Mechanical Engineering Handbook: Special Machinery Volume (Five)

Author: Chief Editor: Zhang Xishan
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1997-09-01
Features: The preface of this volume states that in the second half of 1991, the Ministry of Machine Industry considered the characteristics of special equipment in textile machinery and commissioned the former Ministry of Textile Industry's Technical Equipment Department to organize the writing of this volume—Volume 5 of Special Machinery. This volume was specifically managed by the former Textile Machinery Research Institute of the Ministry of Textile Industry, which organized over 100 experts and scholars in the textile machinery industry to carry out the writing work. It took nearly two years to complete 10 chapters covering cotton spinning, wool and linen, weaving, knitting, dyeing and printing, chemical fibers, nonwoven fabrics, apparel, textile accessories, and special instruments. Among them, the chapter on textile special instruments was merged into the 7th chapter and 10th section of the Instruments volume for easier reference by readers. This manual focuses on introducing the structure, characteristics, relevant technical parameters, and usage and maintenance precautions of textile machinery and accessories in China, serving as a reference for textile machinery and accessory professionals and textile engineering technicians.
The textile industry is a traditional pillar industry in China. Over the past 40 years, it has made significant contributions to meeting people's living needs, accumulating funds for socialist construction, and generating export revenue. In 1991, China's textile industry ranked first in the world in the production of cotton yarn, cotton fabric, silk fabrics, and knitted fabrics, first in the production of woolen fabrics, and fourth in the production capacity of chemical fibers. Textiles are one of the major sources of export revenue for the country. Textiles mainly fall into three categories: apparel textiles, decorative textiles, and industrial textiles. Currently, apparel textiles account for approximately 60% of total sales. With the development of the national economy and the improvement of people's living standards, the proportion of decorative and industrial textiles will gradually increase, and by the early 21st century, the combined sales ratio of the latter two will gradually balance with that of apparel textiles.
The textile machinery industry serves the production and construction of the textile industry. From the beginning of the People's Republic of China, the equipment foundation for the development of China's textile industry has been firmly rooted in domestic production principles. Currently, China's total cotton spinning equipment exceeds 40 million spindles, and the total weaving machine count exceeds 1 million, both ranking first in the world, with over 90% of which being domestically manufactured. Through more than 40 years of effort, China's textile machinery industry has developed into a comprehensive equipment system capable of producing complete sets of machinery for 15 industries, including cotton spinning, wool spinning, linen spinning, silk and satin, weaving, dyeing and finishing, chemical fibers, knitting, nonwoven fabrics, apparel, and specialized instruments and accessories, forming a certain production scale and manufacturing system. However, overall, China's textile machinery still lags behind international advanced levels in terms of variety, quality, and complete equipment standards, with insufficient production capacity for high-level equipment or the inability to produce it, requiring further improvement and enhancement.
(1) Textile machinery is specialized equipment for processing textile fibers. From raw material processing to the production and marketing of finished textile products, each type of fiber has its own processing characteristics and systems, characterized by long processing processes, complex technology, strong complete equipment requirements, high reliability, stability, and consistency under long-term continuous operation, as well as strict requirements for waste treatment.
