ning triangle, i.e. on the edge fibers. As a result, when ten-
G sion peaks due to shocks or uneven running from traveler or
balloon act on the spinning triangle, these few fibers cannot
bear the full load; they break or the fiber strand slips apart,
causing an end break. That is why end breaks normally oc-
cur within the spinning triangle from outside (edge) to in-
side (core). This danger is always present with a short spin-
FS FS
ning triangle. Owing to the large angle φ, the tensile forces
short triangle long triangle are distributed very unevenly; high on the edge fibers (zone
ZS) and much less on the central fibers (zone ZO). Distribu-
Fig. 87 – Length of the spinning triangle
64 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
tion is much better (zones ZL) with a long triangle. As a re- advantages. Long spinning triangles might increase the ends
sult it can be stated that spinning conditions are improved down rate by enlarging the “spinning triangle” weak point and
by reducing angle φ. A long spinning triangle therefore increase hairiness, since the hairiness of the yarn also de-
shows a more uniform distribution of forces (ZL). Since ten- pends to a great extent on the area of the spinning triangle.
sion is distributed over the entire fiber mass in these condi- On the other hand, a short spinning triangle also results in an
tions, fewer end breaks are the obvious result. increase in hairiness and fly accumulation as well as a reduc-
tion in yarn strength due to the difficulties in tying in the edge
9.1.2.4. Influence on the yarn structure fibers, and due to irregular distribution of fiber tension in the
yarn structure. The latter is also responsible for an increase in
Yarn formation takes place in the spinning triangle. If the the ends down rate. As is nearly always the case in spinning,
yarn is to have high strength, high elongation and regularity the problem is to find the optimum balance. It is therefore
combined with low neppiness and hairiness, the fibers in evident that as long as a significant spinning triangle exists,
the yarn must be: perfect yarn structure with excellent spinning performance
• well oriented cannot be achieved. In order to improve yarn quality and spin-
• evenly distributed in length and cross-section ning performance significantly, it is necessary to find ways to
• wound spirally around the axis, and reduce the size of the spinning triangle drastically, and above
• all fibers must be tied in under tension. all to reduce the width of the fiber flow W exactly to the width
of the remaining spinning triangle. This has been achieved by
Of all the spinning systems available or known, these require- so-called compact spinning systems (see chapter 8).
ments are best satisfied by ring spinning, especially with re-
gard to the last, very important item. However, this holds true 9.1.3. Spinning length E
only in conjunction with good spinning geometry, i.e. with an
optimal spinning triangle. If it is too short, core fibers (F) will This length E (Fig. 82) differs quite markedly depending on
be tied in without tension. They can then absorb tensile forces machine design. If it is very long, then a second or even third
in the axial direction only to a limited extent, or only after the balloon might emerge between lappet (F) and the front roller,
fibers in the outer layer (f) have been broken. Since the dis- in extreme cases increasing the ends down rate. However, in-
tribution of tension forces in the final yarn is similarly uneven sufficient length is much more troublesome, because the spin-
to that in the spinning triangle, the yarn shows the same ef- ning length is a damping zone for all the shocks and distur-
fect. When stress is applied to the yarn, the edge fibers under- bances coming from the balloon. If they pass without reduction
go so much elongation from the very beginning that the forc- into the spinning triangle, they cause a considerable increase
es acting on them either cause the fibers to break, or in some in ends down rates. Here too, an optimum has to be found.
cases to slide apart before the loading forces can act on the
neighboring fibers inside the yarn. Fiber breaks proceed suc- 9.1.4. Spinning angle γ
cessively from outside to inside. The yarn has low strength.
Since the twist inserted in the yarn is insufficient due to the At the thread guide of the lappet, the yarn is deflected more or
uneven distribution of tension (the edge fibers are ultimate- less according to the design of the machine, mainly depending
ly wrapped around the core fibers), the negative effect is re- on angle γ (Fig. 82). This angle also has a major influence on
inforced. The yarn structure falls short of the optimum, and the ends down rate and yarn formation due to the twist inser-
most of the yarn quality parameters suffer more or less. tion operation. Twist is inserted at the traveler by its rotation.
The twist must rise against the movement of the yarn up to the
9.1.2.5. Concluding remarks on the spinning triangle front rollers, where it has to tie in the fibers. If deflection arc γ
at the lappet is large (Fig. 82), a substantial part of the rising
One further remark is required when summarizing the entire twist will be held back at this point. The fiber mass at the criti-
reasoning behind the spinning triangle. Experts generally dis- cal point, i.e. the tying-in point of the spinning triangle, there-
cuss what happens at the spinning triangle by concentrating fore has less twist than ultimately the final yarn. This results
on the length of the triangle, although the main influencing firstly in more ends down, because yarn strength between the
factors are in fact the angles, as is shown by this investigation. drafting system and the lappet is simply inadequate owing to
However, since these angles mainly depend on the length and insufficient twist, and secondly the twist retention impairs the
vice versa, this simplification is admissible and is used here, tying-in of the fibers. The yarn receives its twist in two stages,
too. Using length as the criterion, it can be stated that long as most of it at the spinning triangle and then an additional twist
well as short spinning triangles have their advantages and dis- insertion in a yarn already formed between traveler and lap-
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 65
pet. This in turn is detrimental to the yarn properties. Lift lH:
Also important at this point is almost constant contact with About 20 mm shorter than tube length lK.
the thread guide eyelet, i.e. the yarn should always lie on the
lappet wire. Alternate touching and lifting clear of the wire Distance from top of tube to thread guide (lappet) (lF):
during one revolution of the traveler causes tension peaks at At least 2 x dH + 5 mm.
the spinning triangle which again increase the ends down rate.
Basic setting lR (distance from ring to balloon checking
9.1.5. Roller overhang ring):
Slightly less than half length lB.
Ratio of tube outside diameter at top to ring diameter:
About 0.45 to 0.5.
V 9.2. Quality standards
9.2.1. A new approach to quality
Quality is very often still regarded as something absolute,
i.e. the maximum is the target. This is a completely wrong
approach, as quality will more than ever become something
relative: it has to be tailored exactly to requirements and no
more. Any excess quality (compared to requirements) repre-
Fig. 89 – Overhang (V) of the top front roller sents cash lost for the producer. It rapidly drives a company
into the red. Going forward, the textile industry has to create
The top front roller almost never lies vertically above the asso- a new approach to quality in the mill, changing from a men-
ciated bottom roller. Usually, the top roller is shifted about 2 tality of maximum quality to a mentality of engineered and
to 4 mm (V, Fig. 89) forward. This gives somewhat smoother optimized quality that is assured absolutely and long-term.
running, because the weighting force exerts a stabilizing effect Engineered and optimized quality in this context means that
acting in the running direction, thus preventing oscillation of the quality is tailored exactly to demands in terms of:
the top roller. Furthermore, the angle of wrap is reduced and
the spinning triangle is made shorter. The overhang must not 9.2.1.1. Dimensioned quality
be too large, however, otherwise the distance from the exit
opening of the aprons to the roller nip line becomes too long, Fulfilling demands but no more.
resulting in poorer fiber guidance and increased irregularity. Today only very few mills produce this „dimensioned quality“.
Since the majority are not aware of the exact demands spec-
9.1.6. Other dimensions in spinning geometry ified for the product, through their own fault or that of the
customer, they usually seek to achieve a peak, becoming
Balloon height lB (Fig. 82): better and better month by month, thus producing so-called:
Every spinner is interested in producing large packages to in-
crease their running time on subsequent machines, at least 9.2.1.2. Overdimensioned quality
as long as the large package does not influence productivity.
As cop size is a function of ring diameter and tube length (lK), An irresponsible waste of resources and money.
choosing large dimensions in both might be considered. How- Another very common outcome is the production of under-
ever, this is not possible because the larger the ring diameter dimensioned quality.
the lower the production rate, and tube length depends on
ring diameter. If the tube is too long, the balloon becomes too 9.2.1.3. Underdimensioned quality
high for its diameter and this implies considerable tension
differences between winding on the cop base and winding at These products are mostly cheap but of low value. The
the top. Even when using balloon checking rings, as is mostly problem is very often not an inadequate average standard,
the case, a balloon of this shape is unstable. It might – and in but the permanent occurrence of reductions in quality, ren-
fact often does – collapse, leading to ends down.The ratio of dering the product useless for certain applications. What
ring diameter to tube length should be about 0.2 to 0.225. matters, therefore, is to reach quality agreements with the
66 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
customer, enabling the producer to work out his product 9.2.2.1. Mass variation
specifications and to tailor quality exactly according to the
specified demands. The aim should be: Fig. 90 – Mass variation CO, 100 %, carded, ring yarn,
cone, weaving
9.2.1.4. Quality that is as good as required Fig. 91 – Mass variation CO, 100 %, combed, ring yarn,
(and not as good as possible) cone, weaving
Fig. 92 – Mass variation PES/CO, 67/33 % and 65/35 %,
Uster Statistics might initially provide assistance in finding combed, ring yarn, cone
a basis for agreement. However, it should be borne in mind
that these figures, while very good and very valuable tools 9.2.2.2. Imperfections
for comparison and adjustment, can never replace agree-
ments between producer and customer. Working only ac- Fig. 93 – Thin places CO, 100 %, carded, ring yarn, cone,
cording to comparative Uster figures mostly means produc- weaving
ing overdimensioned quality. Fig. 94 – Thick places CO, 100 %, carded, ring yarn, cone,
weaving
9.2.2. Quality standards according to Uster Statistics Fig. 95 – Neps CO, 100 %, carded, ring yarn, cone, weaving
Fig. 96 – Thin places CO, 100 %, combed, ring yarn, cone,
However, since Uster Statistics are a very important control- weaving
ling tool for mills, and will continue to be for a long time, the Fig. 97 – Thick places CO, 100 %, combed, ring yarn, cone,
most widely used quality parameters for yarn, according to weaving
the state of the art in 2007, are shown on the following pages. Fig. 98 – Neps CO, 100 %, combed, ring yarn, cone, weaving
(By courtesy of the Zellweger Company in Uster, Switzerland) Fig. 99 – Thin places PES/CO, 67/33 % and 65/35 %,
combed, ring yarn, cone
These parameters are: Fig. 100 – Thick places PES/CO, 67/33 % and 65/35 %,
• mass variation (CV) combed, ring yarn, cone
• imperfections (thin places, thick places, neps) Fig. 101 – Neps PES/CO, 67/33 % and 65/35 %, combed,
• strength (breaking tenacity) ring yarn, cone
for
• carded and combed cotton yarns on packages (not cops) 9.2.2.3. Tensile properties (breaking tenacity, at 5 m/min)
• blended yarns: PES/cotton (combed), 65/35, 67/33, on
packages. Fig. 102 – Tensile properties CO, 100 %, carded, ring yarn,
cone, weaving
For the other parameters see Uster Statistics 2007. Fig. 103 – Tensile properties CO, 100 %, combed, ring yarn,
cone, weaving
Fig. 104 – Tensile properties PES/CO, 67/33 % and 65/35 %,
combed, ring yarn, cone
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 67
Africa Europe 24
26 % 12 %
Coefficient of variation 20
18
95 %
16
15 75 %
North & 14
50 %
Asia & South America 13
Oceania 37 % 12 25 %
25 %
Coefficient of variation
11 5 %
10
9
CVm
8
CVm [%]
7
6
Nm 5 10 15 20 30 50 70 90 150
Coefficient of variation Ne 3 5 10 15 20 40 60 80
of yarn mass Tex 200 150 100 80 60 50 40 30 25 20 15 10 7
Fig. 90 – Mass variation CO, 100 %, carded, ring yarn, cone, weaving
Asia & Africa
Oceania 29 % 24
58 %
20
18
16
15
14
95 %
13
Europe 75 %
North & 12 50 %
12 %
South America 11 25 %
1 %
10 5 %
Coefficient of variation
8
CVm [%]
7 CVm
6
Nm 20 30 35 40 45 50 60 70 80 90 100 150 200 250
Coefficient of variation
Ne 15 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 100
of yarn mass
Tex 50 40 30 25 20 15 10 9 6 5 4
Fig. 91 – Mass variation CO, 100 %, combed, ring yarn, cone, weaving
68 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
Europe
15 %
Africa
24
13 %
20
18
16
15
14
13
95 %
North & 12
Asia & South America 11 75 %
Oceania 12 %
60 % 10 50 %
Coefficient of variation
25 %
9 5 %
8
CVm [%]
CVm
7
6
Nm 5 10 15 20 30 50 70 90 150
Coefficient of variation Ne 3 5 10 15 20 40 60 80
of yarn mass Tex 200 150 100 80 60 50 40 30 25 20 15 10 7
Fig. 92 – Mass variation PES/CO, 67/33 % and 65/35 %, combed, ring yarn, cone
4 000
3 000
2 000
1 000
800
600
400
300
200 95 %
100 75 %
80
60 50 %
40 25 %
30 5 %
20
Thin places per 1 000 m
10
8
6
4 Thin -50 %
Thin -50 %
3
2
1
Nm 5 10 15 25 30 50 70 90 150
Thin places Ne 3 5 10 30 50 70 80
-50 % per 1 000 m Tex 200 150 100 70 50 30 25 15 10 7
Fig. 93 – Thin places CO, 100 %, carded, ring yarn, cone, weaving
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 69
Africa Europe
26 % 12 % 4 000
3 000
2 000
1 000
800
600
400
300 95 %
200
100 75 %
80
North & 60 50 %
Asia & South America
40
Oceania 37 % 30 25 %
25 % 20 5 %
Thick places per 1 000 m
10
8
6
4
Thick +50 %
Thick +50 %
3
2
1
Nm 5 10 15 25 30 50 70 90 150
Thick places +50 %
Ne 3 5 10 15 20 40 60 80
per 1 000 m Tex 200 150 100 80 60 50 40 30 25 20 15 10 7
Fig. 94 – Thick places CO, 100 %, carded, ring yarn, cone, weaving
4 000
3 000
2 000
1 000
800
600
400
300
200
100 95 %
80
75 %
60
40 50 %
30
20 25 %
10
8
Neps per 1 000 m
6
4 5 %
Neps +200 %
Neps +200 %
3
2
1
Nm 5 10 15 25 30 50 70 90 150
Neps +200 % Ne 3 5 10 30 50 70 80
per 1 000 m Tex 200 150 100 70 50 30 25 15 10 7
Fig. 95 – Neps CO, 100 %, carded, ring yarn, cone, weaving
70 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
4 000
3 000
2 000
1 000
800
600
400 95 %
300 75 %
200 50 %
100 25 %
80 5 %
60
40
30
20
Thin places per 1 000 m
10
8
6
4 Thin -50 %
Thin -50 %
3
2
1
Nm 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 150 200 250
Thin places -50 % Ne 15 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 100
per 1 000 m Tex 50 40 30 25 20 15 10 9 6 5 4
Fig. 96 – Thin places CO, 100 %, combed, ring yarn, cone, weaving
Asia & Africa 4 000
Oceania 29 % 3 000
58 % 2 000
1 000
800
600
400
300
200
100
Europe 80 95 %
North &
12 % 60
South America 75 %
40
1 % 30
20 50 %
Thick places per 1 000 m
10 25 %
8 5 %
6
4
Thick +50 %
Thick +50 %
3
2
1
Nm 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 150 200 250
Thick places +50 % Ne 12 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 120 150
per 1 000 m Tex 50 40 30 20 10 7 4
Fig. 97 – Thick places CO, 100 %, combed, ring yarn, cone, weaving
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 71
4 000
3 000
2 000
1 000
800
600
400
300
200
100 95 %
80
60 75 %
40 50 %
30
20 25 %
Neps per 1 000 m
10 5 %
8
Neps +200 %
6
4 Neps +200 %
3
2
1
Nm 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 150 200 250
Neps +200 % Ne 15 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 100
per 1 000 m Tex 50 40 30 25 20 15 10 9 6 5 4
Fig. 98 – Neps CO, 100 %, combed, ring yarn, cone, weaving
4 000
3 000
2 000
1 000 Thin -50 %
800
600
400
300
200
100
80
60
40
Thin places per 1000 m
30
20
10
8
6 95 %
Thin -50 %
4 75 %
3 50 %
2 25 %
1 5 %
Nm 5 10 15 25 30 50 70 90 150
Thin places -50 % Ne 3 5 10 15 20 40 60 80
per 1 000 m Tex 200 150 100 80 60 50 40 30 25 20 15 10 7
Fig. 99 – Thin places PES/CO, 67/33 % and 65/35 %, combed, ring yarn, cone
72 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
Asia & 4 000
Oceania Africa
3 000
60 % 13 %
2 000
1 000
800
600
400
300
200
Europe 100
15 % 80
60 95 %
40
North & 30
South America 75 %
20
Thick places per 1 000 m
12 %
10 50 %
8
25 %
6 Thick +50 %
4
Thick +50 %
5 %
3
2
1
Nm 5 10 15 25 30 50 70 90 150
Ne 3 5 10 30 50 70 80
Thick places +50 % per 1 000 m Tex 200 150 100 80 60 50 40 30 25 20 15 10 7
Fig. 100 – Thick places PES/CO, 67/33 % and 65/35 %, combed, ring yarn, cone
4 000
3 000
2 000
1 000
800
600
400
300
200 95 %
100
80 75 %
60
40 50 %
30
20 25 %
10 5 %
Neps per 1 000 m
8
6
Neps -200 %
4 Neps -200 %
3
2
1
Nm 5 10 15 25 30 50 70 90 150
Ne 3 5 10 15 20 40 60 80
Neps +200 % per 1 000 m Tex 200 150 100 80 60 50 40 30 25 20 15 10 7
Fig. 101 – Neps PES/CO, 67/33 % and 65/35 %, combed, ring yarn, cone
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 73
40
30
25
20 5 %
25 %
50 %
75 %
Breaking tenacity
15
95 %
RH [cN/tex]
RH
10
Nm 5 10 15 20 30 50 70 90 150
Breaking tenacity Ne 3 5 10 15 20 40 60 80
(CRE, 5 m/min) Tex 200 150 100 80 60 50 40 30 25 20 15 10 7
Fig. 102 – Tensile properties CO, 100 %, carded, ring yarn, cone, weaving
40
30
25
5 %
20
25 %
50 %
75 %
15
95 %
Breaking tenacity
RH [cN/tex]
RH
10
Breaking tenacity Nm 20 25 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 150 200 250
Ne 15 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 100
(CRE, 5 m/min) Tex 50 40 30 25 20 15 10 9 6 5 4
Fig. 103 – Tensile properties CO, 100 %, combed, ring yarn, cone, weaving
74 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
40
30
5 %
25 50 %
95 %
20
Breaking tenacity
15
RH [cN/tex]
RH
10
Nm 5 10 15 20 30 50 70 90 150
Breaking tenacity Ne 3 5 10 15 20 40 60 80
(CRE, 5 m/min) Tex 200 150 100 80 60 50 40 30 25 20 15 10 7
Fig. 104 – Tensile properties PES/CO, 67/33 % and 65/35 %, combed, ring yarn, cone
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 75
76 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 77
ILLUSTRATIONS
Fig. 1 – Ring spinning machines 11 Fig. 46 – Motion diagram for the working elements 40
Fig. 2 – Cost structure in a ring spinning mill 11 Fig. 47 – Winding mechanism 40
Fig. 3 – Working diagram 13 Fig. 48 – Engagement of cam (N) in the winding mechanism 40
Fig. 4 – Machine components 15 Fig. 49 – Motor-powered cop formation 41
Fig. 5 – Section through the machine 15 Fig. 50 – Work performed by a ring spinning operative 43
Fig. 6 – Bobbin suspension pivot 16 Fig. 51 – Preparation for doffing 44
Fig. 7 – The drafting system 17 Fig. 52 – Underwinding position (b) and piecing
Fig. 8 – Section through the drafting system 17 position (a) of the ring rail 44
Fig. 9 – The INA drafting system 17 Fig. 53 – Reserve winding (1) and underwinding (2) 44
Fig. 10 – Pressure roller 17 Fig. 54 – Autodoffer retracted 46
Fig. 11 – SKF PK 225 rocking support 18 Fig. 55 – Autodoffer prior to doffing 46
Fig. 12 – Changing the loading on the PK 225 Fig. 56 – Extending the doffer rail (B) 46
rocking support 19 Fig. 57 – Raising the full cops (K) 47
Fig. 13 – Pneumatic loading by Rieter 19 Fig. 58 – Lowering and releasing the full cops (K) 47
Fig. 14 – Fiber guidance options 19 Fig. 59 – Gripping the empty tubes (H) and extending 47
Fig. 15 – Long bottom apron 20 Fig. 60 – Creeling the tubes (H) 47
Fig. 16 – Short bottom apron 20 Fig. 61 – Yarn transport from the ring spinning machine
Fig. 17 – Thread guide eyelet (1), balloon checking to the winder (as proposed by Schlafhorst) 48
ring (2), spindle (4/7) and ring (3) 21 Fig. 62 – Interconnected machines:
Fig. 18 – Cap wharve 21 ring spinning machine and winder 49
Fig. 19 – Vibration absorber (10) in a spindle bearing 22 Fig. 63 – SKF roving top motion 50
Fig. 20 – Spindle damping function: a, spiral spring; Fig. 64 – USTER Ringdata 51
b, spindle blade; c, oil flow 23 Fig. 65 – Diagram of the card production 53
Fig. 21 – 4-spindle tape drive 23 Fig. 66 – SPIDERweb network 53
Fig. 22 – Tangential belt drive 24 Fig. 67 – Fiber extraction 55
Fig. 23 – Group drive (new from SKF Almanac) 24 Fig. 68 – Pressure drop in the fiber extraction system,
Fig. 24 – Thread board (k) and thread guide eyelet (o) 24 starting from the first spindle on the fan side 55
Fig. 25 – Raising the thread guide eyelet Fig. 69 – Agitator 56
as the balloon becomes smaller 25 Fig. 70 – Blower/suction system 56
Fig. 26 – Centering the thread guide eyelet 25 Fig. 71 – Track systems 56
Fig. 27 – Balloon checking ring 25 Fig. 72 – Conventional ring spinning vs. the
Fig. 28 – Separators 26 ComforSpin principle 57
Fig. 29 – Ring and traveler 26 Fig. 73 – Suction system 57
Fig. 30 – Single-sided and two-sided ring 26 Fig. 74 – Yarn comparison 58
Fig. 31 – Ring flange 27 Fig. 75 – Hairiness S 3 is decisive in downstream
Fig. 32 – Anti-wedge ring 27 processing 58
Fig. 33 – Cropped ring 27 Fig. 76 – Com4® in knitting – lower fiber fly and
Fig. 34 – Rieter Orbit ring 28 fewer foreign fibers 58
Fig. 35 – Attachment of the rings 29 Fig. 77 – Higher efficiency despite applying less size 58
Fig. 36 – Traveler shapes 31 Fig. 78 – Fabric strength (warp) 09 59
Fig. 37 – Wire profiles for ring travelers 31 Fig. 79 – Lower abrasion in the Staff test 59
Fig. 38 – Overview of traveler weights 32 Fig. 80 – Result in the fabric 59
Fig. 39 – Traveler clearer (r) 33 Fig. 81 – ELITE system by Suessen 60
Fig. 40 – Ring rail motion, yarn tension and ends down Fig. 82 – Spinning geometry angles and dimensions 61
frequency during a ring rail traverse 35 Fig. 83 – Short (a) and long (b) spinning triangle,
Fig. 41 – Different balloon heights 35 (c) side view 62
Fig. 42 – Variable-speed gear drive 36 Fig. 84 – Spinning triangle – influence of the twist 62
Fig. 43 – Adjustments to the variable-speed gear drive 37 Fig. 85 – Reflection arc at the front roller 62
Fig. 44 – Cop shape 39 Fig. 86 – Spinning triangle delivery angle of the fibers 63
Fig. 45 – Main and cross windings 39 Fig. 87 – Length of the spinning triangle 63
78 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning
Fig. 88 – Spinning triangle – forces acting on the fibers:
1 short staple triangle; 2 long staple triangle 63
Fig. 89 – Overhang (V) of the top front roller 65
Fig. 90 – Mass variation CO, 100 %, carded, ring yarn,
cone, weaving 67
Fig. 91 – Mass variation CO, 100 %, combed, ring yarn,
cone, weaving 67
Fig. 92 – Mass variation PES/CO, 67/33 % and 65/35 %,
combed, ring yarn, cone 68
Fig. 93 – Thin places CO, 100 %, carded, ring yarn, cone,
weaving 68
Fig. 94 – Thick places CO, 100 %, carded, ring yarn, cone,
weaving 69
Fig. 95 – Neps CO, 100 %, carded, ring yarn, cone,
weaving 69
Fig. 96 – Thin places CO, 100 %, combed, ring yarn,
cone, weaving 70
Fig. 97 – Thick places CO, 100 %, combed, ring yarn,
cone, weaving 70
Fig. 98 – Neps CO, 100 %, combed, ring yarn, cone,
weaving 71
Fig. 99 – Thin places PES/CO, 67/33 % and 65/35 %,
combed, ring yarn, cone 71
Fig. 100 – Thick places PES/CO, 67/33 % and 65/35 %,
combed, ring yarn, cone 72
Fig. 101 – Neps PES/CO, 67/33 % and 65/35 %,
combed, ring yarn, cone 72
Fig. 102 – Tensile properties CO, 100 %, carded,
ring yarn, cone, weaving 73
Fig. 103 – Tensile properties CO, 100 %, combed,
ring yarn, cone, weaving 73
Fig. 104 – Tensile properties PES/CO, 67/33 %
and 65/35 %, combed, ring yarn, cone 74
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 4 . Ring Spinning 79
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 4 – Ring Spinning
The fourth volume covers the technical and technological aspects of ring spinning. This is a very
important sub-field of yarn production, because the ring frame has a major influence on the yarn
product and its quality. Ring-spun yarn still represents the absolute standard for comparison
when evaluating yarns produced by other spinning processes.
Rieter Machine Works Ltd. Rieter India Private Ltd. Rieter (China) The data and illustrations in this brochure and on the
Klosterstrasse 20 Gat No. 768/2, Village Wing Textile Instruments Co., Ltd. corresponding data carrier refer to the date of printing.
Rieter reserves the right to make any necessary changes
CH-8406 Winterthur Shindewadi-Bhor Road Shanghai Branch
at any time and without special notice. Rieter systems
T +41 52 208 7171 Taluka Khandala, District Satara Unit B-1, 6F, Building A,
and Rieter innovations are protected by patents.
F +41 52 208 8320 IN-Maharashtra 412 801 Synnex International Park
machines@rieter.com T +91 2169 304 141 1068 West Tianshan Road 1924-v3 en 1611
aftersales@rieter.com F +91 2169 304 226 CN-Shanghai 200335
T +86 21 6037 3333
F +86 21 6037 3399
ISBN 10 3-9523173-4-9
www.rieter.com ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-4-1
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 5
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 5 – Rotor Spinning
Heinz Ernst
Publisher
Rieter Machine Works Ltd.
Copyright
©2014 by Rieter Machine Works Ltd.,
Klosterstrasse 20, CH-8406 Wintherthur,
www.rieter.com
Part of this content provided by The Textile Institute. Used by permission.
Cover page
R 60 rotor spinning machine
Available Volumes/Edition:
Volume 1 – Technology of Short-staple Spinning
ISBN 10 3-9523173-1-4 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-1-0
Volume 2 – Blowroom & Carding
ISBN 10 3-9523173-2-2 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-2-7
Volume 3 – Spinning Preparation
ISBN 10 3-9523173-3-0 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-3-4
Volume 4 – Ring Spinning
ISBN 10 3-9523173-4-9 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-4-1
Volume 5 – Rotor Spinning
ISBN 10 3-9523173-5-7 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-5-8
Volume 6 – Alternative Spinning Systems
ISBN 10 3-9523173-6-5 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-6-5
Volume 7 – Processing of Man-Made Fibres
ISBN 10 3-9523173-7-3 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-7-2
Collectors Edition – all Volumes (Vol. 1-7)
ISBN 10 3-9523173-0-6 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-0-3
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 3
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 5 – Rotor Spinning
Heinz Ernst
4 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 5
THE RIETER MANUAL OF SPINNING
Volume 1 – Technology of Short-staple Spinning Volume 5 – Rotor Spinning
This deals with basic, generally valid, technological rela- This process resulted from research into alternative spinning
tionships in short-staple spinning. Subsequent volumes are systems. This volume contains in-depth information on the
organised according to machines or machine groups. This rotor spinning process and its properties. Continual improve-
separates generally valid basic principles from ongoing ments in spinning elements and conditions make it now pos-
developments in machine design and construction. sible to spin a rotor yarn optically similar to a ring-spun yarn.
Volume 2 – Blowroom & Carding Volume 6 – Alternative Spinning Systems
In-depth information is provided on opening, cleaning, To take full advantage of alternative spinning systems,
blending and carding and additional aspects are covered a thorough understanding of them is therefore essential. This
such as acclimatisation of raw materials, anticipated waste volume contributes towards reaching this goal by describing
from various grades of fibre, selection and setting of cleaning the most important alternative spinning systems in detail.
and blending machinery, waste recycling, transport and the One of them is the well known Air-jet spinning technology.
functions of the various card components as well as selection
and maintenance of card clothing and autolevelling systems. Volume 7 – Processing of Man-Made Fibres
Volume 3 – Spinning Preparation Ever since the introduction of man-made fibres on a com-
mercial scale, the market share of synthetic fibres has shown
Here the technical and technological aspects of the yarn an impressive growth rate. In this important field, the variety
production process between carding and ring spinning are of man-made fibres with different properties is continuously
covered, that means draw frame, combing section (including increasing. For numerous applications today, fibres that are
combing preparation) and roving frame. This is an important practically “tailor-made” are available. Spinners must there-
process stage, because the yarn quality largely depends on fore have detailed understanding of the fibre properties and
the quality of the intermediate products from which it is the specific characteristics that affect their processing.
made.
Volume 4 – Ring Spinning
Technical and technological aspects of ring spinning are
covered. This is the final process in yarn production. The ring
spinning machine greatly influences the yarn and its quality.
Ring-spun yarns still represent the standard for compari-
son when evaluating yarns produced by other spinning
processes.
6 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 7
EDITORIAL
This fifth volume in the series The Rieter Manual of Spinning deals with
both the technical and technological aspects of rotor spinning systems. In
the past forty years, the search for new, more economic spinning systems
has been pursued very actively throughout the industry. As one of the major
achievements, rotor spinning was introduced into the market in the early
seventies of last century and, with approx. 8 million rotors in operation
worldwide by the end of 2007 (equivalent to about 48 million ring
spindles), it has captured a substantial share of the spinning market.
One of the key drivers of this success was the outstandingly economical
performance of rotor spinning. From the very beginning it became clear
that rotor technology was able to set a new benchmark with regard to
process cost. The field of coarse count yarn was soon conquered by this
new technology, especially in those markets where increased labor costs
represented a fundamental problem for the spinning industry. Later on,
when automation of the entire rotor spinning process was available,
this advantage became even more obvious and made the share of labor
costs a minor issue. The rotor spinning process nowadays represents
a well established alternative for processing all kinds of raw material with
uncontested advantages over all other spinning systems in the field of
short staple fibers and in specific energy consumption.
The rotor spinning system produces yarns and therefore end products with
a quality that differs to a certain extent from the ring-spinning standard.
In order to take full advantage of the new process, it is essential to have
a thorough understanding of the details. This volume is designed to
contribute towards reaching this goal.
It should also be mentioned that some important basic technology has
been dealt with in Volume 1, The Technology of Short-staple Spinning, in
particular, drafting with opening rollers and the yarn-formation process
in rotor spinning.
The author of this volume, Heinz Ernst, is a former Rieter employee who
recently retired from Rieter Ingolstadt, were he was responsible for rotor
product management. He also used to lecture at numerous seminars
throughout the world in his capacity of textile technologist. Heinz Ernst
has many years of experience to his credit.
The structure of this manual and the organization of its subject matter
have been taken from the original Technology of Short-staple Spinning
published by the Textile Institute, Manchester, whom we thank for their
kind permission to continue this standard work.
I wish all users of this compendium pleasant reading.
Heiner Eberli, Head of Marketing, Rieter Spun Yarn Systems
8 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 9
CONTENTS
1. The importance of rotor spinning 11 3.1.2. Automatic piecing 48
1.1. Historical background 11 3.1.2.1. Automatic piecing after ends
1.2. Development and current status of rotor spinning 11 down and quality stops 49
1.3. The potential of rotor spinning 14 3.1.2.2. Automatic piecing after package change 49
1.3.1. The technological potential of rotor spinning 14 3.1.2.3. Piecing speed and piecing quality 52
1.3.2. The economic potential of rotor spinning 14 3.1.3. Semi-automatic piecing system on
1.4. The principle of rotor spinning 14 manually operated machines 53
1.5. Performance parameters of rotor spinning machines 15 3.1.4. Automatic package change 54
1.5.1. Technological setting parameters 15 3.1.4.1. Package change and spinning
1.5.2. Production-related setting parameters 15 start-up on empty tubes in a single
1.5.3. Machine data 15 operation (integrated automation) 54
2. Machinery and process 17 3.1.4.2. Package change and spinning
2.1. Structure of the rotor spinning machine 17 start-up with starter packages
2.2. Operating principle of the rotor spinning machine 18 in two separate operations 54
2.3. The spinning box 20 3.1.4.3. Yarn end placement 54
2.3.1. Sliver feed 20 3.1.5. Batch change 55
2.3.2. Opening unit 21 3.1.5.1. Batch change at individual spinning positions 55
2.3.3. Trash removal 22 3.1.5.2. Batch change on one side of the machine 55
2.3.4. Fiber transport to the rotor 23 3.1.5.3. Batch change on the machine as a whole 55
2.3.5. Fiber transport to the fiber collecting 3.1.6. Supplying empty tubes 55
groove in the rotor 24 3.1.7. Automatic sliver piecing after can change 55
2.3.6. Yarn formation and twist insertion 25 3.2. Transport automation in the rotor spinning mill 56
2.3.7. Rotor speed and rotor diameter 26 3.2.1. The importance of can format for
2.3.8. Rotor cleaning 27 automated can change 56
2.3.9. Rotor bearing and drive 28 3.2.2. Can transport between the draw frame
2.3.10. Yarn take-off 32 and the rotor spinning machine 57
2.4. Package formation 32 3.2.3. Package transport between the rotor
2.4.1. Winding, stop motion and quality control 33 spinning machine and subsequent zones 58
2.4.2. Compensation of winding tension 33 4. Applications engineering 61
2.4.3. Winding helix and delivery speed 35 4.1. Raw material selection 61
2.4.4. Anti-patterning device 36 4.2. Fiber properties 63
2.4.5. Edge displacement at package shoulders 36 4.2.1. Fiber count 64
2.4.6. Length measurement 36 4.2.2. Fiber length 65
2.4.7. Yarn waxing device 37 4.2.3. Fiber tenacity and fiber elongation 67
2.5. Drives 37 4.3. Preparation of raw material 67
2.6. Suction systems 39 4.3.1. Disturbing materials in the cotton 68
2.6.1. Suction system machine 39 4.3.1.1. Organic and inorganic impurities 68
2.6.2. Suction system robot 40 4.3.1.2. Yarn remnants 68
2.7. Operating and monitoring 40 4.3.1.3. Quartz sand and mineral dust 68
2.8. Quality control systems 41 4.3.1.4. Honeydew 68
2.8.1. Quality control systems as integral 4.3.2. Processing problems with man-made fibers 68
components of rotor spinning machines 42 4.3.2.1. Spin finish (MMF) 69
2.8.2. Comparison of measuring methods 42 4.3.2.2. Delustrants (MMF) 69
2.9. Production monitoring 43 4.3.3. The processing stages 69
3. Machine and transport automation 45 4.3.3.1. Blowroom 69
3.1. Machine automation in rotor spinning 45 4.3.3.2. Cards 69
3.1.1. Application options for operating robots 46 4.3.3.3. Draw frames 70
3.1.1.1. Machines with a single operating robot 46 4.3.3.4. Combing 71
3.1.1.2. Machines with two operating robots 46 4.4. Ranges of application of the spinning elements 71
3.1.1.3. Machines with three operating robots 48 4.4.1. Range of application of the opening roller 72
3.1.1.4. Machines with four operating robots 48 4.4.2. Range of application of the rotor 73
10 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
4.4.3. Range of application of draw-off nozzles
and draw-off tubes 76
4.4.3.1. Draw-off nozzles 76
4.4.3.2. Draw-off tubes with and without
ceramic insert (TWISTstop) 78
4.5. Components for manufacturing fancy yarns 79
4.6. Selection and influence of draft and yarn twist 79
4.6.1. Draft 79
4.6.2. Yarn twist and twist multiplyer 80
4.7. Yarn and machine data for the main rotor-spun yarns 82
4.8. Ambient conditions in the spinning mill 84
4.9. Downstream processing and end products 84
4.9.1. Processing properties 84
4.9.2. Fabrics made from rotor-spun yarn 85
4.9.2.1. Bed sheetings 86
4.9.2.2. Emery cloth backing 86
4.9.2.3. Denim fabrics 86
4.9.2.4. Flannel fabrics / beaver sheets 86
4.9.2.5. Terry fabrics 87
4.9.2.6. Knitted fabrics / T-Shirts 87
4.9.2.7. Sportswear / leisurewear 87
4.9.3. Finishing 87
5. Technology 89
5.1. Yarn formation 89
5.1.1. Fiber flow to the rotor 89
5.1.2. Fiber collection in the rotor groove (back-doubling) 89
5.1.3. Twist insertion and yarn formation 90
5.2. Genuine and false twist 92
5.3. Wrapper fibers 94
5.4. Yarn structure and physical textile characteristics 94
5.4.1. Count-related yarn tenacity (cN/tex) 95
5.4.2. Elongation at break (%) 95
5.4.3. Yarn hairiness 96
5.4.4. Yarn irregularity (CVm%) 96
5.4.5. Imperfections (thin places, thick places, neps) 97
6. Economics of rotor spinning 99
6.1. Cost structures of comparable rotor-spun and
ring-spun yarns 99
6.2. Lower labor costs due to advantages
in transport and service 103
6.3. Reduced labor costs in downstream
processing 104
References 105
Illustrations 107
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 11
1. THE IMPORTANCE OF ROTOR ing device of the rotor spinning system. Since the individ-
SPINNING ual fibers are released from a compact fiber bundle during
1.1. Historical background transport between the opening roller and the rotor collect-
ing groove and are only combined again in the rotor groove,
Rotor spinning has been characterized from the outset by we can here refer to an open yarn end.
incomparably higher production potential than ring spin-
ning. This potential has been steadily increased by the con- 1.2. Development and current status of rotor spinning
tinuous rise in rotor and winding speeds. Rotor-spun yarns
have therefore always been successful where they could The idea of producing yarn using the rotor spinning process
be manufactured more cheaply than ring-spun yarns and is far from new:
proved suitable for the range of application in question. • Patent applications for this method were filed allready
Rotor spinning combines two process stages – spinning and in 1937 (basic rotor patent by Berthelsen).
winding – in a single machine. Saleable cross-wound pack- • However, the first usable design was not proposed
ages could therefore be produced immediately, without until 1951 by J. Meimberg at the Spinnbau company in
first having to wind small spinning cops. Integrated yarn Bremen, but further development of the machine was dis-
monitoring systems and auxiliary devices for waxing the continued because performance proved unsatisfactory.
yarns at each spinning position also eliminate the need for • The idea was taken up again in Czechoslovakia dur-
a subsequent rewinding process. The production of rovings, ing the 1960s, and the first machine really suitable for
which is required for ring spinning, is also eliminated, since industrial application was shown in 1965 at the Brno
the rotor spinning system is able to process carded or draw fair. This was followed in 1967 by the presentation of
frame slivers directly. the BD 200 machine at an exhibition parallel to the
Last but not least, the rotor spinning system has benefited ITMA of that year. This was also when the rotor spin-
from the fact that operator functions on the rotor spinning ning process came into industrial use in spinning mills.
machine were much easier to automate than those on the • In the early 1970s Rieter, Schubert & Salzer and
ring spinning machine. Automation of all operator func- Platt formed a consortium to develop the rotor spin-
tions is now standard on high-performance rotor spinning ning process, and this resulted in the appearance at
machines, automated can and package transport is already the 1971 ITMA of a number of prototypes at various
an essential feature in many textile mills. stages of development.
The technological challenge – not only when launching ro- The years that followed were characterized by intensive de-
tor spinning – has always been to separate the assessment velopment effort aimed at exploiting both the technological
criteria for rotor-spun yarn from the structural features of and the economic potential of the rotor spinning system.
ring-spun yarns. The dominance of rotor-spun yarns, for ex- Systematic work was pursued on:
ample in woven denim fabrics and knitted fabrics, shows • substantially expanding the count range of rotor-spun
that this has been successful in some important end prod- yarn, paying particular attention to yarn quality;
uct segments. New ranges of application are still continu- • optimizing the wearing properties of rotor-spun yarns,
ously being developed for rotor-spun yarns, on the one for example by improving their hand in end products;
hand through selective modification of yarn properties, and • improving the yarns‘ physical textile properties in order
on the other through continuous improvements in spinning to take account of the often rapid increases in perfor-
stability. mance of subsequent process stages.
The essential feature of the rotor spinning system is the sep- Continuing research and further development have resulted
aration of the functional stages of fiber sliver opening and in improvements in spinning elements and conditions, so
yarn formation, respectively imparting twist and winding up that it is now hardly possible to distinguish rotor-spun yarn
the yarn. In order to achieve this the fiber bundle has to be from ring-spun yarn.
interrupted at one point at least. This occurs between the The rotor spinning machine itself is no longer just a spinning
functional stages of opening the draw frame or card sliver machine in the traditional sense, but a highly productive,
into individual fibers and subsequently combining these fib- computerized and complex system for converting sliver into
ers in the collecting groove of the spinning rotor, the twist- yarn.
12 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
The improvement in economics has been even more re- and also reposition the range of applications of rotor-spun
markable than the technological advances. For example, yarns. Air-jet spun yarns have been able to secure a certain
since the introduction of rotor spinning in the 1960s rotor market share to date mainly in the USA. Despite intensive
speeds have increased from the original level of around development effort, certain limitations in the processing of
30 000 rpm to that of 160 000 rpm in practical use pure cotton remain a barrier to their wider use.
today (Fig. 1). Nowadays (in 2005) rotor speeds of up In recent years the share of automated rotor spinning ma-
to 170 000 rpm are technically possible without any chines world-wide is about 35 %. This figure is influenced
difficulty. A rotor spinning unit produces five to ten times
as much as a ring spinning spindle. In countries with high 3 500 000
wage levels, rotor spinning is more economical than ring 3 000 000
Number of rotors
spinning for yarn counts up to Ne 60. 2 500 000
2 000 000
1 500 000
1 000 000
500 000
200 000 0
180 000 Europe Asia America Europe Europe Americe Africa
Rotor speeds [rpm]
160 000 East Oceania North Others West South
140 000 Regions (ITMF)
120 000
100 000
80 000 Fig. 2 – Installed rotor capacity worldwide in 2007 (total of over 8 million),
60 000 by ITMF region (see references)
40 000
20 000
0 by the huge number of not automared machines installed in
1960 1965 1970 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2020
China. In other parts of the world the share is much higher.
Fig. 3 is showing as an example the situation in Turkey,
Fig. 1 – Development in achievable rotor speeds since the launch of the
rotor spinning system a big investor in rotor spinning during the last decade. Short-
ly after introduction of automated rotor spinning, in Turkey
With more than 8 million rotor spinning positions installed within a few years the share increased over 80 %.
worldwide (Fig. 2), some 20 % of staple fiber yarns have al- Nowadays systems are also available for automatic can
ready been spun consistently for some years. In some coun- transport between the draw frame and the rotor spinning
tries (e.g. USA, Germany) the proportion of rotor-spun yarns machine as well as systems for package transport from the
is already around 50 % of total yarn volume. Developments rotor spinning machine to the material store or directly to
in fashion and textile applications, as well as developments downstream processing. This fact has contributed substan-
in spinning machinery manufacturing, continue to expand tially to the improvement in the economics of rotor spinning.
900 000 90 %
800 000 80 %
Proportion of automated machines
700 000 70 %
No. of rotors installed
600 000 60 %
500 000 50 %
400 000 40 %
300 000 30 %
200 000 20 %
100 000 10 %
0 0 %
1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003
Source: ITMF, Rieter
New investment in rotors Rotors installed Proportion of automated machines in machines delivered
Fig. 3 – Number of rotors installed, showing the proportion of automated machines and new investment in rotors, using Turkey from 1979 to 2003 as an example
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 13
The rotor spinning process enables fibers up to 60 mm (2.25˝) Viscose, Modal, polyacrylic and their blends with each other
long to be processed and thus covers the classical short staple and with cotton also represent a fixed proportion of yarn vol-
cotton range. The machines developed by various manufactur- ume. However, the processing of these and a whole series of
ers (Schubert & Salzer, Duesberg Busson) for processing long- other natural and man-made fibers is usually much more sub-
er fibers with larger rotors were, however, unable to establish ject to the dictates of fashion, so that their shares fluctuate
themselves on the market. Fig. 4 shows the distribution of widely, both regionally and seasonally. A further economic
yarn counts of rotor-spun yarns in the short staple range. The aspect of interest in some applications arises from the possi-
main emphasis of rotor-spun yarns is in the count range be- bility of spinning mill-waste fibers (secondary materials) on
tween Ne 6 and Ne 40, but covers the overall range from Ne 3 the rotor spinning machine. It was not previously possible
to Ne 60, albeit with a small proportion of yarn volume. to use these materials.
Since this spinning system was introduced, rotor-spun yarns
3 000 000
have established themselves firmly in fields of application
2 500 000
for woven and knitted fabrics. In many cases the processing
Installed rotors
2 000 000 of rotor-spun yarns into the end product actually resulted
1 500 000 in advantages compared with ring-spun yarns, which led to
1 000 000 a higher-quality end product. First of all, rotor-spun yarns
500 000
could be used successfully where the specific properties of
the rotor-spun yarns corresponded especially closely to the
3 6 12 18 24 30 40 50 requirements of the end products. Fig. 5 shows the main
Yarn count [Ne] end products in which rotor-spun yarns are used, subdivid-
ed according to yarn count. This chart shows that mainly
Fig. 4 – Installed rotor capacity (worldwide), by yarn count (ITMF)
denim weaves, trouser fabrics, sportswear and leisurewear,
Cotton is the predominant fiber for spinning on rotor spin- shirts / blouses and underwear are produced in the clothing
ning machines, with approx. 55 % of total yarn volume, but sector, while terry products and upholstery fabrics are the
almost all short staple spinning materials can be spun pure main applications for rotor-spun yarns in the home textiles
or in blends. Besides cotton, the processing of polyester fib- sector. Also worth mentioning as end products using rotor-
ers (PES) has developed into a major field of application for spun yarns are socks and sweaters in the clothing sector,
rotor-spun yarns. The growth in world-wide fiber consump- sheets and upholstery fabrics in the home textile sector, as
tion of about 3 % p.a. will increasingly be met mainly by well as technical textiles, for example as textile backing for
polyester fibers. emery cloth or for awnings and roller sunblinds.
1 800
1 600
1 400
Production [t / annum]
1 200
1 000
800
600
400
200
3 6 12 18 24 30 40 50
Yarn count [Ne]
Upholstery Denim / Workwear Trousers (non-Denim) (woven) Terry towels
Home / Sportswear (circular knitting) Underwear (circular knitting) Shirting / Ladieswear (woven)
Fig. 5 – Annual output (tonnes worldwide) of end products from rotor-spun yarns, by yarn count
14 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
1.3. The potential of rotor spinning • Rotor spinning was the first process that was capable
of producing a cross-wound package ready for process-
From the multitude of spinning processes developed in re- ing or sale in a single process stage from a draw frame
cent decades, e.g. Bobtex, Repco, Twilo, friction, Air-jet sliver. Roving frames and winders could be dispensed
and wrap spinning, only rotor spinning and – with reserva- with; there was thus a significant incentive from the
tions – Air-jet spinning have established themselves suc- very outset to utilize this process, despite the higher
cessfully on the market. Essentially, both the technological cost of a rotor spinning position compared with a ring
and the economic potential of rotor spinning are the deci- spinning position.
sive factors in the success of this spinning process. • In terms of manufacturing costs per kg of rotor-spun
yarn, direct labor costs occupied a position behind cap-
1.3.1. The technological potential of rotor spinning ital and energy costs.
• Rotor spinning operates with very high efficiency, sig-
• Rotor spinning is a stable spinning process, i.e. it func- nificantly above that of a ring spinning line. Machine
tions trouble-free under normal spinning conditions, efficiency of up to 99 % is achieved in mill operations.
without variations in running behavior or yarn quality. Stopping the machine to remove packages, as on ring
• The process is reproducible with standard spinning spinning machines, does not occur in rotor spinning.
equipment and settings and transferable to a large • In many cases advantages in downstream processing in
number of spinning positions. Quality consistency is weaving and knitting mills result from longer, faultless
therefore adequately assured both within the spinning running lengths on the cross-wound packages, i.e. fewer
positions of a machine or a group of machines and over malfunctions and stoppages in the downstream process.
an extended period of time. • Last but not least, rotor spinning is more environmen-
• Rotor spinning is a genuine open-end spinning process, tally friendly in terms of dust and noise emissions
i.e. a genuine twist is imparted to the yarn, making it compared with ring spinning, despite its considerably
comparable to ring-spun yarn in its yarn structure and higher output.
as regards its applications (differences in principle from
ring-spun yarn will be dealt with in more detail in sub- 1.4. The principle of rotor spinning
sequent chapters). From the outset rotor-spun yarns
therefore had a wide range of applications instead of The rotor spinning machine is unlike any other machine
the ring-spun yarns used to date. in the short staple spinning mill in the range of tasks it has
• As a rule rotor spinning operates with normal draw to perform, namely all the basic operations:
frame sliver of a quality customary in spinning mills. • Sliver feed: A card or draw frame sliver is fed through
Special preparatory passages, such as are sometimes a sliver guide via a feed roller and feed table to a rapidly
necessary for other spinning processes (e.g. Air-jet rotating opening roller.
spinning), are not required here. • Sliver opening: The rotating teeth of the opening roller
• Rotor spinning is appropriate for mill operations in that comb out the individual fibers from the sliver clamped
its technology can be implemented with relatively sim- between feed table and feed roller. After leaving the rotat-
ple and robust spinning elements. ing opening roller, the fibers are fed to the fiber channel.
• The process imposes no special requirements on the • Fiber transport to the rotor: Centrifugal forces and
atmosphere in the spinning mill as regards tempera- a vacuum in the rotor housing cause the fibers to dis-
ture, humidity and air conditioning and in many cases engage at a certain point from the opening roller and to
is actually less critical in this respect that ring or Air-jet move via the fiber channel to the inside wall of the rotor.
spinning. • Fiber collection in the rotor groove: The centrifugal
forces in the rapidly rotating rotor cause the fibers
1.3.2. The economic potential of rotor spinning to move from the conical rotor wall toward the rotor
groove and be collected there to form a fiber ring.
The economic advantages of rotor spinning very soon be- • Yarn formation: When a spun yarn end emerges from the
came evident and have increased in the course of its devel- draw-off nozzle into the rotor groove, it receives twist
opment with the result that its breakeven point has moved from the rotation of the rotor outside the nozzle, which
further in the direction of finer yarn counts. The following then continues in the yarn into the interior of the rotor.
aspects are decisive in this respect:
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 15
The yarn end rotates around its axis and continuously
twists-in the fibers deposited in the rotor groove, assisted
by the nozzle, which acts as a twist retaining element.
• Yarn take-off, winding: The yarn formed in the rotor
is continuously taken off by the delivery shaft and the
pressure roller through the nozzle and the draw-off tube
and wound onto a cross-wound package. Between take-
off and package, several sensors control yarn movement
as well as the quality of the yarn and initiate yarn clear-
ing if any pre-selected values are exceeded.
1.5. Performance parameters of rotor spinning
machines
1.5.1. Technological setting parameters
Fiber length Natural and man made fibers up to 60 mm
Sliver weight Nm 0.14 - 0.40; Ne 0.08 - 0.24; ktex 7.0 - 2.5
Yarn count range Nm 5 - 100; Ne 30 - 60; ktex 200 - 10
Draft range 40 - 400-fold
Twist range T/m 196 - 1 500/TPI 5 - 38
Winding helix adjustable between 30° and 40° in steps of 1°
1.5.2. Production-related setting parameters
Rotor speed 35 000 - 160 000 rpm
Opening roller speed 6 000 - 10 000 rpm
Delivery speed, up to 350 m/min (240 rotors)
cylindrical up to 270 m/min (500 rotors)
Delivery speed, conical up to 60 m/min (500 rotors)
Package weight, cylindrical up to 6 kg or 350 mm diameter
Package weight, conical up to 270 mm diameter
1.5.3. Machine data
Number of rotors, total up to 500
Numbers of rotors/section 20 or 24 rotors depending on machine
manufacturer
Number of sections up to 25 (with 20 rotors/section)
up to 20 (with 24 rotors/section)
Number of robots up to 4
16 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 17
2. MACHINERY AND PROCESS
2.1. Structure of the rotor spinning machine
e
c
d b
Fig. 6 – Structure of the rotor spinning machine
Modern rotor spinning machines are two-sided machines – • empty tube supply (d) with empty tube magazine
with spinning boxes and winding units on both sides of the and empty tube transport system (at the tailstock);
machine – in order to utilize the cost-intensive drives and • 1 - 2 operating robots (e) on each side of the machine
spinning robots more efficiently. A rotor spinning machine for cleaning, piecing and package change;
consists essentially of the following functional units (Fig. 6): • package conveyor belt for transporting the full
• headstock (a) and tailstock (b) with central drives cross-wound packages to the end of the machine (f);
for rotors, feed, opening rollers and winding units; • quality control and monitoring systems at each
• the spinning and winding units (c), combined into sections; spinning position (optional).
18 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
2.2. Operating principle of the rotor spinning machine
h o
g
a
Fig. 7 – Path of the fibers from sliver feed into the spinning box to winding of the yarn onto cylindrical or conical cross-wound packages
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 19
The feedstock is in the form of either draw frame sliver (al- speed of the rotor is several times the speed of the fiber.
most always) from first- or second-passage drawing or card- This is a very important feature, since it contributes signifi-
ed sliver (a) (see Fig. 7). The sliver runs from a round or cantly to good orientation of the fibers. Final straightening
rectangular can beneath the spinning unit through sliver of the fibers occurs as the fiber slides down the rotor wall
guide (b) via feed roller (d) and feed table (c) to rotating into the groove under the influence of the enormous centrif-
opening roller (e). The rotating feed roller grips the sliv- ugal forces acting within the rotor.
er and pushes it over the feed table into the opening roll- On average, one to five fibers (in section) emerge simul-
er housing. The feed table is spring-loaded to ensure firm taneously from the exit of the fiber channel. After sliding
clamping of the sliver toward the feed roller. down the rotor wall, they come to rest in a longitudinally
oriented form in the rotor groove. Because the rotor is turn-
In the event of a yarn end down, sliver feed is automatically ing continuously under the stationary exit of the fiber chan-
stopped by disengaging the feed clutch and thus stopping nel, continual deposition of fibers in the groove is achieved
rotation of the feed-roller. The signal pulse causing this is (i.e., fiber is laid on fiber). In this way, a continuous fiber
generated by a yarn-sensing device (thread monitor). ring is built up in the groove. This operation is referred to
In the conventional ring spinning process the fiber bundle as back-doubling (refer to section „5.1.2. Fiber collection
– i.e. the draw frame sliver – at the in-feed is maintained as in the rotor groove (back-doubling)”).
a coherent structure and is merely attenuated during spin-
ning. In rotor spinning the fiber bundle is opened into indi- If nothing further were done, the rotor would be choked in
vidual fibers. This task is performed mainly by the opening no time. However, since the whole purpose is to form these
roller. This roller, which is usually clothed with saw teeth, fibers into a new yarn, the free end of yarn (l) is allowed
combs through the fiber beard projecting from the nip be- to extend from the rotational axis to the rotor periphery.
tween the feed roller and the feed table; it transports the Centrifugal force (more than 100 000 times the weight of
released fibers to fiber channel (f). the fiber) acting at this point presses the yarn end firmly
An air current is needed to transport the fibers from the against the wall of the collecting groove, exactly as in the
opening roller via the fiber channel to the rotor. This is gen- case of the fibers in the ring. The yarn end therefore ad-
erated by main duct (h) in the sections and then via a vacu- heres to the rotor wall. As the rotor turns, it therefore car-
um in the rotor housing (i). The vacuum is created by a cen- ries the yarn along, and the latter rotates around nozzle (o)
tral fan that draws air by suction through small ducts from like one arm of a crank.
each rotor housing. To facilitate generation of this negative Each revolution of the rotor generates one turn of genuine
pressure, the rotor box must be hermetically sealed as far as twist in the yarn. When the yarn has reached its maximum
possible. Most of the transport air enters only at the trash twist level as determined by the prevailing force condi-
removal slot and only a small amount via the draw-off tube. tions, the yarn end begins to turn about its own axis, i.e., it
rolls in the rotor groove. Now the open yarn end is resting
One result of the centrifugal force of the opening roller in the binding-in zone on a strand of parallel fibers; rolling
is that impurities carried with the incoming sliver are ex- of the yarn end therefore causes the brush-like yarn end to
pelled through an outlet of the opening roller housing. The grasp fibers from the ring and twist them in to give a new
expelled waste falls onto conveyor belt (g), which carries yarn portion, which proceeds to grasp the next fibers and
it either to one or to both ends of the spinning machine, twist them in, and so on. A yarn is thus spun continuously.
where it is removed by suction nozzles on each side of the It is simply necessary to pull this yarn out of the rotor via
machine. yarn compensation bar (p) by means of take-off rollers
The suction current in the fiber channel lifts the fibers off (m + n) and wind it up on winding drum (q) into cross-
the surface of the opening roller and leads them to rotor wound package (r).
(k). In the course of this movement, both the air and the
fibers are accelerated due to the converging shape of the Machine automation by means of operating robots as well
feed tube. This represents a second draft following the nip as package removal systems are described in the section
trough / opening roller and results in further separation of „3.1. Machine automation in rotor spinning“ and transport
the fibers. Moreover, partial straightening of the fibers is automation in the section „3.2. Transport automation in the
achieved in this air current. A third draft arises upon arriv- rotor spinning mill“.
al of the fibers on the wall of the rotor, since the peripheral
20 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
2.3. The spinning box 2.3.1. Sliver feed
The spinning box is an independently functioning unit. Open- The carded or drawn sliver being fed in is guided through
ing rollers and rotors are driven centrally via tangential belts. sliver funnel 1 (a) and fed between the feed shaft and
On some spinning systems sliver intake is performed by means spring-loaded feed table (b) to the rotating opening roll-
of a continuous feed shaft. The rotor housings are accessi- er (c) (Fig. 8 + Fig. 9). Each spinning position is equipped
ble via a hinged opening unit both manually and by means of with this combined feed shaft / feed table. The drive of the
an operating robot. Manual checking and replacement of the feed shaft for each spinning position is provided by a cen-
spinning elements as well as automatic cleaning of the rotor trally driven, rotating worm shaft. In the event of an end
and draw-off nozzle by the operating robot can therefore be down or a switched-off spinning position the feed shaft is
performed very easily. The spinning unit essentially consists disconnected from the worm shaft by an electromagnet-
of the following functional units (Fig. 8 + Fig. 9): ic clutch and sliver intake is stopped. However, the clutch
• Sliver feeding via sliver funnel (a), intake cylinder and wheel of the feed shaft remains engaged with the worm
feed table (b); shaft even if the spinning box cover is opened. This pre-
• Opening of the fiber sliver into individual fibers by vents damage to the clutch wheel when the rotor cover is
means of opening roller (c); closed, which can occur in systems where the drive shaft
• Trash removal; and feed shaft are disconnected when the cover is opened.
• Fiber transport to and feeding into rotor (d); Centralized setting of draft and delivery speed automatical-
• Yarn formation and twist insertion in rotor (e); ly determines the speed of the feed shaft and thus the in-
• Yarn take-off via draw-off nozzle and draw-off tube (f). take speed of the carded or drawn sliver.
The main difference between rotor spinning machines from In systems where sliver feed is effected by means of a con-
different manufacturers is in spinning geometry. This starts tinuous feed shaft and spring-loaded feed table, the feed
with the opening of the sliver into individual fibers, optimal shaft is equipped with a brake / clutch unit at each spinning
trash removal paying particular attention to the opening position, which switches off the spinning position in the
roller, and yarn formation in the rotor, and continues to the event of an end down or in the absence of sliver.
geometry of yarn take-off by the draw-off tube. Attention is
drawn to substantial differences. 1
Sliver guides are available in standard size (for cotton,
polyester and viscose fibers) or extended size (for acrylic
and high bulk fibers).
f
e
b
c
a
d
Fig. 8 – Front view of spinning box with opening roller and sliver intake Fig. 9 – Spinning box cross-section
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 21
2.3.2. Opening unit The surface of the combing roll can consist either of a solid
steel ring in which the appropriate tooth design has been
machined by grinding or of a toothed wire which has been
spirally wound on a ring or a body. Form, geometry and
coating of the clothing and the opening roller itself are,
c alongside the rotor, of particular importance for the func-
tion and quality of yarn formation.
b
Opening rollers are available for every application to match
a both the thermal and physical properties of the raw materi-
als being processed and the yarn properties required. Their
d
clothing differs mainly in the following respects:
• in the shape of the teeth and their angle of inclination,
tooth height and width of the tooth point;
• the density of tooth points;
• the geometric layout of the teeth; and
• different coatings.
e
Refer to section „4.4.1. Range of application of the opening
f roller“. for the correct choice of opening rollers with refer-
ence to their range of application.
The opening roller is a part subject to wear and must be pe-
riodically replaced, depending upon the rate of wear. If this
Fig. 10 – Opening roller housing with opening roller (a), sliver intake is delayed too long, yarn quality and spinning conditions
(b+c), fiber beard support (d), trash removal (e) and adjustable bypass (f)
deteriorate.
In addition to the correct choice of opening roller cloth-
The opening point at the spinning box is comparable with the ing, special attention must also be paid to the setting of the
infeed at the licker-in of the card. The rotating teeth of open- opening roller speed. The opening roller speed range is be-
ing roller (Fig. 10, a) pass at high speed through the fiber tween 6 000 and 10 000 rpm; speeds between 6 500 and
beard and remove individual fibers from the sliver clamped 8 000 rpm are usually used. Opening roller speeds that are
between feed table (b) and feed roller (c). The sliver beard either too high or too low, always relative to the specific
in this case is being moved slowly forward by the feed roll- application, can have a negative impact on yarn formation
er. By means of this continuous operation, the opening roller and yarn quality. Opening roller speeds that are too low
carries along by friction all fibers emerging from the clamp- can result in:
ing point between the feed roller and feed table. A fixed fib- • inadequate separation of the sliver into individual fibers;
er beard support (d) provides uniform combing even in the • inadequate opening of fiber neps and fiber clumps;
event of mass deviations in the sliver. After leaving the ro- • inadequate trash removal;
tating opening roller, the fibers are transported to the fiber • tendency toward lap formation on the opening roller.
channel. It is important to ensure that the speed of the air
and fiber flow at the opening roller is greater than the periph- Inadequate removal of trash particles because opening
eral velocity of the roller itself. If the roller velocity is equal roller speeds are too low not only affects spinning stability
to or higher than the air-flow speed, which can occur with through an increase in ends down, the yarn itself also con-
very high roller speeds, this leads to fiber buckling at the lift- tains more trash particles. Yarn irregularity also deterio-
off point; this in turn causes deterioration in yarn quality and rates and the frequency of thick places, thin places, neps
running performance. When the fibers are detached from the and Classimat defects (rarely disturbing yarn defects) in-
opening roller clothing, the trash included in the fiber mate- creases.
rial is removed via an opening under opening roller (e). The
degree of trash removal can be adjusted via a bypass system
(f) (refer also to section „2.3.3. Trash removal“)
22 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
However, opening roller speeds that are too high can also extraneous matter can survive the cleaning process in the
have a negative impact; an improvement in opening per- blowroom and draw frame, depending on the susceptibility
formance is by no means achieved. Excessively high open- to cleaning of the cotton(s) being used and due to the pick-
ing roller speeds result in: ing and ginning methods.
• more or less severe damage to – i.e. shortening of –
fibers; and thus Efficient trash removal is therefore one of the most impor-
• losses in yarn tenacity and the strength of the fabrics tant preconditions in the rotor spinning system for stable
produced from them; spinning conditions and high yarn quality. Unfortunate-
• an increase in fiber fly on the spinning machine and ly, the collecting groove of the spinning rotor not only col-
in downstream processing; lects fibers; particles, trash, dust, etc., also accumulate in
• smelting points when processing man-made fibers. it, changing the groove‘s geometry and thus the yarn qual-
ity, and in the worst case causing a deterioration in spin-
The manufacturer‘s recommendations regarding type and ning stability. Due to the extremely high centrifugal forces,
speed of opening roller should therefore be disregarded only a tiny trash particle of only 0.2 mg can exert a force of ap-
in exceptional cases (for processing especially critical mate- prox. 15 g on the fiber ring and thus prevent twist propaga-
rials) and only after conducting thorough spinning trials. tion, which results in a thread break. This clearly illustrates
the importance of effective trash removal for the operation
Opening roller housings exist in both open and closed de- of the rotor spinning machine.
signs. Uncovered housings are an advantage to the extent
that disturbing accumulations of fibers on the front of the Trash removal in the spinning box ensures that the over-
opening rollers are avoided. The opening rollers themselves whelming majority of extraneous matter still in the fib-
are protected against secondary air and ambient influenc- er sliver and disturbing the spinning process is eliminat-
es by means of effective multi-stage sealing. The opening ed. However, trash removal in the spinning box can by no
rollers can be checked and replaced much more easily than means replace careful cleaning of the cotton during spin-
with enclosed systems. ning preparation. The lower the residual trash content in
the drawn or carded sliver fed in, the more effectively can
2.3.3. Trash removal the remaining trash and extraneous particles be reduced
in the spinning box.
Basically, all trash removal devices in rotor spinning ma-
chines are the same, i.e. no more than a larger or smaller Trash removal systems with an adjustable BYpass (Fig. 11,
opening in the opening roller housing. The high peripheral Fig. 12, Fig. 13), which enables the cleaning effect to be
speed of the opening roller results in all particles heavier adjusted individually to the raw material being used, i.e.
than fibers (trash and other extraneous particles) being re- its trash content, are especially effective. On conventional
moved outward at this opening while the fibers continue spinning boxes almost all the air necessary for the vacuum
with the roller, to be passed later into the fiber channel. is sucked in through the trash removal opening, i.e. in the
The expelled waste falls onto a conveyor belt, which carries opposite direction to the expelled trash. In some cases se-
it alternately to the headstock or the tailstock. At both sides cure trash removal might be impeded, mainly in the case
of the machine the collected waste is removed by suction of small and/or light impurities.
nozzles and fed by vacuum to a central filter housing. Wip-
ers on the conveyor belt continuously clean the housing un- The BYpass permits adjustment of the air flowing into the
der the opening roller. trash removal opening depending on the raw material. The
larger the amount of air provided through the bypass, the
As explained in detail in section „4.3. Preparation of raw smaller the quantity of air drawn in at the trash removal
material“, modern spinning preparation machines with the opening, and the easier it is to separate impurities. Fur-
appropriate cleaning facilities are able to remove most ex- thermore, it prevents any trash particle already disposed
traneous, dust and trash particles reliably from the raw cot- of from being sucked back into the spinning box again.
ton. However, a certain amount of organic and inorganic
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 23
Fig. 11 – BYpass open Fig. 12 – BYpass half open Fig. 13 – BYpass closed
(maximum trash removal) (medium trash removal) (minimum trash removal)
2.3.4. Fiber transport to the rotor
After opening, the fibers must be supplied to the rotor. For
this purpose, a closed fiber channel in the shape of a flow
passage serves as a means of guidance. Centrifugal forc-
es of the opening roller and a vacuum in the rotor hous-
ing cause the fibers to disengage from the opening roller.
Transport of the disengaged fibers through the fiber chan-
nel to the rotor is effected by an air current generated by
suction of air from the hermetically sealed rotor housing.
The partial spinning vacuum on spinning systems with per- b
forated rotors is generated by the rotors and thus depends
on rotor size and rotor speed. The partial spinning vacuum
therefore declines as rotor diameters become smaller or if
dirt (trash, dust, fiber fragments) accumulates in the open-
ings in the base of the rotor.
The shape of the fiber guide channel (Fig. 14, a) is crucial
for fiber transport and the desired longitudinal orienta-
tion of the fibers. The inlet and outlet openings of the fiber
guide channel must be designed and produced so that the
transfer of fibers from the opening roller, fiber transport in
the guide channel itself and the transfer of fibers to the in-
side wall of the spinning rotor (Fig. 14, b) are trouble-free.
The fiber channel narrows toward the rotor, which causes
acceleration of the air and fiber flows. This acceleration is
of great significance because it leads to further separation
of the fibers, down to between one and five fibers in sec-
tion, and also straightens the fibers. The narrowing region a
represents a second draft zone (following the feed roller/
opening roller).
Fig. 14 – Cross-section through fiber guide channel (a)
and spinning rotor (b)
24 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
Spinning box systems with both one-part and two-part fib- Channel inserts equipped optionally with a so-called
er guide channels are used in mill operations. A two-part SPEEDpass (Fig. 15) are a special feature. This is an addi-
fiber guide channel is necessary in these systems on design tional opening in the fiber guide channel through which a
grounds in order to facilitate opening of the rotor cover. The certain proportion of the fiber transport air is extracted in
interface on the two-part fiber guide channel must be her- order to increase the air volume and thus the rate of flow in
metically sealed in order to prevent the entry of secondary the fiber guide channel. This promotes the disengagement
air and also be designed so that no air turbulence can occur. of fibers from the opening roller clothing and is thus espe-
After leaving the exit port of the fiber channel the fibers cially suitable for processing man-made fibers and blends
are guided directly onto the rotor wall for deposit in the ro- containing more than 50 % man-made fibers. At the same
tor groove, while the air – together with the remaining dust time the higher volume of air proves especially beneficial
– flows over the rotor rim to the central filter housing. The in the manufacture of coarse count yarns and thus for high
outlet opening of the fiber guide channel must be positioned material throughput.
very close to the rotor wall to ensure that good fibers are not
also sucked out over the edge of the rotor. Interchangeable Cotton dust (finishing abrasion in the case of man-made fib-
channel inserts – in which the fiber guide channel is inte- ers) is also extracted through this opening. Fine dust there-
grated – are available for this purpose and used depending fore does not accumulate in the rotor groove, and yarn char-
on the given rotor diameter. Extensive mill trials have dem- acteristics and yarn values remain stable.
onstrated that several rotor diameters, albeit in close prox-
imity with each other, can be served by one channel insert. 2.3.5. Fiber transport to the fiber collecting groove
This significantly improves flexibility when changing spin- in the rotor
ning parameters, since the complete rotor cover does not
need to be replaced with every change in rotor diameter. The rotors, acting as fiber collecting and at the same time
The channel inserts are sealed against the rotor housing twist inserting elements, are the most important and also
to prevent air losses in the rotor housing. the most complex components in yarn formation (Fig. 16).
