Different types of machines used in the textile industry (Part-03)

Machine used in Apparel Manufacturing:

1. Fabrics inspection machine: Fabric inspection machines are used to inspect fabric materials to find manufacturing defects(weave), mechanical defects (holes), and dirty spots. For the convenience of the operator inspection machines have an illuminated panel, under the material.

Fig: Fabric Inspection Machine

2. Plotter printing machine: A plotter is a printer that interprets commands from a computer to make line drawings on paper with one or more automated pens. Unlike a regular printer, a plotter can draw continuous point-to-point lines directly from vector graphic files or commands. Plotters are used to print out huge graphs, designs, and other types of paper-based documents, such as engineering drawings, business charts, construction maps, and architectural blueprints. A plotter is a freestanding device with a CPU of its own, or it is a computer added as a peripheral to another computer system.

Fig: Potter printing Machine

3. Flat Spreader Machine: These machines handle the spreading process from start to finish, eliminating the need for several people. With automated speed control, the fabric travels smoothly through the machine, minimizing human errors and ensuring consistent results. Generally, high web tensions create a better spread than low web tensions. Too little tension reduces traction, which can result in a loss of web control. To regain control the operator should increase tension, but carefully.

Fig: Flat Spreader machine

4. Stepped spreader Machine: These machines handle the spreading process from start to finish, eliminating the need for several people. With automated speed control, the fabric travels smoothly through the machine, minimizing human errors and ensuring consistent results. This machine can do the spreading process step way.

Fig: Stepped spreader Machine

5. CNC Cutting machine: CNC machines can be used to cut a variety of materials, however, laser cutters are often used to cut steel, iron, copper, and aluminum, which require high precision cuts. CNC machine tools have many components, which complicate repair and maintenance. When it comes to fabric-cutting machines, there are different types, however, they can be categorized into three styles:

Manual Cutting, Semi-Automatic Cutting Machine, Fully Automatic Cutting Machine.

Fig: Cutting Machine

6. Fusing machine: Fusing Machines are used in the garment industry to fuse a material capable of being fused to a base fabric through pressure, heat, and time. This extremely vital process that defines and maintains the quality of the garment involves holding the fabric and interlinking the conveyor belt while heating. This interlinking has adhesives that melt at a certain pressure and temperature to bond with the garment.

Fig: Fusing Machine

7. Embroidery machine: Machine embroidery is an embroidery process whereby a sewing machine or embroidery machine is used to create patterns on textiles. It is used commercially in product branding, corporate advertising, and uniform adornment. It is also used in the fashion industry to decorate garments and apparel. It’s fast and efficient. As well as being very reliable, machine embroidery is quick, which means big jobs can be completed in a short space of time.

Fig: Embroidery Machine

8. Sewing machine: A sewing machine is a machine used to sew fabric and materials together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the amount of manual sewing work performed in clothing companies. Computerized sewing machines offer advanced features, including programmable stitch patterns, LCD screens, and automatic threading.

Fig: Sewing Machine

9. Button Hole Machine: A buttonholer is an attachment for a sewing machine that automates the side-to-side and forwards-and-backward motions involved in sewing a buttonhole. A button-attaching machine is used to sew the button onto the garment without hurting it. By making simple changes, this machine could sew different kinds of buttons, like ones with two holes, four holes, or a shank.

Fig: Button Hole Machine

10. Bar Take Machine: In sewing, bar tack, also written bar-tack or bartack, refers to a series of stitches used to reinforce areas of a garment that may be subject to stress or additional wear. A Bartack machine also known as bar-tack is used to do bar tacking, which is a sort of reinforcement stitching. The fabric and textile industries utilize this technology to reinforce stress areas in clothes, athletic equipment, uniforms, and a variety of other items.

Fig: Bar Take Machine

11. Thread Trimmer machine: The Thread Trimming Machine is a powerful and precise tool that offers double the cutting speed for efficient trimming, it can cut threads as small as 1 mm without damaging the material. Its user-friendly design, adjustable suction power, and wide application range make it suitable for various sewing-related tasks. Threading machines are tools that are used to cut and form threads, inside or outside a cone or a cylinder.

Fig: Thread Trimmer machine

12. Overlock Machine: An overlock sewing machine, also known as a serger, is primarily used for seaming, trimming, and overcasting the edges of fabrics to prevent fraying and give a clean, finished look. The 6-thread overlock machine is designed for overseeing and joining both flexible and non-flexible materials. Ideal solution for those who have not decided yet which kinds of materials they will use.

