Research Journal of Textile and Apparel

Study of Relationship Between Take Down Tension and Production / Min of Single Jersey Mayer & Cie
Circular Knitting Machine
Joykrisna Saha Chandan Kumer shil Md. Eanamul Haque Nizam
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To cite this document:
Joykrisna Saha Chandan Kumer shil Md. Eanamul Haque Nizam , (2014),"Study of Relationship Between Take Down
Tension and Production / Min of Single Jersey Mayer & Cie Circular Knitting Machine", Research Journal of Textile and
Apparel, Vol. 18 Iss 4 pp. 57 - 61
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 RJTA Vol. 18 No. 4 2014

Study of Relationship Between Take Down Tension and Production /

Min of Single Jersey Mayer & Cie Circular Knitting Machine

Joykrisna Saha1, Chandan Kumer shil2 and Md. Eanamul Haque Nizam3*
1
Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Santosh, Tangail-1902, Bangladesh,
joykrishnakaratia@yahoo.com
2
Ha-Meem Group, Tejgaon, Dhaka-1208, Bangladesh, chandan07039@yahoo.com
3*
City University, Banani, Dhaka-1213, Bangladesh, md.eanamulhaque@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Our project work is performed on take-down tension and production/min of a Mayer and Cie
machine. The main output of this paper is that with increase in production, the take-down
tension is also increased. In this project work we have established a relationship between
take-down tension and production/min. When we divide the production/min by 0.038, we obtain
the take down tension of the Mayer and Cie machine against the different production parameters
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of a full feeder lycra single jersey fabric.

Keywords: Production/min, Take Down Tension, Single Jersey Mayer and Cie Circular
Knitting Machine

1. Introduction latest models also incorporate an electric control

The take-down mechanism withdraws the fabric
from the needles and winds them into the cloth
roll. This mechanism consists of grooved rollers
through which the fabric is nipped and pulled
downwards(Anbumani, 2007). The fabric
takedown equipment of a circular knitting
machine consists of a spreading device as well as
fabric tensioning and winding devices. The fabric
take-down and winding motions have been
designed to facilitate stitch knock-over and
take-down procedures. The take-down and
winding functions are kept separated in order to
allow the smooth running of the machine and
avoid possible fabric distortions (Shaikh, 2002).
On a circular knitting machine the fabric tube is
drawn downwards from the top edge of the
cylinder in a circular form. Subsequently, it is
stretched into a flat form by the spreader located
above the take-down rolls. The fabric tensioning
and winding devices are either mechanically
driven by the main drive of the machine or
through an additional direct current motor (Iyer et
al., 1995). From a mechanical point of view, a
take-down system can be either equipped with a
swiveling arm or a lever and spring mechanism.
Modern take-down systems are motorized and the
* Corresponding authors, Tel.: 01722949692
E-mail Address: md.eanamulhaque@gmail.com (Md. Eanamul Haque Nizam)
57
(Shaikh, 2002).Unfortunately, the conventional
system creates fabric distortion such as the
bowing of fabric with stripped designs and as the
take-down tension is not equal around the needle
bed, a higher take-down tension is necessary to
prevent tuck stitches from occurring when tension
is low during the knocking-over.
High take-down tension leads to a greater
incidence of cuts and holes in the fabric, wear on
the knitting elements, problems when knitting
weaker yarns, and a greater length-wise
deformation and consequent shrinkage after
knitting (Spencer ,2001). The demands or take
down and the winding mechanism include the
variable adjustment of the take down tension for
adaption to the knitted structure and the processed
yarn, uniform take-down tension across the entire
width of the fabric tube and minimum slippage
between fabric and take-down devices with all
yarn qualities (Iyer et al.,1995). The proper
tension on the take-down roller plays an
important role in obtaining less faulty fabric. The
setting of a proper take-down tension not only
reduces fabric faults, but also needle and sinker
breakage tension is manually adjusted according
to fabric looseness or tightness. So, this tension
may be proper or improper. In this project we
 RJTA Vol. 18 No. 4 2014

work on the take-down system of a Mayer and according to the design. Needle arrangement is
Cie single jersey knitting machine. In our country different for Single and double jersey fabrics.
this machine is very common and widely used. Only Cylinder is used for single jersey Fabric.
The determining the simplest take-down
mechanism and proper take-down tension setting An example of the machine parameters for single
will be innovative for the knitting sector. In the jersey is given below.
Mayer and Cie machine, the take down motion is
controlled by a connecting rod. Here, the we use Table 2. Machine Parameters (9)
the mechanical drive as part of the investigation. M/C M/C M/C Total Feeder Safety
Dia Type Gauge no. of R.P.M
2. Materials and Method Needles
38” Single 24 2863 121 38
2.1 Materials jersey

