Draw-frame

FUNCTION

Drawing or drafting is the reduction in weight to length or linear density of the fiber stream or
sliver.
It is achieved on the draw-frame by passing the sliver through the nip points of two sets of rolls. The
nips are achieved with a lower steel roll and an upper rubber coated roll or “cot”. The “front” set of
rolls have a higher surface speed than the “rear”. The sliver is elongated or “drawn”, by a factor
equivalent to the ratio of the speeds, of the two set of rolls. To keep fiber of varying length under
control we use a porcupine roller that also improves the parallel alignment of the fibers.
The processed output is measured electronically by a resettable meter that stops processing when the
set limit is reached.

The unit has three main components:

1) A pair of back rollers and a pair of front rollers to achieve a required “Draft”.
2) A three roll “porcupine” draft control system.
3) A pair of twist devices to consolidate the drafted sliver.

The operation of drawing sliver is quite straightforward and simple in comparison to the complexity
of carding, but it is very important as a means of establishing the linear density of the sliver to a level
suitable for spinning.

The Draft control section of the machine is a porcupine design principle where a coarse pinned roll is
located immediately behind the front roller pair. Two steel rolls are positioned behind the porcupine
in such a way as to guide the sliver into the pins of the porcupine.

The speed of the porcupine is slightly faster than the back rolls (approx. 10%); to ensure the sliver is
kept taut on input to the pins. The porcupine feeds the fiber to the front roller nip, where, as the
fiber ends become gripped by the nip, they are drawn forward.

The pins retard “floating” fibers from being drawn forward with the mass. Floating fibers are the
short fibers that are not held by the back or by the front roll nip. These can form “slubs”: or short
term yarn thickening at the spinning sage. It is this holding back of the shorter fibers until in turn
they are gripped by the front nip which is termed “drafting control”.

The pins of the porcupine also perform a second function to straighten the fibers and improve the
degree of parallel alignment of the sliver. This improves the spinning characteristics of the sliver and
helps to produce a smoother yarn. This can be observed if we run the draw-frame at a slow speed.

After drafting, the sliver is quite open and relatively weak, with little inter-fiber contact and
cohesion. The twisters induce more inter-fiber contact and therefore produce a consolidated sliver
suitable for further processing.
OPERATION

The machine has a simple on/off switch and a speed control knob which allows a full range speed
adjustment from virtual zero to top speed of 30 meters or 80 feet per minute.

With the machine set at a slow speed, feed the required number of slivers through the guide and
between the back roller nip.

Pass the slivers over and under the two steel control rolls and encourage the porcupine to take up the
material by guiding the slivers by the hand, underneath the control rollers.

Guide the fibers from the porcupine into the front roller nip where they will be accelerated toward
the false twister.

When 30 cm or so of material has been delivered from the front roller stop the machine. Insert a
hooked fine steel wire (approx. 30’s gauge) into the output end of the twist-tube, pushing it through
until the hook appears at the sliver input side. Twist the sliver by rolling in the palms, then slip the
sliver end into the hook. Turn the machine on and guide the wire through the twist tube and 1st take
off roller. Remove the wire and pass the end of the sliver into the first take off roll nip. Start the
machine and the twist drive; pass through the take off rollers and deliver to a container. Adjust the
throughput speed and the speed of the twist-tube to achieve the correct consolidation for the type of
fiber you are processing. (This will become easier to establish with experience.)

The sliver will tend to lay in a coiled pattern, the occasional shake and turn of the container will
ensure freely laid coils which will run out of the container without tangling at the next operation.

Successful drafting must be carried out on reversed sliver, i.e. do not draft from the same end twice
in succession. The end of a sliver in one drafting system must be the beginning the next drafting
system.

Some slight adjustment of the front roller speed relative to the take off rollers by sprocket changes
may be necessary when processing fibers with high and/or low crimp levels. Avoid uncontrolled
drafting between the twist and the take off rollers. Actual adjustment of the amount of draft is
achieved by changing the size of the back roller/porcupine drive sprocket. The drafting limit on this
machine is approximately 4 depending on the nature of the fiber.

The speed of the machine may be adjusted to suit operator capability and or production/ quality
requirements, however running the machine too fast can cause fiber lapping on the front rollers.

