Gtn Final Prt

A Textile Internship Report

At

GTN TEXTILES, Aluva, Kerala

Department of Fashion Technology

National Institute of Fashion Technology

New Delhi

December ’09 -January ’10

Submitted By:

Piyush Patel

Rahul Kumar

Tanmoy Hazra

Semester VI

B.F. Tech- Apparel Production

ACKNOWLDGEMENT

Our faculty for the subject, Dr. Venkatalu Senthil has consistently guided through the details of the

subject. His lectures have established the base of our hands on experience in the industry. We are

grateful to him for enlightening us. Also, our Course coordinator, Ms. Bhawna Kapoor, has always

added to our buoyancy with her tremendous efforts.

At GTN, we would like to begin by expressing gratitude to Mr. Balakrishnan – Vice President, GTN

TEXTILES. Without his permission, our learning experience would not have been possible. We wish

to thank Mr. Kunju Mohammad, HR Manager. His unflinching cooperation, valuable guidance and

ample suggestions have not only helped us now, but will be with us long way. We would take

immense pride in thanking Mr. Abhilash for his constant support and guidance during the course of

conducting our research work.

At the outset, we would like to acknowledge some officers at GTN, especially Mr. K. P. Umanaden

(AGM, QAD), Mr. Ponnan C. Paul (AGM, Maintainence), Mr. Antony George (AGM, Production), Mr.

Sukumar (Storage), Mr. Dilip Kesha and Mr. Vijay Kumar (Raw Material) and Mr. Renson Cruz (Chief

Security Officer).

Last, but not the least we want to thank ourselves for standing by each other and supporting each

other in our constant endeavours.

Piyush Patel

Rahul Kumar

Tanmoy Hazra

OBJECTIVE

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As a part of the Bachelors in Fashion Technology (B.F. Tech) - Apparel Production curriculum, we,

the students are required to undergo 15 day training in the textile industry.

The objective of this internship is to understand the concept of spun yarn production, grey fabric(both

woven and knitted) production, dyeing, printing and finishing of fabric, textile testing and their quality

aspects both technical as well as for commercial purposes.

INDEX

Part - I

3

Introduction

o Company Profile

o Corporate Objective

o Export Performance

o Feathers in its Cap

o Key Factors for Success

o Competitors

Organizational Structure

o Board of Directors

o Organizational Hierarchy

o Organogram

Departments

o Raw Materials Department

o Maintenance Department

o Personnel Department

o Storage Department

Plant Layout

Part – II

Production Department

Process Flow

Pre Production / Waste Packing Department

Blowroom

Carding

Pre Comber Drawing

Lap Formation

Combing

Drawing

Speed Frame or Simplex

Ringframe

Post Spinning Section

o Winding

o Cheese Winding

o Two For One Twisting

o Singeing

o Conditioning

o Inspection

o Packing

4

Quality Assurance Department

Part – III

Project I. Determining correct number of ringframe machines to be allocated per worker

Project II. Improving safety and health standards of workers

5

PART - I

INTRODUCTION

GTN Textiles is one of the largest cotton yarn exporting mills from India and is currently

exporting almost 90% of its total production to countries like Japan, Italy, South Korea, Taiwan,

Singapore, Malaysia and West Germany.

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Company Profile

GTN Textiles Ltd. (formerly GTN Industries Ltd.) promoted by G.T. Narayanaswamy Naidu,

was incorporated on August 02, 1962 in Aluva and commissioned in 1964 for the manufacture of

cotton yarn with a capacity of 12000 spindles. In 1966, the company was taken over by present

promoters: the Patodia family. GTN Industries Ltd. was incorporated as a Public Ltd. Co. on March

28, 2005 under the Companies Act, 1956 and obtained the Certificate for Commencement of

Business on April 6, 2005. The company took over the demerged business of GTN Textiles Ltd.,

comprising of the business activity of the Aluva Unit, Investment of 39.07% of the Paid-up Equity

Share Capital of Patspin India Ltd. Along with other assets, as per the Scheme of Arrangement

approved by the Hon’ble High Court of Kerala Vide, its Orders dated 28.9.05, 5.12.05 and 9.12.05,

respectively. Pursuant to the Scheme, GTN Industries Ltd. has changed its name to GTN Textiles Ltd.

and vice-versa vide fresh Certificate of Incorporation dated 27.12.05, issued by the Registrar of

Companies, Kerala. The company had its registered office at Erumathala, near Aluva, in Ernakulam

district and Corporate office at Nariman Point, Mumbai.

GTN Textiles produces yarn from cotton and almost 90% of the finished yarn is exported. The

company was declared as an export oriented unit in March, 1998. The two-third part of the finished

yarn is exported mainly to Italy and Japan. The company produces various types of cotton yarn in

different counts according to the requirement of the customers. The company got the prestigious

Quality Management System (QMS) Certification (ISO 9002) on April 16, 1994 from Bureau of India

Standards and Environment Management System (EMS) Certification in June 2004 from KPMG.

Presently both QMS (ISO 9001) and EMS (14001) are combined in one QEMS certification from

Intertech.

GTN Textiles, Aluva has a workforce approximately comprising 200 staff members and 750

workmen. It operates 7 days a week round the clock in a pattern of 3 – shifts per day. The shift

timings are:

08 A.M. – 04 P.M. (General Shift)

04 P.M. – 12 A.M.

12 A.M. – 08 A.M.

09 A.M. – 05:30 P.M. (Staff shift)

The cotton needed for the production, i.e. the raw material, is mostly imported from countries

like America & Egypt or purchased locally from the states of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and

Andhra Pradesh. GTN has a policy of stocking up good quality raw cotton at appropriate time for a

minimum of five or six months. This enables the unit to mix homogenously the same blend for a

longer period of time.

In terms of production, over 90% of the yarn produced is fine or superfine – combed yarn &

compact yarn. The main counts range from 50s to 140s, both single and multifold as well as Gasses,

suitable for knitting & weaving. The overall capacity of the unit is approximately 58864 spindles a day.

7

Corporate Objectives

To retain its present position in the export market.

To satisfy its customers and shareholders.

To concentrate more on high value added processing of yarn.

To maintain long term relationships with customers and to provide service and quality.

Export performance

GTN pride themselves as the leaders in the cotton yarn exports from India, and are the recipients of

the prestigious Texprocil Gold Trophy (Cotton Textile Export Promotion Council of India) award for the

excellence in exports continuously for the last fourteen years.

Major markets are Japan, Italy, South Korea, Israel, China, Austria, Taiwan, Malaysia, but they are

keen on continuously developing all the potential international markets.

Percentage Share in Major Markets

36%

15%12%

10%

6%

3%

3%

2%2%

2%1%2%1%2% 3%Japan

Italy

Korea

Israel

China

Hong Kong

Taiw an

Malaysia

U.K.

Portugal

Germany

Austria

Mauritius

Chile

Sri Lanka

Feathers in its Cap

- TEXPROCIL highest export award winner for 14 consecutive years

- Award for excellence from BIRLA Economic and Textile Research Foundation

- GTN is named the STAR EXPORTER AND EXPORT HOUSE

- GTN received BIRLA award for Research and Development and Modernisation effort

- ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified

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- Oeko-tex certification for eco friendly yarns

- GTN won the GOLD TROPHY for outstanding performance from Cotton Textile Export

Promotion Council

Key factors for success- Procurement of the right quality at the right time

- Ability to procure large quantities of raw material and keep long term stock, which ensures

consistent quality

- Associated concern trading in cotton for the last 40 years, which gives it an added

advantage.

- Use of speciality cotton like:

American Supima – Grade 2

Egyptian Giza 70/86/88/77/80

American SJV Acala

Australia

Sudan

India – Suvin , MCU 5

Competitors

- The Asok Textiles Ltd.

- Sri Bhagavathi Textiles Ltd.

- The Cannanore Co-operative Spinning Mills Ltd.

- Chakolas Spinning and Weaving Mills Ltd.

- Eurospin Industries Ltd.

- Kathayee Cotton Mills Ltd.

- Kerala Spinners Ltd.