(1) Long processing processes, complex technology, and strong complete equipment requirements. The basic principle of textile product processing technology is to uniformly feed fiber raw materials, perform processes such as opening, cleaning, mixing, carding, blending, rough spinning, and fine spinning into yarn; then, the yarn is processed through winding, finishing, sizing, warping, weaving or knitting into fabric, which is then bleached, dyed, printed, or finished to produce apparel fabrics, linings, or other purposes. Not only are the processes long, but different raw materials and finished products also have different technical requirements for each process. Due to the diversity of fiber raw materials and the multifunctionality of textile products, different fibers vary in length, linear density, structure, and performance, and single-fiber pure spinning and mixed fiber spinning also differ. Therefore, different processing technologies and equipment are required for spinning, weaving, dyeing, and finishing processes. Even for the same raw material, when producing different varieties and specifications of textiles to meet varying requirements such as color, hand feel, fullness, comfort, and wear resistance, the processing technology and equipment used will also differ. A wide variety of textile machinery must be developed to meet the needs of processing different fibers and products. The production processes of different raw materials in the textile industry require that the speed, output, drafting multiple, package size, and quality indicators of equipment in each process must be coordinated and reasonably matched. If an issue arises in any process, it may cause a production line interruption or the generation of defective products. In addition to the requirements for the completeness of production main equipment in each process, a series of auxiliary machines and testing instruments must also be matched, such as ventilation, dust extraction, dust filtration, and yarn dropping equipment throughout the process. To enable a textile factory to operate normally and stably, the equipment must be matched and connected to meet the process requirements. Due to the large variety of complete textile machinery, the high batch volume of key components and special parts, it is impossible to organize complete production in one or two enterprises. Therefore, when the textile machinery industry was initially established, it not only emphasized the development of complete equipment but also adopted specialized division of labor for individual machines and spare parts, organizing production on a nationwide basis through collaboration for complete equipment. At the same time, attention was paid to the standardization, generalization, and serialization of textile machinery, forming a systematic framework that promoted and facilitated the division of labor and nationwide collaboration.
(2) High requirements for reliability, stability, and consistency. One of the production characteristics of the textile industry is the widespread adoption of three-shift, 24-hour continuous operation, with some chemical fiber equipment requiring non-interrupted annual operation of 8,000 hours. Under long-term continuous operation, textile machinery must be highly reliable and stable, meaning the equipment must have a high failure-free rate and stable operation. Taking dyeing machinery as an example, under the same conditions of fabric and dye, it must maintain high stability in process parameters such as speed, pressure, temperature, and fluid flow to prevent defects such as color differences, color loss, or uneven dyeing in the finished product. Some key components or special parts of textile machinery have a high repetition coefficient. For instance, a cotton spinning frame may have 400 to 1,000 spindles, and a spinning production workshop may have dozens or even hundreds of identical machines. Production requires good consistency between spindles and machines, as well as between machines, to ensure that yarn is drafted, twisted, and wound within the required range of deviation in evenness, strength, twist, and formation, avoiding the impact on weaving efficiency and fabric quality in subsequent processes. To achieve these three properties, it is essential to start with mechanical design, combining the actual requirements of textile industry processes and production operations, and applying modern design methods and tools to scientifically analyze the structure, function, and material of key components and auxiliary parts, ensuring the reliability of the entire machine. Since the 1970s, international textile machinery has developed rapidly, with the goal of high speed, high efficiency, and adaptation to the production of diversified, high-value-added products, significantly improving the automation and intelligence level of equipment. Textile machinery such as automatic winding machines, air-jet looms, and new dyeing and printing machinery has widely adopted new technologies such as programmable control, AC frequency conversion speed regulation, and computer monitoring and supervision. Therefore, modern textile machinery is no longer labor-intensive but is gradually becoming specialized machinery with high automation. Its precision requirements are continuously increasing, and the application of special materials and processing technologies is also expanding. Components such as spinning machine winding axes with speeds of up to 15,000 rpm and conjugate cams in air-jet looms require precision, surface roughness, and wear resistance that are one to two levels higher than those of textile machinery from the 1950s and 1960s. Cast iron still accounts for a significant proportion of textile machinery parts (typically 40%–60% in spinning and weaving machines), with castings generally being thin-walled, complex in shape, requiring smooth surfaces, minimal fiber adhesion, and ease of cleaning. To meet high-speed operation and wear resistance requirements, cast iron grades are typically HT200 and HT250. For example, the frame of an air-jet loom has a cast iron area of nearly 1.5 m2, with the thinnest wall thickness being 8 mm. It cannot have white mouth and must have fine surface roughness, which is a challenging casting technology requirement. The manufacturing process level is the prerequisite for ensuring the stability and consistency of the entire machine. Modern textile machinery is verified through assembly and operation to ensure it meets the "three properties" requirements, thereby guaranteeing the quality of machines leaving the factory.