Keep the machine clean, wool grease and debris may quickly contaminate the front roller where it
will encourage the formation of laps. Wipe the rollers clean whenever this occurs. A cloth dampened
with the lubricant mix used during opening will aid in the rapid removal of grease. This build up
indicates a lack of efficient scouring technique. Review your procedure.
DRAWING OF EXOTIC FIBERS

Due to the longer more consistent length of these fibers, some difficulties can be encountered.
Perhaps the most common is the greater force needed to draft the fibers. Altering the spacing at the
porcupine and using a coarser porcupine may be beneficial. For these fibers with less crimp than
wool it is common to run the twister at higher speed.

DRAFTING AND DOUBLING

An important concept of textile processing is that of doubling which refers to the combining of
slivers to reduce the short and medium term variation in the sliver. For example: Four slivers
drafted by a factor of four will give a sliver of identical linear density to one of the original slivers
but with less variation.

This is a wonderful tool in Textile processing and is widely used to reduce variability of slivers prior
to spinning. Theoretically, the improvement is limitless, but it’s not limitless in practice.

Doubling does have another useful property in that it improves the consistency of the fiber blend,
since we are mixing fibers from several slivers to produce one sliver. It is useful to draw as many
slivers as possible at the first draw (three ends is usual).

The drafting system relies on all the fibers being drawn through the porcupine pins with no drafting
control. Resulting slivers will be thick and thin.

An Example of Drawing for specific YARN PRODUCTION

Yarn is described in several different ways, such as yards per pound or grams per kilometer. This
latter scale is called TEX and is one we often use for it’s mathmatical simplicity. However if we
measure our Carder input in pounds per hour we must begin with a conversion using 2.2 lbs per
kilogram.

Our objective in this instance is to create a yarn of 150 TEX in the singles which when plied will give
a good Sport weight knitting yarn. To estimate the TEX count of the card slivers:

Input = 4lbs/hr = (4*1000) / (2.2 * 60) = 30 Grams / Minute

The output of the roving deck measured 7.5 meters/ minute

TEX count of the output = (30*1000) / (7.5) = 4000 TEX

This is the sliver for input to the Draw frame.

Now the count of the single yarn we intend to spin 150 TEX and the ideal draft range of the spinner
is between 6 an 20. Therefore we need to present the spinner with a sliver of between 6 * 150 and 20
* 150 TEX. i,e, between 900 snf 3000 TEX. The spinner does not perform well with slivers in excess
of 1500 TEX especially if the fibers have a high crimp level or the slivers possess a high degree of
inter- fiber cohesion. Se, we will aim for a spinning sliver closer to 1000 TEX.

-1st draw ..... 3 ends up with an approximate draft of 2.4.

TEX count = (3 * 4000) / 2.4 = 5000 TEX

-2nd draw..... 2 ends up and draft at 2.4

TEX count = (2 * 5000) / 2.4 = 4166 TEX

-3rd draw..... 2 ends up and draft at 2.4

TEX count = (2 * 4166) / 2.4 = 3471 TEX

-4th draw..... 2 ends up and draft of 2.4

TEX count = (2.4 * 3471) / 2.4 = 2893 TEX

This is still too high a sliver weight for what we anticipate we will need for the spinner.

-5th draw..... 1 end up draft of 2.4

TEX count = 2893 / 2.4 = 1205 TEX

Draft required on the spinner is 1205 / 150 =8.03

This illustrates one possible method of achieving a desired sliver weight. There are others. We could
increase the draft and perform fewer draws.

Multiple passes through the Draw frame may be accommodated by using multiple processing heads
to increase the machine’s productivity.

RELATION TO OTHER MACHINES TO FIBER PROCESSING

- Indispensable to the spinning operation that follows it.

- Inputs the silver from carding.
- It establishes the exact quantity of fibers at all points of the stream to any desired linear density or
other preferred quality.

WARRANTY

Guaranteed free from faults in materials and workmanship and to perform as described upon
arrival at customer’s premises. Contact us for information on general warranty on all equipment.
MAINTENANCE

- Drive chains must be kept lubricated with light oil.

- Shaft and rolls to be kept free of wrapped fiber.