Fig: Overlock Machine

13. Thread-sucking machine: Thread Sucking Machines are always in great demand in the market because they provide a perfect finish to the garment once the stitching is completed. Thread Sucking Cleaning Machine removes unbound yarns and dust remaining on the product with high vacuum power.

Fig: Thread-sucking machine

14. Iron machine: A clothes iron (also flat iron, smoothing iron, dry iron, steam iron, or simply iron) is a small appliance that, when heated, is used to press clothes to remove wrinkles and unwanted creases. Domestic irons generally range in operating temperature from between 121 °C (250 °F) to 182 °C (360 °F). Most are used to manufacture steel, in civil engineering (reinforced concrete, girders, etc), and manufacturing. There are many different types of steel with different properties and uses.

Fig: Iron machine

15. Pull test machine: The button Pull Test Machine is also referred to as the button snap pull tester. It is mainly used as a textile testing machine or a toy testing machine intended to determine the breaking or pull strength of buttons, snaps, fasteners, ornaments, etc, attached to garments, fabrics, toys, shoes, etc. The Button Snap Pull Tester is a smart machine that tests the pressure of cloth buttons.

Fig: Pull test machine

16. Metal detector machine: A metal detector is an instrument that detects the nearby presence of metal. Metal detectors are useful for finding metal objects on the surface, underground, and underwater. A metal detector consists of a control box, an adjustable shaft, and a variable-shaped pickup coil. Metal detectors are used for screening purposes in malls, airports, and stations.

Fig: Metal detector machine

17. Bar-code scanning machine: A Barcode Scanner also known as a barcode reader & QR code scanner or QR Code Reader is also a POS machine or point of sales machine. Barcode scanners record and translate barcodes from the image you recognize into alphanumeric digits. The scanner then sends that information along to a computer database, either through a wired connection or wirelessly (depending on the model).

Fig: Bar-code scanning machine

18. Heat seal joining the machine: A heat sealer is a machine used to seal products, packaging, and other thermoplastic materials using heat. This can be with uniform thermoplastic monolayers or with materials having several layers, at least one being thermoplastic.

Fig: Heat seal joining the machine

19. Case label printing machine: Case Labeling Thermal Transfer Printers. Thermal transfer printing is the process of transferring ink to a package or label using a thermal print head and ribbon. The process produces a high-resolution print that is easy to read. Thermal transfer printers are the optimal printing method for flexible packaging.

Fig: Case label printing machine

20. Moisture checking machine: A moisture meter is a device for measuring the moisture content of various materials used in food grains, wood, textiles, and construction materials. Currently, digital moisture meters are widely used in agriculture, construction, and wood industries in Bangladesh. Moisture meters are also used in BD to detect moisture in building materials such as concrete and drywall used in structural casting in the construction industry.

Fig: Moisture checking machine

21. Digital Hygrometer: A hygrometer measures the amount of humidity or moisture in the air. The unit of measurement is milliliters per cubic centimeter or the amount of fluid per volume of air.

Fig: Digital Hygrometer

22. Air compressor machine: An air compressor is a machine that produces compressed air and transfers this air pressure as energy to power different types of devices or machines or even conduct some industrial processes, such as petroleum coking, among many other processes.

Fig: Air compressor machine

23. Boiler machine: The function of a boiler is to either produce hot water or steam. Hot water boilers heat water for domestic or commercial heating and hot water supply. Steam boilers generate steam to power turbines for power generation and various other industrial heating applications.

Fig: Boiler machine

24. Generator: In electricity generation, a generator is a device that converts motion-based power (potential and kinetic energy) or fuel-based power (chemical energy) into electric power for use in an external circuit.

Fig: Generator

25. Water pump: A water pump moves, compresses, or transfers water from a lower level to a higher one. The main purpose of a water pump is to transfer water between two points and to get rid of excess water. It is often used in construction sites, tunnels, river beds, residential buildings, etc.

Fig: Water pump

>>Types of sewing Machine used in the apparel industry:

1. Saddle stitch binding sewing machine: It is one of today’s most popular book binding methods. In saddle stitching, folded sheets of paper are nested one within another and attached by staples through the fold. These stacks are placed over a holding apparatus, with each side hanging over like legs on a saddle.