- Kottayam Textiles (KSTC)

- Madras Spinners Ltd.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

Board of Directors

- M.L. Patodia (Chairman)

- B.K. Patodia (Vice Chairman and Managing Director)

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- M.K. Patodia (Managing Director)

- P.K. Kurian

- C.D. Thakker

- B.L. Singhal

- R. Rajagopalan

- Siby Anthony

- Umang Patodia

- E.K. Balakrishnan (Company Secretary)

Organizational Hierarchy

Chairman

VCMD – Vice Chairman cum Managing Director

MD – Managing Director

GME – General Manager Exports

CE – Chief Executive

Sr. VP (T&O) – Senior Vice President (Technical & Operations)

AGM (ES) - Assistant General Manager ( Engineering Services)

DME - Deputy Manger Electrical

SCO – Senior Commercial Officer

AMQA – Assistant Manager Quality Assurance

AGM (M) – Assistant General Manager (Maintenance)

SM (M) – Senior Manager Maintenance

DM (M) - Deputy Manager Maintenance

SGM (P & IR) – Senior General Manager (P & IR)

M (T&D) – Manager (Training & Development)

MRM – Manager Raw Material

SGMW – Senior General Manager Works

GMP - General Manager Productions

SMP – Senior Manager Production

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Organogram

Vice Chairman & Managing Director

Assistant Manager Director Chief Executive

Senior Manager

Senior Manager Engineering

Services

General Manager Finance

Commercial Manager

Manager Maintenance

Senior Manager Finance

Assistant Manager Stores

Vice President Technical

Senior Manager Maintenance

Senior Manager Personnel

General Manager Quality Assurance

Assistant Manager Training

Fitters

Senior Officer Quality Assurance

Senior Officer Quality System

Senior General Manager

Senior Production Manager

Deputy Production Manager

Supervisors

Officers

Assistant Manager

Workers

Jobbers

11

DEPARTMENTS

There are six different departments drawn out at the unit which are:

Raw Material Department

Production Department

Maintenance Department

Storage Department

Quality Assurance Department

Personnel Department

Raw Materials Department

The raw material for spinning is bales of cotton. In GTN, the cotton is primarily procured from countries

like Egypt, Sudan and US, as well as locally from the states of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and

Andhra Pradesh. The different types of cotton used to manufacture yarn in GTN are:

Imported Cotton Varieties

PIMA (USA)

GIZA 86, 88 (Egypt)

SUDAGIB (Egypt)

Indian Cotton Varieties

SUVIN

MCU 5

DCH

Fiber properties like strength, length, uniformity ratio etc vary from type to type. Contamination is quite

less in imported cotton as compared to Indian cotton.

The godown for storage of raw materials in GTN has been divided into three parts – A, B and C. The

layout is as follows:

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The storage capacities of the three sections are as follows:

Godown Area (m2) Storage & bins Capacity (bales)

A 868.76 1 – 62 3100

B 875.42 1 – 63 3150

C 778.39 1 – 65 2750

Total = 2522.57 9000

From the godowns the cotton is put in the bale opening machine. The machine shreds the cotton from the

bales and cleans them, where after it is handpicked by workers for contaminants. The contaminants like

black cotton, yellow cotton, jute, plastic, leaves and bark are kept aside and clean cotton is sent to the

blowroom. Defective cotton after the blowroom stage is sent back to the raw materials department and

put in the bale opener for recycling.

GODOWN A

GODOWN B

GODOWN C

Unl

oadi

ngPo

rch

13

Maintenance Department

The maintenance department conducts the maintenance of textile machinery only. It is responsible for

scheduled maintenance, i.e., the cleaning, checking of machine parts, lubrication etc., and for the repair

of machines after breakdown. The maintenance of other equipment like generators, transformers and

electrical equipments is done by the engineering department. Only highly skilled personnel are involved in

the work of this department. All schedules of repair and maintenance is fed into the computer and with the

help of SAP software it generates the time of completion of a particular job, which can be allowed a grace

period of 25%.

Personnel Department

The company has a well-established personnel department with experienced executives. The major

functions of this department are listed below: -

Recruitment and selection of employees – Selection is basically done through written tests and

interviews. The minimum qualification for the workers is S.S.L.C. For other staff selection, the

qualification, skills required and the job experience is specified beforehand. If selected, the

candidate is put on a probation period of 3-4 months, during which their performance is

continuously monitored. Depending upon their performance, they may be permanently appointed

or discarded.

Performance Appraisal system – Performance appraisal is conducted once every two years with

the help of external consultants. This is done through questionnaires, called ‘Competency

Mapping’ which is evaluated by the top management and accordingly promotional incentives are

given or workers are instructed for training.

Promotion Policy – In case of workers, seniority is considered for the purpose of promotion while

in the case of staff, ‘Competency Mapping’ is considered along with their service experience. If

any position is vacant, the personnel with higher competency score will be posted to that position

by giving more responsibilities and duties.

Training Policy – The company provides training to fill gaps in knowledge and skill of employees

where necessary, and evaluates the effectiveness of such training. The organization also

maintains records of training imparted including skills, experience and competence.

Long Term Settlement – This is done for settling the basic payment of staff along with the joint

decision of management and union leaders. By this bilateral agreement, the payment of every

department staff is settled.

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Employee Motivation – It is the duty of the personnel department to encourage workers to do their

jobs properly and with full concentration. Based on how well it is done, incentives or bonuses can

be given.

Conflict resolution – Many times, there may occur labour strikes or there might be some agitation

or unrest among the workers to bring attention to some problem of theirs. At this time, the

personnel department negotiates with the union leaders and tries to reach a solution.

Communication with external bodies – Apart from all the above responsibilities, the personnel

department is also responsible for interaction with the customers, media or the board of directors.

Storage Department

Apart from storing the finished product, ready for shipment, the storage department also handles the

inspection and packaging of the yarn cones before being dispatched for shipment. The functions of this

department have been further described elaborately later in the document.

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PLANT LAYOUT

16

PART - II

PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT

Process Flow

18

PRE- PRODUCTION / WASTE PACKING DEPARTMENT

Cotton from raw materials storage is passed through this department before being sent to the

blowroom. The cotton (called 1st quality cotton) is pressed into bales by the bale presser machine.

Wastes from carding, combing and blowroom also get delivered here through the waste ducts.

There are separate ducts for under card waste, upper card waste, comber waste and blowroom

waste. According to the type of wastes, the cotton is sorted. Only 1st quality cotton is sent forward

for spinning. The other cotton wastes are pressed into bales and kept aside for export or for

sending to local markets.

Categorisation of wastes –

Waste from Quality Sent to

Blowroom 5 Coimbatore carpet mills

Under card 4 Local mills

Upper card 3 Malaysia cotton mills

Comber 2 Malaysia cotton mills

Sliver 1 Blowroom (recycled)

BLOWROOM

A blow room line consists of opening, cleaning, mixing and lap making (optional) machines. The

cotton is received in the mill in hard bales which contain several impurities.

The blow room machinery performs function of opening hard pressed bales of cotton and

cleaning the cotton of impurities. Trash and foreign matter is to be extracted from the cotton with

the least amount of lint loss. The amount of waste extracted would depend on the amount of trash

in the mixing.

Another important function that is performed by the blow room equipment is "Mixing". Two or

more different varieties of cotton me general mixed thoroughly to get a proper blend. In order to

produce uniform quality of yarn and also to reduce the cotton cost of yarn while achieving the

desired level quality, the mixing, of two or more types of cotton is carried out in the blow room.

The loose cotton passed through the blow room machinery is converted into regular sheets called

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laps. These laps are delivered lo the next department viz. carding room, alternately auto feed

system in blow room to feed the carding machines the process of lap formation is avoided.

A blow room installation consists of a sequence of different machines to carry out the above said

operations. Moreover since the tuft size of cotton becomes smaller and smaller, the required

intensities of processing necessitates different machine configuration.

Some basic concepts of the blowroom are:

o The larger the dirt particles, the better they can be removed.

o Since almost every blow room machine can shatter particles, as far as possible a lot of

impurities should be eliminated at the start of the process.

o The higher the degree of opening, the higher the degree of cleaning. A very high cleaning

effect is almost always purchased at the cost of a high fiber loss. Higher roller speeds

give a better cleaning effect but also more stress on the fiber.

o Cleaning is made more difficult if the impurities of dirty cotton are distributed through a

larger quantity of material by mixing with clean cotton.

o The cleaning efficiency is strongly dependent on the trash percentage. It is also affected

by the size of the particle and stickiness of cotton. Therefore cleaning efficiency can be

different for different cottons with the same trash percentage.

o If cotton is opened well in the opening process, cleaning becomes easier because

opened cotton has more surface area, therefore cleaning is more efficient

o In cleaning, it is necessary to release the adhesion of the impurities to the fibers and to

give the particles an opportunity to separate from the stock. The former is achieved

mostly by picking of flocks; the latter is achieved by leading the flocks over a grid.

o Mechanical action on fibers causes some deterioration on yarn quality, particularly in

terms of neps. Moreover it is true that the staple length of cotton can be significantly

shortened.

o In a beating operation, the flocks are subjected to a sudden strong blow. The inertia of

the impurities accelerated to a high speed, is substantially greater than that of the opened

flocks due to the low air resistance of the impurities. The latter are hurled against the grid

and because of their small size, pass between the grid bars into the waste box, while the

flocks continue around the periphery of the rotating beater.

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o Air streams are often used in the latest machine sequence, to separate fibers from trash

particles by buoyancy differences rather than beating the material against a series of grid

bars.