(3) High requirements for industrial hygiene and waste treatment. In the production process of the textile industry, dust and flying fibers (such as cotton, wool, and linen short fibers) are generally generated. If not properly treated, they can severely pollute the production environment, harm the health of operators, affect product quality, and even lead to dust explosions, causing personal injury and property damage. Therefore, textile machinery must be equipped with dust prevention, dust extraction, cotton removal, and air conditioning filtration measures to meet production process and safety requirements. Additionally, modern textile machinery must control the noise of individual machines below 85 dB(A) and strive to reduce the overall noise level in production workshops. In chemical fiber and dyeing and printing production processes, industrial wastewater and waste liquids are generated, causing environmental pollution. Textile machinery must achieve minimal discharge and maximum recycling utilization.
(2) With the development of the textile industry, starting from the 1970s, international textiles have shifted from general products to high-quality, high-end, and high-value-added products, driving the research and development of various high-quality, high-efficient, highly automated, and labor-saving new textile machinery. This further promotes and accelerates the technological progress of textile machinery. The development trends of modern textile machinery include:
First, continuing to move toward high quality, high speed, high efficiency, and continuous, automated, and intelligent production;
Second, expanding product adaptability, improving the flexibility of product switching, and enhancing machine reliability, operability, energy efficiency, and noise reduction. These trends enable textile factories to achieve continuous and automated production using modern textile machinery, further improving textile quality, reducing the impact of human factors, and minimizing labor requirements. The development trends of major categories of textile machinery are generally as follows.
(1) Spinning machinery continues to move toward high quality, high output, high efficiency, and continuous, automated production. For example, cotton spinning machinery commonly adopts multi-package fine-combing, uniform mixing, gradual opening, multi-combing with few, early removal of impurities, and minimal fiber damage. The entire process is monitored and controlled by computers, with composite self-adjusting evenness devices installed in carding to ensure the uniformity of slivers. Drawing, combing, and roving machinery commonly adopt high-speed, large-drum, automatic and automatic yarn dropping, with self-adjusting evenness devices installed in the first drawing and the last drawing after combing. Spinning machines have begun to promote spinning and winding combined machines, using high-speed small drums, not only increasing labor productivity but also producing knot-free yarn. In recent years, industrialized countries have achieved a rapid transformation of the spinning industry from labor-intensive to technology-intensive, with continuous and automated spinning machinery advancing quickly. For example, automatic opening of bales and continuous opening, carding, and spinning-winding combined machines, as well as automated and continuous production of yarn inspection and packaging; automatic transportation systems using or hanging devices to deliver semi-finished products to the next process have been implemented between carding, combing, drawing, roving, and spinning, initially meeting the needs of or fewer-person spinning workshops. Additionally, new spinning machinery such as air-jet spinning machines, parallel spinning machines, friction spinning machines, and jet spinning machines have developed rapidly in recent years and are becoming increasingly mature.
(2) Weaving machinery, due to the advantages of high weft insertion rate, high quality, high efficiency, wide variety adaptability, and low noise of air-jet looms, has become the main model adopted by countries worldwide. Replacing traditional looms with air-jet looms is an inevitable trend. To make full use of air-jet looms, in addition to improving yarn quality, high-level warping and sizing equipment must be used for matching, ensuring uniform tension of single yarn and yarn sheets, complete sizing film, and adaptability to wide-width, large-drum, and high-density or thin fabric weaving requirements. Additionally, the application of computer-aided weaving design, electronic dobby and jacquard devices is also a trend in the modernization of weaving technology. Knitting machinery, with the development of knitted products, has seen significant improvements in performance, speed, and electromechanical integration in recent years, with microcomputer-controlled fabric patterns becoming widely adopted. Knitting machinery such as warp knitting, weft knitting, and computerized flat knitting machines, with their unique fabric targets and characteristics, are expanding the field of textiles and have broad prospects.
