Category: MACHINERY
Country: Germany
Written by Haydn Davis
21st September 2023
Obertshausen - Warp knitting technology supplier Karl Mayer has added a new model to its successful HKS 3-M ON family of tricot machines. The HKS 3-M ON PLUS, as the name suggests, has been designed to offer more flexibility than ever before with a range of new fabric structures now possible.
A recent addition to the production repertoire are net-like fabrics that can be produced in a variety of densities and structures, including square marquisettes and shoe fabrics, all in coarse gauges.
As Karl Mayer notes, this extended fabric spectrum increases the limits of the HKS 3-M’s range of uses, and unlocks new potential areas of applications. "The HKS 3-M ON PLUS is the go-to machine especially when rough, durable textiles are required," the company says. "The all-rounder also scores additional bonus points such as an even better fabric quality and increased competitiveness thanks to higher speeds. Karl Mayer’s ON pattern drive makes it possible to create patterns without repeat limitations in a highly efficient way."
Technical
The performance upgrade is based on a number of specific technical adaptations including reinforced needles and knitting elements, and a more robust knitting motion.
The sinkers, for example, now have more room to manoeuvre, which increases the patterning flexibility.
As well as the the targeted modifications aimed at increasing the range of uses, the HKS 3-M ON PLUS also offers all of the features and technologies of the latest digital generation of three-bar HKS models. These include a batching device that provides additional benefits, multispeed optimisations to avoid speed losses, and energy-data monitoring – all presented in the form of prototypes at ITMA 2023.
Further innovations simplify the handling and ensure a better product quality.
HKS 3-M ON PLUS is available in the gauges E14 to E28, and with working widths of 130 ins, 180 ins and 210 ins.
Patterning
Customers who wish to fully exploit the extensive patterning potential offered by the HKS 3-M ON PLUS efficiently can also use the HKS 3-M ON family’s digital options with either k.innovation CORE or k.innovation CORE lite.
KM.ON’s two web-based software solutions from the k.innovation product range were developed for patterning with unlimited repeat lengths without mechanical data carriers, with the machine needing to be connected to the Karl Mayer Group subsidiary’s cloud.
Pattern changes take considerably less time and effort, which offers significant advantages. For example, the system ensures that there are no more lengthy ordering processes and transport costs, stock holdings or even elaborate manual interventions on the machine, as is usually the case when pattern discs are used.
k.innovation CORE lite is a browser-based chain link editor. For existing patterns, the required chain link information can be conveniently imported from any mobile device and simply edited.
New patterns can also be created by entering the lapping values of simple designs for any ground guide bar. Before loading them directly onto the machine, the software even completes a plausibility check.
In addition, patterns can be created on any mobile device using a design tool via the k.innovation CORE web-based software, with everyone involved in the creative process participating online. Working from a single source shortens processes, helps to prevent mistakes and promotes creative output through uncomplicated exchange, says Karl Mayer.
Practical
With the HKS 3-M ON PLUS focusing on maximum performance, Karl Mayer says it collaborated closely with its customer Heathcoat Fabrics when designing and developing the new model.
The UK-based company, which was established in 1808, has been a Karl Mayer Group partner for many years and is one of the market leaders in the area of warp knitted and woven fabric manufacturing.
It specialties include technical textiles for specific uses, whose development and manufacture often poses complex challenges. Heathcoat Fabrics supplied Queen Elizabeth’s veil fabric on the occasion of the royal wedding in 1947, as well as parachute fabrics for NASA’s Perseverance rover mission to Mars, for which this pioneering company won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in 2022.
To manufacture its product portfolio even more efficiently, the company initiated development of the HKS 3-M ON PLUS, and provided support in the form of processing tests with yarns that were heavier than the previous norm for tricot machines. In addition, the customer contributed their wide-ranging practical expertise to the cooperation.
Courtesy: Knittingtradejournal.com
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