Page 176 - Industrial Cutting of Textile Materials

Automated laser cutting of textile materials 163

The same as with knife cutters, different kinds of marking – pen, injection,
airbrush marking, and adhesive labels – are used to identify cut components for
subsequent processing (see Section 9.3.7). An off-load screen, an overhead pro-
jector, and a marking on the cut component surface can be used to identify cut
components, simplify their bundling, and reduce the risk of errors in the work
process (see Section 9.3.8).
The companies that develop gantry laser cutting systems to process different ma-
4
2
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terials, also textiles, are Eurolaser (Germany), SEI Laser (Italy), Trotec (Austria),
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6
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Lectra (France), CadCam Technology (United Kingdom), Blackman & White
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10
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(United Kingdom), Proel TSI (United States), Vytec (United States), GBOS Laser
(China), and others.
10.6 Laser textile finishing (decorating)
As the power of the laser beam is variable, it can be used not only for through cutting
but also for kiss cutting and other special treatments of the textile material surface.
Depending on the composition, structure, and other properties of the material, the
laser can be set to affect only its colour, remove certain part of the material surface or
only one element of the material.
Processing textile materials with laser through cutting, kiss cutting, engraving, and
marking is the most often used decoration methods. They are successfully replacing
many traditional textile finishing methods, such as printing, discolouration, embroi-
dering, pleating, and wide range of denim finishing methods (stone washing, micro-
sanding, bleaching, enzyme washing, and acid washing).
Laser finishing is used to decorate denim, cotton twill, velvet, suede, polyester
fleece, polyester twill, other materials in manufacturing clothing, headwear, bags,
home and technical textile goods. Laser finishing can be also done on ready textile
goods in accordance of customer's needs directly before their sale (on work uniforms
and promotional garments, such as caps, T-shirts, and bags).
When comparing with other methods used to decorate textiles, the laser finishing
ensures highest processing speed, very high accuracy, work process without any mate-
rial distortions, and possibility to treat hard-to-reach locations (e.g. processing sleeves,
collars, caps, and shoes; see Fig. 10.9). Laser equipment is highly automated, simple
to operate, and not making risks to workers' health and environment.

2 https://www.eurolaser.com
3 https://www.seilaser.com
4 https://www.troteclaser.com
5 https://www.lectra.com
6 https://www.cct-uk.com
7 http://blackmanandwhite.com
8 https://www.proeltsi.com
9 https://www.vy-tek.com
10 https://www.gboslaser.com