KARL MAYER Technische Textilien has developed a new warp knitting machine with weft-insertion and thus further differentiated its range offer in this field. The new model, the WEFTTRONIC® II G, is specifically designed to produce light to medium-heavy grid structures.
The stable grid textiles are used as plaster grids and geogrids, as well as carriers for grinding discs – and are produced extremely efficiently on the WEFTTRONIC® II G. Geogrid fabrication is now 60 % more productive compared to the previous version. In addition, less expensive yarns can be processed into high-quality textiles: the textile glass fibre material can cost up to 30 % less than leno fabric production. The machine handles technical yarns extremely gently. Its performance is also impressive. The first WEFTTRONIC® II G was ordered by the Polish manufacturer HALICO in early 2019, followed by orders from China in December. “During our most recent trip to China just before Christmas, we were able to win over two new customers for our company,” said Jan Stahr, Sales Manager of KARL MAYER Technische Textilien. Both companies, Shandong Qiyad and Zibo Glasstex (Shandong Fiberglass), are major players in the industry. After purchasing one machine each, they hinted that they may invest in further WEFTTRONIC® II G models.
Flexibility put to the test
In order to gain a better understanding of the possibilities relating to glass grid structure production, the new WEFTTRONIC® II G machine will be available for customer trials at KARL MAYER (CHINA) in Changzhou from June 2020. A wide range of equipment options and patterning possibilities will be available to suit a diverse manufacturing process. The different offers can be tested as part of these processing trials. While working on the machine, customers can get a feel for how the design of the fabric influences its properties and product output, and how this correlation can be used to achieve greater efficiency. If, for example, the square cells of a textile grid are formed with a low warpthread stitch density, the weft threads have a significant freedom of movement within the structure. The fabric is relatively unstable, but is manufactured with a high output. Glass grid manufacturers looking for greater efficiency can use the WEFTTRONIC® II G at KARL MAYER (CHINA) to produce warp knitted fabrics with the same properties as their existing products and thus investigate whether there are any advantages. The performance profiles of the textile products are verified by corresponding laboratory values. Companies with vertically integrated production particularly welcome the opportunity to test the machine out. In addition to textiles, they also produce textile glass fibre materials and can therefore test how their own yarns are processed. The trials are competently supervised by KARL MAYER’s trained technical staff. The WEFTTRONIC® II G is based on a technology unfamiliar to many glass grid manufacturers. During these trials, they can also discover how user-friendly the new machine is.
