FAIRLAWN, Ohio—Karg Corp. has unveiled a horizontal braiding machine it said will allow for faster hose production.
Karg introduced the machine during the Hose Manufacturers Conference, held Aug. 27-28 in Fairlawn, Ohio.
The Tallmadge, Ohio-based company said the Karg 36H Braiding Machine offers the following attributes:
• speed of up to 80 carrier RPM;
• up to 65.3 cubic inch volume yarn packages or bobbins;
• A.C. servo drive PLC technology, touch screen for process/product information and precise input of pitch control;
• capability to braid all types of yarn reinforcements, both treated and untreated;
• fast, accurate turnbuckle control for timing adjustments; and
• modular system requiring no foundations or mechanical alignment for single or double deck arrangements.
The new braider also will allow hose producers to manufacture larger hose, up to about 2 inches, with applications in automotive uses such as air conditioning hoses as well as a range of industrial hoses, according to Karg Technical Manager Jim Wallbrown.
"The reason we developed it is our customers want a faster machine," said President and CEO Michael Karg. "This is about 25 percent faster than the existing model. That's very significant when you're manufacturing hose."
The Karg 36H also offers advanced electronic controls, compared to prior models.
Previously, if hose specifications chang¬ed, an operator had to check charts and change gears.
"Here you can just hit some buttons and change the pitch diameter of the hose without going to the chart," Karg said. "You can do it all electronically."
Design Manager Mark Kroczynski did the mechanical design work on the new machine, saying it is much more operator friendly because of the elimination of having to change gears manually.
Karg said the carriers and track are pretty much the same, but the gearing system is different.
"We went to a larger gearing system to make it more durable," he said. "We needed that in a horizontal position. We started working on that and tested the gearing system during the great recession. That led us to this machine."
Wallbrown said the vertical machines save a bit on space, but a mandrel can run through the horizontal braiders.
Karg said the 36H has some additional safety features and offers a fiber optic single lens breakage detector.
Current machines have breakage detectors for a full break of the yarn, but they won't detect a break on one end when a machine is running five ends of textile.
"The fiber optic sensor will pick it up," he said. "That way you don't make a whole reel of hose and have one end break, and then realize it after the whole reel is completed. If it's a material like Kevlar, that's very costly scrap."
Karg said the firm expects to introduce an electronic version of the 36-vertical braider next year.