An outstandingly successful debut
Since 2019 Mayer & Cie. has manufactured both circular knitting machines and braiders at its Albstadt headquarters. The long-established company exhibited one of the latter, an MR-15/18C/Single Deck, at this year’s ITMA in Milan.
Mayer & Cie.’s ITMA braiding machine handled yarn, and hose with a textile sheath has a wide range of industrial uses. The trade fair exhibit had a capstan wheel, which is especially suitable for smaller-diameter textile braiding and hoses. The optional SpeedBooster increases the efficiency of a braiding machine by up to 11 per cent.
“We are very satisfied with the response to the presentation of our latest business unit,” says Benjamin Mayer, Managing Partner of Mayer & Cie. “We garnered a great deal of attention for our exhibit and were able to establish cross-connections and sometimes even to ‘sow’ the idea of a new line of business.”
Faster than the eye can follow
“Mesmerizing” and “captivating” were properties frequently attributed to the trade fair exhibit, the MR-15/18C/Single Deck, at ITMA. Following their clear pattern almost noiselessly, the 18 carriers rotated, creating their maypole braid. In actual production, it is a different matter entirely. A braiding machine like the MR-15/18C/Single Deck reaches a rotor speed of up to 245 rpm.
Each of the machine’s 18 carriers rotates 82 times per minute, producing 2,5 metres of textile hose per minute. “Normally,” Benjamin Mayer says, “a braiding machine is housed in a soundproof cabin because of the noise it makes, so even we are very seldom able to watch one at work, especially as the eye would be unable to follow it at its normal working speed.”
SpeedBooster delivers better performance
To further increase the speed and productivity of its braiding machines Mayer & Cie. has developed the SpeedBooster. It takes the machine on show at ITMA to a top rotor speed of up to 270 rpm, and with the SpeedBooster the carriers rotate up to 90 times per minute.
Technically, the SpeedBooster is a sensor-controlled filling level gauge. The more the fill level of the spools decreases, the faster the speed can be. An increase of up to 20 per cent is physically possible.
The SpeedBooster is an option when purchasing a new machine. It can be retrofitted to existing machines by means of an upgrade kit.
CapstanWheel for smaller-diameter hoses
The MR-15/18C/SD exhibited at ITMA has a capstan wheel. This haul-off unit is suitable for smaller hose diameters and textile braiding. The braided hose is wound several times round the capstan wheel. Its rotation draws the hose out of the braiding unit and feeds it to a winding unit. Capstan wheel and braiding unit are synchronized to achieve a high quality of braiding and a constant pitch length.
Mayer & Cie. braiding machines are fitted out with a haul-off MC as standard that is suitable for hoses and pipes with a diameter of up to 160 mm (six inches). Jaws are activated to clamp the hoses. The haul-off MC can be supplied with either a caterpillar (PAD version) or a belt take-off. The take-off and braiding unit are synchronized to ensure a high quality of braiding and a constant pitch length.
