Page 117 - Industrial Cutting of Textile Materials

104 Industrial Cutting of Textile Materials

Fig. 8.4 Protective chain mail gloves covering three fingers.

The gloves may be a universal size or of different sizes, fitting to either right or left
hand and covering the whole hand or separate fingers. Unfortunately, the protective
gloves are heavy and limit hand movement. Therefore, some operators may not use the
gloves, putting themselves at risk of serious injury.

8.2.7 The disadvantages of working with straight-knife
machines

Specific skills and experience are required if a cutting operator is to make high-quality
cuts. Abrupt changes in the cutting direction are difficult and may have a negative
influence on cutting quality. Large straight-knife machines are less manoeuvrable and
are therefore mostly used for cutting components of a simple shape.

8.3 The round (rotary) knife cutting machine

Round-knife machines are used to cut large- and medium-size components of simple
shape from low-fabric spreads or to cut single articles from one or two material plies.
The machine is moved along the cut contours, while the fabric spread remains in a
fixed position. Round-knife machines are the most effective for cutting slippery ma-
terials as the rotary movement of the knife ensures the continuous compression of the
fabric plies. Round-knife cutters are lighter (between 3 and 11 kg) than straight-knife
machines and are therefore easier to move (see Fig. 8.5).
A round-knife machine consists of the following main parts: (1) motor, (2) electri-
cal cable, (3) handle, (4) knife sharpener, (5) safety shield, (6) rotary knife blade, and
(7) base plate with rollers (see Fig. 8.6).