Obertshausen - Karl Mayer will host an in-house show at its Changzhou facility during the upcoming Shanghaitex exhibition, which will feature three world-first's from the warp knitting machine builder.

Scheduled for 25 to 28 November 2019, machines being premiered will be a double-bar raschel machine, whose optimised cost:benefit ratio should appeal to shoe fabric producers in particular, a direct warping machine for efficiently processing elastane for the mid-range segment, and a raschel machine, which will put producers of patterned lingerie fabrics in the commodity segment one step ahead of their competitors, the company says.

The company will also display a three-bar HKS model with electronic guide bar control and integration in the world of KM.ON at the first time in Asia and the latest warp-knitted home and household textiles that offer advantages over woven fabrics.

In Changzhou, a modern machine with weft insertion will be producing net curtains featuring the popular woven look. The Terry.Eco, a concept for the sustainable production of terry goods, and the associated TM 4 TS will also be presented.

A textiles and applications show will round off the presentation for the warp knitting sector. This will showcase terry goods in a range of different designs, as well as ultra-fine, smooth lingerie fabrics with integrated, decorative lace at the edges.

KM.ON’s innovative, digital product range will also be presented to demonstrate how these well-thought-out products can give its customers market advantages.

The textile innovations and machine developments in the field of technical textiles will appeal mainly to suppliers in the construction sector and producers of interlinings.

“We presented our latest innovations to Europe at ITMA 2019 in Barcelona. The feedback from the visitors was excellent," said Armin Alber, the Sales Director of Karl Mayer (China). "We now want to show textile producers in Asia, who were not able to travel to Barcelona, our ranges that will help them to successfully develop their businesses in the fields of warp knitting, warp preparation and technical textiles.

"This is even more important in view of the fact that the sector is currently rather reluctant to invest because of the economic situation in China in particular, yet it must be ready when the economic conditions pick up. With our machines and fabric developments, we can offer our customers many advantages on the market over other technologies."

At its in-house show, Karl Mayer will be showing its latest technologies including including three world firsts.

Tricot

As innovation in the field of tricot machines, Karl Mayer will be presenting the new HKS 3-M-ON, 218 ins, which offers the same performance in terms of speed as the current HKS 3-M with N-pattern drive but with electronic guide bar control. Patterns can be changed quickly by ordering the required lapping from Karl Mayer’s Webshop Spare Parts and loading the data from KM.ON cloud directly onto the machine.

Using the electronic guide bar control, the article can be changed without the previous mechanical handling. The machine can work patterns with repeats of maximal 36 stitches. In doing so no tempi change is necessary. The advantages for the customer: significantly reduced downtimes caused by pattern changes and thereby considerable increased productivity, short response times to changing market requirements and no costs and delays due to delivery times associated with pattern discs.

Raschel fabrics

At the show, Karl Mayer will be launching the RJ 5/1, E 32, 130" ins, a new commodity product line for producing stylish lingerie items. Jan Hippich, a Portfolio Manager at Karl Mayer, is expecting the south Chinese market in particular to invest in this sector. There is a high demand there, he says, for lingerie items made from smooth, raschel-knitted fabrics with lace-like decorative bands – marketed under the term, “Seamless”.

The making-up costs are also low while the fabrics produced on the RJ 5/1 are made from simple elastane and the type of lapping means that they are resistant to the slippage effect typical of the stretch material. The edges of the fabric do not have to be hemmed, and the consumer is happy with the comfort, since there are just a few seams at the leg and arm openings.

Other advantages of the RJ 5/1 are its exceptional cost:benefit ratio and broad production repertoire. “Basically, conventional products for the RSJ sector can also be produced,” says Jan Hippich.

New developments in the multibar lace sector are also perfect for producing seamless lingerie. A wide variety of yarns can be used for producing different designs using the multibar technology. Fine fabrics produced on an ML 41 in a gauge of E 32 will be presented at the show.

Shoe fabrics

The RDJ 6/1 EN is being launched especially for producers of stylish shoe fabrics. This double-bar raschel machine is designed to produce engineered spacer textiles, and delivers a high performance for a reasonable purchase price.

With its optimised cost:benefit ratio, this new machine is intended to bridge the gap between the established models with piezo jacquard technology.

Compared to the RDPJ 7/1 EL, the price is more attractive, the speed is higher, and the production repertoire is only slightly smaller. Up to 90% of the jacquard shoe fabrics currently being manufactured can be produced.

Karl Mayer also notes that more guide bars, EN drive and a well-thought-out yarn feed system to the jacquard bars increase the design possibilities compared to the RDJ 5/1, and enable the patterns to be changed easily.

Net curtains

Karl Mayer has developed magazine weft fabrics with a trendy look for the net curtain sector. One of machines for doing this is being presented at the in-house show.

The new WEFT.FASHION TM 3,130", E 24 produces fine fabrics with a woven look, and uses fancy yarns to create visual effects.

Warp knitting, says Karl Mayer, is much more efficient than weaving. An expensive and time-consuming sizing process does not have to be carried out, and magazine weft fabrics are extremely slip-resistant.

Terry

A TM 4 TS, E 24, 186 ins is being presented for producing terry goods extremely efficiently. The output of this tried-and-tested tricot machine may be as much as 250% higher than that of comparable air-jet looms, and the energy consumption is approximately 87% lower, since no compressed air is required. Furthermore, no sizing process is needed, which reduces the environmental loads and costs considerably as a result of the sizing chemicals, effluent and energy consumption.

The TM 4 TS is also flexible. It can process staple-fibre and filament yarns to produce a variety of terry goods, including double-face fabrics with an absorbent cotton inner layer and a soft, cosy, outer layer made from microfibre yarns. It can also produce fabrics having different weights.