Page 140 - Industrial Cutting of Textile Materials

Automated cutting of textile materials 127

are taken off or new material ply is fixed, the vacuum is deactivated or reduced. In
performing high-ply cutting by an oscillating knife, the perforated conveyor belt is
covered with bristles (see Fig. 9.25) that allow the knife to pierce all the fabric plies
equally easily and also support effective air suction across the entire material for stable
cutting.
The vacuum system helps also to reduce the dispersion of particles that could ad-
versely affect the health of an operator and have a negative impact on equipment and
the environment. The cutting table can be equipped with an automatic dust extraction
system to keep the cutting surface free of dust and scraps or may have a blower system
for easier movement of the material during its transportation.

9.3.5 The control panel

The operator is provided with information on the cutting data (Section 9.3.6.5) on a
computer screen from which all the processing functions are controlled by a mouse or
a touchscreen display (see Fig. 9.15).

Fig. 9.15 A control panel of an Eastman cutter.