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KNITTING DEFECTS AND

REMEDIES..
Made by:
Raisa Gupta (15)
Defected and Defect-free Fabric..
What is a Fabric Defect?
A Fabric Defect is any abnormality in the Fabric that
hinders its acceptability by the consumer.
What is a Defect-Free Fabric?
1. A Fabric that exhibits a consistent performance within
the boundaries of human use & human view.
2. A Fabric that exhibits a consistent appearance within
the human sight boundaries.
A Glossary of Fabric Defects..
Askewed or Bias : condition where where courses are
not square with wale lines on knits.
Barre : occurs in circular knit. Caused by mixing yarn on
feed into machine. Fabric will appear to have horizontal
streaks.
Birdseye: Caused by unintentional tucking from
malfunctioning needle. Usually two small distorted
stitches, side by side
Bowing : Usually caused by finishing.In knits the course
lines lie in an arc across width of goods. Critical on
stripes or patterns and not as critical on solid color
fabrics.
Broken Color Pattern :Usually caused by color yarn out
of place on frame.
Crease Streak : Occurs in tubular knits. Results from
creased fabric passing through squeeze rollers in the
dyeing process.
Drop Stitches Results from malfunctioning needle or
jack. Will appear as holes, or missing stitches.
End Out : Occurs in Warp knit. Results from knitting
machine continuing to run with missing end.
Hole : caused by broken needle.
Missing Yarn : Occurs in warp knit. Results from wrong
fibre yarn (or wrong size yarn) placed on warp. Fabric
could appear as thick end or different colour if fibers
have different affinity for dye.
Mixed Yarn Occurs in Warp knit. Results from wrong
fiber yarn ( or wrong size yarn) placed on warp. Fabric
could appear as thick end or different color if fibers have
different affinity for dye.
Needle Line: Caused by bent needle forming distorted stitches.
Usually vertical line.
Pin Holes :Holes along selvage caused by pins holding fabric
while it processes through tenter frame.Major if pin holes
extend into body of fabric far enough to be visible in the
finished product.
Press-Off : results when all or some of the needles on circular
knitting fail to function and fabric either falls off the machine or
design is completely disrupted or destroyed. Many knitting
needles are broken and have to be replaced when bad press-off
occurs. Bad press-offs usually start a new roll of fabric.
Runner :Usually caused by broken needle. Will appear as
vertical line. (most machines have a stopping device to stop
machine when a needle breaks).
Sanforize Pucker :Results from uneven wetting out on
sanforize; usually caused by defective spray heads.
Fabric will appear wavy or puckering when spread on
cutting table. Difficult to detect during inspection on
inspection machine with fabric under roller tension.
Slub (Knit fabric) : Usually caused by a thick or heavy
place in yarn, or by ling getting onto yarn feeds
Straying End : Warp Knit. Caused when an end of yarn
breaks and the loose end strays and is knit irregularly
into another area.
..Some Knitting Defects..
Measurement of Bias ..
Skew or Bias - Measure the skew
in three places spaced as widely
as possible along the length of the
fabric or along a minimum of 1
linear yard. If possible,
make no measurement closer to
the ends of the roll or piece of
fabric than 1 yard. Draw a line
perpendicular to the selvage
across the fabric from a point C
where the marked yarn or course
meets one selvage, meeting the
other selvage at point B. Measure
the distance between points A and
B or D and B, and B and C, as
shown in Fig. 2. Record the three
or more skew or bias
measurements. Calculate the
maximum skew or bias as a
percentage of the fabric width
using the equation:
"% Skew = Distance AB or DB x 100 /
width BC"
Measurement of Bowing..
Bow
A straightedge is
placed across the
fabric between the
points at which a
marked filling yarn or
knitting course meets
the two selvages or
edges. The greatest
distance between the
straightedge and the
marked filling yarn or
course is measured
parallel to the
selvages (Fig. 1
Distance "D").
Different Causes of Fabric Barre..
Raw material,
Knitting and Yarn
consideration
Machine-Related Factors:
Failure of spinning preparation to eliminate or minimize short
and long-term variation
Failure of opening and cleaning machines to completely
eliminate contaminants and trash particles
Failure of the mixing machinery to provide a homogenous blend
Excessive machine stops particularly during spinning
Excessive ends piecing during spinning preparation
Poor maintenance and housekeeping
Knitting-related defects
Dyeing and Finishing-related defects
What are the factors that
could lead to fabric defects?
Material-Related Factors:
Fiber contaminants
Excessive neps and seedcoat fragments
Excessive short fiber content
Excessive trash content
High variability between and within-mix
Clusters of unfavorable fiber characteristics
Weight variation
Twist variation
Excessive Hairiness
What are the factors that
could lead to fabric defects?
Some other Fabric Defects..