Fig: Saddle stitch binding sewing Machine

2. Velcro automatic cutting machine: Automatic Velcro cutting and attaching machine 326G-VC / 430D-VC is an automatic Velcro cutting, automatic feeding, and automatic attaching machine. The width and length of Velcro could be adjusted according to the customer’s requirement. The knife can be replaced, and the Velcro can be cut with different angles: straight or round. It is widely used and easy to adjust.

Fig: Velcro automatic cutting machine

3. Eyelet hole machine: An eyelet buttonhole machine is a specialized sewing machine used in garment manufacturing and tailoring to create buttonholes with eyelets. Place the fabric over the mandrel insert. Drop the presser foot, and bring up the bobbin thread. Hold the thread ends and embroider around the hole once at a reduced speed. Rotate the fabric around the mandrel and insert it clockwise to start creating an eyelet.

Fig: Eyelet hole Machine

4. Snap button-attach machine: A snap button machine is a device used for attaching snap buttons, also known as press studs or snap fasteners, to various types of fabric or material. This snap fastener machine can automatically attach plastic and metal snap buttons or prong snap buttons on a variety of fabrics, including uniforms, jackets, down-coats, baby wear, women wear leather bags, etc.

Snap button-attach machine

5. Blind stitch machine: A blind stitch machine will only do the blind hem stitch, which is found on dresses, skirts, and trouser legs, and nothing else. The blind hemmer makes its stitch by moving the needle from side to side rather than up and down like a traditional sewing machine. Blind stitch machines, also known as hemming machines sew blind stitches that are barely visible from the outside of a garment using this quality industrial sewing machine.

Fig: Blind Stich Machine

6. Zigzag machine: Electronic Direct Drive Zigzag Lock Stitcher with Thread Trimmer. The compact knife mechanism in a single unit enables simple maintenance. It is a back-and-forth stitch used where a straight stitch will not suffice, such as in reinforcing buttonholes, in stitching stretchable fabrics, and in temporarily joining two work pieces edge-to-edge

Fig: Zig Zag Machine

7. Label cutter machine: A digital label die-cutter machine is a piece of equipment used in the printing and labeling industry for cutting and shaping labels with precision. The term “die-cutting” refers to the process of using a die (a specialized tool or mold) to cut materials into specific shapes.

Fig: label cutter Machine

8. Umbrella Sewing machines: By knowing the basics of a sewing machine, you can avoid many unwanted break-downs and common errors. All the sewing machines are almost the same except for some additional features or speed. Umbrella sewing machine is an industrial-use, high-speed sewing machine.

Fig: Umbrella Sewing Machine

9. Automatic 2-needle Belt-loop Attaching Machine: Automatic 2-needle Belt–Loop Attaching Machine. The machine time is 1.2 seconds pre-belt-loop, which ensures increased productivity. Simply brushing lint and dust from the machine each time it is used is a good way to prevent many problems. Use the soft nylon brush that comes with the machine or a narrow paint brush to dust away lint in the bobbin case, under the needle plate, and around the feed dog.

Fig: Belt-loop Attaching Machine

10. Decorative Stitch Machine: Decorative Stitches are tiny bits of thread art made by hand or machine. Sewing machines with a zig-zag option will have a variety of decorative stitches to choose from. They may be adaptations of a zig-zag, or patterns with a straight stitch.

Fig: Decorative Stitch Machine

11. Cover stitch machine: Cover stitch machines create parallel rows of stitching on the top of the fabric, with a neat, stretchy finish on the underside. Professional-Looking Hems: Cover stitch machines create perfectly hemmed edges with a clean, polished finish, ideal for garments like T-shirts, leggings, and activewear.

Fig: Cover stitch machine

12. Round Knife cloth cutting machine: A round cutting machine is called a round knife cutting machine because its cut is round but slightly octagonal. Round knives are mainly used for cutting edges during manual laying or spreading. It is used for cutting plain and stripe fabric. Commonly used to cut straight lines or large radius curves, Eastman round knives are a combination of versatility, power, and ease of use – all in one.

Fig: Round Knife cloth cutting machine

1st Part: https://www.textileengineers.org/different-types-of-machines-used-in-the-textile-industry-part-1/#google_vignette

2nd Part: https://www.textileengineers.org/different-types-of-machines-used-in-the-textile-industry-part-02/

Writer Information
Md Abrar sadman Arpon
Leader, Content Writing Team
Textile Engineers Society
Department of Textile Engineering, JUST