Page 148 - Industrial Cutting of Textile Materials

Automated cutting of textile materials 135

Fig. 9.21 A conveyor cutting system ‘Eagle C125’ by Eastman to process single-fabric ply
and low-fabric spreads.
cut detailed contours, sharp corners, small circles, and notches. The cutting speed
and accuracy performing single ply and low spread cutting are higher than that of the
multi-ply cutting process.
If only one ply is cut, the material visual quality control (see Section 4.5.1.), the
matching of patterns (see Section 16.4), and the marking of cut components (see
Section 9.3.7) can be done during the cutting process. Advanced cutters also ensure
printing logos or certain patterns on the selected components during the cutting pro-
cess. Feeding fabric directly from the roll, the length of the marker is unlimited. When
the job is finished in the one zone, the fabric ply can be moved ahead to continue
cutting in the next work zone. Single-ply cutting is used for sample making, made-to-
measure manufacturing, and fully automated cutting of styles from intricate pattern
fabrics and digitally printed fabrics (see Section 16.4.3). Low material spreads are
cut for small orders and preproduction runs. They can be cut also by high-ply cutters
(using oscillating knives); however, high-ply cutters are more expensive, and their use
for low spread cutting is not efficient.

9.3.12 The high-spread cutting process
Multi-ply cutting can only be used for materials that are porous and air permeable.
The multi-ply spread must first be prepared on a spreading table, using a spreading
machine (see Chapter 6). The ready spread is moved to the cutting table and covered
with a lay of air impenetrable polyethylene film cover. Using a vacuum system and
perforated work surface (see Section 9.3.4), all fabric plies are fixed tightly together
during the entire cutting process (see Fig. 9.22).
As the most part of the power consumed within an automatic knife cutters is used
generating vacuum on the cutting table, it is very important to use the correct size vac-
uum system and the correct vacuum level during the cutting process. To enhance the
efficiency of the vacuum system, the cutting surface is formed from a large number of
separately controlled areas through which varying levels of vacuum power are deliv-
ered to compress the material more closely near the direct cutting area and less closely
at a distance from the cutting area. The second movable polyethylene film cover can
also be used directly after the cutting head to save energy. It is placed over the area of