Following significant investment in the R&D capabilities at its base in Ulricehamn, Sweden, IRO AB introduced a range of new Industry 4.0-ready weft yarn feeding and tension control innovations for weaving looms at the recent ITMA 2019 in Barcelona, Spain.
IRO AB, a Vandewiele company, has been the market leader in this field for many decades, supplying systems to the majority of the leading weaving machine manufacturers, as well as advanced new products for retrofitting to working mills around the world.
5The new Blue11 EasySet airjet feeder for the latest Picanol OMNIPlus Summum airjet weaving machines, for example, allows the pick length of weft yarns to be set in millimetres from the loom panel at the start-up of a new style and to be fully adjusted while the machine is running. Automatic calculations and perfect synchronization between the spool body and the oscillating fingers of the Blue 11 result in reduced and simplified settings on the weaving machine.
The new PosiFlex weft tensioner system, meanwhile, is now an integral part of the Chrono X3 weft feeder and is currently available for use on Picanol OptiMax-i rapier machines. Allowing perfectly reproducible and transferable settings for complete weft insertion cycles, it is equipped with an integrated electromagnet controlling a specially-developed and self-cleaning flex brake which ensures the correct tension at all times.
In the field of advanced tension control, the constantly-regulating new ATC-W unit has been designed for use with Luna X3, Chrono X3 and XD X3 weft feeders. It automatically maintains consistent yarn tension at a pre-determined level, unaffected by variable external factors such as bobbin size or yarn quality.
For X3 weft feeding systems, the TED is a new tension display unit that allows weft tension settings to be easily transferred from one machine to another, while the Wi-Feeder is a wireless access point for mobile phones, tablets and PCs allowing remote access to X3 feeders. The Wi-Feeder is a useful tool for troubleshooting and maintenance, providing easy access to key data during the weaving process.
The Super Elf S3 weft feeder for air and water-jet looms benefits from the latest optical sensor technology based on the principle of “signal reflection”, for reliable reading of very fine yarns down to 7 denier. It ensures accurate measurement of the weft insertion length, with a double check sensor for both Z and S winding directions. Real time control of the yarn take-off point by a reserve sensor ensures the yarn flight time is as fast and consistent as possible.
“The response to these new innovations at ITMA 2019 was much better than we expected, particularly since overall business in the weaving sector is currently going through a downturn,” said IRO AB Sales and Marketing Manager Pär Hedman. “We are now anticipating a pick-up in business as a result of the interest in our new products that was shown in Barcelona.”
