Page 76 - Industrial Cutting of Textile Materials

Automated spreading of textile materials 63

Spreading machines for knitted fabrics: the machines for open-width-knitted fabrics with
●
width 220–240 cm and weight under 100 kg in rolled or folded way. Spreading machines for
tubular fabrics (see Section 6.3.11) are narrower – maximum width 120 cm.
Spreading machines for technical textiles: the fabric roll weight, width, and diameter can
●
vary a lot. Machines often are developed in accordance to clients' needs.
6.2.2 Classification based on the application

The categorization based on the application sectors is used by brands that develop
complete CAD/CAM solutions for the cutting room. They use similar however differ-
ent grouping principles, for example:
4
Lectra : spreading machines for fashion and apparel, automotive, furniture, and other industries.
●
3
Gerber : spreading machines for fashion and apparel, transportation, aerospace, furniture,
●
and packing.
8
Morgan Tecnica : spreading machines for formal apparel, casual apparel, underwear, auto-
●
motive, interiors, accessories, and sportswear.
20
Pathfinder : spreading machines for apparel, composites, furniture, technical textiles, and
●
transportation interiors.
6.2.3 Classification based on fabric feeding system used
The design and application of the spreading machine is greatly determined by the
feeding system used. On the bases on it, textile spreading machines can be divided in
three groups: spreading machines with movable feeding systems, stationary feeding
systems and mixed feeding systems:
Spreading machines with movable feeding systems (standard spreading/laying machines):
●
equipped with one type of movable cradle or movable bar feeding system to process small-/
medium-weight and small-/medium-size fabric rolls manufacturing garments, home textiles,
and technical textiles. They are the most widely used kind of spreading machines (around
97% of all textile spreading machines used) (see Section 6.3).
Spreading machines with stationary feeding systems (fabric pulling machines): equipped
●
with stationary bar or stationary cradle feeding system to spread heavy and big fabric rolls
of home and technical textile in traditional way, to open and spread folded fabric and to cut
the fabric longitudinally during the spreading (see Section 6.4).
Spreading machines with mixed feeding systems: spreading machines that used both mov-
●
able and stationary feeding systems to spread heavy and large fabric rolls with smaller in-
vestments (see Section 6.5).

6.3 Spreading machines with movable feeding systems
(fabric transferring or standard spreading machines)

During the work process, a spreading machine with rolled or folded fabric moves over
the spreading table to lay down the fabric plies. The main parts of a spreading machine
with movable feeding system are a fabric spreader truck, a fabric feed system, an au-
tomatic cutting device, an encoder system, a control panel, an operator stand panel,
and an end-catcher (see Fig. 6.2). The largest part of textile spreading machines are
designed this way, therefore they could be called standard spreaders.