We are undoubtedly seeing a digital revolution in weaving, propelled by the wave of Industry 4.0 (the fourth industrial revolution). That’s why as a pioneer in weaving as well as in electronics, Picanol is demonstrated at ITMA Barcelona an OptiMax-i weaving denim fabrics with almost fully digitized insertion.
As the major weaving machine supplier in the denim business, Picanol is in the best possible position to detect the future needs of their customers. Together with their customers they are able to work out solutions and make this revolution actually happen already today.
Hence Picanol demonstrated a denim machine with insertion that has been almost completely digitized. Thanks to the integrated concept all settings are available and can be retrieved on the central microprocessor.
- It starts right from the prewinders equipped with a tension display (TED). Having a digital setting of the brake on the prewinder not only gives you a tension which is reproducible in the future, but also allows you to manage possible differences between prewinders in a much easier way. The filling tension during insertion can be electronically controlled with the programmable filling tensioner TEC to eliminate possible tension peaks. The signals from the filling detector – either standard or SmartEye – are continuously monitored and analyzed by the machine’s microprocessor.
- With the QuickStep filling presenter, different timings for presentation, insertion and rest position can be programmed. While the QuickStep is nothing new it is still the benchmark on the market.
- New on this machine is the Electronic Right Gripper Opener (ERGO). Developed as a gripper opener to tune the machine for minimum waste length when weaving different types of weft yarn, the ERGO is an additional step in the digitization of the weaving machine, allowing fully electronic setting of the right-hand-side gripper opener even while the machine is running.
In addition to these “Driven by Data” features Picanol also demonstrated an impressive “Sustainability Inside” capability, with the EcoFill in 4-color version installed on this OptiMax-i.
Picanol was the first machine manufacturer to eliminate the left-hand side waste ribbon on a rapier machine, introduced in 2011 in a 2-color version aimed at technical fabrics. The Picanol system for a catchcord-free set-up on the left-hand side has been extended to a 4-color version, with no limitations for the designers in terms of e.g. color pattern. On top of this, this feature is also very intuitive to control, as the EcoFill settings are fully digital.
