Integrated Heat-Setting Knitted Fabric Production
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for heat-setting knitted fabrics require additional processing steps and machinery, leading to increased costs and potential damage to the fabric, as they involve unwinding, re-winding, and separate heat treatment, which can result in inefficiencies and lower quality products.
Innovation Solution
A method where a knitted fabric produced on a circular knitting machine is directly guided over a heated plate for thermal fixation immediately after production, without clamps or needles, and rolled up for the first time, ensuring efficient heating and minimizing waste heat, with the option of using multiple heating plates and deflection rollers to maintain tension and achieve uniform fixation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If knitted fabric is subjected to separate heat-setting process in stenter machine, then thermal fixation is achieved, but production complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the heat-setting function with the existing circular knitting machine by integrating a heating plate directly into the knitting device. This allows thermal fixation to occur during the knitting process itself, eliminating the need for separate stenter machine processing and reducing production complexity while maintaining fixation quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The circular knitting machine is enhanced with multi-functionality by adding the heating plate, enabling it to perform both knitting and heat-setting operations. This universal approach allows the same device to execute multiple production steps, reducing the number of specialized machines needed and simplifying the overall production system.
2Reliability
If knitted fabric is unwound and re-wound for heat-setting, then thermal fixation is achieved, but time loss and potential fabric damage occur
Solution Approach 1:
The heating plate is positioned to receive the knitted fabric immediately after it is produced on the circular knitting machine, performing thermal fixation as a preliminary action before the fabric requires winding or further processing. This eliminates delays and handling steps that would otherwise occur between knitting and heat-setting.
Solution Approach 2:
The heating plate enables continuous thermal fixation as the knitted fabric is produced, maintaining an uninterrupted production flow. The fabric is heated during or immediately after formation without stopping the knitting process or requiring intermediate handling, thus eliminating time losses associated with unwinding and re-winding operations.
3Reliability
If traditional heat-setting with clamps and needles is used, then thermal fixation is achieved, but fabric quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the traditional mechanical heat-setting system (using clamps, needles, and stenter machines) with a simplified heating plate system. This substitution eliminates the need for mechanical fastening devices that can damage the fabric, while still achieving effective thermal fixation through direct contact heating.
4Reliability
If separate heat-setting process is used, then thermal fixation is achieved, but energy waste increases
Solution Approach 1:
By merging the heat-setting function into the knitting machine itself, the system eliminates the energy required for transporting fabric between separate machines and for operating additional heating equipment. The heating plate utilizes the existing machine structure and energy supply, reducing overall energy consumption while maintaining fixation effectiveness.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach simplifies the production process, reduces waste heat, and results in high-quality, uniformly fixed knitted fabrics with improved relaxation and surface properties, allowing for cost-effective and efficient production of heat-set knitted fabrics with desired surface characteristics.
Implementation Method 1
a knitted fabric produced on a circular knitting machine is guided over a heating plate... the heating plate generally has a temperature of from 60 to 260.degree. C.... By using a heating plate, a particularly efficient heating of the knitted fabric can be achieved
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method for producing heat-set knitted fabric, as well as to such knitted fabric, a corresponding apparatus, and the use of such knitted fabric. In the case of textile knitted fabrics, the heat setting takes place in a separate process. After the knitted fabrics are produced, they are first wound onto a reel, and the resulting knitted fabrics are then fed to a stenter frame machine for heat setting in a further step. For this purpose, particularly in the case of circular knitting machines, the reel containing the textile mesh is removed from the knitting machine and conveyed to a stenter frame machine. There, it is reattached for unwinding and, after unwinding, inserted into the actual stenter frame machine.The inventive method is characterized in that a knitted fabric produced on a knitting or warp knitting machine is passed over a heating plate and then wound onto a coil for the first time. This procedure simplifies production and achieves a particularly good result with regard to the knitted fabric, since it is not wound and unwound before thermal fixing. The direct thermal fixing following production ensures particularly good relaxation and fixation of the knitted fabric. The heating plate generally has a temperature of 60 to 260 °C, and more specifically, 150 to 190 °C. The use of a heating plate allows for particularly efficient heating of the knitted fabric and minimizes waste heat.