Process Description
The production process of woven mixed fabrics consists of the following three basic processes:
- Spinning: making fibers into a thread, generally referred to as yarn, and
- Weaving: making fabrics on looms.
(i) Spinning
The basic sub processes involved in spinning of natural or synthetic fiber are:
- Opening, blending and cleaning (blow room),
- Carding,
- Drawing, and
- Roving, spinning and winding.
1) Opening, blending and cleaning (blow room)
All staple fibers both natural and synthetic must pass through some form of opening, blending and cleaning to convert compressed bales of fiber into an open sheet for presentation to the carding machine.
2) Carding
The carding machine is the last major cleaning machine in the normal process (excluding combing) and converts the open flock into a condensed sliver reducing its weight per meter to 100th of the flock weight.
3) Drawing
The draw frame draws several slivers from the card and attenuates them to the dimensions of one thus increasing the uniformity of the product. it may also be used to blend cotton and synthetic slivers in desired proportions.
4) Roving
The objective of roving is to attenuate further and even the sliver, give it some twist to the strength required at this stage, and wind into a bobbin to fit a ring frame creel. This process is eliminated in open-end (rotor) spinning.
5) Spinning
Two main types of spinning are available, i.e., ring spinning and open end or rotor spinning.
(a) Ring spinning
Ring spinning is the final yarn producing stage in conventional spinning. Again ring spinning machines have undergone very little change over the years except a slight increase in speed and higher drafts. Nowadays, automation is common with the tubes being removed automatically and in some cases fed directly to a ‘’ Linked’’ cone winding machine.
(b) Open end or rotor spinning
This is one of the developments over the previous types of spinning. The sliver, either carded or combed, is fed to the rotor chamber revolving at speeds of up to 100,000 revolutions per minutes. Here the off take provides the much higher drafts that are employed.
6) Winding
Three types of windings are to be differentiated: cone winding, Assembly winding, twisting and hank winding.
(ii) Weaving
The basic sub processes involved in weaving are:
· Warping,
· Sizing,
· Reeding,
· Weft pirm winding,
· Weaving,
· Shearing,
· Inspection,
· Folding, and
· Packing.
1) Warping
This is a process of preparing warps for a loom. The cotton yarn of appropriate size is wound by warping equipment.
2) Sizing
This is to align and prepare the weaver’s beam in specified number of ends and length for weaving and to add the sizer on the warps in order to make the warps smooth and strong for easy weaving.
3) Reeding (Reed drawing)
This is a process of winding the yarn on the shuttle bobbin by automatic winder.
4) Weaving
The yarns are arranged according to weft counts and woven by a weaving machine with the warp separately supplied. The woven fabrics are taken up onto wooden rolls.
5) Shearing
This is the process of removing the un required parts of the woven fabric by using the shearing machine.
6) Inspection
The product is made to pass onto inspection machine for quality checkup.
7) Folding
The inspected woven cotton fabric is then folded onto a roll made of wood or hard rolled paper.
8) Packing
The product is then packed and passed on to finished product store.