Dyeing, Drying, Finishing

2015-09-03

Processing fabric at the maximum speed with ICOMATEX Auto-Speed system.

The Spanish finishing machinery manufacturer ICOMATEX has developed a new Auto-Speed system for stenters. The solution bases on an performance analyses made by ICOMATEX. As a result ICOMATX has been worried about the poor performance that some stenters have in many units.

According to ICOMATEX many efforts are made on the dyeing process trying to reduce the price and use of chemicals, water, lowering process time, etc etc, but less people think about the stenter. That was a reason ICOMATEX did so and and they asked themselves questions like ‘who sets the speed?’, ‘will companies get less quality processing fabric at higher speed and maybe lower temperature?’ and ‘are stenters giving companies enough money or is it just a cost?’. The analyses showed that some times (in fact many times), the answer is no.

To solve this problems the Spanish stenter frame experts developed their new Auto-Speed system. This system sets the highest possible speed in the processes of heat setting, without having to rely on any operator. “We just need to introduce into our software some basic parameters and the machine automatically sets the optimum working speed to maintain the quality of each fabric, says xx, yy of ICOMATEX.

The ICOMATEX Stenter models IC-10 plus and IC-8 plus are currently equipped with the new Auto-Speed system. Thanks to the ICPROD automatic production and management controlsystem, each company can work at top speed in the heat setting process with the consequent increase in production and savings in energy costs per meter produced to be more competitive.

Pressing more or less with the padder, giving just a bit more % of overfeed will result on different amount of moisture which needs to be dried but the stenter runs at the same speed because the recipe says it. Recipes do not know if the fabric has more or less moisture, if the cylinder is giving the right amount of overfeed because the rubber which covers it has more or less grip.

“Our system can help companies on that”, says Mr. Santi Marti, Export Area Manager at Icomatex and adds a message to finishing companies:”How much money would mean getting just 1 meter per minute extra in your machine??? Please make the calculation because that meter comes almost for free.”