Table 1. Yarn specification Fabric Parameters

Yarn Yarn Type Fabric Country
Count G.S.M. of Origin Fabric specifications refer to the yarn count, yarn
Cotton 34s,40s, Carded/ 180,160, India type, stitch length, and fabric diameter required to
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s
30 ,26s, Combed 220,170, produce knitted fabric.
24s 130,140,
Spandex 20D 190,145. An example of fabric specifications is given below.

Machine Parameters. Table 3. Fabric Parameters. (10)

Count Type Stitch Structure Fabric Fabric
Machine parameters refer to the measures which length G.S.M. Dia
the machine will use to produce a knitted fabric. 32 NE Dyed 3.05 Striped 190 75”
The types of machine criteria that should used for yarn F.F L/S/J Open
production comprise machine parameters. 20 D Lycra 1.2

Setting the VDQ Pulley: The VDQ Pulley will be
set according to the stitch length of the yarn.
Cam Arrangement: The cam will be set according
to the design of the fabric Different types of fabric
design will be produced by the cams. So, cam
setting is very important. For single jersey knitted
fabric the cam arrangement is set to knit.
Needle Arrangement: The needles are arranged
3. Results and Discussion
All of the observations were performed on a
machine which was smoothly running and did not
produce any fabric faults. The take down roller
worked with the proper tension which was
manually adjusted. The Mayer and Cie machine
was used for the experiment. The range of the
take down tension for the Mayer and Cie machine
is 0-30.

Experimental chart for different take down tensions.

Table 4. Different parameters for the value of the take down tension
Brand Obser Structure M/C No M/C Count S.L Fabric RPM Take
vation dia of gauge GSM down
no. (inches) feeders tension
1. F.F.Lycra- 38 121 24 34 Ne 2.95 180 25 14
S/J 20 D
Mayer
2. F.F.Lycra- 38 121 24 34 Ne 2.95 180 25 14
S/J 20 D
and
3. F.F.Lycra- 38 121 24 34 Ne 2.95 180 25 14
S/J 20 D
Cie
4. F.F.Lycra- 30 96 28 40 Ne 2.95 160 30 7
S/J 20 D
58
 RJTA Vol. 18 No. 4 2014

5. F.F.Lycra- 32 102 28 40 Ne 2.95 160 25 5

S/J 20 D
6. F.F.Lycra- 32 102 28 30 Ne 3.0 220 27 15
S/J 20 D
7. F.F.Lycra- 30 96 24 34 Ne 3.1 160 30 9
S/J 20 D
8. F.F.Lycra- 34 108 28 40 Ne 3.0 160 30 13
S/J 20 D
9. F.F.Lycra- 34 108 28 40 Ne 3.0 160 25 12
S/J 20 D
10. F.F.Lycra- 30 96 24 34 Ne 3.0 170 30 8
S/J 20 D

Calculation of production: Production/min:

As we calculated the production per minute, lycra

yarn was omitted for every production
observation. All of the observation values are derived as
shown in Table 5.
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1. Observation-1:

Table 5. Production and take down tension

Observation Production/min Take down Production/ Average
no. (kg) tension Take down tension
1. 0.443 14 0.0316
2. 0.443 14 0.0316
3. 0.443 14 0.0316
4. 0.330 7 0.0471
5. 0.312 5 0.0624
0.038
6. 0.457 15 0.0305
7. 0.350 9 0.0388
8. 0.428 13 0.0329
9. 0.400 12 0.0333
10. 0.340 8 0.0425

In Table 5 it is shown that with increases in

production per minute, the take down tension also
increases and the mean value of production per
take down tension is 0.038 for the Mayer and Cie
machine. For the above discussions, we
established a relationship between production per
minute and take down tension, f

or the Myer and Cie machine, where

Take down tension

Hypothesis Test

By applying the relationship between take down -

Fig. 1. Relationship between production and take tension and production/min for the Mayer and Cie
down tension of Mayer and Cie machine. machine, we get the take down tension from the
observed production as shown in Table 6.
59
 RJTA Vol. 18 No. 4 2014