Small bits of
contaminants spun
into the yarn
White
specs
Synthetic fibre
contaminant
Pointers focussing on the Defected area..
Pointers focussing on the Defected area..
Factors Affecting Defects in Plain-Weft Knitted
Fabrics due to Knots of Spun Yarns..
The effects of some factors on the defect in plain-weft knitting due to
knots, using a cotton yam and a worsted yarn. The results obtained are as
follows:
The knitting defect due to the knot is almost the knitting hole caused by
the end breakage in plain-weft knitting zone. The end breakage occurs
near the knot on the take-down side.
The end breakage rate increases together with the increase of the depth
of stitch draw, the input tension, the take-down weight, the machine
gauge, the coefficient of yarn friction, the step length of cam, and the
machine speed. But the increase of the cam angle decreases the end
breakage rate.
Shade Variation and some Defect examples..
Filling streaks and slubs of
varying lengths
Weak spots (over bleaching)
Shade variation in knitted fabrics is an
issue of concern. It could be during
dyeing and finishing. Mixing could be a
suspect. The problem can be machine
related or material related.
Another Fabric Defect..
Another Fabric Defect..
Knit-in Contaminants..
There can be certain defects
which arise during the knit-in
process thus are shown here.
Modelling Fabric Defects-The
Problem Theory..
DEFECTS SEVERITY
Barre Usually major
Askewd or bias Could be major or minor
Birdseye Major
Bowing Major or minor
Broken colour pattern Major
Crease streak Major or Minor
Drop stitches Major
End Out Usually Major
Hole Major
Missing Yarn Major
Mixed Yarn Major
Needle Line Major or Minor
Pin Holes Major
Runner Major
Slub Major or Minor
Straying End Major
Industry Practise..
PURPOSE
To establish a uniform method for determining, quantifying and measuring
the quality of warp knit elastomeric fabrics; and a method for measuring
length, width, and other physical properties.
METHOD
Four-Point System - Penalty points are attributed to a piece of fabric
according to the length of its defects measured in inches. The following
schedule of penalty points is based on fabrics 60/62 inches in width for
defects visible when inspected on face side of fabric only:
Length of Defects:
3 inches or less
Over 3, but not over 6 inches
Over 6, but not over 9 inches
Over 9 inches
Industry Practise..
Number of Penalty Points
1
2
3
4
Four penalty points per linear yard are the maximum assessable for fabrics
up to 60/62 inches in width.
For fabrics over 60/62 inches in width, maximum allowable penalty points
are to be increased in proportion as the width exceeds 60 inches.
Regardless of the length of fabric, the quality shall be expressed in the
number of penalty points per 100 yard length. (Example: A 40-yard piece
width six penalty points is to be rated as 15 points per 100 yards.)
Industry Practise..
Identification and Rating Defects:
Examples of defects in evaluating quality are these:
Knitting defects, including holes other than pinholes
Grease/oil spots
Dye spots
Stains
Slubs-except where they are an inherent part of the yarn
Picks
Bowing and Skewing (bias): bowing and skewing may not exceed 5% of overall
width. Examples: 60" width - 3" tolerance and 72" width - 3.5" tolerance
Any yard containing bowing or skewing in excess of these limits shall be penalized
four points.
Fabrics are to be examined for these defects only on the agreed upon selling face
(which may be the technical face, or technical back).
Facts about Fabric Defects..
99% of Fabric-Defects can be diagnosed with minimum or no testing if
every involved personnel from the fiber to the fabric sector is willing to
honestly tell his/her side of the story. Fabric-defect diagnostic work has
become more of detective work because of missing facts.
Poor Cotton Mixing is a Sure Defect-Causing Factor & Good Mixing alone
does not always guarantee a Defect-Free Fabric. Machine-Related Factors
cannot be emphasized enough.
High cost yarn testing equipments available today reveal minimum or no
prediction of potential fabric defects. Indeed, there is a significant gap
between yarn quality as tested in the yarn raw form and corresponding
yarn quality as it exists in the fabric.
There is a great loss of fabric as well as money due to fabric defects so
care should be taken to minimize them as much as can be done.
Fabric faults or defects are responsible for nearly 85% of the defects found
in the garment industry.
Current Usual method of Detection and
Optimal measure..
Present Scenario-
Inspection is done manually, ie., when a significant
amount of fabric is produced,the fabric roll is
removed fromcircular knitting machine and then
sent to an inspection frame.
Optimal Solution-
To automatically inspect fabric as it is being produced
and to encourage maintainence personnel to prevent
production of defects or to cahnge process
parameters automatically and consequently improve
fabric quality.
Fabric faults, their
Causes and
Solutions..
Varied defects are mentioned
here .Each defect can have
innumerable number of
reasons behind its
occurrence and there can be
many alternative ways to
correct the problem.