However, if the distance between the fiber guide channel As already mentioned, in addition to yarn formation in the
and the rotor wall is outside the optimum range, for exam- rotor groove, the fibers fed in are also separated from the
ple due to using channel inserts that are too small, good transport air in the rotor, this air being dispersed either
fibers can pass uncontrolled into the extraction system: this over the rotor wall (systems with indirect rotor bearing) or
becomes apparent not only through an increase in ends through holes in the base of the rotor (systems with direct
down, but also – which is much more serious – through rotor bearing).
a change in yarn count (usually undetected) and the result-
ing enormous costs arising from defective final fabrics.
Yarn draw-off
Fiber collecting
groove
a
Transport air
Fiber feed
Fig. 15 – Fiber guide channel (a) with SPEEDpass (b) Fig. 16 – Tangential fiber feed into the rotor and fiber transport
to the fiber collecting groove of the rotor
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 25
Transfer of the fibers fed from the fiber guide channel into
the rotor groove occurs via another intermediate stage, the Draw-off nozzle
rotor wall.
This feeding method is absolutely essential for orderly yarn
Rotor groove
formation. The peripheral speed of the inside wall of the ro- with ring of fibers
tor must be significantly higher than the speed at which the
fibers are transferred to the rotor wall. This difference in
speed ensures that the fibers encountering the inside wall
of the rotor are accelerated to many times their transport
speed. Since the fibers do not assume the peripheral speed
of the inside wall of the rotor instantly on encountering it,
Yarn take-off
they lag behind the slipping surface of the rotor wall and
drift downward into the collecting groove in a helical line
Yarn lift-off
contrary to the direction of rotation of the rotor due to the point
slope of the rotor wall. The fibers are transferred neatly, ar-
ranged in the longitudinal direction, from the rotor wall to
the rotor groove by the increasing centrifugal force of the
widening inside diameter of the rotor in the direction of the Twist zone
rotor groove. The difference in speed between the fibers and
the inside wall of the rotor also ensures that the fibers are
extended in the longitudinal direction when they encounter
Fig. 17 – Yarn formation and twist insertion in the rotor groove
the rotor wall, which in turn promotes the (desired) parallel
arrangement of the fibers in the rotor groove.
several layers, implies in principle an improvement in the
2.3.6. Yarn formation and twist insertion regularity of the fiber bundle, with back-doubling exerting
a positive influence on variations that amount to no more
The collecting groove of the rotor combines the fibers deliv- than the length of the rotor circumference.
ered to it into a ring of fibers which changes into the twist- When the number of fibers required for a given yarn count
ed thread at the integration point (refer to Fig. 17), while have been deposited in the rotor groove, the end of the
the integration point moves forward relative to the rotor yarn already spun, which extends into the rotor groove and
collecting groove at yarn take-off speed. The integration rotates with the rotor, transmits the twist to the fiber ring.
point starts immediately after the point at which the yarn The integration zone operating with constant overfeed is
is lifted out of the rotor groove. The fiber ring formed in the described as the „twist zone“, the zone in which the thread
rotor consists of individual layers of fiber. A thin layer of leaves the rotor groove as the „lift-off point“ (Fig. 17).
individual fibers – their number corresponding to so-called
back-doubling – is deposited in the rotor groove with each Rotor spinning is an open end process which generates
revolution of the rotor: a genuine yarn twist. In this case the component impart-
ing the twist is the rotor, which twists the thread around
rotor circumference x yarn twist its axis. The resulting yarn twist is the decisive factor for
back-doubling =
1 000 yarn tenacity. However, in order to maintain the spinning
process, i.e. integrate the fibers in the rotor groove, a spin-
The number of fiber layers from which the spun yarn is ning twist is required, which as a rule must be higher than
formed results from the rotor diameter, the twist multiplyer the yarn twist required for yarn tenacity. This means that
and the yarn count. Since back-doubling increases and de- an additional twist must be imparted to the radial section
clines in a straight line relative to the rotor diameter, using of yarn (imparting false twist). This false twist is imparted
smaller rotor diameters implies a reduction, using larger ro- by the unrolling motion of the yarn on the draw-off nozzle,
tor diameters an increase in the number of fiber layers from which is therefore much more than a thread guide. De-
which the yarn is formed (refer to section „5.1.2. Fiber pending on spinning conditions, the false twist can be up
collection in the rotor groove (back-doubling)“). Doubling to 60 % of the set yarn twist.
linear bundles of fibers, i.e. forming a sliver or yarn from
26 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
The false twist effect generated between the draw-off noz- 2.3.7. Rotor speed and rotor diameter
zle and the yarn unrolling from it has Z twist between the
draw-off nozzle and the rotor groove and S twist between the In the course of development, rotor speeds have been in-
draw-off nozzle and the nip of the take-off shaft and the pres- creased from approx. 30 000 rpm originally to 160 000 rpm
sure roller. At this nip the false twist effect has again reached today. However, this has only been possible by simultane-
its zero point and the yarn body has only the preset genuine ously reducing rotor diameter. It can be demonstrated that
Z twist. The false-twisting effect of the draw-off nozzle can all rotor speeds and diameters introduced in recent decades
be increased by inserting a twist accumulating element in are closely related, as can be shown by a graph of the same
the draw-off tube immediately following the draw-off nozzle centrifugal force. Fig. 18 shows centrifugal force cN/tex as
(refer to section „5.2. Genuine and false twist“). a function of rotor speed and the resulting spinning range
for different rotor diameters. Assuming that the centrifugal
All rotor spinning machines are designed to spin yarns with force acting on the thread in the rotor can never exceed yarn
Z twist. Z twist is the customary direction of twist used in tenacity, this represents a theoretically absolute spinning
practice. Manufacturing yarns with S twist would imply re- limit which cannot, however, be reached in practice and is
designing the rotor drive, sliver feed into the spinning box also not intended to be reached. Spinning tension must al-
and fiber feed to the rotor. ways lie with a sufficient safety margin below the „normal“
variations in inherent strength existing in the yarn, other-
In light of the large quantities of fibers a rotor has to cope wise economical running behavior cannot be achieved.
with, the centrifugal forces already referred to and the abra-
sive components sometimes present in the material or the
fibers themselves, rotors and also the clothing of the open-
ing rollers are subject to natural wear and tear. Solid steel
rotors, usually protected against wear by boron, diamond or
boron/diamond-coated surfaces, currently offer exception-
ally long service lives of up to 30 000 hours for rotors and
opening rollers, depending on fiber throughput volumes.
3.00
2.50
Centrifugal force [cN/tex]
2.00 Future
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00
70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 175
Rotor speed [rpm] x 1 000
Rotor ∅ 40 mm Rotor ∅ 35 mm Rotor ∅ 32 mm Rotor ∅ 30 mm Rotor ∅ 28 mm Field of spinning
Fig. 18 – Centrifugal force as a function of rotor diameter and rotor speed
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 27
However, not only a maximum, but also a minimum possi- 2.3.8. Rotor cleaning
ble speed is allocated to each rotor. If the rotor speed and
thus spinning tension decline to such an extent that the cen- An essential element of a functioning spinning unit is auto-
trifugal force in the rotor groove is no longer sufficient to matic rotor cleaning capability. This is one of the major ad-
generate the twist retention and false twist effect (between vantages of the rotor spinning system compared with other
nozzle and rotor groove) on the draw-off nozzle which are spinning processes, which are unable to clean the raw mate-
necessary for spinning stability, twist integration in the ro- rial fed in again at the spinning position itself.
tor groove is seriously disturbed or interrupted and a thread
break occurs. This situation is clearly apparent when calcu- While the large majority of these extraneous particles are
lating the so-called minimum twist multiplyer (αmin), from eliminated by trash removal in the opening roller housing
the course of which the optimum speed range for each rotor (refer to section „2.3.3. Trash removal“), light trash particles
diameter can be derived (refer to Fig. 19). and dust in particular can reach the rotor in the air required
for fiber transport and be deposited together with the fibers
Reducing rotor diameter for the sake of higher rotor speeds in the fiber collecting groove of the rotor. These deposits can
and thus higher output has worked surprisingly well as a either interfere with twist integration in the rotor groove to
rule. The repeatedly predicted (lower) limits for rotor diam- such an extent that thread breaks occur, or the deposits con-
eter have consistently been breached by development, with tinue to accumulate in the rotor groove without provoking
the result that quality yarns are spun nowadays with 28 mm thread breaks, but continuously changing the groove geom-
diameter rotors operating at speeds of up to 160 000 rpm etry. This in turn results in a creeping change in yarn qual-
(and suitable raw material). It should also be mentioned in ity. Deposits in the rotor groove which are not distributed
this context that the frequently prophesied need to increase uniformly over the rotor circumference, but occur at certain
twist when reducing rotor diameter has not materialized. points, result in periodic yarn defects known as moiré effect.
However, the fundamental relationship between rotor diam- In order to limit the negative impact of these deposits, the
eter and fiber length, although not invalidated, is decisively rotor groove must be cleaned at certain intervals. This can
modified by the considerable development advances in ro- involve automatically interrupting the spinning process af-
tor technology (refer to section „5. Technology“). ter a preset period of time, whereupon the spinning robot
150
125
100
αmin
75
50
25
0
60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150
Rotor speed [rpm] x 1 000
Rotor ∅ 40 mm Rotor ∅ 35 mm Rotor ∅ 32 mm Rotor ∅ 28 mm
Fig. 19 – αmin values for different rotor diameters as a function of rotor speed (Source: ITV Denkendorf)
28 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
approaches the spinning position and cleans the rotor. How-
ever, this preventive cleaning means that each cleaning Air-jet nozzles
process entails an interruption of the spinning process and
this results in principle in an additional join in the yarn due
to the subsequent piecing process. Furthermore, this also
causes a deterioration in machine efficiency. Preventive
cleaning of the rotor is therefore performed only in excep-
tional cases, especially when spinning linen and severely
soiled raw materials.
In mill operations and the overwhelming majority of appli-
cations rotor cleaning is performed automatically at each
piecing operation at the spinning position, i.e. at each end
down, each quality stop and each package change. Since
a clean rotor groove is the precondition for both success-
Scraper
ful spinning start-up and high piecing quality, on modern
systems the rotor groove is cleaned by means of a rotating Fig. 20 – Rotor cleaning module with Air-jet nozzles and scrapers
cleaning head. The cleaning head cleans the rotor groove
with 2 scrapers, while 3 air jets clean the rotor slip wall and
2.3.9. Rotor bearing and drive
the groove. The cleanliness of the rotor groove and the rotor
that is required for trouble-free spinning operations is ade-
quately assured by the frequency of the piecing process and Nowadays, the rotors on all rotor spinning machines are
the resulting cleaning intervals. driven using the friction drive principle, i.e. by a tangen-
tial belt in contact with the rotor shafts on each side of the
Although it sounds paradoxical, the absence of ends down machine. Other systems, such as driving the rotors by indi-
during spinning, which many mill operators may wish for, vidual motors, have not become established in mill opera-
is not always worthwhile. If a package were to reach its full tions. We distinguish between two different rotor bearing
size without any thread breaks, the risk that deposits would systems:
form in the rotor groove when using contaminated raw ma- • Direct rotor bearing (Fig. 21), in which tangentially
terials and thus cause creeping changes in yarn quality driven rotor shaft (a) is encased in ball bearing housing
would naturally be very high. The resulting costs in down- (b). The ball bearing rotates at the same speed (rpm) as
stream processing would then be considerably higher than the rotor shaft driven by the tangential belt. This bearing
the minimal loss of efficiency due to remedying a certain principle limits rotor speeds to approx. 110 000 rpm.
number of ends down. For one thing, piecings produced au- Although direct bearings would be ideal, individual
tomatically do not differ substantially from ordinary yarn, motors have also been unable to establish themselves
either in cross-section or in tenacity, nor is the efficiency for this rotor drive, on cost grounds.
of the machine significantly affected by a limited number
of ends down.
a
Essentially, two systems are used to clean the rotors: pneu-
matic cleaning by means of compressed air and mechanical b
cleaning by means of scrapers. Both systems are also used
in combination (see Fig. 20).
During rotor cleaning the surface of the draw-off nozzles
and the draw-off tube are also cleaned. Further modules
clean the nozzle surface and the draw-off tube attached
to it, either mechanically with a brush, or pneumatically
with an Air-jet.
Fig. 21 – Direct rotor bearing, with rotor shaft (a)
encased in ball bearing housing (b)
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 29
• Indirect rotor bearing, in which the rotor shaft, also
driven tangentially, runs on two pairs of supporting discs
arranged side by side (see Fig. 22). With the support-
disc bearing the rotor speed is reduced at a ratio of 1:8
to 1:10 relative to the bearing of the supporting discs,
depending on the diameter of the discs, so that these
bearings run at speeds of only 16 000 to a maximum of
20 000 rpm (depending on the diameter of the support-
ing discs), even at rotor speeds of 160 000 rpm. For one
thing, this bearing system permits much higher rotor
speeds than direct bearings, and at the same time the
service life of indirect bearing systems is significantly
higher than that of directly driven bearing systems.
High-performance rotor spinning machines operating at
speeds of up to 160 000 rpm are therefore operated only
with indirect rotor bearing.
As already stated, with both bearing systems the rotors are
driven by a tangential belt on each side of the machine, the
speed of which can be adjusted either by stepped speed
pulleys or steplessly by means of an inverter drive. Tangen-
Fig. 22 – Support-disc bearing (Twindisc bearing) with rotor fitted
tial belt (a) is engaged with the rotor shafts via pressure
rollers (b) to drive the rotors (see Fig. 23). If a spinning po-
sition is stopped and the rotor cover opened, the tangential
belt is disengaged at this spinning position by raising the
pressure roller and the rotor shaft is brought to a standstill
by a brake positioned between the supporting discs. Since
the rotor is held in position only by the light pressure of the
tangential belt on the support-disc coatings, it can be re-
moved very easily without the use of tools for replacement
or examination and re-fitting.
Rotor shaft Pressure roller
b
Tangential belt
Supporting
discs
a
Direction of rotation of supporting discs
Fig. 23 – Support-disc bearing (Twindisc bearing) with pressure roller (b) for tangential belt (a)
30 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
While the tangential arrangement of the rotors is important
for the rotor drive, the axial positioning of the rotor is the
prerequisite for fiber feed to the rotor and thread take-off
from the rotor to occur under absolutely identical conditions
at each spinning position. Whereas both the tangential and
the axial position of the rotor are defined by the fixed ball
bearing housing in the case of direct rotor drive, the rotor on
support-disc bearings also has to be fixed in position in the
axial direction. The rotor is fixed in position axially by slight-
ly crossing the pair of supporting discs, so that the rotor is
pressed backward with some force (toward the spinning
beam). Various bearing systems are available for absorbing
this backward axial pressure:
• Steel ball or hybrid bearings: the axial thrust of the
rotor is absorbed by a steel ball rotating in an oil bath.
The front of the rotor shaft and the steel ball are subject
to severe wear due to mechanical friction, despite oil
lubrication. In more modern bearing systems the front
of the rotor shaft is therefore ceramic-coated. This axial
bearing system has been used by almost all machinery
manufacturers in recent decades. However, the fun-
damental drawbacks of this system – high spare parts
consumption, a high level of cleaning and maintenance
effort and severe soiling due to sticky deposits in the
axial bearing zone – have encouraged the development
of modern bearing systems which are now used at least
on high-performance rotor spinning machines.
• Magnetic bearings (see Fig. 24 + Fig. 25). The end of
the rotor shaft is fixed in position without contact in
a magnetic field created by annular magnets. Accurate
radial positioning of the rotor shaft is the precondition
for the functioning of this system, which as far as is
known to date has no speed limitations.
• EC bearings (Fig. 26 + Fig. 27). The end of the rotor
shaft runs (in contrast to the oil bearing) on a steel ball
embedded in grease. The housing is sealed, grease can-
not escape, and the bearing is largely maintenance-free.
• AERObearings (Fig. 28 + Fig. 29). In this bearing sys-
tem an air cushion provides axial support for the rotor.
This air cushion is provided by a compressed air supply
of 6 bar to each spinning position. This system requires
neither oil nor grease, sticky deposits are avoided, and
in the immediate vicinity of the air cushion the perma-
nent current of air ensures continuous cleaning (self-
cleaning effect). Other advantages of this system are
low maintenance effort and spare parts consumption.
The accurate, level surface of the end of the rotor shaft
is the precondition for trouble-free operation.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 31
Fig. 24 – Axial rotor bearing with magnetic bearing Fig. 25 – Positioning the magnetic bearing
Fig. 26 – Axial rotor bearing with EC bearing Fig. 27 – Sealed grease cup of the EC bearing
Fig. 28 – Axial rotor bearing with AERObearing Fig. 29 – Airflow with the AERObearing; air pressure 6 bar
32 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
2.3.10. Yarn take-off Section „4.4.3. Range of application of draw-off nozzles and
draw-off tubes“ deals in detail with the ranges of application
The yarn is taken from the rotor by the delivery shaft and of the different nozzle surfaces, the positioning of the draw-
pressure roller (a in Fig. 30), diverted virtually at right angles off nozzle relative to the thread collecting groove of the ro-
in the process by draw-off nozzle (b) projecting into the ro- tor and the influence of the different thread draw-off tubes
tor and guided out by draw-off tube (c) immediately following on yarn quality, yarn structure and spinning stability.
this. However, as has already been said, the draw-off nozzle
is far more than a mere guide device. At take-off the yarn con- 2.4. Package formation
tinuously rolls off on the surface of the draw-off nozzle due to
the rotation of the rotor. This rolling-off temporarily inserts Rotor spinning machines produce packages ready for sale,
additional twist into the yarn (contrary to the direction of which can be used immediately in downstream process-
twist of the yarn), thus creating the false-twist effect required ing without any detour via the winder. Waxing devices and
for spinning stability, which can be up to 60 % of the set yarn quality monitoring sensors at each spinning position and
twist (see section „5.2. Genuine and false twist“). The greater cylindrical package formats from 2° to 4°20′ (USA 3°51′)
the false-twist effect, the higher the spinning tension. ensure that the most suitable cross-wound packages can be
provided for any stage of downstream processing – knitting,
While rolling off on the surface of the nozzle, the yarn is re- weaving, yarn dyeing or doubling.
peatedly raised briefly in rapid succession, depending on the
surface structure. This high-frequency vibration – together Almost all rotor spinning machines nowadays produce
with the false-twist effect – promotes twist propagation into packages with a traverse of 150 mm (6˝), which results in
the rotor groove. The more pronounced the structure of the the following package formats, depending on the winding
nozzle surface, the more vigorously the yarn vibrates, thus unit of the different types of machine:
supporting twist propagation and the false-twist effect ex- • cylindrical packages: max. diameter 350 mm; max.
tending into the rotor all the more. As a result of this, the package weight up to 6 kg;
greater the false-twist effect, the lower the genuine yarn • conical packages (2° - 4°51′): max. diameter 280 mm;
twist that can be selected and the bulkier and softer the package weight depends on package density.
yarns that can be spun. The draw-off nozzles are held firmly
in the rotor cover by either a screw or magnetic lock. Draw- The high package weights reduce handling costs in the
off nozzles can be replaced very easily and in some cases spinning mill and downstream processing as well as capital
without using tools. Since draw-off nozzles are now usually costs for empty tubes.
made of high-quality ceramics, service lives of several years
can be achieved under normal spinning conditions.
Fig. 30 – Yarn take-off with take-off rollers (a), draw-off nozzle (b) and yarn draw-off tube (c)
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 33
Two main advantages are cited for cross-wound packages
from the rotor spinning machine as compared with those
from the winder:
• the number of piecings in the rotor spinning package is
only 2 - 3 % of the number in the winder package since,
in rotor spinning, a continuously spun yarn is wound up
as it is produced, whereas the winder package is made
up of yarn from small cops with a mass of 60 - 120 g,
joined together by corresponding splices;
• winding is carried out at speeds of up to 350 m/min,
as compared with 1 400 m/min in the winder; this gives
a better package build, and the yarn lengths on the indi-
vidual packages can be kept more uniform; admittedly,
however, a larger balloon is generated when unwinding
yarns from rotor spinning packages.
The following requirements must be fulfilled by packages
of yarn from modem rotor spinning machines:
• package density as uniform as possible from one pack-
age to another;
• the same yarn length on all packages; this will be achieved
exactly with individual length-measuring devices;
• adaptable winding density attainable by means of Fig. 31 – Winding head with package
adjustable yarn tension and above all by a variable
angle of intersection of the windings in the package;
• packages free of patterning zones; The yarn is wound onto a tube which is clamped between
• yarn waxing where necessary; the package holders (Fig. 31). Cylindrical packages and 2°
• formation of an accessible yarn reserve on the tube so conical packages are driven by the one-part winding roller.
that, during unwinding, the thread end can be knotted to In the case of 3°50′ and 4°20′ conical package formats,
the start of the yarn on the next package to be unwound allowance must be made for the different peripheral speeds
before the package runs out; this enables stoppages to on both sides of the winding roller.
be avoided at package change in further processing.
2.4.2. Compensation of winding tension
2.4.1. Winding, stop motion and quality control
The traversing motion of the yarn depending on stroke and
The spun yarn is taken off the rotor by means of the winding helix requires compensation of the winding ten-
take-off rollers, which draw the finished yarn out of the sion for homogeneous package density. A thread guide is ar-
spinning box through the draw-off nozzle and the draw-off ranged to effect crosswise laying of the yarn in the package
tube. While the full spinning tension in the yarn is in effect by means of its to-and-fro movement. A compensation bow
below the take-off rollers winding onto cylindrical or coni- (Fig. 32, a) and the yarn tension bar (Fig. 32, b) are needed
cal cross-wound packages above the take-off rollers is to even out path-length variations which arise because the
performed with considerably reduced winding tension. length of yarn between the take-off rollers and the right- or
This winding tension is infinitely adjustable. The lower the left-hand edge of the package is greater than the length be-
winding tension, the softer the packages (e.g. for dyeing tween those rollers and the middle of the package. Path-
packages); the higher the tension, the more compact the length compensation by means of compensation bow and
package, but at the risk of reducing yarn elongation. yarn tension bar only is, however, adequate for winding
cylindrical and conical packages with up to 2° taper.
34 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
Fig. 32 – Compensation of winding tension with compensation bar (a) and yarn tension bar (b)
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 35
Compensation bow and yarn tension bar no longer suffice sion by adjusting the traverse per unit time of the thread
for tension compensation when producing packages with guide. The angle can usually be varied between 30° and
a taper of 3°51′ or 4°20′. 40°. The larger the angle, the lower the density and hence
A three-part differential winding cylinder is therefore used, the greater the softness of the package (Where the latest
for example, for the package drive (Fig. 33), with which the generation of high-pressure dyeing equipment is available,
differences in speed from small to large package diameter dyeing can also be carried out with harder packages).
are compensated via the wheel and disc differential gear.
As already mentioned, the density (γ) of the package
2.4.3. Winding helix and delivery speed depends not only upon the winding angle but also on:
• the (adjustable) winding tension;
A traversing yarn guide rod equipped with slotted yarn • the (adjustable) contact pressure of the package
guides determines the angle of intersection (winding on the winding roll; and
helix) of the yarn. The traversing motion is created by • the yarn count.
a traverse gear in the headstock. Each machine side has its
own traverse gear, operating in opposite directions on the A finer yarn always gives a higher package density, which can
two sides. The maximum permitted delivery speed depends be calculated according to the well-known physics equations:
on the winding helix but also on the tube shape and the density (γ) = mass/volume,
number of rotors per machine. γ = yarn net mass (g)/ yarn volume (cm3)
The yarn winding angle mainly affects the package density Standard values for package density for yarns made from
and the unwinding performance of the package. It therefore cotton and cotton-like fibers:
has to be matched to requirements with the utmost preci- • packages for package dyeing: γ = 0.33 - 0.38 g/cm3;
• hard packages: γ = 0.38 - 0.42 g/cm3.
View A
c
d
b
a
Fig. 33 – Three-part winding cylinder with powered middle section (a), two powered side sections (b),
wheel and disc differential gear (c) and friction coatings (d) for driving the package
36 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
2.4.4. Anti-patterning device 2.4.5. Edge displacement at package shoulders
Normally, the yarn windings are distributed irregularly over At the reversal points of the traverse, i.e., at the edges of
the whole surface of the package. However, it can happen that the package, a short pause occurs in the movement of the
the turns of a new layer are deposited exactly on top of the thread guide owing to the deceleration and subsequent re-
turns of the preceding layer, and this process repeats itself for verse acceleration required here. More yarn is wound up at
several successive layers (turn on turn on turn, etc.). This gen- these points than at other points along the package length.
erates uniformly intersecting (rhomboidal) ridges, so-called This leads to considerable accumulations of yarn with the
pattern windings or pattern zones. They reduce the take-up following consequences:
capacity of the package and make unwinding difficult, and are • excessively hard and compact package edges;
therefore to be avoided at all costs. Their occurrence is deter- • ‚slippers‘ at the package edges (laterally displaced
mined by mathematical relationships between the traverse layers of yarn, disturbing in downstream processing);
frequency and rate of revolution of the package, mainly by ra- • differences in dye take-up between the center and
tios of 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, etc. An anti-patterning device minimiz- edge of the package in dyeing packages.
es pattern winding (frequent parallel layers) on the package.
Pattern windings emerge at certain package diameters de- To avoid the repeated placement of yarn at the same part
pending on stroke and winding helix (see Table 1). The anti- of the package edge, a shift of the reversal point is added
patterning device continuously varies the motion speed of the to the traverse motion (Fig. 34). This shift can be set from
traverse gear. Thus, the winding helix is changed continuous- 0 - 5 mm in the case of conventional gears. Infinitely ad-
ly, preventing the build-up of patterns to a large extent. justable gears with variable traverse extension (Fig. 35
and Fig. 36) provide an extended range of adjustment of
STROKE WINDING HELIX
0 - 30 mm and thus particular advantages in the production
[mm] of soft dyeing packages with the required low package den-
30° 32° 34° 37° 40°
sity in the package edge zone.
152 (384)* (360)* 337 308 283
148** (375)* 350 329 301 276 2.4.6. Length measurement
145** (368)* 344 323 295 271
142** (361)* 337 316 289 266 If packages are doffed after they have reached a certain diam-
138 350 328 307 281 258 eter (the old method used in the winding room), they will have
differing yarn lengths because of varying yarn tension. These
* Pattern winding already out of the maximum permitted package
diameter of 350 mm. packages run out at different times in downstream processing,
** Standard stroke boxes where many packages are unwound simultaneously, e.g., in
(see section „2.4.5. Edge displacement at package shoulders“) the warping machine. The need to re-creel causes considerable
Table 1 – Pattern windings 1:1 at package diameter in mm effort and loss of yarn. Accordingly, attempts have been made
over many years to provide constant and uniform yarn lengths
in packages. This is possible by means of special measuring
Fig. 34 – Conventional stroke displacement Fig. 35 – Gear for variable stroke displacement Fig. 36 – Variable stroke displacement
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 37
devices in the rotor spinning machine. At each spinning posi-
tion they register the exact length wound and stop the spin-
ning position when a predetermined yarn length is reached.
Length variability within ±0.5 % is technical standard.
2.4.7. Yarn waxing device
In the production of knitted goods in particular, where the
yarn is bent sharply around the needles, rough yarns can
cause disturbances, broken threads, and a high degree of
wear. In order to improve running performance, knitting
yarns have always been waxed. The rotor spinning machine
enables this to be done directly at the spinning position.
Mill results have shown that a maximum reduction of the
coefficient of friction of between 40 and 50 % is achieved
by means of the usual wax application of between 0.5 and Fig. 37 – Waxing device with large wax blocks
3 g/kg of yarn. Type and quality of the wax are decisive for
optimum waxing application. Wax differs in hardness, melt- yarn is sharply bent at the needles of the knitting machine,
ing point and penetration and needs to be selected accord- and they then ensure good running properties. The wax
ing to raw material, yarn type and knitting requirements. block is pushed automatically by a spring into an optimum
Waxing devices also differ in the size of the wax blocks position to counteract wear. The rotating wax block is
used. In addition to longer running times, larger wax blocks stopped in the event of ends down.
entail significantly reduced effort for replacing the wax The waxing device always requires yarn compensation
blocks. In this connection, it should be noted that over-ap- devices such as compensation bows or yarn tension bars.
plication is just as detrimental as under-lubrication, since Different kinds of covers at or below the waxing device
both result in a high coefficient of friction. prevent loose wax particles from falling into the spinning
The waxing device (see Fig. 37 and Fig. 32) is arranged cans and thus contaminating the sliver.
between the take-off rollers and the package so that small
particles of lubricant can settle on the yarn as it passes 2.5. Drives
over a body of wax. These particles are rubbed off as the
Of the various drives in an automated ring spinning ma-
chine, those for the rotors, the opening rollers and spinning
vacuum account for the majority of energy consumption.
Fig. 38 shows the proportion of energy consumed by the
main drives of a rotor spinning machine.
Drive rotor Negative pressure
50 % needed for spinning
18 %
Drive opening
rollers
18 %
Drive
winding
5 %
Other drives
9 %
Fig. 38 – Breakdown of energy consumption for the various drives
of a rotor spinning machine
38 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
The rotors and opening rollers are usually driven by tangen- The package conveyor belts (one conveyor belt on each side
tial belts, with a growing trend toward synchronous drives. of the machine) are driven from the tailstock. The package
Individual drives provide advantages in flexibility, but entail conveyor belt starts automatically when a preset number
high costs and very complex controls. Major aspects when of completed packages have been placed on the belt. The
considering drives are smooth running, the cost factor and conveyor belt transports the packages to the end of the ma-
energy consumption. chine, where the packages are ready for removal. When all
packages have been removed the package conveyor belt
The settings for draft (ratio nfeedcylinder/ ndeliverycylinder), yarn drive is switched off. Various concepts are offered for pack-
twist (ratio nrotorspeed /ndeliverycylinder) and winding tension (ratio age doffing (refer to section „3.2.3. Package transport be-
ndeliverycylinder/nwindingshaft) are made via the drives for the feed tween the rotor spinning machine and subsequent zones“).
cylinder, the take-off rollers and the winding shaft. The in-
teraction of the drives for draft, twist and winding tension Empty tubes are transported (to the operating robot) by
is shown schematically in Fig. 39. Settings are made either narrow conveyor belts arranged in pairs (Fig. 40), which
via infinitely adjustable inverter drives or conventionally are driven by a separate motor. Each side of the machine
via change gears. is equipped with a pair of belts operating independently of
each other. The package handling system of the tube mag-
The use of infinitely adjustable inverter drives reduces both azine places an empty tube on each of the pair of convey-
operator effort when changing setting parameters and ma- or belts. As soon as the spinning robot requests an empty
chine downtimes, since gear wheels no longer have to be tube, the conveyor belt starts and delivers the empty tube
changed with this concept. The settings for draft, yarn twist to the robot‘s empty tube holder.
and tension can be individually entered directly at the ma-
chine control panel, as can the values for rotor and opening The drives for the trash conveyor belt (one on each side of
roller speed (optional in some cases) with inverter drives. the machine) are designed so that the belts are moved al-
ternately forward and backward (Fig. 41). The reversal
point is controlled by a sensor. Suction units which extract
the trash removed from the spinning box and transport it to
the central filter are located at the reversal points.
Winding tension
Winding shaft
Twist
Draft
Delivery
roller
Rotor
Speed
Feeding roller
Fig. 39 – Infinitely adjustable inverter drives for draft, Fig. 40 – Supplying empty tubes via conveyor belts
twist and winding tension
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 39
5 7
3 5
4
Fig. 42 – Negative pressure drive
Power for all control units is supplied by an externally driv-
en motor via a generator. The motor and generator are in the
headstock. The flywheel mass of the three-phase motor gener- Suction on Suction off
ates enough power to bridge short-term power failures lasting
a few seconds, without causing the machine to shut down.
Trash removal belt
2.6. Suction systems
The spinning process requires negative pressure at each spin-
ning position for the piecing process and for waste removal Fig. 41 – Trash removal belt with suction units
from the waste conveyor belt. The negative pressure for the
machine is generated by a motor-driven suction fan located at Another option for offsetting the decline in negative pres-
the tailstock of the machine. The negative pressure for the ro- sure for spinning with increasing filter coating is to keep
bot is supplied by a separate fan at the tailstock (Fig. 42). the negative pressure constant, i.e. fan speed and thus the
negative pressure are continuously increased as the filter
2.6.1. Suction system machine coating increases. Negative pressure for spinning is con-
tinuously monitored by sensors and adjusted according to
The main fan (Fig. 42, 1) sucks the air from each spinning po- filter loading. However, power consumption also increases
sition through negative pressure duct (2) and filter housing with rising fan output. There are therefore also limits here,
(3), thus creating a negative pressure of approx. 60 - 85 hPa and when these are reached the filter coating must be re-
at the rotor housing of the spinning box. Trash, dust and fiber moved manually. The burden on operating personnel is also
fragments carried by the air current are collected by a filter lay- relieved considerably with this concept by extending the
er (4) in the filter housing. The layer of fibers, trash and dust intervals between manual emptying of filters. In addition
is held on the filter by the current of air. However, as the fil- to negative pressure for spinning, the fan generates the
ter becomes increasingly full, the negative pressure inevitably suction required to dispose of the trash removed from the
weakens. If the negative pressure then falls below the adjust- spinning box. The trash resulting from extraction from the
able limit value (alarm level), the current of air is automatically spinning box is deposited on a trash conveyor belt and fed
diverted briefly through a bypass (5). The layer of material on to the filter by suction nozzles at the left-hand and right-
the filter is now no longer held and drops onto the base of the hand ends of the machine. The suction nozzles are control-
filter housing (6). The negative pressure is thus restored in full. led in such a way that only the suction nozzle toward which
40 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
the conveyor belt is moving is operating. If the belt changes Data input and data queries are performed (on modern
its direction of movement, the currently active suction noz- systems) via a touch screen panel (Fig. 43), and the user
zle is closed and the suction nozzle on the opposite side of is guided through the program by menu assistance. At the
the machine is switched on. same time the touch screen displays the data in alphanu-
meric and/or graphic form. In simpler systems data input
2.6.2. Suction system robot and data queries are performed via a keyboard; data output
is via a printer or monitor.
The necessary negative pressure for the spinning robot is
generated by an additional fan (Fig. 42, 7) mounted in the Access authorization in the mill can be organized via differ-
tailstock. Extraction duct (8) for the spinning robot is posi- ent access codes (mill management, maintenance/service
tioned between the robot‘s inner guide rails. The extraction personnel, operating personnel).
duct has an opening at each spinning position, which can be
kept closed by flaps. When the robot approaches the spin- Various menus are available to the user for input and que-
ning position the flaps are opened and the negative pressure ries of machine, production and quality data, in a wide
is available to the robot. The „waste removal“ function is range of languages, of course (Fig. 43).
controlled by the machine control system. To open the filter
boxes and while cleaning the filter boxes, the machine con-
trol system disables the positioning of the robots.
2.7. Operating and monitoring
The central machine operator panel (Fig. 43) is the cen-
tral interface between user and machine. This operator
panel is used for much more than the mere input and out-
put of data. Machine settings are changed, characteristic
values for integrated quality control systems are specified,
the machine and the package transport system are started
or stopped, the running strategy for the operating robots
is specified, causes of errors in the event of machine prob-
lems or failures are displayed and both current and cumula-
tive machine, production, performance and quality data are
provided via this display. Analyses of stationary or deacti- Fig. 43 – Machine operator panel in the form of a touch screen panel
vated spinning positions, i.e. spinning positions with too
many ends down or quality stops, provide foremen or me- On the basis of the current production and quality data
chanics with working data for immediate trouble-shooting from each machine, operating or maintenance personnel
action on the machine under surveillance. can immediately take the necessary action if production or
quality faults are displayed. If the machines are connect-
On machines with frequency-controlled inverter drives, ed to a higher-level data collection system, comprehensive
spinning parameters are set and changed by entering the data are available to mill management for efficient produc-
relevant values directly at the operator panel instead of tion and quality monitoring (refer to section „2.9. Produc-
the time-consuming and labor-intensive changing of gear tion monitoring“).
wheels and step pulleys with the associated machine shut-
downs. A further advantage is that setting values can be The robot operating panel (Fig. 44) is the interface to the
entered or changed while the machine is running! This con- user in the same way as the central operator panel for the
siderably reduces machine downtimes for batch and count machine control system. All settings and queries relating to
changes. the robot can be made via push buttons. Setting and opti-
mizing piecings (length, mass and tenacity) are especially
important here for operating personnel.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 41
2.8. Quality control systems
The fact that rotor-spun yarns contain significantly fewer yarn
defects than ring-spun yarns has made a major contribution
to the success of the rotor spinning system. A comparison of
Uster Statistics shows that the numbers of thick places, thin
places and neps are significantly below the level of ring-spun
yarns, even at delivery speeds that are up to 10 times higher.
And the finer the yarn counts, the greater the differences. The
reasons for this are back-doubling in the rotor (which balanc-
es variations in mass) (refer to section „5.1.2. Fiber collec-
tion in the rotor groove (back-doubling)“) and fiber guidance
and monitoring without a cylinder drafting system. Further-
more, a package of rotor-spun yarn contains only a fraction
of the yarn joints (piecings) compared with a cross-wound
package of ring-spun yarn. A 4 - 5 kg cross-wound package
in the rotor spinning mill contains no more than 3 - 5 spin-
ning-related piecings at normal ends down rates. However,
a 3 kg cross-wound package of ring-spun yarn produced on
the winder already contains some 30 - 40 piecings due to
system-related cop joints plus a certain number of additional
piecings due to cleared yarn defects. This very soon adds up
to more than 50 piecings (splices or knots per package).
This was also a major reason why rotor-spun yarns could for
Fig. 44 – Robot operating panel
many years be processed further without cleaning. However,
today‘s quality standards no longer permit this; quality re-
The display of the number of piecing attempts per piecing quirements for rotor-spun yarns have increased considera-
process and robot efficiency figures for piecings after ends bly. For example, manufacturers of branded denim products
down or quality stops and for piecing on empty tubes are (jeans, shirts, etc.) stipulate precise specifications for yarn
key statistics for optimizing settings and can also indicate and fabric quality which are so strictly formulated that only
whether overall spinning conditions (raw material quality, quality-tested yarns can be considered for processing.
yarn parameters, spinning elements, rpm and speeds) are
correctly coordinated. Quality control systems have therefore very soon become inte-
gral components of high-performance rotor spinning machines.
While contract spinning mills were the first to cite quality-test-
ed yarns as a product advantage, in the meantime increasing
numbers of vertically integrated mills are also starting to used
quality-tested and cleaned yarns in downstream processing,
especially for high-quality woven or knitted fabrics.
42 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
Leading global suppliers of quality control systems (e.g., Uster 2.8.1. Quality control systems as integral components
Technology with the Uster Quantum Clearer2® and Barco with of rotor spinning machines
the BarcoProfile) employ different measuring systems in some
cases, but offer a largely comparable range of performance: Uster Quantum Clearer2® (Fig. 45) and BarcoProfile® (Fig. 46)
• detecting, counting and clearing disturbing yarn defects quality control systems are usually integral components of the
in accordance with adjustable clearing limits; rotor spinning machine. The system is adjusted and operated
• counting uncleared (non-disturbing) yarn defects in via the central operator control panel, as are the retrieval and
defect classes; display of all the relevant quality data.
• detecting and eliminating extraneous substances; The Uster Quantum Clearer® is optionally available with a ca-
• measuring the main physical textile yarn attributes: pacitive or optical measuring head for quality control. Extra-
yarn irregularity, imperfections and Classimat values neous substances are detected by an optical sensor integrated
(not yarn tenacity and elongation). in the capacitive or optical measuring head. BarcoProfile is
based solely on the optical measuring principle, both for qual-
Quality data from each spinning position for all running batch- ity control and for detecting extraneous substances. The sen-
es are available to operating personnel on request at any time. sor for detecting extraneous substances is mounted separately
Necessary interventions in the event of variances can be made on the yarn draw-off tube, and not in the measuring head. The
immediately if required, and thus without any loss of time. advantage is that this sensor can be operated and retrofitted
irrespective of the make of clearer module and also without
a yarn clearer module.
Each spinning position on the rotor spinning machine is
equipped with a capacitive or optical measuring head, which
is directly connected to a central analyzing unit and the ma-
chine‘s control system. If a defect that exceeds the preset
clearing limit is detected in the measuring zone of the meas-
uring head, the spinning position is switched off immediately.
The defective piece of yarn is wound off the package and ex-
tracted before spinning recommences at the spinning position.
2.8.2. Comparison of measuring methods
Whereas the weight per unit of length, i.e. the mass of the
fiber material in the measuring slot, is recorded using the
capacitive measuring principle, the signal in the optical
measuring principle corresponds to the external contour,
i.e. the yarn diameter. The properties of and differences be-
tween the principles are explained in Table 2 and Table 3.
Fig. 45 – Uster Quantum Clearer yarn clearer Fig. 46 – Barco Profile yarn clearer
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 43
Yarn Capacitive principle Optical principle
Regular yarn 0 % base value 0 % base value
Thick place with double cross-section Increase of cross-section: +100 % Increase of diameter: +42 %
Thin place with half cross-section Decrease of diameter: -50 % Decrease of diameter: -29 %
Table 2 – Sensitivity of the measuring principle
Capacitive principle Optical principle
Property Corresponds to the mass of the yarn, Corresponds to the diameter of the yarn,
• Yarn or number of fibers the visual impression
Influence Yarn, con tains electrical conductive All fibers
• Fiber fibers cannot be processed
• Colored No Dark yarns possibly require other settings
• Fiber No No
• Humidity Variations in the humidity can No influence; very dry yarns exhibit a higher hairiness
have an influence – larger diameter – unjustified stops
Table 3 – Properties of the measuring principle
2.9. Production monitoring rotor spinning machines results very quickly in enormous
quantities of unusable or severely devalued yarn. If the
Rotor spinning mills with 40, 50 or even more machines in faulty yarn is delivered and the defect only identified in
a single spinning installation are by no means rare. These the finished fabric, this results in additional compensation
machines are often processing a wide range of different claims for the finished goods.
yarns. This inevitably increases the demands on efficient
production and quality monitoring. In contrast to this, how- Systems for monitoring production have been on the mar-
ever, personnel numbers have steadily decreased in mod- ket for some years and are offered by both machinery
ern, thoroughly rationalized spinning mills (higher numbers manufacturers and other suppliers. They usually consist
of machines allocated to operating and maintenance per- of a central process computer with the relevant peripher-
sonnel, leaner administration, etc.). als (printer and monitor) for data output. Each rotor spin-
ning machine, or any other machine in the spinning mill
The higher the number of machines and the more complex equipped with the required sensors, is directly linked with
the logistics in a spinning mill in terms of raw material and the process computer via cable (see Fig. 47). All signals
product diversity, the more important is comprehensive from the machine and the spinning positions are scanned,
production monitoring (independent of personnel). This in stored and processed at very short intervals. In contrast to
turn is only assured if machine, production and quality data the production machine, the storage capacity of the cen-
are available at all times, up-to-date and complete. Omis- tral computer permits long-term analysis of production and
sions in this context have serious effects: every undetected quality data.
malfunction in the production process results in reduced
machine efficiency, loss of output and thus directly in high- All essential machine production and quality data are avail-
er production costs. If not identified immediately, the pro- able in tabular and graphic form. These include speeds, effi-
duction of defective yarn at the high output rates of modern ciency, stoppages and their causes, and many other data.
44 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
Customer
SPIDERweb Network
Host (optional)
SPIDERweb
Client
(optional)
WallBoard PVI
RS485 Client Switch
Ethernet
twisted pair
UNIcommand
Switch Switch Switch Switch Switch
Terminator
active
SPIDERbox
Switch ROnet
Repeater Roving Frame
Comber
from 1 km
Ringframe
SPIDERbox Rotor
Comber L2
Draw Frame
1x2x0.32 mm2
Card (max. 1.0 km)
Roving Frame
Rieter and Marzoli Ringframe Rotor
Terminator Draw Frame
active
UNIlap
Card
Roving Frame ISM – Individual
UNIlap
Electro Jet Spindle Monitoring
Fig. 47 – System diagram of production monitoring; central computer with peripherals and connected production machines
Printed reports are available both for individual machines in the spinning mill, specifying spinning parameters (ro-
and for groups of machines, organized according to the tor speeds, yarn twist, etc.) according to the required yarn
above-mentioned criteria. Reports are printed out auto- quality and monitoring order processing (number of kg pro-
matically at the end of the shift or on request. Machines duced, number of packages completed, etc).
or spinning positions that fail to achieve the specified ref-
erence efficiency or exceed certain preset criteria (ends Data on those machines that fail to achieve the required
down, quality stops, etc.) are listed separately. efficiency or exceed a certain ends down rate or a certain
number of quality-related stops are available at all times
Mill management can use this information to analyze out- to foremen or shift foremen. The foreman or mechanic can
put, productivity and quality as a basis for decision-mak- therefore concentrate solely on machines and spinning po-
ing on the deployment of personnel and technical aspects sitions that are not running satisfactorily, and take the ap-
of production, such as changes in machine allocation when propriate action without delay.
order bottlenecks arise, adjustments to machine settings in
response to sudden changes in raw material quality and the Maintenance personnel receive reports on spinning posi-
relevant action in spinning preparation operations, etc. tions that are at a standstill, running unsatisfactorily or out
of action, inadequate robot efficiency, etc., and can then
Information is available to the Material Planning Depart- immediately take the action they consider necessary. Peri-
ment, for example for purchasing raw material (selecting odic maintenance for machines and robots can be planned,
raw material quality on the basis of cost/benefit criteria), performed and monitored on the basis of the operating
planning material flow in accordance with productivity hours of the rotor spinning machines.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 45
3. MACHINE AND TRANSPORT tion in the event of malfunction. However, the importance
AUTOMATION of automation is by no means confined to economies in op-
erating personnel and labor costs. Automation also has
a major influence on product quality, i.e. yarn quality, for
The development and introduction of systems for automating example through automated piecing after ends down:
operating functions on production machines and the trans- • Manual piecing is no longer possible at high rotor
port of material between production machines is always speeds (> 100 000 rpm).
called for when pressure to reduce costs and improve the • Manual piecings have an average tenacity of no more
quality and flexibility of production operations is especially than 40 %, whereas automated piecings have a yarn
severe. This is also especially the case for the textile indus- tenacity of up to 100 %.
try, and in particular for spinning. It is therefore hardly sur- • Since electronic yarn clearers are standard equipment
prising that machine and transport automation have been in- on rotor spinning machines nowadays, it is only worth
tegral parts of the spinning process for some years. clearing yarn defects as long as they are not replaced by
Automation in rotor spinning in particular is very far ad- a piecing of inferior quality (thick and of lower strength)
vanced – at least in comparison to other spinning process- than the cleared defect, as a result of being produced
es – not only in respect of machine automation as such (i.e. manually. Only piecing systems featuring controlled
rotor cleaning, repairing ends down, transporting empty fiber feeding and synchronized yarn take-off can pro-
tubes, package change), but also as regards process-linking duce piecings that are virtually invisible in the yarn and
automation of material transport from the card through the the end product and thus permit fine clearer settings.
draw frame(s) to the rotor spinning machine up to fully au- • Consistent piecing quality is essential for economical
tomated package removal or palletizing at the machine it- downstream processing of rotor-spun yarns, and this
self. Systems for automated material transport between can only be assured by piecings produced with process
card and draw frame and between the individual draw frame control and reproducible setting parameters.
passages will not be dealt with here. You will find details of • Last but not least, thorough cleaning of the rotor groove
this in the relevant publications in this series of textbooks. inevitably takes place on automated machines after
each end down or package change, thus reducing the
3.1. Machine automation in rotor spinning risk of a creeping decline in yarn quality.
Systems for automating the operation of rotor spinning ma- Machine automation is represented in practice by two
chines have been integral parts of high-performance rotor different concepts:
spinning machines for some years. Automated systems have • Integrated automation, in which all operating functions
been developed for all manual operations in several stages: (rotor cleaning, repairing ends down, package change)
• automatic gripping and introduction of the sliver end are combined (integrated) in a single robot (Fig. 48).
from a new can into the spinning box (implemented Package changing and the subsequent re-start of the
only in certain cases to date); spinning position occur as a single process.
• automatic cleaning of rotor, draw-off nozzle and draw-off • Automation by means of units operating separately,
tube after ends down, quality stops or package changes; with the operating functions of spinning start-up (after
• automatic piecing (start-up) after ends down, quality ends down or package changes) being performed by
stops or package changes; a piecing robot, and the transport of starter bobbins
• automatic removal of full packages upon reaching the (instead of empty tubes) and package change by a sec-
preset yarn length, and replacement with empty tubes; ond robot. There is no system-imposed link between
• automatic feeding of empty tubes to the operating robots which operate separately and the use of starter
robot for package change; bobbins, but the greater technical complexity this con-
• programmable batch phase-out/batch change; cept entails in connection with the pre-wound starter
• automatic deposit of removed packages at the end of bobbin (additional starter bobbin unit, starter bobbin
the machine; transport, etc.) is system-imposed. This is probably also
• automatic or semi-automatic filter cleaning. the reason why manufacturers which previously sup-
plied robots operating separately have switched to the
Machine automation reduces manual operations to a mini- integrated automation system on their machines.
mum and replaces them by monitoring tasks and interven-
46 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
3.1.1. Application options for operating robots
Rotor spinning machines can be equipped with up to 4 op-
erating robots (up to 2 on each side of the machine). Their
travel strategy is usually coordinated in such a way that the
robots move to and fro within a certain working range, suc-
cessively attending to all spinning positions in the direction
of travel where intervention is required. The travel strategy
can be optimized in accordance with the operating status
of the machine.
3.1.1.1. Machines with a single operating robot
The use of only one robot per machine is economically jus-
tifiable only for very short machines, if at all. When starting
spinning on a machine or during an accumulation of ends
down or package changes it then takes a very long time for
all spinning positions to be attended to. If the robot has to
be serviced, ends down cannot be repaired and packages
cannot be changed. The reduction in efficiency due to long
downtimes usually exceeds the advantages of lower capital
costs for a second robot.
3.1.1.2. Machines with two operating robots
Fig. 48 – Operating robot on a modern high-performance rotor spinning Two operating robots (on for each side of the machine) are
machine usually adequate for serving the spinning positions effi-
ciently on the machine lengths of 240 to 280 spinning po-
Operating robots are powered and controlled either me- sitions that are customary nowadays. Each robot serves
chanically / electronically or pneumatically / electronically. one side of the machine, and when one robot is being serv-
Robots of modular design significantly simplify mainte- iced the second robot can be programmed also to serve
nance. The modular structure of pneumatically controlled the other side of the machine (Fig. 49). In this case the ro-
operating robots permits synchronized functional processes bot transfers from one side of the machine to the other via
in package change and the subsequent re-start of spinning. a loop on the headstock. The downtime due to stationary
The entire piecing process after ends down or quality stops spinning positions is therefore reduced by half. Using 4 ro-
is completed after less than 25 seconds. The operating ro- bots on machines of this length results in a significant im-
bots travel at a speed of some 0.4 m/sec. provement in efficiency only in extreme spinning conditions
– e.g. a combination of coarse yarn counts, small package
formats and high delivery speeds – and only then justifies
the higher capital costs of the two additional robots.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 47
RB 2
RB 1
n ... 3 2 1
Headstock Footend
n ... 3 2 1
RB 1
RB 2
Fig. 49 – Travel strategy with one operating robot on each side of the machine; each robot can also serve the other side
RB 3
RB 2
n ... 3 2 1
Headstock Footend
n ... 3 2 1
RB 1
RB 3
Unproductive area Productive working area
Fig. 50 – Travel strategy with 3 operating robots. One robot on each side of the machine, robot RB 3 serves each side alternately
RB 3
RB 4
n ... 3 2 1
Headstock Footend
n ... 3 2 1
RB 1
RB 2
Fig. 52 – Travel strategy with 2 robots on each side of the machine
RB 3
RB 4
RB 1
RB 2
Fig. 53 – Rotor spinning machine with service stations for 4 robots
100
95
90
85
Ne 3 Ne 15 Ne 60
2 robots 4 robots
Fig. 51 – Machine efficiency with 2 and 4 robots
48 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
Another possibility for optimizing travel strategy is useful Two robots each serve one side of the machine. Each robot
when using 2 and 4 robots. The robots can be controlled in traverses a certain length of a machine side. The travel zones
such a way that a robot changes its direction of travel if no overlap in the middle of the machine (Fig. 52). The central ro-
spinning positions in the original direction of travel require bot control system ensures that the two robots do not collide.
the robot‘s services. All commands for robot control are en- A loop at the end of the machine and thus the use of a robot on
tered via the machine control panel. the other side of the machine are no longer necessary. If a ro-
bot is being serviced, the other robot serves the entire side of
3.1.1.3. Machines with three operating robots the machine during this period. A service station – as shown
in Fig. 53 – is provided for each robot at the headstock or tail-
The use of 3 robots per machine is theoretically possible stock; this is outside the range of travel and thus does not re-
(Fig. 50). Two robots (RB 1 and RB 2) each serve one side of strict the radius of action of the active robot.
the machine, while the 3rd robot (RB 3) supports the other The robots can be programmed in such a way that both robots
two robots by operating alternately on one side of the ma- serve one or more sections jointly. This is always useful if, for
chine and then on the other. However, the long distances example, large numbers of packages need to be changed on
traveled by the 3rd robot via a loop from one side of the ma- a section. The robots can also be controlled in such a way that
chine to the other – amounting to more than one-fourth of a robot changes direction if no spinning positions in the original
its working range – mean that only a very limited improve- direction of travel require the robot‘s services. All commands
ment in efficiency can be achieved. A major drawback of for robot control are entered via the machine control panel.
this concept is that the third robot seriously disrupts work
at the end of the machine, such as the removal of full pack- 3.1.2. Automatic piecing
ages, due to its frequent movements back and forth around
the loop on the tailstock. The concept with 3 robots per ma- After an end down or package change the interrupted spin-
chine has not become established in mill operations to date. ning process at the spinning position in question has to be
re-started. In terms of spinning technology this entails over-
3.1.1.4. Machines with four operating robots lapping a thread end that has been fed back with the fiber
ring in the rotor groove. The quality of such a piecing is just
Four operating robots (2 on each side of the machine) are as important as the quality of the yarn itself, since both de-
essential for extra long rotor spinning machines with up to termine its market value to a great extent. The quality of
500 spinning positions, so that maximum machine efficien- a piecing is defined essentially by:
cy can be achieved even with small package formats, high • the tenacity of the piecing expressed as a percentage
delivery speeds or high ends down rates. The higher the ma- of yarn tenacity;
terial throughput, i.e. the more frequently packages need • the variation in tenacity between the piecings
to be changed, the greater the gain in efficiency through the (CV% of piecing tenacity);
use of 4 robots (see Fig. 51). • the thickness of the piecing (diameter or mass);
• the length of the piecing;
• the repeat accuracy of the piecing.
10.6 cm
Piecing starts Piecer end (a)
Piecer continues (b)
b
Scale 2 mm
Fig. 54 – Piecing quality (Ne 30, Twist multiplier αe = 4.6, 100 % cotton)
a) piecing quality with processor-controlled robotic systems
b) piecing quality with mechanically controlled operating robots
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 49
Every piecing with too much mass is regarded as disturbing the feed trough and the feed table being moved briefly into
in the final fabric and results in its devaluation; the longer the opening roller zone in order to comb out short and dam-
the thick place, the more disturbing its appearance. Piecings aged fibers. Immediately after this the sliver is withdrawn
that are too thick often display especially low tenacity as again in order to prevent renewed damage of the fibers in
a result of having too little twist. This in turn causes prob- the end of the sliver.
lems in downstream processing. A high-quality yarn can
suffer a drastic reduction in value due to defective piecings. As the next step the inside wall of the rotor and the rotor
groove are thoroughly cleaned pneumatically by means of
Piecings with high tenacity and virtually yarn-like appear- a precise current of air, and if necessary the rotor groove
ance can only be produced by processor-controlled robotic is additionally cleaned by means of scrapers. The deposits
systems, since the timing of the individual functional steps removed in this way are blown out and extracted by means
has to occur in the millisecond range. The piecings pro- of compressed air.
duced by means of controlled fiber feed and synchronized
thread take-off are virtually invisible, both in the yarn and The thread end is taken off the package and fed back into
in the end product. The improvement in piecing quality the rotor housing through the draw-off tube (Fig. 55 – step
when using processor-controlled operating robots instead A). At the same time the sliver feed is started and the fibers
of mechanically / electrically controlled robots is clearly are fed under control (depending on rotor speed) into the
apparent in Fig. 54. Repeat accuracy is provided by precise rotor. In the rotor groove the end of the thread is joined to
control of rotor speed and fiber flow. Piecing systems op- the fibers fed in. The rotation of the rotor inserts twist into
erating at high rotor speeds ensure that only piecings with the overlapping zone and the fibers fed subsequently into
high tenacity withstand the high spinning tension refer to the rotor. Synchronized thread take-off from the rotor then
section „3.1.2.3. Piecing speed and piecing quality“. commences (step B). How long the thread remains in the ro-
tor and how much twist is thus to be inserted in the piecing
The piecing process after ends down or quality stops (refer zone can be determined by the timing of the thread take-off.
to section „3.1.2.1. Automatic piecing after ends down and
quality stops“) and the piecing process after package change After the piecing has been formed, the rotor is accelerated
(refer to section „3.1.2.2. Automatic piecing after package to full spinning speed and the piecing process is thus con-
change”) differ in principle in certain functional steps. cluded. Each piecing is examined electronically with regard
to mass (capacitive) or diameter (optical) before it is wound
3.1.2.1. Automatic piecing after ends down and quality onto the package (step c). If a piecing exceeds the preset
stops limits the spinning process is interrupted again (sliver feed-
ing is discontinued) and the piecing process is repeated.
After an end down or quality stop, sliver feed to the spin-
ning position is discontinued immediately (signal from yarn The success rate of piecings produced automatically is
monitor disconnects feed cylinder) in order to prevent the almost 100 %, with a success rate between 80 and 90 %
rotor from being overloaded with fiber material. The pack- for the first piecing cycle, while the remaining spinning po-
age is lifted off the winding cylinder to prevent damage to sitions can usually be re-started in a second piecing process
the layers of thread. The operating robot is called up via (the number of piecing attempts can be set between
the machine control system. 1 and 3). Unsuccessful piecing attempts are on the order of
no more than 1 % and are indicated by a signal lamp on the
Spinning positions that have been stopped due to quality spinning position.
alarm or maintenance and reported to the machine control
system are not re-started when the cause of the fault has 3.1.2.2. Automatic piecing after package change
been remedied manually. Spinning positions that are sta-
tionary due to the absence of sliver are detected by the ro- In contrast to piecing after ends down or quality stops, no
bot by means of sensors and are not served until a new sliv- thread is available from a package in the package holder for
er has been fed in. piecing after package changes. This means that an „extra-
neous thread“ has to be used for piecing at the spinning po-
After the robot has been positioned precisely, the piecing sition in order to re-start the spinning process.
process starts with the end of the sliver waiting between
50 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
A B C
Fig. 55 – Automatic piecing after an end down or quality stop
A The end of the thread is taken off the package and inserted in the rotor at the same time as starting fiber feed
B The piecing is formed under processor control and thread take-off is started
C The piecing is examined electronically and then wound onto the package
A B C
Fig. 56 – Automatic piecing after package change:
A Piecing thread from a package carried in the operating robot is fed into the rotor and a piecing is produced
B Piecing thread and piecing are completely extracted via the robot
C Only the original yarn is transferred by the robot to the empty tube and wound up there
When piecing on an empty tube, the thread from a package tem is that the piecing thread and the piecing are extracted
carried by the robot is used for this purpose. After the full by the rotor and fed to the filter (step B). The new original
package has been replaced with an empty tube and the rotor yarn, which also briefly passes into the robot‘s extraction
cleaned, the thread from the supply package is fed back into device, is transferred by the robot to the empty tube (step C)
the rotor, fiber feed to the rotor is started and the piecing is through the formation of a fixed thread reserve (the first lay-
formed (Fig. 56 – step A). A particular advantage of this sys- er of yarn is covered by the following layers, the end of the
thread remains free).
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 51
The great advantage of piecing onto empty tubes is that: short running times with coarse yarns) an additional starter
• A „piecing-friendly“ yarn can be selected for piecing, shuttle can also be used to supply the automatic doffer with
e.g. especially strong, not too fine, etc., since the piec- starter packages „on the spot“ while it is in operation.
ing thread (complete with the piecing) is cut off and
extracted, and does not reach the package. However, the use of starter packages is not unchallenged,
• Piecing mass and tenacity can be adjusted so that high for various reasons:
piecing tenacity and thus a high piecing success rate are • Original yarn must be used for the starter packages. For
achieved. The length and mass of the piecing are of no this purpose several packages must either be produced
concern, since the piecing is extracted. The piecing suc- before the machine starts up (which takes time) or
cess rate after package change is in many cases 100 %. reserve packages from earlier final spinning operations
• It ensures that only original yarn is wound onto the newly must be used.
started package and thus no problems can arise in down- • The technical effort expended in producing starter pack-
stream processing with starter yarn and starter piecings. ages is relatively substantial (service, maintenance).
A starter winding station, a starter transfer station and
Piecing with a starter packages: the alternative method for in some cases a starter shuttle are required.
re-starting the spinning process after package change is to • The yarn on the starter package is wound in the oppo-
place a pre-wound starter package (with 20 - 50 meters of site direction to the spun yarn. In the case of sensitive
original yarn) in the tube holder and piece with the end of end products / dyeing methods the differences in direc-
the yarn on this package. In this case piecing after package tion can be visible.
change is identical to piecing after an end down or qual- • A serious drawback is that by virtue of the system every
ity stop (see above). The starter packages required for this package contains an additional piecing compared to
piecing concept are produced on a starter winding station packages produced by piecing onto an empty tube. In the
installed at the drive end and transferred via a transfer sta- coarse count yarn range, e.g. with denim yarns, the num-
tion to the automatic doffer, which docks onto this trans- ber of starter piecings can exceed the number of spin-
fer station. The number of starter packages carried deter- ning-related piecings (after ends down or quality stops).
mines the number of package changes possible in one pass. • Even if technically ingenious piecing systems can pro-
When all the starter packages have been used, the doffer duce high-quality piecings, the emphasis must be placed
returns to the transfer station to collect new starter pack- on keeping the number of piecings per package as small
ages. When spinning conditions necessitate very frequent as possible. A „poorly“ produced piecing, whatever the
package changes (small packages, e.g. dyeing packages, reason, is a potential weak point in the yarn.
Spinning Tension
Centrifugal force
high
low
low high
Rotor speed
Fig. 57 – Influence of piecing speed on spinning tension and thus on piecing tenacity
52 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
3.1.2.3. Piecing speed and piecing quality If high piecing-up speeds are the criterion for strong piecings,
piecing at constant speeds is the precondition for high piec-
Piecing systems that perform the piecing process at high ing uniformity in terms of thickness and length (Fig. 58).
rotor speeds, i.e. at 80 % to 100 % of the normal spinning This is in contrast to systems on which the piecing process is
speed, ensure by virtue of the high spinning tension during performed while the rotor accelerates (Fig. 59). Since the ro-
yarn take-off that only strong piecings withstand the piec- tor shaft is driven by friction via the tangential belt, it is im-
ing process (Fig. 57). Piecing-up rotor speed during piec- possible to avoid variations in speed between spinning po-
ing is dictated by the raw material and yarn structure. The sitions, i.e. between piecing processes, due to variations in
lower the piecing-up speed and thus the spinning tension, slippage between the tangential belt and the shaft, especially
the greater the risk that weak piecings will also survive the during acceleration of the rotor. These variations inevitably
piecing process and thus reach the package. A piecing that have a direct impact on mass and length, in the worst case
has only just survived the piecing process can prove very also on piecing strength.
costly in downstream processing. The „integrated“ strength
test imposed by high piecing-up speeds is therefore of ad- Fig. 60 shows the results of a series of measurements in
vantage, since no monitoring system yet exists at the spin- which the tenacity and elongation of automated piecings are
ning position to examine piecing strength. However, quality presented in comparison with the corresponding yarn values,
control systems on a capacitive or optical basis do provide expressed in percentages. With the exception of individual
specific monitoring channels for examining piecing mass. measurements, the fluctuation range of the piecings is almost
If a piecing exceeds the (adjustable) limits for fiber mass the same as the values for the normal yarn. What is more,
or fiber thickness, the spinning process is immediately in- even the piecings with the lowest tenacity are well above the
terrupted again. The robot draws the length of yarn with minimum piecing tenacity level of 60 % required for down-
the excessively thick piecing off the package and extracts it. stream processing (compared to the average yarn tenacity).
The piecing process is then repeated.
Rotor speed
Rotor speed
Start of piecing
Start of piecing
100 %
100 %
> 80 % With tolerances
=
Given time
ca.
50 - 70 %
Piecing-up speed:
variation due to
Laser detection slippage
of rotor speed
Time of piecing cycle
Time of piecing cycle
Fig. 58 – Automatic piecing at constant, high rotor speed Fig. 59 – Automatic piecing during rotor acceleration
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 53
180
160
140
120
Piecing elongation [%]
yarn
100
80
60
40
20
< 60 %
0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130
Piecing strength [%]
Piecings Yarn
Fig. 60 – Tenacity and elongation of piecings compared to the corresponding yarn values
3.1.3. Semi-automatic piecing system on manually
operated machines
The variations in mass, length and tenacity of piecings pro-
duced manually even by skilled operating personnel are so
wide that they no longer satisfy international quality stand-
ards by far. This means that as a consequence of the inad-
equate piecing quality alone an otherwise high-quality yarn
is not accepted and used in downstream processing.
This is why so-called semi-automatic piecing processes,
which have significantly narrowed the gap in piecing qual-
ity relative to automatic piecings, have been developed for
manually operated machines in recent years. Piecing after
ends down essentially consists of the following operating
steps (Fig. 61):
The only remaining manual operations are pulling the end
of the thread off the package, cutting it to length according-
ly and inserting it into the previously cleaned rotor through
the draw-off tube.
Starting sliver feed to form the fiber ring in the rotor, sub-
sequent yarn take-off from the rotor and start-up of the
package are actuated under electronic control at the push
of a button. A further special feature is that the fibers first
combed out of the end of the sliver, some of which are
damaged, are extracted when sliver feed commences,
and fiber flow is only then diverted into the rotor.
Fig. 61 – AMIspin semi-automatic piecing system
54 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
3.1.4. Automatic package change 3.1.4.2. Package change and spinning start-up with
starter packages in two separate operations
Package change on automated rotor spinning machines is
actuated when the preset length of yarn or package diam- If the „package change“ and „spinning start-up after pack-
eter is reached. Electronic length measurement is so accu- age change“ operations are performed by two robots work-
rate that variations in yarn length from package to package ing independently, these two operations can also only be
are maintained in a very narrow tolerance range, usually performed consecutively and not synchronized, i.e. simul-
of +/- 0.5 %. Mechanical diameter cutout is less accurate, taneously.
since package diameter and thus the yarn length wound up
can vary due to differing winding conditions at the individ- The operating robot called up via the machine control unit
ual spinning positions (differences in thread tension, slip- for package change (automatic doffer) places the full pack-
page, etc.). age on the package conveyor belt in the center of the ma-
chine and replaces it by one of the pre-wound starter tubes
Automatic package change has been solved by different it has brought with it.
conceptual approaches. Whereas in one system removal of
the full package and spinning start-up on an empty tube are The spinning position remains stationary until the request-
performed in a single operation (integrated automation), ed operating robot for piecing (automatic piecer) has served
in another case removal of the full package and subsequent the spinning position and initiates spinning start-up at the
spinning start-up are performed in two separate operations spinning position by re-introducing the end of the thread on
by two robots working independently. Spinning is started the starter package into the rotor and starting sliver feed.
on an empty tube, but using a starter package pre-wound
at the end of the machine. Although all manufacturers of In this concept the spinning position being served has to
automated rotor spinning systems now offer the integrated wait both for the automatic doffer and then again for the au-
automation system, a large number of machines, also new- tomatic piecer; i.e. it is affected by two waiting times, com-
er ones, are in operation worldwide with operating robots pared with one waiting time with integrated automation.
working independently. Both systems will therefore be de-
scribed in more detail. As already explained elsewhere, machinery manufacturers
which previously used operating robots working independ-
3.1.4.1. Package change and spinning start-up on ently also offer automation featuring integrated operating
empty tubes in a single operation (integrated robots on their new models.
automation)
3.1.4.3. Yarn end placement
When the package has reached the preset yarn length, the
spinning position is switched off by the electronic length The yarn end placement feature ensures the reliable po-
measurement device. At the same time the operating ro- sitioning of the yarn end on the outside surface of the full
bot is called up via the machine control system. If addi- package. In downstream processing the yarn end can easily
tional delta lengths are being used, the package continues be found and removed from the package by the operators.
to run after reaching the reference length until the robot This results in significant cost savings of up to 40 % for
approaches the spinning position on its control run (ad- package handling in downstream processing.
vantage: no stationary spinning positions due to full pack-
ages). Only then is the spinning position switched off and Yarn end placement is performed prior to the replacement of
the change process immediately initiated. The full package the full package by an empty tube. The robot unwinds a cer-
is placed on the package conveyor belt in the center of the tain length of yarn from the full package, which still remains
machine by a robot arm, and at the same time spinning is in the package holder. The yarn removed is then wound back
started on an empty tube (refer to section „3.1.2.2. Auto- onto the package, with one layer around the left-hand side of
matic piecing after package change“). the tube and placement of the yarn onto the package surface.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 55
3.1.5. Batch change
Depending on the utilization of the rotor spinning machine,
batch change can be performed individually. b
3.1.5.1. Batch change at individual spinning positions
For certain batch sizes it can happen that only a few more
packages are needed to complete the batch. These packag-
es can be completed on individual spinning positions while
the batch is phased out. a
Although the rotor spinning machine operates in „package
change for the complete machine“ status, individual spin-
ning positions can be brought back into operation. This
requires the input of yarn length (at the touch screen ma-
chine panel) for the selected spinning position(s) and initi-
ation of spinning restart at the spinning box.