For cotton, the humidity should be 55 % and the temperature has to be maintained at around

300C. If the ideal conditions for cotton are not maintained, the cotton cannot be processed

properly. For proper opening, cleaning and mixing, the required conditions must be necessarily

maintained.

Objective

To open the compressed bale of cotton.

To extract impurities and other foreign matters from cotton by opening and beating.

To allow passage of clean cotton either as fluffy mass or as lap (chute feed or lap feed) to

the next machine.

Input

Bale of cotton

Bale weight – Above 250 kg

Relative humidity maintained in blowroom (preparatory) – 55-60%

Output

Uniformly mixed, clean cotton in the form of chute feed or compressed layer of cotton called lap.

Machinery

1. Rieter UNIFLOC A11 Automatic Bale Opener

The UNIFLOC A11 performs the task of opening the hard pressed bales into small flocks.

The volume of the flock is increased while the number of fibres remains constant i.e., the

specific density of the material is reduced.

UNIFLOC A11 processes the fiber material gently and efficiently into micro tufts, from

which impurities can be removed very readily in the subsequent processes. The machine

has one arm and the main part of the arm is a long cylindrical drum extending to the full

length of the arm which consists of six pairs of metallic teeth and arranged in thirty nine

rows. They are responsible for the intake of material from bale. Star wheels are arranged

on both sides of these rows to guide the material to the long drum. The arm is provided

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with gear motor for the rotation of the drum and has the ability to turn both sides of the

rail. It is also capable of moving up and down to adjust the arm according to the height of

the table. The machine is also provided with a light sensing device to detect the height of

the bale. The central unit consists of the main gearing alignment related to the lifting and

lowering of the arm suction of material and transportation of the UNIFLOC with the help

of conveyer belts.

The UNIFLOC is designed for output of up to 1400 kg/h (carded sliver). Bales are laid

down over a length of 40-45 meters. Automatic bale profiling eliminates labor-intensive

manual alignment of the bales. Opening bales into micro tufts provides the basis for

effective cleaning and de-dusting by subsequent machines. The double tooth profile

ensures gentle extraction of the tufts irrespective of the direction of rotation of the take-off

roller. Automatic bale profiling enables quality consistency to be maintained in

subsequent cleaning processes.

The UNIF at GTN processed up to 4 assortments simultaneously. The width of the take-

off unit can be selected between 1700 and 2300 mm. Cottons of all origins up to a staple

length of 65 mm are processed.

The collected material from UNIFLOC is collected and distributed by the material

transport fan. Gravity waste is removed before passing the material to the metal detector,

which detects metallic impurities such as scraps, nails etc. and is diverted by the metal

diverter.

No. of machines – 1

No. of operators – 1/6 (1 operator operates all 6 machines in blowroom)

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2. Rieter UNICLEAN B11

The UNICLEAN B11 is an efficient cleaning and de-dusting machine which is used

immediately after bale opening. It performs fine cleaning on the cotton with the help of

spiked beater drum and grids. The spiked beater revolves with high speed and beats the

cotton against a grid. The impurities having less weight are taken in by the grid, beneath

the beating chamber. Micro dust is collected by another duct.

The cleaning by the machine depends on cleaning intensity and percentage of trash

removed. Cleaning intensity can be varied by varying the speed (it ranges from 0 to 1).

Percentage of trash depends on grid opening. Automatic cycle sends the trash at regular

intervals. The UNICLEAN B11 handles a sustained 1200 kg/hr card production. The

UNICLEAN removes loose trash particles, fibre fragments and dust.



3. VETAL Scan Polysensor

It is one of the most effective ways of removing foreign particles like feather, color cloth

bits, discolored threads, yellow fabric pieces and high density impurities like

white/transparent polypropylene, plastic, colored polythene bag fragments. It is done by

96 line scan cameras and using sonic acoustic / ultrasonic sensing. Detected materials

are ejected through high-speed nozzles by pneumatic air jets.

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4. Lakshmi UNIMIX LB 7/4

The object of UNIMIX is further opening and cleaning of cotton. It consists of six

chambers.

Cotton is introduced into a big chamber divided into six compartments vertically. Once all

the compartments are filled with cotton, all of them are allowed to release small equal

amounts simultaneously on a conveyor belt moving horizontally below the chamber. The

conveyor belt moves with the help of rollers. The contents of the conveyor belt are which

taken up by an inclined lattice. This movement mixes the cotton further.

The machine’s working width is 1600 mm. It has an infinitely variable production up to

600 kg / hr. Both machines have a pin type roller as shown in the picture. The UNIMIX

machines supply the subsequent carding process with input in the form of flocks or tufts

of cotton fibre with the help of air flow. This system of feeding the carding machines is

known as chute feed system. The UNIMIX machine supplies the tufts of cotton directly to

the carding machines via chute feed system. There are 3 UNIMIX machines – UNIMIX I,

II, III according to the type of cotton being processed, mainly PA, DH, MM.


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5. Trutzschler Multimixer

The main function of this machine is opening and cleaning, though it is also used for

mixing. It has 8 mixing chambers, each of which is divided into equal sections. Each

compartment has two calendar rollers rotating in the clockwise direction. These rollers

allow the cotton to fall into the beater, from where it is passed to the condenser of the

scutcher through pipes by the flow of air. It has light barriers in all chambers for minimum

filling level monitoring an also has pressure sensing through sensitive pressure

transducer. The Trutzschler Multimixer supplies tufts of cotton into the Trumac Scutcher

machine for lap formation.



6. Trumac Scutcher

It converts the cotton into a lap form for subsequent carding process. This system of

feeding the carding machine is known as lap feed system. Trumac’s Scutcher line for

cotton comprises of Condenser LVSA, Pneumafeeder FS and Scutcher SME.

The Condenser LVSA, which is mounted on the Pneumafeeder FS, draws the tufts from

the preceding machine. A high-speed dust cage separates the tufts from the carrier air

current and de-dusts the tuft material. A stripper roller of condenser delivers the material

to Pneumafeeder FS in tuft form. Exhaust air is channeled to a filter. The Pneumafeeder

FS provides uniform feed to the Scutcher SME. Pneumafeeder FS is easily accessible

and has fewer moving parts; hence it is maintenance-free. Emptying for material change

can also be done easily.

Condenser delivers the material to reserve trunk. An adjustable sensor maintains the

level in the trunk. Two pairs of delivery rollers form bottom of the reserve trunk, which

25

guides material to coarse spiked plucking rollers. The plucking rollers throw the tufts into

an air current generated by a fan, which carries tufts into the feeding trunk. Perforated

steel sheets form both walls of the feeding trunk, holding back the material, but allowing

air to escape freely. Here material is compressed uniformly across the full width by the

pressure of the air current.

Two delivery rollers in the Scutcher draw the material from the feeding trunk and guide it

to the feed rollers through sensing levers. The sensing levers are chrome-plated,

permitting the fibres to glide smoothly over them without causing any congestion. An

integration of the sensing lever actuates P.I.V. drive, which regulates speed of the feed

roller. A single Kirschner beater running at 800 rpm carries the ultimate cleaning and fine

opening. Centrally adjustable 10 grid bars with an index scale facilitates waste removal.

In case of processing man-made fibres, complete system can be closed.

Finely opened material is collected on single enlarged dust cage of diameter 550 mm Fan

exhaust dusts the air diametrically and ensures uniform distribution of material. In this

manner, cotton laps upto 30 kg and man-made fibre upto 20 kg can be produced.

The required lap length can be preset by means of a counter and limit switch. The

production rate is 200-240 kg/hr. The laps are then carried to the carding machines.



Line Diagram

26

CARDING

UNIFLOC

MATERIAL TRANSPORT FAN

METAL DETECTOR

METAL DIVERTER

UNICLEAN

VISION SHIELD

FIRE DETECTOR

UNIMIX 1 UNIMIX 2 UNIMIX 3

MULTIMIXER

SCUTCHER

MICRO DUST

GRAVITY WASTE

27

Carding is known as the ‘heart of spinning’. This process is done for the individualization of the

cotton fibers. The fibers after this process get arranged into parallel form from zigzag

arrangement.

Objective

1. To open the flocks into individual fibers

2. Cleaning or elimination of impurities

3. Elimination of dust

4. Elimination of short fibers

5. Fiber blending

6. Fiber orientation or alignment

7. Sliver formation

Input

Cotton in the form of lap

Output

Carded sliver

Waste

Flat stripes

Licker

Cylinder fly

Feed System

As mentioned earlier, there are two types of feeding to the cards, lap feed system, in which the

fibres are formed into a lap or a compact sheet, and chute feed system, in which flocks are

transported pneumatically. The advantages and disadvantages of each system are as follows:

Lap Feed System

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Advantages

1. The linear density of the lap is very good and uniformity is easier to maintain.

2. The whole installation is very flexible

3. Deviations in card output will be nil, as laps can be rejected

4. Autolevellers are not required, hence investment cost and maintenance cost is less

Disadvantages

1. Transportation of lap needs more manual efforts (more labour)

2. Lap run out is an additional source of fault, as it should be replaced by a new lap

3. Fibre loss can take place during lap change

4. More load on the taker-in, as laps are heavily compressed

Chute Feed System

Advantages

1. High performance in carding due to high degree of openness of feed web.

2. Labour requirement is less due to no lap transportation and lap change in cards.

3. For high production cards, only chute feeding system is suitable.

Disadvantages

1. Linear density of the web fed to the card is not as good as lap.

2. The installation is not flexible.

3. Auto leveller is a must for controlling weight per unit length, hence investment cost and

maintenance cost is more.