Precautions Taken to Minimize
Defects..
Yarn mixing during feed into the machine should be
prevented.
Needle and jack should be checked for defects.
Yarn placement should be in the frame.
Always check the fabric is not creased during passage
through breaking and squeeze roller ends.
Followbundling and shadesorting procedures
cautiously.
Make sure the waste fluff nad lint does not mix up
with the garment.
Keep checking fromtime to time that the machine is
working properly and the speed is as per requirements
Recent Advancement in
dealing with Fabric Defects..
A novel approach is developed to identify fabric defects
through the integration of image processing techniques and
Neural Nets.
In industrial setting, knitted fabric defects can be eliminated
or reduced by means of on-line monitoring system and
automatic defect detection devices.
Morphological analysis: A system has been developed to
measure knitted fabric parameters using image analysis
techniques. This technique can be used to evaluate courses
per unit length, wales per unit length,fabric cover and weight
per unit area.
Development of an Intelligent Fabric classification System:
The overall approach encompassed six steps: knitting fabric
samples, image capturing using a CCD camera, image
processing, binary image preparation as a preprocessor for
Neural Nets,image feature extraction and finally Neural Nets
classification.
Hardware Components used in
the Inspection Structure..
Flowchart of Defect
Segmentation..
On-line Fabric Defect Detection..
Circular Knitting Machine
Fabric Defect
Detection Scanning
for Circular Knitting..
These designed defect scanners are known to be extremely accurate, self-cleaning
and with high resolutions through their unique mounting hardware systems.
Through a system of choker and expander assemblies, a vertical air gap is created,
allowing RunStop scanning for maximum fabric-scanner interfacing.
These hardware systems are easily adaptable to differing brands of knitting
machines and to varying production abilities of those machines
.Various sizes of the infrared scanner facing are also easily adaptable to a variety of
machines, while infrared light is employed to eliminate ambient light interference.
Wire guarding of the scanner mount ensures protection against press-offs. Robust
scanner designs ensure durability in the harsh conditions of the mill environment.
Fabric defect detection is the basic work of the System. With defect scanning,
circular knitting has been revolutionized, and has increased textile profits globally.
Defects and Mending at
RANA POLYCOT..
Some of the most common defects,mending strategies and
requirements in that industry:
Incase a panel is curved fromits path rather than being
a straight line,a latch needle is used to mend the side of
the panel and bring it in line with the initial garment
line.
Fastening at the edges of the panels done by the SHIMA
SEIKI machine should followa straight line,in case it does
not it needs to be mended.It is all done manually by the
latch needle.
In case the machine stops workin properly during
construction and ruins the fabric,the panels are rejected
but in case of an urgency and with extra cash flow,it is
mended.
While makin the rib and conjoining with the top,at
times,the hook leaves the yarn and a hollowis created.
My Industrial Visit Experience..
Defects found at RANA POLYCOT,MOHALI and the causes :
While using the needle,the latch failed to cast off its
loop,takin one yarn after the other and putting extreme
pressure thus creating a defect.
Torque of the comb at the sides got less thus the cloth
jumps fromits place leading to a minor defect in the rib
structure.
Machine speed increases at times,so does the take
down and so the stitch becomes tight and the cloth rips.
A defect comes into picture when a double thread works
all through the stitching but suddenly it starts with
single.
A fault may also occur because of the needle,when the
latch does not cast off properly and thus cant be
mended.Needle shape gets distorted.
High speed of the machine, more take down and
transfer speed,more roller speed,the inability of the
needle to make a proper loop can create defects.
Defects and Mending at
RANA POLYCOT..
At times the fastening line left at the edges gets a reduction
fromthe boundary eg. Fromline 5 to 3 and thus needs
mending.
At times the edge lock leaves the edge and the fabric starts
disentangling.This requires immediate hand-mending.
During cable construction,there is a case where 3 up,3 down
technique is followed but suddenly the machine leaves the
area,mending comes to the rescue here.
Sometimes,the stripe width of the striper varies all the
way.This needs serious mending.It is also a knitting fault.
In some cases,the thread edges left at the corners get pulled
which distorts the entire garment.It needs to be pressed and
stretched and brought back to shape.Hurrieda nd harsh
action can ruin the cloth.
At times fastening spacing goes berserk,if rectified,it follows
a loose-tight sequence.Gives the garment a shabby look.
Bibliography..
RANA POLYCOT industry report
www.matrixcontrols.com
www.fibre2fashion.com
http://158.132.122.156/itc/macau/defects/tsld003.htm
www.saarczone.com
www.apparelsearch.com
www.highbeam.com
www.encyclopedia.com
www.resil.com
www.ntcresearch.org
www.iso.org
www.trg.sagepub.com
www.indiantextilejournal.com
www.sitra.org
www.taispk.com
..THANK YOU..