3.1.5.2. Batch change on one side of the machine
On machines that piece onto empty tubes, different batches
(e.g. different raw materials) can be produced both on indi- Fig. 62 – Empty tube magazine (a) with tube handling system (b) on the
vidual sections and on each side of the machine. end frame of a rotor spinning machine
Batch change on only one side of the machine requires se-
lection of the corresponding mode of operation at the ro- The tube handling system mounted on the front of the head-
bot. The robot replaces each full package by an empty tube, stock accepts an empty tube from the tube magazine and
but leaving the spinning position stationary. After all pack- places it on a pair of conveyor belts on the left-hand and
ages have been replaced, spinning can be re-started by the right-hand side of the machine. At the request of the robot
robot with new stock. the empty tube is fed to the robot by means of the conveyor
belts. This occurs whenever the robot performs a package
3.1.5.3. Batch change on the machine as a whole change. The new empty tube replaces the tube carried by
the robot and used for the current package change. The ro-
Batch change on the entire machine requires the appropri- bot accepts the new empty tube from the conveyor belts and
ate mode of operation to be selected at the touch screen ma- is thus already prepared again for the next package change.
chine panel. After all spinning positions have been stopped –
either in the case of full packages or immediately, regardless 3.1.7. Automatic sliver piecing after can change
of package size – the robot replaces all packages by empty
tubes. The machine can be restarted with either new stock, Also the sliver piecing has been automated in a few cases.
new spinning elements and/or new settings via the machine The prerequisite are a rectangular can and a special auxilia-
panel by selecting the corresponding mode of operation. ry device on the operating robots. When a can is pushed out
on the draw frame the end of the sliver must be positioned
3.1.6. Supplying empty tubes precisely at the front of the can lip. A suction arm on the op-
erating robot grips the end of the sliver from the newly fed
The tube loading system (Fig. 62) with empty tube maga- can and guides it between the intake roller and the feed ta-
zine (a) and tube handling system (b) is standard equipment ble into the spinning box. Automated sliver piecing actually
on rotor spinning machines where spinning is re-started on is not used frequently, as the investment cost for such devic-
empty tubes after package change. The system supplies the es are relatively high.
robots with the empty tubes required for package change.
56 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
3.2. Transport automation in the rotor spinning mill In the planning phase the management of the spinning mill
must be convinced that the decision in favor of an automat-
In modern spinning mills the cost of transporting materi- ed transport system is correct and must also encourage ac-
als has become the largest component of direct labor costs. ceptance of it by personnel. Mill management must already
Systems automating can and package transport have there- analyze operating processes at the planning stage and pre-
fore been developed and supplied for some years. However, pare the appropriate reorganization of operations. The
savings on labor costs are only sufficient to amortize these more thorough the preparation phase, the easier its intro-
systems partially over an economically justifiable period of duction and the greater its success will be.
time. Other cost-relevant reasons for using these systems
are therefore: Optimum adaptation to existing processes is achieved
• preventing damage to slivers and yarn which is often by the careful choice of interfaces between (any planned)
unavoidable during manual transport of these packages; manual and automated sub-processes. The possibility of
• increasing output through more uniform utilization of step-by-step commissioning or staggered implementation
machine capacity and reduction of downtime (cans should be examined.
that have to be changed or packages that have to be
removed from the machine conveyor belt no longer The transition from purely manually operated to semi-au-
depend on the availability of personnel); tomatic or fully automated systems has far-reaching con-
• reducing movements of material (both of the raw mate- sequences. The changes in work content are considerable.
rial and of spinning cans and yarn packages) and thus Manual transport activities are replaced by monitoring,
reducing or eliminating storage areas; trouble-shooting and maintenance activities. Personnel
• no confusion between different feed materials with higher or completely different qualifications must be
(sliver counts); provided for this purpose. Intensive training of this person-
• and finally cost benefits due to improved overview nel is an essential precondition for successful, trouble-free
of material flow and simplified planning and control operation of the system!
of material throughput.
The new jobs usually extend over several of the previous
All the necessary systems are now available for process- process stages; machine allocation and thus working areas
linking automation in rotor spinning mills, i.e. for material are usually larger. Operating and management personnel
transport (empty and full spinning cans and cross-wound also need to be trained accordingly with this in mind.
packages) between the individual process stages. These
systems are supplied in different versions and various de- 3.2.1. The importance of can format for automated can
grees of automation. Nevertheless, in contrast to machine change
automation, which is standard equipment on high-perfor-
mance spinning machines, transport automation has not It is customary in rotor spinning mills to use round cans,
established itself to the same extent. The reasons for this which are arranged in two rows, one behind the other, on
are many and varied, and certainly also very different in the rotor spinning machines. Replacing a round can which
significance from mill to mill. However, there is no question has run empty in the back row entails considerable mechani-
that the use of semi-automatic or fully automated transport cal and control effort for a can changing system. The systems
systems can make a contribution toward ensuring competi- developed for such concepts have therefore not established
tiveness, especially in countries with high labor costs. themselves to date.
In the context of transport automation the rectangular can has
On the basis of experience in a large number of spinning been launched on the market and has enabled can change on
mills that have switched to automated transport systems it the rotor spinning machine to be automated (Fig. 63). Rectan-
can be seen that the following conditions must be created gular cans enable the available space to be allocated clearly in
and the following principles observed and adhered to for terms of the spinning can and the spinning position (only one
the successful implementation of this kind of project. can stands under each position). This layout of spinning can
and spinning position in relation to the gauge was one of the
essential preconditions for simple, automated can change on
the rotor spinning machine.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 57
Another advantage of rectangular cans is that the surface 3.2.2. Can transport between the draw frame and the
under the rotor spinning machine can be utilized much rotor spinning machine
more efficiently. The volume and thus the contents of the
rectangular cans are thus up to 65 % larger than round The full cans are transported from the draw frame to the ro-
cans. This results in longer running times per can and fewer tor spinning machine and the empty cans in the reverse direc-
stoppages at the spinning positions for can changes. tion by process-controlled, unmanned transport vehicles (see
Fig. 64). These vehicles are also responsible for automatic
The can filling and can changing mechanisms required for can change on the rotor spinning machine. The transport vehi-
rectangular cans on the draw frames have been successfully cles are steered either inductively via wires embedded in the
used for some years. While limitations on delivery speeds floor or optically via colored strips. The control effort required
had to be accepted with the first generation of these draw for complex travel concepts of this kind is high, but they en-
frames, delivery speeds of up to 1 000 m/min can now be able highly flexible systems to be implemented that are ideally
achieved without any difficulty. At the delivery end of the adapted to changes in loading. By contrast, vehicles running
draw frame a can trolley (can buffer) contains empty cans on rails are confined to fixed routes. These systems are consid-
ready for filling and also accepts filled cans. A shuttle pulls erably less complex, but are also much less flexible.
empty cans one at a time from the can trolley under the
turntable. After the can has been filled, the shuttle pulls the A working cycle commences with the unmanned transport
full can into the empty position on the can trolley and re- vehicle collecting an appropriate number of filled cans from
moves the next empty can from it for filling. the can trolley at the draw frame and thus starting its moni-
toring run. One space always remains free in the transport
vehicle in order to accept the empty can at the first can
change, which is then replaced by a full can. The next emp-
ty can then takes the place of the full can, and so on.
Round cans 18 1/5˝ (up to 18 kg) CUBIcan® (up to 30 kg)
The machine control of the spinning machine calculates the
can running time on the basis of the delivery speed of the
sliver, the downtimes and the sliver length. When the can
has run empty a new (full) feed can is requested via the
central machine control.
The empty can is pulled out of its position under the ma-
Fig. 63 – Can formats in the rotor spinning mill. chine onto the empty space in the transport vehicle by
Rectangular cans for economical transport automation means of a suction device on the transport vehicle. The
Transport vehicle Transport vehicle
Can trolley
Rotor spinning machine
Empty can
Draw frame
Can with sliver
Fig. 64 – Concept for automatic can transport between draw frame and rotor spinning machine
58 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
transport vehicle then positions itself, offset by one spin- advantage over round cans is that operating personnel on
ning position gauge, in front of the gap and pushes a full the spinning machine can check the filling level of rectangu-
can under the machine. The end of the sliver, already posi- lar cans much better (since all cans are visible) and can en-
tioned precisely on the lip of the can in the draw frame, is sure timely replacement of the cans. Manual utilization of
taken manually or by the suction arm of the operating robot rectangular cans offers the possibility of integrating these
and introduced into the spinning position. After all full cans in an automated transport system at any time.
have been placed in position the transport vehicle travels
back to the can trolley on the draw frame with the empty 3.2.3. Package transport between the rotor spinning
cans, where the empty cans are again replaced with full machine and subsequent zones
cans. An operating cycle is thus completed and the trans-
port vehicle prepared for the next monitoring run. With automatic package change the cross-wound packages re-
placed by the robot are placed on package conveyor belts (one
The number of transport vehicles depends not only on the each for the right-hand and left-hand sides of the machine).
size of the mill, i.e. the number of machines, but also on When a preset number of finished packages has been placed
the material throughput (coarse or fine count yarns) and on the conveyor belt, the package conveyor belt is automati-
the variety of products. Transport volume per transport ve- cally started and the packages are transported to the end of
hicle, taking the above factors into account, amounts to be- the machine. Various concepts are available for package re-
tween 500 and 1 100 kg/h. Experience in practice shows moval itself. The previously customary manual package re-
that 3 - 5 different assortments can be run simultaneously. moval at the end of the machine has been complemented in-
creasingly by systems with different degrees of automation.
It is also possible to divide the spinning mill into different
zones, e.g. a cotton and a man-made fiber zone, and to allo- The packages delivered to the end of the machine are
cate the transport vehicles accordingly. The control software placed automatically or manually in containers, on pal-
of the transport system then ensures that both zones remain lets or creel trolleys at the machine itself and taken away,
strictly separated in the use of the cans, transport vehicles or alternatively the packages are transported on overhead
and can stores on the draw frame. This reliably prevents conveyors or conveyor belts (Fig. 65) to the subsequent
contamination of either raw material by extraneous fibers. process stages for immediate further processing or to the
material store. In the material store they can be deposited
Although rectangular cans have been developed primarily in containers or boxes for packaging, palletized for onward
for fully automated transport systems, they can also be con- dispatch or, depending on transport logistics, direct supply
veyed manually by means of special transport trolleys. The to weaving, warping or knitting operations.
Fig. 65 – Automatic doffing and transport of packages to the palletizing unit
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 59
Manufacturers of rotor spinning machines either offer their Contract spinning mills and textile companies where yarn
own systems for automatic doffing and/or provide appropri- manufacturing and processing are in different locations pre-
ate interfaces that enable users to connect third party sup- fer to use systems with automatic doffing on the rotor spin-
pliers‘ doffing systems. ning machine and direct deposit on pallets (Fig. 66). These
systems are now developed to such an extent that the remov-
In practice the concept of resorting to specialist suppliers‘ al of packages from the machine, their deposit on the pallet,
doffing systems is becoming increasingly established. The the positioning of intermediate liners and the film-wrapping
user, i.e. the spinning mill management, is therefore able to of the full pallets are performed automatically. Package size,
choose the appropriate system for his operating conditions package shape and deposit pattern can be programmed.
from a wider range. Connecting third party systems calls for
close cooperation between the machine manufacturer and
the supplier of these systems, especially for the initial in-
stallation.
Fig. 66 – Automatic palletizing unit with protective grid on the rotor spinning machine
60 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 61
4. APPLICATIONS ENGINEERING A special application is the manufacture of combed rotor-
spun yarns. Although this application has not established
4.1. Raw material selection itself on a broad basis – due to the manufacturing costs for
the additional combing passage – the results that can be
Rotor spinning technology offers considerable flexibility as achieved by using combed feed sliver in mill applications
regards raw material selection. Rotor spinning machines are are entirely convincing. These advantages have an impact
capable of processing successfully fiber lengths between 10 both on yarn quality (higher tenacity, better regularity, few-
and 60 mm in virtually all natural and man-made fibers. Rotor er imperfections), on running properties on the rotor spin-
spinning thus offers a range of application that no other spin- ning machine and on downstream processing (fewer stop-
ning process, with the exception of ring spinning, can even pages, less fiber fly generated in weaving and knitting), and
approach. The following section will explain which raw ma- thus also on the quality of the end product (e.g. softer hand
terials and raw material properties are especially suitable for in knitted fabrics).
the rotor spinning process, and how the different characteris-
tic values and properties of the fibers affect the quality of the In addition to cotton, man-made fibers and/or their blends
yarn and end product and the spinning process. are successfully processed on rotor spinning machines – and
Fig. 67 shows the individual raw materials as a proportion have been since this spinning process was launched. Espe-
of the total volume of rotor-spun yarns. Even recycled cotton cially yarns made from polyester fibers and their blends with
waste and noil are processed successfully on rotor spinning cotton (in rare cases in blends with wool, bast fibers and an-
machines. In mill operations the rotor spinning process has gora), are used in a wide range of end products. The reasons
earned the reputation of being especially „cotton-friendly“. for this remarkable development are in particular:
This is also the reason why predominantly carded rotor-spun • the outstanding physical and chemical properties
yarns of 100 % cotton or blends of cotton and man-made fib- of polyester fibers for use in clothing;
ers are currently produced worldwide. Table 4 shows the pre- • the low production costs for manufacturing polyester
ferred cotton qualities for the rotor spinning process. fibers and the resulting economical raw material costs;
• and the limited availability of cotton in light of growing
global fiber consumption; the annual increase in fiber con-
sumption of some 3 % is now accounted for almost entirely
Others by man-made fibers, and here mostly by polyester fibers.
5 % Cotton
52 %
Viscose Viscose fibers, also known as rayon in the US and Asia, account
5 %
for an appropriate proportion of the total volume of rotor-spun
Acrylic + Blends yarns, either pure or in blends with cotton and polyester. How-
8 %
ever, viscose fibers are heavily exposed to variations in fash-
ion, so that their share of total yarn volume can vary from vir-
tually zero up to 10 %, depending on fashion trends.
Table 5 a) shows the man-made fibers and their blends
which can be considered for rotor spinning, including a list
of fiber criteria (Table 5 b)) that have to be borne in mind
PES/CO Blends when processing them on rotor spinning machines.
30 %
Fig. 67 – Share of fiber materials in the total volume of rotor-spun yarns
62 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
Cotton (CO)
100 % virgin cotton Cotton waste ≤ 7/8˝ Comber noil
• short and medium staple • secondary material, e.g. reclaimed by recycling • rotor-friendly material because already cleaned
• carded and combed
• blends of two or more of these components
Table 4 – Specification of cotton grades which can be considered for the rotor spinning process
Man-made fibers (MMF)
natural polymer, cellulosic MMF synthetic polymer, synthetic MMF Bio polymer
• Viscose (CV) / rayon (term in Asia, USA) • Polyester (PES) • Nature works (PLA)2)
• Modal (modified viscose) • Polyacrylic (PAN) and PAN high bulk
• Micromodal (fiber < 1.1 dtex) • Polyamide (PA)1)
• Lyocell (CLY) • PA-Aramide (Nomes, Kevlar)1)
• Tencel • Polypropylene (PP)1)
• Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)1)
Blends
• blends of man-made fibers (mostly PES/CV and PAN/CV)
• blends of cotton and man-made fibers (mostly CO/PES and CO/CV)
These types of fiber are only processed in exceptional cases
1)
Bio polymer fibers only at the experimental stage
2)
Table 5 a) – Man-made fibers used in the rotor spinning process
Fiber specification
Microfibers fiber fineness < 1.1 dtex
more fibers in cross section = higher yarn strength
High-tenacity fibers fibers with higher tenacity (approx. +5 .. 10 %)
Low-pilling fibers reduced fiber tenacity (-15 .. 25 %)
red. yarn strength
red. rotor speed
Shiny fibers higher fiber/fiber friction
higher cohesion
slightly higher drafting strength
Semi-dull or dull fibers reduced lifetime of spinning elements
slightly reduced drafting strength
Flame-retardant fibers chlorine fibers
danger of corrosion
Extruded-/tuft dyed fibers more aggressive than raw white fibers
reduced opening roller and rotor speeds
Table 5 b) – Fiber properties which have to be recognized when processed on rotor spinning machines
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 63
Other natural raw materials
Animal raw materials3) Bast fibers4)
• Angora wool • Jute
• Sheep‘s wool (sheared or teased, max. 60 mm) • Linen
• Wool noil (tow) • Ramie
• Usually in blends with cotton, viscose or polyester, but not in blends with each other
The use of wool calls for intensive cleaning (burrs, lanolin, organic impurities). The residual fat content of the wool must not exceed 0.5 %
3)
All bast fibers require intensive cleaning (coarse fibers and dust!) and fibrillation (various solubilizing processes)
4)
Table 6 – Other sustainable raw materials
Since both wool and bast fibers display low inherent 100 % cotton yarns
strength, these fibers are usually processed in blends with Priority Rotor Ring Air-jet
man-made fibers or cotton, which act as stabilizing fibers.
1 Fineness Length Length
2 Strength Strength Cleanliness*
The raw materials listed in Table 6 are rarely processed on
3 Length Fineness Fineness
rotor spinning machines. Special process expertise is re-
quired for processing them and the raw materials listed 4 Cleanliness* Strength
under 1) 2) in Table 5 and under 3) 4) in Table 6; this has *see section “4.3. Preparation of raw material”
been developed by the spinning mills in question, often in Table 7 – Priority of fiber properties for rotor-spun and ring-spun yarns
cooperation with the machinery manufacturer or with tex-
tile institutions. This starts already with the selection of
raw materials and the pre-treatment that is necessary in
most cases. Processing in the spinning mill usually calls
for specifically adapted machine speeds, delivery speeds
and setting parameters, especially at nip and fiber trans-
fer points, and in most cases necessitates an appropriate
modification of the spinning climate, in terms of both tem-
perature and humidity. In certain cases special spinning
elements are adapted by yarn manufacturers on their own
initiative, and these take into account the gentle treatment
usually required for these fibers.
We will therefore not deal in greater detail with these spe-
cial applications, since in most cases the fiber- and proc-
ess-specific features are not revealed, i.e. are regarded as
the intellectual property of the individual spinning mills.
4.2. Fiber properties
In any spinning system, fiber properties exert a decisive
influence on the processing of the fibers and the resulting
yarn. These influences are reinforced in the case of rotor
spinning, so that several remarks are appropriate here with
regard to the raw material and its preparation. Priority of
fiber properties in each spinning system see Table 7.
64 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
4.2.1. Fiber count
In rotor spinning fiber count and thus the number of fibers in Spinning limit, 100 % carded cotton
the yarn cross-section probably have the greatest influence (110 fibers/yarn cross-section1))
on yarn and spinning results. Fiber count (Micronaire or dtex)
Micronaire dtex Spinning limit
defines the spinning limit, i.e. the ratio of fiber count to yarn
cotton Nm/Ne/tex
count from which stable spinning behavior is assured. Due to
the markedly different yarn structure of rotor-spun and ring- 3.2 1.26 72/43/14
spun yarn, resulting in less pronounced parallelization of the 3.5 1.38 66/40/15
fibers in rotor-spun yarn, the material utilization of fiber tenac- 4.0 1.58 57/34/17
ity and thus also yarn tenacity (with the same fiber count and 4.2 1.65 55/32/18
thus the same number of fibers in the yarn cross-section) is 4.52) 1.77 47/28/21
some 15 - 25 % lower than in ring-spun yarn. In order to com-
5.02) 1.97 42/25/24
pensate for these system-related differences, i.e. in order to en-
sure stable spinning conditions and also achieve good yarn te-
Spinning limit, MMF and blends
nacity, rotor-spun yarns must be spun with a higher number of
(90 fibers/yarn cross-section)
fibers (at least 90 - 110 (120)) in the yarn cross-section. The
relationship between the fiber count of cotton and man-made dtex den Spinning limit
fibers and the resulting spinning limit is shown in Table 8. Nm/Ne/tex
The spinning limit (Nm/Ne/tex) can be calculated as follows: 0.6 0.7 185/110/5.43)
0.9 1.1 123/73/83)
dtex (F) x nF Mic x nF
spinning limit tex (Y) = = 1.1 1.2 101/60/10
10 25.4
1.3 1.5 85/50/12
10 000 25 400 1.7 1.9 65/39/15
spinning limit Nm (Y) = =
dtex (F) x nF Mic x nF 2.2 2.4 50/30/20
1)
When using combed fibers the spinning limit is 90 - 100 fibers/yarn
5 917 15 030 cross-section
spinning limit Ne (Y) = = 2)
Coarser fibers (with counts ≥ Mic 4.5) are mostly short to very short fibers;
tex (F) x nF Mic x nF
in this case the spinning limit is at least 120 fibers in the yarn cross-section)
3)
Yarn counts cannot be produced economically on rotor spinning machines
nF = number of fibres given for the spinning limit in the Table 8 – Spinning limit for cotton and man-made fiber yarns as a functi-
table 8 (90 to 110 fibres) on of fiber count
Derived from this, the number of fibers in the yarn cross- In blends the arithmetic mean fiber count (dtex or Micronaire)
section (nF) is calculated as follows: is calculated according to the percentage content of the indi-
vidual components:
tex (Y) x 10 5 917
number of fibers nF = =
dtex (F) Ne (Y) x dtex (F) Example:
= 10 000 67 % polyester 1.3 dtex/33 % cotton 4.2 Micronaire =
Nm (Y) x dtex (F) 1.65 dtex (dtex cotton = Micronaire x 0.394)
∅ fiber count = 100/{[67/1.3] + [33/1.65]} =
tex (Y) x 25.4 15 030 100 / [52 + 20] = 1.4 dtex
number of fibers nF = =
Mic Ne (Y) x Mic
= 25 400
Nm (Y) x Mic
nF = number of fibers in the yarn cross-section
Mic = Micronaire
Y = yarn
F = fiber
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 65
The cottons used for rotor-spun yarns are mostly in the fibers, depend largely on the available (and also widely
count range of 3.5 to 4.6 Micronaire, although in some ap- varying) fiber counts. However, since the fibers of these raw
plications very fine cottons from 2.8 Micronaire (for very materials are usually coarser than those of cotton or man-
fine yarns) up to very coarse yarns up to 5.0 Micronaire made fibers, the finally spun yarn counts are usually in the
(in the coarse yarn range) are used. Care is required espe- coarser count range ≤ Ne 12/Nm 20/tex 50. Yarns in counts
cially with very fine fibers – < 3.0 Micronaire – since in this up to Ne 24/Nm 40/tex 25 are produced only with very fine
count range the danger of immature fibers increases. In this wool grades or angora wool, usually in blends with cotton
context a fundamental comment on the Micronaire value: or PES (the figures given are only approximate values).
when using the Micronaire value it should be borne in mind
that this value does not always correspond to the current
count, since it is influenced by the maturity of the fiber. It A
has been established that for certain Micronaire values the 1.2
current count corresponding to the maturity varies, and
can thus also influence the spinning limit. Accurate fiber 1.1
count values are obtained by measuring fiber count in mtex 1
or dtex. However, since the Micronaire value is still mostly
used in practice, the following statements are also based 0.9
on this value.
Through careful selection of correspondingly fine and well 3.0 4.0 5.0 mic B
matured types of fiber, carded cotton yarns up to Ne 60/Nm
100/tex 10 can now also be spun industrially, i.e. with sta- Fig. 68 – Relationship between fiber count (B) and yarn tenacity (A)
ble spinning conditions and good yarn values, using the ro-
tor spinning system. 4.2.2. Fiber length
Man-made fiber manufacturers recognized the importance
of finer fibers for rotor spinning very early, and have offered The influence of fiber length on the processing properties
increasingly fine fiber counts on the market. Whereas fibers and the quality of the yarns produced is less significant in
were offered with 1.5 den as the finest count at the begin- rotor spinning than in ring spinning, but should neverthe-
ning of the nineteen-eighties, only a few years later fibers less not be underestimated. Fig. 69 shows the influence of
with 1.2 den and within a few more years fibers with counts different fiber lengths on yarn tenacity and yarn irregularity.
of < 1.0 den, so-called microfibers, were already available.
The availability of these very fine fibers has enabled yarn
A
manufacturers to produce increasingly fine yarns with in-
creasingly high yarn quality. By using microfibers, man- 1.3
made fibers with counts of up to Ne 60/Nm 100/tex 10 can
1.2
also be spun on rotor spinning machines.
If finer fibers are also used for coarser yarns, i.e. the number 1.1
of fibers in the yarn cross-section is increased, this has a pos-
itive influence not only on the yarn characteristics; in particu- 1
lar, yarn twist can be significantly reduced, which in turn sub- 0.9
stantially improves the hand of the yarns in the end products.
These advantages have been exploited by those yarn manu-
1˝ 1 1/16˝ 1 1/8˝ 1 3/16˝ 1 1/4˝ B
facturers who prefer to manufacture yarns for end products
where wearing comfort plays a major role. This applies in Fig. 69 – Relationship between staple length in inches (B) and yarn
particular, for example, to T-shirts (in which rotor-spun yarns tenacity (A)
are now dominant both in the US and also in Europe), but
also to leisurewear and lightweight men‘s and women‘s out- Table 9 shows the relationship between staple lengths and
erwear. Fig. 68 clearly shows the influence of fiber count, the yarn counts produced from them. It should be noted
i.e. the number of fibers in the yarn cross-section, on yarn here, however, that this relationship is not governed solely
tenacity. by staple length, but that fiber count plays a role inasmuch
Yarn counts of yarns produced from wool and bast fibers, as shorter fibers are often quite coarse, but longer fibers
even if they are spun in blends with cotton or man-made are available in finer counts.
66 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
100 % cotton / recycled cotton waste / comber noil
Cotton Staple length Yarn count
class inches mm Ne Nm tex
short 29/32˝ - 15/16˝ 23.0 - 23.8 < 10 < 17 > 59
31/32˝ 24.6˝ < 12 < 20 > 49
1˝ 25.40 ≤ 16 ≤ 27 ≥ 37
medium 1)
1 1/32˝ - 1 3/32˝ 26.2 - 27.9 ≤ 40 ≤ 68 ≥ 14.8
1 1/8˝ - 1 5/32˝ 28.3 - 29.4 < 60 < 100 > 10
long > 1 5/32˝ > 30 no applications in rotor spinning
waste (recycled fibers) ≤ 7/8˝ ≤ 22.2 mm 3 - 10 5 - 17 200 - 59
comber noil 2) 2)
≤ 20 ≤ 34 ≥ 50
1)
Fibers in the medium cotton class are also processed in combed form on rotor spinning machines.
2)
The yarn count being spun depends on the quality of the combed cotton and the noil extraction rate on the comber.
In mill practice 100 % noils are spun up to Nm 34/Ne 20/tex 50.
Table 9 – Yarn counts for cotton yarns as a function of staple length
This table also shows clearly that cotton and cotton waste disturbed. However, the tolerance range is larger than is
with a high short fiber content (< 1˝/25.4 mm) can be often described in the literature. As a rule of thumb, fiber
processed successfully using the rotor spinning principle. length (mm) should not significantly exceed rotor diameter
Cotton waste is therefore in demand as a raw material for (mm). However, in mill practice fibers with a staple length
certain ranges of application. However, it should be borne of 40 mm, for example, are successfully spun in large quan-
in mind that yarn quality declines alongside staple length; tities on rotors with a diameter of 30/32 mm.
this affects yarn tenacity and yarn purity (imperfections) Finally, it must be reiterated that in rotor spinning fiber
in particular. Yarns produced from shorter fibers usually length is not the dominant fiber characteristic it is in ring
also have to be spun with higher twist multiplyers. Howev- spinning; in the rotor spinning machine, this role is as-
er, physical textile properties such as tenacity and regular- sumed by fiber count.
ity play only a subordinate role in the end products usually
produced from these yarns, such as sheets, which are sub- Table 10 shows the yarn counts of man-made fiber yarns
sequently napped, while the high number of fiber ends has as a function of fiber length.
an especially favorable impact on the napping effect of the
final fabrics (short fibers result in a high number, whereas The influence of staple length compared to fiber count is also
longer fibers result in a lower number of fiber ends for the of secondary importance for man-made fibers. The gradu-
same yarn length). ation of yarn count in accordance with fiber length results
If the rotor diameter is too small for the intended fiber from the fact that, in contrast to cotton, shorter fibers are
length, twist integration in the rotor groove is considerably supplied in finer counts and longer fibers in coarser counts.
Man-made fibers (MMF)
Fiber length Yarn count
inches mm Ne Nm tex
1.18 - 1.4 30 - 36 24 - 50 40 - 84 25 - 12.0
1.5 - 1.58 38 - 40 20 - 30 34 - 50 29.4 - 20
1.9 - 2.05 48 - 52 8.3 - 18 14 - 30 71.5 - 33.3
≤ 2.36 ≤ 60 ≤ 8.3 ≤ 14 ≤ 71.5
Table 10 – Yarn counts of man-made fiber yarns as a function of staple length
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 67
4.2.3. Fiber tenacity and fiber elongation 4.3. Preparation of raw material
The higher the required yarn tenacity the higher the inher- Whereas synthetic and cellulosic man-made fibers are usu-
ent strength of the fibers used must be. However, in order to ally „clean“, i.e. free of trash and extraneous material (with
achieve stable spinning conditions a sufficiently high number the exception of coarse fibers and packaging residues), raw
of fibers must be available in the yarn cross-section in addi- cotton always contains a certain amount of organic and in-
tion to adequate fiber tenacity (see „4.2.1. Fiber count“). organic trash, dust, and vegetable and extraneous particles.
Yarn blends of cotton and polyester are increasingly being The majority of disturbing impurities can be eliminated by ef-
used to manufacture rotor-spun yarns featuring particular- ficient cleaning of the cotton with the appropriate number of
ly high tenacity and where the end product permits this. It cleaning positions in spinning preparation and careful card-
is apparent from the fiber tenacity values of different types ing (see The Rieter Manual of Spinning, Volume 2 – Blowroom
of fiber shown in Table 11 that PES fibers display approx. & Carding). Modern blowrooms are capable of removing up
twice the tenacity of cotton fibers. The higher tenacity of to 97 % of the trash contained in raw cotton (trash content
these yarns results both in more stable delivery behavior in of the carded sliver compared to the raw cotton fed to it).
weaving preparation and on weaving and knitting machines However, depending on the method of harvesting and the
and also in higher fabric strength (weaves, knits) and thus „cleaning propensity“ of the cottons used, certain disturbing
improved properties in use. extraneous materials can survive the cleaning and carding
However, when considering fiber properties, fiber tenac- process. These are mainly:
ity should not be viewed in isolation. Fiber elongation is • fine and very fine dust (especially critical when adher-
at least as important. Only the product of fiber tenacity and ing tenaciously to the fibers);
fiber elongation, i.e. the work capacity, enables a meaning- • extraneous fibers (especially bale packaging material);
ful statement to be made regarding the further processing • vegetable residues (seed coats, leaves, cotton plant
behavior of the fibers and yarns in the spinning process. stems);
• larger trash particles when the cotton has not been ade-
A quately cleaned.
26
While trash removal on the rotor spinning machine is ca-
22 pable of effectively removing larger trash and extraneous
18 particles, dust and other very light extraneous material can
reach the rotor in the air current and be deposited there in
14
the rotor groove.
10 Coarser particles (mainly seed coat fragments) stay caught
in the rotor groove. They can prevent yarn formation at
20 30 40 50 60 B this point, and this in turn can result in ends down, main-
Fig. 70 – Relationship between fiber tenacity (B) and yarn tenacity (A) in cN/tex ly when spinning finer yarn counts. On the other hand, fib-
er agglomeration at the particle results in a thick place
The material utilization of fiber tenacity in the rotor yarn is at the agglomeration point, and immediately thereafter a
between 40 and 60 %, depending on yarn count, and is thus thin place where the agglomerated fibers are absent in the
some 15 - 25 % less than that of ring-spun yarns. Fig. 70 groove. The resulting defect (thick/thin place) is absolutely
shows the linear relationship between fiber tenacity (B) periodic and leads to a moiré effect if the affected yarn is
and yarn tenacity (A) in cN/tex. worked into a fabric.
Small dust particles lead to slow but persistent filling-up of
Fiber Breaking strength (cN/tex)
the collection groove in the rotor. If this is originally nar-
Cotton 15 - 40 row, it becomes steadily more open and wider as it fills up.
Cellulosic MMF The fiber bundle, which was extremely condensed in the
Viscose/rayon 23 - 30
Modal 32 - 38
narrow groove to produce a compact yarn, becomes stead-
Lyocell/Tencel 39 - 50 ily less compressed; the yarn thus becomes gradually more
Synthetic MMF open and bulky. The yarn character and quality thus change
Polyester1) 50 - 71 gradually and unnoticed over a long period. The same effect
Polyacrylic 24 - 35 is observed in spinning synthetic fibers if the spin finish can
Polyamide 40 - 70
accumulate in the rotor.
Table 11 – Breaking strength (cN/tex) of natural and man-made fibers
68 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
Clean raw material is therefore a precondition for spinning 4.3.1.2. Yarn remnants
yarn on the rotor spinning machine. Rieter Ingolstadt rec-
ommends that the following residual trash content should Recycled weaves, knits or fiber residues are processed on
not be exceeded in the feed sliver: rotor spinning machines, since they are especially suita-
• up to Nm 10 / Ne 6 / 100 tex : 0.3 %; ble for this application. However, the crucial precondition
• up to Nm 34 / Ne 20 / 30 tex : 0.2 %; for successful spinning of these very low-cost raw materi-
• up to Nm 50 / Ne 30 / 20 tex : 0.15 %; als is the opening of the materials used down to the indi-
• above Nm 50 / Ne 30 / 20 tex : 0.1 %. vidual fibers. Appropriate machines are supplied by vari-
ous manufacturers. Disintegration takes place in principle
These requirements imply that the “cleanest possible” cot- in several stages, starting with cutting up and then tearing
ton should be sought out at the purchasing stage and further- up the fabric or yarn residues down to the individual fibers.
more that good preparation equipment, giving a high clean- If the necessary care is not devoted to this process, even
ing and dust-removal effect, is of great benefit for the rotor the smallest remnants of fabric or yarn result in ends down
spinning process. In addition, several machine manufactur- if they reach the rotor. In the case of very coarse yarns the
ers have fitted their machines with trash-removal devices. remnants of fabric or yarn may not cause ends down, but
be incorporated in the yarn and then inevitably appear as
4.3.1. Disturbing materials in the cotton a thick place in the yarn.
In addition to trash, dust and vegetable residues, cottons 4.3.1.3. Quartz sand and mineral dust
are unfortunately being contaminated increasingly with
other impurities, which in some cases can cause significant Quartz sand and mineral dust are present mainly in cotton
processing or quality problems. from the latitudes of the desert regions (e.g. West Texas
cotton). They exert an abrasive effect, like sandpaper, and
4.3.1.1. Organic and inorganic impurities cause rapid wear on spinning elements, such as opening
rollers, rotors, and navels. If mineral dust is present, this
On the one hand, these are residues of cotton packaging effect is reinforced.
(jute, polypropylene, etc.) that get into the fiber material
due to careless removal during bale feeding. However, more 4.3.1.4. Honeydew
and more impurities, e.g. remains of plastic sacks and other
refuse, are already getting into the fibrous material during Honeydew forms tenaciously adhering sticky deposits on
harvesting in the cotton fields. These impurities and pack- spinning elements and thus makes spinning more difficult
aging residues are reduced in size by the various opening while causing deterioration in yarn characteristics and an
units in the blowroom and carding room to such an extent increase in ends down. However, if the use of cottons con-
that it may no longer be possible to remove them. These im- taminated in this way is unavoidable, the speed of the spin-
purities either result in ends down on the spinning machine, ning machines must be reduced and the room climate ad-
which is the lesser evil, or they are spun into the yarn, with justed accordingly. In particular, relative humidity should
much more serious consequences. Extraneous fibers (e.g. not exceed 45 to 50 % RH in order to limit the formation
jute in the case of cotton) usually display a different dyeing of sticky deposits on thread guiding components. It is also
behavior from the original fibers. However, since the extra- necessary to clean all thread guiding components thorough-
neous fibers are also usually distributed over long lengths ly after the passage of the contaminated cotton (wash)!
of yarn, this leads to a drastic reduction in the value of the Wherever possible, the use of cottons containing honeydew
fabric produced. Increasing numbers of monitoring systems should therefore be avoided.
are therefore being used on rotor spinning machines to de-
tect and eliminate these impurities. 4.3.2. Processing problems with man-made fibers
In the case of man-made fibers (MMF), particular atten-
tion must be paid during processing in the spinning mill not
only to the coarse fibers referred to earlier, but especially
to the spin finish and the titanium dioxide used as a delus-
tring agent on some types of fiber.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 69
4.3.2.1. Spin finish (MMF) 4.3.3.1. Blowroom
Quality and quantity of the spin finish of MMF are of con- Since rotor spinning reacts less critically to short fibers than
siderable importance for spinning performance, shedding ring or Air-jet spinning, the main task of blowroom machin-
and yarn quality. This also is one of the main reasons for ery is the efficient removal of trash and dust. The blowroom
speed limitations in high-speed rotor spinning. Rotor spin- line can therefore be kept very short, but calls for very ef-
ning needs fibers with less finish application compared to fective cleaning and opening units (see The Rieter Manual
ring-spun types. While the amount of spin finish for ring- of Spinning, Volume 2 – Blowroom & Carding, 1. The blow-
spun yarn varies between 0.18 % and 0.20 %, fibers suit- room).
able for rotor spinning require only 0.12 % to 0.14 %. Finish
application above that level or insufficient adhesion may re- 4.3.3.2. Cards
sult in troublesome deposits at the spinning elements and
these in turn may cause ends down. The card usually has to reduce the dirt content to less than
The strain on the fibers in the spinning unit – due to open- 0.1 - 0.2 % and also to remove part of the dust. The card is
ing roller action, fiber transport, etc. – requires low-friction already capable of removing dust adhering to the fibers be-
finishes which prevent electrostatic charging of the fibers, cause significant fiber/metal friction arises here, and the dust
reduce fiber/metal friction and avoid dust formation. is rubbed off. With regard to dust removal, the blowroom,
carding room and draw frames are each expected to remove
4.3.2.2. Delustrants (MMF) about one-third of the dust. Web crushing at the delivery of
the card often brings about a significant improvement in the
If luster and smoothness of MMF are to be suppressed in cleaning effect for cotton with medium to high dirt content.
round fibers, this can only be done chemically. Titanium di- (see The Rieter Manual of Spinning, Volume 2 – Blowroom
oxide (TiO2) is used for this purpose. However, this delus- & Carding, 2. The card).
tring agent is extremely aggressive, similar to mineral dust,
and results in premature wear of all fiber guiding compo- When the carded sliver is processed directly on the rotor spin-
nents on the machine, and in particular the spinning el- ning machine (Fig. 71) the card must be equipped with a lev-
ements on final spinning machines (rotor, ring, Air-jet). eling device or a card with a draw frame module used (refer to
While delustred fibers (titanium dioxide content ≥ 0.4 %) section „4.3.3.3. Draw frames“ and The Rieter Manual of Spin-
should not be processed in principle, partially delustred ning, Volume 3 – Spinning Preparation, 2. The draw frame).
fibers with a titanium dioxide content ≤ 0.15 % can be
used in blends with natural and/or man-made fibers which
have not been delustred. The machine manufacturer‘s
processing recommendations must be followed without
fail. As a rule no warranty is given for the service life of
the spinning elements if there is any departure from these
recommendations.
4.3.3. The processing stages
In rotor spinning, not only the characteristics of the raw
material are important; the manner in which this materi-
al is prepared on the mill‘s preparatory equipment is also
significant. The machines to be selected and the process-
ing lines must be adapted to the type of raw material. Cur-
rently, the processing lines shown in Fig. 71 are most com-
monly used.
A third draw frame passage is not even necessary when cot-
ton is blended with synthetic fibers in sliver form, because the
back-doubling in the rotor leads to a high degree of fiber/fiber
transverse doubling (refer to section „4.3.3.3. Draw frames“)
70 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
Card Draw frame without Draw frame with Rotor Spinning Machine
levelling levelling
Card with Draw frame with levelling Rotor Spinning Machine
Yarn requirements
draw frame module
Card Draw frame with levelling Rotor Spinning Machine
Card with Rotor Spinning Machine
draw frame module
Fig. 71 – Rotor spinning systems with different sliver preparation depending on yarn quality requirements
4.3.3.3. Draw frames passages are used, rotor spinning operates with one or no
more than two draw frame passages (even with blends). In
The draw frame is of crucial importance for the quality of rotor spinning the effect of fiber hooks is of secondary im-
the yarn and thus ultimately also for the quality of woven portance on the one hand, and additional blending takes
and knitted fabrics. Defects which are not leveled out on place in the rotor due to back-doubling on the other. Only
the draw frame reappear undiminished in the yarn. 2 draw frame passages are therefore used, even when man-
An essential task of modern draw frames is to deliver de- ufacturing blended yarns, without loss of quality. Directly
fect-free draw frame slivers of maximum regularity to the leveled carded sliver can also be fed to the rotor spinning
rotor spinning machine. This is assured nowadays by high- machine in certain applications.
ly effective leveling devices on the draw frame (especially Fig. 71 compares rotor spinning systems with different sliv-
through the open control loop leveling principle) (mill read- er preparation, which are used depending on the required
ings, see Table 12). yarn quality.
Raw material m/min CV% (1m) CV% (3m) CV% (5m) Two draw frame passages (leveling in the 2nd passage):
• for rotor-spun yarns in the fine count range (finer than
Cotton carded 1 000 0.41 0.21 0.15
Cotton carded 700 0.32 0.19 0.10 Nm 34 / Ne 20 / 30 tex) and high demands on yarn count
Viscose 650 0.41 0.18 0.06 constancy (e.g. for single jersey); the 2nd passage also
Polyester 600 0.41 0.25 0.12
serves for additional de-dusting;
Table 12 – Mill readings for sliver irregularity CV% for sliver lengths • for rotor-spun blends with draw frame sliver and stock
of 1 m - 3 m - 5 m (open control loop leveling principle)
blending in the medium and fine count range;
• for rotor-spun denim yarns (branded goods) with high
Modern high-performance draw frames are currently standards in terms of tenacity, elongation and yarn
equipped with highly efficient extraction systems which re- purity.
liable remove a substantial proportion of the dust still pre-
sent in the fiber material. Dust, fiber fragments and trash One draw frame passage (with leveling):
are effectively separated from the fibers by fiber/fiber fric- • for rotor-spun yarns in the medium and coarse count
tion during the drafting process in the draw frame and can range without very high demands on yarn quality;
thus very easily be removed by the extraction system. • for rotor-spun denim yarns (low-price products) with-
In contrast to ring spinning, where in principle 2 draw out particular quality specifications by garment manu-
frame passages, when processing blends even 3 draw frame facturers;
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 71
• for rotor-spun yarns with a high short-fiber content, elimination of seed trash, fiber neps and seed coats which
where a second draw frame passage can even result in interfere with the spinning process, and the short-fiber con-
a deterioration in sliver regularity („floating“ clumps of tent does not necessarily have to be reduced, noil extrac-
short fibers in the drafting zone); tion rates of between 10 and 14 % are adequate to ensure
• combed rotor-spun yarns (only one leveled draw frame the desired residual trash content of ≤ 0.04 % for fine count
passage after the comber, also for ring-spun yarns!). yarns. The upgrading of available and affordable cotton by
Excellent parallelization is already achieved in the means of combing has the basic advantage that, indepen-
combed sliver due to combing and the high doubling dently of harvesting methods, environmental and ambient
number up to and including the comber. With each influences, the cotton properties (trash content, short fiber
additional draw frame passage sliver cohesion would content) can be adapted selectively and reproducibly to the
decline so steeply that false drafts are inevitable in spinning conditions.
downstream processing. Processing combed slivers not only improves the machine‘s
running behavior (fewer stoppages and higher efficiency),
Direct processing of carded sliver (leveled card): but also the quality of the yarn and the end product, as well
• for rotor-spun yarns in the count range coarser than as downstream processing properties.
Nm 20 / Ne 12 / 50 tex without particular demands
on yarn quality; 4.4. Ranges of application of the spinning elements
• for rotor-spun yarns with a very high short-fiber content
(e.g. cotton waste, recycled weaves or knits). With no other spinning process, with the exception of ring
spinning, can such a wide range of different yarns be produced
Special case: card with draw frame module (with leveling): in the count range Ne 3 - 60 / Nm 5 - 100 / tex 200 - 10 as
• Range of application as for one draw frame passage with the rotor spinning system. The spinning elements play
with leveling. Exception: combed rotor-spun or ring- a crucial role here, making a decisive contribution to the op-
spun yarns, since doubling cannot be dispensed with timum adaptation of the quality, structure and volume of
in this application. the yarns to the intended end product. In addition, the se-
lection of spinning elements also helps to optimize the run-
4.3.3.4. Combing ning behavior of the machine (ends down, quality stops)
in relation to the raw material used.
Although the processing of combed cotton on rotor spin-
ning machines has not yet become widely established to The following section contains a summary of the spinning
date, the results which can be achieved are noteworthy. equipment available for a rotor spinning machine (see Fig. 72),
Since the advantages for rotor spinning lie mainly in the its range of application and its influence on yarn, final product
and spinning technology.
Fig. 72 – Spinning elements for rotor spinning machines, opening rollers (rear left), rotors (rear right), draw-off nozzles (front), channel plates (center)
72 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
4.4.1. Range of application of the opening roller • Clothing with low tooth density and low tooth height,
type S 43, is used in particular for man-made fibers
The opening roller‘s task is to open the carded or draw with a tendency to lap due to high metal/fiber cohesion,
frame sliver fed to the spinning box into individual fibers such as polyacrylic. Especially gentle opening is pos-
and at the same time to separate the fibers from the trash. sible with this clothing and at the same time the fibers
The shape, geometry and design of the opening roller are, are more readily released from the clothing.
alongside the rotor, of the greatest importance for faultless
spinning results. Its function with regard to releasing indi- Besides the clothing specification, opening roller speed has
vidual fibers from the fiber sliver, its influence on trash re- a decisive influence on spinning results, as regards both the
moval and fiber transport to the fiber transfer point in the running behavior of the rotor spinning machine and yarn
fiber guide channel is described in detail in section „2.3.2. quality. The ideal speed for a given raw material and a giv-
Opening unit“. en yarn is preferably defined by a series of trials at several
The point and front flank of the clothing tooth in particular opening roller speeds. The most suitable speed can be cho-
are exposed to wear. The wear is greater, the more aggres- sen on the basis of yarn quality. A series of trials of this kind
sive the raw material used, for example when processing can even provide a rough idea of running behavior. If 2 or
cotton containing mineral dust or man-made fibers contain- 3 thread breaks already occur during a half-hour spinning
ing delustring agents (titanium dioxide TiO2). The service trial on 10 spinning positions, this opening roller speed is
life of the opening roller clothing is significantly improved unsuitable for stable spinning conditions, despite possibly
if the teeth are coated. In this case the clothing is either good yarn values. Empirical values for basic settings
given a nickel coating or diamond powder with a grain size are usually provided by machinery/component suppliers.
of several microns is embedded in the nickel layer for even
better wear resistance. The service life of nickel-plated The following factors apply in principle when specifying the
clothing is about twice that of steel clothing that has only opening roller speed:
been hardened, while diamond/nickel-treated clothing lasts • A higher opening roller speed should be selected, the
about 4 times as long. higher the material throughput per unit of time, for
Worn opening roller clothing usually first becomes apparent example with coarse yarns and/or high delivery speeds,
when ends down increase and yarn irregularity and imper- or the more heavily contaminated the raw material and
fections deteriorate with otherwise identical raw material the more effective trash removal therefore has to be.
and spinning conditions. As a rule of thumb, clothing can be • The opening roller speed selected should be lower,
described as worn when ends down rates double and yarn the more sensitively the fibers react to mechanical and
irregularity deteriorates by more than 1 CVm%. thermal stress and would be damaged at excessively
Clothing shape and opening roller speed must be coordi- high speeds.
nated with the raw materials being processed (see Fig. 73). • Certain raw materials, especially very fine and/or very
Clothing differs mainly in tooth shape, the gradient of the long man-made fibers or fibers with high fiber/metal
front flank of the clothing tooth and tooth density (pitch) adhesion, have a tendency to lap in the opening roller
relative to clothing surface area: clothing. In these cases especially careful definition of
• For carded and combed cottons and viscose, clothing the opening roller speed is required, and this can ulti-
with a large, i.e. more aggressive front flank, higher tooth mately only be specified by spinning trials.
density and sharper points (type B 174) is usually used.
• For critical cottons, also those containing a small amount Opening roller clothing, especially the teeth, is particularly
of honeydew, the use of clothing type B 174 - 4.8 is rec- susceptible to mechanical damage. If certain spinning posi-
ommended, which is characterized by a modified cloth- tions display especially high ends down rates, or yarn qual-
ing shape and wider tooth spacing (4.8 mm instead of ity deteriorates particularly severely at certain spinning po-
2.5 mm as in B 174). sitions, this is often attributable to broken or bent teeth,
• Clothing shape S 21 is characterized mainly by a less usually caused by incorrect handling when installing or re-
sharply inclined and thus also less aggressive front placing the opening roller. Maintenance and operating per-
flank, which is suitable for gentle processing of ther- sonnel must be specially instructed to handle opening roll-
mally more sensitive man-made fibers in particular, ers carefully and gently.
especially polyesters and their blends.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 73
Tooth shape Type Recommondation
B 174 • Preferably used for cotton and highly suitable for viscose
• Good fiber separation
• Favorable wear conditions
B 174 - 4.8 • Same fiber characteristics as B 174
• Improved fiber transport due to tooth shape
• Suitable for cotton with a small amount of honeydew
S 21
• Suitable for polyester and polyacrylic
• Also for poly/cotton blends
S 43 • Suitable for polyacrylic
• Gentle opening of the fiber beard and good separation of the fibers
• No merry-go-round fibers
Fig. 73 – Tooth shapes of the opening roller clothing and their range of application
4.4.2. Range of application of the rotor On considering this broad range of influences, and taking ac-
count also of the weight of the influence exerted, it is readily
The rotor is the main spinning element of the rotor spinning apparent that there can be no such thing as a universal rotor.
machine. Yarn quality, yarn character, operating perform- Out of the multiplicity of rotors on offer, the spinner has to
ance, productivity, etc., all depend chiefly on the rotor. The select the one best suited to the raw material, yarn product,
most important parameters of the rotor that exert influence and spinning conditions. Rotors are replaceable elements in
are (see Fig. 74): all rotor spinning machines.
• the inclination of the rotor wall (a); The rotor, see Fig. 75, consists of rotor shaft (a) with wear
• the coefficient of friction between the fibers and the protection in some cases, rotor cup (b) with rotor groove (C)
surface conditions of the rotor wall (b); and rotor wall (d). The wall inclination is necessary so that
• the design and the positioning of the rotor groove (c); fibers emerging from the feed tube and passing to the wall
• rotor groove diameter (d) and rotor speed. can slide downward. Depending upon the material and area
of use, the angle of the rotor wall to the vertical ranges be-
tween 12° and 50°. This angle is dependent upon the make
but will in all cases be smaller, the higher the rotation speed
for which the rotor is designed. At the internal periphery in
the lower region of the rotor cup, there is usually a groove
that varies in width. This groove serves to collect fibers.
c d a
Fig. 74 – Important rotor parameters: Fig. 75 – Structure and components of a spinning rotor:
rotor wall (a), surface of the rotor wall (b), rotor groove (c) and groove rotor shaft (a), rotor groove (c), rotor cup (b) and rotor wall (d)
diameter (d)
74 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
Rotors are made of steel and are in general surface-treated Wide grooves produce a soft, bulky yarn with rather low
or coated to give them a longer useful life. The following strength, while narrow grooves produce a compact, strong
means, which are customary and proven in mill practice, yarn with low hairiness. Wide grooves are therefore used in
are available for protecting rotors against wear: the production of yarns for knitted fabrics, homespun-type
• diamond/nickel coating; fabrics and coarse articles; narrow grooves are used for
• boron treatment; or yarns required for the production of stronger fabrics with a
• a combination of both processes. smooth appearance. A fairly narrow groove is in most wide-
spread use in classical short staple mills. The tendency to
The diamond coating usually consists of diamond dust em- form moiré effects is also greater with the narrower groove,
bedded in a nickel layer and is the same as that used for because fairly large dirt particles can jam in the groove.
protecting the opening rollers against wear. Boronized ro-
tors and boronized rotors with an additional layer of dia- A speed range in which the rotors in question produce opti-
mond coating have twice the lifetime of a diamond-coat- mum results, in terms of technology as well as spinning sta-
ed rotor. However, the surface structure of the rotor wall bility and energy consumption, is assigned to each rotor di-
changes depending on the type of treatment (boron or dia- ameter. The speed ranges overlap between rotor diameters,
mond coating), and thus also its influence – which should with the energy consumption of the smaller rotor diameter
not be underestimated – on both yarn quality and spinning being more favorable at the same rotor speed.
stability and the tendency for deposits to form in the rotor
groove. The best possible compromise between long service Fig. 76 shows the speed range and the highest possible
life of the rotor, good yarn values and stable spinning con- rotor speed for the individual rotor diameters.
ditions is achieved with the combined boron/diamond coat-
ing. The rotor is a part subject to wear and must therefore The smaller the rotor diameter, however, the higher the
be replaced periodically. Wear mainly affects the groove. number of system-related wrapper fibers. The view generally
held earlier and also valid at that time, that yarn twist must
The configuration of the rotor groove determines whether inevitably be increased when reducing the rotor diameter,
the yarn is bulky or compact, hairy or lean, and whether is now no longer valid to the same extent. Optimized spin-
the yarn quality is excellent or only adequate and the spin- ning elements, especially rotors and draw-off nozzles, as
ning stability low or high. The groove also affects the extent well as improvements in fiber guidance and spinning geom-
to which dust and dirt tend to accumulate in the rotor. De- etry mean that soft-twist knitting yarns can also be spun us-
pending upon the raw material used, the desired yarn char- ing small rotors (30 - 33 mm diameter). However, in these
acteristics and yarn values, different groove designs are spinning operations spinning tension must not be too high,
used in practice. i.e. rotor speeds must be well below their maximum range.
28 mm Diameter – max. speed
30 mm 28 mm – 160 000 rpm
30 mm – 145 000 rpm
31 mm
31 mm – 140 000 rpm
33 mm 33 mm – 135 000 rpm
34 mm – 130 000 rpm
34 mm 36 mm – 120 000 rpm
36 mm 40 mm – 105 000 rpm
46 mm – 90 000 rpm
40/41 mm 56 mm – 75 000 rpm
46/47 mm
56/57 mm
40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160
Rotor speed [rpm] x 1 000
Fig. 76 – Speed range and maximum rotor speed as a function of rotor diameter (in practice rotor speeds are used up to about 5 - 8 % below the maximum)
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 75
The rotor diameter should in any event be large enough to • Rotors with wide groove angles (U and DS rotors)
permit fiber formation in the groove without technologi- are suitable for bulky knitting and denim yarns in cot-
cal disadvantages. A certain amount of space is needed for ton and its blends with man-made fibers. The different
the fiber mass, i.e., larger rotor diameters have to be used groove shapes and groove radii are chosen according
for coarser yarns and vice versa. A relationship – albeit not to the type of denim yarn (weft or warp yarn, rope or
very close – also exists between fiber length and rotor di- beam dyeing, etc.).
ameter. As a rule of thumb, rotor diameter should not ex- • The TC rotor is outstandingly suitable for manufacturing
ceed 1.2 times staple length, otherwise fiber integration high-quality denim yarns and at the same time is char-
in the rotor groove is disturbed. In mill operations staple acterized by excellent running properties. Compared to
lengths of 38 or 40 mm are also spun successfully (albeit the T rotor, groove angle and groove radius are larger,
only in certain cases) on rotors in the 30 - 32 mm range. but the groove shape has been retained. Especially
shifting-resistant yarns are produced when processing
Fig. 77 describes the configuration and the properties man-made fibers and viscose with the TC rotor.
of the different rotor and groove shapes. In principle: • The GM rotor can be used very flexibly in the fine
• Narrow groove angles and small groove radii (T and K count cotton yarn sector, for both weaving and knit-
rotors) are suitable for all raw materials and are used ting. Compared to the G rotor, groove angle and groove
to manufacture smooth weaving yarns with good regu- radius are larger, but the groove shape has been
larity and high yarn tenacity. retained.
• Narrow groove angles with large groove radii (G rotors)
are also suitable for all raw materials and are preferably
used for bulky knitting yarns.
T-Rotor TC-Rotor
• Universally applicable for all marerials • For yarn counts coarser Ne 12
• Good yarn values • Preferably for denim yarns
• For smooth weaving yarns • Very good spinning stability
• Good resistance to fiber shifting
K-Rotor DS-Rotor
• For smooth weaving yarns only • For yarn counts coarser Ne 10
• For Cotton • Denim and knitting yarns
• For cotton and cotton blends
G-Rotor GM-Rotor
• Universally applicable for all materials • Preferable for finer cotton yarns
• For bulky yarns • For weaving and knitting yarns
• Preferable for knitting
U-Rotor TC-Rotor compared to T-Rotor:
• Yarn counts coarser Ne 10 • Groove shape remains the same, but
• Denim and knitting yarns • wider groove and extended groove angel
• For cotton and cotton blends
GM-Rotor compared to G-Rotor:
• Groove remains the same, but
• improved yarn quality
Fig. 77 – Configuration and properties of available rotor/groove shapes
76 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
4.4.3. Range of application of draw-off nozzles and ity. If the washers are removed, the false twist effect is
draw-off tubes reduced, the binding zone becomes shorter and thus the
4.4.3.1. Draw-off nozzles positive impact on yarn tenacity is also reduced.
When it is removed from the rotor, the yarn is diverted vir- Draw-off nozzles are made of either ceramics or steel. Draw-
tually at right angles by the draw-off nozzle protruding into off nozzles usually consist of two parts, a wear-resistant
the rotor and guided out by the draw-off tube immediately ceramic nozzle head and a metal nozzle holder (Fig. 78).
following it. Meanwhile the yarn rolls continuously on the Ceramic or metal draw-off nozzles are also in use in which
surface of the draw-off nozzle. During the rolling motion the nozzle head and nozzle holder are produced in one piece.
yarn is repeatedly raised briefly in rapid succession from There are no technological differences, except that solid
the nozzle surface – due to the design of the draw-off nozzle ceramic draw-off nozzles feature very low heat dissipation
surface. This high-frequency vibration – together with the (ceramics are used as insulators in electrical installations)
false-twist effect created by the unwinding motion – pro- and can therefore hardly be considered for processing man-
motes twist propagation into the rotor groove. The greater made fibers. By contrast, metal draw-off nozzles feature ex-
the false-twist effect and the more intensive the creation cellent heat dissipation, would therefore also be ideally suit-
of twist in the rotor groove, the lower the genuine yarn able for processing man-made fibers, but due to short service
twist that can be selected and the bulkier and softer the lives are only used in certain cases for processing very tem-
yarns that can be spun. Spinning stability also improves perature-sensitive man-made fibers, i.e. fibers with very low
with the increasing false-twist effect, of course. melt and softening point.
In this context the positioning of the top edge of the noz-
zle relative to the rotor groove is also of some importance. The use of appropriate types of ceramic and the combination
Normally, the draw-off nozzle protrudes far enough into the of ceramic head and metal holder create conditions with re-
rotor cup for ends extracted from the rotor groove to be di- gard to heat dissipation that enable most common man-made
verted virtually at right angles at the draw-off nozzle. The fibers and their blends to be processed successfully. The ser-
position of the draw-off nozzle relative to the rotor groove vice life of ceramic nozzles can be several years, depending
can be changed by means of washers of differing thickness. on raw material and material throughput, and they are the
The further the draw-off nozzle protrudes into the rotor, the most long-lived spinning element compared with the service
larger the yarn‘s angle of wrap at take-off, the more false lives of opening rollers and rotors. Only the processing of cot-
twist is created and the longer the binding zone in the rotor tons with a high mineral sand content and man-made fibers
groove. In some cases this can help to increase yarn tenac- containing too much delustring agent (> 0.15 % TiO2) can ap-
preciably reduce the service life of a ceramic nozzle. If these
restrictions are observed, the service life of a ceramic nozzle
is between 10 000 hours (PES, CV, PAN) and 20 000 hours
(CO), although in mill operations service lives of between
20 000 and 40 000 can certainly be achieved with these ma-
terials. Service lives with blends of cotton and man-made fib-
ers are about in the middle of these ranges.
If the rotor groove makes a crucial contribution to yarn
quality and bulk in technological terms, the structure and
design of the nozzle surface exert a decisive influence on
surface structure and hairiness.
Fig. 79 to Fig. 85 illustrate the different surface designs
of draw-off nozzles (surface in contact with the yarn).
Fig. 78 – Draw-off nozzles with ceramic nozzle head and metal nozzle holder
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 77
Fig. 79 – Smooth ceramic nozzle Fig. 83 – Ceramic nozzle with small nozzle radius and 3 notches
Fig. 80 – Spiral nozzle Fig. 84 – Ceramic draw-off nozzles with normal radius (left) and small
radius (right)
Fig. 81 – Ceramic nozzles with 3, 4 and 8 notches
Fig. 85 – Eddy insert in nozzle throat (right)
Fig. 82 – Ceramic nozzle knurled with additional notches
78 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
Essentially, the following types of nozzle are used in manu- 4.4.3.2. Draw-off tubes with and without ceramic insert
facturing the wide range of rotor-spun yarns: (TWISTstop)
• Nozzles with a smooth surface (Fig. 79) are suitable for
producing smooth warp yarns with low hairiness. This The draw-off tube is positioned immediately behind the
type of nozzle is rarely used, since very high yarn twist draw-off nozzle and is used to guide the yarn on its remov-
has to be imparted due to the low level of false twist cre- al from the spinning box. In order to divert the yarn being
ated. Yarn values are not better than with other nozzle withdrawn horizontally from the rotor to the take-up unit
types in every case. The use of a TWISTstop draw-off positioned vertically above it, the draw-off tube is bent at
tube (refer to section „4.4.3.2. Draw-off tubes with and an angle of between 30° and 60°, depending on the type
without ceramic insert (TWISTstop)“) is recommended of spinning box. This diversion zone in the draw-off tube
for stable running conditions. acts as a second twist accumulation element and supports
• Nozzles with a spiral surface (Fig. 80) are ideally suit- the twist retention generated by the draw-off nozzle in the
able for compact and fine warp yarns in 100 % cotton rotor. The greater the angle of the bend, i.e. the angle of
with low hairiness and good yarn values. High spinning wrap of this diversion zone, the greater the twist retention
stability. and the higher the spinning stability. This twist accumula-
• Nozzles with 3, 4, 6, 8 or more notches (Fig. 81) are tion effect can be reinforced by fitting ceramic twist reten-
universally applicable both for cotton and also for tion elements (TWISTstop or Torque stop – ceramic ribs
man-made fibers and their blends. The nozzle with arranged laterally) of differing intensity on the contact
4 – mostly short – notches is the universal nozzle with surface in the radius of the bend (Fig. 86).
the widest range of application: suitable for both warp
and weft yarns (e.g. 4 notches) or knitting yarns (4 - 8
notches, depending on the required hairiness). Notched
nozzles usually offer high spinning stability – the more b
notches, the higher the false-twist effect and the higher
the spinning stability – but the higher also the yarn
hairiness and the tendency to generate fly in down-
a
stream processing. Furthermore, the higher the num-
ber of notches, the more aggressive their effect and the
greater their influence on yarn quality.
• Spiral or notched nozzle surfaces combined with an
eddy insert in the nozzle throat (Fig. 85) are used solely
– but very successfully – for very hairy, bulky and very Fig. 86 – Thread draw-off tube (a) with interchangeable twist retention
element (b)
soft-twist knitting yarns. The nozzles also offer very
good spinning stability. However, yarn quality is not
first priority with these nozzles! The greater the angle of diversion and the higher the friction
• Externally knurled draw-off nozzles with additional caused by the additional ceramic inserts, the greater the twist
notches in the nozzle radius (Fig. 82) and an eddy retention, the more intensive the twist propagation into the
insert in the nozzle throat are recommended solely for rotor groove and the higher the spinning stability. This fa-
manufacturing extremely hairy, very bulky, soft-twist vors the manufacture of especially soft-twisted knitting yarns,
yarns. „Yarn quality“ corresponds to the yarn structure. since the high twist retention enables low twist multiplyers
• Nozzle surfaces with a small nozzle radius and 4 short to be set without adversely affecting spinning stability.
notches (Fig. 83 and Fig. 84) feature a smaller contact
surface compared with the standard nozzle radius and The twist accumulation elements are designed as clips and
are therefore especially suitable for processing PES can be replaced very easily, as required. The design of the
and its blends at speeds up to over 100 000 rpm. Rotor internal profile ranges from smooth to 3 lateral ribs in the
speeds are therefore up to 15 % higher than those for radius of the bend.
other draw-off nozzles.
The best spinning results as regards yarn quality, yarn
structure and spinning stability are always achieved when
the draw-off nozzle and draw-off tube are ideally coordinat-
ed with each other .
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 79
4.5. Components for manufacturing fancy yarns 4.6. Selection and influence of draft and yarn twist
Fancy yarns account for only a very small proportion of The structure of a yarn is defined by
total yarn volume, but are repeatedly in considerable de- a) its count in Nm or Ne (weight per unit length) or in tex
mand, depending on fashion trends. Yarn effects arise from (length per unit weight) and
selective, controlled changes in the yarn cross-section. As b) the amount of twist imparted to the yarn in T/m or T/˝.
a rule, these involve slub-like thick places which can be
varied in shape, length, increase in cross-section, sequence 4.6.1. Draft
and the frequency of their occurrence. The standard drives
for the feed and take-off cylinders are replaced by special, A yarn‘s count is the product of the degree of draft applied
processor-controlled drives in order to enable fancy yarns to a carded or draw frame sliver. This draft occurs on the ro-
to be produced on the rotor spinning machine. tor spinning machine between the feed roller (for sliver in-
take) and the delivery roller (for the yarn), and results from
The thick places produced with these fancy yarn devices the speed ratio of the two drives. The draft can therefore be
(see Fig. 87 and Fig. 88 ) can, however, due to the back- changed by altering either the sliver intake speed or the yarn
doubling in the rotor and in contrast to ring-spun yarns, nev- take-off speed. However, since the take-off speed, i.e. delivery
er be shorter than the rotor circumference! This limitation speed, is directly responsible for imparting twist to the yarn,
is unimportant for most types of effect. Specially developed and therefore must not be changed, the degree of draft can
spinning elements (opening rollers, draw-off nozzles) are therefore only be changed by adjusting the sliver intake speed.
used on the rotor spinning machine where shorter effects The drafts used in mill practice are between 60 and 400-
are essential, for example to imitate the short variations fold. Initially, however, much higher drafting occurs be-
in cross-section typical of ring-spun yarns (refer to section tween the sliver feed and the fiber collecting groove, i.e.
„4.9.2. Fabrics made from rotor-spun yarns“. opening of the sliver down to the individual fibers. This cor-
One method that is rarely employed because the extent responds to a maximum draft of up to 25 000-fold. The fi-
of the effect is very limited is to vary selectively the cross- nal yarn count is only formed from the individual fibers, i.e.
section of the draw frame slivers. The high drafts on the fiber layers, in the collecting groove of the rotor. Only this
rotor spinning machine enable only very long changes in ratio – yarn count to sliver count – corresponds to the de-
cross-section to be produced in the yarn in this way. gree of draft set at the machine control unit.
Rotor-spun denim yarn Yarn effects
Ring look with
special opening
L roller
L = < Rotor diameter
Flammée
With device for
L feed drive
L = > Rotor diameter
Rotor denim yarn in ring-spun look
Multicount
With device for
feed drive and
L takeoff frive
L = > Rotor diameter
Multitwist
(mainly for
ring-spun yarns)
Fig. 87 – Fabric woven from rotor-spun denim yarn Fig. 88 – Yarn effects in rotor-spun and ring-spun yarns
80 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
The degree of draft is calculated as follows: ning stability. The reason for this is that sliver intake speed
is very low at high drafts, and the individual fibers there-
Nmyarn Neyarn 100 fore spend longer in the opening roller zone before being
draft = = =
Nmsliver Nesliver (texyarn / ktexsliver) released from the fiber bundle that has been fed in. Fiber
neps are opened more thoroughly, while dust and trash are
or, transferred to the machine: more effectively released and removed from the fibers.
Vyarn delivery m/min 4.6.2. Yarn twist and twist multiplyer
draft =
Vsliver intake m/min
In contrast to ring spinning, twisting during rotor spinning
Yarn and sliver count are thus calculated as follows: takes place from the inside outwards. The rotating, brush-like
open yarn end first catches fibers in the core and then with fur-
Nmyarn = Nmsliver x draft ther rotation gradually takes up fibers toward the periphery.
Neyarn = Nesliver x draft; In the interior, where the fibers cannot avoid the twist, the fib-
texyarn = 1 000 x ktexsliver ers become more compact. On the other hand, toward the ex-
draft terior, the compactness falls off to an increasing degree, since
or here the fibers are able partially to avoid being twisted in. In
Nmsliver = Nmyarn/draft addition to the fiber-specific properties (fiber strength, elon-
Nesliver = Neyarn/draft; gation, length, friction, etc.), yarn tenacity depends primari-
ktexsliver = texyarn x draft ly on how often the yarn has been rotated around its axis. In
1 000
this process the angle of inclination of the fibers being twisted
Drafts on the rotor spinning machine are much higher than in plays a crucial role for the degree of tenacity (see Fig. 90).
in ring spinning, and also higher than in Air-jet spinning, al- This means that twice as many twists have to be imparted to
though spinning is also performed directly from a feed sliver a fine count yarn in order to achieve the same angle of incli-
in this latter spinning process. However, considerably finer nation and thus the same level of tenacity as in a yarn twice
slivers (1 - max. 3 ktex) must be fed to the Air-jet spinning as thick. The absolute number of yarn twists therefore gives
machine than to the rotor spinning machine, although fine an indication of the degree of tenacity only if this is related to
slivers entail production drawbacks on the card and draw yarn count. However, twist multiplyer α/m or α/e can be used
frame! The drafting range of up to 400-fold on the rotor spin- to describe the degree of twist in a yarn, regardless of yarn
ning machine enables normal draw frame slivers in the range count. The higher the twist multiplyer, the higher the degree of
between 5 and 6 ktex (Ne 0.12 to 0.10) to be fed in, even twist and the higher the yarn tenacity, and vice versa. For de-
when producing very fine rotor-spun yarns (see Fig. 89). tailed explanations of yarn twist, refer to the volume entitled:
The Rieter Manual of Spinning, Volume 1 – The Technology of
Sliver count [Ne] Short-staple Spinning“, section „7.3.2.4. Twist formulas“.