Principle

o Short fibres which are responsible for hairiness and reduction in strength are to be

removed

o Cotton is introduced in the form of flocks and obtained in the form of slivers.

o At carding, the faults like neps, hooked ends can come. These faults can be rectified at

the later stages.

o Rollers used in the carding machines are fixed at certain distance that defines the

minimum length of fiber required. This eliminates shorter fibres but also gives rise to

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hooks (fibres held by front rollers form trailing hooks while fibres held by back rollers

form leading hooks).

Following are the five types of clothing used in a Carding machine

1. Cylinder wire

2. Doffer wire

3. Flat tops

4. Licker-in wire

5. Stationary flats

Mechanism

There are photo sensors at the entrance of carding machine. If the passage gets filled with the

material, shutters controlled by the sensors are closed. They allow only the required amount of

cotton thus avoiding overloading. The feed roller and the feed plate together produce batt. The

flocks are taken in by the licker-in (taker-in) in the form of batt. The purpose of the taker-in is to

pluck finely opened flocks out of the feed batt, to lead them over the dirt eliminating parts like

mote knives, combing segment and waste plates, and then to deliver the fibres to the main

cylinder. There are three licker-ins.

The main cylinder is a large drum moving at a speed of approx. 550 rpm. The centrifugal force

makes the dust rise to flat card. The flat card sucks in the dust. The opening effect is directly

proportional to the number of wire points per fiber - at the taker-in 0.3 points/ fiber and at the main

cylinder 10-15 points /fiber. If a given quality of yarn is required, a corresponding degree of

opening at the card is needed. To increase production in carding, the number of points per unit

time must also be increased.

The main work of the card, separation to individual fibres is done between the main cylinder and

the flats. In the cylinder-flats region, the following processes take place:

1. opening of flocks to individual fibres

2. elimination of remaining impurities (trash particles)

3. elimination of short fibres and neps

4. untangling the neps

30

5. dust removal

6. high degree of longitudinal orientation of the fibres

Only by means of this fibre separation; it is possible to eliminate the fine dirt particles and dust.

The flats can be moved forwards or backwards, i.e. in the same direction as or in opposition to

the cylinder.

The arrangement of the material between the cylinder and the doffer is not meant for stripping

action. It is for carding action. This is the only way to obtain a condensing action and finally to

form a web. Additional carding action is obtained here and it differs somewhat from processing at

the flats. The sliver formation takes place at calendar rollers where the sliver is taken from sliver

web. The sliver is collected in the spring cans.

Machinery

1. Truetzschler DK 780

Material from the blowroom is fed to a series of cards arranged in a circuit to pneumatic

pipes (chute feed).

With its comprehensive carding concept the DK 780 is ideally suited for modern textile

mills, which want to be competitive in the worldwide textile market. The new features of

the DK 780 improve carding quality once more and an increase in productivity can be

achieved in many cases. The DK 780 card is designed for production output of up to 100

kg/h (mechanically). There are sufficient performance reserves for a trouble-free

operation with low maintenance.

The licker-in is equipped with adjustable deflector blades and mote knives with suction

hoods. It offers variable flat speed adapted to the raw material. There is a reduction in

amount of seed coat fragments, with stationary flat system Twin Top. There is a choice

between lap feeding and the Tuft Feeder unit FBK.


No. of operators - 1

2. Lakshmi LC 300V3

Salient features –

31

Modular Construction

FRC system ensures leveled material

Aluminum alloy cylinder cover plates

Easy tongue setting adjustment

FMC system facilitate symmetric web gathering

High Production with Superior Quality

Production up to 80 kg/hr

Delivery Speed up to 300 m/min. (mechanical)

Cylinder Speed up to 550 rpm

Excellent quality with in-built short term and long term FRC system

PCL & PCD system ensures less imperfection in sliver

Flexibility

Suction system through fibre reinforced plastic ducts for waste collection and

provision for centralized suction

Feed from Fine feed or Lap feed

Manual or Automatic waste evacuation system

Effective suction by individual or centralized collection system

Separation of Licker-in and flat waste

Linear or Rotary Can changers

Wide range of can coilers to suit various customer needs

Ease of Maintenance

Compact and maintenance free flat drive system

Replaceable combing segments with special knives and control bars

Effective suction for removal of trash and micro dust

32

Compact doffer drive with inverter, controlled by PLC

Touch screen display system



Line Diagram

33

PRE COMBER DRAWING

Objective

FEED ROLLER

LICKER-IN REGION

‘C’ CLEANER

CARDING SECTION

DOFFER

FEED PLATE

FEED BOX (CHUTE FEED)

‘C’ CLEANER

SLIVER

DOFFING UNIT

COILER MECHANISM

SLIVER CAN

34

Drafting, Parallelisation, Doubling

Input

Carded sliver

Output

Drafted sliver

Drawing is the final process of quality improvement in the spinning mill. Drafting is the process of

elongating a strand of fibres, with the intention of orienting the fibres in the direction of the strand

and reducing its linear density. In a roller drafting system, the strand is passed through a series of

sets of rollers, each successive set rotating at a surface velocity greater than that of the previous

set.

During drafting, the fibres must be moved relative to each other as uniformly as possible by

overcoming the cohesive friction. Different cans from different carding machines are used for

doubling so as to maintain homogeneity. 28 cans are used in a single drawframe.

Each drawframe has three pairs of rollers that adjust speed for providing uniform sliver of fibre.

The first roller is the slowest in speed, and the delivery roller is the fastest.

Rieter D35 and D40 are the drawframes used in GTN.



LAP FORMATION

The raw material delivered by the carding machine cannot be fed directly to the comber. Lap

preparation is a must. A good lap fed to the comber should have

35

1. highest degree of evenness so that lap is gripped uniformly by the nipper

2. a good parallel disposition of fibres so that long fibres will not be lost

3. trailing hooks from carding should be fed as leading hooks to reduce long fibre loss

These machines combine many slivers to form batts again. They are used in succession and

simply provide the raw material for the comber. For process of combing, the sliver lap machines

(18-24 slivers form a lap) are used when end product is ribbon. Then the ribbon lap machines or

super lap formers are used. Each ribbon in the ribbon lap machine is made from six ribbons.

After this process, four ribbons are passed through comber.

Machinery

1. Lakshmi LE 2/4A Sliver Lap

Objective

Doubling – Carded slivers are passed side by side and reduce the width to

improve the uniformity of the sliver.

Drafting – Straightening and parallelisation.

Lap formation – The doubled and drafted material is passed through the heavily

weighted calendar rollers. Then the material is compressed into sheet form.

Input

Carded sliver

Output

Sliver Lap

Lap Length – 150-200 m

Lap Width – 9-10 kg

No. of doubling – 18-24

Features

Optimal fibre control and parallel alignment of the individual fibres

High operating speed of 65 m/min

36

Heavy laps up to 75 g/m

Pneumatic Lap weighing for improved Lap Quality

Suspended Creel to accommodate cans of diameter from 400 mm to 1000 mm

Double nip drafting arrangement with Pneumatically weighed top rollers

Lapping Apparatus with Automatic Lap Changer


No. of operators – ½ (1

operator operating 2

machines)

Line Diagram

CREEL

GUIDE PLATE

GUIDE ROLLERS

STOP MOTION GUIDE

18 SLIVERS

DRAFTING SECTION (4/6 DRAFTING SYSTEM)

CALENDER ROLLERS

SPOOL

37

2. Lakshmi LE 4/1 A Ribbon Lap

Objective

To improve uniformity of lap by doubling

To strengthen and parallelize the fibres by giving draft

Input

Sliver lap (6)

Output

Ribbon lap

Draft – 6

Width of lap – 11.75 in.

Features

Pneumatically weighted drafting rollers

Reflecting mirror is placed above the machine for easy operation


38

No. of operators – ½ (1 operator operating 2 machines)

3. Super Lap LH 10

Objective

Drafting, doubling, parallelisation

Input

Drafted sliver

Output

Super lap

Features

No. of doublings – 24

Lap width – 300 mm

Maximum lap diameter – 600 mm

Fibre length – 25-45 mm

39

Lap sheet weight – 20 kg

Maximum delivery speed – 120m/min

Can size –

o Diameter – up to 24 in.

o Length – up to 48 in.

