Swiss firm Uster makes Q-Bar 2 formation monitoring system for weaving

14 Jul '21

3 min read

Pic: Uster

Uster has launched the Q-Bar 2 formation monitoring system. It is like an extra operator dedicated to a single weaving machine. Uster provides quality management solutions from fibre to fabric. The Switzerland-based company offers high-technology instruments, systems and services for quality control, certification, and optimisation in the textile industry.

Operators should be everywhere at the same time, checking, fixing, keeping the machines continuously running, no matter in which weaving mill, all around the globe. Operators should work really fast and see as good as an eagle and with the knowhow of an engineer and service technician for different kinds of weaving machines. As operators with this skill set are really rare, it’s a matter of fact that most of them are stressed.

This kind of stress can be a risk to weavers’ profitability. Defects could be repeated, showing up again and again, for as long as it takes to identify the fault and fix the issue. Long-running defects can also arise from dirty parts, or from missing or inadequate maintenance. This can spoil lots of good fabric. Q- Bar 2 is the solution to detect these, working with various weaving machine types (except water-jet and jacquard), Uster said in a press release.

Uster Q-Bar 2 has its inspection position within the fabric formation area, allowing it to respond quickly when a defect appears and avoid long-running or repeating faults. Alarms and stop signals alert the operator to correct problems immediately. This early detection reduces second quality and material loss. Q-Bar 2 also monitors critical machine units in the formation zone. If there is a problem here, the system makes it easy to identify and eliminate it, preventing further defects, and again maximising fabric yield.

Smart weaving machines do point out issues to the operator, but Q-Bar 2 sees what weaving machines can’t. For example, the constantly stressed operator fixes a broken warp yarn, picking the yarn and drawing it in the reed position; loom sensors get the signal that the missing yarn is now available and accelerate to full speed within milliseconds. Immediately, an alert starts at Q-Bar 2, with a red light indicating the location of the issue. Without the Uster formation monitoring system, the defect stayed undetected, as the operator had already moved on to fix the next issue at another machine, according to Uster.

Complex patterns, fine yarns and a lack of experience can all lead to wrongly drawn-in warp yarns, defects that are hard to recognise with the human eye. Without an automatic solution in place, the problem with wrong draw-ins is usually unnoticed until it’s woven into the fabric for some metres of length. The best way to avoid off-quality is simply not to make it. A zero-defect standard is what many weavers wish to achieve. Q-Bar 2 is the way forward. Weaving defects can have various root causes, so Uster Q-Bar 2 provides different algorithms to identify specific defects and their causes. With this knowledge, it is possible to prevent defects during the actual weaving process.

Uster Q-Bar 2 monitors the fabric already at the critical stage in fabric formation with automatic, in-line inspection. Identifying problems here brings enormous benefits and enables weavers to deliver constant quality and stay competitive in the market.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (GK)

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