Ne 0.12
I II
Ne 0.11 C D C' D' C C'
l L
Ne 0.10
H f E f' E' γ2 H
γ1 h
Ne 0.09
A G A' G' A B B'
d Iπ
Ne 0.08 dIIπ
dI dII
3 10 20 30 40 50
Yarn count [Ne]
Fig. 90 – Angle of inclination of fibers in two yarns of differing thickness
Fig. 89 – Maximum flexibility with drafts of up to 400-fold
However, the required twist multiplyer α/m or α/e
The results of mill trials have shown – by no means surpris- for maximum tenacity of a given yarn varies widely
ingly – that high drafts, especially when processing cot- with the raw material being processed. Depending
ton, have a positive impact on both yarn quality and spin- on the type of fiber and its key physical characteristics
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 81
an average twist multiplyer is enough to reach a certain Higher twist multiplyers are used,
tenacity in one case, in other cases a higher twist mu- • to increase yarn tenacity and yarn elongation;
tiplyer must be selected. This means that higher twist • to produce lean yarns with low hairiness;
multiplyers must be selected for cotton yarns (fiber • to improve spinning stability;
strength 20 - 30 cN/tex) than for blended yarns (fiber • to obtain a clean-cut fabric appearance; and
strength mix of 30 - 40 cN/tex) and for these in turn • to improve the shifting resistance of the yarns.
higher twist multiplyers than for viscose, polyester or
polyacrylic yarns with fiber strengths of 40 - 60 cN/tex. Lower twist multiplyers are selected, presupposing
NB: overtwisting yarns reduces yarn tenacity! adequate yarn tenacity,
Furthermore, the twist multiplyers for warp and weft yarns • to achieve a soft hand in the final fabric;
(in all raw materials) are generally higher than those for • to produce bulky and more hairy yarns;
knitting yarns, since yarn bulk, yarn hairiness and a soft • to reduce a yarn‘s tendency to snarl; and
hand take priority for knitting yarns rather than the highest • increase output with the same rotor speed.
possible yarn tenacity, such as is required for yarns proc-
essed in weaving preparation and weaving.
TWIST MULTIPLYER WEAVING YARN
5
4.8
4.6
4.4 4.5
Twist multiplyer [ae]
4.4 4.3
4.2 4.1 4.2
4.1 4.2
4 4.0 4.0
3.8 3.9
3.7 3.8
3.6
3.6
3.4
3.2
3
Ne 10 Ne 20 Ne 24 Ne 30 Ne 36
Yarn count
CO carded CO combed CO/PES 50/50 % Viscose 1.3 dtex
Fig. 91 – Twist multiplyers customary in mill practice for rotor-spun weaving yarns
TWIST MULTIPLYER KNITTING YARN
5
4.8
4.6
Twist multiplyer [ae]
4.4
4.2
4
3.8 3.9
3.8 3.8
3.6 3.6 3.7
3.4 3.3 3.4
3.3 3.3
3.2 3.2
3
Ne 10 Ne 20 Ne 24 Ne 30 Ne 36
Yarn count
CO carded CO combed CO/PES 50/50 % Viscose 1.3 dtex
Fig. 92 – Twist multiplyers customary in mill practice for rotor-spun knitting yarns
82 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
The twist multiplyers for weaving and knitting yarns natural-
ly differ, as do the twist multiplyers for yarns made from dif-
ferent raw materials (see twist multiplyers customary in mill
practice for weaving yarns in Fig. 91 and for knitting yarns
in Fig. 92).
Calculation of yarn twist:
yarn twist T/m = Nm x α/m = Ne x α/e x 39.37*
yarn twist T/˝ = Ne x α/e = Nm x α/m/39.37*
* conversion factor dtex/Macronaire
The number of turns inserted in a yarn depends on how long
a given length of yarn spends in the rotor. If a yarn is with-
drawn from the rotor more rapidly at a given rotor speed,
fewer turns can be inserted (by the rotating rotor) in the
yarn per unit of time than at a lower take-off speed when
the yarn therefore spends more time in the rotor groove:
rotor speed rpm
number of yarn turns per m (T/m) =
delivery m/min
The specified number of turns for a given yarn is thus inserted,
at a given rotor speed, by adjusting the delivery speed. The
feed rollers are driven by infinitely adjustable inverters.
4.7. Yarn and machine data for the main rotor-spun yarns
The main yarn and machine data for different rotor yarns,
subdivided by yarn count and raw material used, are sum-
marized in Table 13 - Table 16. A distinction is made here
between spinning operations aimed at maximum output and
those where yarn quality or a specific yarn characteristic, e.g.
especially soft hand of the yarn, is the main priority. The list
represents typical yarns produced in substantial quantities.
Nevertheless, the yarn and machine data shown can only
serve as standard values, since the quality of raw material
used plays a decisive role in specifying the spinning data,
as do the requirements of the end products, the spinning
climate and ultimately even the technical condition of the
entire machinery portfolio of a spinning mill, depending on
maintenance and service.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 83
Weaving yarns in 100 % cotton
Yarn count Ne 5.6 Ne 7 Ne 12 Ne 16 Ne 201) Ne 241) Ne 301) Ne 202) Ne 242) Ne 302)
αe 4.1 4.3 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.3 4.4 4.5
T/m 382 448 559 662 757 849 971 757 849 971
Rotor ∅ mm 40 40 36 36 28 28 28 31 31 31
Rotor rpm 80 000 90 000 105 105 000 140 000 145 000 150 000 125 000 130 000 130 000
Delivery m/min 210 201 188 159 185 171 155 165 153 134
Efficiency % 95 95 96 96.5 97 97 97.5 97.5 97.5 98
Production g/h 1 295 967 532 339 318 245 178 285 221 155
Table 13 – Spinning data for weaving yarns in 100 % cotton: Priority: output, Priority: yarn quality
1) 2)
Knitting yarns in 100 % cotton
Yarn count Ne 20 1)
Ne 24 1)
Ne 301) Ne 202) Ne 242) Ne 302)
αe 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.6 3.7 3.8
T/m 634 714 820 634 714 820
Rotor ∅ mm 31 31 31 33 33 33
Rotor rpm 125 000 125 000 125 000 120 000 120 000 120 000
Delivery m/min 197 175 153 189 168 146
Efficiency % 96.5 96.5 96.5 97 97 97
Production g/h 337 250 174 325 241 168
Table 14 – Spinning data for knitting yarns in 100 % cotton: Priority: output, Priority: yarn quality
1) 2)
Weaving and knitting yarns in cotton / PES 50 % / 50 %
Yarn count Ne 201) Ne 241) Ne 301) Ne 202) Ne 242) Ne 302)
αe 3.7 3.8 4.0 3.2 3.3 3.4
T/m 652 733 863 564 637 734
Rotor ∅ mm 31 31 31 31 31 31
Rotor rpm 115 000 115 000 115 000 115 000 115 000 115 000
Delivery m/min 176 157 133 204 181 157
Efficiency % 97 97.5 98 96.5 97 97
Production g/h 303 226 154 349 259 180
Table 15 – Spinning data for 50 % / 50 % cotton/PES blended yarns: 1)Weaving yarns, 2)Knitting yarns
Weaving and knitting yarns in 100 % viscose 1.3 dtex
Yarn count Ne 201) Ne 241) Ne 301) Ne 361) Ne 202) Ne 242) Ne 302) Ne 362)
α/e 3.6 3.8 3.9 4.0 3.6 3.8 3.9 4.0
T/m 634 733 841 945 634 733 841 945
Rotor ∅ mm 30 28 28 28 31 30 28 28
Rotor rpm 125 000 135 000 135 000 135 000 120 000 125 000 130 000 130 000
Delivery m/min 197 184 160 143 189 171 155 138
Efficiency % 97 97.5 97.5 98 97 97.5 97.5 98
Production g/h 339 265 185 138 325 246 178 133
Table 16 – Spinning data for knitting yarns in 100 % viscose 1.3 dtex: 1)Weaving yarns, 2)Knitting yarns
84 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
4.8. Ambient conditions in the spinning mill 4.9. Downstream processing and end products
4.9.1. Processing properties
The rotor spinning system imposes no special conditions
and requirements on its environment; i.e. the customary First of all and quite crucially – and a significant point in fa-
ambient conditions in a spinning mill as regards tempera- vor of the economics of rotor spinning – a rewinding process
ture, humidity and air conditioning are always adequate can be dispensed with entirely for rotor-spun yarn. In con-
for rotor spinning, and in many cases are even less criti- trast to the initial generations of machines, the rotor spin-
cal than for ring spinning. Only relative humidity levels are ning machine delivers cylindrical or conical packages ready
slightly higher than for ring spinning. for sale, which can immediately be processed further. Mod-
ern quality monitoring systems enable yarn defects, extra-
Raw materials behave differently not only as regards their neous matter or deviations from quality parameters to be
readiness to absorb moisture, their running properties are detected and eliminated directly at the spinning position.
also affected by humidity levels in the spinning mill. Since Yarns for knitting are waxed directly at the spinning posi-
the raw material spends several days in the spinning mill tion and supplied in different package formats (cylindrical,
on its way through the spinning process, the moisture con- 2°, 3°51′ and 4°20′). Dyeing packages with appropriately
tent of the fibers depends on the moisture content of the reduced package density also at the outer edges permit di-
ambient air. Absolute moisture content in g/kg air therefore rect processing in high-pressure dyeing equipment (refer to
plays a crucial role in a favorable spinning climate. This section „2.4.3. Winding helix and delivery speed“).
moisture content is created by a combination of air tem-
perature (°C or °F) and relative humidity (RH%). Table 17 Every rewinding process with guides, yarn tensioners,
shows the required absolute moisture content in g/kg air etc. on the winder results in neppy fiber shifting, howev-
for a favorable spinning climate. er small, in ring-spun yarn. Since this can contribute to a
more unsettled fabric appearance, dispensing with subse-
Raw material g water/1 kg air quent rewinding is certainly also a qualitative advantage
for rotor-spun yarn.
cotton, viscose and cotton/viscose approx. 11
The running properties of rotor-spun yarns in downstream pro-
cotton containing honeydew approx. 9
cessing are usually better than comparable conventional ring-
polyester, polyester/cotton, polyester/viscose approx. 10 - 11
spun yarns. The number of yarn-induced ends down in weav-
polyacrylic approx. 11 - 12 ing preparation (beamer, sizing machine) are as much as 75 %
Table 17 – Absolute moisture content in g/kg air for processing different lower than with ring-spun yarns. The reasons for this are the
raw materials greater regularity of rotor-spun yarns, the smaller number of
imperfections and their lower hairiness, as well as the sig-
The more precisely the standard climate, i.e. relative hu- nificantly longer lengths of knot-free yarn. Not only the much
midity, is maintained within limits, the more trouble-free smaller number of yarn joins, but also the quality of the piec-
spinning operations are. While cotton and viscose react ings precisely produced by the operating robots on the rotor
somewhat less problematically to changes in the ambient spinning machine make a major contribution to the good pro-
climate, changes soon become obviously apparent when cessability of rotor-spun yarns. Piecings in rotor-spun yarns are
man-made fibers are being processed. virtually identical to the original yarn in appearance but display
about 90 % of its tenacity. Piecings produced by operating ro-
If relative humidity is too low, this usually becomes appar- bots are the cause of stoppages in downstream processing only
ent with man-made fibers in electrostatic charging and in exceptional cases. Added to this are the advantages of pack-
a consequent increase in ends down. When cotton is being age weights of up to 6 kg, which enable up to 4 warp beams to
processed, fiber damage, fiber fly and deposits in the spin- be produced from one full warping creel, for example.
ning box and winding zones occur.
Fiber fly on and between the operating units of weaving
If relative humidity is too high, this results in lapping on and knitting machines is frequently the cause of ends down
cylinders and opening rollers with all fibers. The spin finish in downstream processing and of defects in the fabric struc-
on man-made fibers tends to leave deposits on thread guide ture (if accumulated fiber fly has not already caused an end
elements and in the fiber guide channel, thus obstructing down). A typical defect on circular knitting machines are
fiber transport to the rotor. This then results in an increase holes in the fabric caused by fiber fly. The fiber fly carried
in the number of neps and thick places. along by the yarn prevents the formation of the loop on the
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 85
needle. Rotor-spun yarns produce much less fiber fly and application, for both woven and knitted fabrics. In many
thus have a very favorable influence on running properties cases processing rotor-spun yarns into end products has
in downstream processing. Yarn-induced ends down are up even offered advantages over ring-spun yarns, resulting in
to 50 % lower in weaving and up to 40 % lower in circular higher-quality end products. For example, ring-spun ply
knitting than for comparable ring-spun yarns. yarns have been successfully replaced by single rotor-spun
The conical package formats required for circular knitting yarns. Early reservations regarding the use of rotor-spun
machines with overhead creels are supplied by rotor spin- yarns due to their yarn structure and the fact that the hand
ning machines with package tapers of 2° to 4°20′. Wider ta- of the finished article was initially considered too stiff and
pers are now only required for older knitting machines with harsh for knitted fabrics have been dispelled. However, it
overhead creels and no yarn storage devices (although they became apparent in mill operations that ring-spun yarns
are not always absolutely necessary!), and are not produced could not simply be replaced by rotor-spun yarns on weav-
on rotor spinning machines. However, these circular knit- ing or knitting machines. It was very soon discovered that
ting machines are steadily disappearing from the market. machine settings, such as air injection on the Air-jet weav-
ing machine or sinking depth on the circular knitting ma-
On the other hand, increasing numbers of circular knitting chine, had to be adjusted to the properties specific to ro-
machines with lateral creels are coming into use, with the tor-spun yarns (hairiness, yarn structure, tendency to snarl,
economic advantage that cylindrical packages up to 340 mm etc.). Some of the prejudices against the processability and
in diameter weighing some 5 kg can be accommodated on suitability of rotor-spun yarns in end products date back to
these creels instead of conical packages. The running time of the time before all yarn processors had adjusted their ma-
these packages is almost twice that of conical packages with chine settings to the new type of yarn.
a maximum diameter of approx. 270 - 280 mm and a maxi-
mum package weight of approx. 2.5 to 3 kg. Not only is oper- However, rotor-spun yarns were, of course, used success-
ator effort in creeling and joining the packages reduced by up fully first of all where the specific properties of rotor-spun
to 40 %, the number of knots joining two packages is reduced yarns corresponded particularly well to the requirements of
proportionally on the same scale, and thus also the number of the end products. This was the case in a surprisingly wide
knots in the knitted fabric. range of end products:
• workwear, such as smocks, overalls and hospital attire;
Table 18 rates the properties of rotor-spun yarn compared • denim fabrics in both light (shirts, blouses) and heavy
to ring-spun yarn in downstream processing, with the rat- weights (jeans, coats);
ing (lower, higher, etc.) relating to rotor-spun yarn. • rough-surface fabrics for outerwear (flannels) and
sheets (so-called beaver sheets);
• in the coarse count yarn sector (blankets, curtains, tex-
Rotor-spun yarn compared to ring-spun yarn
tile wall coverings, home textiles);
shifting resistance lower -
• in the fine count yarn sector (sheets made from blended
coefficient of friction higher - yarns);
(important for knitting yarns) • technical fabrics, e.g. coating substrates, laminates for
abrasion resistance better + facial protection;
hairiness lower +/-1 • hand towels. bath towels, etc, rotor-spun yarns in both
tendency to snarl lower + warp and weft, as well as pile, preferably loop fabric;
• knits for outerwear, sportswear and leisurewear;
work capacity under cyclical loading higher +
• T-shirts made from single jersey (dominated by rotor-
dye take-up higher (less dye required) +
spun yarns).
fiber abrasion (fly generation) lower +
1
Positive or negative depending on process stage Despite the approx. 15 - 20 % lower yarn tenacity of rotor-
Table 18 – Properties of rotor-spun yarn compared to ring-spun yarn spun yarns, the difference is reduced in fabric strength. The
in downstream processing
strip tensile strength and tear propagation strength of fab-
rics made from rotor-spun yarn is only 10 - 15 % less than
4.9.2. Fabrics made from rotor-spun yarn that of comparable ring-spun yarns. This is attributable to
rotor-spun yarns‘ gain in work capacity due to their better
Since the introduction of this spinning system, rotor spun- elongation at break and smaller variations in breaking
yarns have become firmly established in certain ranges of strength (CV% cN / tex). The air permeability of comparable
86 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
fabrics is some 20 % greater with rotor-spun yarns, bursting ute to the soft hand of the finished product. Rotor-spun yarns
pressure about the same as for fabrics made from ring-spun are too regular for this type of fabric. Special spinning ele-
yarn. All these statements refer to the yarn count range cov- ments or fancy yarn devices have to be used in order to re-
ered by the rotor spinning system of tex 200 - 10 / Ne 3 - 60 produce the more irregular character of ring-spun yarns and
/ Nm 5 - 100 and a minimum number of 90 - 100 fibers in the simulate this type of yarn (refer to section „4.5. Components
case of man-made fibers and 100 - 120 for cotton. The use of for manufacturing fancy yarns”). The second main group con-
rotor-spun yarns is still limited where especially high fabric sists of yarns that have to be very regular in order to produce
strength is required, for example for men‘s shirting fabrics. a clearly defined fabric structure in warp and weft. Denim
yarns are clearly dominant in this type of fabric due to their
4.9.2.1. Bed sheetings outstanding regularity and the significantly lower level of im-
perfections. Ring-spun yarns have virtually disappeared from
However, in the weaving mill rotor-spun yarns are used pref- this application.
erably as weft yarns, but also have a wide range of applica-
tions as warp yarns. A typical example are the bed sheetings Rotor-spun yarns are used in both warp and weft as well
produced in large quantities in the USA. Cotton/polyester as in combination with ring-spun yarns – in this case most-
rotor-spun yarns are usually used in the warp and, for ex- ly as weft yarns. The demands imposed on warp and weft
ample, an Air-jet yarn in the weft. These are very fine rotor- yarns are very different. Weft yarns are usually coarser than
spun yarns in the Ne 37 - 41/Nm 62 - 70/tex 16 - 14 range, the warp yarns (Ne 5 - 7), have medium hairiness and are
with low hairiness and high demands on serviceability, es- spun with medium to high twist multiplyers in order to with-
pecially in terms of fabric strength, pilling and wear behav- stand the high loads of the weft insertion systems on mod-
ior. ern high-performance automatic weaving machines. For the
finer warp yarns (Ne 8 - 12), which are always dyed, there
4.9.2.2. Emery cloth backing are two dyeing methods, with which the yarn characteristics
must be coordinated. Beam-dyed yarns (the ends are guided
In technical textiles rotor-spun yarns are used prefera- through the dye bath parallel with each other) display low
bly for emery cloth backing and generally for coating sub- to medium hairiness and are spun with medium twist mul-
strates. Especially high standards of yarn regularity, yarn tiplyers in order to prevent an excessively high tendency to
purity and yarn tenacity are imposed on these fabrics. Rotor- snarl in the yarns. By contrast, rope-dyed yarns may only
spun yarns are predestined for use in these fabrics by vir- display a very low tendency to snarl in order not to obstruct
tue of their small mass variations. The fact that rotor-spun the opening of the dyed rope and rebeaming. Yarns for this
yarns are knot-free is especially advantageous. Knots are application must therefore display high hairiness (hairs act
disturbing defects in these fabrics. The required high tenac- as spacers between the ends) and be spun with the lowest
ity of 18 - 20 cN/tex is achieved by using polyester fibers possible twist multiplyers (yarn tenacity must not fall below
instead of cotton. a certain minimum in the process).
4.9.2.3. Denim fabrics 4.9.2.4. Flannel fabrics / beaver sheets
Another range of application dominated by rotor-spun yarns Among other things, rotor-spun yarns are also used for fab-
are denim fabrics, usually in 3/1 or 2/1 twill weave. Rotor- rics that are subsequently napped slightly. These are both
spun yarns are used both in the warp and in the weft. De- fabrics for men‘s and ladies‘ outerwear, so-called flannel
pending on fashion trends, the rotor-spun yarn content can fabrics, and also roughened sheets (beaver sheets). Both of
be up to 70 % of the total yarn volume, although the propor- these used to be typical products of carded wool spinning,
tion of ring-spun yarns can increase to meet fashion require- a spinning system that has almost entirely disappeared and
ments. The incredible variety of denim fabrics, differing in been replaced almost completely by rotor spinning. Many
terms of raw material, color, final treatment, fabric weight of the products mentioned are produced from regenerated
and a host of other parameters, can be divided into two main fibers, a very low-cost raw material that can be spun su-
groups. On the one hand there is the so-called „authentic perbly on rotor spinning machines, but not on ring spinning
look“, where „irregular“ and rustic yarn characteristics are machines. Very high-quality and high-priced end products,
called for primarily in the warp yarn. Ring-spun yarns are especially in the flannel sector, can be manufactured from
outstandingly suitable for this type of fabric and also contrib- these very inexpensively produced fabrics.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 87
4.9.2.5. Terry fabrics Rotor-spun yarn compared to ring-spun yarn
fabric strength rather lower -
Terry fabrics, such as hand and bath towels, bathrobes, bath-
pile density higher +
mats, etc., can also be mentioned in this context. In this case
abrasion resistance higher +
a pile thread in loop form is woven into a normal backing fab-
ric. The pile thread accounts for most of the moisture absorp- flexing resistance higher +
tion during drying. This pile thread must be soft-twisted and air permeability higher +/-1
display rather higher yarn hairiness and high yarn bulk in or- fabric hand (untreated fabric) harder -
der to ensure good moisture absorption. Pile yarns are there- fabric hand (finished) virtually identical ≈
fore spun with spinning elements similar to those used for knit- moisture absorption higher +
ting yarns. However, rotor-spun yarns are not ideally suitable fabric shrinkage tends to be lower +
for fabrics in which the loops are subsequently clipped (pile
surface more regular +
goods), since the wrapping fibers restrict the yarn where it is
pilling tendency lower +
clipped and prevent the formation of a uniform, dense pile.
luster duller -
4.9.2.6. Knitted fabrics / T-Shirts hairiness lower +/-1
1
Positive or negative, depending on end product
In the knitting sector – for which rotor-spun yarns initially
Table 19 – Properties of rotor-spun yarn compared to ring-spun yarns
seemed out of the question due to their harsh hand – they in the final fabric
have been able to establish themselves on a broad basis,
despite all doubts. Some minor differences in hand still cer-
tainly exist, but these can virtually be offset by appropriate sports socks, casual jackets, etc.; rotor-spun yarns are es-
finishing. Furthermore, there are sufficient knitted fabrics pecially highly regarded as inside lining yarns for these
for which the hand is an important, but not the crucial cri- items due to their bulk. By contrast, the use of rotor-spun
terion. This range of application is successfully served by yarns in plain knitting and warp knitting is restricted to
soft-twisted, hairy and bulky rotor-spun yarns. a very small range of end products.
These include, for example, T-shirts made from single jersey,
where rotor-spun yarns have secured significant market share. The properties of rotor-spun yarn compared to ring-spun
Differences in yarn regularity and imperfections are imme- yarn in the final fabric are rated in Table 19, with the rating
diately and very clearly apparent in single jersey. With their (lower, higher, etc.) referring to the rotor-spun yarn.
superior regularity and significantly fewer imperfections, ro-
tor-spun yarns are therefore positively predestined for this ap- 4.9.3. Finishing
plication. Very uniform fabric appearance with high and good
pile density due to the bulky nature of the yarn upgrades the Just as in yarn processing, certain properties specific to the
knitted fabric through the use of rotor-spun yarns. Soft hand yarn have to be taken into account when processing fab-
and high hairiness (if required or necessary) can reliably be rics made from rotor-spun yarn. However, the methods do
achieved by appropriate spinning equipment (draw-off nozzles not differ in principle from those used for items made from
with a large number of notches and eddy inserts in the nozzle ring-spun yarn.
throat). Modern finishing methods also enable yarn proper-
ties to be significantly improved further, especially as regards Appropriate finishing processes developed specifically for
the softness and suppleness of the knitted fabric. A further ad- end products made from rotor-spun yarns, in addition to im-
vantage of circular knitted fabrics made from rotor-spun yarns provements in spinning technology, have enabled the fabric
which should not be underestimated is that the knitted tubes hand to be decisively influenced. Differences in hand rela-
do not twist as they do with ring-spun yarns. Making-up knit- tive to products made from ring-spun yarn, which can still
ted tubes made from rotor-spun yarns is therefore much more unmistakably be identified in the untreated knitted fabric by
problem-free than is the case with ring-spun yarns. specialists, only remain in traces in the finished material.
4.9.2.7. Sportswear / leisurewear One aspect must be kept in mind in high-grade finishing of
fabrics made from rotor-spun yarn. Some of these processes
Rotor-spun yarns are also to be found in a wide range of (e.g. non-iron finish, stone-washed denim) result in reduced
sportswear and leisurewear, for example in sweat-shirts, fabric strength. Together with the 10 - 15 % reduction in raw
88 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
fabric strength, this can result in values that no longer fulfill
make-up or finished product requirements. This reduction
must therefore already be taken into account when selecting
the raw material and producing the yarn in such a way that
yarns are spun with appropriately high strength.
As a result of the restricting influence of the wrapping fibers,
napping fabrics made from rotor-spun yarns may call for 1 - 2
napping passages more than comparable fabrics made from
ring-spun yarn in order to obtain a comparable napping effect.
Final dyeing results with rotor-spun yarns tend to be darker;
in certain cases dyestuff savings can therefore be achieved.
However, dyeing brilliancy is generally lower; the fabrics
have a duller appearance – due to the yarn structure.
The size take-up of fabrics made from rotor-spun yarns
is better than for ring-spun yarns; size concentration can
therefore be set up to 15 - 25 % lower. This also means
that size consumption is lower with the same sizing effect.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 89
5. TECHNOLOGY 5.1.2. Fiber collection in the rotor groove
(back-doubling)
5.1. Yarn formation
5.1.1. Fiber flow to the rotor The process of yarn formation in rotor spinning involves the
separation by an opening roller of a fiber bundle fed in into in-
At the start of the development of rotor spinning, the fib- dividual fibers or small groups of fibers (no more than 5 fib-
ers were mistakenly guided directly into the fiber collecting ers), which are then transported by the air current into the
groove. The disadvantage of this was that the fibers inevi- rotor, where they slide down the rotor wall. They are only com-
tably collided with the radial yarn end during the accel- bined again into fine layers of fibers in the rotor groove. A layer
eration that had to occur. This led to deterioration in fiber of these individual fibers is deposited in the rotor groove with
orientation. Yarn produced in this way had the typical each revolution of the rotor until the yarn reaches the required
„sauerkraut“ structure, with very low strength. thickness. This buildup of fiber layers to the final yarn thickness
In current rotor spinning machines, the fibers flowing into is described as back-doubling, with the number of fiber layers
the rotor are headed for the top of the rotor wall, above the resulting from the (genuine) yarn twist set and the diameter/cir-
groove. It is important that the rotor wall has a higher periph- cumference of the rotor used. Customary values are in the range
eral speed than the fibers colliding with it. Thus a drafting ef- of 60 - 90-fold back-doubling. Doubling of linear fiber forma-
fect is taking place, which ensures that the fibers are straight- tions always improves the regularity of the resulting new prod-
ened and aligned. The necessity to operate with a draft at this uct, an effect that is, of course, consciously exploited in draw
point places a lower limit on the rotation speed of the rotor, frames. This process is significantly finer and more intensive if
which is therefore limited not only upward but also downward. it takes place at the level of the finest linear structure, namely
the individual fiber. The regularity obtained in this way is of
The air flows are also very important in this zone. There a high degree and is always better than that of ring-spun yarn.
should be no air turbulence between the fiber channel and However, it must be borne in mind again that improvement
the rotor wall. The aim is to generate a uniform, rotating air in regularity is possible only over a length corresponding
current that helps to forward the fibers onto the rotor wall to the internal circumference of the rotor. With a currently
in a straight condition. This depends, among other things, widely used rotor diameter of 35 mm, the length that can
on the distance between the exit of the fiber channel and be leveled out is 33 x 3.14 = 103 mm. All eveness in the
the wall and the shape of the rotor channel insert that con- sliver with a length greater than this pass into the yarn.
tains the fiber channel. Accordingly, all manufacturers use
replaceable channel inserts matched to the diameter of the The numbers of back-doubled fiber layers is calculated as
rotor, which is also replaceable. The amount of air – which follows:
is necessary for the fiber flow – is extracted by the main fan
through the gap between channel insert and rotor cup. D = Rotor ∅ mm x T/m (yarn) x π
1 000
An incoming fiber strikes an inclined wall and is pressed
outward by an enormous centrifugal force – over 100 000 Example: Yarn Nm 34/Ne 20, am 135/ae 4.45;
times the weight of the fiber. This causes the fiber to slide Rotor ∅ 35 mm
downward on the rotor wall while being accelerated in the
peripheral direction and to be deposited on the other fibers T/m = Nm x am = 34 x 135 = 787
in the collecting groove. T/˝ = Ne x /ae = 20 x 4.45 = 20
Due to the fact that the fibers are continuously accelerated
from the moment they are released from the sliver by the D = 35 mm x 787 T/m x 3.14 = 86 doubled
opening roller until they are deposited in the rotor groove, 1 000 fiber layers
they are well extended longitudinally, also compared to
other OE processes. This extension is also maintained in 35 mm x 20 T/˝ x 30.3 x 3.14 = 86 doubled
D =
the finished yarn due to the high centrifugal force with 1 000 fiber layers
which the fibers are then pressed into the rotor groove.
Only in the outer layers of yarn are the fibers of rotor-spun
yarn (core twist) less accurately aligned than in ring-spun
yarn (surface twist, refer to section „5.4. Yarn structure and
physical textile characteristics“).
90 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
When the required yarn thickness – formed from the individu- conditions and the yarn characteristics. If this length is too
al fiber layers – has been reached, the yarn is withdrawn from short, the ends down rate will be high; if it is too long, twisting-
the rotor groove. The end of the yarn extending into the ro- in will be very tight, and there will be many wrapping fibers.
tor groove assumes the form of a fiber wedge due to the con-
tinuous take-off process. This fiber wedge is exactly the same Accordingly, in rotor spinning, it is not possible under given
length as the rotor groove. The diameter of the fiber wedge conditions to reduce the coefficient of yarn twist below a cer-
is at its largest – the full number of back-doubled fiber layers tain value (αmin) because otherwise the length of the binding-
necessary for the required yarn thickness – at the moment in zone will be reduced to zero (refer to „2.3.7. Rotor speed
it is withdrawn from the rotor groove, and at its smallest at and rotor diameter“). The yam-twist momentum will then be
the end of the fiber layer deposited last (Fig. 93, A). One fiber negligible, and transmission of twist to the fibers in the ring
layer after the other – always the lowest (since it was the first will not be assured. The parameter αmin is therefore inde-
deposited) – is thus removed by the yarn being taken off, fol- pendent of yarn strength.
lowed successively by the subsequent fiber layers in the order
they were deposited. When a layer of fibers is completely inte- Dragging of the yarn from the rotor arises at the yarn lift-off
grated it is immediately replaced by the fiber layer deposited point. The yarn is continually withdrawn at this point, which
next in the rotor groove. The wedge-shaped end of the yarn therefore shifts continuously forward within the rotor in the
shifts continuously with the unrolling motion of the yarn lift- direction in which the rotor itself rotates, i.e. the yarn lift-off
off point and thus ahead of the peripheral speed of the rotor. point has a higher peripheral speed than the rotor. The ex-
act twist formula for the yarn would thus have to be repre-
Fig. 93, A - D shows the position of the yarn lift-off point and sented as follows:
the corresponding fiber deposit situation in the rotor groove
on 4 occasions. The lift-off point moves forward by the distance rotation speed of the yarn lift-off point (rpm)
turns/m =
between the starting points of 2 fiber layers with each revolu- delivery speed L (m/min)
tion of the rotor. For example: with a rotor diameter of 35 mm
and 88 layers of fiber, the yarn lift-off point travels 35 mm x The lead relative to the rotor speed is, however, so small
3.14 / 86 = 1.28 mm with one revolution of the rotor. After 86 that it can be ignored on a percentage basis and it is possi-
revolutions of the rotor (86 x 1.28 mm = 110 mm rotor circum- ble to use the usual form of twist formula in relation to the
ference or 35 mm rotor ∅) the yarn lift-off point has therefore rotor spinning machine as well:
returned to its starting position (Fig. 93, A).
rotor speed (rpm) nrotor (rpm)
turns/m = =
5.1.3. Twist insertion and yarn formation delivery speed (m/min) L (m/min)
As described in the previous section, in the rotor spinning
process fibers are continuously fed into the rotor groove
and the yarn is also continuously withdrawn from the rotor
groove. The fibers laid parallel and untwisted in the fiber Rotor groove
collecting groove of the rotor are given the necessary twist
via the finished yarn being withdrawn from the rotor. A fin-
ished end of yarn must therefore be fed into the rotor – in
the opposite direction to yarn take-off – at the start of the Yarn lift-off point
spinning process. The yarn end is also twisted by the rotat-
ing rotor. The yarn end is pressed into the rotor groove by
the rotor‘s centrifugal force and is thus connected to the
fiber ring fed into the rotor groove. The yarn twist pene-
trates into the fiber ring in the collecting groove, where the Twist zone
fibers are to be bound together to form a yarn. Each revolu-
tion of the yarn inserts one turn of twist.
The zone in which the yarn end inserts twist into the fiber ring Untwisted fibers
is described as the twist or binding-in zone (Fig. 94). The length
of this binding-in zone is of some significance for the spinning
Fig. 94 – Inserting twist in the rotor groove
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 91
Roll off movement of the Yarn draw-off
A yarn in the rotor groove
Rotor diameter
Last layer of fibers
in the rotor groove
Rotor groove
Yarn lift-off point
Equals one revolution Number of back- Firts layer of fibers
of the rotor doubled fiber layers in the rotor groove
B
Rotor diameter
Last layer of fibers
in the rotor groove
Rotor groove
Yarn lift-off point
First layer of fibers
in the rotor groove
Rotor diameter
Last layer of fibers
in the rotor groove
Yarn lift-off point
First layer of fibers
in the rotor groove
D
Rotor diameter
Last layer of fibers
in the rotor groove
Yarn lift-off point
First layer of fibers
in the rotor groove
Fig. 93 – Illustration of the buildup of the fiber ring in the rotor groove by back-doubling and the corresponding position of the yarn lift-off point
92 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
Section (c) nevertheless contains turns of twist running
from section (b) by twist transmission; some of the turns
generated in section (b) travel into section (c) (evening out
a
of torsion forces).
As in the case of ring spinning, twist is transmitted against
b
the direction of movement of the yarn. In rotor spinning,
bending of the yarn at the nozzle acts as a brake for twist
transmission. This means that the system itself transmits
d fewer turns into section (c) than were generated in section
(b). Under such conditions, spinning at high speeds and
normal twist coefficients would not be possible, because
c the twist momentum available from the yarn would be inad-
equate to twist the fibers together in the rotor groove (the
twist momentum transmissible from the yarn is a function
of the twist coefficient).
Fig. 95 –Inserting twist in the yarn
In practice, however, yarn section (c) must exhibit more
twist turns than section (b). This is, in fact, the case and
The process involved in imparting twist is far from simple. arises from the false-twist effect and from tension varia-
To assist in understanding the procedure, the reader can im- tions in the yam.
agine a manually operated winch mechanism (see Fig. 95),
in which: 5.2. Genuine and false twist
• (a) represents the take-off rollers;
• the yarn on the stretch (b) represents the axis of the Rotor spinning is a spinning process that produces genu-
winch; and ine yarn twist. This „genuine“ twist, which is retained in
• the yarn on the stretch (c) represents the hand-oper- the yarn, is decisive for yarn strength. However, in order
ated crank with the handle (d). to maintain the spinning process, i.e. a stable and reli-
able binding-in process, a spinning twist is required, as
If yarn section (c) is now rotated like a crank at handle (d), explained in the previous section, which must be higher
the axis (here section (b)) rotates as in the case of the winch. than the yarn twist required for yarn strength. This means
However, since – in contrast to the winch – the rollers cannot that additional twist must be created in the radial length
rotate around the yarn axis in this model, the result is twisting of thread extending from the draw-off nozzle into the ro-
only of yarn section (b). The turns imparted by this process are tor groove. This additional twist, the so-called false twist,
all in section (b); section (c) remains temporarily untwisted. is created by the rolling motion of the yarn on the draw-off
nozzle. Depending on spinning conditions, the false twist
can amount to as much as 60 % of the yarn twist set.
So how does this false twist effect arise and how does it
differ from genuine yarn twist?
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 93
Yarn draw-off Yarn draw-off
Clamping point Clamping point
(take-off rollers) (take-off rollers)
False twist
(S-twist)
Genuine twist
Twisting element
(Z-twist)
(Take-off nozzle)
False twist
(Z-twist)
Twisting point
(Rotor) Twisting point
(Rotor)
Fig. 96 – Imparting twist to the yarn: genuine twist in the Z direction Fig. 97 – Imparting twist to the yarn: additional twist due to the false twist
effect in the S and Z direction
Genuine twist that is retained in the yarn (Fig. 96) is gen- case is the draw-off nozzle. The yarn is pressed onto the noz-
erated when a length of yarn is clamped at one end and ro- zle surface during take-off by the contrary tensile forces and
tated around its axis by a twisting element at the other end. unwinds on this surface. A certain number of additional turns
Transferred to the spinning box of a rotor spinning machine, – the false twist – are imparted to the yarn while it unwinds
this means that the yarn is clamped by the take-off rollers on the nozzle surface. The false twist effect created between
and twist is imparted by the rotating rotor. One revolution the draw-off nozzle and the yarn unwinding on it has Z twist
of the rotor corresponds to one turn of the yarn. The genu- between the draw-off nozzle and the rotor groove, and S twist
ine twist therefore corresponds to the required twist set. between the draw-off nozzle and the nip of the take-off roll-
The number of required turns imparted to a yarn depends ers. The higher the friction on the nozzle surface, the higher
on how long the length of thread remains in the rotor; the the number of additional, reversible yarn turns inserted.
longer this time, the higher the number of turns. This means
that the ratio of delivery speed (in m/min) to rotor speed False twist, i.e. spinning tension, can be increased by:
(rpm) defines the number of required turns set: • a larger nozzle surface diameter;
• additional notches, grooves, ridges, etc., arranged radially,
rotor speed in rpm axially or helically on the surface of the draw-off nozzle;
Number of yarn turns per m (T/m) =
delivery in m/min • a tighter bend in the thread draw-off tube; and
• additional twist accumulating elements in the bend
A nip and a twisting element are also required to generate of the thread draw-off tube.
false twist (Fig. 97), but an additional passive or active twist
element is also required. If additional turns, i.e. false twist, During take-off, the yarn moves clockwise along the surface
are imparted to the yarn by this twist element, these are dis- of the nozzle. In so doing, the yarn is twisted in the counter-
tributed to the left and right of the twist element in mutual- clockwise direction. The partial rolling of the yarn gives rise
ly opposing directions of twist (see Fig. 96). When the yarn to false twist between the twisting-in point for the fibers and
leaves the nip the length of yarn twists back into its original the nozzle. The yarn in the spinning section (b in Fig. 95)
form – by exactly the number of additionally inserted turns. therefore exhibits more turns of twist than the spun yarn.
This is precisely what happens in our rotor. The take-off roll- Moreover, the twist level increases continuously from the
ers form the nip and the centrifugal force in the rotor groove nozzle toward the rotor groove. The twist level at the lift-off
acts as the twist-generating element; these two forces act in point is about 20 - 60 % higher than at the nozzle. This dif-
opposition to one another. The passive twist element in this ference arises from variations in tension along the yarn.
94 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
Yarn tension is generated by the take-off rollers during take- flows from the fiber channel and is deposited in the groove.
off in opposition to the centrifugal force in the rotor. Tension Normally, incoming fibers land on fibers that have not yet
is highest at the take-off rollers themselves and declines to- been twisted in, but in the binding-in zone they strike an
ward the rotor wall. However, yarn tension and twist level already-twisted yarn section rotating around its own axis.
are inversely proportional, i.e. if there are sections of low It cannot always be avoided that fibers arriving here wrap
tension in the yarn (c), these will exhibit more twist. On the themselves around the yarn core (so-called wrapper fibers).
other hand, sections of high tension (b) take up less twist. This is a typical characteristic, and simultaneously an iden-
tifying feature of rotor-spun yarns. The number of wrapper
It is only these additional turns at the lift-off point, caused fibers increases, among other things, the longer the bind-
by false twist and yarn-tension variations, that enable spin- ing-in zone, the shorter the fibers relative to the rotor cir-
ning to be performed under stable conditions. The false- cumference and the higher the rotor speed.
twist effect is dependent upon carrying along the yarn
at the nozzle, i.e. ultimately upon the roughness and the The wrapper fibers can be wound around the yarn in both
structure of the contact surface. However, it also increases the S and Z direction. Together with the lower twist in the
with increasing rotation speed of the rotor. outer fiber layers of rotor-spun yarn, this is the reason why
the number of twists measured when determining yarn
The angle of inclination of the fibers being twisted-in is the twist in the laboratory is usually lower than the required
decisive factor for yarn tenacity. In order to achieve the figure set on the machine.
same angle of inclination and thus the same level of tenac-
ity, twice as many turns have to be imparted to a fine count Since rotor spinning technology was not fully developed when
yarn as to a yarn twice as thick. The absolute number of the process was introduced – due mainly to the high twist
yarn turns only gives an indication of yarn tenacity if this multiplyers that were still necessary at that time, with the
is related to yarn count. However, twist multiplyer α/m or result that the binding-in zones extended far into the rotor
α/e enables the twist level of a yarn to be described regard- groove – rotor yarns were characterized by a large number
less of yarn count. The higher the twist multiplyer, the high- of wrapper fibers. It is also from those days that the rating of
er the twist level and the higher the yarn tenacity, and vice rotor-spun yarns‘ hand as too „hard“ and thus unsuitable for
versa. Yarn turns can thus be calculated as follows: a whole range of end products, especially in the knitwear sec-
tor, originates.
α
yarn turns T/m = tex = Nm x αm = T/˝ x 39.4*
tex The continuous development of rotor profiles in particular
and the design of the draw-off nozzles, as well as optimized
yarn turns T/˝ = Ne x αe = T/m x 25.4 fiber and air guidance in the spinning box zone, have ena-
1 000 bled the number of wrapper fibers to be reduced to the ex-
* Conversion factor dtex/Micronaire tent that modern rotor-spun yarns differ significantly from
those of the first generation. Twist multiplyers are now only
Based on the fact that turns in rotor yarns are more inclined insignificantly higher than those of ring-spun yarns, so that
to move to the yarn core, while the yarn surface features their hand in the final fabric is much closer to that of ring-
a rather indifferent fiber layer and wrapper fibers, yarn twist spun yarns than it was earlier. Knitting yarns now produced
can only be defined approximately in terms of measuring on rotor spinning machines have replaced ring-spun yarns to
technology. In contrast to ring-spun yarn, rotor-spun yarn a considerable extent in certain end products, e.g. T-shirts.
cannot be twisted until the fibers are completely parallel.
That is to say, the number of turns measured is always low- 5.4. Yarn structure and physical textile characteristics
er than the required number of turns produced on the ma-
chine. The variances can be as much as -20 % and depend Two quality criteria are decisive in describing a yarn. The
mainly on the characteristics of the fiber staple – rectangu- structure, i.e. the arrangement of the fibers in the yarn
lar or triangular staple – and the number of wrapper fibers. cross-section and along the yarn, and the physical textile
characteristics in terms of the uniformity and strength of
5.3. Wrapper fibers the fiber bundle, the number of yarn defects (Table 20),
etc. While the external structure is the decisive criterion for
The rotor, and hence the fiber ring, revolve continuously final appearance, form, wear behavior, etc., of the final fab-
under the stationary fiber channel – as also does the spun ric, the physical textile characteristics are decisive for the
yarn in the binding-in zone. A stream of individual fibers load-bearing capacity of the yarn during weaving prepara-
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 95
tion and on the weaving or knitting machine, as well as for ring-spun yarn = 24 cN/tex fiber x 50 (%) / 100 or
the serviceability of woven or knitted fabrics. 24 cN/tex fiber x 65 (%) / 100
= 12.0 - 15.6 (cN/tex)
Rotor-spun yarns have an unmistakable structure, char-
acterized by the rather indifferent twist insertion in the * The absolute value for substance utilization depends essentially on the twist
multiplyer selected (αm/αe), for both rotor-spun and ring-spun yarn. If sub-
surface of the yarn compared to ring-spun yarn – twist is
stance utilization is below the stated range, setting-related causes usually
imparted preferentially in the yarn core – and the system- have an adverse impact on yarn tenacity, e.g. fiber damage due to excessive
related wrapper fibers. In contrast to rotor-spun yarn, twist take-off roller speed or inadequate fiber integration due soiled rotor grooves.
is imparted in the surface of ring-spun yarn, and virtually all
fibers are integrated uniformly along the spiral line of the 5.4.2. Elongation at break (%)
yarn twist. Twist insertion and the creation of wrapper fibers
is explained in the two previous sections (5.2. and 5.3.). In contrast to yarn tenacity, rotor-spun yarn is more or less
significantly superior to ring-spun yarn in terms of elonga-
5.4.1. Count-related yarn tenacity (cN/tex) tion at break (%). On the basis of Uster Statistics it is appar-
ent that the elongation at break of rotor-spun yarns is higher
The less pronounced – less frictional – parallelization of fibers than that of comparable ring-spun yarns, albeit only margin-
in the yarn surface compared to ring-spun yarn is also the rea- ally in some cases. This is especially positively noticeable
son for its lower count-related yarn tenacity (cN/tex). In par- in the working capacity of rotor-spun yarn, in that the differ-
ticular the optimization of rotor grooves (e.g. tighter groove ra- ences relative to ring-spun yarn are smaller than for count-re-
dii) and draw-off nozzles (e.g. smaller contact surfaces, smaller lated yarn tenacity. Studies by prominent weaving machinery
surface radii), as well as optimized fiber guidance in the spin- manufacturers demonstrate that 1 % elongation at break pro-
ning box, have enabled the strength of rotor-spun yarns to be duces the same improvement in working capacity as 2 cN/tex
improved continuously and the gap relative to ring-spun yarns higher tenacity. At the high accelerations and loads to which
to be narrowed. However, differences still exist. On the other yarns are exposed on modern high-performance machines,
hand, the coefficient of variation in yarn tenacity (CV% cN/tex), the elongation behavior of a yarn plays at least an equal, if
i.e. the variation in tenacity along the yarn, is better in rotor- not even a greater role than yarn tenacity. The advantages in
spun yarn, i.e. lower than in ring-spun yarn. This is due to the processing are dealt with in greater detail in section „4.9.1.
smaller range of short-wave mass variations in rotor-spun yarn, Processing properties“.
and results from back-doubling in the rotor.
The stress-strain behavior of the rotor-spun yarn is largely
The potential tenacity of a yarn can best be described by identical to that of a ring-spun yarn.
the substance utilization of the fiber tenacity, i.e. what per-
centage of the fiber tenacity can be transferred to the yarn Rotor-spun yarn compared to ring-spun yarn
tenacity. The substance utilization of the fibers in ring-spun tenacity cN/tex lower -
yarn is between approx. 50 and 65 %*, that for rotor-spun CV% cN/tex lower +
yarns between 45 and 55 %*. The count-related tenacity elongation at break % higher +
(cN/tex) of rotor-spun yarn is therefore usually 10 % - 20 %
irregularity CV% lower +
lower than that of ring-spun yarn (see Uster Statistics).
imperfections / 1 000 m much lower ++
cN/tex fiber x substance utilization % yarn bulk higher +
cN/tex yarn =
100 abrasion resistance higher +
stiffness higher 1)
For example, if a medium-grade cotton with a count-related hand harder 2) -
fiber tenacity of 24 cN/tex is processed, the following values surface rougher 1)
result for the count-related yarn tenacity (cN/tex) of rotor-
hairiness lower 1)
spun and ring-spun yarns:
luster duller -
rotor-spun yarn = 24 cN/tex fiber x 45 (%) / 100 or 1)
Positive or negative, depending on the end product
24 cN/tex fiber x 55 (%) / 100
2)
Virtually the same as ring-spun yarn in the end product after finishing
(see Table 19)
= 10.8 - 13.2 (cN/tex)
Table 20 – Properties of rotor-spun yarn compared to ring-spun yarn
96 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
5.4.3. Yarn hairiness spinning systems – be varied in a wide range by means of
spinning elements (rotor groove and draw-off nozzle). First
Yarn hairiness assumes a significance which should not be of all, rotor-spun yarns can now be produced with signifi-
underestimated. This refers to the length and frequency of cantly lower twist multiplyers than previously, without any
fiber ends that are not integrated in the yarn and therefore adverse effect on spinning stability. Yarn hairiness and yarn
protrude from the yarn bundle. bulk can also be adapted to the end product by the skillful
choice of technology components, for example:
High yarn hairiness (primarily of hairs longer than 3 mm) • By the rotor groove: the larger the groove angle, the
can have a negative impact, both due to a diffuse fabric ap- groove radius and the rotor diameter, the bulkier and
pearance lacking in clear structure and also in downstream hairier the yarn. If rotor speed and thus spinning ten-
processing due to a tendency to cling and fiber deposits on sion are also reduced, further gains in hairiness and
the machines. If these deposits reach the final fabric they bulk are achieved. If rotor speed is reduced, the twist
are usually rated as disturbing defects. However, high yarn multiplyer can also often be reduced – since spinning
hairiness (hairs shorter than 3 mm) is positive where it tension declines – which offsets the loss of production
contributes to soft fabric hand. Soft, flexible fabric hand is due to the reduction in speed. Conversely, tighter
preferred in knitted fabrics for underwear, T-shirts and lei- groove angles and smaller groove radii and rotor diam-
surewear. High – albeit precisely defined – yarn hairiness is eters mean that leaner and more compact yarns with
required for processing denim yarns using the rope dyeing lower hairiness can be produced. And the higher the
method. However, in this case the high hairiness does not rotor speed and thus the spinning tension, the greater
contribute to the hand, but acts as a spacer between the the effect.
yarns when the dyed rope is opened. • By the shape and design of the nozzle surface: the more
structured the nozzle surface and the longer the contact
Rotor-spun yarns display significantly lower hairiness than surface (nozzle radius) on which the yarn unwinds, the
comparable ring-spun yarns. The reason given for this by higher the yarn hairiness and the yarn bulk. Additional
Bunk/Trommer (see references) is that the fiber ends fac- inserts in the throat of the nozzle and additional
ing away from the yarn take-off direction point toward the TWISTstop elements in the draw-off nozzle further
interior of the yarn and the number of free fiber ends is increase the hairiness of the yarn. The smoother the
therefore about half that in ring-spun yarns. Furthermore, draw-off nozzle, the smaller the nozzle radius and thus
the wrapper fibers wound crosswise around the yarn help the contact surface, and the fewer twist accumulation
to „bind-in“ loose fiber ends. Abrasion resistance and pill- elements affect the passage of the thread, the lower the
ing tendency are positively influenced by these wrapping hairiness and bulk of the yarn.
fibers. The clinging tendency, fiber abrasion and fiber fly of
rotor yarns in downstream processing are less critical than 5.4.4. Yarn irregularity (CVm%)
for comparable ring-spun yarns. Put simply, the higher hair-
iness of ring-spun yarns is caused by the uncontrolled pas- The positive influence of back-doubling in the rotor has al-
sage of edge fibers in cylinder draw frames and in the spin- ready been described several times in this paper. The re-
ning triangle at the draw frame delivery end. sult of this, compared with other yarns, is the more uniform
distribution of the fiber mass along the yarn, as expressed
However, low hairiness is a drawback where a large number in the regularity of the weight per unit of length. The best
of protruding fiber ends contributes to a soft hand, for ex- possible regularity of a fiber bundle in the spinning process
ample in knitted fabrics for underwear and leisurewear. would be achieved if the fibers were distributed at random
Here ring-spun yarn has an advantage, since its high hairi- along the yarn. However, this ideal distribution cannot be
ness is especially beneficial for a soft hand in the final fab- achieved in practice, neither in ring-spun, rotor-spun nor
ric. However, the disadvantage of rotor-spun yarn‘s lower in any other staple fiber yarn. Deficiencies in machine op-
hairiness can – and this is in turn an advantage over other eration or the drafting system are the cause of more or less
pronounced cross-section variations. The size of the cross-
section variations is expressed in mean linear irregularity
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 97
(U%) or – more correctly and customarily in terms of phys-
ical textile properties – in mean square irregularity (CVm%).
Only the rotor spinning system is able to offset this process-
related deterioration in cross-section variations to some
degree by back-doubling the fiber layers in the rotor. The
mass uniformity of the rotor-spun yarn is therefore better
than for ring-spun yarn (given equal machine conditions).
According to Brunk/Trommer (see references), the irregu-
larity limit (CVlim) of a rotor-spun yarn is some 75 % of the
irregularity limit of a comparable ring-spun yarn. The CVm%
values that can actually be achieved with rotor-spun yarns
are therefore usually better than with yarns from other spin-
ning processes.
5.4.5. Imperfections (thin places, thick places, neps)
Rotor-spun yarns are also characterized, among other
things, by the fact that the number of so-called yarn de-
fects – stated as the number of thick places, thin places and
neps per 1 000 m of yarn – also referred to in the literature
as imperfections, is much lower than for comparable ring-
spun yarns. Imperfections can both be the cause of ends
down in downstream processing and also make a disturbing
appearance in the fabric. According to the latest Uster Sta-
tistics, the number of thick places and neps per 1 000 m of
yarn are up to 60 % and 80 % lower in rotor-spun yarn than
in ring-spun yarn.
However, if the number of imperfections rises above the
usual level, this can be attributable to both raw material
and machine-related causes. For example, immature cot-
tons are very inclined to produce neps during processing.
However, thick places and neps also occur when spinning
elements or other fiber-guiding machine components are
worn or damaged. Bent, broken or notched clothing teeth
on the opening roller in particular can cause steep increas-
es in the numbers of neps and thick places. Wear or depos-
its in the fiber guide channel also result in fibers accumulat-
ing at these points and being fed uncontrolled to the rotor
as larger or smaller clumps of fiber. Depending on their
mass, these clumps result either in ends down or – if spun
in – in defects in the yarn and the final fabric.
98 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 99
6. ECONOMICS OF ROTOR SPINNING • elimination of the doubling process (for some applica-
tions) by using single rotor-spun yarns instead of dou-
Any new spinning process launched on the market can only bled ring-spun yarns;
be successful if it fulfills certain criteria for economic ben- • cards and draw frames for the rotor spinning process
efits and can claim advantages over an established spinning can be operated 30 % - 50 % faster;
system in at least one of these criteria, such as: • lower energy consumption due to the shorter spinning
• higher quality of the product manufactured; process; savings can be up to 30 %;
• higher productivity of the system as a whole; • material flow in a shorter spinning line is simpler and
• lower costs of the production process in relation to therefore easier to organize; the throughput time is
the quantity produced (labor, energy, capital); shorter;
• greater flexibility of the process, i.e. a wide range of • increased productivity in the spinning mill due to delivery
yarn products can be manufactured or a wider range speeds up to 10 times higher, lower ends down rates and
of raw materials can be used. higher machine efficiency compared with ring spinning;
• use of shorter and therefore less expensive cottons,
If these criteria are applied to the many spinning processes especially for manufacturing coarser yarns; no compro-
brought out in recent decades, it is clear why most of these mises may be made as regards raw material quality for
processes were unable to establish themselves, i.e. soon spinning finer count yarns;
disappeared again. Only rotor spinning and – with some • increased productivity in downstream processing due
qualifications – Air-jet spinning, albeit with a limited range to large package formats and longer, defect-free yarn
of yarns, can be said to fulfill the aforementioned criteria. lengths, and the resulting improved running properties
of the yarns.
When considering the economics, higher productivity cer-
tainly ranks first with rotor spinning. Rotor-spun yarns have 6.1. Cost structures of comparable rotor-spun and
always established themselves in the past where they could ring-spun yarns
be produced more cheaply than ring-spun yarns, while at
the same time meeting the requirements of the end product. The economics of a spinning process are essentially defined
This will continue to be the case in future. In the course of by three major cost blocks: capital costs and the interest
development the economically relevant factors have inten- burden on them, direct labor costs and energy costs. In or-
sified to the extent that the break-even point compared with der to compare economics, manufacturing costs are usually
the established ring-spinning process has been moved in related to the production of 1 kg of yarn.
the direction of increasingly fine rotor-spun yarns.
In rotor spinning, capital costs account for the majority
If productivity takes first place in terms of the success of ro- of manufacturing costs (Fig. 99), followed by energy costs.
tor spinning, the conclusion should not be drawn that even Direct labor costs figure only in third place. This applies
a single yarn manufacturer today would be prepared to sac- especially to countries with low labor costs. In countries
rifice yarn quality for lower manufacturing costs. Yarn qual- with significantly higher wage levels, labor costs are higher
ity and economy are not only not mutually exclusive, they than energy costs in the coarse count sector (but not in the
are necessary prerequisites for each other! In contrast to fine count sector), due to the frequency of manual can and
ring-spun yarn, significant quality improvements have been package transport movements (Fig. 98).
achieved in recent years while continuously increasing ro-
tor speeds and delivery speeds. With the ring spinning system, direct labor costs in coun-
tries with higher wage levels account for a much greater
The following aspects have contributed significantly to the proportion of the total and are almost identical to capital
economic success of rotor spinning versus ring spinning: costs, followed by energy costs. This order changes accord-
• elimination of the roving frame passage and the lower ingly in countries with low labor costs. Ongoing spare parts
number of draw frame passages for many applications costs are a larger factor with rotor-spun yarn than with ring-
(refer to section „4.3.3.3. Draw frames“); spun yarn, and space requirements account for a smaller
• elimination of the cost-intensive rewinding process due proportion of total costs. Regional differences result in dif-
to direct processing of rotor-spun yarns; ferent weightings of the cost blocks.
100 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
COST COMPARISON ROTOR VS. RING YARN COST COMPARISON ROTOR VS. RING YARN
(NE 8 DENIM YARN) (NE 34 KNITTING YARN)
1.4 3
1.2 2.5
1
2
0.8
1.5
0.6
1
0.4
0.2 0.5
0 0
Ring yarn Rotor yarn Ring yarn Rotor yarn
Cost of waste Labour costs Energy costs Cost of waste Labour costs Energy costs
Cost of auxiliary material Capital costs Cost of auxiliary material Capital costs
Fig. 98 – Cost structure: rotor-spun vs. ring-spun yarn (Ne 8 left and Ne 34 right) in countries with higher wage levels
COST COMPARISON ROTOR VS. RING YARN COST COMPARISON ROTOR VS. RING YARN
(NE 8 DENIM YARN) (NE 34 KNITTING YARN)
0.7 2
0.6
1.5
0.5
0.4
1
0.3
0.2
0.5
0.1
0 0
Ring yarn Rotor yarn Ring yarn Rotor yarn
Cost of waste Labour costs Energy costs Cost of waste Labour costs Energy costs
Cost of auxiliary material Capital costs Cost of auxiliary material Capital costs
Fig. 99 – Cost structure: rotor-spun vs. ring-spun yarn (Ne 8 and Ne 34) in countries with lower wage costs
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 101
The break-even point, up to which rotor-spun yarns can can be produced more economically than ring-spun yarns,
be produced more economically than ring-spun yarns, has and even in countries with low labor costs the cost of man-
moved continuously in the direction of fine count yarns in ufacturing rotor-spun yarns finer than Ne 40 is less than
recent years – due to the increase in output. The output that for ring-spun yarns. Fig. 100 shows the manufacturing
advantage of rotor-spun yarns is now so large that even the costs of ring-spun and rotor-spun yarns as a function of yarn
finest rotor-spun yarns (in the Ne 60 / Ne 70 range) count with differing regional labor cost levels.
MANUFACTURING COST ROTOR VS. RING YARN COST COMPARISON ROTOR VS. RING YARN
IN LOW WAGE COUNTRIES IN HIGH WAGE COUNTRIES
2 3.5
3
1.5
CHF/kg yarn
CHF/kg yarn
2.5
2
1
1.5
0.5 1
0.5
0 0
Ne 8 Ne 18 Ne 24 Ne 30 Ne 34 Ne 40 Ne 8 Ne 18 Ne 24 Ne 30 Ne 34 Ne 40
Rotor yarn Ring yarn Rotor yarn Ring yarn
Fig. 100 – Comparison of manufacturing costs/kg of yarn for different yarn counts in low- and high-wage countries
102 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
The lower the share of the relatively high capital costs in man- To a limited extent, longer machines can help to reduce the
ufacturing costs per kg of yarn, the more economically rotor- specific capital employed per spinning position. Rotor spin-
spun yarn can be produced. The importance of capital costs ning machines are currently being offered with up to 500
declines if material throughput, i.e. the quantity of yarn pro- spinning positions. However, the useful limits are defined
duced per machine or spinning position, rises. Coarser yarns by reliably operating and economical drive technology.
(with higher material throughput) can therefore be produced
more economically than fine count yarns, both in absolute Energy costs are becoming increasingly important worldwide.
terms and also in comparison with ring-spun yarns. Limited resources mean that they are rising almost continu-
The capital costs included the cost of purchasing the ously. Their share of the cost of manufacturing a yarn is in
machine and all accessory equipment. Due to the high many cases already on the same order of magnitude as labor
degree of automation and the ancillary equipment for quality costs. Close attention is therefore given to how much energy
control and waxing, a spinning position on a rotor spinning has to be expended to produce a given quantity of yarn.
machine costs about 5 times as much as a spindle on a ring Machinery manufacturers make their contribution by working
spinning machine. This is offset by the cost benefits of the continuously and intensively to reduce the power input of the
rotor spinning system due to the elimination of sliver produc- major consumers – i.e. the drives for the rotors and the fan for
tion, the possible saving of one draw frame passage and the generating the partial spinning vacuum – as far as possible.
elimination of the rewinding process.
If the capital costs and the production potential of the dif- High rotor speeds can always be achieved when fine count
ferent spinning systems are compared, the situation given yarns are being spun. In principle, the energy required
the current status of mechanical engineering is as follows: on the rotor spinning machine increases with rising rotor
• delivery speeds of the rotor spinning machine are a fac- speeds (Fig. 101). However, smaller rotors require less
tor of 7 (fine yarns) to 10 (coarse yarns) higher than energy. For reasons of the mechanical stability of the rotors,
those of ring spinning machines; higher rotor speeds can only be achieved with small rotors.
• spinning-related ends down in rotor spinning are higher Energy consumption with small rotors can therefore be
in proportion to spindle running times (per 1 000 spin- entirely comparable with energy consumption using large
dle hours), but some 75 % lower than those of ring- rotors at much lower speeds. Yarn twist only has to be
spun yarns in relation to a yarn length of 1 000 km; increased slightly with rising rotor speeds, since optimized
• machine efficiencies of up to 99 % are not unusual in spinning elements and improved spinning geometry contrib-
well-managed rotor spinning installations; these figures ute to improved spinning stability.
are thus significantly higher than can be achieved with By contrast, the increase in energy consumption on the ring
ring spinning machines. spinning machine is directly dependent on spindle speed.
The diameter of the ring defines the weight of the cop and
therefore cannot be exchanged like a rotor.
ENERGY CONSUMPTION DEPENDING ON ROTOR SPEED AND ROTOR DIAMETER
120 %
Rotor diameter
110 % ∅ 56 mm ∅ 33 mm
100 % ∅ 46 mm ∅ 31 mm
∅ 40 mm ∅ 30 mm
90 %
∅ 36 mm ∅ 28 mm
80 %
70 %
40 60 80 100 120 140 160
Rotor speed [rpm] x 1 000
Fig. 101 – Energy consumption as a function of rotor speed and rotor diameter
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 103
Rotor spinning offers especially high benefits compared to
LABOUR COST FOR CAN HANDLING
ring spinning as regards direct labor costs. High productivity, (USD 12.00 PER HOUR)
combined with the automation of the piecing and package USD
changing process, means that the personnel effort required
10 000
per kg of rotor-spun yarn is much lower than in ring spinning.
8 000
Automated rotor spinning machines now require only mini- 6 000
mal operator effort. Many more machines can now be allo-
4 000
cated per employee, less and less personnel are required to
operate a spinning mill. Automated solutions are available 2 000
even for the remaining manual activities, such as replacing
Ne 7 Ne 14 Ne 20 Ne 30
spinning cans, introducing the sliver into the spinning box
and removing the full packages at the end of the machine
(refer to section „3. Machine and transport automation“). Can transport Can exchange
Fig. 102 – Cost advantages per rotor spinning machine and year of large
6.2. Lower labor costs due to advantages in transport cans (18½˝ versus 16˝)
and service
Despite the technical possibilities available, the manual
transport of cans and packages to and from highly automated COST SAVINGS PER MACHINE AND YEAR
rotor spinning machines still defines personnel deployment
in the majority of textile mills. However, the effort involved USD
Package handling (USD 0.2 / package)
can be reduced substantially by using large units for spinning
cans and cross-wound packages, such as those supplied by 40 000
several machinery manufacturers (Fig. 102*).
For example, using 18½˝ cans* instead of 16˝ cans saves 30 000
more than 12 % of the transport movements over the long
20 000
distances between the draw frame and the rotor spinning
machine. Longer running times mean that large cans have to
10 000
replaced less frequently. Appropriate machine design never-
theless permits space-saving layout with comparatively short
transport distances. This also applies to the rectangular Ne 7 Ne 20 Ne 30
cans used in the context of transport automation. The filling
weight of these cans is up to twice that of 16˝ cans and still
some 70 % higher than that of 18½˝ round cans (Fig. 103). USD
Tube investment (USD 0.1 / tube)
Similarly, the effort involved in transporting the finished yarn 8 000
packages can be minimized by using larger units (Fig. 103).
If packages weighing 5 kg can be produced, this implies 6 000
20 % less handling effort in transport, palletizing or packag-
4 000
ing, compared with 4 kg packages. In addition to the gains
in the spinning mill, the same savings in handling effort can 2 000
be made in downstream processing. Added to this are sav-
ings on the corresponding number of empty tubes, for which
Ne 7 Ne 20 Ne 30
disposable tubes are usually used. The savings here can
certainly amount to some 0.05 €/kg of yarn in large installa-
tions. In combination with appropriate automation solutions
Spinning Weaving, Knitting
this amount can be even higher.
Fig. 103 – Cost savings per rotor spinning machine and year with large
packages (5 kg versus 4 kg) and lower tube investment
* Can formats that fit under the rotor spinning machine in 2 rows,
depending on machine type.
104 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
Personnel for setting and maintaining the machines rep- • Weaving: Machine downtimes reduced from 1 - 3 stop-
resent a further cost block in labor costs. Optimized set- pages/105 picks for ring-spun yarn to 0.5 - 1.5 stop-
ting capabilities enable the necessary machine downtime pages/105 picks for rotor-spun yarn. Assuming the cost
and the personnel time and effort expended on this to be of a machine stoppage of 1.0 €, this results in a cost
reduced. On machines equipped entirely or partly with infi- reduction of € 0.25/kg of yarn.
nitely adjustable inverter drives, time-consuming and usu- • Knitting: Significantly lower levels of contamination by
ally repeated changes of gear wheels or drive pulleys with fly when processing rotor-spun yarns enable machine
the associated machine downtime at batch changes are downtime to be reduced in some cases; specific data on
eliminated. Setting values for draft, yarn twist, tensioning its influence on processing costs are not yet available,
draft, rotor and opening roller speed can be entered very nor on the advantages of the straight flow of stitches in
easily directly at the machine control panel. knitted fabrics made from rotor-spun yarns, which have
a positive impact in make-up.
Further savings in labor costs can be made if an intelligent
machine and control concept helps to simplify mainte- The cost benefits of using rotor-spun yarn are immediately
nance work and shorten cleaning operations, for example and clearly demonstrable with regard to manufacturing
by means of: costs in downstream processing in particular in vertically
• operating robots of modular design; integrated mills.
• easy, rapid replacement of technology components,
as far as possible without tools;
• oil-free and thus low-maintenance rotor bearings
requiring little cleaning;
• working elements that can also be replaced while the
machine is running (technology components, rotor
bearings, etc.).
Not all of these aspects can be quantified in terms of euros
and cents, since concepts for maintenance and technical
supervision of the machines vary widely between differ-
ent mills. However, irrespective of the effort expended in
a spinning mill, a maintenance-friendly machine concept
will always have a beneficial impact on manufacturing costs.