Drafting system – 4/4

No. of drafting heads – 2

Top roller loading – Spring loaded

Electrical stop motion present

Pneumatic weighted draft rollers

Automatic doffing

Line Diagram12 SLIVERS

DRAFTING SECTION

TABLE CALENDER ROLLER

12 SLIVERS

DRAFTING SECTION


TWO SECTIONS ARE EQUALIZED

4 HEAVY WEIGHTED CALENDER ROLLERS

SPOOL MAGAZINE

SPOOL

40



COMBING

Combing is the process which is used to upgrade the raw material. It influences the following yarn

properties:

1. yarn evenness

2. strength

3. cleanness

4. smoothness

41

5. visual appearance

In addition to the above, combed cotton needs less twist than a carded yarn because the short

fibres are removed.

Objective

In order to produce an improvement in yarn quality, the comber must perform the following

operations:

1. elimination of short fibres

2. elimination of remaining impurities

3. elimination of neps

The basic operation of the comber is to improve the mean length or staple length by removing the

short fibres. Since fineness of short fibres (noil) is low, the overall micronaire of the sliver after

combing is high. Because of combing, fibre parallelization increases.

Input

Ribbon Lap or Super Lap

Output

Combed sliver

Machinery

Lakshmi LK 54 Comber

The sequence of operation in a comber is as follows:

1. Feeding of the lap by feed roller

2. The fed lap is gripped by the nipper

3. The gripped lap is combed by circular comb

42

4. The detaching roller grips the combed lap and moves forward

5. While the detaching roller delivers the material, top comb comes into action to further

clean the lap. The short fibres are removed.

6. While going back, nipper opens and receives a new bit of lap.

Thus, nipper holds the material while the comb moves to and fro. It pulls the material. There are

brushes that clean the circular comb.

Fibres must be presented to the comber so that leading hooks predominate in the feedstock. This

influences not only the opening out of the hooks themselves, but also the cleanliness of the web.

If the sheet is fed to the comber in the wrong direction, the number of neps rises markedly.



Line Diagram

LAP STAND

LAP ROLLERS

LAP TENSION PAD

NIPPER

UNICOMB

TOP COMB

BOTTOM ROLLER

DETACHING ROLLER

TABLE


TABLE TRUMPET

COILER TRUMPET

DRAFTING ZONE

CAN

BRUSH

WASTE BOX

SEPARATOR

43

DRAWING

Objective

Through doubling, the slivers are made even

Doubling results in homogenization (blending)

Through draft, fibres get parallelized

Hooks created in the card are straightened

Through the suction, intensive dust removal is achieved

Autoleveller maintains absolute sliver fineness

Input

Combed or carded sliver

Output

Drafted sliver

Machinery

Lakshmi LRSB 851 Drawframe

44

Positively driven creel calendar rollers

By changing the calendar rollers (thickness), the count can be changed.

Length of sliver – 4500-6000 m/can

Machine speed – 200-400 m/min

Autoleveller is an additional device which is meant for correcting the linear density

variations in the delivered sliver by changing either the main draft or break draft of the

drafting system, according to the feed variation.

There are two types of Autolevelling systems. They are

Open loop system

Closed loop system

Most of the drawframe autolevellers are open loop autolevellers.

The major components in the autoleveller system are

Scanning roller

Signal converter

Levelling CPU

Servo drive(servo motor and servo leveller)

Differential gear box(Planetary gear box)


No. of operators – 2

45

Line Diagram SLIVER

CREEL CALENDER ROLLER

TENSION ROLLERS

FUNNEL

DRAFTING ZONE

SCANNING ROLLERS

TRUMPET

NOSSIL

COILER CALENDER ROLLERS

CAN

46

SPEED FRAME or SIMPLEX

Objective

Reduces the thickness of the sliver into roving, imparts twists and winds it around a

bobbin.

The main function of speed frame is to make roving from the draft sliver that has strength

to withstand the tension variations at ring frame.

Input

Sliver

Output

Roving

Purpose

47

Sliver is thick, untwisted strand that tends to be hairy and to create fly. The draft needed to

convert this is around 300 to 500. Drafting arrangements of ring frames are not capable of

processing this strand in a single drafting operation to create a yarn that meets all the normal

demands on such yarns. Hence, roving frame is used.

Parts

Creel stand

Sliver guide

Comb

Flyer

Flyer finger

Bobbin

Bobbin coil

Comb rod

Tension pulley

Suction tube

Flow of material

The sliver cans are set in their place, and the sliver is passed through the guides.

There is a comb arrangement which removes the remaining short fibres from the sliver.

The slivers enter the drafting zone. Top and bottom rollers press the sliver and draw thin

roving.

The sliver comes to the flyer which is fitted on the bobbin rail. Bobbin rail gets drive from

the spindle and winds the twisted material on the bobbin in suitable form.

Mechanism

Bobbin and flyer are driven separately, so that winding of the twisted strand is carried out by

running the bobbin at a higher peripheral speed than the flyer. As the roving winds the bobbin, its

diameter increases constantly. If the speed of bobbin’s rotation is kept constant, the surface

speed increases which may lead to strain and breakage of roving. Hence, the speed is

48

decreased. Flyer inserts twist. Each flyer rotation creates one turn in the roving. Twist per unit

length of roving depends upon the delivery rate.

Turns per metre = (flyer rpm)/ (delivery speed (m/min))

Usually, 200-250 twists are imparted in one metre of roving.

Builder motion:

This device has to perform the following tasks

1. to shift the belt according to the bobbin diameter increase

2. to reverse the bobbin rail direction at top and bottom

3. to shorten the lift after each layer to form tapered ends

There is a shaft connected to the traveler with the help of electromagnetic disk. It has a fixed

point that has a sensor connected. Whenever it hits an object, there is a change in the direction of

vertical movement of the point. There are two plates inclined downward at left hand side. The

shaft in rest is exactly midway of the distance between the two plates. At the start, the electronic

disk engages the traveler with the shaft. This decides the height of traveler. The shaft also has a

horizontal movement form right to left. When the pin is at rightmost point, it is at top near to the

plate. The sensor senses the presence of plate and reverses the movement. It reaches the

bottom plate, hits it and reverses its direction. The shaft moves horizontally after each vertical

travel. Thus, the traversal path decreases for the shaft due to presence of inclined plates.

Consequently, a package with tapered shape is formed.

Machinery

Lakshmi LFS 1660V Speed frame

In this machine, the top rail is fixed and the bottom rail is moved up and down for builder

action.

Aprons are present in the third drafting roller.

Separate photocell is used to correct the tension on the roving.

Doffing is done at the bottom rail.

No cone drums are used.

Tension controller varies the speed of the inverter motor.

49

Flyer is fixed.

Doff weight – 2.5 kg

Machine R.P.M – 1011

Roving bobbin – 132/frame



Line Diagram

SLIVER

CREEL ROLLER

CONDENSER

DRAFTING ZONE

FALSE TWISTER CUP

PRESSER ARM

BOBBIN

50

RINGFRAME SPINNING

Ring Frame gives the final output for spinning i.e. yarn. The productivity of the factory is

determined by the output of the ring frame.

Objective

It reduces the thickness of the roving to the desired yarn count by means of drafting

rollers. Drafting arrangement is the most important part of the machine. It influences

mainly evenness and strength.

It imparts twists into the yarn thus strengthening it and preventing short fibers from

protruding.

Packing it in a more easy to handle package.

Input

Rove

Output

Bobbin

Flow of material

Roving bobbins are mounted on the stand and the end is drawn through the machine.

Roving is made to pass through guides to drafting rollers to reduce the thickness to

required yarn count.

Yarn is passed through balloon control rings and end breakage sensors (working on

optical principle)

It is passed through a small metal traveler moving on the ring rail and winding the yarn

around the spindle.

Mechanism

51

Traveller: Traveller imparts twist to the yarn. Traveller and spindle together help to wind the yarn

on the bobbin. Length wound up on the bobbin corresponds to the difference in peripheral speeds

of the spindle and traveller. The difference in speed should correspond to length delivered at the

front rollers since traveler does not have a drive on its own but is dragged along behind by the

spindle.

One revolution of traveler gives one twist to the yarn. The shape formation of the package (cop)

takes place with the help of cam that lifts the ring rail through shafts. The cam pushes the shaft

down and the ring rail lifts up. There is a tape that controls the continuous up and down

movement. The shape of the cam defines the shape of the cone.

Spinning Triangle: Twist in a yarn is generated at the traveller and travel against the direction of

yarn movement to the front roller. Twist must run back as close as possible to the nip of the

rollers, but it never penetrates completely to the nip because, after leaving the rollers, the fibres

first have to be diverted inwards and wrapped around each other. There is always a triangular

bundle of fibres without twist at the exit of the rollers; this is called as spinning triangle. Most of

the end breaks originate at this point. The length of the spinning triangle depends upon the

spinning geometry and upon the twist level in the yarn.

