The titanium tube used in Inchlines’ new conversion to what is regarded as the standard unit for feeding elastomeric packaged yarn into the knitting machine. This replaces the entire wheel, bearing and axle assembly.

TS Titanium Spindle

An extract taken with kind permission from the article "Inchlines Show the Way" in Knitting International Magazine (February 2007) by Mike Steele:

Inchlines have brought further innovation with its revolutionary new conversion to what is regarded as the standard unit for feeding elastomeric packaged yarn into the knitting machine.

Convention in this activity has dictated the use of a roller based largely on the tension reduction theory, which with hindsight may have been applied somewhat erroneously. The wheel is permitted to stagger on, oscillating at the whim of the difference between the bearing and axle diameter, until fate takes over, clogs the axle with lint and the cleaning loop – or even worse misplaiting, with the whole process starting again.

Inchlines’ conversion removes the tiresome roller from the axle spindle, along with its antiquated support bearings, thereby removing the frustration of fumbling and ultimately loosing the support bearings when cleaning the devices. Moreover, the entire wheel, bearing and axle assembly is removed and thrown away, and replaced with a titanium tube (no fold line here) and two copolymer shields. The benefits are manifold: no rotation (and thus no hassle), a perfect fit, 15-second replacement, limited drag betwixt the elastomeric and titanium, and a traverse controlled by the copolymer shields.

I can again personally attest, as the supervisor of the conversion’s trials, that it has been proven to work with 20 denier to 140 denier elastomeric yarns - a reasonable medium of usage in most textile mills. Plaiting performance was shown to be higher than with the previous system of wheels and bearings, with a greater control of tension at the point of input than previously experienced.

The raison d’être of Inchlines is producing excellent fittings custom-made for all types of machine. With two replacement technologies to carry the overburdened converter forward and remove some of the variables that have plagued elastomeric fabrics for so long, Inchlines have once again lived up to their reputation for providing ground-breaking solutions.

If you care to trial this spindle please contact us for your free sample.