6.3. Reduced labor costs in downstream processing
Besides cost benefits in the manufacture of rotor-spun
yarns versus ring-spun yarns in the coarse and medium
count range, rotor-spun yarns also offer significant cost
savings in some cases in downstream processing by virtue
of technical application advantages (refer to section
„4.9.1. Processing properties“). Results from mill practice
demonstrate that the following economies can be achieved,
for example when processing Nm 50/Ne 30/tex 20 rotor-
spun yarns versus ring-spun yarns:
• Warping: Machine downtimes reduced from 4.8 stop-
pages/107 meters for ring-spun yarn to 1.1 stop-
pages/107 meters. Assuming the cost of a machine
stoppage of 0.5 €, this results in a cost reduction of
€ 0.02/kg of yarn.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 105
REFERENCES
Chapter 1 Chapter 3
„International Textile Machinery Shipment Statistics“, Dr. J. Ch. Promoli „Transportautomation in der Spinnerei
appears annually, – lohnt sich das? – Praxisberichte, Ausgabe 05/2000
International Textile Manufacturer Federation, (internal publication), available as special print,
Zurich / Schweiz Rieter Ingolstadt GmbH, Ingolstadt Germany
„International Cotton Industry Statistics“,
appears annually, Chapter 4
International Textile Manufacturers Federation,
Zurich / Schweiz The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume 2
– Blowroom & Carding
„International Man-MadeFibre Production Statistics“, Rieter Machine Works Ltd., Winterthur Switzerland
appears annually,
International Textile Manufacturers Federation, The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume 3
Zurich / Schweiz – Spinning Preparation,
Rieter Machine Works Ltd., Winterthur Switzerland
„Cotton Varieties by Origins“, appears annually,
Bremer Baumwollborse, Bremen/D
Chapter 5
Chapter 2 Gunter Trommer: „Rotor Spinning“ Edition 1995,
Deutscher Fachbuchverlag, Frankfurt/Main
The Rieter Manual of Spinning Volume 1
– Technology of Short-staple Spinning,
Rieter Machine Works Ltd., Winterthur Switzerland Chapter 6
Dr. Gunter Trommer „Rotor Spinning“ Edition 1995, „Europaischer Produktivitatsvergleich“, appears annually,
Deutscher Fachbuchverlag, Frankfurt/Main published by the industry association of yarns in Germany,
Italy, France, Austria and Spain
Internal technical brochures about Rieter rotor
spinning machines,
Rieter Ingolstadt GmbH, Ingolstadt Germany
Operating manuals quality control systems,
Uster Technology and Barco
106 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 107
ILLUSTRATIONS
Fig. 1 – Development in achievable rotor speeds Fig. 26 – Axial rotor bearing with EC bearing 31
since the launch of the rotor spinning system 12 Fig. 27 – Sealed grease cup of the EC bearing 31
Fig. 2 – Installed rotor capacity worldwide in 2007 Fig. 28 – Axial rotor bearing with AERObearing 31
(total of over 8 million), by ITMF region 12 Fig. 29 – Airflow with the AERObearing; air pressure 6 bar31
Fig. 3 – Number of rotors installed, showing the Fig. 30 – Yarn take-off with take-off rollers (a),
proportion of automated machines and new draw-off nozzle (b) and yarn draw-off tube (c) 32
investment in rotors, using Turkey from 1979 Fig. 31 – Winding head with package 33
to 2003 as an example 12 Fig. 32 – Compensation of winding tension with
Fig. 4 – Installed rotor capacity (worldwide), compensation bar (a) and yarn tension bar (b) 34
by yarn count (ITMF) 13 Fig. 33 – Three-part winding cylinder with powered middle
Fig. 5 – Annual output (tonnes worldwide) of end section (a), two powered side sections (b), wheel
products from rotor-spun yarns, by yarn count 13 and disc differential gear (c) and friction
Fig. 6 – Structure of the rotor spinning machine 17 coatings (d) for driving the package 35
Fig. 7 – Path of the fibers from sliver feed into the Fig. 34 – Conventional stroke displacement 36
spinning box to winding of the yarn onto Fig. 35 – Gear for variable stroke displacement 36
cylindrical or conical cross-wound packages 18 Fig. 36 – Variable stroke displacement 36
Fig. 8 – Front view of spinning box with opening Table 1 – Pattern windings 1:1 at package diameter in mm 36
roller and sliver intake 20 Fig. 37 – Waxing device with large wax blocks 37
Fig. 9 – Spinning box cross-section 20 Fig. 38 – Breakdown of energy consumption for
Fig. 10 – Opening roller housing with opening roller (a), the various drives of a rotor spinning machine 37
sliver intake (b+c), fiber beard support (d), Fig. 39 – Infinitely adjustable inverter drives for draft,
trash removal (e) and adjustable bypass (f) 21 twist and winding tension 38
Fig. 11 – BYpass open (maximum trash removal) 23 Fig. 40 – Supplying empty tubes via conveyor belts 38
Fig. 12 – BYpass half open (medium trash removal) 23 Fig. 41 – Trash removal belt with suction units 39
Fig. 13 – BYpass closed (minimum trash removal) 23 Fig. 42 – Negative pressure drive 39
Fig. 14 – Cross-section through fiber guide channel (a) Fig. 43 – Machine operator panel in the form
and spinning rotor (b) 23 of a touch screen panel 40
Fig. 15 – Fiber guide channel (a) with SPEEDpass (b) 24 Fig. 44 – Robot operating panel 41
Fig. 16 – Tangential fiber feed into the rotor and fiber trans Fig. 45 – Uster Quantum Clearer yarn clearer 42
port to the fiber collecting groove of the rotor 24 Fig. 46 – Barco Profile yarn clearer 42
Fig. 17 – Yarn formation and twist insertion Table 2 – Sensitivity of the measuring principle 43
in the rotor groove 25 Table 3 – Properties of the measuring principle 43
Fig. 18 – Centrifugal force as a function of rotor Fig. 47 – System diagram of production monitoring;
diameter and rotor speed 26 central computer with peripherals and
Fig. 19 – αmin values for different rotor diameters as a func connected production machines 44
tion of rotor speed (Source: ITV Denkendorf) 27 Fig. 48 – Operating robot on a modern high-performance
Fig. 20 – Rotor cleaning module with air jet nozzles rotor spinning machine 46
and scrapers 28 Fig. 49 – Travel strategy with one operating robot
Fig. 21 – Direct rotor bearing, with rotor shaft (a) on each side of the machine; each robot
encased in ball bearing housing (b) 28 can also serve the other side 47
Fig. 22 – Support-disc bearing (Twindisc bearing) Fig. 50 – Travel strategy with 3 operating robots.
with rotor fitted 29 One robot on each side of the machine,
Fig. 23 – Support-disc bearing (Twindisc bearing) robot #3 serves each side alternately 47
with pressure roller (b) for tangential belt (a) 29 Fig. 51 – Machine efficiency with 2 and 4 robots 47
Fig. 24 – Axial rotor bearing with magnetic bearing 31 Fig. 52 – Travel strategy with 2 robots on each side
Fig. 25 – Positioning the magnetic bearing 31 of the machine 47
108 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
Fig. 53 – Rotor spinning machine with service stations Fig. 71 – Rotor spinning systems with different sliver prepa
for 4 robots 47 ration depending on yarn quality requirements 70
Fig. 54 – Piecing quality Table 12 – Mill readings for sliver irregularity CV% for
(Ne 30, Twist multiplier αe = 4.6, 100 % Cotton) 48 sliver lengths of 1m - 3m - 5m
Fig. 55 – Automatic piecing after an end down (open control loop leveling principle) 70
or quality stop 50 Fig. 72 – Spinning elements for rotor spinning machines,
Fig. 56 – Automatic piecing after package change 50 opening rollers (rear left), rotors (rear right),
Fig. 57 – Influence of piecing speed on spinning draw-off nozzles (front), channel plates (center) 71
tension and thus on piecing tenacity 51 Fig. 73 – Tooth shapes of the opening roller clothing
Fig. 58 – Automatic piecing at constant, high rotor speed 52 and their range of application 73
Fig. 59 – Automatic piecing during rotor acceleration 52 Fig. 74 – Important rotor parameters 73
Fig. 60 – Tenacity and elongation of piecings Fig. 75 – Structure and components of a spinning rotor 73
compared to the corresponding yarn values 53 Fig. 76 – Speed range and maximum rotor speed as a func
Fig. 61 – AMIspin semi-automatic piecing system 53 tion of rotor diameter (in practice rotor speeds
Fig. 62 – Empty tube magazine (a) with tube handling are used up to about 5 - 8 % below the maximum) 74
system (b) on the end frame of a rotor Fig. 77 – Configuration and properties of available
spinning machine 55 rotor/groove shapes 75
Fig. 63 – Can formats in the rotor spinning mill. Fig. 78 – Draw-off nozzles with ceramic nozzle head
Rectangular cans for economical transport and metal nozzle holder 76
automation 57 Fig. 79 – Smooth ceramic nozzle 77
Fig. 64 – Concept for automatic can transport between Fig. 80 – Spiral nozzle 77
draw frame and rotor spinning machine 57 Fig. 81 – Ceramic nozzles with 3, 4 and 8 notches 77
Fig. 65 – Automatic doffing and transport of packages Fig. 82 – Ceramic nozzle knurled with additional notches 77
to the palletizing unit 58 Fig. 83 – Ceramic nozzle with small nozzle radius
Fig. 66 – Automatic palletizing unit with protective and 3 notches 77
grid on the rotor spinning machine 59 Fig. 84 – Ceramic draw-off nozzles with normal
Fig. 67 – Share of fiber materials in the total volume radius (left) and small radius (right) 77
of rotor-spun yarns 61 Fig. 85 – Eddy insert in nozzle throat (right) 77
Table 4 – Specification of cotton grades which can Fig. 86 – Thread draw-off tube (a) with
be considered for the rotor spinning process 62 interchangeable twist retention element (b) 78
Table 5 a) – Man-made fibers used in the rotor Fig. 87 – Fabric woven from rotor-spun denim yarn 79
spinning process 62 Fig. 88 – Yarn effects in rotor-spun and ring-spun yarns 79
Table 5 b) – Fiber properties which have to be recognized Fig. 89 – Maximum flexibility with drafts of up to 400-fold 80
when processed on rotor spinning machines 62 Fig. 90 – Angle of inclination of fibers in two yarns
Table 6 – Other sustainable raw materials 63 of differing thickness 80
Table 7 – Priority of fiber properties for rotor-spun Fig. 91 – Twist multiplyers customary in mill practice
and ring-spun yarns 63 for rotor-spun weaving yarns 81
Table 8 – Spinning limit for cotton and man-made Fig. 92 – Twist multiplyers customary in mill practice
fiber yarns as a function of fiber count 64 for rotor-spun knitting yarns 81
Fig. 68 – Relationship between fiber count (B) Table 13 – Spinning data for weaving yarns in 100 % cotton 83
and yarn tenacity (A) 65 Table 14 – Spinning data for knitting yarns in 100 % cotton 83
Fig. 69 – Relationship between staple length Table 15 – Spinning data for 50 % / 50 % cotton / PES
in inches (B) and yarn tenacity (A) 65 blended yarns 83
Table 9 – Yarn counts for cotton yarns as a function Table 16 – Spinning data for knitting yarns in
of staple length 66 100 % viscose 1.3 dtex 83
Table 10 – Yarn counts of man-made fiber yarns Table 17 – Absolute moisture content in g/kg air for
as a function of staple length 66 processing different raw materials 84
Fig. 70 – Relationship between fiber tenacity (B) Table 18 – Properties of rotor-spun yarn compared
and yarn tenacity (A) in cN/tex 67 to ring-spun yarn in downstream processing 85
Table 11 – Breaking strength (cN/tex) of natural and
man-made fibers 67
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 109
Table 19 – Properties of rotor-spun yarn compared
to ring-spun yarns in the final fabric 87
Fig. 93 – Illustration of the buildup of the fiber ring in
the rotor groove by back-doubling and the
corresponding position of the yarn lift-off point 91
Fig. 94 – Inserting twist in the rotor groove 90
Fig. 95 – Inserting twist in the yarn 92
Fig. 96 – Imparting twist to the yarn: genuine twist
in the Z direction 93
Fig. 97 – Imparting twist to the yarn: additional twist due
to the false twist effect in the S and Z direction 93
Table 20 – Properties of rotor-spun yarn compared
to ring-spun yarn 95
Fig. 98 – Cost structure: rotor-spun vs. ring-spun yarn
(Ne 8 left and Ne 34 right) in countries with
higher wage levels 100
Fig. 99 – Cost structure: rotor-spun vs. ring-spun yarn
(Ne 8 and Ne 34) in countries with lower
wage costs 100
Fig. 100 – Comparison of manufacturing costs/kg of yarn
for different yarn counts in low- and high-wage
countries 101
Fig. 101 – Energy consumption as a function of rotor
speed and rotor diameter 102
Fig. 102 – Cost advantages per rotor spinning machine
and year of large cans (18½˝ versus 16˝) 103
Fig. 103 – Cost savings per rotor spinning machine and
year with large packages (5 kg versus 4 kg)
and lower tube investment 103
110 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 5 . Rotor Spinning 111
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 5 – Rotor spinning
The rotor spinning process was developed as a result of research into alternative spinning systems.
Through continual development, such great improvements have been achieved in spinning elements
and conditions that it is now almost impossible to distinguish rotor-spun from ring-spun yarn. This
volume contains in-depth information on the rotor spinning process and its properties.
Rieter Machine Works Ltd. Rieter India Private Ltd. Rieter (China) The data and illustrations in this brochure and on the
Klosterstrasse 20 Gat No 134/1, Vadhu Road Textile Instruments Co., Ltd. corresponding data carrier refer to the date of printing.
Rieter reserves the right to make any necessary changes
CH-8406 Winterthur Off Pune-Nagar Road, Koregaon Bhima Shanghai Branch
at any time and without special notice. Rieter systems and
T +41 52 208 7171 Taluka Shirur, District Pune Unit B-1, 6F, Building A,
Rieter innovations are protected by patents.
F +41 52 208 8320 IN-Maharashtra 412216 Synnex International Park
sales.sys@rieter.com T +91 2137 308 500 1068 West Tianshan Road 1925-v2 en 1410
parts.sys@rieter.com F +91 2137 308 426 CN-Shanghai 200335
T +86 21 6037 3333
F +86 21 6037 3399
ISBN 10 3-9523173-5-7
www.rieter.com ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-5-8
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 6
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 6 – Alternative Spinning Systems
Dr. Herbert Stalder
Publisher
Rieter Machine Works Ltd.
Copyright
©2016 by Rieter Machine Works Ltd.,
Klosterstrasse 20, CH-8406 Wintherthur,
www.rieter.com
Part of this content provided by The Textile Institute. Used by permission.
Cover page
J 20 air-jet spinning machine
Available Volumes/Edition:
Volume 1 – Technology of Short-staple Spinning
ISBN 10 3-9523173-1-4 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-1-0
Volume 2 – Blowroom & Carding
ISBN 10 3-9523173-2-2 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-2-7
Volume 3 – Spinning Preparation
ISBN 10 3-9523173-3-0 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-3-4
Volume 4 – Ring Spinning
ISBN 10 3-9523173-4-9 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-4-1
Volume 5 – Rotor Spinning
ISBN 10 3-9523173-5-7 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-5-8
Volume 6 – Alternative Spinning Systems
ISBN 10 3-9523173-6-5 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-6-5
Volume 7 – Processing of Man-Made Fibres
ISBN 10 3-9523173-7-3 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-7-2
Collectors Edition – all Volumes (Vol. 1-7)
ISBN 10 3-9523173-0-6 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-0-3
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 3
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 6 – Alternative Spinning Systems
Dr. Herbert Stalder
4 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 5
THE RIETER MANUAL OF SPINNING
Volume 1 – Technology of Short-staple Spinning Volume 5 – Rotor Spinning
This deals with basic, generally valid, technological rela- This process resulted from research into alternative spinning
tionships in short-staple spinning. Subsequent volumes are systems. This volume contains in-depth information on the
organised according to machines or machine groups. This rotor spinning process and its properties. Continual improve-
separates generally valid basic principles from ongoing ments in spinning elements and conditions make it now pos-
developments in machine design and construction. sible to spin a rotor yarn optically similar to a ring-spun yarn.
Volume 2 – Blowroom & Carding Volume 6 – Alternative Spinning Systems
In-depth information is provided on opening, cleaning, To take full advantage of alternative spinning systems,
blending and carding and additional aspects are covered a thorough understanding of them is therefore essential. This
such as acclimatisation of raw materials, anticipated waste volume contributes towards reaching this goal by describing
from various grades of fibre, selection and setting of cleaning the most important alternative spinning systems in detail.
and blending machinery, waste recycling, transport and the One of them is the well known Air-jet spinning technology.
functions of the various card components as well as selection
and maintenance of card clothing and autolevelling systems. Volume 7 – Processing of Man-Made Fibres
Volume 3 – Spinning Preparation Ever since the introduction of man-made fibres on a com-
mercial scale, the market share of synthetic fibres has shown
Here the technical and technological aspects of the yarn an impressive growth rate. In this important field, the variety
production process between carding and ring spinning are of man-made fibres with different properties is continuously
covered, that means draw frame, combing section (including increasing. For numerous applications today, fibres that are
combing preparation) and roving frame. This is an important practically “tailor-made” are available. Spinners must there-
process stage, because the yarn quality largely depends on fore have detailed understanding of the fibre properties and
the quality of the intermediate products from which it is the specific characteristics that affect their processing.
made.
Volume 4 – Ring Spinning
Technical and technological aspects of ring spinning are
covered. This is the final process in yarn production. The ring
spinning machine greatly influences the yarn and its quality.
Ring-spun yarns still represent the standard for compari-
son when evaluating yarns produced by other spinning
processes.
6 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 7
EDITORIAL
This sixth volume in the Short-Staple Spinning series of the Rieter Manual
of Spinning deals with both the technical and technological aspects of
alternative spinning systems. In the past twenty years, the search for new,
more economic spinning systems has been pursued very actively through-
out the world. As a result, Air-jet spinning has been introduced into the
market, and, with more than 50 000 spinning positions in operation world-
wide by the end of 2007 (equivalent to about one million ring spindles),
it has already conquered a substantial part of the spinning market.
We can expect that Air-jet spinning be on the point of gaining further
market acceptance.
The first part of this volume covers briefly all the main known new spin-
ning systems, and the second part gives a detailed description of the most
important of these new spinning systems, i.e., Air-jet spinning.
The new spinning systems produce yarns and therefore end-products with
a quality that differs to a certain extent from the ring-spinning standard.
In addition, the main new spinning system, Air-jet spinning, are still in
a phase of further development. In order to take full advantage of the new
processes, it is therefore essential to have a thorough understanding of
them. This volume is designed to contribute towards reaching this goal.
It should also be mentioned that some important basic technology has
been dealt with in Volume 1, The Technology of Short-staple Spinning,
in particular, drafting with opening rollers and the yarn-formation process
in rotor spinning.
The structure of this manual and the organization of its subject matter
were taken over from the original „New spinning systems“ published by
the Textile Institute, Manchester, whom we thank for their kind permission
to continue this standard work.
Our special thanks also go to Mr. Werner Klein, whose contribution to the
first edition as co-author has decisively influenced this volume in which
his extensive knowledge is also reflected.
We wish all users of this compendium pleasant reading.
Rieter Machine Works Ltd.
8 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 9
CONTENTS
1. Alternative Spinning Processes 11 2.6. The False-twist process 32
1.1. Synopsis 11 2.6.1. The false-twist principle 32
1.1.1. Introduction 11 2.6.1.1. Generation of false twist 32
1.1.2. Summary of new spinning processes 12 2.6.1.2. Forming a yarn with the aid of false twist 33
1.1.3. Possibilities for using the various spinning processes 13 2.6.1.3. Spinning elements 33
2. The various spinning methods 15 2.6.2. Two nozzle Air-jet spinning 34
2.1. Open-end spinning processes 15 2.6.2.1. Operating principle 34
2.1.1. The basic principle of yarn formation 15 2.6.2.2. Raw material requirements 35
2.1.2. Electrostatic spinning 15 2.6.2.3. Yarn characteristics 36
2.1.2.1. Operating principle 15 2.6.2.4. Interrelationships in spinning technology 36
2.1.2.2. Specification 16 2.6.2.5. Economics 36
2.1.3. Air-vortex spinning 16 2.6.2.6. Specification of the MJS machine 37
2.1.3.1. Operating principle 16 2.6.2.7. Industrial impact of the MJS machine 37
2.1.3.2. Specification 17 2.6.3. Dref-3000 process 37
2.1.4. Friction spinning 17 2.6.3.1. Operating principle 38
2.1.4.1. Operating principle 17 2.6.3.2. Raw material used 38
2.1.4.2. Classification 18 2.6.3.3. Specification 38
2.1.4.3. Technological relationships 18 2.6.3.4. Industrial impact of Dref-3000 38
2.1.4.4. Advantages and disadvantages 20 2.6.4. PLYfiL spinning process 38
2.1.4.5. Dref-2000 20 2.6.4.1. Improved market prospects for plied yarns 38
2.1.4.6. Specification of Dref-2000 20 2.6.4.2. Specification of the short-staple machine 39
2.1.4.7. The Platt Saco Lowell Masterspinner 20 2.7. Air-jet spinning 40
2.1.4.8. Specification of the Masterspinner 22 2.7.1. Development 40
2.1.5. The University of Manchester Discspinner 22 2.7.2. Principle of operation 42
2.2. Twist spinning 22 2.7.3. Raw material requirements 43
2.3. Friction (self-twist) method 24 2.7.4. Drafting unit 43
2.3.1. Technological interrelationships 24 2.7.5. Spinning nozzle 43
2.3.2. Repco spinning 2.7.6. Winding 44
(self-twist spinning by Platt Saco Lowell) 25 2.7.7. Automation 44
2.3.3. Specification of the Repco spinner 27 2.7.8. Yarn structure 45
2.4. Wrap spinning 27 2.7.9. Yarn properties 46
2.4.1. Operating principle 27 2.7.9.1. Yarn strength 46
2.4.2. ParafiL system by Suessen 28 2.7.9.2. Yarn evenness, thin and thick places 46
2.4.2.1. Operating principle 28 2.7.9.3. Neps 46
2.4.2.2. Specification 28 2.7.9.4. Hairiness 47
2.4.3. Technological and economic interrelationships 28 2.7.9.5. Yarn abrasion resistance 47
2.5. Adhesive processes 29 2.7.10. Downstream processing and end products 47
2.5.1. Summary 29 2.7.11. Economics 49
2.5.2. The Twilo process 29 2.7.11.1. Manpower 49
2.5.2.1. Operating principle 29 2.7.11.2. Space 49
2.5.2.2. Technological data 31 2.7.11.3. Energy 49
2.5.2.3. Specification of the laboratory 2.7.11.4. Waste 49
machine (about 1975) 31 2.7.12. Market impact 50
2.5.3. Bobtex process 31 2.7.13 Comparison of Air-jet spinning systems 51
2.5.3.1. Operating principle 32
2.5.3.2. Specification of a laboratory
machine (about 1970) 32
10 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
3. Summary and outlook 53
3.1. Processing principles 53
3.1.1. Types of Operation 53
3.1.2. Twist potential and system limitations 54
3.2. Field of use 54
3.2.1. Spinning mill process 54
3.2.2. Yarn count range 54
3.3. Yarn characteristics 55
3.3.1. Number of fibers in cross-section 55
3.3.2. Characteristic yarn properties 55
3.3.3. Differences in strength 55
3.4. Economic comparison 55
3.4.1. Productivity of the process 55
3.5. Outlook 56
References 57
Illustrations 59
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 11
1. ALTERNATIVE SPINNING PROCESSES The main problems of the new spinning processes are:
1.1. Synopsis • yarn character differing from that of ring-spun yarn,
1.1.1. Introduction which still represents the basic standard for comparison;
• characteristics occasionally bordering on the unusable;
New spinning processes have been available in a practica- • difficulties in maintaining consistently uniform yarn
ble form for almost forty years, and yet by far the largest characteristics;
amount of short-staple yarn is still spun on conventional • greater demands on the raw material;
machines. These are mostly developments dating from the • market segments limited to:
period 1760 - 1830, in particular: – a narrow count range;
• mule spinner; – specific raw material types;
• flyer spinning machine; – specific end products;
• cap spinning machine; • a high level of process know-how; and
• centrifugal spinning machine; • expenditure on repair and maintenance.
• pot spinning machine; and
• ring frame. However, compared with ring spinning, they offer the
following advantages:
The mule spinner operates according to a discontinuous • high production rates;
spinning method. It has gradually been replaced by the ring • elimination of processing stages;
spinning machine even in its last domain, the wool spinning • a considerable reduction in:
mill. Flyer, cap, and centrifugal spinners have been most- – personnel and
ly confined to the worsted spinning mill; only a few still re- – space; and
main in use. The flyer spinning machines used in bast-fiber • relative ease of automation.
spinning represent exceptions. Even pot spinning is hardly
used in today’s woolen mills. Advantages of this kind are persuasive for yarn producers,
Accordingly, most yarn is now produced on the ring frame. particularly the economic benefits of new methods of spin-
Ring spinning has been able to supplant almost all other ning, and some of the new spinning processes have there-
conventional spinning methods and has proved very resist- fore in fact achieved more or less broad acceptance in the
ant to inroads by the newcomers. This can be attributed market. These systems have to be taken into account in the
mainly to its: near to medium term for several fields of use, even if these
• flexibility; processes may still have some drawbacks.
• universal applicability; and
• yarn quality. However, the machine builders, research institutes, and
several independent inventors offer such a large range of
As regards yarn quality, ring spinning has recently made already operable, semi-developed, and downright utopian
a remarkable step further ahead with the introduction of possibilities for spinning yarn that it is not always easy to
compact spinning (see The Rieter Manual of Spinning, keep a grasp of the full spectrum. This problem is made still
Volume 4 – Ring Spinning). worse by the lack of standardized terminology. Sometimes,
However, there are also problems associated with the ring the generic designation of a spinning system is used, e.g.
spinning machine. For one thing, this machine is difficult to „open-end spinning“, sometimes the name of the process
automate. For another, ring frame productivity is currently itself, e.g. „friction spinning“, sometimes the trade mark of
limited by traveler speed (around 45 m/s), yarn tension in the manufacturer, e.g. „Dref“. The quantity of available liter-
the balloon and spindle speed (around 25 000 rpm), and ature is enormous. Unfortunately, however, it is difficult to
major improvements above these levels are not easily imagi- find a simple, succinct overview. This volume is therefore in-
nable. Only the search for new solutions therefore offers the tended to provide the spinning specialist with this overview
prospect of basic advances in the spinning field in future. and to present the spinning principles in general terms.
This search began on a broad front at the end of the 1960s.
12 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
1.1.2. Summary of new spinning processes
Process Spinning Company Yarn Twist Yarn strength
group process designation type in yarn imparted by
Rotor spinning
Electrostatic spinning Battelle process Conventional True twist Mechanical
Friction spinning Dref-2 single yarn twisting process
Open-end
Masterspinner
Disc spinning University of Manchester
Air-vortex spinning Polmatex PFI Aerodynamic twisting
Sirospun Twist in single and
Twist spinning Two-fold twist Mechanical twisting
Duospun ply yarn
Rubbing technique Self-twist spinning Repco Two-fold yarn Alternating twist Mechanical twisting
Bonding agent (Pavena)
Twilo Bonded-fiber band Twist-free Temporary bonding
Adhesive process
Bonding fibers Twilo
Polymer Bobtex Multi-component yarn Permanent bonding
Felting fiber, sliver,
Felting process Periloc Felted yarn With or without twist Felting
roving or yarn
Double
Two nozzle PLYfiL
thread
Core twist-free, Aerodynamic
False-twist Air-jet
Rotofil Bundled single wrapping fibers wrapping
process spinning
Murata MJS yarn have twist
Friction spinning Dref-3 Mechanical wrapping
Wrapping Coverspun Filament-wound
Hollow-spindle spinning Staple fibers twist-free Mechanical wrapping
process ParafiL single yarn
Murata MVS
Wrapping process Core twist-free, wrapping
Air-jet spinning Rieter J 10 air-jet Fiber-wound yarn Aerodynamic wrapping
with fibers fibers with twist
spinning machine
Table 1 – Summary of the main characteristics of the various novel spinning processes
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 13
1.1.3. Possibilities for using the various spinning
processes
Spin-twist and self-twist systems are typical worsted spin-
ning processes. Bobtex and Periloc systems produce yarns
with a woolen-spun character, but with higher strength. The
ParafiL and Dref-2 processes must also be allocated to the
coarse yarn sector. All other methods produce yarns for the
short-staple market segment. From this group, the following
have prospects for practical operation:
• rotor spinning (firmly established in the market);
• friction spinning (for certain applications);
• wrap spinning (to a limited extent);
• false-twist spinning (established in the market); and
• Air-jet spinning (becoming established in the market).
Due to its significance in the market, rotor spinning is con-
sidered in a separate volume. The other more promising
candidates will be treated in somewhat greater detail in
the following descriptions.
14 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 15
2. THE VARIOUS SPINNING METHODS
2.1. Open-end spinning processes Fiber supply
2.1.1. The basic principle of yarn formation
In all other spinning processes, an uninterrupted stream of
fibers proceeds continuously, but with gradual attenuation,
from the feedstock to the take-up package. In open-end Yarn Open yarn end
spinning, this flow of fibers is interrupted, the fiber strand
being opened into individual fibers at a predetermined po-
Fig. 1 – Formation of an open-end spun yarn
sition, usually by means of an opening roller, followed by
airborne fiber transport. This interruption or break in the
fiber flow is physically achieved by increasing fiber speed 2.1.2. Electrostatic spinning
locally to very high levels (up to 100 m/s), so that – ac- 2.1.2.1. Operating principle
cording to the equation of continuity – the number of fib-
ers in the cross-section drops to such low values that the Several research teams, including some in the former Soviet
fibers lose contact with each other. This enables twist to Union, have investigated the possibilities of forming fiber
be imparted merely by rotation of the yarn end, which in strands with the aid of electrostatic fields. However, only
turn leads to a significantly higher potential rotation speed. the process proposed by the Battelle Institute has had a de-
However, the break in fiber flow also leads directly to one of gree of success. The Electrospin Corporation (USA) dem-
the most important and difficult tasks in open-end spinning, onstrated an experimental spinning machine based on this
namely to control the configuration of the individual fibers, principle at the 1971 ITMA in Paris.
airborne at high speed, and the need to re-collect these fib-
ers without losing their elongated configuration, which is
essential to the formation of a new fiber strand. This very 1
tricky problem of open-end spinning can be dealt with sche-
matically as described below (see Fig. 1).
A constant stream of separated, individual fibers is allowed
to flow to a rotating yarn end. The brush-like, open yarn end 2
grasps the fibers brought into contact with it and continu-
ously binds them into a yarn with the aid of the continual
rolling movement. The continuously formed yarn has only
to be withdrawn and taken up onto a cross-wound package.
On the basis of the device used to reassemble the separat-
ed fibers, distinctions are drawn between:
• rotor spinning; 3
• electrostatic spinning;
• air-vortex spinning;
• friction spinning; and 4
• disc spinning.
7 5
Rotor spinning has meanwhile become so widespread world- 6
wide in the market that this very important and well-estab-
lished spinning system is dealt with in a separate volume.
The other open-end processes are described hereafter.
8
Fig. 2 – The electro-spinning principle
16 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
However, little has been heard about electrostatic spinning 2.1.2.2. Specification
since then. In the process based on the Battelle principle
(Fig. 2), a roving (2) taken from the roving frame is passed Spinning positions
to a conventional double-apron drafting arrangement (3) per machine (1971) 20 (1 experimental machine)
and is subjected to a draft of up to 80-fold. The fibers exit Delivery speed up to 40 m/min
freely from the front cylinder. They must then be collected Raw material cotton
to form a fiber strand and twisted to form a yarn. The first Count range Ne 20 - 40; 15 - 30 tex
of these operations is performed by the electrostatic field, Form of feedstock roving
and twisting is carried out in a twist-imparting unit (6). Type of yarn conventional, single yarn
Twisting presents no problems. The complexity of this Yarn characteristics good yarn quality at low
method lies wholly in the electrostatic field generated be- production speeds, ring-spun
tween the front roller and the twist element (6) by earthing yarn character, yarn structure
the front roller and applying a high voltage (about 30 000 - similar to ring-spun yarn, for
35 000 V) to the twist element. This field has to accelerate fine yarns only
the fibers and guide them toward yarn end (5) while main- Special features yarn quality heavily dependent
taining the elongated configuration of the fibers. When the upon ambient atmospheric
fibers enter this field, they take up charge and form dipoles, conditions
i.e. one end becomes positively charged and the other neg- Remarks ozone formation
atively charged. An open yarn end (5) projects from the
twist element into the field. This yarn is negatively charged 2.1.3. Air-vortex spinning
and is therefore always attracted to the front roller. 2.1.3.1. Operating principle
Due to the dipole pattern, there is thus a relatively high de-
gree of fiber straightening between the front roller and the Extensive investigations have been made and testing has
twist element. Fibers leaving the roller are accelerated and been performed by Goetzfried and Lord. However, the pro-
attracted to the yarn as a result of the charges carried by cess was brought to industrial maturity by the Polish Wifama-
the two parts. They join continuously to the yarn. Since the Polmatex company. Several machines of this type are or
yarn rotates, the fibers are bound in. A yarn is formed con- have been in experimental use in Poland. However, this
tinuously and is withdrawn by withdrawal rollers (8), to spinning system never achieved real industrial success.
be passed to a take-up device (9) for winding onto a cross- In this spinning method (Fig. 3), yarn is formed by an air
wound package. vortex in a tube (1). For this purpose, air is sucked by a vac-
The problem associated with this process is the formation uum source (6) into the tube through tangential slots (2).
of a yarn in an electrostatic field, as follows: This incoming air moves upward along the tube wall in a
(a) Charging of the fibers, and hence their behavior in spiral and finally arrives at the upper tube seal (3). Since
the spinning zone, is dependent upon air humidity. the top of the tube is closed by the seal (3), the air then
Accordingly, for each fiber type, a specific and highly flows to the center of the tube and moves down again to the
uniform environment must be created. The machine vacuum source. Thus an air vortex (5), rotating continuously
may need to be air-conditioned. in the same direction, is generated at the seal (3).
(b) The charge on each fiber, and hence its movement, Opened fiber material is allowed to enter the system through
is dependent upon its mass. Short fibers with low mass a tangential opening (4). The rising air stream grasps this
will therefore behave differently from long fibers. material and transports it upward into the vortex (5). To form
(c) A limit must be placed upon the number of fibers in the a yarn, an open yarn end is passed into the tube through a
electrostatic field, because otherwise they will cause passage in the upper seal (3). The vortex grasps this yarn end
mutual disturbance when charging and dipole formation and whirls it around in circles in the same way as the fibers.
takes place. Only fine yarns can therefore be produced. Since the upper yarn length is held by the withdrawal rollers
(d) The same effect is observed with high throughput and the lower end is rotating, each revolution of the yarn end
speeds; there is a corresponding limit on the production in the vortex inserts a turn of twist into the yarn.
rate. Formation of the fiber strand itself arises because the rotat-
ing open yarn end in the vortex is presented with a multi-
Due to these problems, electrostatic spinning has no chance plicity of floating, rotating fibers, which are caught by the
of being used in spinning mills. bound-in fibers of the yarn end and are thus continuously
twisted in.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 17
One associated problem is maintaining good fiber configura- 2.1.3.2. Specification
tion and achieving correct, ordered binding-in of the fibers,
i.e. achieving adequate strength in the yarn. For this reason, Spinning positions per machine 192
synthetic fibers of the highest attainable uniformity were Delivery speed 100 - 150 m/min
mainly used. A second deficiency is variability in the degree Raw material synthetic fibers, 40 - 50 mm
of twist in the spun yarn. In fact, the rotation speed of the Count range Ne 7.5 - 30; 20 - 80 tex
fiber ring in the vortex (5) is not constant, due to mass vari- Form of feedstock draw frame sliver
ations in this fiber ring. Hence, the imparted yarn twist also Type of yarn conventional, single yarn
varies as a function of time. On the other hand, a major ad- Yarn characteristics low strength, twist
vantage of the process is the absence of any kind of rapidly variability, rough surface
rotating machine parts. Field of end-use undemanding woven goods
Advantages no rapidly rotating parts,
simple machine
Special features cotton cannot be spun, due
to inadequate yarn quality
2.1.4. Friction spinning
3
2.1.4.1. Operating principle
Fibers
5
4
A-A
A A
2
Perforated drums
Yarn
Fig. 4 – The friction spinning principle
1
This process is included in the open-end group because the
6
fiber strand (draw frame sliver) must be opened completely
into individual fibers and then reassembled to a new strand
(yarn). The formation of a new strand is carried out by us-
Fig. 3 – The air-vortex spinning principle ing suction to bring the individual fibers into engagement
with the rotating open end of the yarn, e.g. by perforated
drums with an internal vacuum. Binding-in fibers and im-
parting strength are effected by continuous rotation of the
yarn end in the converging region of two drums. The rota-
tion of the yarn end arises from the rotary movement of
the two drums and is generated by frictional contact at the
drum surface. The yarn formed in the convergent region by
collecting fibers and binding them in can be continuously
withdrawn and wound onto a cross-wound package.
18 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
The fineness of the resulting yarn is determined by the mass • separation of collecting and twisting functions:
of fiber feed per unit of time and the withdrawal speed of the (a) collection and friction assemblies separated;
yarn; the number of turns is determined by the relationship be- (b) friction assembly also serves as collecting device;
tween yarn end revolutions and withdrawal speed. The rate at • number of friction surfaces:
which twist is imparted to the yarn is markedly lower than that (a) one friction surface (Dref-1);
which would be expected from the rolling of the yarn end be- (b) two friction surfaces;
tween the two drums. This fact, often attributed to slip, is the • type of friction assembly:
result of the very complex details of the yarn formation proc- (a) perforated drums;
ess. The economic and technological limits of friction spin- (b) one perforated drum with one smooth drum
ning and rotor spinning systems are in approximately the same (blind drum);
count range. They are direct competitors in the marketplace. (c) two discs;
(d) disc and roller in combination;
2.1.4.2. Classification (e) two crossed belts.
The operations to be carried out in this spinning process The most widely used types are those with the following
are the same as those required for rotor spinning: characteristics:
• opening of the fiber strand; • single-sliver feed;
• acceleration of the fibers; • one opening roller;
• collecting the fibers into a new strand; • friction assembly also acting as collection device;
• imparting strength by twisting; • two friction surfaces;
• withdrawal of the resulting yarn; • two perforated drums or one perforated drum and one
• winding onto a cross-wound package. blind drum in combination.
Opening is performed by the elements already used for this 2.1.4.3. Technological relationships
purpose in rotor spinning. Collection of fibers can be per-
formed on moving or stationary surfaces, and twisting can Feed
be effected by a transfer of forces from some kind of sur- Multiple-sliver feed improves evenness but also leads to
face. Several different kinds of collection procedure and high costs and the need for a very high degree of opening.
many different types of surface can be used. Accordingly,
there is not just one kind of friction-spinning system, but Opening
there are several. They can be distinguished according to: Opening is performed as for rotor spinning. In this case
• feed: also, straightening of the released fibers and the degree of
(a) single-sliver feed; longitudinal orientation are problematic, but exert a strong
(b) multiple-sliver feed (Dref-2000 and Dref-3000); influence on yarn characteristics.
• opening assembly:
(a) one opening assembly; Fiber transport
(b) two opening assemblies or drafting devices The fibers can move to the collecting device in free flight (air-
(Dref-3000); borne) with (Platt Saco Lowell Masterspinner) or without (Dref-
2000) guidance by a duct. Free flight of the fibers without guid-
ance in a duct leads to fiber disorientation, which affects not
only the yarn characteristics but also the spinning limits.
Fibers
Yarn
a b c
suction Perforated suction suction
drums
Fig. 5 – Direction of fiber flow in friction spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 19
Fiber collection With reference to Fig. 6 (a) and (b), drum (1) has to rotate
The fibers are drawn by a suction airstream toward the col- through a fraction of a revolution to cause the yarn to ro-
lecting surface and the open yarn end (Fig. 5 (a), (b), and tate once, i.e. one full drum revolution generates 100 and
(c)). In rotor spinning, the fibers are additionally acceler- more yarn turns. The illustration also shows that the trans-
ated during collection and are thereby straightened, but mission ratio is still greater for fine yarns (with a smaller
in friction spinning the opposite happens. The fibers come yarn diameter) than for coarse yarns. In the course of one
into contact with a surface that is moving more slowly than drum revolution, the fine yarn therefore takes up more
they are. The result is fiber-buckling and deterioration in turns of twist than the coarse yarn. This remains true even
fiber orientation. The fibers are bound into the yarn in though the smaller zone of contact of the finer yarn on the
a loop form [1]; this effect is clearly visible in the yarn prod- drums leads to greater apparent slip. This is the only spin-
uct and is more marked with longer fibers. The strength of ning method in which the delivery speed is practically inde-
friction-spun yarn is therefore lower than that of rotor-spun pendent of yarn count [1].
yarns. The high transmission ratio (up to 200:1) has the further
In terms of flow direction, the fibers meet the drums and the advantage that a lower rate of drum revolutions suffices,
open yarn end at right angles to the direction of yarn with- although, when considered in relation to the diameter ra-
drawal (Dref), in the same direction, or in the opposite di- tio, the yarn takes up only 15 - 40 % of drum rotation [2].
rection. In accordance with the system described by Luen- Delivery speeds can be made correspondingly high. Spin-
enschloss and Brockmanns [2], reference is made to forward ning speeds of 500 m/min or even higher are conceivable.
(Fig. 5 (b)) or backward (Fig. 5 (c)) spinning. In general, fib- Unfortunately, the spinning speed is limited in practice
er guidance can perhaps be classified into (refer to Fig. 5): by yarn quality to some 200 m/min. In fact, a higher fiber
• right-angle guidance (a); throughput rate leads to a deterioration in yarn quality.
• forward guidance (b); and
• backward guidance (c).
a b
Back doubling is obtained in friction spinning as in rotor
spinning, but the degree of doubling in friction spinning
is smaller.
1 1
Imparting twist 2 2
Imparting twist presents problems as great as those of col-
lecting and binding-in. A strand of loose fibers must take
up twist by means of friction on the drums but without the
aid of high contact pressure on the drums. The transfer of
rotation to the yarn is dependent on the coefficient of fric-
tion and the contact pressure; both these quantities are dif-
ficult to keep constant between spinning positions and over
time. The apparent slip is variable. A notable characteristic
of friction-spun yarn is therefore uncertainty about the rate
of imparting twist. Nevertheless, from the technical and eco-
nomic points of view, this method of imparting twist exhib-
its remarkable advantages. In practically all other twisting Fig. 6 – Fine and coarse yarns in the convergent region of friction-spinning
assemblies, one revolution of the twisting element is needed drums
to impart one turn of twist to the yarn. In friction spinning,
one revolution of the twisting element can generate several Withdrawal and winding up
turns of twist. This result is obtained because of the large In contrast to most other spinning processes, yarn tension
difference in diameter between the drums and the yarn. (and hence end break frequency) is very low during with-
drawal from the spinning zone. Tension therefore has no
influence on the spinning limit. The yarn is wound up onto
cross-wound packages so that, in comparison with conven-
tional spinning, rewinding is eliminated.
20 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
2.1.4.4. Advantages and disadvantages 2.1.4.5. Dref-2000
Advantages are as follows: In this process by Dr. E. Fehrer (Fig. 7), one or more card-
• high delivery speeds; ed slivers are passed to the main opening roller (2) (i.e.,
• low yarn production costs (lower than those of ring a drum clothed with sawteeth) after leaving a drafting ar-
spinning); rangement (1). While the drafting arrangement has only
• elimination of rewinding; a slight drafting effect, the sawtooth roller opens the strand
• low end breakage rates; into individual fibers. The fibers separated in this way are
• yarn character similar to that of ring-spun yarn; lifted off the roller by a blower (3) and form a cloud (7),
• no wrapping fibers; descending toward two perforated drums (4). One suction
• optically good mass evenness (well suited to knitted stream (5) per drum draws the fibers into the convergent
goods); region between the drums. The open end of the yarn (6)
• better and softer handle than that of rotor-spun yarn; projects into this zone and is also sucked toward the perfo-
• smooth yarn appearance. rated drums. Since these rotate, the yarn also rotates in the
convergent region. The newly arriving fibers contact the ro-
Disadvantages are: tating yarn and are thereby caught and twisted in. It is only
• low yarn strength; necessary to withdraw the yarn continuously to twist fibers
• high tendency to snarl; newly arriving in the convergent region into a yarn.
• higher number of fibers needed in yarn cross-section; Dref-2000 is primarily suited to the production of coarse
• difficulty of keeping spinning conditions constant; yarns (of medium to long staple fibers) and recycling yarns.
• high air consumption; In these market segments, Dref-2000 is well established.
• increasing unevenness and imperfections with increasing
spinning speed, and further reduction in yarn strength. 2.1.4.6. Specification of Dref-2000
Spinning positions per machine 6 - 64
Delivery speed 250 m/min
Raw material wool, bast fibers, synthetic
fibers, secondary fibers
Count range Ne 0.3 - 14.5; 2 000 - 40 tex
Feedstock card sliver
Yarn packages up to 8 kg
Yarn type normal OE yarn
Yarn characteristics woolen-spun character,
round, even
Fields of use home textiles, carpets,
blankets, recycling products,
technical products
Advantages spinning of waste,
3
elimination of process
stages
Special features recycling, production of
2 fancy yarn, core-spun yarn
7
2.1.4.7. The Platt Saco Lowell Masterspinner
1
This is shown in Fig. 8 and Fig. 9. A draw frame sliver (2) as
4 4 normally produced in short-staple spinning mills runs from
6
a can (1) into an opening assembly. This consists of a feed
5 5 roller (3) and an opening roller (4), and opens the fiber strand
in the same way as the opening device in rotor spinning.
Fig. 7 – The Dref-2000 spinning system
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 21
A
11
10
8
A
5
9
4
8
View A-A
6 7 6 7
2
5
3 Fig. 9 – The spinning principle of the Masterspinner
The separated fibers pass through a specially shaped fiber
channel (5), carried by an air flow from a vacuum inside the
suction roller (6) into the converging region between the two
1 friction rollers. As previously mentioned, one of these roll-
ers is perforated to act as a suction roller (6), whereas the
second roller is solid. A yarn (8) is formed in the convergent
zone by the method already described and passes via de-
livery rollers (9) and winding rollers (10) to a cross-wound
package (11). A number of ten-position machines and a few
full-scale machines with 144 spinning positions were deliv-
ered in the 1980s. However, these machines have not been
successful in the longer run, mainly for two reasons:
• inadequate yarn strength, i.e. low utilization of the fiber
properties; and
• inconsistency of the spinning results.
The Masterspinner has therefore disappeared from the
Fig. 8 – The Masterspinner friction-spinning machine market.
22 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
2.1.4.8. Specification of the Masterspinner This in turn causes rolling-in of fibers engaging the yarn
end and hence leads to continuous yarn formation in ac-
Spinning positions per machine 144 cordance with the open-end spinning principle (Section
Delivery speed 150 - 300 m/min 2.1.1.). The yarn formed in this way simply has to be with-
Raw material cotton and synthetic fibers drawn by the withdrawal rollers (7) and wound up onto
up to 40 mm in length; a cross-wound package.
blends It is an interesting feature of this process that collection
Count range 16 - 60 tex; Ne 10 - 36 and twisting of the fibers are separated. Each is performed
Feedstock type draw frame sliver by a different element. This makes it possible to use vari-
Yarn type open-end yarn with true ous types of twisting element. The process thus becomes
twist (without wrapping very flexible. However, it has never advanced beyond the
fibers) development stage.
Yarn characteristics low strength, good
evenness 2.2. Twist spinning
Field of use knitting yarn, pile yarn,
some weft yarns This is a process that has been known generally for some
Advantages low production costs, time but has been rediscovered in recent years. Today it
capable of automation, is used mainly in worsted spinning mills. Two systems are
no rapidly moving parts available:
Special features field of use limited, delivery • Duospun, from Ems SA and Huber and Suhner AG; and
speed independent of yarn • Sirospun, from Zinser Textilmaschinen GmbH.
fineness, but limited by
yarn quality The difference, and the only patentable aspect of the proc-
ess, lies in the procedure adopted when one of the two
2.1.5. The University of Manchester Discspinner ends leaving the drafting arrangement breaks. In the Duos-
pin process, the two yarns are recombined almost instant-
Fig. 10 [3] shows that, as in the case of most open-end ly, whereas the Sirospun system interrupts spinning at this
spinning processes, a single draw frame sliver (1) is passed single spinning position.
via a feed device (2) to the opening roller (3), which opens The mode of operation [4] is shown in Fig. 11 and Fig. 12.
the strand into individual fibers. A fan generates a partial Two rovings are passed individually through a slightly modi-
vacuum (airstream 8) in the disc (4), and this draws the fied, but generally conventional drafting arrangement of
separated fibers onto the collection surface of the perfo- a normal ring spinning machine. The fiber strands, attenu-
rated disc (spinning disc 4). The open end of the yarn (5) ated by a draft in the normal range, leave the delivery roll-
is drawn by the suction into this spinning zone, which lies er separately. At this point, they are each subjected to twist
directly opposite the opening roller. The yarn continuously generated by a common spindle (cop); thus, within the spin-
receives twist imparted to it by an external twist element ning triangle, they are twisted into two single yarns, and
(6), so that the open yarn end is continuously rolling on the these are simultaneously bound together to form a compos-
perforated surface of the spinning disc. ite yarn. Each of the two single strands and the resulting
composite yarn contains twist, and the direction of twist is
4 the same for both the single ends and the composite product.
This twist-on-twist (ZZ or SS) produces a yarn that is some-
4
what more compact, with a firmer core, than the usual ply
8 yarn with opposing twist (ZS or SZ). To produce twist-spun
yarn, it is only necessary to add several auxiliary compo-
5 nents to the ring frame and to provide an enlarged creel
7 6
to accommodate twice the usual number of packages.
This spinning process, which is already in use in worsted spin-
3
ning, primarily offers economic advantages, because the pro-
duction of the ring spinning and winding machines is roughly
2
1
3 doubled (two ends instead of one at approximately the same
speed). In addition, plying and twisting are eliminated.
Fig. 10 – The disc-spinning principle
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 23
In worsted spinning, twist spinning has therefore secured
a certain share of the market. However, due to the different
twist structure, it cannot completely replace the conven-
tional 2-fold yarn process.
Back roller
Apron
Fig. 11 – Formation of a twist-spun yarn Front roller
Thread guide
Fig. 12 – The twist-spinning process
24 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
2.3. Friction (self-twist) method In order to obtain adequate strength despite these twist-
2.3.1. Technological interrelationships free zones, the two yarns cannot be allowed to run in paral-
lel, but instead they must be passed through with a relative
This ingenious spinning system has been developed in Aus- phase shift. Then S twist will be generated in the plied yarn
tralia by the CSIRO research center. A fiber strand passed wherever one yarn has Z twist (with zero twist in the second
between reciprocating rubbing rollers takes up turns of yarn) or where both yarns have Z twist. Similarly, the plied
twist, but in alternating directions (over a short length, in yarn will have Z twist wherever at least one yarn has S twist
Z and S directions). The untwisting moment releases these (with zero twist in the other yarn) or where both have S
turns of twist. However, if two fiber strands with the same twist. If a yarn section with S twist is combined with a sec-
twist direction pass through in parallel, closely adjacent to tion with Z twist, which cannot be avoided, the torsion forc-
each other, the untwisting moment can no longer act sepa- es stabilize each other so that no plying twist results. The
rately on the individual yarns; it acts on both together to two-fold yarn obtained with this process therefore always
twist the yarns around each other. A two-fold thread is consists of three successively arranged zones (Fig. 15):
obtained with a continuously changing direction of twist: • folded yarn with S twist arising from two yarns with
Z twist where S twist is present in the individual yarns, Z twist, with one of the yarns exhibiting a short twist-
and S twist where the yarns have Z twist (Fig. 13). free length;
However, since the stroke of the rubbing rollers has revers-
al points, there is always a small length of strand left with-
out twist between each section of Z twist and the adjoining
section of S twist. The plied thread will also have no twist
in this zone (Fig. 14). Such a thread has no strength. It can-
not be wound up or subjected to further processing.
Rubbing process Z S
Rubbing rollers
Zone with
parallel fibers S
Z
Fig. 13 – Reciprocating friction of a fiber strand Fig. 14 – Combining two fiber strands previously strengthened by friction
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 25
• two yarn sections lying parallel to each other without 2.3.2. Repco spinning (self-twist spinning by Platt Saco
plying, one yarn having S and the other Z twist; Lowell)
• folded yarn with Z twist, where the yarns have S twist,
with one of the yarns again exhibiting a short twist-free Platt Saco Lowell has obtained a license from CSIRO for the
length. self-twist spinning process. The corresponding machine has
been called the Repco Spinner.
Instead of one large weak point (Fig. 14), three smaller Eight roving strands (2) run from a creel (1) into a double-
weak points have been created. The two-fold yarn has ad- apron drafting arrangement (3), where they are drafted in
equate strength to permit winding up but not for further a normal drafting range (Fig. 17). A friction assembly (4) ad-
processing. For that purpose, it must be twisted again. joins the drafting arrangement and consists of two recipro
However, since the two-fold yarn has alternating turns of cating friction rollers. In passing through this device, the fiber
twist, a folded yarn with continuously varying sections of strands leaving the drafting arrangement are subjected to al-
different twist is obtained upon further plying (two-for-one ternating twist. Before the turns of twist can cancel each other
twisting process), (Fig. 16). out, the strands are brought together in pairs with a phase
shift between the components of the two strands (Fig. 15).
This produces the previously described self-twist (ST) two-
fold yarn. The four yarns proceed to a winding device (5),
where they are wound onto cross-wound packages. This
process is suited only to the spinning of long staple fibers
S+Z and is therefore used solely in worsted spinning mills.
O+Z
Z+Z S
Z+O
Z+S O
O+S
S+S Z
S+O
S+Z
Fig. 15 – Combining two fiber strands with a phase shift Fig. 16 – The twist structure in a Repco double thread
26 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
3
4
Fig. 17 – The Repco spinning machine
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 27
2.3.3. Specification of the Repco spinner
Spinning positions per machine 4 (5) 1
Delivery speed up to 300 m/min
Raw material wool and synthetic fibers
Count range Ne 9/2-45/2; 13-65 tex x 2
Feedstock roving
Type of yarn two-fold yarn
Yarn characteristics full, round, twist variations
Fields of use outerwear, pullovers
Advantages low energy consumption,
low space requirement, 2
low personnel demand,
low-noise process
Special features the preparatory machines
of the mill are retained
Remarks worsted spinning sector
In the 1980s Repco spinning captured a certain proportion
of the worsted market, mainly due to its considerable eco- 3
nomic advantages. In the meantime, however, most of the
Repco machines have disappeared, for various reasons: 4
• Platt Saco Lowell discontinued the further development
of this process (the Platt Saco Lowell company no lon-
5
ger exists);
• the twist structure of the Repco yarn is different from
that of a conventional 2-ply yarn;
• the twist insertion is dependent on friction and thus 6
quite delicate to adjust and keep constant.
2.4. Wrap spinning
2.4.1. Operating principle
This system is shown in Fig. 18 and Fig. 19. A roving or 7
sliver feedstock (1) is drafted in a three-, four- or five-roll-
er drafting arrangement. The fiber strand delivered runs
through a hollow spindle (3) without receiving true twist.
In order to impart strength to the strand before it falls
apart, a continuous-filament thread (4) is wound around
the strand as it emerges from the drafting arrangement. The
Fig. 18 – The wrap-spinning principle
continuous-filament thread comes from a small, rapidly ro-
tating bobbin (5) mounted on the hollow spindle. Take-off
rollers lead the resulting wrap yarn to a winding device.
The wrap yarn thus always consists of two components,
a b
one twist-free staple-fiber component in the yarn core (a),
and a filament (b) wound around the core. This process
has been offered by several manufacturers, e.g., Leesona,
Mackie, etc. The most common wrap spinning system is
ParafiL by the Suessen company, and this process will be
briefly described in greater detail.
Fig. 19 – Wrap-spun yarn
28 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
2.4.2. ParafiL system by Suessen
2.4.2.1. Operating principle
Suessen has offered two machine types: PL 1000, with medium
packages for yarn in the linear-density range of 25 - 100 tex,
and PL 2000, with large packages for a yarn linear density of
Fa
25 - 500 tex. Three-, four-, or five-roller drafting arrangements
are used, depending upon the raw material to be processed.
The hollow spindle (Fig. 20) permits rotation speeds of up Fi
to 35 000 rpm and is designed as a false-twist assembly.
The fiber strand (Fa) does not pass directly through the spin- 2
dle vertically; instead, shortly after entering the spindle, the
strand is led out again (1) and back around the spindle, with 2
a wrap of about one-quarter of the spindle periphery. In this
1 1
way, as the spindle rotates, the strand is provided with twist
between the drafting arrangement and the head of the hol-
low spindle. These turns of twist are canceled out again in
the spindle head in accordance with the false-twist princi-
ple. This false twist prevents the strand from falling apart
in the length prior to wrapping with filament (Fi).
Slivers are used as feedstock; the roving frame is eliminated.
ParafiL yarn (called Parallelyarn by Suessen) is usually more
even than ring-spun yarn. Its strength is also better because
of the filament and because of the high degree of parallel orien-
tation of the fibers. Covering power is high and hairiness low.
The yarns are used primarily for:
• machine-knitting yarn;
• velours (home and automobile upholstery materials);
• woven goods (men‘s and ladies‘ wear);
• carpet yarns (mainly for tufted carpets). Fig. 20 – The false-twisting device in the ParafiL process by Suessen
At present, the process is more suited to the long-staple than 2.4.3. Technological and economic interrelationships
the short-staple field, i.e. for fiber lengths above 60 mm. In
ParafiL yarns, the filament makes up 2 - 5 % of the yarn. A high percentage of filament always has a disturbing ef-
fect. These yarns are therefore found more often in the
2.4.2.2. Specification coarse-yarn sector, and to some extent in the coarse-to-me-
dium-yarn range. With medium-fine to fine yarns, it would
Spinning positions per machine 80 be necessary to use very expensive special filament. In gen-
Delivery speed 200 m/min eral, the high price of filament relative to staple fibers ex-
Raw material synthetic fibers erts a strong influence on costs. Economic production of
60 - 220 mm + filament fine yarns using the wrap-spinning process is therefore not
Count range 25 - 500 tex; Ne 1.2 - 24 possible, due to higher raw material costs. Fine stocking fil-
Feedstock type draw frame sliver aments in the 20 - 110 dtex count range are usually used.
Type of yarn filament-wrapped, single yarn
Yarn characteristics high strength, good even- Filaments produced from all textile polymers are suitable
ness, two-component yarn as the wrapping element, the most common are polyamide
Field of use carpets, domestic textiles, fiber, polyester fiber, and viscose in the form of mono- or
outerwear multi-filaments. If the final yarn is to consist of only staple
Advantages fairly low production costs fibers, poly(vinyl alcohol) filaments have to be used; these
Special features separate winding machine can be simply dissolved out of the yarn after spinning.
needed for filament bobbins In relation to ring-spun yarns [5]:
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 29
• evenness is usually rather better; however, the polymer remains as an integral part of the thread.
• strength is greater, owing partly to the filament and The end products of the Twilo and Pavena processes have
partly to the high degree of parallel disposition and the good characteristics because the fiber strand consists of fib-
fibers’ binding together; ers arranged with a high degree of parallelism. These fibers
• covering power is better; are not subject to any degradation of their properties (han-
• hairiness is lower; dle, stiffness, suppleness, etc.) caused by twist. Furthermore,
• plying can be eliminated; their covering power is high. An additional advantage of
• the tendency to snarl is practically zero. a practical process would be a high production speed.
On the other hand, a disadvantage is the somewhat poorer
Owing to the fibers’ binding together, there is a slight wave washing performance due to the lack of firm anchoring of
character in the yarn, and this can be increased to the extent the fibers in the yarn.
of an effect yarn. Splicing can be performed without prob- However, the main reason why all adhesive spinning sys-
lems on the rewinding machine, and sizing can usually be tems have failed to achieve commercial success is to be
eliminated in the weaving mill, as also can plying. found in the economic situation. In order to produce soft,
The number of wrapping turns per meter usually corre- attractive end products, the adhesive has to be washed out
sponds approximately to a normal yarn-twist level. The fila- after weaving or knitting. This fact results in a drastic in-
ment must be rewound from the synthetic-filament manu- crease in raw material costs. In addition, applying adhesive
facturers’ large packages onto small bobbins (cops); this and/or washing it out again requires cost- and energy-in-
is done on a special winding machine. tensive heat processes. Therefore, adhesive spinning proc-
Due to the negative impact of filament costs on the economic esses are not economically viable.
aspect of wrap spinning, the field of application of this sys-
tem is quite limited. Suessen has therefore decided to dis- 2.5.2. The Twilo process
continue sales of ParafiL machines. 2.5.2.1. Operating principle
2.5. Adhesive processes
2.5.1. Summary
Almost all currently used yarns obtain their strength from
some kind of twist in the strand. However, this is only one
possibility for generating strength in a staple fiber yarn.
In principle, the interconnection of the fibers must also be
achievable by binding the fibers. It is therefore hardly sur-
prising that attempts have been made over many years to
enable such a spinning system to be developed. Pioneering 1
2
achievements have been made by:
• the Vezelinstitut TNO (Holland), with the Twilo process;
3
• Rieter (Switzerland), with the Pavena process; and
• Bobtex Corporation (Canada), with the Bobtex process.
The line of thought is very attractive, but realization has 4
proved difficult, so that these processes have been unable
to achieve acceptance to date.
A strand of parallel fibers can be made to adhere by means of:
• a binding agent (Pavena, Twilo new); 5
• adhesive fibers (Twilo); or
• polymer (Bobtex).
7
Glue and adhesive fibers only have to hold the fibers together
during processing. When the woven or knitted fabric is pro-
duced, coherence is provided by the yarn-binding points of the
fabric structure. The binder is then superfluous and is there-
6
fore washed out during making-up. In the Bobtex process,
Fig. 21 – The Twilo spinning principle
30 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
In this method, which was used on machinery made by Sig- ensure that the strand leaves the drafting arrangement (4) as
naalapparaten in Holland, third-passage draw frame sliver is narrow and compact as possible, the drafting arrangement is
used as feedstock. The first passage is usually carried out on followed by a second false-twist device (5). This device also
a blending draw frame, where a small percentage (5 - 11 %) serves to assist warming of the yarn to about 70°C (7). A
of adhesive fibers are blended with a sliver of cotton, syn- steam-jet is therefore used here for twisting.
thetic fiber or viscose. The adhesive fibers can be polyvinyl
alcohol (PVA) fibers, which become tacky and activated at Complete dissolving of the PVA fibers does not yet occur.
a water temperature of about 70°C. The addition of water This happens only on the dryer drum (6), which has
is therefore a precondition for bonding. a temperature of 140°C. The wet fibers are warmed here
The draw frame sliver (1) passes into a first drafting zone (2) to above 80°C, so that dissolving of the PVA fibers occurs
of a four-line drafting arrangement and is here predrafted in in a first phase, after which the fibers are dried. The PVA
a still-dry condition with a draft of 5 - 10. The predrafting fibers have thus been transformed into a strength-
zone (2) is followed by the wetting position (3), which also imparting adhesive.
contains a false-twist assembly. Here, the use of a water-jet Finally, cylindrical cross-wound packages above the ma-
leads to twisting of the strand (false twist). After this, final chine take up the yarn. Instead of adhesive fibers, Sig-
attenuation is performed in a twist-free condition in a sec- naalapparaten also used a bonding agent as an alternative
ond two-line drafting zone (4), with a draft of up to 40. To means of imparting strength.
Fig. 22 – The Twilo spinning machine
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 31
2.5.2.2. Technological data 2.5.3. Bobtex process
Raw material
Cotton and pure synthetic fibers can be processed, and so
can blends. The range of fiber linear density lies between
1.4 and 6 dtex, with staple lengths in the 30 - 80 mm range.
a
The finer the fibers, the more adhesive fibers must be used.
The latter usually have a linear density of 1.7 dtex and
length of 40 mm.
Yarn characteristics
The yarn is not round but flat, and therefore gives an end
product with high covering power. Because of the binder,
the yarn is stiff, with low elongation. Evenness corresponds
to that of ring-spun yarn. Strength is partly dependent upon
b
delivery speed.
Characteristics of the process are:
• relatively high energy consumption;
• use of water;
• adhesive fibers or binder must be washed out, and are
therefore lost; if they were not washed out, the end
product would be unusable;
• a great deal of specific know-how is needed.
c
2.5.2.3. Specification of the laboratory machine
(about 1975)
Spinning positions per machine 8
Delivery speed 500 (600) m/min Fig. 23 – A Bobtex yarn
Raw material cotton and synthetic
fibers (up to 80 mm)
Count range Ne 6 - 40; 15 - 100 tex 3
Feedstock type draw frame sliver
Yarn type bonded yarn 1 2
Yarn characteristics flat, high covering power,
good evenness
Field of use bath towels, interlinings,
coating material 4
Advantages elimination of twist
Special features needs water and gas
5 5
Fig. 24 – The Bobtex spinning principle
32 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
2.5.3.1. Operating principle ever, these turns have opposing directions of twist, which
are represented in the example in Fig. 25 (A) as Z-twist on
The Bobtex spinning machine (the name „Bobtex“ is derived the right and S-twist on the left. If the clamps are replaced
from the name of the inventor, Bobkowicz) had two spinning by rotating cylinders (Z1 and Z2 in Fig. 25 (B)) and the yarn
positions and produced a multiple-component yarn, which is allowed to pass through the cylinders while twist is being
is composed of (Fig. 23): imparted, the result is governed by the false-twist law and is
• a core of mono- or multi-filaments making up 10 - 60 % different from the case of the stationary yarns, as previous-
and forming the yarn carrier (a); ly assumed. A moving yarn entering the section (b) already
• a polymer intermediate layer (20 - 50 %) (b); and has turns of twist imparted in section (a). In the example
• staple fibers embedded in the intermediate layer to illustrated (B), there are turns of Z twist.
provide a covering layer and making up 30 - 60 % (c). As the twist element is generating turns of S twist in the left-
hand section, this simply means that each turn of the Z twist
In the course of production of this yarn, as shown in Fig. 24, the imparted in the first section (a) is canceled by a turn of S twist
filament (2) runs through an extruder (3), after which a coating imparted in the second section (b). The fiber strand thus never
of molten polymer (1) remains stuck to it. Before this polymer has any twist between the twisting element and the delivery
can solidify, opened staple fibers forming a covering layer are cylinder. In a false-twist assembly, turns of twist are present
pressed into the molten material in unit (4). This unit represents only between the feed cylinders and the twisting element. This
an opening assembly for the attenuation of two draw frame or principle is exploited, for instance, in false-twist texturing.
card slivers (5) fed in from the side. A false-twist device (6) en-
sures good binding-in of the staple fibers. The resulting yarn is
wound onto large packages (7) on the base of the machine. K2 T K1
2.5.3.2. Specification of a laboratory machine
(about 1970) A
Spinning positions per machine 2
Delivery speed approximately 600 m/min Z2 T Z1
Raw material filament/polymer/fibers
Count range Ne 2 - 20; 30 - 300 tex
B
Feedstock type card sliver
Type of yarn three-component yarn
Yarn characteristics high covering power, b a
stiffness, evenness, wool-
spun characteristics
Field of use sacks, carpet backing, Fig. 25 – The false-twist principle
industrial woven fabric
Advantages high production, package
mass up to 50 kg
Special features high consumption of energy
and water
2.6. The False-twist process
2.6.1. The false-twist principle
2.6.1.1. Generation of false twist
If a fiber strand (Fig. 25 (A)) is held firmly at two spaced
Z2 b a Z1
points by clamps K1 and K2 and is twisted somewhere be-
tween them, this strand always takes up the same number
Fig. 26 – Spinning yarn by means of false twist
of turns of twist before and after the twist element (T). How-
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 33
2.6.1.2. Forming a yarn with the aid of false twist 2.6.1.3. Spinning elements
As shown above, a fiber strand leaving the false-twist as- In false-twist spinning, in contrast to open-end spinning,
sembly consists of parallel, non-twisted fibers. This princi- the main fiber strand is not opened into individual fibers.
ple is normally unsuited to the task of giving strength to the It remains as a coherent strand from the feedstock through
yarn. In spite of this, the principle is now exploited to en- to the take-up package. Currently, drafting arrangements
able yarns to be spun, admittedly with a modification of the are used exclusively for attenuation. A variety of devices
system. For example, the fiber strand fed to cylinders Z1, is can be imagined as twist-imparting assemblies:
allowed to enter the false-twist region (a) on a very broad • pneumatic (one or two air jets);
basis, with the result that a greater or smaller proportion • hydraulic;
of edge fibers can escape the twisting action because of the • mechanical;
broad spread of the strand upon entry. • perforated drums;
• double discs;
In contrast to the description in the previous section, in • double belts;
Fig. 26, the strand entering the twist element is no long- • rotating tubes; etc.
er fully twisted. The core – admittedly by far the greater
proportion of the fibers – has twist, but the cover of fibers Some mechanical twist assemblies would require a higher
have either no twist or only a few turns. The opposing turns spinning tension than the pneumatic systems.
imparted by the twist element cancel all twist originally
present, namely, that in the core, and give twist to all fibers
that were originally untwisted, i.e., the envelope of fibers.
These are wound around the core fibers so that a bundled
yarn is obtained (Fig. 27).
Suface fibers wrapped around
Core fibers parallel
Fig. 27 – False twist (fasciated) yarn
Known processes operating on this principle are Rotofil by
Du Pont (which has since been abandoned), Dref-3000 by
Dr. Ernst Fehrer, Linz, and Murata Jet Spinning. The false-
twist principle has opened up previously unforeseen possi-
bilities for forming yarn.
34 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
2.6.2. Two nozzle Air-jet spinning
2.6.2.1. Operating principle
9
4
Fig. 28 – Two nozzle Air-jet spinning principle (Murata MJS)
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 35
As shown in Fig. 28, a draw frame sliver fed from a can (1)
is passed to a drafting arrangement (2), where it is attenu-
Twist direction
ated by a draft in the range of 100 - 200. The fiber strand
S Z
delivered then proceeds to two air jets (3 and 4) arranged
directly after the drafting arrangement. The second jet (4)
is the actual false-twist element. The air vortex generat-
ed in this jet, with an angular velocity of more than 2 mil-
lion rpm, twists the strand as it passes through so that the
strand rotates along a screw-thread path in the jet, achiev-
ing rotation speeds of about 250 000 rpm. The compressed
air reaches the speed of sound when entering the central
canal of the false-twist element. Since the axial forces are
very low during this rotation, only low tensions arise in the
yarn.
The ability of the vortex to impart torque is so high that the
turns of twist in the yarn run back to the drafting arrange-
ment. The fiber strand is therefore accelerated practically
to full rotation speed as soon as it leaves the front roller.
The edge fibers which ultimately bind the yarn together
Twist in the centre Twist at the surface
by becoming wrapping fibers are in a minority. For process
reasons, they do not exceed about 5 % of the total yarn Fig. 29 – The distribution of twist in the running fiber strand
mass. These edge fibers exhibit relatively few turns of twist
in the same direction as the false-twisted core fibers or can
even be slightly twisted in the opposite direction. This is The resulting bundled staple-fiber yarn passes from the
partly ensured by causing the strand to emerge from the nip take-off rollers (6 in Fig. 28) through a yarn-suction device
line in a broadly spread form, but mainly by generating in (7) and an electronic yarn clearer (8) before being wound
the first jet (3) a vortex with an opposite direction of rota- onto a cross-wound package (9).
tion to the vortex in the second jet (4). The two nozzle Air-jet spinning system represents a very
This first vortex is in fact weaker in intensity than the sec- interesting process, which has already been introduced
ond and cannot really affect the core fibers, but can grasp into practical operation with some success.
the edge fibers projecting from the strand at one end. Since
the first vortex acts against the twist direction generated by 2.6.2.2. Raw material requirements
the second jet, it prevents the edge fibers from being twist-
ed into the core or even twists them in the opposite direc- The process has so far been restricted to spinning pure syn-
tion around the core fibers. As the strand runs through the thetic fibers, blends of synthetic fibers, or blends of synthetic
second jet, the following occurs. with cotton fibers. Pure cotton can be processed only in
The turns of twist generated by the jet (4) are canceled in combed form and usually still gives a low-strength product
accordance with the false-twist law. The core fibers, i.e. the (with 50 - 70 % of the strength of ring-spun yarn, which means
vast majority, no longer exhibit any twist; these fibers are that processing 100 % cotton on two nozzle Air-jet machines
arranged in parallel. On the other hand, the edge fibers is not an industrial solution). Dirt in the fiber material acts as
(which previously exhibited no twist, relatively little twist, a disturbing factor. Almost all the yarn characteristics are im-
or even twist in the opposite direction) receive twist in the proved by the use of longer and finer fibers. About 80 fibers
direction imparted by the jet (4), as determined by the law at least are needed in the yarn cross-section.
of false twist; they are therefore wound around the parallel
fiber strand. They bind the body of fibers together and ensure The fibers should have:
coherence. A twist diagram prepared by Dr. H. Stalder [1] • high strength;
demonstrates this twisting procedure (see Fig. 29). • fairly high fiber-to-fiber friction;
• low bending stiffness;
• low resistance to twist; and
• only a small proportion of short fibers.
36 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
2.6.2.3. Yarn characteristics dividual fibers but merely attenuated. The advantage of this
is that it is not necessary to reassemble the fibers, which
The yarn character is slightly different from that of ring- exhibit a higher degree of parallelization than fibers in
spun yarn. It is somewhat: open-end spinning, for example.
• weaker;
• stiffer; and Twist jets
• harder. The two nozzle Air-jet spinning principle uses two jets in se-
quence. The twist level in the yarn is dependent upon both
The hardness can be reduced by using finer fibers and by the throughput speed and the air pressure in the jets. The lat-
treatment of the finished product with a softener (e.g. with ter is usually in the range of 4 - 6 bar. The air vortex rotates
a silicone). with a speed of 1 to more than 2 million rpm, the speed be-
Additional points of comparison with ring-spun yarn are: ing somewhat lower in the first jet than in the second. The
yarn takes up about 6 - 12 % of the revolutions of the vortex.