Machinery

1. RXI 240 Kirloskar Tyoda Textile Machinery


No. of spindles – 1904

2. Lakshmi LR 6/S


No. of spindles – 1200/ frame

52


Line Diagram

ROVE

CREEL

BOBBIN HOLDER

‘U’ GUIDE

DRAFTING SECTION

LAPPET HOOK

LAPPET

TRAVELLER

SEPARATOR

BALLOON RING

SPINDLE RAIL

BOBBIN

53

Compact Spinning

Compact yarns are yarns with the most reduced hairiness. The aim of applying the compact spin-

ning systems is the increase in yarn quality by means of narrowing and decreasing the width of

the band of fibres which come out from the drawing apparatus before it is twisted into yarn, and

by the elimination of the twisting triangle.

Compact yarn as compared with classical yarn is characterized by:

o higher fibre utilisation

o higher tenacity with same twist factor, or

o same tenacity with reduced twist factor for higher production

o lowest hairiness (highest reduction in hairs longer than 3 mm)

o fewer weak points

o better imperfections (IPI) values

o higher abrasion resistance

o greater brilliance of colour

o intensive dye penetration

o no singeing before printing

o Due to better utilization of fibre substance it is possible to reduce yarn twist of these

yarns by up to 20%, maintaining the yarn strength of conventional ring yarns. This

increases yarn production.

54

o Due to better embedding of fibres (including short one) in compact yarn, approximately

6% fewer combing noils are possible.

Compacting takes place in the compacting zone following the main drafting zone of the drafting

system. The drafted fibre strand is compacted before twist is imparted, meaning fibres are

arranged in close and parallel position to one another.

Two main compact spinning systems are used in GTN:

i) “EliTe” Spinning System: This system is by American company SUESSEN. The operating

method of the SUESSEN EliTe Spinning System is well known. After the fibres leave the drafting

system they are condensed by an air-permeable lattice apron, which slides over an inclined

suction slot. The fibres follow the outer edge of this suction slot and at the same time they

perform a lateral rolling motion.

Above the front bottom roller of the drafting system, the fibre band influenced by high draft is

spreading. In the area of the suction slot, which is covered by the lattice apron, the fibre band is

condensed. Commencing from the semi-dotted clamping line of the EliTe Q Top Roller, twist is

being inserted. There is no spinning triangle.

ii) ComforSpin: The ComforSpin technology allows aero-dynamic parallelization and

condensation of the fibres after the main draft. The spinning triangle is thus reduced to a

minimum. The heart of ComforSpin machine is the compacting zone, consisting of the following

elements:

o perforated drum

o suction insert

o air guide element

The directly driven perforated drum is hard to wear and resistant to fibre clinging. Inside each

drum there is an exchangeable stationary suction insert with a specially shaped slot. It is

connected to the machine’s suction system.

The air current created by the vacuum generated in the perforated drum condenses the fibres

after the main draft. The fibres are fully controlled all the way from the nipping line after the

drafting zone to the spinning triangle.

An additional nip roller prevents the twist from being propagated into the condensing zone. The

compacting efficiency in the condensing zone is enhanced by a specially designed and patented

air guide element.

55

Optimal interaction of the compacting elements ensures complete condensation of all fibres. This

results in the typical COM4 ® yarn characteristics.

POST SPINNING SECTION

WINDING

Package obtained from ring frame is cop which holds a small amount of yarn. It is not easy as

well as convenient to transport the cops from one place to other. Secondly, these packages can’t

find any use in weaving where a long and continuous supply of yarn is required. Hence, six cops

are combined to make a cone. This is done by Autoconer.

Objective

• To remove yarn faults

• To make bigger package (60 gram bobbins to 2 kg cones) by splicing

• Lubrication of yarn

Input

Cop

56

Output

Cone

Mechanism

During winding, various faults such as neps, thick and thin section and variations in colour of

yarns etc. are removed.

The machine is controlled by computer. Six cops are arranged in a stand that can be rotated. The

yarn from a single cop is taken by the machine. It is passed through a waxing rod that provides

wax. Then, it is passed through electric yarn clearer and splicing unit. This unit contains sensing

device(optical and capacitance based) that detects the presence of any fault like thick or thin

places, contamination, hairiness, nep formation, weak places. Such places are cut or spliced and

the two ends of the yarn are tied into a tiny knot. A tensioning device maintains the tension in the

yarn and thus helps in maintaining uniform tension while winding the yarn.

Machinery

Schlafhorst Saurer 338 Autoconer

Winding speed – 500-1200 m/min

Twin or mechanical splicer

Operates on 310 V D.C current

Contains head stock (power) unit

Contains ‘Electronic Yarn Clearer’

Gripper arm, suction arm worked on minus pressure

Empty tube conveyer system

Asymmetric grooved drums used

Automatic doffing

57

Flat and round vibrator both are present for feeding the cops

Magnetic caddy and caddy stopper present

Propac system present for controlling the length of winding




Line DiagramROUND MAGAZINE

BOBBIN PEG

TENSIONER

SPLICER

EYE

WAX HOLDER

SUCTION

GROOVED DRUM

CONE HOLDER

CONE STAND

AUTO DOFFING UNIT

BLOWER

58

CHEESE WINDING

This machine takes in two cones of yarn and produces a single cheese. A cheese is a package in

a cylinder form without tapering ends. It winds two plies around the spindle but without imparting

any twist to the package. This process is also known as doubling.

Objective

Join two yarns from two different packages and wind in a cheese.

Input

Cone

Output

Cheese

Mechanism

59

The cone is first of all placed on the cone peg. The yarn from the cone is then passed through the

peg tail to reduce ballooning. It is then passed through the cup washer, which maintains the

tension upon the yarn through the thread guide and runner roller. Intersecting ground drum is

usually used for winding for these machines. Symmetrical drums help to wind the yarn uniformly

upon the cheese.

Machinery

Textool DRJ

Winding units – 60 /side

2.5 turn drums used.

Drop needles used for stop motion.

Runner rollers are used for stop motion.

Runner rollers are used to guide the yarn.



Line Diagram

CONE PEG

LAPPET

TENSIONER

SENSOR

LAPPET

CUTTER

BLADES

GUARD

PROPELLER BLADE

SUPPORT BLADE

CHEESE HOLDER WITH HANDLE

60

TWO FOR ONE TWISTER (T.F.O WINDING)

The two parallel yarns in the cheese are twisted together to obtain a double ply yarn. Usually a

twist amounting to 90% of the twist given to the single yarns in the spinning stage is given in this

process. For strength purposes it is necessary to have doubled yarns, which are single yarns

twisted together. It is called TFO because it imparts two twists for one rotation of traveler. The

twists imparted are in S direction.

The yarn receives its first turn between the yarn brake in the hollow axle and the exit in the

spindle roller. The second turn is given with the outer balloon between the spindle rotor and pig

tail thread guide. To obtain this TFO effect, the part with untwisted feed package is kept

motionless on the spindle rotor by magnets.

No. of twists = {Spindle Revolution (rpm) X 2}/Yarn Speed (m/min)

Objective

61

TFO machine takes in two yarns from the cheese winder, imparts twists and wind them into a

cone.

Input

Cheese

Output

Two-ply twisted yarn

Mechanism

The untwisted yarn, unwound from the feed package by means of an unwinding aid called flyer,

passes through the capsule portion and the hollow axle enters in the reserve disc. The yarn at

this point with one twist already inserted winds around the reserve disc and then enters the pig

tail forming a balloon, thereby the second twist is also inserted. The twisted yarn turns over the

pre take-up roller and with the help of the traversing thread guide gets wound on to the cross

cradle between centering discs.

The speed of winding varies according to the material and the count of the yarn being processed.

Feeding material is supplied to the spindle and directly taken up to the delivery cone or cheese as

knot free yarn with the required number of twists inserted.

Machinery

Veejay Lakshmi VJ 120HS

Individual pulley diameter – 254 mm

Wharve diameter – 32 mm

Take up roller diameter – 77 mm

Spindle tape thickness – 0.5 mm

R.P.M – 1043



62


Line Diagram

SINGEING

Singeing is the process of removal of short fibers from the surface of the yarn. Gas singeing is

done on the yarns as per customer specifications. The singeing machine removes the protruding

short fibers by the use of propane (C3H8) and butane (C4H10) in 60:40 ratios. This improves the

appearance and the luster of the yarn. The singeing process also reduces the yarn count by 4 -

5.5%.

Machinery

SSM (Sanharv Scwltweiter Mettler, Switzerland) GSX


Burner flame works on gas (LPG) and air mixing

SPINDLE

FLYER

TENSION WEIGHT

PIGTAIL

STOP MOTION GUIDE

PRETAKE UP ROLLER

TRAVERSING BAR

DRUM

CONE

63

Air: Gas Ratio – 9.5 : 8 (For 80s)

: 5.5 (For 120s to 140 s)

Singeing Percentage – 5%

Each drum has a separate motor.

