Page 138 - Industrial Cutting of Textile Materials

Automated cutting of textile materials 125

Fig. 9.13 Take-off table extension: a cutter with a take-off table extension (A) and a cutter
without a take-off table extension (B).

cutters can perform material feeding even during the cutting process. To increase the
take-off space for the cut components, a modular add-on conveyorized table extenders
can be used (see Fig. 9.13).
Because of serious CAD/CAM developments during the last decade, the signifi-
cance of the conveyorized cutting tables has raised manufacturing textile goods. They
are the best solution processing fabrics directly from the roll in a single-ply cutting,
cutting long components that exceed the length of the cutting table and unloading and
kitting large amount of small components. By help of continuous material feeding on
the conveyorized cutting table, fully automated cutting process of plain and patterned
textiles and digitally printed fabrics may be ensured (see Section 16.4.3).

9.3.3 Rolled material handling (roll-feeding systems)
9.3.3.1 Unwind (feeding) device

In performing single-ply cutting, material can be fed on the cutting table directly from
its roll. A cradle type or free bar fabric feeding device (see Fig. 9.14; Sections 6.3.2.1
and 6.3.2.2) maintains tension-free fabric feeding without any material distortions or
wrinkles and the optimal material feeding speed that is aligned to the constantly chang-
ing diameter of the fabric roll. As the device feeds the material, the optical sensors
ensure precise material alignment with the edge of the table. Automated carousel-type
fabric roll loading systems (see Section 11.3.3) can be used to perform fully automated
cutting process when fabric rolls in right processing sequence are loaded, fed, and cut.

9.3.3.2 Roll-up device

For kiss cutting, engraving, and marking rolled materials by laser (see Section 10.6),
special device is used to roll up treated material immediately after processing it on the
work surface.

9.3.3.3 Long component folder
For processing very long, thin components directly from a fabric roll, special folders
fixed at the end of a conveyorized take-off table can be used to catch and fold the ready
cut components. They can also be used to collect wasted fabric placed in between cut
components.