Positive:
• good evenness (like ring-spun yarn); Binding-in the fibers
• good abrasion resistance; Coarse yarns cannot be produced by two nozzle Air-jet spin-
• low tendency to pilling; ning. This is due to the geometrical ratio between the surface
• low snarling tendency; area of a yarn and its cross-section. The coarser the yarn, the
• shrinkage similar to that of ring-spun yarn. lower the ratio, i.e. it becomes steadily more difficult for the
wrapping fibers on the surface to bind the increasing number
Negative: of core fibers together effectively.
• higher resistance to bending; Influence can be exerted on the binding action, the spin-
• slightly lower covering power; ning conditions, and the yield primarily via:
• wrapping fibers not uniformly distributed over the • the raw material;
length; sometimes there are slightly more on the • the width of the fiber strand leaving the drafting
surface, sometimes slightly fewer. arrangement;
• the spinning draft;
A large number of wrapping turns impart more strength but • the spinning tension (yarn tension) between the front
at the same time greater hardness. Synthetic fiber yarns roller and the take-off rollers;
and blends of synthetic fibers and cotton with a proportion • the air pressure in the jets; and
of synthetic fibers of at least 50 % achieve strength levels • the twist relationship between the first and second jets.
of about 80 % or more relative to ring-spun yarn.
These parameters are adjustable within limits.
2.6.2.4. Interrelationships in spinning technology
2.6.2.5. Economics
Feedstock
Draw frame sliver is suitable as feedstock. Three passages The Murata two nozzle Air-jet spinnig machine (MJS) is fully
should be used in order to obtain adequate parallelization automated. This reduces the labor requirement, of course, and
of the fibers in the yarn. On account of the maximum draft of economically is a very positive feature. Automation includes:
200 in the drafting arrangement, relatively fine strands are • automatic piecing, by a knotter technique;
needed. The sliver mass is in the region of 3 g/m (3 ktex). • automatic doffing;
• yarn clearer;
Drafting arrangement • yarn length measuring device.
Four-line double-apron drafting arrangements are used,
which permit drafts of 65 - 220. Both the upper and lower As in rotor spinning, the economics of jet spinning are further
aprons are short. The fiber strand is not opened out into in- improved by the fact that the roving frame and the winding
process are eliminated. Yarn manufacturing costs in jet spin-
ning are therefore considerably lower than in ring spinning.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 37
2.6.2.6. Specification of the MJS machine 2.6.2.7. Industrial impact of the MJS machine
Spinning positions per machine up to 72 (single-sided At the turn of the millennium, about 220 000 MJS spinning
machine) positions (equal to approximately 3 000 machines) were
Delivery speed 150 - 300 m/min installed in spinning mills. The bulk of these machines, i.e.
Raw material synthetic fibers and about 2/3, are operating in the USA, and the rest mainly in
blends (combed cotton) Asian countries. However, there are no machines in Euro-
Count range 7.5 - 30 tex; Ne 20 - 80 pean mills. This somewhat limited success of MJS is mainly
Feedstock type draw frame sliver due to the inability of this system to process 100 % cotton.
Type of yarn bundled single yarns This defect can obviously not be fully offset by the good
Yarn characteristics reasonable strength, low economics of the process and the quite good overall yarn
hairiness, rough outer quality when spinning synthetic yarns or blends.
surface
Field of use ladies‘ outerwear, shirting 2.6.3. Dref-3000 process
material, sheets
Remarks low production costs, low
5
personnel demand, no
1
rapidly rotating parts,
three draw frame passages
2
necessary 7
3
4 6
Fig. 30 – The Dref-3 spinning principle
Sheath slivers
Carding drum
Spinning
aggregate
Core slivers
Dust extraction
Drafting unit
Core feeding
Fig. 31 – The Dref-3000 spinning unit
38 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
2.6.3.1. Operating principle 2.6.3.3. Specification
The Dref-3000 spinning system (Fig. 30 and Fig. 31) pro- Spinning positions per machine 3 - 24
duces bundled yarn according to the friction-spinning prin- Delivery speed 250 m/min
ciple. Basically, it is a Dref-2000 process expanded to ac- Raw material cotton/synthetic fibers
commodate a drafting arrangement (2) before the spinning Count range Ne 0.9 - 14.5; 40 - 700 tex
drums (4). Feedstock type draw frame sliver
A draw frame sliver (1) with a linear density of 2.5 - 3.5 ktex Type of yarn bundled yarn
is passed into this three-line double-apron drafting ar- Yarn characteristics few envelope fibers =
rangement (2). The strand (3) resulting from the draft of ring-spun yarn character;
about 100 - 150 proceeds from the delivery of the draft- many envelope fibers =
ing arrangement to the convergent region between the two rotor-spun yarn character
perforated drums (4). A pair of take-off rollers (7) draws Field of use home textiles, sport and
this strand through the convergent region of the perforated leisure clothing, outerwear,
drums and out of the spinning zone. technical products
The coherent fiber strand is nipped at the take-off rollers Advantages elimination of process
(7) and the drafting arrangement (2) and is rotated be- stages
tween these points by a pair of perforated drums (4). It is Remarks simple production process
therefore false-twisted between the nips. This means that
turns of twist are present between the drafting arrange- 2.6.3.4. Industrial impact of Dref-3000
ment and the drums, but not between the drums and the
withdrawal rollers. If this state of affairs were to continue, Dref-3000 is a typical process for the production of yarn
the strand would fall apart. Before this can happen, sta- specialties:
ple fibers are fed in free flight from above (5) into the con- • yarns made from unusual fibers;
vergent region between the drums. Owing to the rotation • composite yarns with a special core/sheath structure;
of the perforated drums, these incoming fibers wrap them- • yarns with special properties (protective textiles).
selves around the horizontally moving strand. A bundled
yarn is formed. Dref-3000 is therefore not a spinning process for mass pro-
duction, but an interesting and successful system for niche
The fiber cloud (5) arriving from above emerges from a sec- markets, where special, tailor-made yarns are required.
ond drafting arrangement with two opening rollers. This ar-
rangement is fed with four to six draw frame slivers with 2.6.4. PLYfiL spinning process
a linear density of 2.5 - 3.5 ktex. 2.6.4.1. Improved market prospects for plied yarns
From the take-off rollers (7) the yarn passes to a winding Plied yarns are seldom made from the products of new spin-
unit. The yarn leaves the machine in the form of cross- ning processes (Repco and spin-twist processes are excep-
wound packages. tions). Most plied yarns are made from ring-spun singles.
Ply twisting is therefore usually a cost-intensive process,
2.6.3.2. Raw material used and folded yarn is generally significantly more expensive
than single yarn. The field of application of plied yarn has
Almost all kinds of fiber material can be spun by this proc- thus shrunk in recent years. Nowadays, in short staple spin-
ess, even those that present problems in other contexts, ning, single yarns are used increasingly, although often a
e.g., aramid and carbon fibers. Polyester and polyamide plied yarn would be more suitable. The PLYfiL process by
fibers are often used in the core and cotton in the envelope. the Suessen company has opened up the possibility of pro-
The proportion of envelope fibers can be in the range of ducing folded yarns relatively economically; ply twisting
15 - 60 %, due to the fact that core and wrapping fibers are now has an opportunity to regain lost ground. The plied
fed from separate sources. Even filaments can be bound yarn made in accordance with this process exhibits slight
into the core to produce core yarns. The usable range of differences in comparison with conventional ply-twisted
fiber linear density is from 0.6 to 6.7 dtex.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 39
yarn; it is somewhat softer, fuller, and more open. How Principle of operation
ever, PLYfiL yarn has the same strength as conventional Draw frame slivers provide the feedstock. These are passed
ply-twisted yarn and is very even. through a five-line drafting arrangement (Fig. 32, A) with
The PLYfiL process is particularly suitable for medium to a draft of up to 350. The drafting arrangement (A) is followed
fine plied yarns and is therefore a direct competitor of ring by a strength-imparting unit (B). Here, as in the Murata false-
spinning and twist spinning (Siro). twist method, an Air-jet winds edge fibers and projecting fib-
er ends around the strand. As previously described in this
volume, a bundled yarn is produced in which the core fib-
ers are aligned in parallel while individual fibers of the en-
velope are wound around the body of the yarn. In contrast
to other processes of the same general type, the yarn only
receives sufficient strength here to enable winding up and
subsequent twisting to occur. The bindings typical of jet-
spun yarn are missing; they would give the yarn a rather
hard character.
Two such yarns are combined at C and taken away by the
take-off rollers (D). The yarn is taken up in a cheese, and
this is a ready-made feedstock for the twisting stage (ring
or – preferably – two-for-one twisting); the assembly-wind-
A
ing step is eliminated.
The wrapping fibers are detwisted during the twisting op-
eration; in the plied yarn, all fibers lie parallel. The process
differs from classical twisting in that it is not necessary to
detwist turns in the single ends in order to achieve a soft
plied product. The twisting step can therefore be carried
out with relatively low twist factors, enabling higher deliv-
ery speeds to be achieved.
B
2.6.4.2. Specification of the short-staple machine
Spinning positions per machine 20 - 100
Winding positions 10 - 50
Delivery speed 150 - 250 m/min
Raw material cotton, synthetic fibers,
blends (up to 90 mm)
C Count range 8.3 - 25 tex x 2
(2 x Nm 40 - 120)
D Feedstock draw frame sliver,
2.5 - 5 ktex
Yarn type plied, bundled yarn of low
strength
Folded-yarn characteristics even, strong, soft, fibers
lie parallel in plied yarn
Field of use shirts, underwear
Advantages very economical, roving
frame and assembly-
winding are unnecessary
Fig. 32 – The PLYfiL spinning system
40 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
Field of application processing man-made fibers and blends with cotton, where-
Suessen has offered PLYfiL in two versions: as when spinning 100 % cotton, i.e. somewhat shorter fib-
• PLYfiL 1000 for the short-staple spinning mill; ers, Air-jet yarns do not achieve sufficient strength (Fig. 33).
• PLYfiL 2000 for the medium-to-long-staple spinning mill. For this reason, the USA – with a large market for blended
cotton/polyester yarns – has a considerable number of Air-jet
PLYfiL folded yarns are suitable for woven and knitted machines in operation. In Europe and Asia, however, where
products. The short-staple plied yarns are mainly suited predominantly cotton is processed, Air-jet spinning has had
to shirting, underwear, etc., and the long-staple yarns no success.
are used in the menswear and ladies’ wear sectors.
In view of this situation, Murata developed a new spinning
Despite some quite attractive advantages of PLYfiL, Sues- process for fasciated yarns. The first patents erase were pub-
sen has discontinued sales of these machines. The market lished in the 1980s. At that time an air vortex was combined
for plied yarns is obviously limited, particularly in short with a rotating mechanical element. Since then, Murata has
staple spinning, and for PLYfiL this market is further re- abandoned the rotating element, leaving just the air vortex
stricted by the special structure of the PLYfiL ply yarns. with no movable mechanical part in the yarn formation zone.
Murata presented this new Air-jet system under the name of
2.7. Air-jet spinning Murata Vortex Spinning (MVS) at the Otemas 97 and then
2.7.1. Development at the ITMA 99 (Fig. 34 a)). As in two nozzle Air-jet spinning,
this system has a drafting unit for processing draw frame sliv-
The two nozzle Air-jet spinning system (refer to section ers and no moving parts in the spinning zone. Air-jet spinning,
“2.6.2. Two nozzle Air-jet spinning”) achieves a fasciated however, does not make use of false twist for yarn formation.
yarn character, i.e. a structure with twistless core and
twisted surface or wrapping fibers, through false twist dur- In 2008 Rieter launched its own J 10 Air-jet spinning machine
ing spinning. However, the false twist limits the percentage in the market. A double sided machine with 100 individually
of twisted surface fibers to a relative low level of about 5 %. driven spinning positions and 4 travelling robots aims at push-
Two nozzle Air-jet spinning is therefore quite successful in ing the economy of this spinning system further (Fig. 34 b)).
130
120
110 Compact
Ring spinning
100
Relative yarn strength [%]
90
80 Two nozzle Air-jet
spinning
70
Rotor spinning
60
50
Friction spinning
40
30
CO waste CO 1 1/16˝ CO 1 1/8˝ CO 1 1/2˝ PES/CO PES/MMF
carded combed combed 67/33 %
Mean fiber length: 8 mm 20 mm 25 mm 30 mm 33 mm 36 mm
Fig. 33 – Relative yarn strength
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 41
Package
Sliver
Waxing device
Front roller
Nozzle
Spindle
Yarn monitor
Take-up roller
Yarn quality sensor
Yarn clearer Housing with nozzle
Front roller
Apron with
apron roller
Middle roller
Package
Feeding roller
Sliver
Fig. 34 a) – Air-jet spinning principle by Murata (MVS) Fig. 34 b) – Air-jet spinning principle by Rieter (J 10)
42 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
Between the drafting unit and the point of yarn formation
at the entry to a stationary spindle (tube), the fibers are Fiber feed
channel
conveyed absolutely parallel to each other (Fig. 35). During
this fiber transport, a certain number of fiber ends are sep-
arated from the main fiber flow. These fiber ends are then
twisted around the non-rotating yarn core at the entry of
the hollow spindle by the action of a single air vortex.
Spindle Compressed air
Rotating fiber sun
L
Fig. 36 – Nozzle area (Rieter J 10)
For generating free fiber ends, the correct choice of dis-
Front tance L (Fig. 35) is very important. This distance should be
rollers
slightly shorter than the average length of the fibers being
Needle processed. This enables the transport air in the fiber feed
channel to separate fiber ends from the main fiber flow. It
is evident that the longer the distance L, the more free fib-
Spindle
er ends become available. L is therefore an important pro-
cess parameter. It is of course possible that during this pro-
cess of fiber end separation, entire – mainly shorter – fibers
Fig. 35 – Fiber transport from front rollers (Murata MVS) are extracted from the main fiber flow. These fibers have
no chance of being integrated in the yarn. They bypass the
spindle and are lost. In Air-jet spinning, the fiber loss (rela-
Compared to airjet spinning, this spinning process permits tively short fibers) is therefore relatively high (5 to 10 %).
a considerable increase in the number of surface fibers, i.e. The higher the short fiber content in the sliver, the higher
wrapping fibers, to the range of 15 to 30 %. This has a posi- the ratio of fiber waste.
tive effect on yarn strength, particularly when spinning cot-
ton. The Air-jet process has thus practically eliminated the By the action of the vortex, the fiber ends eventually whirl
main handicap of the two nozzle Air-jet spinning principle. around the spindle tip and are thus twisted around the
twistless yarn core and transformed into a twisted yarn sur-
2.7.2. Principle of operation face or cover fibers. This occurs at the spindle tip. The twist
of these surface fibers generates a certain torque in the
In order to make Air-jet spinning possible, 2 quite difficult yarn being formed. This torque has the tendency to twist
tasks have to be solved in the zone between the drafting the fiber bundle between drafting unit and spindle. Twist
system and entering the spindle. of this kind must be avoided in order not to interfere with
• separation of free fiber ends; the generation of the necessary free fiber ends. This can
• prevention of false twist formation. be solved by means of a twist stop. For this purpose Mura-
ta uses a needle (Fig. 35), which detours the fiber bundle
The fiber feed channel and the spindle are surrounded by before entering the spindle, thereby acting as an efficient
a housing (Fig. 36). The air vortex near the spindle entry twist stop.
generates a certain vacuum, which results in an air flow
through this channel. This air flow transports the fibers Once inside the spindle tip, the yarn formation process
from the drafting unit to the spindle entry. is finished, and the yarn can be taken off and wound onto
a package.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 43
2.7.3. Raw material requirements In the pre-draft zone there is a draft ratio between 1.57 and
2.10. Distances B and D can be adjusted according to staple
Due to the relatively high percentage of wrapping fibers, length. The resulting drafting distance in this first draft zone
the Air-jet process is perfectly capable of spinning 100 % should be just slightly higher than the maximum length of
cotton, from 1˝ staple upwards. For finer yarn counts the cot- the fibers to be processed.
ton has to be combed, of course. Synthetics (up to 40 mm)
and cotton/synthetics blends can also be processed without The draft ratio in the break draft zone is variable in the
difficulty. range of 1.2 to 2.4. Here also, distances A and C are
adjustable to suit the fiber material being processed,
As in ring spinning, however, almost all the yarn character- as in the pre-draft zone.
istics are improved by the use of longer and finer fibers.
Fiber control in the main draft zone is achieved by a pair
In Air-jet spinning, the fibers keep their orientation throughout of aprons. To obtain optimal results, the main draft should
the spinning process. Particularly the core fibers remain abso- be no less than 30-fold and no higher than 60-fold. As the
lutely parallel to the axis of the fiber flow. To optimize the spin- aprons provide efficient fiber speed control, the drafting
ning results, it is therefore advisable to process slivers with distance in the main draft zone is not adjustable.
very good fiber parallelization. This also helps to improve the
performance of the drafting system. This means that slivers The necessary cleaning of the drafting cylinders is per-
with 3 draw frame passages after carding should be used. As formed pneumatically.
the total draft of the Air-jet machine is limited (180 - 220 fold,
technology wise), it can be necessary to process slivers as fine 2.7.5. Spinning nozzle
as 2.5 ktex and even finer when spinning fine count yarn.
The spinning nozzle is basically the yarn formation
2.7.4. Drafting unit element, i.e. the heart of the Air-jet spinning process.
Compressed air at up to 0.6 Mpa enters the actual spinning
As in two nozzle Air-jet spinning, the drafting unit is also chamber through 4 small bores, thus creating a very strong
a very important element in Air-jet spinning. High drafts air vortex (see Fig. 36). At the outlets of the bores, this air
have to be performed, with good evenness of the fiber flow vortex has a rotation speed of up to 1 000 000 rpm. The
and excellent orientation of the fibers, at very high produc- vortex performs 2 functions through this high speed:
tion speeds. To achieve these goals, both suppliers have • generation of a vacuum and thereby an air flow through
equipped the Air-jet machines with a 4-cylinder drafting the fiber feed chanel;
system (Fig. 37). • rotation of the free fiber ends around the spindle tip.
The vacuum is necessary in order to seize the fibers at the
outlet nip of the drafting system and guide them securely
Delivery Apron Middle Feeding through the fiber feed channel of the spinning nozzle to-
roller roller roller roller ward the stationary spindle.
The fiber ends which have been split off from the main fiber
49.0 A B flow between drafting unit and spindle entry eventually
form a kind of fiber sun around the spindle tip (Fig. 36).
In order to transform these fiber ends into wrapping fib-
Top ers, they are rotated by the air vortex. The fibers thus reach
a rotation speed of over 300 000 rpm. This speed is very
high, but due to mechanical friction it is of course lower
Bottom
than the speed of the vortex.
44.5 C D
Fig. 37 – Drafting unit (Murata MVS)
44 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
In addition to generating twist, the rotation of the fiber ends Pspinn = PAa n
also creates spinning tension in the yarn, i.e. tension in the
yarn between nozzle and take-up rollers. This spinning ten- This leads finally to:
sion Pspinn can be approximately calculated (Fig. 38). The
shape of the fiber ends between spindle tip and nozzle hous- Pspinn = 1 T W ω 2 R2eµb sinb
2 yarn f
ing is certainly curved. But with regard to the action of the
centrifugal force acting on the fiber, it may be assumed that where:
this fiber end f has a radial direction, as shown in Fig. 38. Un- Tyarn = yarn count in tex
der this assumption, force PA acting on the fiber at point A can W = portion of wrapping fibers, 0 < W < 1
be calculated by the formula for the spinning tension in rotor
spinning, as it is the same physical situation, i.e. a rotating When spinning tension is calculated with this formula based
piece of fiber or yarn subjected to centrifugal forces [15]. The on actual spinning data, the result shows tension values some-
force in the fiber f at point A thus amounts to: what below 10 cN. This result corresponds very well with
measured values of the spinning tension. It means that the
yarn spinning tension in Air-jet spinning is quite small, somewhere
R between 5 and 15 cN, and thus much smaller than in ring spin-
ning. This low tension has an effect on end breakages. Unlike in
A ring spinning, end breakages mostly do not occur due to weak
fiber f
spindle
spots in the yarn, as spinning tension is far too low. If end
breakages occur in Air-jet spinning, these are mostly due to ir-
regularities in the fiber flow entering the spinning nozzle. Such
irregularities can be the result of thick places in the feed sliver,
drafting faults, fiber accumulations, large trash particles, etc.
2.7.6. Winding
nozzle housing The winding system has to be capable of handling the high
yarn production speeds of the Air-jet spinning machine, i.e.
up to 450 m/min. The Murata MVS machine is equipped with
Pspinn a traverse system common to all spinning units, as are the rotor
spinning machines. But as the delivery speed in Air-jet spin-
Fig. 38 – Calculation of the spinning tension (Rieter) ning is at least double that in rotor spinning, this leads to
a limitation of the possible number of spinning positions per
PA = 1 Tfiber ωf2 R2eµb machine side, due to the large increase in mass forces in the
2
traversing system with increasing numbers of spinning posi-
where: tions and increasing winding speeds. The Murata MVS machine
is single-sided with a maximum of 80 spinning positions where-
Tfiber = fiber count in tex as Rieter‘s J 10 Air-jet machine is designed as a double sided
ωf = angular velocity in s-1 machine starting in the market with 100 spinning positions and
R = radius of the spinning housing in cm potential of more spinning units per machine. Because of the
ß = fiber deflection angle single drive concept, the maximum number of spinning posi-
tions is not limited by the winding system. The yarn packages of
From this follows the component of the fiber force in the Air-jet machine, cylindrical or slightly conical, can be used di-
direction of the yarn axis PAa: rectly in downstream processing. Each spinning position of the
machine is therefore equipped with a yarn clearer, which effi-
PAa = PA sinb ciently removes any undesired defects from the yarn.
1 T ω 2 R2eµb sinb
PAa = 2.7.7. Automation
2 fiber f
In order to obtain the spinning tension, the axial fiber force Air-jet spinning is a high-output process. The Air-jet spin-
has to be multiplied by the number of wrapping fibers: ning machines are therefore fully automated, of course.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 45
Automation deals with the following functions: L is the distance between the outlet nip of the drafting unit
• repairing yarn breaks; and the spindle. With an increase in distance L, more fiber
• doffing full yarn packages; ends have the chance to be separated from the main fiber
• insert empty tubes and start spinning. flow, and thus more wrapping fibers are generated.
For repairing yarn break, the machine is equipped with Experience has shown that with coarser yarn count, the
up to 3 carriages (or robots) traveling along the machine. number of wrapping fibers increases, but not at the same
When a yarn is broken, one of the robots seeks the yarn end rate as the tex count. The percentage of wrapping fibers
on the package, then it restarts the spinning process and therefore tends to decrease as the yarns become coarser.
finally it recombines the yarn end from the package with While fine count yarns reach a level of up to 30 % of wrap-
the one which is leaving the nozzle after spinning has re- ping fibers, this percentage drops to 15 % or even below
started. The yarn being spun during the splicing or knot- for coarse yarns.
ting process is taken care of by a yarn storage system. The
repair of an end breakage is therefore not performed by The second parameter of great importance for the yarn prop-
a piecing, as is the case in rotor spinning. erties is the wrapping twist. This twist can be influenced by
the spinning speed and the flow rate of the compressed air.
A special carriage travels along the front of the machine for
doffing full yarn packages. This carriage takes a full pack- For given nozzle conditions, the fiber sun rotates at virtually
age out of the package holder, puts it down on a conveyer constant speed. An increase in the yarn delivery speed must
belt and inserts an empty tube into the package holder. therefore lead to a reduction in the wrapping twist level. This is
in fact the case, as is shown by the spinning results in Fig. 39.
2.7.8. Yarn structure
As already mentioned, Air-jet yarns have a fasciated (core /
sheat) structure. In fact, Air-jet spun yarns consist of a core 500
of essentially parallel fibers without any twist, which is 450
400
surrounded and bound together by wrapping fibers. These Cotton, 20 tex
Twist multiplyer [am]
350
wrapping fibers provide compression forces in the core
300
and thereby the necessary fiber friction in order to achieve
250
the desired yarn strength. As the wrapping fibers in Air-jet 200
yarns account for 15 to 30 % of the total yarn mass, the 150
core fibers are virtually completely covered by the wrap- 100
ping fibers, so that Air-jet spun yarns look very much like 50
a fully twisted yarn, such as a ring-spun yarn. 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
This particular structure of the Air-jet spun yarns influences Spinning speed in [m/min]
the yarn properties, of course. These properties are mainly
determined by 2 parameters: Fig. 39 – Yarn twist as a function of spinning speed (Rieter)
• the percentage of wrapping fibers;
• the twist level of the wrapping fibers. The wrapping twist level is furthermore a function of the flow
rate of the compressed air. This flow rate depends primarily
The percentage of wrapping fibers can be influenced by the on the air pressure and on the cross-section of the injection
spinning draft and by the distance L (Fig. 35), and it is also holes. When the pressure of the compressed air increases,
a function of the yarn count. the wrapping twist level increases virtually proportionally
(Fig. 40). Similarly, a larger cross-section of the injection
The spinning draft is the ratio between the speed of the bores leads to a higher wrapping twist.
take-up roller and the speed of delivery roller of the draft-
ing unit. This ratio is usually slightly below 1, which means In Air-jet spinning, it is therefore easily possible to
that the yarn take-up speed is slightly lower than the de accurately control the level of the wrapping twist.
livery speed of the drafting unit. If the spinning draft is
reduced, the number of wrapping fibers increases.
46 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
Within the product range of Air-jet spinning, yarn strength
is situated between the strength of ring-spun and rotor-
200 spun yarns, the strength of Air-jet spun yarns being nearer
Twist multiplyer [am]
Cotton, 20 tex
180 to rotor-spun yarns for shorter staples, and nearer to ring-
spun yarns for longer staples (Fig. 42 and Fig. 43).
160
140
18
120
16.8
16
Tenacity [cN/tex]
15.4
4.5 5.0 5.5 Air pressure [bar] 14 14.1
13.2
12.4 12.2
12
Fig. 40 – Yarn twist as a function of air pressure (Rieter)
10
8
2.7.9. Yarn properties Ne 20 Ne 32
OE Air-jet Ring
This chapter contains a description of the Air-jet yarn prop-
erties, together with an indication of how these properties
can be influenced. Fig. 42 – Comparison of yarn strength, 100 % cotton carded (Murata)
2.7.9.1. Yarn strength 23
21.4
21 20.8
Tenacity [cN/tex]
Yarn strength is very dependent on the wrapping twist 19.33 19.24 19.3
20.12
19
(Fig. 41). For optimal yarn strength, the wrapping twist 17.8 17.5 17.2
should be in the range of 140 to 160 am. With lower or high- 17
er wrapping twist, yarn strength is reduced. The strength/ 15
wrapping twist ratio is thus very similar to the strength/ 13
twist curve of a ring-spun yarn. For optimal yarn strength, Ne 20 Ne 30 Ne 40
however, Air-jet spun yarns need a somewhat higher twist
than ring-spun yarns. OE Air-jet Ring
Fig. 43 – Comparison of yarn strength, 50 % polyester,
50 % cotton carded (Murata)
16
14 2.7.9.2. Yarn evenness, thin and thick places
Cotton, 20 tex
Yarn strength [cN/tex]
12
10 As described in chapter 2.7.4., the drafting unit is a very
8 important element. The settings of this unit have to be
6 carefully adapted to the fiber material being processed. Un-
4 der this presupposition, Air-jet spun yarns achieve good
2 evenness values, comparable to those of ring-spun yarns.
0 Wrapping twist The drafting unit is in fact the main element for influencing
100 200 300 400 500 [am]
the evenness values of the Air-jet spun yarns.
Fig. 41 – Yarn strength as a function of twist (Rieter)
2.7.9.3. Neps
The strength of Air-jet spun yarns depends to a lesser
degree on the percentage of wrapping fibers. It is known The number of neps in Air-jet spun yarns is more or less
from experience that good strength values are achieved independent of the thin and thick places. This is particularly
with a wrapping fiber percentage of about 15 % or more. If true for the 200 % neps. The spinning results have actu-
the percentage drops much below 15 %, the yarn is no longer ally shown that sometimes wrapping fibers or fiber bundles
fully covered by wrapping fibers, the yarn axis becomes dis- might be counted as neps. The chances of this happening
torted into a corkscrew shape, and yarn strength is reduced. increase, of course, with increasing wrapping twist levels.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 47
Spinning results in Fig. 44 demonstrate quite clearly that As in ring-spun yarns, the hairiness of Air-jet yarns depends
with decreasing spinning speed, i.e. increasing wrapping very much on twist. The higher the wrapping twist, the low-
twist, the number of neps increases quite drastically. er the hairiness and vice versa (Fig. 46). It is therefore eas-
ily possible to influence the hairiness level of Air-jet yarns
via the wrapping twist.
Neps
200 %
6.7 H
Cotton, 20 tex
50 % 420 m/min
300 Uster Statistics 510 m/min
Ring yarn 600 m/min
250 6
Cotton, 37 tex
200
150 5
100
4
50
0 Spinning speed
320 350 380 410 440 470 500 530 [m/min] 3
140 160 180 200 220 240 260 280
Twist multiplyer
Fig. 44 – Nep count as a function of spinning speed (Rieter) [am]
Fig. 46 – Uster Hairiness as a function of wrapping twist (Rieter)
The nep count therefore gives some indication of the yarn
structure. Even so, the 200 % nep count of the Air-jet yarns 2.7.9.5. Yarn abrasion resistance
is similar to the nep count of ring-spun yarns, provided
the Air-jet yarns do not have an excessively high wrapping Lower hairiness has a positive effect on the abrasion re-
twist. sistance of Air-jet yarns. The abrasion resistance of Air-jet
yarns, as measured by the Staff Test, is in fact clearly better
2.7.9.4. Hairiness than that of ring-spun yarns.
The hairiness of Air-jet spun yarns is considerably lower than 2.7.10. Downstream processing and end products
the hairiness of comparable ring-spun yarns (Fig. 45). This
is particularly the case for longer hairs, with lengths of 3 mm Air-jet spun yarns display good performance in downstream
and more. The lower hairiness is due to the particular struc- processing, both in knitting and weaving. Their performance
ture of the Air-jet spun yarns. The core fibers do not actually is in general at least as good as that of ring-spun yarns. The
reach the yarn surface, but are hidden inside the yarn. This somewhat lower yarn strength is more than offset in down-
means that these fibers basically make no contribution to stream processing by positive yarn features:
yarn hairiness. The hairiness is therefore generated only by • low hairiness;
the wrapping fibers, which represent only a relatively small • good abrasion resistance;
percentage of the total fiber mass. • fewer yarn defects.
As regards hairiness, the considerably reduced number of
longer hairs in particular is favorable for processing Air-jet
3 000
yarns, especially in the warp.
Zweigle S3 hairiness
2 500 2 251 2 318
2 000 1 935 1 896
1 500 The good abrasion resistance of Air-jet spun yarns has
1 000 already been mentioned. This is clearly confirmed by the
500 398 410 404 420 results in Fig. 47. This leads to considerably reduced dust
0 and fly generation in weaving and knitting.
20/1 Ne Ring 20/1 Ne Air-jet 30/1 Ne Ring 30/1 Ne Air-jet
Spinning System
Carded Combed
Fig. 45 – Zweigle S3 hairiness (Murata)
48 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
Pilling resistance is really excellent (Fig. 49), this being
95 % dmin = 5.0 95 % dmin = 2.7 at least partly due to the fully covered core fibers.
40
35 32.7
30
25.2
Lint Shedding
[mg/meter]
25
Pilling Reistance after 15 minutes
22.8
20 6.0
16.9
15 5.0
10
4.0 3.9 4.0 3.6 3.6
5 2.4 1.9 2.9 3.2
0 3.0
20/1 Ne Ring 20/1 Ne Air-jet 30/1 Ne Ring 30/1 Ne Air-jet 2.0
1.7 1.7
Spinning System 1.0 1.0 1.0
0.0
Carded Combed Single-Jersey Single-Jersey Interlock Interlock
Ring Air-jet Ring Air-jet
Fig. 47 – Lint shedding (Murata) Spinning System
Carded Combed
Air-jet spun yarns generally have fewer major yarn defects,
which is of course positive with regard to yarn processing. Fig. 49 – Pilling resistance after 15 min (Murata)
The quality of fabrics out of Air-jet spun yarn is surprisingly Air-jet fabrics have a very good appearance. According to tests
good. An overview of these quality aspects is displayed in performed at Cotton Incorporated, Air-jet fabrics have very
Fig. 48. This summary is discussed in the following in more good overall surface definition and slightly more brightness.
detail, in comparison with ring-spun yarn fabrics. Tensile
strength is obviously slightly lower. The hand of Air-jet fabrics, in terms of softness, is situated
between the hand of ring-spun and rotor-spun fabrics.
Inferior Quality Ring Superior Quality
Tensil Strength
Tear Strength
Pilling
Wearability
Shrinkage
Dyeability
Air Permeability
Wrinkles
Appearance Evennes
Brightness
Hand Smoothness
Softness
Crispeness
Thickness
Fig. 48 – Quality of Air-jet fabrics compared to ring standard fabric
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 49
Due to the good overall properties of Air-jet products, Due to automation and the elimination of the roving frame
Air-jet yarns can be used for most applications within the and the winder, the operation of a Air-jet spinning mill re-
yarn count range in which Air-jet spinning is operating at quires considerably less manpower (Fig. 51).
present (Ne 15 to 60). The main products are summarized
in Fig. 50. 2.7.11.2. Space
Air-jet spinning mills require considerably less floor space
compared to ring spinning mills. The space requirement
Air-jet products
is typically around 50 % of that of a conventional mill.
Home textiles Apparel
2.7.11.3. Energy
Sheets Bottom weight twills
Towels Jersey A large part of the energy needed for Air-jet spinning is used,
of course, for generating compressed air. On the other hand,
Curtains Print cloth the much smaller premises allow for a reduction in the ener-
gy required for the air conditioning plant. In addition, the en-
Comforter Work wear ergy required for mechanical drives is comparatively low. In
total therefore, the energy requirement in Air-jet spinning is
Bed-linen Career apparel
thus quite considerably lower than in ring spinning.
Table cloth Military apparel
2.7.11.4. Waste
Fig. 50 – Air-jet products
The higher fiber loss in Air-jet spinning inevitably results
in correspondingly higher waste costs.
2.7.11. Economics
A few quantitative examples of cost calculations will just
It is extremely difficult to make comparisons of production give an idea of the overall cost situation (Fig. 52, Fig. 53,
costs, due to the considerable variation in cost structures Fig. 54). The energy costs for air conditioning are included
from country to country and mill to mill. In order to evalu- in these results, but the capital costs for the air conditioning
ate the economic aspects of Air-jet spinning, it is therefore equipment are excluded. Fig. 52 compares the production
preferable to describe primarily the situation regarding costs for a Ne 30 (Viscose) yarn in Turkey. The Air-jet spin-
the main cost components. This is done below, taking ring ning costs are at a similar level to those for rotor spinning,
spinning as a reference. but considerably lower than ring spinning costs. The costs
for a Ne 50 (man-made fibers) yarn are compared in Fig. 53.
2.7.11.1. Manpower This yarn is, of course, outside the range of rotor spinning,
but again Air-jet spinning produces at much lower costs than
ring spinning. Finally, Fig. 54 displays the production costs
for a Ne 30 (Viscose) yarn, this time in India. It is surprising
18
to note that Air-jet spinning is still considerably cheaper than
16
ring spinning, despite the extremely low wage level.
14
12 4.9
Summarizing, Air-jet spinning is, in fact, an economically
Persons
10
attractive spinning process.
8 2.7
6
1.6
4 0.9
2
0 3.4 7.9 5 11.5
Air-jet Ring Air-jet Ring
Ne 30 Ne 50
No. of operators No. of maintenance
Fig. 51 – Manpower saving (Rieter)
50 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
2.7.12. Market impact
Ne 30 (100 % CV), Turkey
117 %
100 %
Air-jet spinning is a very young spinning system. Neverthe-
USD / kg 1.2 84 %
less, up to mid-2004 about 32 000 Air-jet spinning posi-
1.1
1.0 tions (equivalent to approximately 600 000 ring spindles)
0.9 have been delivered worldwide. These machines are in-
0.8
0.7
stalled in more than 15 countries, including Europe.
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
Ring Rotor Air-jet
waste energy capital costs
labor auxiliary material
Fig. 52 – Comparison of spinning costs (Rieter)
Ne 50 (100 % man-made fibers), Turkey
120 %
103 %
100 %
USD / kg 2.0
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
Ring Rotor Air-jet
waste energy capital costs
labor auxiliary material
Fig. 53 – Comparison of spinning costs (Rieter)
Ne 30 (100 % CV), India
112 %
100 %
86 %
USD / kg 1.2
1.1
1.0
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
Ring Rotor Air-jet
waste energy capital costs
labor auxiliary material
Fig. 54 – Comparison of spinning costs (Rieter)
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 51
2.7.13 Comparison of Air-jet spinning systems
Features Murata MVS 861 Rieter J 10 air-jet spinning machine
Machine design one-side machine double sided machine with independent sides
Machine length (units) up to 80 up to 100
Unit pitch (mm) 215 260
Delivery speed (m/min) up to 450 up to 450
Automated processes 3 splicers (72 - 80 units), +1 - 2 doffers 4 robots
Air exhaust upward, downward downward
Waste filter disposal automatic manual (option: to be linked to an automatic system)
Can dimensions (mm) behind the machine 500 x 1 200 (in 2 rows under the machine) or Cubicans 235 x 920 x 1 200
Table 1 a) – Machine data
Features Murata MVS 861 Rieter J 10 air-jet spinning machine
Yarn count (Ne/tex) 15 - 60 / 39 - 10 20 - 50 / 29.5 - 12
Fiber length (mm) up to 38 up to 40
Sliver count (ktex) 2.5 - 5 2 - 4.5
Total draft ratio (fold) 35 - 300 43 - 200 (mechanical 317)
Winding format cylindrical, conical up to 5°57′ cylindrical
Package diameter (mm) up to 300 up to 300
Type of yarn connection splicer piecer
Yarn clearer Muratec Spin Clearer (standard) Uster Quantum Clearer
Table 1 b) – Technological & technical Data
52 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 53
3. SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK
3.1. Processing principles
3.1.1. Types of Operation
Open-end spinning False-twist Adhesive Air-jet
Twist spinning Self- Twilo
Wrap
Sirospun / twist
ParafiL
Rotor Dref-2000 Master Duospun Repco Two nozzle Dref- Murata MVS
Spinner Air-jet spinning 3000 Rieter J 10
Feedstock type:
sliver • • • • • • • •
roving • •
Form of feedstock:
single strand • • • • • • •
two strands •
in groups • •
Opening and attenuating assembly:
drafting arrangement • • • • • • •
opening roller • • • •
Fiber guidance:
guided • • • • • • •
freely floating • • • •
Approach of fibers (to strand):
linear forward • • • • • • •
at right angles • •
tangential forward •
tangential backward •
Collecting assembly:
not necessary • • • • • •
rotor •
drum • • •
Twist unit:
pneumatic • •
mech. rotor •
mech. drum • • •
mech. friction rollers •
mech. spindle • •
Take-up package:
cops •
cross-wound package • • • • • • • • •
Table 2 – Comparison of various types of operation of the spinning processes described
54 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
3.1.2. Twist potential and system limitations
System limited by
Spinning process Twist-imparting Imparting Draft and fiber
potential/min twist transport
Ring 15 000 - 25 000 Yes No
Rotor 80 000 - 120 000 Yes Partly
Two nozzle Air-jet 150 000 - 250 000 No Yes
Air-jet 250 000 - 400 000 No Yes
Table 3 – Comparison of the twist potential and limitations of the main spinning systems [1]
3.2. Field of use
3.2.1. Spinning mill process
Process Short-staple sector Worsted sector Coarse yarn sector Recycling
Open-end: Rotor • • •
Dref-2000 • •
Twist spinning: Duo / Siro (•) •
False twist: Two nozzle Air-jet spinning •
Dref-3000 •
Air-jet •
Table 4 – Overview of sectors in which the main processes are used
3.2.2. Yarn count range
Air-jet
Dref-3000
Two nozzle Air-jet
Dref-2000
Rotor
Ring
Nm 1 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 120 140 160 180 200
Ne 0.5 6 12 18 24 30 35 40 48 54 60 70 84 95 105 120
tex 1 000 100 50 33 25 20 17 14 12.5 11 10 8 7 6 5.5 5
Fig. 55 – Yarn count range of the industrial spinning systems
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 55
3.3. Yarn characteristics
3.3.1. Number of fibers in cross-section
Minimum Mostly above
Ring-spun yarn: combed 35 60
Ring-spun yarn: carded 80 100
Open-end rotor 90 120
Filament-wrapped 40 50
Two nozzle Air-jet 80 100
Air-jet 80 100
Table 5 – Required number of fibers in the main yarn types
3.3.2. Characteristic yarn properties
Ring-spun yarn Rotor-spun yarn Two nozzle Air-jet yarn Air-jet yarn
(false-twist)
• tensile-strength values good • tensile-strength values lower than ring-spun yarn • good tenacity • good tenacity
• good evenness • very good to good evenness • good evenness • good evenness
• high hairiness • higher stiffness than ring-spun yarn • low tendency to snarl • low hairiness
• low stiffness • low tendency to snarl • high stiffness • stiffness slightly higher than ring-spun yarn
• high tendency to snarl • high shrinkage • good abrasion resistance
Table 6 – Summarized characteristic properties of the main types of yarn [8]
3.3.3. Differences in strength 3.4. Economic comparison
3.4.1. Productivity of the process
130
120
C
110
Relative yarn strength [%]
g/ Spi.h
100 A
1 000
90
80 B
E 800
70
D B
60
600
50
40 D
400
30
C
CO waste CO 1 1/16˝ CO 1 1/8˝ CO 1 1/2˝ PES/CO PES/MMF
carded combed combed 67/33 %
200
Mean fiber length: 8 mm 20 mm 25 mm 30 mm 33 mm 33 mm
A
0
Rotor (B) Air-jet spinning (E) Com4® (C)
Nm 8.5 17 25 34 42 50 60 70 76
Two nozzle Air-jet Ring (A)
spinning (D) Ne 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
tex 120 60 40 30 24 20 17 15 13
Fig. 56 – The relative strength values of the main yarns
Fig. 57 – Production rates of different spinning methods [11]:
A Ring spinning, B Rotor spinning,
C Two nozzle Air-jet spinning, D Air-jet spinning
56 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
3.5. Outlook
The short staple spinning processes available today and
in the foreseeable future
• ring spinning
• compact spinning
• rotor spinning
• Air-jet spinning
have quite different characteristics as regards yarn struc-
ture, yarn count range, degree of automation, cost structure,
end product appearance, etc. The strength and weakness
profiles also differ accordingly.
This results in specific fields of application for the differ-
ent processes. On the basis of simplicity, yarn quality and
universality, ring spinning, together with the increasingly
important compact spinning process, will remain the domi-
nant spinning process in the long term. Rotor spinning will
certainly continue to display its strengths in medium to
coarse yarn counts, and maintain its market share. Air-jet
spinning will win specific application fields in the medium
count range at the partial expense of ring spinning and ro-
tor spinning.
In future therefore, the right process will find its use in the
specific production location and the foreseen yarn appli-
cation, making possible the optimum use of the different
characteristics of the available processes and thus enabling
tailor-made yarns to be produced.
Progress will certainly not come to a standstill. All the in-
dustrial processes mentioned will continue to be intensive-
ly developed and perfected. In this way, the spinner will be
able to put the strengths of these processes to even better
use. Spinning technology remains as dynamic as ever.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 57
REFERENCES
[1] Dr. H. Stalder [12] P. Artzt, H. Dallman, and K. Ziegler
New spinning processes and their possible Chemiefasern/ Textilindustrie,
applications and development potential 1985, 35/87, 876 (E104)
Lecture presented at meeting at ETH,
Zurich, Switzerland [13] F. W. Schneiter
Technology Course
[2] J. Luenenschloss and K. J. Brockmanns Maschinenfabrik Rieter AG, Winterthur, Switzerland
Melliand Textilberichte., 1982, 63,175, 261
[14] M. Frey and P. Toggweiler
[3] C. A. Lawrence and R. K. Jiang. Technology Handbook of Rotor Spinning
Text. Horiz., 1986, 6, No. 10, 40; Maschinenfabrik Rieter AG, Winterthur, Switzerland
Melliand Textilberichte, 1987, 68, 83 (E36)
[15] Dr. H. Stalder
[4] W. Klein Will rotor spinning supplement a replace the
Chemiefasern/Textilindustrie, 1983, 33/85, 248; conventional process
Textil-Praxis, 1983, 38, 205 (No. 3, X) Annual Conference of The Textile Institute, 1972
[5] J. Fischer
Textil-Praxis, 1985, 40, 1061 (No. 10, II)
[6] T. H. M. Terwee
Chemiefasern,Textilindustrie,
1979, 29/81, 736 (E108)
[7] Dr. H. Stalder
Textil-Praxis, 1983, 38, 208 (No. 3, XII)
[8] J. Luenenschloss and K. J. Brockmanns.
International Textile Bulletin, Yarn Forming,
1985, 31, No. 3, 29
[9] L. Schoeller. “Experience with friction spinning”
Reutlinger OE-Kolloquium, 1985
[10] H. W. Krause.
J. Text. Inst., 1985, 76, 185
[11] R. J. Gilmartin
Textile Month, 1987, June, 33
58 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 6 . Alternative Spinning Systems 59
ILLUSTRATIONS
Table 1 – Summary of the main characteristics Fig. 35 – Fiber transport from front rollers (Murata MVS) 42
of the various novel spinning processes 12 Fig. 36 – Nozzle area (Rieter J 10) 42
Fig. 1 – Formation of an open-end spun yarn 15 Fig. 37 – Drafting unit (Murata MVS) 43
Fig. 2 – The electro-spinning principle 15 Fig. 38 – Calculation of the spinning tension (Rieter) 44
Fig. 3 – The air-vortex spinning principle 17 Fig. 39 – Yarn twist as a function of spinning speed (Rieter) 45
Fig. 4 – The friction spinning principle 17 Fig. 40 – Yarn twist as a function of air pressure (Rieter) 46
Fig. 5 – Direction of fiber flow in friction spinning 18 Fig. 41 – Yarn strength as a function of twist (Rieter) 46
Fig. 6 – Fine and coarse yarns in the convergent Fig. 42 – Comparison of yarn strength,
region of friction-spinning drums 19 100 % cotton carded (Murata) 46
Fig. 7 – The Dref-2000 spinning system 20 Fig. 43 – Comparison of yarn strength, 50 % polyester,
Fig. 8 – The Masterspinner friction-spinning machine 21 50 % cotton carded (Murata) 46
Fig. 9 – The spinning principle of the Masterspinner 21 Fig. 44 – Nep count as a function of spinning speed (Rieter) 47
Fig. 10 – The disc-spinning principle 22 Fig. 45 – Zweigle S3 hairiness (Murata) 47
Fig. 11 – Formation of a twist-spun yarn 23 Fig. 46 – Uster Hairiness as a function
Fig. 12 – The twist-spinning process 23 of wrapping twist (Rieter) 47
Fig. 13 – Reciprocating friction of a fiber strand 24 Fig. 47 – Lint shedding (Murata) 48
Fig. 14 – Combining two fiber strands previously Fig. 48 – Quality of MVS fabrics compared
strengthened by friction 24 to ring standard fabric 48
Fig. 15 – Combining two fiber strands with a phase shift 25 Fig. 49 – Pilling resistance after 15 min (Murata) 48
Fig. 16 – The twist structure in a Repco double thread 25 Fig. 50 – Air-jet products 49
Fig. 17 – The Repco spinning machine 26 Fig. 51 – Manpower saving (Rieter) 49
Fig. 18 – The wrap-spinning principle 27 Fig. 52 – Comparison of spinning costs (Rieter) 50
Fig. 19 – Wrap-spun yarn 27 Fig. 53 – Comparison of spinning costs (Rieter) 50
Fig. 20 – The false-twisting device in the Fig. 54 – Comparison of spinning costs (Rieter) 50
ParafiL process by Suessen 28 Table 1 a) – Machine data51
Fig. 21 – The Twilo spinning principle 29 Table 1 b) – Technological & technical Data51
Fig. 22 – The Twilo spinning machine 30 Table 2 – Comparison of various types
Fig. 23 – A Bobtex yarn 31 of operation of the spinning processes described 53
Fig. 24 – The Bobtex spinning principle 31 Table 3 – Comparison of the twist potential and
Fig. 25 – The false-twist principle 32 limitations of the main spinning systems [1] 54
Fig. 26 – Spinning yarn by means of false twist 32 Table 4 – Overview of sectors in which
Fig. 27 – False twist (fasciated) yarn 33 the main processes are used 54
Fig. 28 – Two nozzle Air-jet spinning principle Fig. 55 – Yarn count range of the industrial
(Murata MJS) 34 spinning systems 54
Fig. 29 – The distribution of twist in the running Table 5 – Required number of fibers in
fiber strand 35 the main yarn types 55
Fig. 30 – The Dref-3 spinning principle 37 Table 6 – Summarized characteristic properties
Fig. 31 – The Dref-3000 spinning unit 37 of the main types of yarn [8] 55
Fig. 32 – The PLYfiL spinning system 39 Fig. 56 – The relative strength values of the main yarns 55
Fig. 33 – Relative yarn strength 40 Fig. 57 – Production rates of diff erent
Fig. 34 a) – Air-jet spinning principle by Murata (MVS) 41 spinning methods [11] 55
Fig. 34 b) – Air-jet spinning principle by Rieter (J 10) 41
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 6 – Alternative Spinning Systems
The alternative spinning systems produce yarn and hence end-products in a quality that differs to
a certain extent from the ring spinning standard. In order to take full advantage of the alternative
spinning systems, it is therefore essential to have a thorough understanding of them. This volume
is designed to contribute towards reaching this goal and describes the most important alternative
spinning systems in detail.
Rieter Machine Works Ltd. Rieter India Private Ltd. Rieter (China) The data and illustrations in this brochure and on the
Klosterstrasse 20 Gat No. 768/2, Village Wing Textile Instruments Co., Ltd. corresponding data carrier refer to the date of printing.
Rieter reserves the right to make any necessary changes
CH-8406 Winterthur Shindewadi-Bhor Road Shanghai Branch
at any time and without special notice. Rieter systems
T +41 52 208 7171 Taluka Khandala, District Satara Unit B-1, 6F, Building A,
and Rieter innovations are protected by patents.
F +41 52 208 8320 IN-Maharashtra 412 801 Synnex International Park
machines@rieter.com T +91 2169 304 141 1068 West Tianshan Road 1926-v3 en 1611
aftersales@rieter.com F +91 2169 304 226 CN-Shanghai 200335
T +86 21 6037 3333
F +86 21 6037 3399
ISBN 10 3-9523173-6-5
www.rieter.com ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-6-5
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 7
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 7 – Processing of Man-Made Fibres
Prof. Dr. Thomas Weide
Publisher
Rieter Machine Works Ltd.
Copyright
©2014 by Rieter Machine Works Ltd.,
Klosterstrasse 20, CH-8406 Wintherthur,
www.rieter.com
Part of this content provided by The Textile Institute. Used by permission.
Cover page
Laboratory for development of man-made fibres
Available Volumes/Edition:
Volume 1 – Technology of Short-staple Spinning
ISBN 10 3-9523173-1-4 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-1-0
Volume 2 – Blowroom & Carding
ISBN 10 3-9523173-2-2 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-2-7
Volume 3 – Spinning Preparation
ISBN 10 3-9523173-3-0 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-3-4
Volume 4 – Ring Spinning
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Volume 5 – Rotor Spinning
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Volume 6 – Alternative Spinning Systems
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Collectors Edition – all Volumes (Vol. 1-7)
ISBN 10 3-9523173-0-6 / ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-0-3
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 3
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 7 – Processing of Man-Made Fibres
Prof. Dr. Thomas Weide
4 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 5
THE RIETER MANUAL OF SPINNING
Volume 1 – Technology of Short-staple Spinning Volume 5 – Rotor Spinning
This deals with basic, generally valid, technological rela- This process resulted from research into alternative spinning
tionships in short-staple spinning. Subsequent volumes systems. This volume contains in-depth information on the
are organised according to machines or machine groups. rotor spinning process and its properties. Continual improve-
This separates generally valid basic principles from ongo- ments in spinning elements and conditions make it now pos-
ing developments in machine design and construction. sible to spin a rotor yarn optically similar to a ring-spun yarn.
Volume 2 – Blowroom & Carding Volume 6 – Alternative Spinning Systems
In-depth information is provided on opening, cleaning, To take full advantage of alternative spinning systems,
blending and carding and additional aspects are covered a thorough understanding of them is therefore essential.
such as acclimatisation of raw materials, anticipated waste This volume contributes towards reaching this goal by
from various grades of fibre, selection and setting of cleaning describing the most important alternative spinning sys-
and blending machinery, waste recycling, transport and the tems in detail. One of them is the well known air-jet
functions of the various card components as well as selection spinning technology.
and maintenance of card clothing and autolevelling systems.
Volume 7 – Processing of Man-Made Fibres
Volume 3 – Spinning Preparation
Ever since the introduction of man-made fibres on a commer-
Here the technical and technological aspects of the yarn cial scale, the market share of synthetic fibres has shown an
production process between carding and ring spinning are impressive growth rate. In this important field, the variety
covered, that means draw frame, combing section (includ- of man-made fibres with different properties is continuously
ing combing preparation) and roving frame. This is an increasing. For numerous applications today, fibres that are
important process stage, because the yarn quality largely practically “tailor-made” are available. Spinners must there-
depends on the quality of the intermediate products from fore have detailed understanding of the fibre properties and
which it is made. the specific characteristics that affect their processing.
Volume 4 – Ring Spinning
Technical and technological aspects of ring spinning are
covered. This is the final process in yarn production. The
ring spinning machine greatly influences the yarn and its
quality. Ring-spun yarns still represent the standard for
comparison when evaluating yarns produced by other
spinning processes.
6 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 7
EDITORIAL
With Volumes 1-7 of the „Rieter Manual of Spinning“, Rieter makes availa-
ble comprehensive knowledge of the whole short-staple spinning process.
The development of the current process technology has been dominated
from its very beginnings to well into the last millennium by cotton.
The story of „man-made fibres“ goes far back into the 17th century and in
this volume is also briefly revisited. The original drive for the development
of man-made fibres was to replace cotton and thus the complicated process
from the fibre to the yarn. An artificial endless thread, initially following
the example of silk, was the dream. If the current diversity of products and
applications with which synthetic filaments can be produced is traced back,
then this dream has been largely realised and furthermore leaves a great
many options open. In 2013, a fibre consumption of approx. 83 million
tons, excluding non-wovens, was recorded. Filaments with approx. 38 mil-
lion tons achieved a share of almost 45 % of the global fibre consumption.
Nonetheless, this stormy development of filaments with their innovations
could not displace cotton and the short-staple spinning process. In 2013,
around 24 million tons of cotton were still processed – far more than half
the processed staple fibres of approx. 44 million tons. Cotton is therefore
still a very important raw material and this not only for the textile industry
but also for the social and industrial development of numerous countries.
Already in the last century, the cotton harvest was insufficient to meet
demand. This is the foundation for the equally dynamic development of the
synthetic staple fibre production with focus on polyester and viscose fibres.
These fibres have partially given staple fibres access to new areas of appli-
cation and also completely replaced earlier cotton applications. In addi-
tion, and that is today by far the greatest component, blends of cotton with
synthetic fibres and blends between synthetic fibres allow yarn character-
istics to change. These yarn developments aim to achieve better wearing
properties, easier care properties, a change in the final fabric in relation
to structure or appearance or an increase of the economic suitability.
The blending of raw materials presents new challenges to the short-staple
spinning process. The processing of blends is often more difficult than the
pure raw material alone. For this reason, this volume specifically deals with
these raw materials and their processing. In particular, when the raw mate-
rial is selected not as a replacement for something but as a tool for some-
thing new, it opens exciting possibilities to the spinning industry. To dis-
cover these is what I wish readers of this volume.
Our special thanks also go to Dr. Thomas Weide who essentially contrib-
uted to this volume based on his wide experience in the field of processing
man-made fibres.
Edda Walraf, Vice President Marketing, Rieter Spun Yarn Systems
8 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 9
CONTENTS
1. Introduction 11 4.4. Fibre properties in the end product 28
2. Overview of man-made fibres 13 4.5. Modifications of fibre properties 29
2.1. History 13 4.6. Summary of most important fibre properties 29
2.2. Man-made fibre types 13 5. Processing of man-made staple fibres in spinning mill 31
2.3. Classifications and definitions 14 5.1. General problems 31
3. Manufacture of man-made staple fibres 15 5.1.1. Spin finish 31
3.1. General production steps 15 5.1.2. Inadequacies of fibre material 31
3.1.1. Polymer 15 5.1.2.1. Cut packets (cut groups) 31
3.1.2. Spinning 15 5.1.2.2. Coarse fibres (hairs, bristles) 31
3.1.2.1. Melt spinning 15 5.1.2.3. Overlong fibres 32
3.1.2.2. Dry spinning 16 5.1.2.4. Fibre dust 32
3.1.2.3. Wet spinning 16 5.1.3. Further disturbances arising from the fibres 32
3.1.3. Drawing 16 5.1.3.1. Anti-pilling types 32
3.1.4. Setting 17 5.1.3.2. Fibre delustrants 32
3.1.5. Finishing 17 5.1.4. Static electricity 32
3.1.6. Crimping 17 5.1.4.1. Generation of static electricity 32
3.1.7. Drying 17 5.1.4.2. Influencing factors 33
3.1.8. Cutting 17 5.1.4.3. The problems for the spinning mill 33
3.1.9. Pressing 17 5.1.5. Environmental conditions 33
3.2. Manufacturing of man-made fibres 17 5.1.5.1. General conditions 33
3.2.1. Manufacturing of synthetic fibres 18 5.2. Storage of man-made fibres 34
3.2.1.1. Polyester (PES) 18 5.3. Blending 34
3.2.1.2. Polyacrylonotrile 18 5.3.1. Purpose of blending 34
3.2.2. Manufacturing of cellulosic fibres 19 5.3.2. Blend proportions 34
3.2.2.1. Viscose 19 5.3.3. Blend evenness 35
3.2.2.2. Modal 19 5.3.4. Types of blending operations 35
3.2.2.3. Lyocell 19 5.3.4.1. Tuft blending at the start of blowroom 35
4. Properties of man-made staple fibres 5.3.4.2. Tuft blending 37
and their effects on spinning15 5.3.4.3. Sliver blending 37
4.1. Structural properties 21 5.3.5. Blending of waste material 37
4.1.1. Fibre fineness 21 5.4. Blowroom 37
4.1.1.1. Significance 21 5.4.1. Blowroom installations 37
4.1.1.2. Numbers of fibres in cross-section 5.4.2. Bale layout 38
in blended yarns 22 5.4.3. General settings 38
4.1.1.3. Spinning limits 22 5.4.4. Problems 38
4.1.2. Fibre length 22 5.4.5. Processing environment 39
4.1.3. Fibre cross-section 23 5.5. Carding 39
4.1.4. Crimp 23 5.5.1. General 39
4.1.5. Fibre surface area 24 5.5.2. Machine elements and general settings 39
4.2. Physical properties 24 5.5.2.1. Card clothing 39
4.2.1. Fibre strength and elongation 24 5.5.2.2. Licker-in 40
4.2.2. Lateral strength [6] 26 5.5.2.3. Pre- and post-carding areas 41
4.2.3. Shrinkage behavior [6] 26 5.5.2.4. Main carding area 42
4.3. Behavior against environment [6] [7] 27 5.5.2.5. Doffer 43
4.3.1. Moisture 27 5.5.3. Problems 43
4.3.2. Temperature 27 5.5.4. Process environment 43
4.3.3. Light and weather 28 5.6. Combing 43
5.7. Drawing 43
10 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
5.7.1. Number of draw frame passages 43 5.12.2.5. Spinning Speed 69
5.7.2. General settings 45 5.12.2.6. Spinning Pressure 69
5.7.2.1. Roller setting 45 5.12.3. Problems 69
5.7.2.2. Top roller pressure 46 5.12.4. Process environment 69
5.7.2.3. Draft distribution 47 5.13. Steaming and stabilization [17] 70
5.7.2.4. Speed 47 5.13.1. General considerations 70
5.7.2.5. Web condensing 48 5.13.2. Packaging of yarn for treatment 70
5.7.3. Problems 48 5.13.3. Steaming equipment 70
5.7.4. Process environment 49 5.13.4. Mode of operation 70
5.8. Roving production 49 5.13.5. Operating procedure for steaming and stabilizing 70
5.8.1. General settings 49 5.13.6. Steaming 71
5.8.1.1. Roller setting 49 5.13.7. Stabilization 71
5.8.1.2. Draft distribution 50 References73
5.8.1.3. Condensers 50 Illustrations75
5.8.1.4. Roving twist level 51
5.8.1.5. Flyer speed 51
5.8.2. Problems 51
5.8.3. Process environment 51
5.9. Ring spinning 52
5.9.1. General settings 52
5.9.1.1. Roller settings and cradle length 52
5.9.1.2. Top roller pressures and top roller cots 52
5.9.1.3. Draft distribution 53
5.9.1.4. Traveler speed 53
5.9.1.5. Traveler form 54
5.9.1.6. Spinning limit and yarn twist 55
5.9.2. Problems 56
5.9.2.1. General problems 56
5.9.2.2. Thermal fibre damage [10] [11] [12] 56
5.9.3. Process environment 57
5.10. Compact spinning 57
5.10.1. General settings 57
5.10.1.1. Compacting zone 57
5.10.1.2. Ring finish 58
5.10.1.3. Traveler form 58
5.11. Rotor spinning 59
5.11.1. Fibre selection 59
5.11.2. General settings 59
5.11.2.1. Opening roller type and opening roller speed 59
5.11.2.2. Rotor type and rotor speed 61
5.11.2.3. Channel inserts 63
5.11.2.4. Draw-off nozzle 63
5.11.2.5. Spinning limit and yarn twist 65
5.11.3. Problems 65
5.11.4. Process environment 66
5.12. Air-jet spinning 66
5.12.1. Fibre and sliver requirements 66
5.12.2. General settings 66
5.12.2.1. Roller settings 66
5.12.2.2. Draft distribution 67
5.12.2.3. Spinning nozzle 68
5.12.2.4. Spinning nozzle spacing 68
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 11
1. INTRODUCTION World population and fibre consumption
8
Since the first production of an artificial fibre in 1855 the 14
Fibre consumption [kg/head]
7
man-made fibre technology has been a great success sto- 12
Population in billion
6
ry. Global man-made fibre production (filaments and sta- 10 5
8
ple fibres) increased constantly and reached an annu- 4
6 3
al consumption of 55 million tons in 2011, representing 4 2
more than 65 % of total fibre consumption worldwide (see 2 1
Fig. 1). Approximately 44 % of the produced man-made fi- 0 0
bres are converted to staple fibres. Today it is not possible 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
year
to ensure an adequate supply of textiles for mankind with-
out the exploitation of man-made fibres. Population Consumption / capita
Fig. 2 – World population and fibre consumption over the years [2]
Global production of fibres 2011
Global production of fibres
Man-made staple fibres, 29
50
45
Cotton, 32 40
35
Million tons
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Other natural fibres, 2 year
Natural fibres Man-made fibres
Man-made filament fibres, 37 Fig. 3 – Global fibre production over the years [2]
Fig. 1 – Global production of fibres in 2011 [1]
It is expected that worldwide man-made fibre consumption
will still increase significantly. Fig. 2 shows the develop-
ment of the world population and the worldwide fibre con-
sumption per head from 1950 to 2011. It can be clearly
seen that these two values increased dramatically over the
years. In the future, both world population and absolute fi-
bre consumption per head are expected to rise further, but
production of natural fibres can be expanded only slowly
(see Fig. 3). The expected substantial rise in the demand
for fibres throughout the world during the coming decades
must therefore be satisfied by increased use of man-made
fibres. The fibres themselves, and hence the know-how in-
volved in processing them, are therefore steadily acquiring
greater significance.
12 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 13
2. OVERVIEW OF MAN-MADE FIBRES due to the low melting point of that material he focused on
2.1. History making polyamide fibres. He succeeded in 1935 with spin-
ning polyamide 6.6 fibres which were introduced to the
The first patent about man-made fibre production traces market in 1940 and are known as nylon.
back to 1855 when the Swiss chemist George Audemars To circumvent the DuPont polyamide fibre patents, the Ger-
invented a way to produce artificial silk. He dipped needles man Paul Schlack found a way to produce fibres out of poly-
into a liquid mulberry bark pulp and gummy rubber and amide 6 in 1938. Mass production of the so-called perlon
drew threads out of that solution. Though the method was fibres only started in 1950 because of the war.
too slow for practical use it was the beginning of a very In 1941 J. R. Whinfield and J. T. Dickson invented in Eng-
successful new industry. land a melt spinning process for polyester fibres by poly-
The first industrial production of a man-made fibre was re- condensation (see chapter 3.2.1.) which went into mass
alized by the Frenchman Hilaire de Chardonnet. His artifi- production after the war. Polyester became soon the most
cial silk was a cellulose-based fibre known as Chardonnay important man-made fibre type in the fibre industry.
silk. He started 1891 to produce these fibres in Besancon After finding an appropriate solvent, polyacrylonitrile fibres
(France) with a production of 50 kg per day. were first spun in 1942 by Robert Hein (only two months
In the same year a new way to dissolve cellulose and to later DuPont made the same invention).
spin a viscose yarn was invented by Charles F. Cross, Ed-
ward J. Bevan and Clayton Beadle in England. Later this 2.2. Man-made fibre types
yarn was also called rayon. Though it took a few years be-
fore this new method came into industrial and economical There is a huge variety of man-fibres that can be produced
production it is still used today and known as the classical today. The whole group of man-made fibres can be divided
viscose spinning method (see chapter 3.2.2.1.). into three major categories:
The first patent for the production of a synthetic fibre was • natural polymers
filed by Fritz Klatte in 1913 relating to spinning of polyvi- • synthetic polymers
nylchloride fibres. However, mass production was not used • inorganic materials.
until 1939 for various reasons.
In 1930 Wallace H. Carothers from DuPont found the first In Fig. 4 a further subdivision of these major categories
polyester out of which it was possible to draw fibres. But with examples for each group can be seen [2].
Chemical fibres
From natural polymers From synthetic polymers From inorganic materials
Plant derived Animal derived Polymeride fibres Polycondensation fibres Polyaddition fibres
Cellulosic Alginic Elastomer Regenerated
fibres man-made fibres fibres (rubber) protein fibres
From regenerated From From From
cellulose cellulose ester plant proteins animal proteins
Cupro Acetate Zein Casein Polyethylene Polyurethane
Polyamide Glass fibres
Viscose Triacetate Polypropylene Elasthane
Polyester Metal fibres
Modal Polychloride Polycarbamide Carbon fibres
Paper Fluoric fibres
Polyacrylnitrile
Modacrylic
Vinyl fibres
Tri-vinyl
Elastomeres
Fig. 4 – Categorization of chemical fibres [3]
14 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
Man-made fibres Spun staple fibre yarns
Others, 0.9 Others, 0.9
Cellulosics, 8.6 Wool, 2.5
Acrylics, 4.3 Acrylics, 5.0
Cellulosics, 5.6
Polypropylen, 5.9
Polyamid, 7.9 Polyester, 27.8
Polyester, 72.3 Cotton, 58.1
Fig. 5 – Percentage distribution of worldwide produced man-made fibres Fig. 6 – Percentage distribution of fibre materials used in spun staple
in 2011 [1] fibre yarns in 2009 [2]
Despite the huge variety of man-made fibres only a few Focusing on the application of spun staple fibre yarns (short and
types have a significant market share of the worldwide pro- long staple) the variety of used man-made fibres has further de-
duced man-made fibres (filament and staple fibres) which creased. Fig. 6 shows the percentage of all (natural and man-
can be seen in Fig. 5. Polyester is by far the most important made) fibre materials in staple fibre spinning. In this graph short
man-made fibre with a market share of more than 70 %. staple fibres which are with a share of approx. 90 % the domi-
The remaining share is mostly taken by fibres made out of nant group and long staple fibres are considered. In the short-
cellulosics, polyamides, polypropylenes and acrylics. staple spinning mill, beside the use of the natural cotton fibres
almost exclusively polyester, cellulosic and polyacrylonitrile fi-
bres are used. Accordingly, the following description will con-
centrate mainly upon these three raw materials.
2.3. Classifications and definitions
Designation Definition
Man-made fibre Generic name for filament yarn, staple fibre, monofilaments, etc.
Filament Man-made fibre of very great length, e.g. several kilometers
Filament yarn Man-made-fibre yarn comprising one or more filaments
Monofilament yarn Filament yarn consisting of one filament with a thickness of up to 0.1 mm (above 0.1 mm = Monofilament)
Monofilament Single filament with a thickness of more than 0.1 mm (up to 0.1 mm = Monofilament yarn)
Multifilament yarn Filament yarn comprising many filaments up to 30 000 dtex (above 30 000 dtex = Tow)
Tow Above 30 000 dtex (below 30 000 dtex = Multifilament yarn)
Staple fibre Fibres of limited length
Short-cut fibre Used for (e.g.) pile coatings, and production of nonwoven by the wet process
Web Textile structure of filament or staple fibre held together by inherent adherence
Non-woven Web or wadding strengthened by mechanical and/or chemical means
Sliver Continuous strand of predominantly longitudinally oriented fibres without twist
Roving Draftable fibre strand with protective twist
Staple-fibre yarn Spun yarn of staple fibre
Texturized filament Filament yarn treated mechanically or thermally to impart volume and/or elasticity
Assembled yarn Multiple yarn of two or more filament or staple-fibre yarns (single or plied) wound together
Plied yarn (twist) Multiple yarn of two or more filament or staple-fibre yarns (single or plied) twisted together
Table 1 – Classifications and definitions (according to ISO Standard)
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 15
3. MANUFACTURE OF MAN-MADE 3.1.2.1. Melt spinning
STAPLE FIBRES
In the first part of this chapter the general steps of the pro-
duction of man-made fibres are theoretically introduced.
In the second part the production of the man-made fibres
which are mostly used in short staple spinning is described.
