Page 147 - Industrial Cutting of Textile Materials

134 Industrial Cutting of Textile Materials

material, make adjustments, inspect work, etc. Pausing the machine stops any motion,
while the servomotors are powered and maintain in position. After releasing the pause
button or resetting the stop discs and pressing NEXT button, the work process can be
continued from any position. The stop discs/panels fixed on each side of the gantry
stop the cutting process immediately if the gantry comes in contact with an operator
or other object. Cutting system has sensor-based safety system that stops the work
process in case of any obstacle in the work zone. By pressing ABORT button, the job
is fully cancelled.

9.3.10 Service and technical support

All companies developing and selling automated cutting systems offer different kinds
and levels of support to their customers:
Before the purchase of a cutter, business consultants of the company help to choose the right
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cutter in accordance with manufacturing needs and specific conditions.
When the cutter is chosen, the installation team together with the customer implements ap-
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propriate evolution activities, creates preinstallation checklist, ensures training of operating
software, recommends the best placement of the equipment in the available cutting area, and
receives and installs the equipment.
Before the cutter is used in client manufacturing process, the test cuttings can be performed
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using client's materials, cut files to estimate appropriate cutting speed, and other cutting
parameters.
To ensure the highest work efficiency of the equipment in the client's manufacturing process
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and limit downtime of the cutter, the companies suggest daily, monthly, and yearly preven-
tative maintenance activities.
In real time via a secure Internet connection, the cutting system can be accessed
by company's technicians for immediate troubleshooting and support. In real time,
the service professionals diagnose the cutting system and ensure its optimum working
conditions. If a remote diagnosis is not possible, in most cases, a company's techni-
cians are available within 24 h of a reported issue.

9.3.11 The single ply and low spread cutting process
Single ply and low spread (up to 30 mm compressed material) cutting is performed by
automated single-ply cutters. They are available in a wide range of widths and lengths.
The cutting is carried out on static or conveyorized cutting tables (see Section 9.3.2)
by a multitool cutting head (see Fig. 9.21). The material is fed straight from the roll
using automatic winding and rewinding devices, loading devices, and fabric roll stor-
age systems (see Sections 9.3.3 and 11.3.3).
The cutting is performed by round and drag knives (see Section 9.3.1). The round
blades are the most common types of cutting tools used for cutting textiles. They are
efficient in cutting contours of the components. As the knife rolls over fabric, it does
not cause its displacement during the cutting process. The 18 and 28 mm-diameter
round blades are the most commonly used to cut different kinds of textiles. Because
of the shape of the blade, drag knives give very precious cutting. They are used to