Table 6. Justification of take down tension of

Mayer and Cie machine
Observation Observed Expected take down
no. take down tension (Take down
tension tension =

1 14 11.66
2 14 11.66
3 14 11.66
4 7 8.68
5 5 8.21
6 15 12.02 Fig. 2. Justification of take down tension of
7 9 9.21 Mayer and Cie machine.
8 13 11.26
9 12 10.52 Chi-Square Test:
10 8 8.95
Null Hypothesis H0: µ 1 = µ 2 i.e. there is no
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significant difference between the mean.

Alternative Hypothesis H1: µ 1 ≠ µ 2 i.e. there is

significant difference between the mean.

Degree of freedom (d,f): K-1, 10-1 =9

Level of significance: 5% (Gupta, 2002)

Table 7. Computation of the chi-square statistics

Observation Observed Expected f0- fe (f0- fe)2/ fe ∑ (f0- fe)2/ fe
no. frequency (f0) frequency (fe)
1 14 11.66 2.34 0.46
2 14 11.66 2.34 0.46
3 14 11.66 2.34 0.46
4 7 8.68 -1.68 0.33
5 5 8.21 -3.21 1.25
4.285
6 15 12.02 2.98 0.74
7 9 9.21 -0.21 0.005
8 13 11.26 1.74 0.27
9 12 10.52 1.48 0.21
10 8 8.95 -0.95 0.10
(Hence, the calculated value of the test statistic is ƛ2 = ∑ (f0- fe)2/ fe = 4.285)

The critical chi-square value is ƛ2 0.059 = 16.919.
(Nurul, 2004) Since the calculated value is less than
the critical value then the null hypothesis is accepted.
We may conclude that the observed distribution
follows the expected frequency.
4. Conclusion
The take down tension is very essential because
damage can be caused to the machine or faults in
the fabric will result if the take down force is too
low or high.
60
From this project work, we have obtained
constant (0.038) for a Mayer and Cie machine for
specific production. This experiment shows that if
the production/min is divided by a constant
(0.038), then the result is near the observed
take-down tension of the machine. So, the output
of the project work may mean that knitted fabric
faults are reduced. In the industry, the worker
selects the take down tension without any
guidance and as a result, fabric defects increases.
So, the we have tried to develop a formula so that
the fabric faults will be reduced and would be
 RJTA Vol. 18 No. 4 2014
innovative for use in the knitwear industry.
Furthermore, by applying the relationship, the
take-down tension should be automatically
adjusted and the method can be repeated, in that
different relationships can be obtained for
different brands of machines.
Acknowledgement
The authors are thankful to Ashim Kumer Sarker
Production Engineer, Mondol Knitwear Ltd, for
his support in preparing this work
REFERENCES
[1] Ajgaonkar, D.B.2006, Knitting Technology,
First Edition, pp.80, Universal Publishing
corporation, Bombay, India.
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[2] Anbumani, N. 2007, Knitting Fundamentals,
Machines, Structures and Developments,
First Edition, pp.19, New Age International
Publishers, New Dhilhi, India.
[3] For machine specification, Available at:
61
http://www.mayerind.com/index.html
[4] For specific machine fabric specification,
Available at: http://www.mayercie.de/en/
resse/43140.html.
[5] Gupta, S.P., 2002, Advanced Practical
Statistics, Nine Revised Edition, pp.697, 999.
S Chad and Company Limited, India.
[6] Islam, Nurul., 2004, An Introduction to
statistics and Probability, Third Edition,
Malick Brothers Publication, Dhaka,
Bangladesh.
[7] Iyer, C. Mammal, B. & Schach W. 1995,
Circular Knitting, Second Edition, pp.72,
Textile Institute Publisher, India.
[8] Manual of Mayer and Cie Machine,
Available at: http://vertrieb@mayercie.de
[9] Shaikh, I.A. 2002 ‘Pocket Knitting Expert’,
A practical Handbook of Knitting, First
Edition, pp.72, Irfan Ahmed Shaikh
Publisher Textile Info Society, India.
[10] Spencer, D. 2001, Knitting Technology, Third,
Edition, pp. 284, Wood head Publication
limited, Cambridge, England.