3.1. General production steps
Spinning Pump
3.1.1. Polymer
All man-made fibres have one feature in common – in the
first phase of their manufacture, long-chain molecules are
formed by a sequence of predominantly chemical process
Spinning Jet
stages. Each long-chain molecule consists of a large num-
ber of identical individual molecules bound together in
a row. Depending upon the raw material, a chain of this
type can be made up of dozens, hundreds, or even thou-
sands of individual molecules. The resulting substance is
called a polymer. The polymer-manufacturing process is the
Coolant
determining factor for many basic characteristics, such as
density, ability to absorb moisture, melting point, behavior
in relation to dye and burning temperature. Additives can
Filaments
also be incorporated into the polymer to adjust the charac-
ter of the textile raw material. Thus, delustring agents (tita-
nium dioxide), dyes, and lustring agents can influence the Fig. 7 – Melt spinning
appearance of a raw material, while other additives can be
used to raise the ignition temperature or to alter behavior The polymer is fed to the spinning nozzle as a hot molten
in response to selected dye groups. material. The extruded filaments are cooled by an air
stream in the cooling duct so that they can be coiled in
3.1.2. Spinning carts without sticking together as a bundle (Fig. 7).
This process is used for spinning polyester, polyamide, pol-
The prepared polymer, in the form of a viscous fluid, is yolefin, and glass fibres (amongst others). It is a feature of
forced through the multiple holes of a spinning nozzle so melt spinning that filaments with all possible cross-sections
that a correspondingly large number of streams is created, can be produced by suitable choice of the hole section in
as in a shower. These so-called filaments are then strength- the spinning nozzle (e.g. round, triangular, star-shaped,
ened. These process steps can be realized by three different etc.). The other spinning principles, now to be described,
spinning principles as follows. enable this to only a limited extent.
16 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
3.1.2.2. Dry spinning The polymer is also spun in the form of a solution in this pro-
cess. However, the filaments are strengthened by extraction of
the solvent instead of the vaporization step used in dry spinning.
The solvent can be extracted either by simply washing it out or
by a chemical reaction between the polymer solution and a rea-
gent in the spinning bath. Wet spinning is used to make viscose,
aromatic polyamide, and some polyacrylonitrile fibres (Fig. 9).
3.1.3. Drawing
Spinning Pump
After the consolidation of the spun fibres the chain molecules
are more or less randomly oriented. To acquire the definitive
Warm air to stress-strain characteristics, these chain molecules have to be
drive off the
solvent parallelized and aligned in the longitudinal direction by the
drawing process. In this process the filaments are extended
Spinning Jet many times their original length by the use of two or more
godet pairs (see Fig. 10); each downstream godet pair runs
faster than the godet pair before.
Filaments
Fig. 8 – Dry spinning
In dry spinning, the polymer is first dissolved in a solvent
which is vaporized in the spinning duct by means of hot air
1. godet pair
leaving the polymer in the form of solidified filaments (Fig. 8).
Drawing zone
3.1.2.3. Wet spinning
2. godet pair
Fig. 10 – Drawing process
Spinning Pump The drawing process can be done in a single process step to
a fully oriented yarn (FOY) directly after spinning (as it is
shown in Fig. 10) or in two process steps. In the latter case the
fibres are only partly drawn to a partially oriented yarn (POY)
Filaments
and the final drawing process to fully oriented yarn (FOY) is
done at the next process step (e.g. texturizing). Depending on
the degree of orientation filament yarns have different names:
• LOY low oriented yarn
Spinning Bath • MOY medium oriented yarn
• POY pre (partially) oriented yarn
• HOY high oriented yarn
Spinning Jet
• FOY fully oriented yarn.
Fig. 9 – Wet spinning
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 17
3.1.4. Setting 3.1.7. Drying
Temperature treatment (steam or hot air) is used to achieve Heating of the filament tow, required for drawing and crimp-
the desired residual shrinkage behavior. Setting can be car- ing, is often performed by means of hot water or steam. Spin
ried out before or after imparting crimp and the stability of finish is also often applied as a dispersion in water. Hence
the crimp can be influenced in this way. Setting of viscose the drawn, lubricated, and crimped tow must be dried which
by heat treatment is possible only to a limited degree be- is usually done in perforated-belt or drum dryers.
cause this raw material responds less to temperature than
to moisture. Accordingly, in this case, the severed tufts are 3.1.8. Cutting
allowed to shrink in hot water and in a tension-free condi-
tion; spin-bath residues are washed out simultaneously. Tow is often delivered directly to the worsted spinning mill,
but the short-staple mill needs staple fibres cut to predeter-
3.1.5. Finishing mined lengths. Filament tow is fed to a cutting device while
being held under a defined tension; the resulting tufts are
Man-made fibres necessarily need a thin surface coating, transported to the bale press and packed. In the case of vis-
the so-called spin finish, like the grease coating on wool cose fibres, cutting is carried out straight after drawing, so
and wax coating on cotton. Spin finish optimizes the fibre/ that lubrication, crimping, shrinking, and drying are per-
fibre and fibre/foreign body (e.g. metal, ceramics) friction formed on tufts, not tow.
and acts as a lubricant. In addition the spin finish can affect
such important characteristics as: 3.1.9. Pressing
• anti-static behavior
• thread connections The tufts are compressed in box-like presses to rectangular
• openability bales (sometimes cubes). A bale with a volume of between
• protection of the material. 0.5 and 1 m³ contains between 200 and 400 kg of tufts.
The trend is towards heavier bales for reasons of econo-
In contrast to the described positive effects of the spin fin- my; limits to this tendency are set by floor loading in trans-
ish, it also causes problems in the downstream processes port and storage and by the maximum permissible height of
which will be explained in chapter 5.1.1.. The optimal spin bales that can be presented to automatic bale openers.
finish composition represents the most favorable compro-
mise between the previously mentioned positive, desired 3.2. Manufacturing of man-made fibres
characteristics and the negative flow-on properties.
As mentioned in chapter 2.2. there are only three man-made
3.1.6. Crimping fibre types with a significant market share in the short fibre
industry: the synthetic fibres polyester and polyacryloni-
The originally smooth fibres must be crimped for spinning trile and the cellulosic fibres with viscose still representing
to ensure better blending properties in combination with the dominant fibre type in that category but also lyocell and
other fibre materials, and also in part to achieve a certain modal fibres. The production methods of these fibre types
feel or volume in the end products. The operation is usu- will be explained shortly in the following chapters.
ally performed by means of a stuffing chamber in which the In general, a comparison of the production method of pol-
filament tow receives an irregular, two-dimensional, zig- yester (Fig. 11), polyacrylonitrile (Fig. 12) and viscose
zag crimp. However, this principle is not suitable for treat- (Fig. 13) will reveal a basic difference between polyester
ment of viscose fibre which cannot be plastically deformed on the one hand (two-stage process) and acrylic / viscose
so easily. Accordingly, in this case, inherent shrinkage dif- fibres (single step process) on the other.
ferences within the fibres are exploited; during the washing Each of these processing types has advantages and dis-
step (see Setting in chapter 3.1.4.), these differences give advantages inherent in its operating principle. The two-
a slight three-dimensional crimp. Certain measures can be stage operation in melt spinning gives the advantage of
taken to reinforce the local shrinkage differences within the a lower number of spinning positions or nozzle jets. Fur-
fibre and thus to achieve a more intensive crimp effect. thermore, the separate downstream-process equipment
18 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
can be stopped for maintenance or minor repairs without Fig. 11 shows the production of polyester-staple fibres.
causing problems, because the step of coiling material It can be seen that operations after the polycondensation
in cans serves as a material buffer. The associated disad- stage can be performed continuously or discontinuously.
vantage is that of a greater requirement for floor space to In the first case, the polyester melt is fed directly to the jet
support cans and enable can transport. The disadvantag- by way of the spin pump while in the second case, a granu-
es and advantages of wet spinning can be derived from late is formed by allowing the material to solidify and then
the same considerations. Both these considerations also breaking it into pieces. The granulate can be transported
apply for other fibres that require separate downstream and stored easily so that any desired number of spinning
treatment because they are made by melt or dry spinning machines, in the same plant or elsewhere, can be supplied
processes (e.g. polyamide, polyolefin, and dry-spun pol- from a central granulate-production installation. In general,
vacrvlonitrile fibres). the more economic continuous process will be selected
for large-scale production; for specialties, e.g. spun-dyed
3.2.1. Manufacturing of synthetic fibres fibres, there are advantages in using the granulate route.
3.2.1.1. Polyester (PES) The melt spinning process is separated from downstream
processing. The intermediate product is spun at high speed
Polyester is made from ethylene glycol and terephthalic (over 1 000 m/min) and coiled in cans. Large numbers of
acid by splitting out water molecules, so it is a typical ex- these cans are then presented as feedstock to the subse-
ample for polycondensation where molecules are split out quent processing stage in which drawing, setting, finishing,
when the monomers join together. crimping, drying and cutting (converting) takes place. The
delivery speed of the second processing stage is not high
enough to cope with the delivery speed of the first process-
Glycol
Terephtalic
acid
ing stage and therefore the two stages have to be separated.
Can 3.2.1.2. Polyacrylonotrile
Polycondensation
Polyester melt
Solidify
Granulate
Ammonia Propylene Oxygene
Continuous Discontinuous
Drawing,
Melt poss. setting
Acrylonitrile
Finishing
Spinning
Pump
Crimping Polymerisation to
Spinning polyacrylonitrile
Jet Drying,
poss. setting
Converting Drawing
Spinning solution
Pressing Washing
Spinning Drawing
Pump
Can
Finishing
Staple
fibres
Crimping
Drying
Fig. 11 – Manufacturing of polyester staple fibres
Spinning jet Cutting
in spinning bath
Staple
fibres
Fig. 12 – Manufacturing of polyacrylonitrile staple fibres
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 19
Polyacrylonitrile is manufactured by radical polymerization To manufacture a viscose fibre, cellulose pulp which is
out of acrylonitrile which is made out of ammonia, propylene a natural polymer is dissolved in caustic soda, separated
and oxygen. The spinning solution is then wet spun. Down- into fibres and allowed to age. The preliminary aged pulp
stream processing is continuous with spinning. Wet spinning is then treated with carbon disulphide to form a yellow-
is performed at much lower speeds (about 100 m/min or less), colored cellulose xanthogenate which is dissolved
so that the spun filaments can be treated directly (Fig. 12). in caustic soda again to start the viscose formation. After
filtering and aging it is wet spun to filament fibres.
3.2.2. Manufacturing of cellulosic fibres Like the manufacturing of polyacrylonitrile fibres the down-
3.2.2.1. Viscose stream processing is continuous with spinning (Fig. 13).
3.2.2.2. Modal
Cellulose pulp
Modal is a cellulosic fibre manufactured by a modified vis-
Soak in
caustic soda cose spinning process with a higher degree of polymeriza-
tion and a modified spinning bath. In comparison to viscose
Compress
which is made out of wood pulp of different trees modal is
made only out of beech wood.
Separate into fibres Prelim. aging
As a result of the modified process modal fibres have im-
Caustic soda water
proved fibre properties such as higher dry and wet strength.
Carbon disulphide
Xanthogenate
3.2.2.3. Lyocell
Filters Liquefy to viscose
In comparison to the manufacturing process of convention-
Drawing
Aging al viscose fibres lyocell is manufactured by a solvent-spin-
Cutting ning process. The cellulose is directly dissolved in the sol-
Spinning vent N-methyl-morpholine-N-oxide (NMMO) containing just
Pump Washing
(+crimping) the right amount of water. The solution is then filtered and
Finishing
wet spun to filament fibres. Because of the fact that in this
spinning process the NMMO solvent is recovered and re-
Drying used the lyocell manufacturing process is very environmen-
tally friendly.
Spinning jet Staple
in spinning bath fibres
Fig. 13 – Manufacturing of viscose staple fibres
20 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 21
4. PROPERTIES OF MAN-MADE STAPLE Finest and superfine fibres are used for the manufacture of
FIBRES AND THEIR EFFECTS synthetic leather, for very fine velour and velvets where an
extremely soft feel is required, for filters and lining materi-
ON SPINNING
als, etc.
The properties of man-made fibres are determined by three As was described in The Rieter Manual of Spinning – Volume 1
largely independent types of influence: the fibre fineness is one of the most important fibre charac-
• basic polymer teristics and it affects virtually every yarn property. All prop-
establishes certain basic properties such as density, mois- erties improve with increasing fineness because with finer
ture absorption, resistance to liquids, electrical conduc- fibres more individual fibres can be packed into a yarn of
tivity (and hence the behavior in response to electrostatic a given section.
charge), dyeability, flammability, and resistance to light
and weather;
• additives
the above-mentioned basic properties can be adjusted
Breaking elongation [%]
within certain limits by incorporating small quantities of
Tenacity [cN/tex]
other substances. This is done especially to modify behav-
ior in relation to dyes, and flammability;
• subsequent treatment
in this stage of the manufacturing process, some techno-
logical properties can be influenced to a very large extent,
especially stress-strain behavior and shrinkage character- Fibre fineness [dtex] Fibre fineness [dtex]
istics.
These wide-ranging possibilities of influencing the product,
Utilization of fibre strength [%]
Yarn evenness [Uster CV%]
together with quality and price stability, represent the ma-
jor advantages of man-made fibres. In many cases, it is pos-
sible to achieve optimal processing and use characteristics
by selective application of specially developed fibres.
4.1. Structural properties
4.1.1. Fibre fineness
Fibre fineness [dtex] Fibre fineness [dtex]
4.1.1.1. Significance
Fig. 14 – The influence of fibre fineness on yarn characteristics
Fineness of man-made fibres can be selected within a wide
range and adapted to the intended application. Nowadays,
distinctions are drawn in accordance with the following The influence of fibre fineness on, for example, yarn
scale: strength, evenness and elongation is therefore very high
• Super finest fibres below 0.1 dtex and can be seen in Fig. 14 [4].
• Finest fibres (micro fibres) up to 1 dtex The number of thread breaks also declines with the use
• Fine fibres up to 2.5 dtex of fine fibres. Higher efficiency is then achieved in the
• Medium-fine fibres up to 7 dtex weaving room. However, fine fibres are more expensive
• Coarse fibres up to 70 dtex than coarse fibres, and finest fibres are notably more
• Coarsest fibres above 70 dtex. expensive. Furthermore, finer fibres always give rise to
greater processing problems in the blowroom and the
The short-staple spinning mill processes almost exclusively carding room. So the production rate has to be reduced
fine fibres between about 0.8 and 3.3 dtex. Though there is significantly.
an increase in using microfibres below 1 dtex they are still
not commodity fibre products for the staple fibre spinning
process.
22 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
4.1.1.2. Numbers of fibres in cross-section in blended 4.1.2. Fibre length
yarns
The number of fibres in the yarn cross-section nF can be As with natural fibres, most yarn characteristics improve
calculated approximately by (see The Rieter Manual of with increasing length of fibres. Since man-made fibres are
Spinning – Volume 1 for further details): produced in endless form, and are subsequently convert-
ed to staple fibres in a manner enabling any desired fibre
texyarn Nmfibre length to be selected, it may at first appear that the ideal
nF = =
texfibre Nmyarn has been achieved in this respect. However, this first ap-
pearance turns out to be misleading, because production
The average fineness of fibres in a blend can be derived processes used to make staple fibre yarn do not permit
from the relation: spinning fibres of any length – there are limits to the possi-
ble range of lengths:
(Px × texx+ Py × texy) • yarns made of overlong fibres tend to lose their textile
texfibre=
100 character and can be used only for specific fields of appli-
cation
where P represents the proportion of fibres as a percentage • the various spinning processes are designed for predeter-
and the index x represents one component and the index y mined maximum fibre lengths
the other. • man-made fibres are used extensively in blends, where
Micronaire values can be converted into dtex in accordance the length of the man-made fibre has to be matched to
with the formula: that of the natural fibre
dtex = micronaire x 0.394. • the slenderness ratio of the fibre has to be borne in mind.
Examples for a cotton/man-made-fibre blend: The term “slenderness ratio” refers to the relationship of
cotton: 4.5 micronaire the fibre length to the fibre diameter (see The Rieter Manu-
man-made fibre: 1.7 dtex al of Spinning – Volume 1). In relation to man-made fibres,
yarn fineness: Nm 50; Ne 30; 20 tex (200 dtex) the ratio can be derived as follows:
blend ratio: PES/CO:67/33
Slenderness ratio = length (mm) x 100/dtex
dtex cotton = 4.5 x 0.394 = 1.773
To avoid problems, polyester fibres for use in the short-
(67 × 1.7 dtex + 33 × 1.773 dtex) staple spinning mill should have slenderness ratios between
texfibre = = 1.724 dtex
100 2 700 and 3 600.
Numbers of fibres in the cross-section:
a b c
200
nF = = 116
1.724
4.1.1.3. Spinning limits Fig. 15 – Shapes of staple diagrams:
(a) triangular; (b) rectangular; (c) trapezoidal
As was described in the Rieter Manual of Spinning –
Volume 1, the numbers of fibres in the yarn cross-section If the fibre is too short in relation to its diameter, it is stiff
is an important parameter. Depending on the used spin- and cannot be bound into the fibre strand. On the other
ning technology and on the fibre properties, as for ex- hand, if it is too long, it has no springiness or resilience to
ample fibre length and fibre/fibre friction, a minimum enable it to turn back to shape. Processing of this type of fi-
number of fibres in the yarn cross-section, the so called bre leads to nep formation and fibre damage. If such fibres
spinning limit, is required. are bent or rolled up, they cannot be re-straightened. In
Spinning limits according to different spinning technologies spite of these limitations, the ability to choose fibre length
are indicated in the appropriate chapters. remains one of the great advantages of man-made fibres.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 23
An approximately rectangular staple (Fig. 15 (b)) is ob- 4.1.4. Crimp
tained after the cutting stage in the manufacturing process
of man-made fibres. The lack of length variations leads to Natural fibres are mostly more or less strongly crimped or
problems for example in the drawing processes (see Rieter looped. Usually, man-made fibres must also be crimped. The
Manual of Spinning – Volume 1). But the length evenness crimp can be permanent or temporary, i.e. set, partially set,
cannot be maintained because of the shortening of the fi- or onset. Set crimp is selected in order to achieve certain
bres in the initial process stages, especially in the card. characteristics in the end product, such as:
However, even in this case, the proportion of short fibres • a full, bulked, soft feel, and
remains small which is an advantage because this fraction • high insulating capacity.
can generate many disturbances in spinning. The effect on
the resulting properties is significant. Partly set and upset crimp, selected for most fibres in the
A relatively new technology is to cut man-made fibres in short-staple spinning mill, serves almost exclusively to im-
a way that the staple diagram is similar to that of cotton prove the processability of the fibres. This form of crimp ena-
(trapezoidal, Fig. 15 (c)), especially for use in blends with bles, for example, the following to be achieved, among other
cotton. The advantages of these materials are the easy pro- effects:
cessability in the spinning mill and a better yarn quality • better web and sliver formation, because the fibres
(except the slightly lower tenacity) [5]. inter-engage with each other
It should nevertheless be kept in mind that short fibres • easier opening
generally enable higher carding efficiencies to be achieved • an improvement in cardability, and
than longer fibres. • reduction in drafting problems by avoidance of the glass
sheet effect.
4.1.3. Fibre cross-section
Natural fibres are usually curled, angular, have scales and a
Drawing force
are crimped; they seldom have a smooth round section. This
gives them a typical textile character and feel. Man-made fi-
bres must also exhibit a textile character if they are to be b
used in the textile field. They are therefore often formed with
non-round sections such as indented, star-shaped, triangu-
lar, polygonal, etc. (Fig. 16). They can also be made hollow-
formed.
Draft
Fig. 17 – Drawing force for uncrimped (a) and crimped (b) fibres
However, if the crimp is too high, drawing problems
increase because the required drawing force rises with
increasing crimp (Fig. 17, 18).
Moreover, a high degree of crimp causes problems in pro-
cessing the fibres in the normal type of rotor-spinning ma-
chine, or even makes such processing impossible. After the
last draw frame passage, at the latest, crimp must be re-
moved from fibres which are to be spun on the rotor spin-
ning machine.
Fig. 16 – Some types of man-made-fibre cross-sections When considering the effects of crimp, it is important to
bear spin finish in mind because it reinforces the effect of the
The fibre section mainly influences the yarn volume, feel, crimp. There is interplay between these two factors. Many
insulating ability, luster, and working performance in pro- problems that appear to arise from spin finish actually have
cessing. their origin in the crimp level, and vice versa.
24 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
Drawing force
Removing crimp
Fibre tuft
Card feeding
Card sliver
1st drawing
passage
2nd drawing
passage
Roving
Fig. 20 – Change of removing crimp through the process steps
Crimps per cm
Fig. 18 – Drawing force versus intensity of crimp 4.1.5. Fibre surface area
The surface area of the fibre is mainly dependent upon the
The fibre crimp is usually reduced by carding and drawing form of the section. A round section gives a smooth fibre with
forces in the spinning mill. The crimp itself and the change high luster. If an indented, star-shaped, or polygonal form is
of the crimp can be measured by the parameters removing chosen, the fibres lose smoothness and luster. If luster and
crimp, recovering crimp and crimp stability (see Fig. 19). smoothness are to be suppressed in round fibres, it can only
be done chemically. In this case a delustrant (or roughening
agent) is applied to the fibre.
Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is used for this purpose. Unfor-
tunately, delustred fibres of this kind have a highly abra-
LO LO LO sive character. In processing such fibres, wear on machine
components will be very high. (Fibres dyed by pigments
display the same effect.)
The degrees of delustring in Table 2 are commonly distin-
Crimp length
L
guished.
L+ L
Level Quantity of titanium dioxide applied (%)
Bright 0 – 0.05
Semi-matt 0.06 – 0.4
Removing crimp = L + L x 100 %
LO + L + L Matt 0.41 – 1.0
Strong matt 1.01 -2.1
L
Recovering crimp = x 100 %
LO + L + L Superstrong matt Above 2.1
Table 2 – Degree of delustring
Crimp stability = recovering crimp x 100 % = L
removing crimp L+ L
4.2. Physical properties
Fig. 19 – Recovering crimp and crimp stability 4.2.1. Fibre strength and elongation
Strength and elongation are connected by a cause/effect rela-
The removing crimp can be seen as an indicator for fibre tionship and cannot be considered separately because when
stress and parallelization work. It should be decreased loaded in tension the fibre is simultaneously stretched. These
continuously through all the process steps in a spinning two properties are therefore often quoted in combination as
mill. An abrupt drop of the removing crimp in a process stress/ strain behavior, in the form of a stress/strain charac-
step indicates that the fibre stress and the process settings teristic in the stress/strain diagram. Each fibre type exhibits
should be optimized, accordingly are too high (Fig. 20). a characteristic typical of itself.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 25
A
a 2 Max. modulus
Force
b
1
A
Elongation
High modulus
Fig. 21 – Strength / elongation diagram;
a) high tenacity; b) normal tenacity; c) low tenacity (high elongation)
2
In the case of man-made fibres, the stress/strain character-
1
istic can be influenced within clearly defined limits, i.e. by
drawing the fibre after spinning of the thread. A higher de-
gree of extension gives higher strength together with lower
elongation (high modulus, Fig. 21 (a); a lower degree of ex-
tension gives lower strength with somewhat higher elonga- B
tion (low modulus, Fig. 21 (c)).
Akzo gives the fibre strengths of polyester fibres as follows: A
• high modulus 40 - 60 cN / tex
• medium modulus 20 - 40 cN / tex
• low modulus 10 - 20 cN / tex.
Low modulus
Fig. 22 – Cotton (1) / polyester-fibre (2 blend with maximum-modulus,
high-modulus and low-modulus polyester-fibre)
A: tenacity B: elongation
In a blend, the stress/strain characteristic of man-made
fibres should be adapted in a form approximating to that
of the natural fibres because differences have strongly
marked effects. This becomes plain from an explanation
given by S. Kleinheins (Akzo) in relation to a polyester-
fibre cotton blend and published in Melliand TextiIberichte
(Fig. 22) (1: cotton; 2: PES) [6].
26 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
4.2.2. Lateral strength [6] easily scrubbed off when they project from the surface;
this is not true for fibres with a high lateral strength. In the
In the end product, fibres are stressed not only in the latter case, the projecting fibres are not rubbed away but
longitudinal direction but also laterally. This is typical remain on the surface and spoil the appearance. Unfortu-
in bending, as in yarn loops and knots; extremes can be nately it has to be said that pilling resistance and dura-
reached, e.g. where yarn is used for sewing (loops) and bility are inversely related to each other. Also, low lateral
in net (knots). strength reduces carding performance and raises the ten-
There are fibre materials that behave like a razor blade: dency to fibre damage.
very high longitudinal strength, very low bending strength. The following test methods are used to determine lateral
Glass fibres in particular belong to this category. For exam- strength:
ple, glass-fibre yarns cannot be joined together by knotting • loop strength
because, as the knot is drawn tight, the transverse load on • bending strength
the fibres leads to yarn breaks. Moreover, many regenerat- • buckling rubbing strength
ed-cellulose (polynosic) fibres are very brittle. Polyamide • torsional strength.
fibres are at the other end of the scale: they are extremely
supple and have excellent lateral strength. 4.2.3. Shrinkage behavior [6]
In the course of processing, fibres do not always retain the
length they had before processing started. Fibres can be
a
shortened by various influencing factors during process-
ing and use. This is referred to as “shrinkage”. Every fibre
shrinkage leads automatically to a corresponding shrink-
age in the yarn and /or in the fabric.
Usually, it is a heating, wetting, or wet-heating process that
leads to shrinkage. Depending upon raw material, a fibre
reacts more strongly to heat, moisture or moist heat. Thus,
cellulose fibres (cotton, viscose) react to simple wetting
b and driving with noticeable shrinkage, while polyester fibre
exhibits no change of length under the same circumstances.
On the other hand, polyester fibre shrinks markedly under
Lateral strength dry heat and still more under wet heat, while polyamide
fibre reacts only to wet heat.
Fig. 23 – Effect of the lateral strength; a durability, b pilling resistance
A high lateral strength can be an advantage or a disad-
a
vantage depending upon the field of use (see Fig. 23). In
general, high lateral strength gives good durability to the
finished articles; this is very important in technical appli-
cations, in working clothes and uniform fabrics and also in
floor coverings. However, the pilling tendency also increas-
es so that in the civilian clothing sector only limited use is
made of fibres with high lateral strength. This applies es-
pecially in relation to knitted goods, where the individual
fibres are not so strongly anchored; for example, polyester
b
fibre must be deliberately made brittle for use in knitted
products to avoid pilling (anti-pilling types).
The expression “pilling” refers to the formation of fibre Low High
balls on the surface of a textile fabric. Such balls do not
Fig. 24 – Effect of the shrinkage characteristics (low/high): (a) piece-dyeing
form where fibres with low lateral strength are used (wool, behavior, dye-fastness, efficiency in weaving, fabric appearance; (b) crimp
anti-pilling synthetic fibres), as such fibres can be very tendency, lateral run in knitted fabric, tendency to pilling, yarn dyeing behavior
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 27
The shrinkage characteristics of synthetic fibres can be se- In the case of man-made fibres, there is a clear relationship
lected within a wide range (from low to high shrinkage) between the ability of the raw materials to take up water
by adjusting stretching and relaxing and by use of varying and their strength in the wet condition. The more water a fi-
temperatures in the production stage. Admittedly, however, bre can hold, the greater is the difference between wet and
as Fig. 24 shows, there are certain interrelationships be- dry strength. The relative wet strength is generally given as
tween the various characteristics. the measure of this effect, and is expressed as a percentage
For example, where the yarn is to be dyed in the package, of the dry strength.
a certain degree of shrinkage should not be exceeded be- Depending upon their field of use, fibres with a higher or
cause otherwise it is not possible to ensure problem-free lower moisture take-up will be required, e.g. high – hand
penetration of the package by the dye liquor. On the other towels, underclothing; low - bathing costumes.
hand, high shrinkage can be an advantage as regards the In relation to clothing, however, it is not only the moisture
feel and visual impression of the resulting product. High- take-up that is important but also the ability to transport
shrink fibres permit a reduction in weft and warp density moisture and wettability. Both properties have a strong in-
giving low ends-down levels and a high efficiency. fluence on wearability. They depend upon fibre surface area
In the production of blends, the use of PES fibres with and the capillary effect on the fabric. Thus, although PES
raised shrinkage can give notable improvements in feel and has a low moisture take-up, good moisture transport can be
wearing behavior because the shrinking PES fibres migrate reached by means of appropriate apparel design (Table 3).
into the core of the yarn while the natural fibres stay on the
surface. If man-made fibres are subjected to wet-hot pro- 4.3.2. Temperature
cessing, it is essential to know the shrinkage behavior in
advance. Textiles react to heat in the most varied ways, depending
upon the raw material and temperature. The reaction can
4.3. Behavior against environment [6] [7] vary from simple shrinkage through change of color, soften-
4.3.1. Moisture ing and/or becoming sticky to melting, decomposition, or
carbonization.
Almost all fibre material contains a certain quantity of wa- Unfortunately, the frequently raised question regarding
ter. The magnitude of this water proportion depends upon temperature resistance of individual raw materials cannot
the raw material and the environmental conditions. Distinc- be answered by quoting a single figure, or even a sequence
tions are drawn, for example, between the following criteria: of figures. The number of influencing factors is too large to
• moisture take-up from the air enable a comprehensive answer to be given to an issue of
• water-retention capability after soaking and centrifuging this magnitude. Thus, heat resistance is affected by the fol-
• water take-up after soaking and drip-draining. lowing influences (amongst others):
• medium
Moisture take-up and water-retention capacity are depend- • temperature
ent practically only upon the raw material, while in relation • time of subjection to heat
to water take-up the design of the textile also plays a major • structure of the sample
role in determining the result. • associated substances
• evaluation parameter (quantity).
Water from the air Water after soaking Relative
Polyamide and polyester are melt-spun fibres. This means
(65 % rh) % and centrifuging % wet strength %
that they have a clearly defined melting point. When a cer-
PES 0.5 2-5 100 tain temperature is reached, they liquefy almost without
PAC 1-2 7 - 10 90 - 95 any intermediate phase. In the region just below melting,
PA 4-5 10 - 15 85 - 95 however, there is increasing softening and stickiness, so
Viscose 12 - 14 60 - 110 45 - 75 that in use it is not advisable to come within 20 - 30°C of
Cotton 7-8 45 - 50 100 - 110 the melting point for even short periods. Otherwise, perma-
nently adhered locations are created which will alter com-
Wool 14 - 15 40 - 45 70 - 90
pletely the character of the textile.
Table 3 – Behavior in relation to water
28 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
Below the softening region lies the broad zone in which set- The ultraviolet component of the light and the moisture
ting is possible. Here, heating and cooling with the mate- content of the sample are of special significance. In this
rial in a given form can result in the establishment of this connection, it is important that a large part of the very ag-
form as the normal condition of the material to which the gressive UV components is absorbed by normal window
fibres always tend to return. Pressing-in of a crease belongs glass. That is why curtains degrade much more slowly than
to these procedures, as does setting of crimp or removal of textiles left outside (e.g. awnings or tarpaulins).
unwanted creases by ironing. As regards the fibre itself, it is interesting to note that matt
The other fibres are practically non-settable under heat. fibres are more strongly damaged than bright ones. Titani-
They do not react to increasing temperature by becoming um dioxide works as a catalyst and accelerates the decom-
soft and melting but by increasing degrees of decomposition position. Under the microscope, it becomes apparent that
and brittleness; this is usually accompanied by noticeable individual particles of the delustrant act as the core of a
change of color and can extend to genuine carbonization. steadily expanding spherical zone of decomposition.
All normal textiles burn when exposed to an open flame. Furthermore, it should be noted that the depth of penetra-
Only special fibres are inflammable; they have such grave tion of light rays is very shallow. Accordingly, a reduction
disadvantages in other areas that they are used only where of damage is observed with increase in titer.
inflammability is the decisive criterion. Comparative tests of various raw materials reveal that PAC
Once again, clear differences can be observed in the behav- is strongly resistant to light while PA and natural silk have
ior of different fibres in burning. very poor resistance. Admittedly, however, a significant im-
Cellulose burns very easily and quickly but leaves only provement in resistance of man-made fibres to light can be
a weak, harmless ash skeleton. Acrylic fibre cannot be obtained by incorporating appropriate stabilizers.
ignited so easily but will burn very intensively once the Resistance to weather depends upon a still greater number
ignition phase has been passed. of influencing factors. Apart from the influence of light, cli-
Polyamide and polyester fibres are relatively difficult to ig- matic effects have to be considered and especially variation
nite. Nevertheless, they have the serious disadvantage that in those effects: dry/ wet, warm/cold, light/dark.
the fibre substance melts and drips; in some circumstances, The composition of the air also plays an important role,
the result of this behavior can be far more serious for hu- e.g. as regards pollution by industrial waste gases.
mans and the environment than in the case of cellulose. Completely satisfactory resistance to weather can be
Of all normal fibres, wool has the most favorable burning achieved for practically all fibre materials by coating with
characteristics. It is fairly difficult to ignite, and, after burn- weather-resistant plastics material, primarily PVC.
ing, it leaves a brittle, rapidly cooling residue that does not
adhere to adjoining surfaces. 4.4. Fibre properties in the end product
4.3.3. Light and weather A diagrammatic illustration of the important fibre charac-
teristics will serve as a supplement and as an aid to com-
It is generally known that exposure to light can affect many prehension. Modal fibres have been inserted into this dia-
dyes more or less strongly; however, it is often overlooked gram along with the normal viscose fibre; the modal variety
that light also causes genuine damage to the substance of is a viscose fibre produced under modified process con-
textiles. ditions to give properties which differ from those of nor-
Basically, all fibre materials suffer a loss of strength when mal viscose, particularly in respect of stress/strain behav-
illuminated. As in the case of heat, the magnitude of the re- ior (dry/wet). Modal is more similar to cotton fibre and is
duction in strength depends upon many factors of which therefore finding increasing application in the short-staple
the following are worth a mention: spinning mill.
• light spectrum The selected mode of evaluation:
• intensity • high / favorable
• lighting rhythm • medium / normal
• temperature of the sample • low / unfavorable.
• moisture content of the sample
• thickness of the sample is to be interpreted on the understanding that most char-
• composition of the surrounding air. acteristics can be assumed as high/medium/low, but wash
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 29
ability and behavior in response to dyes defy this form of known polymers for specific purposes is increasing. For the
assessment. In relation to several characteristics, it must short-staple spinning mill, this means that no basically new
also be borne in mind that a higher (lower) value may be requirements are likely to be raised from the side of man-
either favorable or unfavorable depending upon the in- made fibres. However, it is unavoidable that many special
tended field of use. This can be demonstrated by refer- modifications of man-made fibres already available will ne-
ence to moisture absorption: high absorption of water is cessitate minor changes in processing conditions and these
a very favorable characteristic in a towel but unfavorable will have effects on spinning plans, settings, and speeds. In
in tent cloth. this field, close and reciprocal co-operation between spin-
Finally, a dosing comment must be made in relation to the ner, machine manufacturer and fibre producer is especially
production and properties of man-made fibres (Table 4). important.
4.5. Modifications of fibre properties
PES CV MODAL PAC
Strength, dry Since man-made fibres represent a manufactured raw ma-
Strength, wet terial, many of their properties can be adapted to the spe-
Elongation
cial needs of specific end-uses. In addition to those already
mentioned, the following modifications, amongst others, are
Form stability
common in practice (depending upon the requirements):
Crease resistance
• antistatic
Pilling resistance • anti-soiling (dirt-repellent)
Resistance to rubbing • anti-ignition easy-care
Thermal set ability (pleating) • hydrophilic.
Water absorption
Wash ability 4.6. Summary of most important fibre properties
Dyeing behavior
As mentioned at the beginning of this chapter the major
Light and weather resistance
advantages of man-made fibres are the wide-ranging pos-
Resistance to rotting
sibilities of influencing the fibre properties by choosing the
right polymer together with the right additives and subse-
High / favorable Medium / normal Low / unfavorable
quent treatments.
Table 4 – Some properties of man-made fibres such as: polyester (PES),
On the other hand, it is difficult to present a comprehensive
viscose (CV), viscose-modal (modal) and acrylic fibres (PAC)
and meaningful summary of the properties of man-made fi-
bres in the framework of a condensed work of this kind. In
relation to many properties, the range of possibilities is sim-
Staple man-made fibres now provide about one-third of all ply too wide to permit a rational short presentation. Accord-
textile raw materials. They are made in many varieties with ingly, we are forced to compromise and give only figures
a broad range of properties for practically all fields of ap- for typical basic properties and guidelines for stress-strain
plication. Further development will bring still more new fi- and shrinkage behavior of those man-made fibres most im-
bre types, but it is already clear that completely new poly- portant for the short-staple spinning mill, namely, polyester
mers are becoming ever more rare while modification of (PES), viscose (CV), and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) (Table 5).
30 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
Polyester fibre Viscose Acrylic fibre
Density g/cm 3
1.38 1.52 1.24-1.18
Moisture absorption capacity
% 0.4-0.6 11-14 1-2
at 20°C / 65 % rh
Water-retention capacity after
% 3-5 65-120 5-12
immersing and centrifuging
Melting point °C 250-260 - -
Decomposition temperature °C - 175-205 250
Tenacity (dry) cN/tex 30-60 20-45 20-35
Relative loop strength (dry) % 50-95 20-60 30-70
Wet strength % 95-100 40-70 80-95
Elongation to break (dry) 15-40 12-30 15-40
Elongation to break (wet) % 15-40 15-35 15-45
Boiling shrinkage % 2-8 1-8 1-5
Shape in section % Round (possibly profiled) Round to folded Round to dumb-Bell shaped
Table 5 – Typical basic fibre properties
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 31
5. PROCESSING OF MAN-MADE • where opened bales are left standing in the spinning room
STAPLE FIBRES IN SPINNING MILL without allowing adequate acclimatization, moisture can
condense on the fibre surface (especially in winter) and
5.1. General problems lead to considerable carding problems
5.1.1. Spin finish • in the processing of blends of polyester fibres with cotton
where room temperature and humidity are too high, cot-
Several problems that can arise for the spinner in the use of ton wax can smear and lead to lap formation
finishes have already been mentioned. The main additional • superannuated rubber top rollers and notches on teeth
prejudicial factors are as follows: and opening rollers are also sources of processing and
• The spin finish combines with dust to form a hard coat on quality problems
machine parts. These deposits can result in great distur- • fibre crimp is actually just as important as spin finish in
bance in processing – most strongly in card clothings (es- its influence on processing; crimp is steadily reduced in
pecially on the licker-in), in the sliver-guide passages of the passage of the fibre from opening through to the spin-
the card and draw frame, in the flyer on the roving frame ning machine; the spinner here exerts a significant influ-
and on the opening roller and rotor of the rotor spinning ence on his own processing conditions.
machine. Often, additional costs arise because these parts
have to be cleaned periodically. 5.1.2. Inadequacies of fibre material
• Inadequate distribution of the spin finish can cause fibre 5.1.2.1. Cut packets (cut groups)
flaking and lead to increases in ends down and accumula-
tion of electrostatic charge. In such cases, we talk of mac- In the severing of filaments to form staple fibres, occasion-
ro-distribution of spin finish because finish content can be ally whole bundles of fibres are squashed together. These
established only by taking samples of many millions of fi- form a coherent fibre packet that can generate significant
bres. Development of models regarding the distribution of problems in processing. The effect is often reinforced if
spin finish on individual fibres therefore remains a branch crimp setting is performed after cutting, because then set-
of purely academic science. It is important for the spin- ting of the bundle also arises. Fibre packets of this kind
ner to know that the spin-finish concentration can only be cannot then be separated from the strand. Application of
exactly established gravimetrically in the light of precise spin finish can also lead to an increase in adherence within
knowledge of the spin-finish composition. the fibre bundle.
• If spin finish can penetrate components such as rollers In the ideal case, these fibre packets will be eliminated
and aprons when the machine is not running, it can cause in the blowroom. However, since this is not fully achieved,
swelling or cracking with corresponding prejudice to the the card is required to extract the remainder. After the card,
drafting operation. there should no longer be any fibre packets in the strand.
• Fibres treated with titanium dioxide as a delustrant ex-
hibit lower drafting resistance (lower dynamic friction) 5.1.2.2. Coarse fibres (hairs, bristles)
but simultaneously higher wear (higher static friction) on
fibre-guide elements. In this case, an optimized spin fin- Staple fibres very rarely contain individual fibres having
ish recipe has to be used. Besides titanium dioxide, other a fineness markedly different from that of the remainder.
spin-finish components can increase wear on fibre-guide There are various causes that can lead to this phenomenon
elements, especially when corrosive properties also exert in the man-made-fibre plant.
an effect. Cationic substances are especially suspect in The largest part of these fibres can be eliminated before the
this connection. Wear, leading to spinning problems and ring spinning machine; the card flats represent the most im-
degrading of yarn characteristics, occurs on travelers and portant eliminating location. If individual bristles neverthe-
on opening rollers of rotor spinning machines. less pass through to the ring spinning machine, they cause
ends down. If they pass beyond this machine, they detract
For the sake of objectivity, it should also be mentioned that from the appearance of the yarn and the end product.
processing problems arising in practice are sometimes al- The cleaning position on the rotor spinning machine is ad-
leged without justification to be due to spin finish. Several vantageous in this connection. In addition to dirt, this also
examples taken from practical experience are: eliminates coarse fibres, fibre packets, and long fibres.
32 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
5.1.2.3. Overlong fibres 5.1.4. Static electricity
5.1.4.1. Generation of static electricity
It does not matter if individual fibres depart only slightly
from the set length in the upward direction. It is more seri- In an electrically neutral atom, the number of protons is equal
ous if, for example, fibres of 60 - 80 mm are found in staple to the number of electrons, so that their charges balance out
of 40 mm (double-cut length). In this case, processing diffi- – which is the basis of the neutrality. If now two materials of
culties are inevitable. different chemical composition come into contact with each
Since most man-made fibres are strong, the overlong fi- other, electrons from one material can pass to the other.
bre will not break in a drafting zone set to a staple length Electrically charged layers of opposite sign are thus pro-
of 40 mm. The delivery-roller pair rips this fibre out of the duced at the contacting surfaces. As long as the materi-
nip of the feed cylinder in the course of which neighbor- als remain in contact, these charges are of no significance.
ing fibres are always carried along. The result is thin and However, if the materials are separated, the charges are
thick places. also separated - but the positive and negative charges re-
If the fibres do not slide out of the upstream nip, the over- main on the sides where they were (Fig. 25).
long fibre will be extended; finally, this gives the same re-
sult. The fibre returns to its previous length after leaving
the drafting arrangement. This occurs suddenly, and neigh-
boring fibres are again carried along. Webs or rovings then
exhibit wave formations; thin and thick places appear it the
yarn at the ring-spinning machine.
5.1.2.4. Fibre dust
This is cutting and pressing dust, i.e. fibre debris that arises
in the course of converting tow. It also causes disturbance
in the process mainly due to dust deposits on the machines.
5.1.3. Further disturbances arising from the fibres
5.1.3.1. Anti-pilling types
In the outerwear sector, if singles yarns are used in pref-
erence to plied yarns, then anti-pilling fibres are generally
chosen for the singles yarn. They have a low buckling break Fig. 25 – Generation of electrically charged layers at the boundary be-
and rubbing strength, and also a low tensile strength. tween two raw materials
They therefore tend to give a higher ends-down rate and
strong generation of fly. This is especially noticeable in ro- Static electricity is simply an imbalance in the distribution
tor spinning, because here fibres in the yarn are rubbed of electrons, defined as:
away at high speeds; the only remedy is a reduction in “An accumulation of time-invariant charge of positive and /
revolutions. or negative sign on a material (either locally or overall)”.
This charge often generates a high voltage associated with
5.1.3.2. Fibre delustrants low current levels.
Charge accumulates in non-conductors or insulated con-
Delustring of fibres is achieved by application of titanium ductors where there is no possibility of discharge by flow
dioxide. This simultaneously imparts an extremely abra- of current – the charge is at rest.
sive surface to the fibre. This causes high wear on machine If such a charged material, e.g. the human body, comes into
parts, not only soft parts such as roller coverings but even contact with a conductor, discharge will follow in the form
metal components. At the same time, there is a high gener- of a current pulse lasting only milliseconds. The human be-
ation of abraded particles. ing perceives this discharge as a minor electric shock.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 33
5.1.4.2. Influencing factors Hot Countries
Normal
(Maximum)
Static charge is therefore inherently a contact rather than rh% °C °C
a friction problem. Friction merely reinforces the effect
Viscose:
as it increases the contact surfaces and the surfaces are
Spinning preparation 50 - 55 22 - 25 27
changed by the thermal and mechanical stress.
Ring spinning 50 - 55 22 - 25 27
The magnitude of the charge is dependent upon several
factors, e.g:
• electrical conductivity, which in turn is dependent upon Polyamide fibre:
the conductivity of the material itself and the conductivity Blowroom and carding room 50 - 55 22 - 25 27
arising from moisture content Draw frame and roving frame 50 - 55 22 - 25 27
• dielectric constant Ring spinning 50 - 55 22 - 25 27
• speed of the process generating the charge
• temperature difference between the two materials rela-
Polyacrylonitrile fibre:
tive humidity
• Dried out man-made fibres and wool always tend to ac- Blowroom 4 - 55 20 - 24 27
cumulate charge, as do fibres with a low water-retention Spinning preparation 5 - 60 20 - 24 27
capacity (synthetic fibres) if they are not properly treated Ring spinning 50 - 55 22 - 25 27
with an antistatic agent. Accordingly, the problem occurs
more often in winter than in summer as heating leads to Polyester fibre:
drying out of fibres in winter.
Blowroom and carding room 50 - 55 20 - 24 27
Spinning preparation 45 - 50 22 - 25 27
5.1.4.3. The problems for the spinning mill
Ring spinning about 50 22 - 25 27
Two main groups of problems giving the spinner trouble Table 6 – Good ambient conditions for processing of man-made fibres
in connection with static electricity are:
• adherence of fibres to the machine components, and
• falling apart of fibre strands. This behavior occurs especially with wool and man-made
fibres. Since the moisture content of the fibres is primar-
Charge accumulations on the fibres and on the machines of- ily dependent upon the moisture content of the atmosphere
ten have different signs. The machine components therefore and the time of exposure to this atmosphere, air condition-
tend to attract individual fibres or even whole strands. This ing of the mill plays an important role in processing man-
leads to formation of laps, catching of fibres, blockages, etc., made fibres. Unfavorable ambient conditions can make
especially on cylinders, in clothings and in guide ducts. spinning not just difficult but impossible.
Falling apart of strands is caused by all fibres in the strand At low moisture levels the main problem is static electrici-
having the same charge and therefore tending to repel each ty; at high moisture levels, spin finish may smear, favor nep
other. In minor cases, this causes spreading out of the edge formation and cause drafting difficulties. Low moisture lev-
fibres; in extreme cases, the strand disintegrates. els may increase static charge which can lead to choking of
clothings, blockages in sliver passages and lap-formation at
5.1.5. Environmental conditions cylinders. High moisture levels lead to an increase in yarn
5.1.5.1. General conditions unevenness and imperfections. Experiences have shown
the following ambient conditions to be favorable for the
Raw materials used in spinning mills do not only exhib- spinning mill:
it different characteristics depending upon their moisture • relative humidity (rh): 50 - 60 %
content but also varying running performance (behavior). • temperature: 22 - 24 (-27) °C
In detail, conditions which are listed in Table 6 have proved
to be favorable.
34 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
In spinning, relative humidity is a very important criteri- Very long periods of storage should be avoided not only for
on. However, since spin finish needs a minimum moisture economic reasons but also because the properties of the spin
content to have an effect and tends to smear at excessively finish, and hence the processability, can change during stor-
high levels, the absolute moisture content of the air is also age. However, if a good spin finish has been used, no changes
significant. It should be in the following range: are to be expected for a storage period of one to two years.
For PES and PES/CO Processability is also affected by exposure to strong sun-
• in the spinning mill, 8.5 -11 g H2O/kg dry air light and should therefore be avoided.
• in the winding room, 10.5 -13 g H2O /kg dry air
5.3. Blending
For PES/modal and PES/viscose
• in the spinning mill, 9 - 11 g H2O/kg dry air As the theory of blending including the evaluation of
• in the winding room, 10.3 - 13 g H2O/kg dry air blends, de-blending and types of blending has already been
described in The Rieter Manual of Spinning – Volume 1, the
For acrylic fibre following chapters point out some details about blending of
• in the spinning mill, 9 - 10 g H2O/kg dry air man-made fibres.
It is not enough to consider only average values when as- 5.3.1. Purpose of blending
sessing an air-conditioning system. It is also important to
maintain the set values within narrow tolerance limits as For certain fields of application neither natural nor man-
synthetic fibres react strongly to moisture variations. Viscose made fibres are optimally appropriate but a blend of
and cotton fibres are less problematic in this connection. these two fibre types can achieve the required charac-
teristics. In such cases, a blending step is the obvious
5.2. Storage of man-made fibres solution. Another major reason for blending natural fi-
bres with man-made fibres is the relatively high price of
Actually, storage of man-made fibres ties up less capital natural fibres (e.g. cotton). Due to the increase of fibre
than the storage of cotton fibres. On the one hand, this is consumption and the limited production rates of natu-
due to the short distance of the man-made fibre manufac- ral fibres, these high prices will most probably rise even
turer from the mill and on the other hand to the short de- higher in the future. This leads to a continuous increase
livery times. However, a disadvantage that should not be of the proportion of products made by blended yarns.
underestimated (especially in the colder seasons) is the be- Furthermore, not only blending of natural fibres with
havior of synthetic fibres when subjected to temperature man-made fibres is increasing but also blends of different
and moisture. types of man-made fibres.
If the fibres are stored in a cold room, as is usual, and the
bales are opened immediately after transport into the blow- 5.3.2. Blend proportions
room, condensation will form on the surface of the fibres.
This condensation makes normal processing of the fibres When two fibre components are brought together, each will
impossible, especially in the blowroom and the carding contribute characteristics that are advantageous and less
room, and it also affects the spin finish. Synthetic fibres are advantageous for the end purpose. These individual char-
usually well and hermetically packed by the manufacturer. acteristics exert a greater or smaller influence depending
Such fibres must be left to stand in an unopened condition upon the blend properties of the components. If both the
for at least 24 hours in the blowroom or in another room at requirements of the end product and the fibre properties
the same ambient temperature before the opening process are known, the optimal blending proportions can be ap-
can begin. During this period, the fibres in the bale adapt to proximately determined. This can be illustrated by the ex-
the prevailing temperature. amples shown in Fig. 26 by Dr. Albrecht [8].
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 35
5.3.4. Types of blending operations
1
2 There is a huge variety of possibilities to blend different
3 fibre materials as was listed and described in The Rieter
4
Manual of Spinning – Volume 1, but over the course of time
5
6
three ways have become established for blending man-
7 made fibres in modern spinning mill installations:
8 • tuft blending at the start of blowroom process
9 • tuft blending at the end of blowroom process
0
100
25
75
50
50
75
25
100 % PES
0 % CV
• sliver blending.
Optimal properties
The typical general process stages for tuft blending and sliv-
er blending of cotton and polyester can be seen in Fig. 27.
Good Adequate Poor
Fig. 26 – Establishing an optimal blend by reference to given end-product Tuft Blending
characteristic (1 = appearance; 2 = fabric feel; 3 = recovery from creasing Tuft Sliver
at start of blow-
(dry); 4 = recovery from creasing (wet); 5 = retention of ironed creases; Blending Blending
room process
6 = resistance to heat; 7 = shrinkage resistance; 8 = tearing strength;
9 = resistance to rubbing) Process Stages CO PES CO PES CO PES
Bale Openning
Metering
Cleaning
The following blends are examples for very common blends
with man-made staple fibres: Mixing
• Polyester/Cotton: (85/15); 65/35; (67/33); Fine Opening
50/50; 45/55 Precision Blending
• Polyester/Modal fibres: 65/35 Carding
• Polyester/Viscose: 67/33 Blending Drawing
• Acrylic/Cotton: 85/15; 70/30; 50/50
Drawing I
Drawing II
5.3.3. Blend evenness
Roving Production
As described in The Rieter Manual of Spinning – Volume 1 Ring Spinning
the blend evenness must always be assessed in two direc- Fig. 27 – Typical process stages for tuft blending and sliver blending
tions: the longitudinal direction and the transverse direction. of cotton and polyester
For the blend evenness in the longitudinal direction there are
very stringent requirements. Deviations from predetermined Although tuft blending is becoming more important in many
limits lead to uneven fabric appearance, stripes, bars, etc. countries, sliver blending is still most frequently applied to
In Europe, tolerance limits have been established by law. blend natural and man-made fibres.
The permitted variation is ±3 %, e.g. for a 50/50 PES/CO
blend, the blend proportions can vary in extreme cases be- 5.3.4.1. Tuft blending at the start of blowroom
tween 47/53 and 53/47. However, since the spinner very
often does not know the final application of the yarn and Tuft blending at the start of the blowroom process is, for ex-
the above-mentioned tolerance limits can still influence ample, realized by weighing hopper feeders (see Fig. 28).
fabric appearance, tolerance limits should not exceed ±2 % These are equipped with weighing devices so that the in-
(for difficult blends even as tight as ±1 % and in bi-color dividual components can be delivered in metered quanti-
blends ± 0.5 %). ties. At least two and usually more of such weighing hopper
For the blend evenness in the transversal direction a homog- feeders work together, delivering weighed material onto a
enous blend is preferable and should be aimed at in most common transport belt. The latter transfers the delivered
cases. material to blending machines that are needed to ensure
the actual intermixing.
36 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
Fig. 28 – Weighing hopper feeder (Temafa)
Fig. 29 – Rieter A 81 UNIblend
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 37
In processing with weighing hopper feeders, it is important a very high blending evenness along the length of the
that the individual feeders deliver the material with a de- product (longitudinal direction). The main disadvantage
gree of opening giving equal volumes of the two or more is the poor transverse blending evenness which can pro-
components. This is essential to achieve an even blend. duce stripiness in the finished product (see The Rieter
In tuft blending at the start of the blowroom process, there Manual of Spinning – Volume 1).
is always a risk of deblending in the following blowroom
process stages because of differences in the fibre parame- 5.3.5. Blending of waste material
ters and rolling movements.
Lap stripings, card sliver and draw frame sliver can be
5.3.4.2. Tuft blending mixed in even and metered quantities. They should not
be fed in blended where pure man-made fibres are spun
The risk of de-blending can be eliminated by using tuft or unblended where blends are processed. Grid waste,
blending at the end of the blowroom process. For this flats-strips and roving waste should not be blended in.
technology blending machines like Rieter A 81 UNIblend
(Fig. 29) are required. Several chutes, each with its own 5.4. Blowroom
feeds of different types of material, are arranged side by 5.4.1. Blowroom installations
side. Every chute ends at the bottom with a metering de-
vice so each chute drops a precisely measured quantity of In contrast to natural fibres, man-made fibres normally con-
material onto a collecting conveyer belt which again trans- tain no impurities. Accordingly cleaning machines are not
ports the accurately metered material to the take-off unit. required when running 100 % man-made fibres and the
An example for a complete installation using tuft blending main tasks for the blowroom are reduced to:
at the end of the blowroom process can be seen in Fig. 31. • opening and
• blending (mixing).
Tuft blending gives advantages in blending evenness in the
transverse direction. The blending evenness in the longi- Furthermore, opening of man-made fibres is easier than
tudinal direction can achieve highest quality standards as opening of cotton as the fibres are less compressed. Ac-
well by using modern tuft blending machines like Rieter cordingly, the blowroom installation can be limited to the
A 81 UNIblend. minimum number of machines. These usually consist of:
• automatic bale-opening machine
5.3.4.3. Sliver blending • blending machine and
• fine opener that also delivers feed-stock into the card-
In sliver blending an additional blending passage is in- feeding equipment.
serted preceding the two usual draw frame passages in the
cotton spinning mill. It provides the advantages that up to In Fig. 30 and Fig. 31 typical blowroom machine installa-
the draw frame each material can be processed separately tions for spinning 100 % man-made fibres and polyester/
on the machines best suited to it and that it produces cotton blends are shown.
Fig. 30 – Typical blowroom line for 100 % man-made fibres
38 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
Fig. 31 – Typical blowroom line for polyester/cotton blends
5.4.2. Bale layout The detailed settings are dependent upon the major fi-
bre characteristics. For example smooth polyester fibres
In man-made fibre-producing installations, fibres are pro- need just a little opening, whereas viscose fibres and dull
duced under conditions that are almost always the same. or polypropylene fibres require more intense opening pro-
It would, however, be wrong to conclude that they have al- cesses. The following fibre parameters have an influence
ways identical properties. Man-made fibres exhibit a low- on the blowroom settings:
er degree of variability than natural fibres but they are not • length
sufficiently homogeneous to process them individually, one • fineness
bale after another. Inhomogeneities can, for example, occur • bulk
in general fibre properties (e.g. length, crimp etc.), in the • crimp
spin finish application or in the moisture content in differ- • springiness
ent bales. • spin finish
To compensate these inhomogeneities it is desirable to take • delustring agent.
fibres from 12 bales at the same time and preferably from 20.
Small differences can also appear between different con- 5.4.4. Problems
signments. The short-staple spinning mill does not operate
on a batch but on a continuous basis and it is required to The main problems arising in the processing of man-made
produce the same yarn over a long period of time. Accord- fibres are:
ingly, the 12 bales of a bale laydown should be taken from • static electricity (see chapter 5.1.4.)
at least three, preferably four, consignments. • deposit of spin finish or marking color on machine
components and in interiors of passages
5.4.3. General settings • overlong passages that lead to bundling of tufts and
finally to neps
In general, man-made fibres have to be treated gentler than • several bends in passages also lead to bundling
cotton fibres so the clothings on the rollers should be cho- of tufts and neps.
sen coarser, the distances between the opening elements
wider and the roller speeds lower. As there are no impuri-
ties, the grids should be kept more or less closed.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 39
Deposits in feed chutes can lead to large variations in the As compared with the processing of cotton, therefore, set-
material flow. Especially in card-feed chutes this can give tings are selected rather wider, clothings rather coarser and
marked quality deterioration. The affected elements should revolutions rather lower.
therefore be cleaned periodically, e.g. by washing with Sliver fineness for PES fibre lies in the following ranges
soapy water. (for acrylic fibre usually a bit finer):
When processing acrylic fibres the settings of the feed • Fine yarn: 4-5 ktex
chutes should be set wide, because of the high volume • Medium to coarse yarn: 4.5 - 6.5 ktex
of these fibres. • Normal: about 5 ktex
5.4.5. Processing environment Sliver fineness should not fall below 4 ktex for PES fibre
and 3.6 ktex for acrylic fibre.
In the blowroom it is desirable to work with a moisture Fibre crimp is an important fibre parameter that influences
content of 9 - 13 g per kg of dry air. This gives the following the production rate. Strong fibre crimp gives the card web
relative humidity: better cohesion and web stability and vice versa. To card
low crimp fibres the production rates have to be reduced
and sometimes the card web weight has to be increased.
Temperature °C Relative Humidity %
20 60 (- 85) 5.5.2. Machine elements and general settings
5.5.2.1. Card clothing
25 45 - 58
30 (35 -) 48
The clothing has the greatest influence on the quality and
Table 7 – Good ambient conditions for processing of man-made fibres on the productivity in the carding process. As man-made
in the blowroom
fibres are very sensitive, it is very important to process
these fibres on the card with an appropriate clothing to
avoid fibre damage and hence loss in yarn quality.
5.5. Carding The most important parameters of the clothing have already
5.5.1. General been described in The Rieter Manual of Spinning – Volume 2.
As mentioned, a great many criteria exert an influence on the
Cards with revolving flats are ideally suited to the process- optimal card clothing, for example:
ing of man-made fibres with staple lengths of up to 60 mm. • type and design of card
However the machine elements and the settings of the card • rotation speed of the cylinder
have to be adjusted when processing man-made fibres be- • production rate
cause of the different fibre properties in comparison to cot- • material throughput
ton fibres. • raw material type
As was mentioned in the settings of the blowroom (chapter • fibre characteristics
5.4.3.), man-made fibres are generally more sensitive to ag- • overall quality requirements.
gressive treatment and therefore have to be treated gentler
than cotton fibres. Because of this huge range of criteria it is not possible to
However, in this case, as for cotton processing, the card give a general and comprehensive list of card clothing rec-
causes shortening of fibres. Man-made fibres therefore in- ommendations. However in Table 8 card clothing recom-
clude a small proportion of short fibres after carding. The mendations for carding different types of man-made fibres
shortening occurs more often with are given for Rieter C 70 card.
• longer fibres
• finer fibres
• narrower settings
• finer clothings
• higher roller and cylinder revolutions.
40 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
C 70 card the high number of fibres between the teeth and obstructs
the fibre transfer from the cylinder to the doffer [9].
Man Made Man Made
Fibres For blends of cotton and synthetics the type of card cloth-
> 1.0 dtex < 0.6 dtex
ing can be closer to that of the cotton clothing, but it is still
points 60 - 120 60 - 120
necessary to use a “combination” wire which can be used
Licker-in angle 5 - 20 5 - 10
for blends and 100 % cotton.
rpm 1 000 - 1 400 900 - 1 200
The operating life of the clothing is strongly dependent
points 600 - 700 700 - 800 upon the type of fibre, the spin finish and the additives in
Cylinder angle 20 - 30 20 - 30 the finish.
rpm 650 - 750 650 - 750 Grinding intervals are also strongly dependent upon spin
Flat clothing 400 - 500 ppsi 500 - 600 ppsi finish and finish additives. For this reason, no guidelines
points 300 - 500 300 - 500
can be given. As regards the doffer, its clothing should be
Doffer ground (slightly) regularly to keep the points sharp.
angle 30 - 40 30 - 40
Table 8 – Recommendations for card clothing and speeds for Rieter
5.5.2.2. Licker-in
C 70 card
As an all-important parameter of the card, the licker-in set-
Positive teeth of the licker-in have the advantage of better tings have to be optimized to the special fibre properties
opening of the tufts; negative teeth have a gentler action when running man-made fibres and their blends.
on the fibres and give better transfer of fibres to the main Because of their sensitiveness, 100 % man-made fibres are
cylinder because of the lower retention capability. Negative usually carded on cards with a single licker-in to ensure
teeth have a lower tendency to choke. When acrylic fibres gentle fibre opening with reduced removal of good fibres.
or very sensitive fibres are to be processed it is advisable In this way, fibre features such as length and tenacity are
to fit the licker-in with negative teeth. retained most effectively and thus contribute to higher yarn
In the early days of microfibre processing (fineness quality.
< 1.0 dtex), very fine cylinder clothings have been se- Recommendations for the clothing of the licker-in have al-
lected to keep the number of fibres in the tooth gaps as ready been listed in Table 8. In general it can be said that
constant as the ones of coarser fibres or even to increase licker-ins with low, neutral or even negative front angles of
quality with a higher number of points. These fine cloth- the clothing are best when running 100 % man-made fibres
ings resulted in excessive carding forces because of the to avoid fibre damage and a good transfer of the fibres to
high fibre/metal friction. Additionally the fibres reached the main cylinder. In some cases, licker-ins with needle or
the tooth gaps only with difficulties. On the other hand, pin rollers also give good results in carding of 100 % man-
a too coarse wire tends to overload the clothing due to made fibres.
40 mm 60 mm
Trash Fiber Trash Fiber
Fig. 32 – Adjustable mote knife on a Rieter C 70 card (left: closed for MMF – right: more open for Cotton applications)
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 41
In general man-made fibre material is free from impuri- • use of single licker-in roller
ties; however, depending on the supplier or process it is • use of clothings with a low positive front angle
possible that fibre packages, melted together fibres can • settings of the knife slightly open to ensure removal of
occur. These need to be removed and this can be done at impurities, fibre packages and melted together fibres.
the licker-in with the mote knife. In the Rieter C 70 card,
the mote knife can be adjusted during production. Fig. 32 5.5.2.3. Pre- and post-carding areas
shows the knife almost closed as it would be recommend-
ed for man-made fibres (left) in comparison to a very open In modern cards, one or more stationary carding elements are
knife position for a high cleaning efficiency when running inserted between the licker-in and the flats and between the
100 % cotton. flats and the doffer. This enables progressive opening of the
The speeds of the licker-in depend on its roller diameter tufts prior to the main carding area between the main cylinder
and on the raw material type. They should be set at the and the flats or preparation of the fibres for the doffing action.
lower end of the overall speed range of the card. Typical In addition to these stationary carding elements, cleaning
licker-in speeds for man-made fibres are listed in Table 8. elements are often integrated to remove dust, trash, and
A general rule for the speed of the licker-in is: the finer the very short fibres. Because of the lack of impurities when
fibres and the higher the production of the card the faster running man-made fibres, knives should be set very close
the licker-in speed. and should be opened a little bit when running blends with
When running blends of man-made fibres with cotton, the cotton. In the Rieter C 70 card, the opening widths of these
setting of the licker-in should be more like the one for cot- cleaning elements can be easily changed by replacing in-
ton fibres which means: serts without any tools (see Fig. 33).
Fig. 33 – Adjustable open width of cleaning elements in a Rieter C 70 card (left: almost closed – right: completely opened)
42 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
5.5.2.4. Main carding area Pos. Element Settings [mm] / (100/")
1 Stationary Licker-in [0.60] (24)
The most important parameters to optimize the carding
2 Transferzone Licker-in to Cylinder [0.30] (12)
process in the main carding area between the cylinder
3 Coverplate Licker-in to Cylinder [1.00] (40)
and the flats according to the raw material are:
• cylinder clothing 4 Precarding Segment 1 [0.65/0.80] (26/32)
• flat clothing 5 Precarding Segment 2 [0.55/0.70] (22/28)
• cylinder speed 6 Precarding Segment 3 [0.45/0.60] (18/24)
• distances between the cylinder and the flat. 7 Revolving Flat Flexbow back [1.30] (52)
8 Revolving Flat 1 Setting point
st
[0.40] (16)
Recommendations for the clothings and the cylinder speed
9 Revolving Flat 2nd Setting point [0.375] (15)
can be found in Table 9.
10 Revolving Flat 3rd Setting point [0.35] (14)
The distances between the cylinder and the wire should
11 Revolving Flat 4th Setting point [0.30] (12)
be wider than those used for cotton. For bulky acrylic fibre
they should be still wider than for polyester fibre. This is 12 Revolving Flat 5th Setting point [0.25] (10)
necessary to avoid: 13 Revolving Flat Flexbow front [1.30] (52)
• fibre damage 14 Postcarding Segment 1 [0.45/0.60] (18/24)
• strong generation of dust 15 Postcarding Segment 2 [0.45/0.60] (18/24)
• high accumulation of static charge. 16 Transferzone Cylinder to Doffer [0.25] (10)
Table 9 – Card distance recommendations for man-made fibres
On the other hand, settings should not be too wide, other-
wise they result in:
• poor opening of the tufts Typical settings in the main carding area and at the rest
• reduced ability to eliminate and open up neps of the card can be found in Table 9.
• choking of the clothings.
10
9 11
8 12
7 13
6 14
5 15
4
3 16
2
Fig. 34 – Settings of distances at the card
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 43
5.5.2.5. Doffer 5.6. Combing
The web is formed on the doffer by its considerably lower It is not currently normal practice to comb man-made fi-
surface speed in comparison to the speed of the cylinder. bres as there is still no particular reason to do so. However,
The doffer clothing (see recommendations in Table 8) has in the production of blended yarns, combing could prove of
a limited filling capacity which depends on the fibre fineness. value in the production of high-quality yarns and difficult
When the filling approaches or exceeds a maximum loading, dye shades. In this so-called comb-blending process, blend-
the extra fibres tend to be entangled and produce a cloudy ing of the two fibre components is performed on a blending
and weak web which is difficult to control. Especially when draw frame between the card and the comber. All further
processing fine man-made fibres, this overloading of the process stages, such as combing, drawing (mostly only one
doffer should be avoided as it leads to an excessive number passage is required), roving frame and ring frame, do not
of neps that can be produced during the drawing process. process separate fibre components but fibre blends. This
gives the best blends in longitudinal and transverse direc-
5.5.3. Problems tions. Furthermore, the comber eliminates the shortened
man-made fibres which otherwise exert a strongly disturb-
The wrong spin finish can lead to neps, smearing and choking ing effect, noticeably affecting the yarn values.
of the clothings and also to electrostatic charging of the fibres. Because of the additional machines needed in the combing
Running of the card causes warming of the card parts (and room the processing machines required are certainly more
the fibres) which in turn leads to drying out in the process- expensive. On the other hand, this process gives more flex-
ing region. Accordingly, within every card there is a micro- ibility: if there is no market for blended yarns, one could
environment of a special kind. If processing is carried out easily switch to combed cotton yarns which would not be
while the environment is too arid, the fibres become dry possible when other processes had been selected.
and static charge accumulates.
In some cases, choking of the clothing can be avoided by 5.7. Drawing
increasing revolutions as the resulting higher centrifugal 5.7.1. Number of draw frame passages
force improves the lift of fibres off the main cylinder and
transfer to the doffer. Moreover, choking can often be pre- The number of the draw frame passages that is required
vented by occasional grinding of the doffer clothing and in a spinning mill depends not only on the raw materi-
wider setting of the flats. Furthermore, clothings should be al and on the required yarn quality but also on the used
periodically freed from spin-finish deposits. yarn spinning technology. In Fig. 35 typical examples for
Higher roller and cylinder revolutions usually give a cleaner different raw materials and different spinning technolo-
web but also lead to greater shortening of the fibres and pos- gies are shown.
sibly also to thermal damage. In addition, too aggressive set- When spinning sliver-blended polyester/cotton blends
tings of the licker-in result in more short fibres in the sliver. with ring spinning machines, a total of three drawing pas-
If the fibres show bad running behavior, a reduction in sages including the blending draw frame is needed to ful-
points/in² may help to overcome the trouble. fill the highest quality standards. In contrast, when spin-
ning the same material by rotor spinning technology two
5.5.4. Process environment drawing passages are enough. In rotor spinning the fed
sliver is completely opened to single fibres which ensure
The humidity in the card room should be sufficient enough to fibre/fibre mixing and additionally a lower number of
control static build up and maintaining of fibre strength, but draw frame passages is required.
not too high to accentuate sticky characteristics of the fibres.
In addition, the clothing will choke if humidity is too high.
It is also necessary to card synthetic fibres in cooler envi-
ronment. Table 10 shows a recommended condition to run
man-made fibres and blends in the card room.
Water content Temperature Humidity
9 - 12 g/kg 22 - 28 °C 48 - 60 % rh
Table 10 – Good ambient conditions for processing of man-made fibres
in the carding room
44
Card
Ring yarn
50 / 50 %
PES / Carded CO
Blending Draw frame Autoleveller Roving Ring Spinning
Draw frame Draw frame Frame
Card
Card Preliminary
Ring yarn
Draw frame
50 / 50 %
PES / Combed CO
Fig. 35 – Examples for different numbers of draw frame passages
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
Blending Draw frame Autoleveller Roving Ring Spinning
Draw frame Draw frame Frame
Card Draw frame Combing Comber
Preparation
Ring yarn
100 % PES
Card Draw frame Autoleveller Roving Ring Spinning
Draw frame Frame
Rotor yarn
100 % PES
Card with integrated Autoleveller Rotor Spinning
Draw frame Draw frame
Air-Jet yarn
100 % CV
Card Draw frame Draw frame Autoleveller Air-Jet Spinning
Draw frame
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 45
If the synthetic material is sliver blended with combed 5.7.2.1. Roller setting
cotton, an additional preliminary drafting stage for the
synthetic fibre component is advantageous. Usually the fi- The roller settings (distances between the roller pairs of
bres of the combed cotton sliver presented to the blend- a draft zone) have to be adjusted according to the fibre lengths
ing draw frame have a high degree of parallelization; the of the raw material. Settings which are too narrow cause fibre
polyester fibres, coming straight from the card, are more or damage while too wide settings increase the number of float-
less randomly oriented and slightly interlaced in the sliv- ing fibres and result in higher unevenness of the sliver.
er. But a preliminary draw frame means little extra costs
and enables an equivalent arrangement of the fibres in the
feedstock slivers of both components.