Maximum pressure on gas flow – 10.2 bar

Maximum temperature on gas flow - 52ºC



Line Diagram

CONE

YARN PASSING ASSEMBLY

BURNER WITH COVER

GUIDE ROLLER

GUIDE ROLLER WITH SENSOR

GROOVED DRUM

CONE ON THE CRADLE

GUIDE

SLUB CATCHER

CUP WASHER

64

CONDITIONING

The normal moisture content of cotton is around 6-6.5%. After converting to yarn, cotton has only

4% of moisture. A conditioning machine by the name of Xorella imparts required amount of

moisture and strength to the yarns. It uses steam, high temperature and pressure. Steam

penetrates into the material and increases the strength of the yarn. If conditioning of yarn is not

done, problems like snarling and end twists can occur.

Objective

Increase weight and strength of the cone.

Increase absorption capacity of dyeing agents.

Machinery

Contexxor (Xorella AG CH 5430 Wettinen)



INSPECTION

The completed cones of yarn are daily checked for weight and defect. A random sample is

selected from the cartons according to statistical methods for checking. The following table shows

the number of samples to be selected for checking for weight and defect based on the order:

OrderTotal no. of

cones checkedCones checked

for defectCones checked

for weight

281 – 500 kg 52 32 20

501 – 1200 kg 75 50 25

1201 – 3200 kg 110 80 30

3201 – 10000 kg 160 125 35

65

The tolerance for cone weight checking is ± 10 g. After checking for weight, some of the cones

are checked in UV light for shade variation.

4 – 5 cartons are opened and 60 -70 cones are checked randomly for defect, color variation and

weight. 10 other cones are checked for yarn quality and 40 are checked for count in QA

department.

PACKING

Mainly there are two types of packing methods:

1. Pallet Packing – Cones or cheeses wrapped in plastic are placed on top of one another

and the entire package is wrapped in plastic. The maximum number of layers possible is

12. The following table shows the details of pallet packing :

S. No. Cone Weight Number Net weightNo. of cones

in a layer

1 1.8 kg 432 1.8 X 432 36

2 2.4 kg 300 2.4 X 300 25

2. Carton Packing – Cones or cheeses are wrapped in plastic and packed into baseboard

boxes. Depending upon the cone or cheese weight, the size or capacity of the carton

varies.

S. No. Cone weight Number Net weight Carton size

1 0.945 g 24 22.68 kg 22.5 X 17 X 14

2 1.1 kg 50 57 kg 28.5 X14 X 29

3 1.89 kg 24 46.32 kg 22.5 X 14 X30.5

4 1.89 kg 12 22.68 kg 22.5 X 17.9 X 21

There is another type of packing method which is based on customer orders, which is called

carton pallet packing. In this method of packing, cartons already filled with cheeses or cones are

placed on top of each other in layers and then the entire package is wrapped in plastic.

66

Carton strap color signifies the count of the yarn. After packing, the cartons or pallets are either

stored or loaded into trucks for shipment.

QUALITY ASSURANCE DEPARTMENT

The QA (Quality Assurance) Department ensures the quality and purity of raw material as well as

the final product. It checks the whole process at every step so that there is no loss. It conducts

incoming inspection, in-process inspection and final inspection.

The functions performed by the QA department:

Raw material testing

Yarn testing

Quality control at all production steps

The yarns are tested according to ASTM standards. The quality level varies from order to order.

Machinery

1. Uster Tester 3 Evenness Converter

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This machine checks the evenness of the yarns or sliver. Yarn testing is done either from

ring bobbin or from cone package. Based on the reports generated, the yarn is sorted

into thick, thin or neps. The unevenness percentage (U %) is calculated by monitoring the

variation in the mass of material per centimeter. Faults are determined by the U% as

follows:

o +50% -- Thick place

o -50% -- Thin place

o +200% -- Nep

The hairiness of the yarns can also be tested using the machine.

Total length of yarn to be checked – 400 m

One testing is done for every 1 cm cut length.

Total imperfection = Thin place (-50) + Thick place (+50) + Neps (+200)


No. of operators – 1/3 (1 operator operates 3 machines)

2. Zweigle G566 Hairiness Tester

Hairiness occurs due to short protruding fibres on the yarn surface. The tests are done

for yarns before or after the auto coning process. Short fibres are classified according to

their length, ranging from 1 to 25 cm, and then fibres in each category are counted for a

length of yarn (approximately 150 m). The mean is calculated and the fineness of the

yarn is determined from this value.

Testing speed – 100 m/min

It classifies the protruding fibres according to length.

S3 value is the sum of length of protruding fibres above 3 mm.



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3. Uster Tensojet

This instrument is used to test yarn strength and elongation of single ply yarns. The

machine draws in a single yarn which is passed through two rollers moving in opposite

directions after being fixed at two extreme points. It measures the amount of force

required to break a certain length (generally 50 cm) of yarn, and also, the elongation in

the yarn at this breaking point. For one whole package of yarn, every 50 cm is tested and

the mean calculated. The report generated predicts the breaking force and tenacity of the

yarn based on a plotted graph. The tenacity thus calculated is an important parameter for

yarn which has to be woven using air jet weaving looms.

Testing speed – 30000 tests / hour



4. Coset FX – 300

This machine determines the count of the yarn or sliver. State TT23 machine is used to

prepare samples of yarn to be weighed in this machine. 120 yards of sample of yarn are

prepared, the approximate weight fro which should be around 1 g. Statex machine

prepares roving of 5 m length, which is supposed to weigh around 15-20 g. The count of

the yarn is determined according to the weight.



5. Cascade

This machine is used to test the strength of multiple yarns or slivers. Statex machine

prepares roving of around 5 m length, which is tested in the Lea strength tester, by fixing

its two ends at rigid fixtures.



6. Statex Twist Tester

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This machine is used to determine the twist per inch (TPI) in the yarn (single or double).

Two types of twists are given to the yarns – S twist or Z twist. Fibres are made into yarns

by inserting twist. The machine untwists the yarn and calculates the twist when it retwists

it. At least 20 m length of yarn us required for this testing.



7. Zellweger Uster HVI 900

The function of this machine is to find the length uniformity ratio, strength elongation,

short fibre index, reflectance and micron air value (fineness) of raw cotton either before

blowroom or during blowroom stage. Uster Fibro Sampler is used to prepare samples for

testing in this machine, the weight of which should be 8.5-11.5 g. First, one sample is fed

into the machine where it is tested for length, strength and elongation. A separate sample

is placed in UV light and checked for color. This sample is then weighed and tested for

fineness.



8. Uster AFIS Pro ( Advanced Fibre Information System Professional)

It measures various fiber characteristics such as fiber length, maturity, trash and nep

content and determines the noil (short fibres) percentage. About 0.4 - 0.6 g of cotton

sliver is used. The short fiber content, for example, is essential for assessing the carding

and combing efficiency of a spinning mill. The potential saving of 2% in comber noil

removal means better raw material utilization and greater profitability. Second quality

fabric showing an irregular or neppy surface is often caused by a high nep content in the

yarn, resulting from a high nep content in the sliver or roving. It senses about 12000

fibers automatically.

First, the sample is weighed and its length is measured. It is then fed to the machine

which generates a report which gives the number and length of neps for the specified

length of fibre.


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Test Reports

This document includes samples of test reports of all machines in the QA Department which can

be found in the Annexure.

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PART - III

PROJECT I.

DETERMINING CORRECT NUMBER OF RINGFRAME MACHINES TO

BE ALLOCATED PER WORKER

OBJECTIVE

Determine average thread breakage rate

Find the number of machines allotted per worker

Calculate time taken for a particular worker to complete his round of machines by

conducting time study

Calculate time taken by a worker to mend broken yarn by conducting time study

Calculate idle time of worker

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Based on idle time, suggestions to be made regarding the correct number of

machines to be allocated to a worker

PROCEDURE

The approximate efficiency of a ringframe machine was found out to be 94.68% by consulting the

QA Department. Three machines (M/C No. 17, 18, 19) were selected for this study which had its

efficiencies closest to this value. The thread breakage rate was calculated after going through

previous reports of ring frame machines and then counting the number of breakages occurring on

both sides of the 3 machines on an hourly basis. One worker had been allotted to look after these

machines and mend broken threads occurring in 2544 spindles. A time study was conducted and

the worker was observed to find out his patrolling time and also the piecing rate. The idle time

was then calculated from these observations.

END BREAKAGES IN SPINNING

Date – 28.12.09

Machines observed – 17, 18, 19 (both left and right sides)

Hours observed – 1

No. of reading – 4

Operator Name – P.C. Varghese

Observations

Observation No. 1

Machine No.