(3) The development trend of dyeing and printing machinery is to strengthen the implementation of dyeing and printing process conditions based on the widespread application of electronic technology, enhance online detection throughout the production process, further automate the control of production process conditions, and move toward high quality, high efficiency, multi-function, low, energy saving, and reduced pollution. Pre-treatment equipment primarily focuses on high efficiency and short processes, such as adopting one-step desizing, bleaching, and scouring, using high-efficiency assistants, reverse flow washing, and solution filtration and reuse to achieve energy saving and reduced wastewater discharge. Dyeing machinery has seen new developments in both intermittent and continuous, as well as in rope and sheet forms, with the widespread application of microcomputer control systems for process parameters and processes. Printing machinery mainly includes circular net, flat net, transfer printing, and electronic control panel printing, equipped with electronic color adjustment, computer-assisted pattern design, and laser direct net-making technologies. Finishing machinery primarily leverages the characteristics of chemical and mechanical finishing, sometimes alternating between the two, adding finishing functions to improve fabric quality, enhance wearing performance, and meet special functional requirements, thereby further increasing fabric added value.
(4) The development of chemical fibers focuses on new varieties, high quality, multi-function, simulation, and high added value products. The development trend of synthetic fiber machinery is to continue moving toward high speed, high efficiency, large capacity, short processes, and automation, achieving stable, high-yield, low-personnel operation, and convenient product variety switching. In recent years, the fastest-developing polyester spinning machinery has primarily moved toward the production of ultra-fine, differentiated, and functional fibers, with chemical fiber simulation silk, imitation wool, and functional chemical fiber products entering a new stage of development. At the same time, a series of compact ultra-high-speed spinning machines (with winding speeds reaching 8,000 m/min), warp-draw (W·D) combined machines, warp-draw-spin (W·D·S) combined machines, and new drawing and deformation machines have been developed. Viscose fiber machinery is moving toward continuous, automated, high-speed, large-capacity, energy-saving, and low-pollution development. China's chemical fiber machinery needs to improve its technology level by focusing on the development of: 1) large-capacity acrylic complete equipment, further developing two-step wet acrylic spinning complete equipment after completing dry acrylic complete equipment; 2) complete equipment for producing differentiated polyester fibers and ultra-fine fibers, as well as 30,000-ton annual production capacity polyester complete equipment; 3) complete equipment for nylon 6 polymerization and spinning with an annual production capacity of 5,000 tons; 4) complete equipment for new nylon and polyester industrial yarn; 5) a 20,000-ton annual production capacity viscose short fiber pretreatment and spinning production line, as well as new viscose filament equipment.
Overall, the common characteristics of modern textile machinery development are reflected in the continuous increase in variety, adaptability to different textile processing requirements, significant improvement in manufacturing precision and reliability, new developments in the application of new technologies, new materials, and new processes, and further enhancement and refinement of equipment automation and electromechanical integration levels. Compared to international advanced levels, China's textile machinery must strengthen the construction of design and manufacturing technical teams, improve design, manufacturing, and management levels; accelerate enterprise technical transformation, apply modern manufacturing technology and processing equipment, master modern enterprise management methods, and strive to develop new textile machinery products based on market needs, promptly providing high-level textile machinery that meets China's national conditions, better serving the modernization of China's textile industry.
The writing of Volume 5 of Special Machinery was greatly supported by the institutions of the experts and scholars who participated in its writing, and was also warmly assisted by units such as Shanghai China Textile Machinery Co., Ltd., Shanghai Textile Machinery Factory, Shanghai Second Textile Machinery Co., Ltd., Jingye Textile Machinery Factory, and Zhengzhou Textile Machinery Factory. Gratitude is expressed to all of them in this regard.
Volume 5 of Special Machinery Editorial Committee
December 1993