A major difference in longitudinal orientation of both com-
ponents also leads to a difference in drafting resistance.
If two such different slivers are fed simultaneously into a
drafting arrangement, the result will be packet-wise move-
ment of the fibres. This cause sliver and blend unevenness
and results in increased yarn unevenness, a higher number
Break draft Main draft
of thin places and Classimat defects.
When spinning 100 % synthetic fibres with ring spinning
technology, two draw frame passages are needed to elimi- Fig. 36 – Roller settings in 4 over 3 drafting system
nate the leading and trailing hooks of the card sliver which
is necessary prior to the high draft drawing system of the For polyester and polyamide fibres the following roller set-
ring spinning machine. Thus, the use of two draw frame tings can be recommended (see Fig. 36):
passages in the spinning preparation is the optimum so- • break draft field: fibre cut length +20 %
lution regarding production costs and yarn quality and is • main draft field: fibre cut length +5 to 10 %.
therefore used in most cases.
The rotor spinning technology is less sensitive to the ex- Rather wider settings become necessary with:
istence of fibre hooks, so when spinning 100 % synthet- • processing of low-pill fibres
ic fibres with this technology the numbers of draw frame • processing of high-strength fibres
passages can be adjusted depending on the required • processing of fine fibres
yarn quality. The following list gives alternatives where • processing of fibres with considerable crimp
the yarn quality increases stepwise from the first to the • processing of fibres with poor spin finish
last point: • use of low break drafts.
• card with integrated autoleveler draw frame
• card + autoleveler draw frame In the case of acrylic fibre, too narrow settings in the main
• card with integrated draw frame + autoleveler draw frame drafting field can lead to cold draw setting and thus to
• card + draw frame + autoleveler draw frame. a higher shrinkage level in the end product. If fibres longer
than 40 mm are to be processed, it is advisable to remove
The most sensitive spinning technology for the number of all fibre-guiding elements, e.g. the pressure bars, from
draw frame passages is air-jet spinning. To avoid problems the drafting arrangement. Examples of roller settings on
in the high speed drafting system of the air-jet spinning ma- a 4 over 3 roller drawing frame depending on different raw
chine, three drawing passages are necessary. materials are given in Table 11. These settings should only
be used as a start-up recommendation while optimum set-
5.7.2. General settings tings always have to be found out by experiment.
General settings for standard fibres (regarding pilling
Processing of blends on the draw frame itself causes hard- behavior, strength, crimp etc.) can be found on the 5 over
ly any additional difficulties when compared with that 3 roller drafting system in Fig. 37.
of cotton. Some adaptations and know-how are needed
in connection only with the drafting of pure synthetic For special fibre types the settings have to be adjusted.
fibres.
46 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
Break draft Main draft
5.7.2.2. Top roller pressure
Material roller setting roller setting
[mm] [mm] The task of the top roller pressure is to ensure the clamp-
50 % cotton combed ing of the fibres which is needed for an optimal drafting
48 43
50 % polyester 1.7 dtex / 40 mm process. The roller loading of older draw frames must be
50 % cotton carded set rather higher than for processing cotton. Modern draw
46 42
50 % modal 1.3 dtex / 38 mm frames already use high pressures for all fibres so usually
no change of the pressure is required when different mate-
100 % viscose 1.3 dtex / 40 mm 48 44
rials are used. Only if high drafting forces occur, higher top
100 % polyacrylic 1.3 dtex / 40 mm roller pressures are required. This can be the case, for ex-
50 44
crimped ample, when heavy sliver weights or fibres with high draft-
100 % polyester 1.9 dtex / 36 mm ing resistance are drawn.
50 43
crimped In Fig. 38 and Table 12 examples for regular and high top
100 % polyester sewing thread roller settings on Rieter draw frames are given.
50 44
1.3 dtex / 38 mm In the case of high top roller settings an increased effec-
100 % polyacrylic 3.3 dtex / 60 mm tive nip zone has to be taken into account and the roller
65 58
crimped, dyed settings (see chapter 5.7.2.1.) have to be increased
Table 11 – Examples for Roller settings with different materials by 1-2 mm.
(4 over 3 roller)
5 over 3 drafting arrangement 2
1
3
Cut length
of fibres
36 42-47 in mm
32
const. 43 const. 50-55
40
53 60-65
50
Fig. 38 – Top roller pressures on a 4-over-3 roller drafting system
Fig. 37 – 5-over-3 roller drafting system
Roller 1 Roller 2 Roller 3 Roller 4
Regular setting 320 N 320 N 320 N 200 N
Settings for high
440 N 440 N 320 N 200 N
drafting forces
Table 12 – Examples of top roller pressure settings on a 4-over-3-roller
drafting system
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 47
5.7.2.3. Draft distribution 5.7.2.4. Speed
The total draft on a drawing frame is performed in two The maximum speeds possible for a draw frame depend
steps: the break draft and the main draft (see Fig. 36). The on the fibre material and are limited by:
task of the break draft is to prepare the fibres for the main • an increase of top roller laps
draft by introducing pretension into the sliver and by remov- • a top roller temperature that is too high for sensitive
ing the fibre crimp. Usually the break draft is between 1.28 man-made fibres
and 1.7 and depends on several influencing factors. In gen- • an increase of machine stops and reduced efficiency
eral it can be said that higher break drafts are needed with: • a deterioration of the sliver quality
• earlier draw frame passages • a reduction of cot lifetime.
• finer fibres
• longer fibres In general it can be said that the maximum possible speeds
• pill-free fibres are lower with the use of:
• high strength fibres. • fine fibres
• low-pill fibres
In any case stick-slip motion has to be avoided (see Rieter • high-strength fibres
Manual of Spinning – Volume 1). • fibres with high crimp
Since the break draft depends on the material and the total • fibres with poor spin finish
draft is usually set by the processing system, the main draft • fibres with low melting point.
is given and has to be calculated by total draft divided by
break draft. For high quality products the main draft should In Fig. 39 examples of standard and maximum draw frame
however be limited to the following values: speeds are given for different fibre materials. It is advi-
• cotton/man-made fibre blends: 3.8 sory to set delivery speed not to maximum rates because
• viscose: 6.3 of the low influence of the drawing processes on the total
• acrylic (crimped): 5.2 spinning costs and the influence of the speed on the sliver
• polyester (crimped): 6.0 quality.
• polyester (sewing thread): 3.7
• polypropylene: 6.1
Examples of draft arrangements for different materials and
for draw frames of the first and second draw frame passage
are given in Table 13.
1. Draw frame passage 2. Draw frame passage
Material
break draft total draft break draft total draft
50 % cotton combed
1.41 8 1.28 8
50 % polyester 1.7 dtex / 40 mm
50 % cotton carded
1.41 8 1.28 8
50 % modal 1.3 dtex / 38 mm
100 % viscose 1.3 dtex / 40 mm 1.41 9 1.28 8.3
100 % polyacrylic 1.3 dtex / 40 mm
1.7 6.8 1.28 6.7
crimped
100% polyester 1.9dtex / 36 mm
1.41 8.4 1.28 8
crimped
100 % polyester sewing thread
1.7 6.4 1.7 6.4
1.3 dtex / 38 mm
100 % polyacrylic 3.3 dtex / 60 mm
1.7 6 1.41 8
crimped, dyed
Table 13 – Examples of draft distributions with different materials
48 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
A lap can occur if the remaining crimp, and hence the
Cotton carded (CO) spreading ability of the fibres, is too low. In addition fine
Viscose (CV) fibres have a stronger tendency to form laps than coarse
Acrylic (PAC) ones. Thus, the delivery speed must often be reduced in
PES / CO the processing of fine fibres.
Other reasons for lap formations on machine parts, mainly
Polyester (PES)
on the drafting cylinders, are:
Cotton combed
• accumulation of static charge (when the air is too dry)
Waste / recycling • smearing of spin finish (poor finish or excessive moisture
0 200 400 600 800 1
000
m/min content)
• splitting out of edge fibres.
Standard Maximum
Fig. 39 – Standard and maximum draw frame delivery speeds for different However, laps are very often caused by poor or badly main-
materials
tained top rollers. To avoid laps, the following instructions
are advisable:
5.7.2.5. Web condensing • cots treatment with anti-static
• (75) - 83° Shore hardness (tendency to form laps higher
When the fibres are delivered by the delivery rollers the fi- with softer cots)
bre strand has to be condensed and guided to the calen- • avoidance of damage to the cots
dar rollers. This is done with by a web funnel and a trumpet • periodic washing of the cots.
(condenser). The hole diameter of these elements has to be
adjusted according to the sliver weight and bulkiness of the Surface treatment of the coatings is also very advanta-
fibre material. geous, though lacquering is not particularly useful. Bet-
The tension draft between the delivery roller and the cal- ter results are obtained by the smoothing of the coatings
endar roller also needs to be set according to the fibre by an acid treatment or UV-light irradiation (Berkolising).
material, in order to gather the web and pull the sliver Splitting-out of edge fibres from the fleeces and the sliver
through the trumpet and to ensure good evenness values. leads to laps, blockage in guide passages and interlacing
The following tension drafts can be used as a general rec- of fibres, and hence to sliver breaks and increased hairi-
ommendation: ness of the slivers. This arises especially from:
• cotton: 1.00 to 1.02 • poor spin finish (too little fibre adherence)
• polyester/cotton: 0.99 to 1.00 • static charge
• man-made fibres: 0.98 to 1.00 • bad feeding of slivers in sliver blending.
5.7.3. Problems In sliver blending, those slivers with the lowest tendency to
splitting-out fibres should always be fed on the outside, for
The running behavior at the draw frame is influenced by the example in blends with combed cotton, the cotton slivers
following factors: should not be located at the edge.
• fibre parameters (e.g. fineness, crimp, length, etc.) Blockages of guide passages are caused partly by static charge,
• spin finish but mainly through deposits of spin finish. This tendency may
• moisture content of air be due to the finish itself or to excessive moisture content of
• condition of machine components contacted by the fibres the air. This problem can only be avoided by periodic cleaning.
• settings. Drafting difficulties arise in connection with:
• incorrect spin finish (excessive fibre/fibre adherence)
The main problems, which almost exclusively arise • incorrect matching of the staple lengths of the cotton and
in the processing of 100 % man-made fibres, are: man-made fibre components in blends
• laps on the machine parts • high fibre crimp
• splitting-out of fibres from fleece and sliver edges • too narrow draft settings (mainly break-draft distances)
blocking of sliver-guide passages • wrong break draft
• drafting problems and drafting disturbances • excessive fibre mass in the drafting arrangement
• thermal deterioration of the fibres and spin finish. (use lower doubling or finer-feedstock slivers).
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 49
Thermal damage is caused by heating of the top rollers. 5.8. Roving production
Even at speeds of 400 m/min, top-roller temperatures can 5.8.1. General settings
reach 80 °C. With a normal flow of fibres through the draft- 5.8.1.1. Roller setting
ing arrangement, there will be no fibre damage because the
contact time is too short. However, damage arises when the Like the roller settings in the draw frame, the roller set-
draw frame is stopped and the heat is applied to the fibres tings at the roving frame have to be adjusted according
under pressure. For example, polyester begins to change its to the fibre length. Settings which are too narrow cause
structure at temperatures of 80 °C (polyolefin much earlier) fibre damage, while settings which are too wide increase
and this primarily affects dyeing behavior. Even if the influ- the number of floating fibres and result in higher uneven-
ence in the sliver is restricted to a length of 1 - 2 cm, it will ness of the roving. The break draft distance is an impor-
affect 5 - 50 m of yarn. This defect becomes visible only af- tant parameter for the roving quality. The optimum set-
ter dyeing. ting is not only influenced by the fibre length but also by
The heat affects not only the fibre itself but also the spin fin- the drafting resistance of the fibre material. The higher
ish; this effect can arise at temperatures of only 50°C. Main- the drafting resistance the higher the break draft roller
ly the viscosity changes and, as a result, several processing setting has to be used.
parameters (e.g. the friction force) are radically affected. Examples for roller settings on a Rieter roving frame can be
found in Figure 40 / Table 15. The values in that table can
5.7.4. Process environment be used as a startup setting for further optimizing.
Temperature g. water /
Material rh%
Deg C Deg F kg air
Polyester 50 - 52 24 - 26 75 - 79 10 - 11
Viscose / Polyester 48 - 54 24 - 26 75 - 79 10 - 12
Cotton / Polyester blends 45 - 50 24 - 26 75 - 79 9 - 11
Table 14 – Good ambient conditions for processing of man-made fibres
at the draw frame
E F
mi
25
n.
35 35
mi
1
n.
mm
1m
m
H J
32 32 32
1 2 3
A
G = 4.0
C D
285
Fig. 40 – Roller settings at the drawing system in a roving frame
50 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
Setting 1 2 3
For cotton, synthetics For cotton, synthetics For synthetics
Raw material
and blends up to 40 mm and blends up to 50 mm and blends up to 60 mm
A = Cradle length 34.5 mm 45.0 mm 60.5 mm
B = Guide bar 24.0 mm 33.0 mm 48.0 mm
C = Main draft distance bottom rolls 49.0 mm 69.0 mm 76.0 mm
D = Break draft distance bottom rolls min. 60.0 mm min. 60.0 mm min. 70.0
E = Main draft distance top rolls 55.0 mm 66.0 mm 82.0 mm
F = Break draft distance top rolls min. 59.0 mm min. 59.0 mm min. 70.0 mm
G = Forward offset 1 top roll
st
4.0 mm 4.0 mm 4.0 mm
H = Backward offset 2nd top roll 2.0 mm 2.0 mm 2.0 mm
J = Backward offset 3rd top roll 0.0 mm 0.0 mm 0.0 mm
Table 15 – Examples of standard roller settings according to the fibre length on a Rieter roving frame
5.8.1.2. Draft distribution 5.8.1.3. Condensers
The task and the influencing factors of the break draft Condensers (see Fig. 41) guide the fibres through the draft-
on the roving frame are very similar to the same on the ing system and compact the fibre strand slightly, which re-
drawing frame (see 5.7.2.2.). Optimum setting depends duces hairs and fibre fly. The openings of the condensers
on the fibre material and should be set high enough to should be selected according to the fineness of the fed sliv-
get pretension onto the fibres and to remove the crimp er but have to be adapted to the higher bulkiness of man-
and low enough to avoid stick-slip motion (see Rieter made fibres.
Manual of Spinning – Volume 1). Usually setting of the
break draft is between 1.1 and 1.4. For fibres with high Condensers
draft resistance, the setting of the break draft has to be
reduced to avoid vibrations in the feed and middle roller,
in some cases to values even lower than 1.1.
The total draft depends of course on the output fineness,
which is influenced by the fineness of the required yarn
fineness. In general, when processing synthetic fibres
or blends, the total draft on the roving frame should be
above than 7.5. In Table 16 recommendations for the to-
tal draft settings can be found for cotton/man-made fibre 3 2 1
blends or for pure man-made fibres. 1 Feed condenser
2 Middle condenser
3 Delivery condenser
Recommended total draft range
Preferred Possible Fig. 41 – Condensers in the drawing system of a roving frame
Fibre type
draft range
Blends of cotton / synthetics
7.5 to 12.5 7 to 13
and man made fibres
100 % synthetic fibres (polyester, viscose,
8 to 14 7.5 to 17
acrylic and nylon) up to 60 mm length
Table 16 – Recommended total draft ranges
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 51
5.8.1.4. Roving twist level
1 400
Because of longer fibres and higher fibre-fibre friction, 1 300
maximum speed
speed of the flyer [turns/min]
the twist level in man-made fibre roving has to be set low-
er than the twist level for cotton. Too high levels result in 1 200
drafting difficulties in the ring spinning process, which are
1 100
reinforced by high air-moisture levels because of the high-
minimum speed
er mutual adherence of the fibres. Certainly, the twist level 1 000
still has to be high enough to avoid false drafts in the rov- blends
ing and ring spinning process. 900
In general, it can be said that the twist level must be higher 100 % man-made fibres
800
with: am 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30
• coarser fibres ae 0.53 0.59 0.66 0.73 0.79 0.86 0.92 0.99
• shorter fibres
• finer roving fineness. Fig. 43 – Flyer speed recommendations according to fibre material and
twist coefficients
Recommendations for the twist level of man-made fibre
roving according to the fineness of the roving and to the 5.8.2. Problems
fineness of the fibres can be seen in Fig. 42. For blended
yarns the twist level should be set between those for cotton Once again, problems arise mainly from spin finish. In addi-
and those for synthetics in correspondence with the blend tion to those already mentioned, long exposure of the top-
proportions. roller coatings and aprons to spin finish can lead to swell-
ing of those elements and to formation of deposits. This
effect is especially noticeable after long periods of inactiv-
2.0 80 ity. Furthermore, the aprons often become smeared with
-1 1/2˝ -1 7/8˝
spin finish which results in a stickiness of these elements.
70 -1 1/8˝
They should be washed from time to time.
-1 1/16˝
1.5 60
-1˝
-40 mm
1.2/1.5 den
If the roving has too many thick places, or even slubs,
50 the causes could be one or more of the following:
• exit opening of the drafting arrangement too narrow
Twist (turns/metre)
1.0 40 -60 mm
• condenser too narrow
Twist (turns/˝)
-3.0 den
30 • spacing of the nip lines too short
0.5 20
• top-roller loading inadequate
tex 1
000 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 • feedstock sliver too coarse
Nm 1.0 1.1 1.25 1.4 1.6 2.0 2.5 3.3 5.0
Ne 0.6 0.65 0.74 0.84 0.98 1.18 1.47 1.97 2.95
• damaged aprons.
Cotton Synthetics
5.8.3. Process environment
Fig. 42 – Roving twist level recommendations
Temperature 23 - 27 °C
5.8.1.5. Flyer speed
Rel. Humidity 48 - 56 %
Water Content 9 - 12 g/kg
The speed of the flyer is limited because at higher speeds
the higher centrifugal forces lead to bursting of the roving Table 17 – Good ambient conditions for processing of man-made fibres
on the roving frame
layers on the bobbin. This limitation increases with bigger
bobbin diameters so that the speed of the flyer has to be re-
duced proportionally to the size of the bobbin.
Optimum flyer speeds have to be determined by tests but
the following Fig. 43 shows recommended maximum and
minimum flyer speeds with different fibre materials and
twist coefficients.
52 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
5.9. Ring spinning
A = cradle length
5.9.1. General settings 1 = Spacer
5.9.1.1. Roller settings and cradle length 2 = Spacer thickness
Like the roller settings in the draw frame and in the rov-
ing frame, the roller settings at the ring spinning machine
have to be adjusted according to the fibre length. As it
was explained in the other processes that use a 3-over-3
roller drawing system, there are two roller distances that
A
have to be adjusted: the break draft (B in Fig. 44), which
1
has the function of pretensioning the fibres, and the main
2
draft (A in Fig. 44), which has the function of drawing the
fibre material to the required yarn fineness. Fig. 45 – Cradle length and cradle spacer
Cradle Length Maximum Fibre Length
36 mm 32 - 40 mm
43 mm 40 - 51 mm
59 mm 50 - 60 mm
Table 19 – Examples of cradle lengths according to the fibre length
If for economic reasons fibres have to be spun that exceed the
specified length of the cradles in use (for example fibres long-
er than 40 mm with the 36 mm cradle) the middle bottom roll
A B
can be moved backwards up to 8 mm to accommodate the in-
Fig. 44 – Roller settings in a ring spinning machine creased staple length. Then the middle top rolls with the cra-
(A: main draft; B: break draft) dles and the back rollers have to be adjusted accordingly.
The spacer thickness (see Fig. 45) has to be adjusted ac-
As mentioned in the appropriate chapter of the roving cording to the fineness of the fibre material. When adjust-
production setting (chapter 5.8.1.1.), the optimum setting ing the spacer thickness, the higher bulkiness of the fibres
of the break draft distance is not only influenced by the fi- has to be taken into account in order to avoid over control
bre length but also by the drafting resistance of the fibre of the fibres which leads to a higher ends-down rate and
material. The higher the drafting resistance the higher the a high number of thick and thin places in the yarn.
break draft roller setting has to be chosen.
Examples for settings of the main and the break draft dis- 5.9.1.2. Top roller pressures and top roller cots
tance with different fibre materials can be found in Table 18.
Top roller pressures may have to be raised in older draft-
ing arrangements. They should not lie below 12 daN, on the
Fibre Material Break Draft Distance Main Draft Distance
front cylinders, possibly even as high as 15 daN.
Blends < 40 mm 70 mm 42.5 mm In general it can be said that softer front top roller cots result
Man-made fibres < 40 mm 70 mm 42.5 mm in a better enclosure and guidance of the fibres. But espe-
Man-made fibres 51 mm 70 mm 54 mm cially when running man-made fibres and blends, softer front
Man-made fibres 60 mm 80 mm 68 mm roller cots have a higher tendency to form laps and they wear
out quickly. To avoid these disadvantages, harder cots should
Table 18 – Examples of break draft and main draft field distances
be chosen. In addition, treatment of at least the delivery roll-
er, as described in chapter 5.7.3., is advantageous.
For different main draft field distances that are necessary Recommended shore hardness of top roller cots when run-
when processing fibres with different lengths, cradles with ning man-made fibres are 65-75° for the feed rollers and
different cradle lengths are available (see Fig. 45). Exam- 75-85° for the delivery rollers. In the processing of blends,
ples for the right cradles with different fibre lengths can those cots should be selected which provide a good yarn
be seen in Table 19. quality with a minimal lapping tendency.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 53
5.9.1.3. Draft distribution Fibres Total Draft Break Draft
Blends < 70 1.16 - 1.22
Man-made fibres < 40 mm < 60 1.16 - 1.20
3.2 5
3.0 Lyocell < 40 mm < 60 1.10 - 1.14
2.8
4 Cohesive Polyester< 40 mm < 60 1.09
2.6
Roving count (Ne)
2.4
3 Man-made fibres < 50 mm < 50 1.16 - 1.18
2.2
2.0 Man-made fibres < 60 mm < 45 1.16 - 1.18
1.8 2
1.6
1.4 1 Table 20 – Examples for normal break drafts with processing different
1.2 fibres and different draft levels
1.0
0.8
0.6
10 16 20 24 30 36 40 50 60 70 80 100
Yarn count (Ne) The main draft has to be set after choosing an appropriate
1 3.3 dtex 60 mm 3 1.7 dtex 40 mm 5 1.0 dtex 38 mm break draft according to the required yarn fineness.
2 2.2 dtex 50 mm 4 1.3 dtex 40 mm
5.9.1.4. Traveler speed
Fig. 46 – Recommendations for roving fineness depending on the required
yarn fineness and on the fibre material The traveler speed is the most important limiting factor
regarding production speeds on a ring spinning machine.
The total draft in the drawings system of a ring spinning In comparison to spinning cotton, the maximum traveler
machine depends, of course, on the relationship of the speed for spinning man-made fibres or blends has to be re-
roving and the yarn fineness. To avoid process problems duced. Higher traveler speeds increase the risk of thermal
and yarn quality losses, the total draft has to be set with- damage of the fibres which is described in chapter 5.9.2..
in practical limits which depend on the properties of the Thus, manufacturers of man-made fibres usually suggest
used fibre material. In the end, the roving fineness has to maximum traveler speeds of 28 to 30 m/s. When process-
be adjusted stepwise to the required yarn fineness in or- ing fibres with a low melting point such as polypropylene
der to avoid a drawing process outside the practical lim- or low-pill fibre types, a further decrease of the maximum
its. In Fig. 46 recommendations for the roving fineness ac- traveler speeds well below 28 m/s is necessary. When spin-
cording to the required yarn fineness and to the used fibre ning blends, the risk of thermal damage of the fibres can be
material can be found. ignored.
Once the total draft has been evaluated within the practical Additionally, an increase of end-down rates limits the max-
draft limits, it has to be divided into the break draft and the imum traveler speeds to both ends of the yarn fineness
main draft. spectrum because of high centrifugal forces with coarse
Like the total draft, the break draft has to be set within lim- yarn counts and low yarn breaking forces with fine yarn
its. On the one side, it has to be high enough to fulfill the counts. In Fig. 47 the maximum traveler speed ranges for
task of pretensioning the roving for an optimum drawing normal synthetic fibres are illustrated depending on the
process in the main draft zone. On the other side, the break yarn fineness.
draft has to be low enough to avoid stick-slip motion (see
Rieter Manual of Spinning – Volume 1) or to avoid overload
of the drive system when processing fibres with high draft
m/s
resistance on long spinning machines. As general rules it
31
can be said that:
29
• with higher break drafts the break draft distance should
27
be reduced to maintain yarn quality
• with lower break drafts the break draft distance can be 25
higher, which results in a less sensitiveness to variations of 23
fibre length, roving draft resistance and climatic conditions.
500 360 300 200 170 145 118 100 83 75 dtex
20 28 34 50 60 70 85 100 120 135 Nm
Examples for normal break drafts with processing different
fibres and different draft levels can be found in Table 20. Fig. 47 – Maximum traveler speed ranges for synthetic fibres
54 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
5.9.1.5. Traveler form
The traveler has many parameters (see Fig. 48) and has to
be selected according to:
• type of flange f
• fibre material
• yarn count
• ring flange size
• ring profile.
dr
The manufacturers of rings and travelers support the selec-
tion with recommendations to find the optimum traveler for
each application.
In general, travelers with a high bow should be used because
of the friction sensitiveness of synthetic fibres. They avoid udr
contact of the yarn on the ring crown which would result in
melting points in the yarn.
Another important parameter of the traveler is the wire sec-
tion which has an influence on the yarn quality, the spinning
fr
stability and on lifetime of the travelers. Different forms have
been developed for specific applications which can be found
in Fig. 49.
drh
3
1
9
r
2
6
f
Good results regarding hairiness. Suitable for fine cotton yarn
and viscose.
7
dr
8 For blends, cotton and synthetics. Good results for low twisted yarns.
7
udr
For cotton, blends and synthetics. Extremly wide half-round
4 profile offers a large contact surface. For high speeds.
1 – Inner traveller width
2 – Height of bow fr
3 – Yarn passage For acrylics, special synthetics and core yarn. Flat toe,
4 – Wire section round traveller bow (yarn passage), for higher speeds.
5 – Traveller – ring contact surface
r
6 – Angle of toe
For synthetics and core yarn, for lower speeds.
7 – Toe
8 – Opening drh
9 – Upper part of traveller bow For SU travellers. Also available with udr and r profile.
Fig. 48 – Parameters of a C-shaped traveler Fig. 49 – Wire sections and their recommended application
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 55
PES / CO PES /
Raw blend Pure PES
Carded Combed MOD
Blend proportions % 67/33 50/50 67/33 50/50 65/35
Fibre length PES (mm) 32 38/40 32 38/40 32 38/40 32 38/40
Min. numbers of fibres in cross-section 70 60 75 65 65 55 70 60 60 50 (-60)
Table 21 – Spinning limits of various spun yarns out of man-made fibres
5.9.1.6. Spinning limit and yarn twist Common twist multiplier for weaving yarns out of polyester
fibre material and blends can be found in Fig. 51. Knitting
In ring spinning of man-made fibres and blends this spin- yarns out of these materials lie about 10 % below these
ning limit usually lies in the region of 50 to 75 fibres (see levels. Acrylic-fibre yarns are about 5 % above the appro-
Table 21). This limit is lower than that for cotton because priate yarns made of polyester.
of greater fibre adherence and lower length variation of
man-made fibres.
For the same reasons it is possible to spin yarns of man- ae am
E
made fibres with lower twist levels than yarns with cotton 4.1 125 B
4.0 120
and also the critical twist level (maximum tensile loading) D A
3.8 115
is lower for man-made fibres (see Fig. 50). The appropri- C
3.6 110
ate values for blends are between these maxima, depend-
3.5 105
ing on the percentage distribution of the materials: the 3.3 100
higher the percentage of man-made fibres is, the closer 3.1 95
the values are to the 100 % man-made fibre values and 3.0 90
vice versa. 2.8 85
2.6 80
F
C 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 Nm
50 34 25 20 17 14 12.5 11 10 9 8.3 7.7 tex
D 12 18 24 30 36 41 47 53 59 65 71 77 Ne
B
A: PES (40 mm) D: PES / CO 65/35, carded (32 mm)
B: PES / CO, combed (40 mm) E: PES / CO 50/50, carded (32 mm)
PES C: PES / CO 65/35, carded (40 mm)
C Fig. 51 – Common twist multipliers
A D
B
CO
T/m
Fig. 50 – Relationship between the number of turns of twist and the
strength of a yarn; F, strength; T/m, turns of twist per meter in the yarn;
PES, polyester fibres; CO, cotton fibres
56 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
5.9.2. Problems 5.9.2.2. Thermal fibre damage [10] [11] [12]
5.9.2.1. General problems
The biggest problem in the processing of synthetic fibres is the
Problems in the ring spinning process with man-made risk of thermal fibre damage on the balloon-control ring and in
fibres can be caused by: the region of the ring and traveler. At the balloon control-ring
• the fibres such damage arises when the balloon is too large and the yarn
• the machine is pressed against the balloon control ring resulting in high fi-
• the roving bre/metal friction. The time of contact is long enough to per-
• the air conditioning. mit significant warming of the fibres. This leads to changes in
the fibre substance, going as far as melting. The results are:
Problems caused by the fibres can arise from: • reduction of yarn strength
• poor spin finish (high fibre/fibre adherence, smearing) • lowering of yarn elongation
• low plasticizing point (this is the main cause and it leads • generation of fibre particles
rapidly to thermal damage). • a rise in ends down and dust levels, especially in the
subsequent processes such as winding
On the machine side, the factors to be considered are: • slub formation when rubbed over thread guides
• incorrect settings • variable dyeability.
• incorrect cradle opening in the drafting arrangement
• wrong break draft Damage of this kind does not affect the yarn over its whole
• too low top-roller loading length. It arises only intermittently, in particular when the
• excessive lift of the roving-guide movement contact pressure of the yarn on the balloon-control ring is
• incorrect or damaged top rollers and guide aprons high, i.e. when the balloon is large. A large balloon is formed
• too low aspiration pressure in the lower part of the ring-rail movement (winding onto
• incorrectly selected rings and travelers the largest bobbin diameter) and in the first phase of wind-
• damaged thread guides, rings and travelers, inadequate ing of the bobbin (until the bobbin build is about half com-
centering of ring, spindles and thread guides (very im- plete) (Fig. 52). This is why melt points are only rarely found
portant factors in processing man-made fibres), excessive in lengths of yarn lying in parts of the bobbin having medium
speed. or small diameter (layer winding) and in lengths lying in the
upper layers of the whole bobbin.
The problems in the roving are:
• too high hairiness level
• excessive unevenness
• too high twist level.
In the air-conditioning system, the moisture level may be:
• too low (static electricity, lap formation, hairiness)
• too high (smearing of spin finish, stickiness of spinning
elements, lap formation.
An additional problem can crop up at the winders. If the
wrong kind of plastic tubes at the ring frame has been used,
the fibres are charged in running over the tube. This causes
the yarn to break repeatedly in back winding and it can no
longer be unwound. This happens mainly in the lower part
of the bobbin.
a b
Fig. 52 – (a) Melt points in the lower part of the layer winding
(b) Melt points in the bottom half of the bobbin
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 57
Damage arises as a linear function of spindle speed. Apart 5.9.3. Process environment
from reducing speed, damage can be limited only by us-
ing smaller rings and a shorter lift. The balloon-control ring A water-vapor content of 9.5 - 11.5 g per kg dry air has
can possibly be eliminated if the ring and lift are made very proved to be favorable. At spinning temperatures of
small. No melt points will occur under these conditions 23 - 27 °C, this moisture content gives relative humidi-
even in spinning at traveler speeds of 35 m/s. Spinning ty in the range of 45 - 55 %. However, to avoid the risk of
with smaller rings is a viable possibility in the production static charge, it is often better not to let relative humidity
of finer yarns with an automatic doffer on the ring frame drop below 50 %.
and a splicer on the winder.
This kind of thermal damage can be easily detected in dye- 5.10. Compact spinning
ing but detection is very difficult during spinning. Often,
there is a deposit of fine, flour-like dust. Compact spinning is a further development of the ring
Thermal damage also arises in the region of the ring and spinning technology and provides an improved yarn
the traveler when the yarn is pressed against the ring and quality including higher yarn tenacity and lower yarn
as a result the fibres are heated by friction. The yarn always hairiness (see Rieter Manual of Spinning – Volume 4).
adopts this low position in the traveler when tension is high The drawing and the twist insertion elements in a com-
because of the narrowing or drawing in of the balloon (see pact spinning machine though are the same as in a ring
also The Rieter Manual of Spinning – Volume 1, sections spinning machine, so the settings of these elements as
8.5.3.). High tensions of this order arise only during wind- well as the problems that arise from them are similar to
ing in the upper portion of the lift stroke and the upper por- those in ring spinning and are described in the appro-
tion of the ring rail movement (smaller diameter) (Fig. 53). priate chapters 5.9.1. and 5.9.2. In this chapter the ad-
Accordingly, such damage is only found in the upper part of ditional setting of the compact zone and issues that are
the layer winding and usually only in the upper half of the related to the special compact yarn structure are de-
overall bobbin structure. It can often be recognized by a scribed.
rather coarse, splinter-like deposit on the ring rail.
A high-bow (C-shaped) traveler is usually needed in pro- 5.10.1. General settings
cessing synthetic fibres in order to avoid damage of this 5.10.1.1. Compacting zone
kind. This traveler form has a larger space permitting pas-
sage of the yarn. The elements of the Rieter compact system can be seen in
Fig. 54. Depending on the fibres and on the required yarn
fineness the appropriate suction unit and air guide element
have to be chosen.
a b
Fig. 53 – (a) Melt points in the upper part of the layer winding
(b) Melt points in the upper half of the bobbin
58 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
Fig. 54 – Compacting elements
The recommended suction unit for man-made fibres and 5.10.1.2. Ring finish
blends is the linear suction unit (Fig. 55).
As described in The Rieter Manual of Spinning – Volume 4,
the traveler lubricates itself by fibre fragments which are
taken out of the hairiness of the yarns. The low hairiness
of the compact spun yarns results in a lower lubrication of
the traveler. Although the lubrication can be increased by
choosing the right traveler form (see chapter 5.10.1.3.),
a higher wearing of the ring/traveler system has to be ex-
pected. For this reason rings with a high wear resistant fin-
ish (like TITAN rings from Bräcker) are highly recommended.
5.10.1.3. Traveler form
As described in the last chapter, the low hairiness of com-
pact-spun yarns leads to a lower lubrication of the ring/
traveler system. To compensate this effect as much as pos-
sible, travelers with low yarn clearance should be chosen to
bring the yarn hairiness closer to the contact area between
ring and traveler in order to get more lubricating fibre frag-
Fig. 55 – Recommended suction unit for man-made fibres and blends ments.
Because of the lower lubrication the friction between ring
and traveler is higher and lighter numbers should be used.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 59
5.11. Rotor spinning As a general rule, the maximum recommended fibre length
5.11.1. Fibre selection can be calculated by the formula:
Because of limitations in the rotor spinning technology, Maximum Fibre Length ≤ 1.3 ×Rotor Diameter
the selection of appropriate fibres plays an important role
in the rotor spinning process. Two fibre parameters have 5.11.2. General settings
to be considered: 5.11.2.1. Opening roller type and opening roller speed
• fibre fineness
• fibre length. When running man-made fibres and blends, the right
choice of the opening roller is very important to ensure
The fibre fineness is limited by the required significant- good separation of the fed fibres with minimized fibre
ly higher number of fibres in the yarn cross section than damage. Parameters that have a high influence on the
the number needed in ring yarns. As described in chapter opening process are:
4.1.1.3. rotor yarns usually need at least 100 fibres which • clothing type
limits the finest possible yarn that can be spun depending • opening roller coating
on the fibre fineness as indicated in Table 22. • opening roller speed.
In general, the more aggressive these chosen parame-
Fibre Fineness Yarn Fineness
ters are, the better the opening action and the higher the
dtex tex Ne Nm risk for damaging the fibres are. Therefore opening roller
1.7 20 30 50 clothings for the sensitive man-made fibres are less ag-
1.3 16 38 64 gressive than the clothings for cotton. The coatings of the
1.1 13 45 77 opening rollers (wires or solid rings) were developed to
extend their lifetime. The most common coating is a layer
Table 22 – Limitations of rotor yarn fineness with given fibre fineness
of diamond particles embedded in a nickel base (DN coat-
ing). To reduce the roughness of this coating, an addition-
The fibre length is limited by the rotor diameter. If the fibre al nickel layer is coated on top of it. However, when
length with a given rotor diameter is too long, the following spinning very sensitive fibres it is advisable to use only
disadvantages have to be expected: a nickel coating (N coating) in order to avoid fibre damage.
• higher number of wrapper fibres In the latter case, a shorter lifetime has to be expected.
• lower spinning stability In Fig. 56 recommendations for opening roller types and
• lower yarn quality. opening roller coatings can be found for different fibre
types.
60 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
CLOTHING WIRE
Form
Form / Type
Type OB 20 B OB 20/4 OB 20 OS 21 OS 43
Coating DN * DN DN * DN * DN
Cotton
Regenerate
Coating / Raw material
Viscose
Polyester/-acryl
Blends
like PES/CO
SOLIDRING
Form
Form / Type
Type B 174 B 174 - 4.8 B 20 S 21 S 43
Coating DN N DN N DN N DN DN
Cotton
Regenerate
Coating / Raw material
Viscose
Polyester/-acryl
Blends
like PES/CO
– Possible D – Diamond coating N – Nickel coating
– Recommended DN – Diamond-nickel coating * – Needle finish treatment of wire
Fig. 56 – Rieter opening roller recommendations
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 61
The optimum speed of the opening roller has to be found The task of the rotor coating is to extend its lifetime by
by spinning trials. The limitations for maximum open- a higher wear resistance. In most cases a boron treatment
ing roller speeds are fibre damages and the generation of of the rotor groove plus an additional diamond coating in
melt points by fibre/metal friction. In addition, the limita- a nickel matrix of the whole rotor is used (BD-types) for
tions for minimum speeds are inadequate fibre separation all kind of fibre materials including man-made fibres. Es-
and occurrence of opening roller laps. In Table 23 typical pecially for spinning yarns out of viscose, rotors with bo-
opening roller speeds for processing man-made fibres can ron treatment plus additional nickel coating (B-types) are
be found. of advantage because of the smoothness of the slip sur-
face of the rotor. Recommendations for rotor coatings ac-
cording to the used fibre material and application can be
Fibre Material Opening Roller Speeds [turns/min] also seen in Fig. 57.
PES/CO 8 000 - 10 000 The limitation of the rotor diameter depending on the fi-
PES 7 000 - 9 000 bre length is described in 5.11.1., but there are also limi-
PAC 7 000 - 9 000 tations by the yarn fineness and by the rotor speed. The
PA 6 500 - 8 000 yarn fineness exerts an influence because the coarser the
spun yarn is, the larger the rotor diameter that has to be
Viscose 8 000 - 9 000
chosen. The rotor speed exerts an influence as each ro-
Table 23 – Opening roller speed recommendations
tor diameter has an optimal speed range. Running be-
low this speed range results in too low spinning tensions
and unstable spinning conditions while running above
5.11.2.2. Rotor type and rotor speed the speed range results in too high spinning tensions and
yarn breaks.
The rotor has a big influence on the yarn quality, the spin- The maximum possible rotor speed that can be used for
ning stability and of course the production rate. According a given man-made fibre material is influenced by the ma-
to the used material and yarn quality requirements, the terial itself (e.g. polyester, viscose, etc.), by the quality
following parameters of the rotor have to be chosen: of the fibres and by the spin finish (e.g. high performance
• type of rotor groove types, normal types, etc.). In general, blends with cotton
• coating of the rotor can be spun faster than pure man-made fibres and viscose
• rotor diameter can be spun faster than polyester or polyacryl. For exam-
• rotor speed. ple, it is possible to spin high quality viscose with rotor
speeds up to 130 000 rpm [13].
Inside the rotor groove the fibres are collected and the The maximum speed that can be achieved has to be
twist is inserted. The geometry of the groove affects the determined by spinning trials. It has to be kept in mind
yarn quality parameters as well as the spinning stability. that the higher the rotor speed and the smaller the rotor
It should be chosen according to the fibre material and diameter are, the higher the number of wrapper fibres
yarn application. In Fig. 57 recommendations for Rieter will be and the harsher the feel of the finished fabrics
rotor groove types with different materials and applica- will become.
tions are given.
62 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
Form
Type / Application
Groove XG XGM XK XK5 XT
Application 1., 2. 1., 2. 1. 1., 2. 1., 2., 3.
Coating BD BD BD B BD
Cotton
Regenerate
Coating / Raw material
Viscose
Polyester/-acryl
Blends like
PES/CO
Form
Type / Application
Groove XT5 XTC XU XV XDS
Application 1., 2. 1., 2., 3., 4. 1., 2., 3. 4. 1., 2.
Coating B BD BD BD BD
Cotton
Regenerate
Coating / Raw material
Viscose
Polyester/-acryl
Blends like
PES/CO
1. – Weaving 4. – Prevents fibre B – Boronized steel
2. – Knitting shift BD – Boronized Diamond coating
3. – Denim – Applicable
Fig. 57 – Rieter rotor recommendations
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 63
5.11.2.3. Channel inserts 5.11.2.4. Draw-off nozzle
Usually the channel insert is chosen according to the ro- Draw-off nozzles are crucial for yarn characteristics.
tor diameter but when spinning man-made fibres, special Depending on the required feel of the yarn – hairy or
channel inserts with SPEEDpass can be used (see Fig. 58). smooth – and the downstream processes in knitting or
With the SPEEDpass additional air is sucked through the weaving, a wide range of nozzles for all spheres of appli-
spin box which provides a better fibre control in the trash cation have been developed.
removal area and a higher air speed in the fibre channel, Recommendations for draw-off nozzles depending on the fi-
which is noticeable in constant and stretched transport of bre material and on the application can be found in Fig. 59.
the fibres [14]. Smooth nozzles often give better yarn characteristics and
Furthermore, particles of the fibre finish are sucked away the yarn is more resistant to rubbing. They have good heat
by the SPEEDpass after they are detached from the open- conductivity but generally less false twist. A higher ends-
ing roller. Rotor contamination due to fibre finishing de- down rate must be expected. In contrast to that, grooved
posits is therefore significantly reduced. nozzles can operate with lower twist levels. Running per-
formance is better because of the greater false-twist effect,
but hairiness increases. Melt spots could also occur. Ce-
ramic nozzles with 4 - 6 grooves have proved to be advan-
tageous in spinning blended yarns and fibres that are not
strongly sensitive to heat.
Fig. 58 – Rieter fibre guide channel with SPEEDpass
64 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
Ceramic
Form
Model KG KG R K3K K4K K4K R or RR K8K
Application
Remarks 1. – 1., 2. 1., 2. 2. 2.
Knitting Weaving Knitting Weaving Knitting Weaving Knitting Weaving Knitting Weaving Knitting Weaving
Cotton
Regenerate
Viscose
Polyester/-acryl
Raw material
Blends
like PES/CO
Ceramic
Form
Model K8K R or RR KR8K KR8K R or RR KS KS R or RR KS-NX
Application
Remarks 2. 2. 2. 1. – –
Knitting Weaving Knitting Weaving Knitting Weaving Knitting Weaving Knitting Weaving Knitting Weaving
Cotton
Regenerate
Viscose
Polyester/-acryl
Raw material
Blends
like PES/CO
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 65
Ceramic
Form
Model MIMA 1-4K MIMA 2-4K nano4 nano6 KSF KSF-NX
Application
Remarks 2. 2. – – – –
Knitting Weaving Knitting Weaving Knitting Weaving Knitting Weaving Knitting Weaving Knitting Weaving
Cotton
Regenerate
Viscose
Polyester/-acryl
Raw material
Blends
like PES/CO
– Possible 1. – Denim 3. – Also for Rotors with Ø ≤ 30 mm
– Recommended 2. – Prevents shifting fibres during
weaving process (warp)
Fig. 59 – Rieter draw-off nozzle recommendations
5.11.2.5. Spinning limit and yarn twist Twist levels for blended yarns should be set between these
values and those for cotton yarns depending on the per-
Because of the lower utilization of the fibres, rotor yarns centage distribution of the blend components.
need a higher number of fibres in the yarn cross-section
(spinning limit: 100 for all fibre materials) and higher twist 5.11.3. Problems
coefficients than ring spun yarn.
Table 24 lists typical ranges for the twist coefficient de- Problems in the rotor spinning process with man-made
pending on different applications. fibres can be caused by:
• the fibres
• the machine
Knitting yarns ae am atex • the air conditioning.
PES 3 - 3.3 90 - 100 2 800 - 3 150
PAC 3.1 - 3.5 95 - 105 3 000 - 3 300 Problems caused by the fibres can arise from:
PA 3 - 3.3 90 - 100 2 800 - 3 150 • poor spin finish (smearing on opening roller and draw-off
CV 3.3 - 3.6 100 - 110 3 150 - 3 450
navel, contamination of rotor groove)
• low melting point of fibre material (leads to thermal dam-
Weaving yarns ae am atex
age because of high friction on opening roller, rotor and
PES 3.3 - 3.8 100 - 115 3 150 - 3 600
draw-off nozzle)
PAC 3.3 - 4 100 - 120 3 150 - 3 800 • high friction coefficients (leads to lapping on the opening
PA 3.1 - 3.8 95 - 115 3 000 - 3 600 roller).
CV 3.3 - 3.6 100 - 110 3 150 - 3 450
Table 24 – Rotor yarn twist coefficients for different man-made fibres
and applications
66 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
On the machine side, the factors to be considered are: The fibre length is crucial because usually with longer fibres
• incorrect settings the distance between the output rollers of the drawing sys-
• lapping on opening roller because of low roller speed tem and the spinning nozzle (spinning nozzle spacing, see
• thermal fibre damage because of too high opening roller chapter 5.12.2.3.) can be increased. This usually results in
or rotor speeds a higher amount of the wrapper fibre proportion and in a
• incorrect or damaged opening roller better yarn strength. Rieter trials with Lyocell fibres howev-
• incorrectly selected spinning components like opening er have shown that with this kind of material the optimum
rollers, rotors or draw-off nozzles. spinning nozzle spacing is only influenced by the yarn fine-
ness [16].
In the air-conditioning system, the moisture level may be: Especially in blends with cotton there is always a higher
• too low (static electricity, lap formation, hairiness) risk of fibre loss because of the higher amount of shorter
• too high (smearing of spin finish, lapping). fibres in the fed sliver.
When spinning man-made fibres, approximately 75 fibres
5.11.4. Process environment in the yarn cross section are required with air-jet spin-
ning technology. Though this number is lower than in ro-
A water-vapor content of 9.5 - 11.5 g per kg dry air has tor spinning, it is still higher than in ring spinning. There-
proved favorable. At spinning temperatures of 23 - 27 °C, fore the fibre fineness is limited by the yarn fineness that
this moisture content gives relative humidity in the range has to be spun.
of 45 - 55 %. However, to avoid the risk of static charge, it The following sliver parameters are important for the air-jet
is often better not to let relative humidity drop below 50 %. spinning technology:
• fibre parallelization
5.12. Air-jet spinning • sliver fineness.
The term air-jet-spinning is generally used for spinning As the air-jet spinning process needs a high parallelization
technologies where staple fibres are twisted with the use of the incoming fibres it is advisable to use 3 draw frame
of airstreams. Historically there were a few different air-jet passages after carding in order to optimize the yarn quality.
spinning technologies that were developed but due to vari- Because of the textile technological limitation of the total
ous reasons only two of them achieved market relevance: draft in the air-jet spinning drawing system to approximate-
• the two nozzle air-jet spinning technology ly 180 to 220 fold, the sliver fineness has to be adjusted to
• the one-nozzle air-jet spinning technology. the yarn fineness.
The one-nozzle air-jet spinning technology has got much 5.12.2. General settings
more potential, is advantageous over the older two nozzle 5.12.2.1. Roller settings
technology and is about to substitute it.
Compared to existing spinning processes, because of its The drawing of the fed sliver on an air-jet spinning machine
typical yarn structure air-jet yarns create new possibilities is done by 4 over 4 roller drawing systems. The 3 drawing
in downstream processing which are complementary to the fields between these roller pairs are called predraft, middle
established spinning processes [15]. draft and main draft (see Fig. 60).
For these reasons, in the following chapters only the one- Similar to the drawing system of the roving frame or of the
nozzle air-jet technology is considered. ring spinning machine, the draft distances have to be set
according to the fibre lengths and to the draft resistance.
5.12.1. Fibre and sliver requirements To avoid fibre damage, the draft distances should always
be higher than the maximum fibre length.
There are special requirements on the fibre and on the
sliver quality which are related to the air-jet spinning
technology. The most important fibre parameters for this
technology are:
• fibre length
• fibre fineness.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 67
5.12.2.2. Draft distribution
The total draft can be calculated by the sliver and the yarn
fineness. As was mentioned in chapter 5.12.1., there is
a textile technological limitation of the total draft to ap-
proximately 180 to 220 fold. Higher total drafts reduce
Pre Draft Middle Draft Main Draft
yarn quality and running performances in an unaccepta-
ble manner.
Fig. 60 – Air-jet 4 over 4 roller drawing system Because of the use of aprons in the main draft and the re-
sulting superior fibre control by these elements, the highest
The distance of the main draft rollers are usually fixed by draft ratios can be achieved here. However, to obtain opti-
the used cradle to ensure an optimum fibre control in the mal results, the main draft should not be less than 30 fold
main draft field. This is very important because of the high or higher than 60 fold.
drafting ratios, the high airflow induced by the fast ro- As with the setting of the optimal roller distances, the right
tating output rollers and the low amount of fibres in that setting of the draft ratios in the pre, middle and main draft
area. The optimum setting of the draft distances in the has to be found by spinning trials. Recommended ranges for:
predraft and middle draft has to be found by spinning tri- • predraft is 1.7 - 2.2
als in combination with the right draft distribution (see • middle draft is 1.3 - 2.6
5.12.2.2.). In Table 25 an example for roller settings ac-
cording to the fibre length and the yarn count are given Examples for draft distributions according to the fibre
for Lyocell fibres. length and to the yarn count can also be found in Table 25.
Effective distance
Pre Draft Middle Draft Main Draft
Staple length Total
Ne
[mm] draft
Draft Distance Draft Distance Draft Distance
124 18 2.3 31
36 191 36 1.76 45 2.6 43 47 49
190 50 2.6 41
124 18 2.3 31
38 191 36 1.76 49 2.6 46 47 48
191 50 2.6 41
124 18 2.3 31
42 191 36 1.76 50 2.6 47 47 52
191 50 2.6 41
124 18 2.3 31
44 191 36 1.76 50 2.6 47 47 52
191 50 2.6 41
Table 25 – Example for roller settings and draft distributions according to different fibre lengths and yarn counts
68 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
For different fibre materials and different yarn applications
(e.g. weaving or knitting) various geometries of these spin-
ning nozzle parts have been developed. The right choice of
these parts is important to get the best yarn quality. Rec-
ommendations can be found in the appropriate machine
operating manual.
1 5.12.2.4. Spinning nozzle spacing
The right distance between the output top roller and
the top of the nozzle tip (distance “A” in Fig. 64) has got
a huge impact on the yarn structure and therefore on the
3
yarn parameters and on the fibre waste. The optimum
setting depends on the fibre length and on the yarn fine-
ness that has to be spun. Usually it is set slightly short-
er than the average fibre length. In addition, the setting
2 should be shorter with finer yarn counts.
Examples for typical ranges of the spinning nozzle spac-
ing according to the processed fibre material can be
found in Table 26.
Fig. 61 – Spinning nozzle (1-housing, 2- fibre feeding element, 3-tip)
5.12.2.3. Spinning nozzle
The spinning nozzle consists of several parts (see Fig. 61)
which can be changed according to different requirements
as e.g. fibre material and yarn application:
• fibre feeding element (2)
• spinning nozzle tip (3).
Fig. 62 – Spinning nozzle spacing
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 69
Fibre Material Spinning Nozzle Spacing 5.12.3. Problems
Cotton / Man-Made Fibre Blends 19.5 - 21 mm
Problems in the air jet spinning process with man-made
100 % Man-Made Fibres 20 - 22 mm
fibres can be caused by:
Table 26 – Typical spinning nozzle spacing according to fibre materials • the fibres
• the machine
• the sliver
5.12.2.5. Spinning Speed • the air conditioning.
Another very important parameter for air-jet spinning is the Problems caused by the fibres can arise from the spin fin-
spinning speed. Like the spinning nozzle spacing it has a ish and resulting smearing on the spinning nozzle tip. This
big influence on the yarn structure and on the yarn parame- smearing leads to a high friction between the fibre and the
ters respectively. Optimum spinning speed setting depends spinning nozzle tip and highly disturbs the twist insertion.
on the fibre material, the yarn count and on the yarn appli- Especially when running 100 % polyester this problem aris-
cation. The speed has to be set lower with: es very often.
• shorter fibre lengths On the machine side, the factors to be considered are:
• finer yarn counts • incorrect settings
• for weaving yarns (in comparison to knitting yarns). • high evenness and low spinning stability because
of wrong draft distribution in the drawing system
Examples for typical spinning speed settings can be seen • high evenness and low spinning stability because of incor-
in Table 27. rect, worn out or damaged top rollers and guide aprons
• low tenacity or high hairiness because of incorrectly
selected nozzle parts
PES / CO - Blends 100 % Man-Made Fibres • low tenacity, high hairiness or low spinning stability be-
Yarn Fineness
Weaving Knitting Weaving Knitting cause of incorrect spinning speed and spinning pressure.
Ne 20 - Ne 30 380 m/min 400 m/min 420 m/min 440 m/min
Ne 30 - Ne 40 360 m/min 380 m/min 400 m/min 420 m/min The problems in the sliver are:
Ne 40 - Ne 50 350 m/min 360 m/min 340 m/min 360 m/min
• excessive unevenness
• low fibre parallelization.
Ne 50 - Ne 60 - - 300 m/min 320 m/min
Table 27 – Typical spinning speeds according to fibre materials, In the air-conditioning system, the moisture level may be:
yarn counts and yarn applications
• too low (static electricity, lap formation)
• too high (smearing of spin finish, lapping).
5.12.2.6. Spinning Pressure 5.12.4. Process environment
Similar to the spinning speed (see chapter 5.12.2.5.) the The ambient conditions (temperature and relative hu-
spinning pressure has an influence on the yarn structure midity) play a very important role in the air jet spin-
and on the yarn parameters respectively. Within certain ning technology. A wrong condition has a huge impact
limits the higher the spinning pressure is, the higher is the on spinning stability and yarn quality. For spinning man-
twist level in the yarn. Like the spinning speed the spinning made fibres, the following conditions have to be secured
pressure has to be set according to the fibre material, the in the spinning mill:
yarn count and the yarn application in the following way: • relative humidity: 48 - 56 %
• higher spinning pressure for shorter fibre lengths • temperature: 25 - 28 °C
• lower spinning pressure for finer yarn counts • replacement of air: minimum 25 - 28 times per hour
• higher spinning pressure for weaving yarns optimum 28 - 32 times per hour.
(in comparison to knitting yarns).
70 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
5.13. Steaming and stabilization [17] 5.13.4. Mode of operation
5.13.1. General considerations
Wet steam must be avoided at all costs during steaming
Steaming is treatment with water vapor at temperatures and stabilizing. When working below the saturation point
below 100 °C. Steaming serves to reduce twist liveliness in treating staple-fibre blended yarns consisting of cellu-
of both singles and plied yarns. losic fibres (for example, blends of PES with cotton, modal,
Stabilization is treatment with steam at temperatures or viscose fibres), the surplus water would lead to different
above 100 °C. Stabilization is carried out to reduce degrees of swelling for the cellulose-fibre components. This
shrinkage of staple-fibre yarns for package and warp- in turn would lead to dye-shade variations and to stripes
beam dyeing. in the resulting fabric.
In order to prevent formation of condensate, it is prefer-
5.13.2. Packaging of yarn for treatment able, for safety, to operate somewhat above the saturation
point. For the same reason, the steaming apparatus should
Steaming and stabilization should be performed on the cop be operated once in an empty condition before starting ac-
if possible. In the course of thermal treatment, the tubes tual treatment.
are subjected to radial-compression loading arising from
the shrinkage forces of the yarn. Preferably, therefore, spe- 5.13.5. Operating procedure for steaming and stabilizing
cially developed tubes that are resistant to the stabilizing
process should be used. Single-use tubes are also employed The procedure for steaming and stabilizing is as follows:
for steaming, but they are easily deformed so that the body • load material
of yarn may slip off the support. • evacuate
In order to ensure that the steam reaches all cops as even- • feed steam for the first time
ly as possible and without hindrance, the cops should not • evacuate
be arranged in a predetermined array but should rather be • feed steam for the second time
randomly disposed in containers. • evacuate
Steaming of staple-fibre singles and plied yarns in cross- • feed steam for the third time
wound packages must be performed as far as possible on • evacuate
stable, perforated tubes to optimize the effectiveness of the • let in air and open the assembly
steam. Efficiency can be improved still further if package • remove the material.
supports with tube-receiving pins are used in place of con-
tainers.
Perfect package build-up and a high winding angle assist
in ensuring even penetration of the steam and hence favor
the steaming effect.
5.13.3. Steaming equipment
Steaming and stabilizing of yarn in cops and cross-wound
packages should always be carried out in vacuum-steaming
devices. Equipment using shell heating is especially suit-
able for steam treatment. An automatic pressure and tem-
perature control system – possibly with automatic program
control – is more reliable in operation than a manual con-
trol device, and will effectively exclude critical temperature
variations.
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 71
If the procedure described does not give the desired effect, 5.13.7. Stabilization
the steaming time for the last steaming step should be in-
creased. The temperature must not be increased under any This process can be performed to reduce the shrinkage
circumstances, since otherwise there is a danger that yarns of singles and plied yarns made from PES-B types not sub-
from different steaming batches will exhibit varying de- jected to fixing.
grees of dye affinity. Care should be taken to ensure thor- According to the dying process to be used – HT dyeing,
ough evacuation (approximately 0.6 - 0.8 bar) between the mostly at a water temperature of 125°C or carrier dyeing,
individual operating steps. usually at boiling temperature – the shrinkage capacity
of the yarn should be set at wider 4 % for the treatment.
5.13.6. Steaming
Material Temperature Length of the steam phase
The following guidelines are recommended for twist stabili-
zation of singles and plied yarns. 100 % PES staple-fibre
yarn in cops Phase 1 and 22 min.
Max. 115 °C
Material Temperature Length of the steam phase PES / Cotton
PES / Modal Phase 3: at least 15 min.
PES / Viscose
100 % PES Phase 1 and 2 always 2 min each
PES/Cotton
70 °C Table 29 – Recommended stabilization guidelines
PBS/Modal
(max. 80 °C)
PBS/Viscose Phase 3,15 - 20 min with a cop build
PES/Wool and 20-30 min with a package.
Temperature constancy is especially important in stabiliz-
Table 28 – Recommended steaming guidelines ing, as in all treatment processes at temperatures above
80°C. Care should also be taken to ensure thorough evacu-
ation to extract air from the material between the individu-
For pure polyester-fibre yarns, dyed in the form of tufts or al operating phases of the stabilizing process (Table 29).
combed sliver, or with plied yarns, an extension of the pe-
riod of subjection to steam may not bring a reduction in
twist liveliness under all circumstances. In such cases, the
treatment temperature must be increased. However, in
every case, a test should be made beforehand to determine
whether the dye shade will resist this change.
72 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 73
REFERENCES
[1] Melliand International, August 2012. [14] Rieter (Krueger P., Leitner H., Schwippl H.),
„Processing of TENCEL microfibres – Processing
[2] The Fibre Year Consulting, „The Fibre Year 2011,“ characteristics of TENCEL LF microfibres on Rieter
2011. high performance spinning machinery“.
[3] B. v. Falkai, Synthesefasern: Grundlagen, [15] „Rieter (Baldischwieler O., Leitner H., Schwippl H.),“
Technologie, Verarbeitung, Weinheim Deerfield Processing characteristics of TENCEL LF/cotton
Beach (Florida): Chemie, 1981. blends on Rieter’s 4 end spinning systems.
[4] E. H., in 4th OE Kolloquium, Reutlingen, Germany. [16] Rieter (Leitner H., Schwippl H.), „Processing
TENCEL fibres – Processing of various cut staples
[5] Rieter (Coelho I., Schwippl H., Souza S.), at different delivery speeds on the Rieter air-jet
„Processing of Polyester Fibres – Processing char- spinning machine using TENCEL fibres“.
acteristics of Alya polyester fibres from M&G on
Rieter spinning machines“. [17] Akzo, „Technische Information Diolen“.
[6] K. S., Melliand Textilberichte, p. 219, 1986.
[7] K. S., „Staple Fibres – Basic Concepts“.
[8] W. Albrecht, Chemiefasen, p. 876, 1971.
[9] Rieter (Dr. Rakshit A., Schwippl H.), „Processing
of Micro Polyester Fibres – Processing character-
istics of Recron micro polyester fibres on Rieter’s
ring and compact spinning systems“.
[10] R. H., Melliand Textilberichte, p. 752, 1974.
[11] R. H. Egbers G., Melliand Textilberichte, p. 561,
1973.
[12] H. W. J. W. a. M. J. Ehrler P., Textil-Praxis, p. 369,
1979.
[13] Rieter (Leitner H., Schwippl H., Truong J.),
„Processing of Viscose Fibres – Processing char-
acteristics of viscose fibres from South Pacific
Viscose (SPV) on Rieter rotor spinning machines“.
74 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 75
ILLUSTRATIONS
Fig. 1 – Global production of fibres in 2011 [1] 11 Table 3 – Behavior in relation to water 27
Fig. 2 – World population and fibre consumption Table 4 – Some properties of man-made fibres such as:
over the years [2] 11 polyester (PES), viscose (CV), viscose-modal
Fig. 3 – Global fibre production over the years [2] 11 (modal) and acrylic fibres (PAC) 29
Fig. 4 – Categorization of chemical fibres [3] 13 Table 5 – Typical basic fibre properties 30
Fig. 5 – Percentage distribution of worldwide Fig. 25 – Generation of electrically charged layers
produced man-made fibres in 2011 [1] 14 at the boundary between two raw materials 32
Table 1 – Classifications and definitions Table 6 – Good ambient conditions for processing
(according to ISO Standard) 14 of man-made fibres 33
Fig. 6 – Percentage distribution of fibre materials Fig. 26 – Establishing an optimal blend by reference
used in spun staple fibre yarns in 2009 [2] 14 to given end-product characteristic
Fig. 7 – Melt spinning 15 (1 = appearance; 2 = fabric feel; 3 = recovery
Fig. 8 – Dry spinning 16 from creasing (dry); 4 = recovery from creasing
Fig. 9 – Wet spinning 16 (wet); 5 = retention of ironed creases;
Fig. 10 – Drawing process 16 6 = resistance to heat; 7 = shrinkage resistance;
Fig. 11 – Manufacturing of polyester staple fibres 18 8 = tearing strength; 9 = resistance to rubbing) 35
Fig. 12 – Manufacturing of polyacrylonitrile staple fibres 18 Fig. 27 – Typical process stages for tuft blending and
Fig. 13 – Manufacturing of viscose staple fibres 19 sliver blending of cotton and polyester 35
Fig. 14 – The influence of fibre fineness Fig. 28 – Weighing hopper feeder (Temafa) 36
on yarn characteristics 21 Fig. 29 – Rieter UNIblend A 81 36
Fig. 15 – Shapes of staple diagrams: (a) triangular; Fig. 30 – Typical blowroom line for 100 %
(b) rectangular; (c) trapezoidal 22 man-made fibres 37
Fig. 16 – Some types of man-made-fibre cross-sections 23 Fig. 31 – Typical blowroom line for polyester/cotton
Fig. 17 – Drawing force for uncrimped (a) blends 38
and crimped (b) fibres 23 Table 7 – Good ambient conditions for processing
Fig. 18 – Drawing force versus intensity of crimp 24 of man-made fibres in the blowroom 39
Fig. 19 – Recovering crimp and crimp stability 24 Table 8 – Recommendations for card clothing and
Fig. 20 – Change of removing crimp through speeds for Rieter C 70 card 40
the process steps 24 Fig. 32 – Adjustable mote knife on a Rieter C 70 card
Table 2 – Degree of delustring 24 (left: closed for MMF – right: more open
Fig. 21 – Strength / elongation diagram; a) high tenacity; for Cotton applications) 40
b) normal tenacity; c) low tenacity Fig. 33 – Adjustable open width of cleaning elements in
(high elongation) 25 a Rieter C 70 card (left: almost closed – right:
Fig. 22 – Cotton (1) / polyester-fibre (2 blend with completely opened) 41
maximum-modulus, high-modulus and low- Fig. 34 – Settings of distances at the card 42
modulus polyester-fibre: A: tenacity B: elongation 25 Table 9 – Card distance recommendations for
Fig. 23 – Effect of the lateral strength; a durability, man-made fibres 42
b pilling resistance 26 Table 10 – Good ambient conditions for processing
Fig. 24 – Effect of the shrinkage characteristics of man-made fibres in the carding room 43
(low/high): (a) piece-dyeing behavior, dye- Fig. 35 – Examples for different numbers
fastness, efficiency in weaving, fabric of draw frame passages 44
appearance; (b) crimp tendency, lateral run Fig. 36 – Roller settings in 4 over 3 drafting system 45
in knitted fabric, tendency to pilling, yarn Table 11 – Examples for Roller settings with different
dyeing behavior 26 materials 46
76 The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres
Fig. 37 – 5-over-3 roller drafting system 46 Fig. 51 – Common twist multipliers 55
Fig. 38 – Top roller pressures on a 5-over-3 roller Fig. 52 – (a) Melt points in the lower part of the layer
drafting system 46 winding (b) Melt points in the bottom half
Table 12 – Examples of top roller pressure settings of the bobbin 56
on a 5-over-3-roller drafting system 46 Fig. 53 – (a) Melt points in the upper part of the layer
Table 13 – Examples of draft distributions with winding (b) Melt points in the upper half
different materials 47 of the bobbin 57
Fig. 39 – Standard and maximum draw frame Fig. 54 – Compacting elements 58
delivery speeds for different materials 48 Fig. 55 – Recommended suction unit for man-made
Table 14 – Good ambient conditions for processing fibres and blends 58
of man-made fibres at the draw frame 49 Table 22 – Limitations of rotor yarn fineness with
Fig. 40 – Roller settings at the drawing system given fibre fineness 59
in a roving frame 49 Fig. 56 – Rieter opening roller recommendations 60
Table 15 – Examples of standard roller settings according Table 23 – Opening roller speed recommendations 61
to the fibre length on a Rieter roving frame 50 Fig. 57 – Rieter rotor recommendations 62
Table 16 – Recommended total draft ranges 50 Fig. 58 – Rieter fibre guide channel with SPEEDpass 63
Fig. 41 – Condensers in the drawing system Fig. 59 – Rieter draw-off nozzle recommendations 65
of a roving frame 50 Table 24 – Rotor yarn twist coefficients for different
Fig. 42 – Roving twist level recommendations 51 man-made fibres and applications 65
Fig. 43 – Flyer speed recommendations according Fig. 60 – Air-jet 4 over 4 roller drawing system 67
to fibre material and twist coefficients 51 Table 25 – Example for roller settings and draft
Table 17 – Good ambient conditions for processing distributions according to different fibre
of man-made fibres on the roving frame 51 lengths and yarn counts 67
Fig. 44 – Roller settings in a ring spinning machine Fig. 61 – Spinning nozzle
(A: main draft; B: break draft) 52 (1-housing, 2- fibre feeding element, 3-tip) 68
Table 18 – Examples of break draft and main draft Fig. 62 – Spinning nozzle spacing 68
field distances 52 Table 26 – Typical spinning nozzle spacing according
Fig. 45 – Cradle length and cradle spacer 52 to fibre materials 69
Table 19 – Examples of cradle lengths according Table 27 – Typical spinning speeds according to fibre
to the fibre length 52 materials, yarn counts and yarn applications 69
Fig. 46 – Recommendations for roving fineness Table 28 – Recommended steaming guidelines 71
depending on the required yarn fineness Table 29 – Recommended stabilization guidelines 71
and on the fibre material 53
Table 20 – Examples for normal break drafts with
processing different fibres and different
draft levels 53
Fig. 47 – Maximum traveler speed ranges for synthetic
fibres 53
Fig. 48 – Parameters of a C-shaped traveler 54
Fig. 49 – Wire sections and their recommended
application 54
Table 21 – Spinning limits of various spun yarns out
of man-made fibres 55
Fig. 50 – Relationship between the number of turns
of twist and the strength of a yarn; F, strength;
T/m, turns of twist per meter in the yarn;
PES, polyester fibres; Co, cotton fibres 55
The Rieter Manual of Spinning . Volume 7 . Processing of Man-Made Fibres 77
The Rieter Manual of Spinning
Volume 7 – Processing of Man-Made Fibres
The last volume in this series deals with the important field of man-made fibres. Ever since their
introduction on a commercial scale, the market share of synthetic fibres has shown an impressive
rate of growth. The variety of man-made fibres with different properties is continuously increas-
ing. For numerous applications today, fibres that are practically „tailor-made“ are available.
It is therefore essential for the spinner to have a detailed understanding of the properties of
these fibres and of the specific characteristics that affect their processing.
Rieter Machine Works Ltd. Rieter India Private Ltd. Rieter (China) The data and illustrations in this brochure and on the
Klosterstrasse 20 Gat No 134/1, Vadhu Road Textile Instruments Co., Ltd. corresponding data carrier refer to the date of printing.
CH-8406 Winterthur Off Pune-Nagar Road, Koregaon Bhima Shanghai Branch Rieter reserves the right to make any necessary changes
at any time and without special notice. Rieter systems
T +41 52 208 7171 Taluka Shirur, District Pune Unit B-1, 6F, Building A,
and Rieter innovations are protected by patents.
F +41 52 208 8320 IN-Maharashtra 412216 Synnex International Park
sales.sys@rieter.com T +91 2137 308 500 1068 West Tianshan Road 2451-v1 en 1412
parts.sys@rieter.com F +91 2137 308 426 CN-Shanghai 200335
T +86 21 6037 3333
F +86 21 6037 3399
ISBN 10 3-9523173-7-3
www.rieter.com ISBN 13 978-3-9523173-7-2
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