17 18 19

LHS RHS LHS RHS LHS RHS

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Spindles observed 424 424 424 424 424 424

Total breaks 16 32 38 23 39 44

Breaks per 1000 spindle hours 37.74 75.47 89.6 54.26 91.98 103.77

Average breakage rate 56.61 71.93 97.86

Observation No. 2

Machine No.

17 18 19



Total breaks 42 38 45 25 31 36



Observation No. 3

Machine No.

17 18 19



Total breaks 37 28 37 37 42 36



Machine No.

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Observation No. 4

17 18 19



Total breaks 20 34 24 24 14 16



Calculations

Average breakage rate of M/C No. 17 = 71.44



Average breakage rate for the 3 M/Cs = 74.13 breaks/ 1000 spindle hours

TIME STUDY

Observations

Obs. No.Thread Joining Rate / Piecing Rate

(in seconds)

Patrolling Time / Round Time

(in minutes)

1 6.2 3.5

2 4.5 5.2

3 6.3 6.5

4 5.4 5.2

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5 6.8 6.7

6 6.2 3.1

7 5.5 4.2

8 6.2 5.9

9 4.9 4.3

10 6.1 3.6

Calculations

Average piecing rate = 5.81 seconds

Average patrolling time = 4.82 minutes or 289.2 seconds

Now,

In 60 minutes, the number of breakages per 1000 spindles is 74.13.

The number of breakages in 4.82 minutes of his patrolling is calculated as 5.95. Thus the worker

has to attend to 5.95 breakages approximately in one round of these three machines. The

working time can be calculated by multiplying this number by the piecing rate. It is found that the

worker spends 34.57 seconds of his patrolling time joining broken threads.

CONCLUSION

After consulting records of the workers from the QA Department, we found that an average

worker took less than 5 seconds to mend a broken thread and 2 – 3 minutes to complete his

rounds. In comparison to other workers, this worker takes a relatively longer time to complete his

rounds and also for mending broken yarns. We thought of increasing the number of workers

attending to these machines but when we consulted the HR Department, they said that

production could not come at the cost of increasing the amount spent in labour. The company

believed in spending the least amount possible on labour and also using the minimum number of

workers to accomplish a task. Another solution to this problem, according to us, is close

observation of the worker and finding the reasons as to why he is taking a longer time.

Counseling of the worker should be done and he should be motivated to work at a faster rate.

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PROJECT II.

IMPROVING SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARDS OF WORKERS

OBJECTIVE

A close observation of the following factors which pose problems to the workers: -

Exposure to fibre dust

Exposure to noise

Lighting and ventilation

Accident prevention and handling

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Fire safety measures

EXPOSURE TO FIBRE DUST

The workers engaged in the processing and spinning of fibre are exposed to significant amounts

of cotton dust. Even small fibre fragments enter the respiratory track and cause various

respiratory problems. These fibres can cause serious respiratory ailments like “brown lungs”,

which is the most common disease among the textile industry workers.

Observations

Person responsible for handling fibre in spinning Department use only a face mask.

Persons in the blowroom line had full body contact with the fibres but did not use any

body cover.

The unit has the facility of a Fibre Depositing Plant which automatically sucks fibre dust

from all sections of the production floor and sends these to trenches underground.

Apart from these, fibre dust is also cleared manually by using vacuum cleaning

machines.

Suggestions

Person responsible for handling fibre in spinning Department should be given Air

Purifying Respirators (APR)

o Half-face

o Full Face (recommended as it also saves eyes from contamination)

Full body suits should be provided to workers in body contact with the fibre.

The usage of these equipments to be made mandatory.

EXPOSURE TO NOISE

High levels of noise are observed in most of the units engaged in the textile industry. In the long

run, exposure to high noise levels has been known to damage the eardrum and cause hearing

loss. Other problems like fatigue, absenteeism, annoyance, anxiety, reduction in efficiency,

changes in pulse rate and blood pressure as well as sleep disorders have also been noted on

account of continuous exposure to noise. Though it causes serious health effects, exposure to

noise is often ignored by textile units because its effects are not immediately visible and there is

an absence of pain.

Observations

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The Kerala Pollution Control Board specified the noise limit of an industry to be 55 dB

during daytime and 45 dB during night. This noise level is to be determined, however, 1

m away from the boundary of the complex.

The plant generates noise exceeding this limit inside, and this can be dangerous for

workers who have a prolonged exposure to this noise.

Earmuffs have been provided to the workers for their safety, but none of the workers

were found to be actually using them.

Suggestions

Noise can be controlled in three ways

1. At the source of the noise

▫ Replacement of worn/defective machine parts

▫ Regular service and maintenance of machines (keeping noise reduction in

mind)

▫ Mounting of machines on rubber mats or other damping material

▫ Replacing metal parts with sound absorbing materials (plastic or heavy duty

rubber)

2. Along the path between the source and the worker

▫ Sound absorbing materials on walls, floors, ceilings

▫ Sound absorbing panels from ceilings to reduce overall noise level

▫ Sound-proofing control areas and rest rooms

3. At the worker

Personal protective equipment (principle: preventing damaging sound waves from

reaching sensitive parts of the inner ear) by use of:

1. Ear plugs (made of rubber, moldable foam, coated plastic or any other

material that fits tightly in the ear)

2. Ear muffs (more efficient than ear plugs but costly)

Use of ear muffs should be made compulsory for the safety of the workers.

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LIGHTING & VENTILATION

Lighting

Observations

The lighting standards in GTN were found to be satisfactory and the workers were quite

satisfied with the lighting.

In case of power failure, there is pitch darkness in some areas of the factory floor.

Suggestions

Battery operated “emergency lights” should be placed at all points so as to provide some

lighting to the workers in case of power failure.

Provisions can be made for more entry of natural light. This can significantly reduce the

electrical consumption.

Ventilation

Observations

Recommended minimum air flow is 50 cubic meters per hour and air is usually required

to be changed at least 3 times every hour.

Though the arrangements for proper ventilation have been made in all the units of GTN,

during the course of our study we observed that a lot of exhaust fans were out of order.

There is an air purification system inside the production floor which removes the air inside

the unit and circulates fresh air inside it. This system also helps in cooling the unit,

because a lot of heat is generated by the working of the machines.

Suggestions

Non functioning fans should be immediately fixed.

ACCIDENT PREVENTION AND HANDLING

Accidents not only cause harm to the work force and the property but also cause loss of

productivity.

Observations

No major accidents have occurred in the unit in the last 8 years which has caused

casualty.

First Aid boxes are not properly maintained.

There have been a large number of minor accidents, the causes of which were –

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o Fall due to presence of water or any slippery substance on the work floor

o Injury to hands and fingers while operating machines

o Injury to eye or face due to the high speed traveller in ringframe coming off

Suggestions

The floors should be provided with anti slip tiles, and proper drainage grooves should be

made, the slope of the floor should be so adjusted so as to prevent water retention.

The first aid box should be inspected at regular intervals and maintained in proper

condition.

Machine parts should be maintained properly so that accidents may not occur.

The vigilance of the workers operating the machines should be increased.

FIRE SAFETY MEASURES

Fire safety is the most major concern in an industrial setup.

Observations

The plant is well equipped with the fire fighting equipment and the fire drill takes place

every 4 months.

The way to the emergency exits is marked properly on the factory floor.

Workers can be found smoking in the GTN campus including the toilets and the canteen.

The fire alarms although present are not properly marked.

Sufficient number of fire extinguishers in raw material storage, blowroom and the

godowns.

Fire hoses are there to control fire occurring inside the ducts.

Workers are aware of what to do in case of fire emergency.

Smoke detectors and water sprinklers are installed in the blowroom as this section stores

more than 50000 kg cotton at a time.

LPG Detecting Device is present in the singeing department which alarms the workers in

case of gas leaks.

Suggestions

With the implementation of Public Smoking Act w.e.f 1st October 2008, smoking in the

factory premises is now a punishable offence and the workers should be informed about

the same. The law should be strictly implemented inside the campus.

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The position of the fire alarms and fire extinguishers should be prominently marked and

displayed.

A ‘gathering point’ for the workers should be established and marked. The workers

should be informed to gather at the particular point in case of a fire outbreak or other

emergency. Further instructions to the workers can be disseminated at this gathering

point.

Emergency Lighting System should be installed inside the production floor, in case fire

causes shutdown of all lighting and electrical equipments.

Fire drills should be held more frequently.

CONCLUSION

Safety and health measures play an important role in any industry. It is essential that the workers

be aware of the various occupational hazards in the industry. At the same time, it is necessary

that the management take the necessary steps to protect workers from potential hazardous

situations.

The management at GTN claims that the PPEs have been issued to workers, but only a handful

were found to be using the same. The management can also introduce a fine system for the

workers who are not found using the PPEs and following the security guidelines.

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Gtn Final Prt

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