Although the restrictive conditions created by the pandemic prevent the fairs, they cannot stop the new developments and presentations of the companies. Picanol presented its new terry weaving machine TerryPlus-i to the textile industry with a virtual presentation. Picanol Turkey General Manager Gürcan İmdat opened up the virtual launch with his presentation, and he was followed by Picanol Weaving Machinery Vice President Johan Verstraete and Picanol Global Sales Director Kurt Lamkowski who talked about TerryPlus-i’s specifications and weaving advantages from the Picanol showroom in Belgium Ieper.
Introduced to the market with the claim of creating a new standard in terry fabric weaving, the TerryPlus-i airjet weaving machine is based on Picanol’s OmniPlus-i technology introduced at ITMA Barcelona last year. The new airjet terry weaving machine was developed taking into account Picanol’s four design principles; smart performance, sustainability inside, driven by data, and intuitive control. This means that TerryPlus-i guarantees the highest fabric quality combined with a higher performance.
TerryPlus-i has a new pile formation system
Picanol Weaving Machinery Vice President Johan Verstraete said the latest terry technology makes the new TerryPlus-i the most powerful and versatile terry machine on the market. Verstraete said; “It doesn’t matter if it is high pile, low pile, high density, low density, complex styles, or simple styles – this machine can handle any challenge”. Referring to the versatility of TerryPlus-i, Verstraete continued his words as follows; “In order to realize this versatility we have developed a completely new pile formation system where the user can program any pile height between zero and twelve millimetres, regardless of whether it is plain terry, wave patterns, or any other pattern and this is done on a pick-by-pick basis”. Verstraete described the pile formation system as the heart of the machine and the control box (BlueBox) as the brain.
TerryPlus-i offers textile manufacturers absolute design freedom with its new pile system. Pile height can be changed in each weft. Thanks to the pile motor connected directly to the drive system, exactly the same pile formation characteristics can be obtained on the left and right sides of the machine. Thus, a uniform pile height across the machine can be achieved regardless of the machine width.
Furthermore, thanks to the unique pile motor set-up directly driving the cloth and backrest movement simultaneously, accurate pile formation is assured at the highest speeds. The unique pneumatical pile backrest ensures optimum loop formation regardless of fabric design. The rigid yet extremely light construction ensures a highly dynamic behaviour, guaranteeing perfect loop formation for even the most complicated terry designs – be it very light towels or heavy bathmats. This is described as the best pile compensation system ever. In addition, thanks to the pile tracking device, the amount of pile to terry can be precisely measured. If the amount of pile exceeds a certain range, a warning light turns on, if the deviation is too much, it can even stop the machine. In this way, the weight of the produced terry is perfectly and precisely determined.
Ease of use with new interface
Airjet weaving machine TerryPlus-i provides ease of use thanks to a completely new human-machine interface. The new display measures 15.6 inches and it is equipped with all of the functionalities you are familiar with from your smartphone; touch, swipe, and the latest connection possibilities: ethernet, USB, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth. In addition, Near Field Communication (NFC); which is also used in contactless payments, will be another convenience offered by TerryPlus-i to weavers.
The TerryPlus-i comes with two possible prewinders: the Blue 22 and the Blue 11 (the one with separate windings). Both are equipped with the easy set function which manages all settings electronically through the display. Consequently, there is no longer any need for tools or special keys to tune the prewinders. And all of this can be done without having to stop the machine; which enables you to optimize and reduce the waste length to an absolute minimum.
PosiJet and SmartShed offer new advantages
An additional groundbreaking novelty is PosiJet, which comes in a four channel version. PosiJet positions each main nozzle exactly in line with the reed on insertion. This means that there is only one setting for all four nozzles; and no need for a reed with a conical entrance. Since the conical reeds are quite expensive, the result is significant cost savings.
The range of possible shedding motions – dobby and jacquard – has been completed with SmartShed for independent and individual shedding motion. SmartShed has been developed for those weavers who want to maximize digitization and flexibility in their weaving processes. The movement and the crossing of the harness frames is actuated individually for each frame; by a separate motor and it is set fully electronically. This will facilitate the optimal setting; whenever you are weaving a simple three pick terry or a more complex seven or nine pick terry.